. S. Carslaw on ‘A Trigonometrical Sum —
by Prof. H
and the Gibbs Phenomenon in Fourier’s Series’ (Amer-
ican Journal of Mathematics, vol. xxxix., No. 2, 1917).
In this paper Prof. Carslaw gives a proof of the
property first noticed by Gibbs, namely, that when a
function becomes discontinuous the sum to infinity
of its Fourier expansion does not always merely change
at an infinitely steep gradient from the initial to the
final value of the function, but that in certain
tuate between a maximum and a minimum value out-
side the limits of value of the function itself. In other
words, the maximum and minimum values of the sum _
of a finite number of terms of the expansion, just.
before and afier the discontinuity, may be outside the
limits of value of the function
exceeding the larger value of the function, and the
minimum being less than the smaller value by. amounts
which remain finite, even if the number of terms be
increased indefinitely. The proof is well illustrated by
the diagrams at the end of Prof. Carslaw’s paper, not-
“ cases. it -
may, in the neighbourhood of the discontinuity, fluc- —
4
itself, the maximum ~
OBER 4, 1917 |
NATURE
93
nding the fact that similar diagrams for the
on considered in the paper have frequently
in text-books.
: business of the Electrician Printing and Publish-
, Ltd., having been acquired by Messrs. Benn
4d., 8 Bouverie Street, E.C.4, the forthcoming
the former company, announced in Nature
ber 20, will be published by Messrs. Benn.
'UR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
{BER Mertreors.—Mr. Denning writes that a
of meteors, including several brilliant fire-
vere observed in September. There was a well-
shower, not far from the Pole, at 314° +79”
‘middle of the month, and at the period from
i 924 the chief radiant points were at
=35°, 271° +22°, 290° + 52°, 343°+14°, and
A very brilliant meteor was observed on
tI at toh. 3m., from the radiant in Cygnus.
Bristol it was brighter than Venus, and
height of 67 to 28 miles. On September 23,
42m., a fireball illuminated the sky as seen
edon, and it had a long, slow, and nearly
‘al flight from a radiant at 322°—23° in Capri-
s. Its path was about 166 miles from over the
Channel to Welshpool, and it descended from
es. Though it had a very extended path,
observations of it were received, viz. from
omerset) and Fowey (Cornwall), but the
loudy at many places.
1916b (Wotr).—The following is a continua-
emeris, for Greenwich midnight, given
~~
Decl. Log 4 Bright
° ‘ a“ hess
-—I 8 2 0-0891 1-22
1 4§ 27 0-0972
oar. 9 0:1055 I-10
255 5 O-II4I
. 3.27 14 0-1227 0°99
acs, 34 O-1315
4 26 13 01404 0°89
a 0°1495
5 18 9 0-1586 0-79
5 41 33 01678
6 3 16 0:1770 0-71
6 23 21 0- 1863
6 41 51 0:1956 0°63
6 58 49 02049
7 14 17 O-2142 0:56
—7 28 20 0°2235
Cotour ScaLe ror Stars.—An attempt to estab-
: scale of colours adapted to observations of stars
and planets 9 has been ag by Prof. W. H. Pickering
(Popular Astronomy, - XXV., p. 419). The numer-
x end walues : assi ed to the different shies are :—5,
deep-blue; 6, sky-blue; 7, light-blue; 8 pale-blue; 9,
bluish-white; 10, white; 11, yellow; 12, orange; 13,
reddish-orange ; 14, orange-red; 15, light-red; 16, deep-
red. The typical colours are shown in circular patches
on a coloured plate, which is to be viewed by one eye
under carefully adjusted illumination, while the planet,
or star out of focus, is viewed with the other eye at
NO. 2501, VOL. 100]
the telescope. To secure constant conditions of com-
parison, the illuminating source is to be slightly modi-
fied as required, so that certain standard stars of type
K always register 11. The average results for stars
of different types are compared with the colour indices
(differences between photographic and visual mag-
nitudes) in the following table :-—
Type Colour scale Colour index
e AP. 7-0 ick ae
B 6-7 —0O3
A T4 0-0
F 7-6 +03
G ok 95 +07
K she EIS +1-2
M eae: ROO +16
N OF ar +2°5
An extensive investigation of star colours has also
been made by H. E. Lau (Astronomische Nachrichten,
No. 4900). The scale in this case is white=o,
yellow=5, and red=10. The influence of atmospheric
absorption and the effect of magnitude have been
examined, and a catalogue showing the colours
of more than 700 of the brighter stars is given.
AN AUSTRALIAN CHEMICAL INSTITUTE.
N Australian Chemical Institute has been formed
with its headquarters in Sydney, and branches
in every State of the Commonwealth. The pro-
vincial. committees include tke professors and
other teachers of chemistry in the universities and
most of the professional chemists in the several States.
The institute has been framed on much the same lines
as the Institute of Chemistry for Great Britain and
Ireland. The objects set forth are:—{1) To raise the
status and advance the interests of the profession of
chemistry; (2) to promote the usefulness and efficiency
of persons practising the same; (3) to afford facilities
for the better education and examination of persons
desirous of qualifying as technical analysts and chem-
ical advisers; (4) to obtain power to grant legally
recognised certificates of competency. Persons eligible
for membership must possess certain qualifications,
such as the degree of a recognised British university
where they have studied chemistry for not fewer than
three years, or an approved diploma in some branch
of chemistry granted by an approved technical college
or school of mines (no mention is made of the length
of study required from such), or be fellows or associates
of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and
Ireland, or who have satisfied examiners appointed
by the council that they have attained a necessary
standard of chemical education; other persons may be
admitted by the council without examination for special
reasons on the recommendation of the committee of a
branch.
The council does not intend to hold any exam-
ination for admission before January, 1918, but
lecturers or teachers of chemistry at an Australian
university, technical college, or school of mines, or
approved secondary school, chemists who are in charge
of a Government laboratory, or have been in charge
of a laboratory attached to a commercial or industrial
establishment for three years, chemists or analysts
who have been in practice for three years, and certain
others will be eligible for membership without exam-
ination before that date. Chemists who «have been
absent from Australia on war service may be admitted
without examination after January 1, 1918, at the
discretion of the council. One of the stated duties of
the council is to take any steps that may appear to be
advisable to improve the rate of remuneration of
‘| chemists in private practice or in the employment of
94
NATURE
[OCTOBER 4, 1917
the Federal or State Governments or commercial
establishments; another duty is to appoint committees
for fixing standard methods of chemical analysis, for
the publication of memoirs or bulletins, and for the
standardisation of fees for professional work, It is
intended to apply for a charter for the insti-
tute. A number of the professorial and professional
chemists in Australia are fellows of the Institute of
Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland, and probably
one of the principal reasons for forming a similar insti-
tute in Australia is in consequence of the difficulties
connected with the holding of the former’s examinations
in Australia, due to the great distance and other causes
now increased by the war.
CHILD-STUDY AND EDUCATION.}
a He special merit of the ‘‘ Memorandum on the
Educational Principles upon, which should be
based all Future School Reform”’ is that it dwells on
the need for basing education upon a true theory of
child-nature. It consists of an introduction by Prof,
Adams, five sections written by ‘‘experts,’’ and a series
of ‘‘recommendations.’’ All who are interested in
educational progress should urge these “ recommenda-
tions’’ on education authorities.
From the title one might suppose that these ‘ prin-
ciples’? have been stated once for all by the council
of the society. Fortunately this is not so, In the
recommendations we find two “principles” only, viz.
that reform must be based on knowledge, and that
knowledge must be obtained through real investigation.
The. suggestions as to how additional data are to
be sought are both wise and practical, though there
is much that is unscientific and altogether out of
place in sections 3:and 4, which, as Prof. Adams puts
it, ‘‘ have the special merit of correlating age and
advancement,” and he adds that teachers will read
with some eagerness. what the experts have to say on
this. But, in this memorandum, ‘merit’? should
be replaced by “‘demerit.” If there were such
a correlation, the only way to improve educa-
tion would be to extend the period of pupil-
age. The basis of the memorandum is_ that
there is no such correlation—that ‘with a truer psycho-
logy, intelligence and knowledge will be greater at a
given age. Naturally, then, no trace of these excres-
cent sections appears in the ‘‘ recommendations.”’
The memorandum is called for. There is considerable
evidence that, under the influence of traditional beliefs,
we are to-day perpetuating mistakes in education no
less serious than those in medicine before Pasteur’s
discoveries overthrew the traditional wisdom of
physicians. One instance may here be given. The
writer knows of a boy, three years eight months
old, who, never having lessons, has been brought
up in. an environment providing as free and full
opportunity for mental as for physical develop-
ment. At two he did the Montessori exercises
with ease and accuracy when presented to him, and
-did not care to repeat them more than once or twice.
At two and a half his guardian wrote :—‘‘ He has a
scrupulous sense of order, great carefulness, and a
deft handling of everything he touches. He is allowed
to explore and handle everything he wishes, even the
most delicate articles, merely enjoining on him to be
very careful,” and more in the same strain, and he
scarcely ever broke anything. Later, at three and a
half :—‘‘ Whenever he sees anything new to him, he
at once wants to know its name and all about it;
he is quick to observe the different leaf buds, on the
trees, and can distinguish and name many trees by
} Published by the Child-Study Society, co Buckingham Palace Road,
London, S.W.1. Price 4d. post free.
NO. 2501, VOL. 100]
their buds alone; sometimes. he will bring in a little
branch, run to our ‘ Nature-book,’ and compare it —
with the pictures, finding out which it is for himself.
He is also full of interest in birds and knows twenty
different kinds by name,” and so on,
been remarkably free from ailments, as have been all —
the other children whom the writer can trace who-
have been brought up in this way, being allowed the —
free choice of mental as well as of physical occupa- —
tions; treated always as intelligent, but never forced”
to mental exertion.
of this method great old men such as Lord Kelvin. __
This is the method indicated by Nature. The brain
of the very young child is proportionately far more
developed than any other part of his physical system;
why should we assume that it is the part to be given
the least ‘opportunity for early growth and develop-
ment through the exercise of the’ activities
This child has —
s.
And we find among the products — |
eculiar —
Pe
to it? As in such matters experience is the
e only —
guide, the writer would be very glad if those who have —
trustworthy data on the question of early education *
would communicate with him at Trinity College, ©
Dublin.
THE HYDRAULIC RESOURCES OF
E. P. CuLvERWELL.
FRANCE, ui
view of the partial dependence of France on oibeee
N
I sources for her coal supplies,
utilising water-power becomes an increasingly vital
factor in her economic development. Considerable in-
terest therefore attaches to an article appearing in La
the question of ©
Nature for June 23, which incidentally furnishes also
a comparison with the resources of other countries in —
this respect. Various computations have been made as
regards France; one made in IgiI places her resources.
at 9,200,000 horse- -power of watér-power available for
a minimum of 180 days in the year. This is against
Norway’s 7,500,000 h.p., Sweden’s 6,750,000 h.p., =
Austria-Hungary’ s 6,450,000 h.p., Italy’s 5,500, 000 h.p. BE:
Spain’s 5,000,000 h.p., Switzerland’s 1,500,000 h.p.,
Germany’s 1,425,500 h.p., and Great Britain’s
396,000 h.p. In this connection Norway’s available
supply is 36-60 h.p. per square kilometre of area, that of
Sweden 20 h.p., of Austria-Hungary 19-46 h.p., Spain
and Italy 10 h. p. each, England and Germany 2 to
3 h.p. each. France’s resources, according to recent
estimates, are about 25 h.p. for ‘the same area. The
quantity of water available in the Alpine regions alone
of France represents about 4,000,000 h.p.
The value of the water-power resources of France
has long been recognised, and while she has utilised
them to a greater extent than certain other European
countries have theirs, about nine-tenths are still un-—
harnessed. Germany, on the other hand, though rich
in coal, has utilised about 31 per cent. of her available
supply of water-vower.
Contrary to expectations, the war, instead of relax-
ing attempts to employ water for power-raising in
France, has greatly stimulated activity in this direc-
tion, in. spite of dearth of labour and materials. The
article gives interesting details of plants already com-
pleted or in course of erection.
Much is hoped for by utilising barrage water at high >
pressures; especially is this the case in respect of the
electrometallurgical and_ electrochemical industries,’
which are sure to develop when new works come into
existence and more experience is gained. i
France’s annual requirements of coal are estimated
in the near future to be thirty million tons per annum,
and as prices are likely to increase considerably,
the author’s plea for the extended applications of water-
power is justifiable. He asks what this 9,000,000 h.p.
; of available “white coal’? represents in terms of
P|
~ OcrosBer 4, 191 7|
NATURE
95
coal. According to calculations which were
at one time by M. Loucher, each horse-power-
produced on a locomotive is equivalent to a con-
ption of 2-5 kilos. of coal. Consequently, the
-power yet to be utilised represents 20,000 tons
il per hour, or, say, 180,000,000 tons per annum.
author admits, of course, that certain industries
dispense with coal, but suggests the use of
ectric power wherever applicable. Railways
the Midi, the Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean, and
ater part of the Orleans should be electrified.
cities, like Paris, should follow the example of
He pictures the advantages to Parisians in
f suburban transit, their industries, and light-
id the Rhone barrage at Genissiat been com-
before the war,
n trades, as has been said, can dispense with
lectric power is available, such as the textile,
1, and paper trades. Metallurgy, glass-
; pottery, and zinc refining use up enormous
ties of coal. But this state of things will a
$ persist; synthetic pig-iron will one day replace
Mie dncmnnsodity the electrometallurgy of zinc is
ow a practical proposition; the ceramic art is capable
f modernisation ; and electric bakeries are not merely
In addition to being a source of heat, “ white coal”
es source of cold; low temperatures are neces-
for obtaining synthetic nitrogenous products,
», electrolytic potassium and permanganate—
which could, under the new régime, be
cheaply in France. Further, ‘white coal”
elp agriculture, not only by providing manures,
and cyanamides, but for driving tractors,
arms, irrigating pasture land, working
tilators, drying plants, separators—and in
other ways. E. S. Hopcson.
THNOLOGICAL WORK IN QUEENSLAND.
y vol, xxix., i., of the Proceedings of the Royal
lety Be eaaeeslans, the president, Dr. R.
arris, under the title of ‘Some Anthropo-
siderations of Queensland and the History
a canines with their mandibular opponents. In
Rie enine neighbourhood, in 1906, a couple of rough
peecmcnts of Palzolithic type were unearthed.
_ In the same paper Dr. Hamlyn Harris discusses
‘some other interesting questions. The principal centre
of mummification in Queensland was on the east
_ coast, around Cairns and the Johnstone river, extend-
_ing in a southerly direction. This singularly restricted
‘area suggests that the habit of mummification was not
_ introduced from Malaysia, nor vid Cape York, but that
it was brought from the far islands of Torres Straits
by natives who were carried on to the north-eastern
NO. 2501, VOL. 100]
coast of Queensland, more or less by chance. This
in some measure corroborates the views of Prof.
Elliot Smith, who suggests the Cape York Peninsula,
vid Torres Straits, as the hypothetical route in the
migrations of the culture bearers who were responsible
for the diffusion of the “heliolithic culture complex.”
Dr. Hamlyn Harris suggests that in geological times
Australia was in land connection with Asia, not only
with New Guinea, but probably also with Timor, and
certain Queensland birds and animals are more closely
allied to Asiatic than to Papuan species. He fully
accepts the conclusion of Dr. Rivers and Prof. Elliot
Smith that the oceanic cultures have been mainly
derived from contact with other races. Mornington
Island, on the Gulf of Carpentaria; preserves an almost
unique example of Australian aboriginal culture which
has not been affected by foreign influences.
THE SOILS OF HAWAII,
THE island of Hawaii is the largest ef the group
of Sandwich Islands, which were formally
annexed to the United States in 1898. It is moun-
tainous and volcanic, and the soil is highly productive ;
sugar and pineapples are the staple industries, but
cotfee, honey, hides, sisal, bananas, rice, wool, cotton,
and rubber are also exported. As usual with American
possessions, a strong agricultural experimerit station
has been developed; in this particular case the work
was done under the auspices of the Sugar Planters”
Association. The director, Dr. H. P. Agee, and the
staff have carried out some excellent investigations on
the problems connected with the local agriculture. ‘The.
latest publication is by the chemist, Mr: P. S. Burgess,
and deals with the soils of the island. These are of
special interest because they are of volcanic origin, and.
are situated in a different climatic zone from our own,
‘so that they differ in many respects from the ordinary
soils of Great Britain or America, especially in their
large content of oxides of iron and aluminium, and
their small content of silica. Thus the average of a
number of analyses is :—
vf : Fe,03 Al,O3 SiOg
Hawaiian soils 28-0 20-7 32-6 per cent.
American soils 38 gr Eon
The soils to which we are accustomed have been
formed in such a way that their chief constituent is
insoluble silica or silicates; the Hawaiian soils, on the
other hand, contain large quantities of iron and alu-
minium oxides; they are known as laterites; other in-
stances occur in Java. This difference in coniposition
especially affects the finest grade of material, the clay,
which in the Hawaiian soils consists mainly of iron.
and aluminium oxides, while in the soils of temperate:
zones it consists chiefly of silicates. In consequence:
the behaviour to water is profoundly modified, and the
hygroscopic coefficients and other constants are quite
different from those obtained on normal soils.
Bacteriological investigations have been put in hand,
but, as usual with American stations, the work is.
mainly concerned with the amount of decomposition
effected by the organisms, and not with the organisms
themselves. The results suggest that a detailed com-
parison of typical organisms would be of considerable
interest.
“So far as we know, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters”
Experiment Station is the only station issuing English
bulletins which has the opportunity of fully investigat-
ing laterite soils. It has, therefore, an unusually good
range of problems. There can be little doubt that a
detailed comparison of these soils with typical soils
of the eastern seaboard of the United States would
throw much light on the problems of soil chemistry
and soil physics. ; By J.
96
NATURE
[OCTOBER 4, I917
EXPERIMENTAL PHONETICS AND ITS
UTILITY TO THE LINGUIST
HE art of speaking a foreign language demands
(among other things) an ability to perform all
kinds of difficult movements with the tongue and other
parts of the speech-mechanism. Such ability may be
acquired by the learner, if he is provided with precise
instructions as to what he must'do. It is the function
of the phonetician to supply these instructions.
Instructions as to how to pronounce must, in order
« Fic. 2.—Palatogram of the -
Fic. 1.—Palatogram of s. of
English sound of sh.
to be efficacious, be based on accurate analysis of the
pronunciation. _Many.of the facts of pronunciation can
be ascertained by direct observation (by auditive, visual,
tactile, and muscular sensation) on the part of those
who have a specially trained ear and a highly developed
control over their vocal organs. These methods are
extremely important, and no satisfactory analysis of a
language can be made without them. Other methods,
however, may be used to supplement these, namely,
mechanical analysis
by means of a
specially designed
apparatus. Analysis
of this kind con-
stitutes the branch
of phonetics known
as experimental
phonetics. It is
with these mechan-
ical aids to analysis
that we are here
concerned.
It will be well to
give first a few
examples to show
how information re-
garding tongue-
positions -may be
ascertained experl-
mentally.
One way of get-
ting information is
that known = as
palatography. It
consists in using a
special kind of arti-
ficial palate, in
order to find out
what parts of the
roof of the mouth
are touched by the
tongue in the production of different speech-sounds.
The requirements of this special type of artificial
palate are that it should be very thin, should fit very
-accurately, should be dark coloured, and should cover
the whole of the hard palate, alveolars, and the under-
side of the upper front teeth. Such palates may be
made of vulcanite, or metal, or other substances.
When the palate is to be used, it-is dusted over
1 Abridged from a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on
February 9 by Mr. Dazriiel Jones. .
NO. 250I, VOL. 100|
ACB,
tube; D, handle of wire; E, tooth-stop ;
FGH, handle.
Fic. 3.—Atkinson’s mouth-measurer.
with powdered chalk; it is then inserted into the —
mouth; the sound to be studied is pronounced, and the -
palate is taken out. It will be found that the chalk
has been removed by the tongue at every point which
the tongue has touched in articulating the sound. So ~
the areas touched by the tongue appear dark, while —
ihe parts of the palate which are not touched remain ©
white. "
The shapes of the dark areas may be recorded by
photography if desired, but it is generally sufficiently —
accurate, and a good deal more convenient, simply to —
=
=
_copy the dark areas on to a previously prepared outline _
diagram of the palate. (The re-
sult is, of course, a projection of
the true shape.) . The finished
diagrams are called palatograms. |
Palatograms will be found to cor-
roborate observations of tongue-
positions made by other methods.
Figs. 1 and 2 are examples of
palatograms.
We will now turn to methods Py
of ascertaining the shapes. i
assumed by the tongue in the py¢ 4 Atkinson's mouth —
articulation of speech-sounds, and _ measurer in position. i
more particularly the shapes of a eI
section of the tongue down the mesial line, and their —
relations to the centre-line of the palate. Su ae
One method of ascertaining these shapes was in-
vented by Dr. E. A. Meyer, of Stockholm. It consists —
in using an artificial palate down the middle line of —
which are fixed some lead threads which hang vertic-
ally. These threads are of, such a thickness that the
pressure from. the tongue will bend them when a ~
speech-sound is produced; but they are strong enough
‘to remain in the position into which they are pushed.
So. that if the, palate is taken out of the mouth after ©
pronouncing a speech-sound, the lead wires show the
ed
7
Fic. 5.—Tongue-positions of the English vowels in ath
and dea? as ascertained by Atkinson’s mouth-measurer.
outline of the tongue-position compared with that of
the palate. There is a means of transferring these
outlines to paper. 2
A second apparatus for obtaining similar results is
the ‘‘mouth-measurer”’ invented by H. W. Atkinson.*
There is a tube of the shape ACB, shown in Fig. 3;
and inside the tube is a wire which can be pushe
along (by means of the handle D) and made to project
to different lengths from the end of the tube. A pro-
jecting piece of metal, called a ‘‘tooth-stop” (E), is
2 Obtainable from Mr. H. W. Atkinson, West View, Eastbury Avenue,
Northwood, Middlesex. (Price 5s. 6d. for set of two mouth-measurers, with
accessories.) :
/
' Ocroser 4, 1917] NATURE 9
attached to the tube; it can be fixed at various points. Further observations are then taken with the tooth-
FGH is a wire handle. stop fixed at other points. In this way the positions
To use the instrument, it is placed in the mouth ; of other points of the surface of the tongue are ascer-
either in the manner shown in Fig. 4, or else so that | tained. In the end we get on our paper a series of,
say, ten or more points which show with fair accuracy
the shape of the most important part of the tongue.
Fig. 5 shows specimens of results obtained by this
means. They were prepared by Mr. Atkinson, and are
reproduced here by his kind permission.
A third method of obtaining sectional diagrams of
tongue-positions is X-ray photography. In order to
Fic. 6.—X-ray photograph of cardinal vowel 7 (as in French).
the tube is in contact with the teeth at the tooth-stop
and also in contact with some point of the palate
(the position of the apparatus depending on the nature
Fic. 9.—X-ray photograph of the scund # as in cave.
get good results by this process it is necessary to make
use of some opaque substance to show the outline of
the tongue. The plan which has given the most suc-
cessful results is to place on the tongue a little chain
of small lead plates. (This plan was originally devised
by Dr. E. A. Meyer.)
Figs. 6 to 10 are photographs of this description
taken by Dr. H. Trevelyan George, of St. Bartholo-
mew’s Hospital, who has displayed much ingenuity and
patience in getting over the numerous difficulties which
present themselves in the course of work of this nature.
Fic. 7.—X-ray photograph of cardinal a.
of the sound to be analysed). The wire is then pushed
' along until the end of it is felt to touch the tongue.
The instrument is withdrawn and applied to a pre-
Fic. 1o.—X-ray photograph of Welsh a, as in ton, “wave.” Said
by Mr. Stephen Jones, Assistant for Experimental Phonetics
at University College, London. Tongue-position shown by
lower chain. The upper chain passes throug: the nose, and
shows the shape of the upper side of the soft palate.
Another element of speech which can be successfully
studied by the methods of experimental phonetics is the
vibration of the vocal chords. Some speech-sounds
(e.g. normal v or s) are accompanied by vibration of
the vocal chords, others (e.g. f, s) are not; others, again,
are accompanied by vibration during apart of their
length. It is important for linguistic purposes to ascer-
Viously prepared diagram of the shape of the observer’s | tain with accuracy the precise points where vibration
palate. The position of the end of the wire is then | of the vocal chords begins and ends in connected
marked on the paper. speech.
NO. 2501, VOL. 100]
Fic, 8.— X-ray photograph of cardinal 1.
NATURE
Fic. 11.—Mouth-tracings of (A) fully aspirated 7 ;
~; (D) unvoiced 4 3 and (E).1uily voices ¢
There ‘are, several ways, of - recording
mechanically the presence or absence
of voice. The method which gives the
most satisfactory results from the point
of view of the linguist consists in using
a kymograph fitted. with one or more
tambours of Marev’s' model. This
method was described in Nature for
June 9g last, and readers are referred to
that article for details.
Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are some addi-
tional kymographic tracings illustrat-
ing linguistic phenomena.
The above examples show to what
extent experimental phonetics may be
useful to the language learner. li
furnishes him with much of the _ in-
formation he wants in regard to. pro-
nunciation. The practical linguist
should make these ascentained facts the
basis of his study of the pronunciation
Poth oie! Ce
a
Mouth.
saa a.
!
iene pew wn PREPARA SA AAA A way’
[OcTOBER 4, 1917
(18) partially espirated p; (C) unaspirated
each fullowea by the vowel a.
of the language he is learning. He
will be able to infer from them how
he must proceed in order to get his
own organs of speech to pe rform the
movements required by the foreign
language.
In conclusion, it may be as well to
point out that as these scientific
methods of analysis are useful to the
linguist, so also the accomplishments
of the linguist are sometimes found to
have their uses to the man of science.
Thus it is possible by means of a
speech process to demonstrate in a
remarkable way the existence of har-
monics in a musical note—to show,
for instance, that if the note c
is sung, there is sounding simul-
taneously the well-known- series © of
Fig. 12.—Simultaneons mouth- and nose-tracings ot (A) French Plante (female v-ice) ;
(K) English g/ant (male voice). Note-the absence of # in French.
Fic. 13.—Simulraneous mouth- and no e-tracings of (A) side: (DB) sign;
l
SAAR Www .
|
~ 1)
(C) nine; and (D) nincB’
harmonics, c’, g/; c”, e", g", efc.
This fact is made evident by put-
ting the mouth into a series of posi-
tions which will act as resonators
and reinforce different harmonies
one after the other. If only one
position is taken up by the mouth,
some harmonic or other is necessarily
reinforced, though it is extremely
difficult to detect which, But by mak-
ing rapid changes from one mouth-
position to another, the successive
harmonics become clearly audible
by contrast. The speech-movement
which makes these harmonics come
out most clearly is to start by hold-
ing the tongue in the position of
the English sound of ng and round-
ing the lips and gradually separat-
ing them. At close quarters the
effect is that of an arpeggio played
on a tiny harp. If the voice-note
is changed, the. same+ arpeggio is
heard in a different key.
This phonetic experiment may or
may not prove to have some direct
value in the direction of elucidating
pronounce. in cockney-fashion. Note the difference in the nose-tracings. [he words were all problems of sound-quality, but at any
re SPP PAS : ok hen be
said on the monotene BD e=- —} this being the note to which the nose-tambour hap pened * bade it is useful as a practica: demon
en stration of the presence of har-
to re-pond besr. monics in a musical sound.
>t
NO. 25013. VOL. TOO |
— OctoseR 4, 1917].
NATURE
99
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
ee INTELLIGENCE.
Lonpon.—During the session 1917-18 Prof. John
Adams, professor of education in the University, will
‘give two courses of lectures which will be open without
fee to teachers. The first course will begin on October
13, and will be on ‘Collective Psychology.’’ The
‘second course. will be on ‘ Attention,” and will begin on
January 19, 1918. A course of lectures on ‘The Prac-
‘tical Applications of the Study of Weather’’ will be
eS n at the Meteorological Office, South Kensington,
by. Sir Napier Shaw, on Fridays during the ‘second
eae beoning on January 25. The fortnightly meet-
ings of the Meteorological Office for the discussion of
important contributions to current meteorology. in
Colonial or foreign journals will be resumed at 5 p.m.
on Monday, October 22. The lectures are addressed
to advanced students of the University and to others
interested in the subject. Admission is free, by ticket
j tained on ‘application at the Meteorological
= following are among ‘the public lectures
4
—18 :—At University College : October 8,
imate in the Empire, Prot. L..W. Lyde;
The Effect of the War on Municipal .En-
d Public Health, H. Percy Boulnois; Octo.
etics and its Value from .the. Impérial
_Jones; October 31, Scientific Methods
‘Study and their Importance to the Em-
-E. Palmer; six Newmarch lectures on
Economics, and some. Problems: of the
Higgs, beginning on November 7.° At
ege: October 31, The Problems of ‘the
H. Thomson; November 14, The De-
ropical Africa (the name of the lecturer
need later). At the London School of
ctober 12, The Commercial Geography
jire, Prof. A. W. Kirkaldy; October 19,
aur F. Pease; November 2, Mineral Oil,
Prof. J. S. S. Brame; November 16, The Rarer Key
_ Minerals, Sydney J. Johnstone. Arrangements as to
_ further lectures will be announced later. The subjects
dealt with will be iron and manganese ores, artificial
_ manures, fodder, timber, wood-pulp and paper-making
2 ade tea, meat, leather and tanning mate-
ah
__ A MEssaGE from the New York correspondent of the
Times states that the trustees of Columbia University
have expelled Prof. H. J. Dana and Prof. ‘J.
McKeen Cattell, professor of psychology, whose dis-
loyal attitude was “doing grave injustice’ to the in-
stitution. Dr. Murray Butler pointed out, in a state-
‘ment recently made by him, that before the entrance
of the United States into the war complete freedom
of expression could not) be denied to members.. of
faculty, but after the declaration of war, by Congress
_ it became the duty of everyone either on the rolls of
the faculty or on the rolls of students to support the
- loyal enforcement of all the laws of the United States.
___ A MEETING will be held in the theatre of the Institu-
_ tion of Civil Engineers. on October 25, at 3.30 p.m.,
for the purpose of considering the establishment of a
central organisation for improvement in, and_ better
_ co-ordination of, engineering training and the appoint-
ment of a representative committee of engineering and
educational interests to initiate action. Sir Maurice
_ Civil Engineers, will preside, and representative en-
gineers and educationists from all branches of these
agit have signified their intention to be present.
ose interested are requested to communicate with
Mr. A. P. M. Fleming, British Westinghouse Co.,
NO. 2501, VOL. 100]
studies arrangéd for the first term of the.
|
Trafford Park, -Manchester, or Mr. A.. E.. Berriman,
chief engineer, Daimler Co., Coventry; who are acting
as honorary organisers for the committee responsible
for arranging this. meeting.. ;
THE summer course of lectures given by Prof. Con-
rady, on the designing and. pomputinny of telescope
systems, in connection with the newly formed depart-
ment of technical optics at’ the Imperial College of
Science and Technology, South Kensington, has been
a great success. Sixty-six students enrolled, of which
number no fewer: than forty-two came direct.from the
workshop. This result is especially gratifying’ when
it is remembered that the course was an entirely new
experiment, ‘as it’ constituted the first attempt, it is.
believed, in the history of optics to.deal with the sub-
ject of designing and computing in a course of public
lectures. At an early date—of which due notice will
be given—further courses of lectures will be given on -
optical designing by Prof. Conrady, and on “* The Con-
struction, Theory, and Use of Optical Measuring In-
struments’’ by Mr. L. C. Martin.
THE number of universities and colleges in the
British Isles providing training for medical men and
professional chemists is now large enough to make
many parents and suardians feel the need for guidance.
in-making a_ selection, and they will welcome the
special educational issues recently published by the
| Lancet (August 25), the British Medical Journal (Sep-
tember 8), and the Chemical News (September 7). In
each case detailed information is given of the courses
-of study, the staffs, fees, and so on, at each impor-
tant college, and in the case of our medical contem-
_poraries guidance is provided as to the facilities for
| practical study at the more important hospitals.
De-
.scriptive articles by writers of experience also explain
the steps necessary for students who desire to become
practising medical men or chemists. From the British
Medical Journal we gather that the effects of the war’
upon the medical profession, and especially upon medi-
cal education, have been profound and far-reaching.
Last year the Army and Navy together were employ-
ing upwards of 12,000 medical men, and this number
must now be much greater. Before the war some
3300 medical officers‘ were accredited to the Services
vear by year.’ As regards the number of medical
students, between the years 1910 and 1914 the annual
entry of first-year medical students averaged some
1440. Since the war the number of ‘these entries has
increased by several hundreds a year. -In May, 1916,
the whole number of medical students was 6103, in-
cluding 1379 women; in «January, ‘1917, the whole
number was 6682, including 1735 women. ‘The third-
year students, from whom most’of the newly qualified
practitioners of 1919 will come, numbered in January
last only 572 men and 261 women. It is now clear.
that certainly in 1918 and 1919 a serious shortage of
newly qualified medical practitioners must be looked for,
though an increase may be expected in 1920 and. Ig2t.
CALENDARS and. prospectuses continue to reach. us
from .colleges and. technical institutions. in different
parts of the-country, and the particulars they. provide
' of the courses of study which have. been arranged
' for the forthcoming session show. that the authorities
| and
Fitzmaurice, C.M.G., president. of the Institution of | Ur ‘ Lon .
| students passed University examinations during last
have spared no pains to meet the need for. scientific
technical education in the districts for which
they are responsible. The character of the work car-
ried on at Birkbeck College, London, is indicated by
the fact that thirty members of the staff are recognised
teachers of the ‘University of London, sixty-eight
session, of whom twenty-three graduated in arts and
science, and four war degrees also were conferred.
The usefulness of the college is much curtailed by its
limited accommodation. The pressing need is for in-
100
NATURE
[OcrosEr 4, 1917
creased space, and it may be hoped that ere long the
governing body will be provided with sufficient funds
to make it possible to secure college buildings worthy
of the excellent work which has been accomplished
here. The work at Armstrong College, Newcastle-
upon-Tyne,*is being done under difficulties. The col-
lege buildings have been in the occupation of the War
Office since August, 1914, and the various departments
are housed temporarily in different buildings. Pass
and honours degrees are awarded, on the conditions
laid down in the prospectus, in both pure and applied
science. (andidates who have qualified for the pass
degree of B.Sc. may proceed, with the approval of
the Board of the Faculty of Science, with the course
of study in the honours school, and in applied science
can take up one of the following subjects :—Agricul-
ture, mechanical, marine, civil, or electrical engineer-
ing, naval architecture, mining, metallurgy. The
Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agricul-
ture, which was founded in 1901 to provide for agri-
cultural education and research in the central and
south-eastern counties cf ° Scotland, has arranged
classes in conjunction with the science faculty of Edin-
burgh University, constituting a full course of theo-
retical and practical teaching in agriculture and the
allied sciences. The services of the college staff are
at the disposal of farmers who are investigating new
conditions or special problems arising out of farming
operations. Full particulars can be obtained from the
offices of the college, 13 George Square, Edinburgh.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, September 17.—M. Camille
Jordan in the chair.—A. Lacroix; The peridotites of
the Pyrenees and the other intrusive non-felspathic
rocks which accompany them. Descriptions of the
lherzolites, cortlandites, ariegites, and hornblendites,
together with complete chemical analyses of twenty-
one specimens.—M. Petrovitch: A new method of
numerical evaluation of the coefficients of series.—C.
Benediks ;: A new thermo-electric effect.. The author’s
results are contrary to the law of Magnus, and show
that in a homogeneous metallic circuit an asymmetrical
distribution of temperature may give rise to an electro-
motive force.—J. B. Tauleigne and G. Mazo: The
method of monocular stereoscopy especially applicable
to radiography.—M. Mazérés: A new method of ex-
traction with the radioscopic screen: the method of
concordances.—D. Keilin: A new Nematode, Aprocto-
nema entomophagum. The new species was found as
a parasite in the larve of Sciara pullula.—E, Roubaud ;
Can French Anopheles transmit malaria in non-marshy
regions? A. maculipennis from the Paris district has
been proved to be capable of transmitting malaria
(Plasmodium vivax and P. praecox), and do
not possess any special refractory properties. Since
malarial cases are being introduced from the Eastern
front, it is obvious that special precautions against the
spread of the disease are indicated.—A. Laveran: Re-
marks on the preceding communication of M.
Roubaud. An account of the measures which have
been taken in France to prevent the spread of malaria
from infected soldiers.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
Survey of India. General Report, 1915-16. From
October 1, 1915, to September 30, 1916. (Calcutta.)
2s. 8d.
Memoirs of
Vol. xlii., part 2.
4s.
the Geological Survey of India.
Vol. xlv., part 1. (Calcutta.) Each
NO. 2501, VOL. 100]
Composition and Nutritive Value of Feeding Stuffs.
By Prof. T. B. Wood. (Cambridge: At the University —
Press.) 1s. net. ; 7
Memoirs of the Geological Survey, England and
Wales. Explanation of Sheet 329. The Geology of ©
the Country around Bournemouth. Second edition, —
By H. J. O. White. Pp. vi+79. With separate map.
(London: H.M.S.O.) 2s. net.
The Discovery of America, 1492-1584. Edited by —
P. F. Alexander. Pp. xviii+212.. (Cambridge: At —
the University Press.) 3s« net. BS ms |
Insetti delle Case e dell’ Uomo e Malattie che Diffon- —
dono. By Prof. A. Berlese. Pp. xii+293. (Milano: —
U. Hoepli.) 4.0 lire. : t
Celestial Objects. for Common Telescopes.
Rev. T. W. Webb. Sixth edition, thoroughly revised
by the Rev. T. E. Espin. Two vols. Vol. i., pp. xx+
253; vol. ii., pp. vili+320. (London: Longmans and —
Co.) Each 7s. 6d. net. St 3
The Elements of Refrigeration. By Prof. A.M. —
Greene, jun. Pp. vi+472. (New York: J. Wiley and ~
Sons, Inc.; London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 18s. 6d.
net. iz
Alternating-Current Electricity and its et :
to Industry. Second Course. By W. H. Timbie and
Prof. H. H. Higbie. Pp..ix+729. (New. York: J.
Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall,
Ltd.) 13s. 6d. net.
CONTENTS. PAGE
The New Education Bill. ..... So) a eee 8L
Health and the State >. 2.5.45. be eee Shoah 82
Optical Theories. 2 2 3. 5 se 83
Our Bookshelf =. . aw No ee rep rast
Letters to the Editor:—
On the Alterations of Tone produced by a Violin-
**Mute.“—C, V. Raman vests maa)
Origin of Flints.—Fredk. Chepman . . 8S,
Butterfly v. Wasp.—The Ven. Archdeacon Arthur
F.Clarke pane poi ae ee
The Convolvulus Hawk-moth.—Right Hon. Sir
Herbert Maxwell, Bart., F.R.S... 85
The Ethnology of Scotland. By Prof. A. Keith, ve
F.R.S. emer Sree lieh oe
The Beginnings of Porcelain in China, By Dr. a =
J Oot su wrasse ¢ oon» pale See «i RES
Notes boa ee a ae wike op), ecm 89.
Cur Astronomical Column :—
September Meteors: 4: o.[o\0.5 0 ) Soe en + 93
Comet 19163.( Wolf) 5 0.0.6. eee + wh ice ae
A Colour Scale for Stars. ..... een at 93
An Australian Chemical Institute ...... i Seas
Child-study and Education. By Prof. E. P. .
Culverwell ae Tate ate lig: 9,2, “eta ine renee boegi
The Hydraulic Resources of France. By E. S.
Hodgson . . PES EMar Ty Cea ae
Ethnological Work in Queensland ........ 95
The Soils of Hawaii. ByE.J.R.. ...... 95
Experimental Phonetics and its Utility to the
Linguist. (/Z//ustrated.) By Daniel Jones .... 96
University and Educational Intelligence .... 99
Societies and-Academies. .......4. ot pines BOO
Books Received 2. i. Mee tka eee ee
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. : Mey ah
Editorial Communications to the Editor. —
' Telegraphic Address: Puusis, Lonpon.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
- | NATURE
10[
: a OCTOBER 1r, 1917.
| MARSHALL'S ‘EXPLOSIVES. si
es. By A. Marshall. Second edition.
ii., Properties and Tests. Pp. ix+4r11—
. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1917.)
va 3s. net the two vols.
’ with the oe Mata of apatite Special
ves, Stability, and the Analysis of
te als. There has been some re-arrangement
the matter since the issue of the first edition;
example, coal-mining explosives are compre-
ively dealt with in a special chapter, and
ther chapter is: devoted to naval and military
sives.
ere has been considerable extension of the
‘section devoted to the power of explosives, both
on the theoretical and the practical’ side. The
French’ modification of the well-known Trauzl
test is. introduced, and the earth test, in which
the explosive is’ buried in soil which has been
undisturbed for years, and the enlargement of the
‘after firing measured and _ its capacity
determined. Reference is made also te a test in
c concrete blocks.
In dealing with initiators ‘af explosion, which
gan with flame and developed through the flint
d steel to the use of fulminate of mercury com-
sitions, we have the latest development for
high explosives referred to, namely,
the use of compound detonators where ‘fulminate
pr ovides the first step, and its action communi-
De to such nitro-aromatic explosives as
tr otyl (trinitrotoluene) or tetryl (tetranitro-
methylaniline), which, in turn, bring about the
d tonation of the main charge. ’ Other alternatives
to the fulminates are the azides. In all these
highly sensitive substances there appears to exist
a state of great strain in the crystals; this is
‘Or rmed by their strong double refraction, and
the larger the crystals the higher their sensitive-
ss to shock. While the azides are not so
G bleak ” as the fulminates, by combination with
nitro-aromatic explosives very effective results are
obtained. Azides have one advantage over ful-
inates besides. less sensitiveness, for fulminate
deteriorates on storage, especially if the tempera-
ure is high or the atmosphere damp. One per
.€ of of water renders fulminate useless; lead
, on the other hand, is much more permanent,
ind 5 per cent. of moisture has been found to
nake no perceptible difference in its action. Mr.
larshall quotes extensively data on the quantities
f different initiators required for various explo-
ives.
For — gelatinised tosatycseine explosives
*renforts,” or “boosters,” consisting of short
rass tubes of a size to fit over the detonator and
tharged with trotyl, or other explosive of
similar type, are employed. For high-explosive
hell, where premature detonation must be
endered impossible, or at least most improbable,
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
cay ity
CLO nating
|
’
the use of a powerful sensitive detonator is out
of the question, and for picric acid charges picric
powder (ammonium . picrate and saltpetre) is
employed with a suitable detonator, whilst with
the more insensitive trotyl the priming charge is
sometimes the same explosive in the form of
powder or loosely compressed pellets, but more
usually tetryl, and we are told that this is one of
the chief uses of the latter, which is now manu-
factured on a considerable scale. There is some
repetition in this section, much the same infor-
mation being given under ‘Ignition and Detona-
tion” and ‘‘ Fuses.”
The influence of the war is naturally seen in
extended space being devoted in the section on
naval and military explosives to mines, torpedoes,
the various types of shell, grenades, ete.
Naturally, the description is only general.
Illustrations of the fragmentation of high-explo-
sive and armour-piercing shell are given from the
excellent paper by Major E. P. O’Hern which
appeared in the Smithsonian Report for 1914.
In the important and excellent section on
stability tests the principal additions are to be
found in the Abel heat test. On this standard
test there have been much discussion and investi-
gation. There can be no doubt as to its great
value if due observance is taken of the conditions
and procedure. In 1909 a joint committee was
appointed representing the Home Office, the
Admiralty, the War Office, and the trade, and a
first report was issued in 1914, together with a
memorandum of instructions, specification of
apparatus, etc. With this report at hand, Mr.
Marshall has been able to extend considerably on
the test.
In the last section, on materials and their
analysis, Mr. Marshall has added some useful
matter relating to the important question of
sampling. A further extension is found in
examples of calculation for the revivification of
waste acids from nitration plants, an important
matter both in manufacturing and in conserving
supplies. More space is devoted to the important
raw material cotton, including specifications in
different countries. Another material the import-
ance of which has increased enormously. is
ammonium nitrate. To the examination of this
body only a few lines were allocated in the first
edition, but much more space is now devoted to
it, although no reference is to be found to pos-
sible organic contamination, which, with the intro-
duction of nitrate from coal carbonisation, is of
great importance.
Excellent as the first edition of Mr. Marshall’s
work was, his second edition places the book
amongst the best technical books which have been
written. It is by far the most complete exposi-
tion on the subject which has appeared, and only
on very minor points can the critic find fault
with the subject-matter or detect small omissions.
One might, however, plead for more systematic
nomenclature with adherence to one name for a
particular explosive throughout, with mention of
alternatives in the section principally devoted
to it.
G
rO2
NATURE
s
[OcToBER II, 1917 |
THE CAR AND ITS DESIGN.
Text-book on Motor-car Engineering... By A.
Graham Clark. Second edition. Vol. 1., Con-
struction.. Pp. xix+437- (1914.) Vol. il,
Design. Pp. xvit+368+21. (1917.) (London:
Constable and Co., Ltd.) Price 8s. 6d. net
each vol. .
to these days of science applied to industry, it
has become the rule for each branch of
trade to have its own standard text-book. It is
therefore somewhat curious, the motor industry
being the highly organised and scientific business
that it is, that it does not possess its own vade
mecum. Of writers on matters motorish there are
enough, although not many, perhaps, with that
engineering and scientific training, together with
applied knowledge of the subject, which are
essential to one who would take the part of
professor to the experts. No doubt that is the
rub. f
For this reason amongst others, we welcome
the second edition of Mr. Graham Clark’s book,
particularly as in this edition it has grown to two
' volumes, and approaches more nearly the compre--
hensive text-book than it formerly did. This is
not to say that it is likely to be hailed as the
standard book of the industry—Mr. Clark knows
the industry too well even to pretend that it is—
but we can unhesitatingly affirm that it is the
best English work on the subject.
The two volumes, aptly named, as they are, —
“Construction ” and’“ Design,” might with equal
pertinence have been entitled “Elementary ” and
“Advanced.” They will stand in that relation to
the student, notwithstanding the author’s inten-
tion that they should be readable as separate and
individual publications. As is natural, perhaps,
only those well acquainted with most of that with
which the first volume deals will be able profit-
ably to peruse the second. To those who already
possess a fair smattering of mechanical knowledge
of the motor-car, and are desirous of con-
verting that, perhaps, superficial acquaintance
into technical proficiency, vol. ii. will be in-
valuable. Broadly speaking, students, appren-
‘tices, and junior draughtsmen will profitably
acquire and read both volumes. Senior draughts-
men, budding designers, and all those whose
knowledge of the construction of a car is more
than superficial will find all that they require in
the second volume. There are others, too, who,
while desirous of possessing a sound knowledge
of the mechanism of a car and of the broad
principles which underlie its construction, are un-
likely ever to be so placed as to need the technical
information which the second part of this work
provides. They will be sufficiently equipped
with vol. i.
The first volume goes right back to the begin-
ning of the subject, so that the reader may come
to it with his mind, as regards its subject, a
perfect blank; he will still be able to read and
digest its contents. Such a one will naturally
take advantage of that special feature of its
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
d
a
make-up which provides for the skipping of the !
more difficult paragraphs,
asterisk, on first reading.
marked with an
The principal portion of the first volume is
devoted to detail descriptions of the parts of a
car, indicating their position in the chassis, dis~
cussing their functions, and finally, in as simple
and non-technical a manner as possible, the nature
of the stresses which each will have to withstand.
In this manner are dealt with in turn the various —
units which form the anatomy of a car. Twenty
full and interesting chapters are thus utilised,
including a useful and comprehensive one on
lubrication and lubricants, and also a couple of
especial interest just now, on petrol and other
fuels which may be used in its stead. The remain-—
ing four which go to complete the book are
apportioned to the steam car and the electric
vehicle. An appendix comprising some official
examination papers on the subject and various
useful tables conclude the volume.
The reading of the second volume will be for
the student a far more adventurous affair than
the study of the first. The more purely technical
side of the subject, hitherto kept discreetly in the
background, is now openly portrayed in the full
and glaring light of day. In Mr. Clark’s hands,
however, the prospect ceases to be an alarming
- one.
The arrangement of the matter is very similar
to that of the previous volume. A preliminary
chapter on materials of construction is followed
by several on the power unit and its details. The
other parts of the chassis then receive attention
in turn. jie
A method of treatment appears to have been
standardised, and each component is treated in
a way which should prove particularly helpful to
the student. It varies, of course, to some extent
according to the nature of the part under con-
sideration, but the difference is one of detail
rather than of principle. A brief opening para-
graph deals with the materials which are com-
monly used for the construction of the part; this
is followed by an outline of the general conditions
which govern the design. The nature of the
stresses to which the part is subject is next
explained, and this is naturally succeeded by a
disclosure of the actual methods of determina-
tion of the proportions of the part. Wherever
advisable the chapter is illustrated by drawings
or photographs depicting selected examples of
current design. Logically, the author could have
referred his readers to the preceding book for
these illustrations; their inclusion in the second
volume has the desired effect of rendering that
volume complete in itself and self-contained.
We are inclined to approve the somewhat un-
usual disposition of the necessary tables. These,
instead of being collected together and placed at
the end of the book in the form of an appendix,
are inserted in the text as they are required. It
might have been better if, instead of indexing
them, they had been repeated at the close in the
usual manner. .
1 2 OcrosER Il, 1917]
NATURE
103
|) We cannot praise too highly the clearness of
| Fdiction and simplicity of expression which pre-
vail throughout the work. Were it not for the
rations, we should have been at some trouble
id any cause for criticism of the work at all.
line blocks are good; they would, however,
been better in many cases if the size had
f-tones are, almost without exception,
in quality, besides sharing with the line
S the fault, in many examples, of being of
itable dimensions. ‘The price limitation may
had someting to do with this marring fea-
or the work is undoubtedly cheap as such
cations go. A little more discrimination in
‘d to the scale of the drawings as reproduced,
1 the preparation of an entirely new set of
tones from original photographs, would have
nced the value of the book to a degree which
vould be out of all proportion to the additional
penditure involved. .
et OUR BOOKSHELF.
dard Method of Testing Juvenile Mentality by
@ Binet-Simon Scale, with the Original
uestions, Pictures, and Drawings. By N. J.
elville. With an introduction by Dr. W.
lealy. Pp. xi+142. (Philadelphia and London:
_ J. B. Lippincott Co., 1917.) Price 8s. 6d. net.
Att who have had experience of the Binet-
non scale, or are acquainted with the literature
e subject, must have felt the difficulties which
valuable little book is intended to counter.
The use of any series of mental tests depends
so much | delicate handling in the first place,
and upon intelligent interpretation-in the second,
hat the comparison of one set of results with
another, even when taken in the gross, is always
spect. The difficulty still exists although the
com Parison concerns the work of the same
inquirer. When we come to the pronouncement
on the mentality of a particular child, the chances
of error are enormously increased. -A physical
neasurement may be repeated. Accuracy demands
that it should be, perhaps many times. _ Repeti-
Hon in the case of the Binet-Simon scale is out
of the question. The importance of standardising
90th the way it is used and the interpretation of
results cannot, therefore, be exaggerated.
_ Mr. Melville’s handbook explains the funda-
mental object of the scale and describes the
echnique of its use with great care and precision.
Jothing can make such an instrument ‘“‘ fool-
roof,” though the author points out the pit-
we
es
2
~~
ey
seful data for assisting final judgment.
The book is in no sense a text-book.
e warmly recommended.
rongly bound.
A thumb index gives ready
groups of tests, and there is a good bibliography.
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
more carefully selected. On the other hand, |
| acquainted.
alls and warns off the incompetent. . Specimen |
ecord forms as used in the Philadelphia schools —
‘e given, and three supplementary tables provide |
It is |
ssentially a guide to practice, and as such may |
It is well printed and |
ecess to the pages dealing with the several |
Papers from the Geological Department, Glasgow
University. Vol, + iii. 1916. (Glasgow:
James Maclehose and Sons, 1917.)
Tuts collection of papers, previously published
in various journals, records once more the
activity of the geological school’ in the University
of Glasgow. Prof. Gregory’s address on Henry
Darwin Rogers, professor of natural history in
the University from 1857 to 1866, brings before
the present generation of geologists views on
mountain-building and on the relative rapidity of
certain tectonic changes which are, indeed, worthy
of consideration. Prof. Gregory’s valuable re-
view of the economic mineralogy of the war-
zones has been already noticed in NATURE
(vol. xcix., p. 110). With Miss Jean B. Trench,
the same author describes Eocene corals from
New Guinea, which further support the view that
the Malay region was isolated in the early Cain-
ozoic epochs. Montipora, which is here traced
back to the Eocene, is thus indicated as origi-
nating in the western Pacific, as reaching the
Indian Ocean, where it still lives, after the
Miocene period, and as arriving on the shores
of the Red Sea in Pleistocene times. It is un-
known from either Sind or Europe, and the only
known fossil species are those of the Pliocene
of Borneo and the raised beaches of the Guif of
Suez. Among several papers elucidating local
geology, which naturally form the strong point of
a collection such as this, we may note Mr. W. R.
Smellie’s “Igneous Rocks of Bute” (see NATURE,
vol. xcvil., p. 350) and Mr. Tyrrell’s careful ad-
ditions to our knowledge of the petrography of
Arran.
Se Ano Gs
Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society.
Second series. Vol. xv. Pp. liii+454.
(London: F. Hodgson, 1916.) ;
THE latest volume of the Proceedings of the
London Mathematical Society keeps up to the
usual high standard. As regards pure analysis,
attention may be directed to Prof. and Mrs.
W. H. Young’s papers on integrals and deriv-
ates, because they deal with fundamentally new
notions of the integral calculus, with which every
serious mathematician will have to make himself
Mr. G. H. Hardy contributes a
paper of great interest on Dirichlet’s divisor
problem, and there is a little gem by Mr. T. L.
Wren on the two-three birational space trans-
formation, which incidentally gives a new, and
we think finally satisfactory, aspect of the double-
six configuration. In applied mathematics we
have a paper by Prof. Bromwich on normal co-
ordinates, based on the theory of complex in-
tegrals; one by Sir J. Larmor on transition from
vapour to liquid; and one by Mr. F. B. Pidduck
on the motion of ions, discussed by means of an
integral equation. We must content ourselves
with noting these few papers out of the whole
thirty. The volume will doubtless receive the
' full attention that it deserves.
104 NATURE [OcTOBER II, 1917 q
separating line cut the circle approximately diametric-
ally, and in bringing the edges of the upper semicircle
into alignment with those of the lower. If now the
resolving power of the objective is diminished by de-
creasing its diameter, the point image will be of larger
diameter, but the coincidence operation will not be
more difficult than before. Indéed, if the objective
diameter is so small that the image is sansa by
distinct diffraction circles, the operation will be facili-
tated, as such lines constitute ideal coincidence objects.
The accuracy depends upon the character of the edges
as regards sharpness, and not upon the size of the
image of the ideal point. Bs %
The coincidence observation figures quoted by Prof. —
Cheshire are quite ordinary. So far as the unaided —
eye is concerned, the only limit to resolving power —
that the writer is aware of is the quality of the
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 Modern Range-finder.
Pror Boys, in his review of Prof. Cheshire’s
pamphlet on “‘The Modern Range-finder” in NATURE
of September 6, has raised certain questions which
may be amplified with advantage. :
The application of stereoscopic principles to range-
finding is due to Hector Alexander de Grousilliers,
who communicated his invention to Messrs. Carl Zeiss,
4
ied
by whom it was elaborated and constructed. As in
principle the stereoscopic range-finder is so simple and
beautiful it is desirable that the name of the true
inventor should be remembered.
Prof. Boys is scarcely correct in stating that
the stereoscopic. range-finder was proposed by a
workman in the Zeiss works. De Grousilliers was a
chemist and an engineer in the Continental sense, who
lived at Charlottenburg. His British patent, No. 17048,
was applied for on September 11, 1893. It is interest-
ing to note that the corresponding German patent,
identical in substance, and applied for on January 3,
1893, is issued in the name of Messrs. Carl Zeiss.
As Prof. Boys says, it is fascinating to sweep the
scale past more or less distant buildings and see the
divisions of the distance scale pass behind or in front
of the different objects; but when the observations are
made upon objects of known ranges and the results are
analysed, the fascination is generally tempered by dis-
appointment.
It has been said with considerable truth that a
coincidence observation is a fact, whereas a stereoscopic
one is an impression; the former is based upon a self-
contained micrometer measurement effected by one eye,
while the latter is the result of balancing the effects
produced in two separate eyes.
Prof. Boys suggests that for anti-aircraft work the
stereoscopic range-finder may be of advantage, owing
to its speed of operation, on the assumption, presum-
ably, that an object in any part of the field can be.
compared with the fixed scale and that accurate direc-
tion of the instrument upon the target within the
limits of the field is therefore not required. In prac-
tice this is not the case. If any reasonable accuracy
is to be obtained, the object must be brought close to
the appropriate mark or on to the imaginary “plastik”’
line between two marks; that is to say, the instrument
must be both trained and elevated with considerable
accuracy. In a coincidence range-finder the image
must be brought to the separating line, but it may
occupy any position along the length of the line.
In a stereoscopic instrument it is necessary to compare
the image with one mark, then with the neighbouring
one, and, finally, to locate its position between them.
Compared with coincidence, the stereoscopic observa-
tion is not more speedy, and therefore not more suit-
able, for anti-aircraft or similar services, where speed
of operation is essential. It involves as careful direc-
tion and the accuracy attained is much inferior. Great
claims as regards accuracy have been made for stereo-
scopic range-finders, but these have not been substan-
tiated in practice.
With regard to the question of accuracy, the resolv-
ing power of the objective is not one of the limiting
factors in the case of coincidence observations. Sup-
pose, for example, that the image is a point circle;
then the coincidence operation consists in making the
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
definition of the edges of the image at the retina. On
natural objects the unaided eye can resolve less than —
four seconds, and under good conditions of definition”
an accuracy of two seconds has been obtained with
considerable consistency in coincidence observations,
but plus or minus three to four seconds is the more
usual practice. James WEIR FRENCH. —
Anniesland, Glasgow, September 27. x
I am obliged to Mr. French for correcting me in the.
matter of the origin of the stereoscopic range-finder.
My statement that the idea originated with one of
Zeiss’s workmen was made on the basis only of my
recollection of conversation with Dr. Czapski at the
Paris Exhibition in 1900, and it may well be that my
recollection is at fault, or possibly that I misunderstood
what I was told.
When suggesting that this type of range-finder might
have some advantage for anti-aircraft work, the o
servation I had in mind. was sweeping the scale of
distance slowly across the object and noticing which
division came within and which beyond, and then not
more than a rude guess at the proportion between:
Such a process I considered would give a very quick
but less accurate range than that given by a coinci-
dence instrument, but nevertheless a very useful range
in view of the rapid and erratic change of distance.
The most aggravating property of the stereoscopic
instrument is the transparency that it imposes, even
upon buildings, for the more distant scale divisions
remain in view as they pass behind them. 5 ee
: C. V. Boys. ~
A Plea for the Fuller Utilisation of Goal.
THE important letter from Major M@&rtin (Nature,
August 16) on the above subject involves many con-
siderations, and I would suggest that the following
points merit attention ~~ |
(1) It seems probable that after the war there will be
a demand for greater home comfort among the poorer
paid classes of the community. The supply of very
cheap gas for heating and cooking should improve
matters greatly. A
The cost would be further reduced if arrangements
could be made to fit houses with surface-combustion
heaters, cookers, and the like (cf. Prof. Bone’s experi-
ments).
At present it appears to pay many gas companies to
supply ordinary gas stoves on specially favourable »
terms to consumers, so that there seems no reason wht
surface-combusters should not be supplied from vari-
ous depéts in different districts. If the gas were
distributed at a high pressure, it should be possible —
to devise some injector arrangement which would
obviate the necessity for the use of compressed air, 2
NATURE
105
y of which is necessary with the design of sur-
ezaerion apparatus at present in use.
on “Coal-gas for Motor Vehicles” (Times
neering Supplement, August 31) gives’ Some
figures ihdicaiing the effect of compressing coal-gas on
s calorific value. It seems that a suitable pressure
d probably not exceed 300 Ib. per sq. in. If this
t y high for use in a house, the gas could be passed
joc a reducing valve before entering any group
Saas. ose ade gas would be supplied to a
up of districts with reducing valves where neces-
“just asa high-tension electric supply has trans-
s placed where required. .-
As the gas would be supplied in bulk, its com-
ion in any one large district would be uniform,
facilitating the adjustment of the flameless com-
s. In fact, they could be standardised, and sent
it ready for use from a central depét for each large
. The combusters would have to be fool-proof ;
s by ing to have adjustments only pos-
y the use of special tools.
P=CO
ntal work is necessary, but the benefits to the
ity would be so great that it appears worth
starting these experiments as soon as possible.
> heatir S eacamia with absence of smoke is
z piesured that the gas would be distributed
h weldless steel tubes, so far as possible, above
for convenience of repair, etc., and along rail-
where possible. BROWNING.
hipaa Road, St. John’s Wood, N.W.8,
oh. "September 16.
(October 7).—A supply of high-pressure gas
d pg of ofc value to firms running a service of
niga the gas being much cheaper than
the pressure expediting the filling of the
-r1a a's
Resse: s letter raises a number of prac-
ints which deserve attention.
former letter was mainly concerned with the
servation of a great national asset. Prof. Brown-
ocr with the matter in the interest of the gas
1) It is iiipoasible’ to estimate the amount of coal
labour which are wasted every day in keeping up
usands of little domestic fires to boil an occasional
e, or the bboy, of coal and labour which a supply
on p gas would bring about, but they would cer-
y be very great.
I am sorry not to have kept in touch with Prof.
P later experiments, but they are undoubtedly
nm aig lines. The key to successful heating is
and the Beene fs cig eloagerii from a sur-
ice increases very. much faster than the temperature.
‘therefore, the principle of. dL Aeooitaenbriaticid can
ied to domestic heaters, there should be a great
n comfort, even with a lesser consumption of
"Tt te interesting to contrast the enormous strides
ge ich have been made of late years in the efficiency
“methods of lighting (both gas and electric) with the
omparative stagnation in the field of domestic heating.
rue, the margin of waste in the latter has not been
nt so great as in the case of the former, but there
1 plenty of room for economy, and Prof. Bone’s
“Gye wi seem to point the way.
2) It will be convenient to deliver the gas Sinn the
= elds at a high residual pressure, and it will be
ite feasible to distribute it at high pressure if this
hould be considered desirable. It is a much simpler
"NO. 2502, VOL. 100}
natter to confine gas at a pressure of 220 lb. than elec- ifs
tricity at 220 volts, and the pressure of the gas could
be utilised to deliver air to the surface-combusters.
(3) A good deal of experimental work will be re-
quired to solve the practical problems involved. The
enterprise of our great gas companies will doubtless
be equal to the occasion.
(4) The question of rights of »way ‘will demand very
careful consideration. Weldless steel tubes present
many advantages, but the question of overground v.
underground pipe lines can scarcely be settled offhand.
“ARTHUR J. Martin.
University Hall, Carlyle Square, Chelsea, S.W.3,
September 29.
The Harvest Moon.
THE harvest moon is usually stated to be the full
moon nearest in date to the autumnal equinox, and to
be distinguished by the peculiarity that tor a few suc-
cessive evenings the retardations of the times of rising
are at a minimum.
Now, applying these tests to the full moons of Sep-
tember 1 and 30 of the present year, it will be found
that they are inconsistent. The retardations at Green-
wich, from August 29 to September 4, are, in minutes,
30, 22, 21, 19, 21, 22, an average of 22} minutes;
but, from September 27 to October 3, are 23, 20, 20,
22, 25, 31, an average of 23} minutes, so that for the
full moon of September 1 the retardation was slightly
less than for the full moon of September 30, although
the latter was much nearer the date of the equinox.
Possibly Sir George Greenhill, in his very interesting
article (NATURE, September 27, p. 67), overlooked this
peculiarity, due, of course, to the fact that the moon
was ‘at the first date much nearer the ascending node
than at the second date. I may add that the average
daily retardation in the time of rising is 50} minutes,
the average length of a lunar day being 24h. 503m.
In conclusion, | find that the interval between two
successive returns of the moon to the meridian may be,
in extreme cases, about twelve minutes less, and about
seventeen minutes more, than the average.
C. ‘T. WHITMELL.
Hyde Park, Leeds, September 28.
Invermay,
Folk-iore and Local Names of Woodlice. ,
Amonst the readers of Nature there are many, I
feel sure, who are interested in the folk-lore and via
names of the members of our fauna. May I ny a
to such for any information bearing upon the he
of this letter?
Already nearly one hundred local names, such as
bibble-bug, chisel-hog, cud-worm, palmer, lock-
chester, slater, tiggy-hog, etc., have been obtained, and
the districts noted in which such are in use. Celtic
and Gaelic names are particularly desired.
/WaLTER E. COLtinGe.
The University, St; Andrews, October 4.
The Convolvulus Hawk-moth, = =
In reply to Mr. C. E. Robson’s letter in Nature of
September 20, I write to say that I have lately become
the possessor of two specimens of Sphinx convolvuli.
The first one was caught at Deal on September 12;
it shows signs of wear, and had probably come over
from the Continent. The second I took myself in
Queen Elizabeth’s Walk, Stoke Newington, London,
N., on September 22. It was in perfect condition, and
had every appearance of having just hatched
out. It was resting on a wall close to some
bindweed, and it seems probable that it was bred there.
LaKER.
8 Allerton Road, N.16, October 4.
/
‘among the Central Powers.
106
NATURE
[OcToBER II, 1917
4
ORGANISATION OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
AFTER THE WAR.
Ao the problems comprehended under that
somewhat elastic term ‘‘ Reconstruction,”
none is more important to the economic future of
this nation than the organisation of its chemical
industry. The position in which we stood
immediately after the outbreak of hostilities
revealed only too plainly with what foresight and
craft Germany had organised her trade and linked
up her manufactures in view of the world-wide
conflict upon which she deliberately and ‘‘ of
malice prepense” embarked after forty years of
sedulous preparation. So intimate a union as was
then made manifest between the governing powers
and the leaders of industry, and of chemical
industry in particular, in the common effort to
secure the domination of the world is without a
parallel in history.
The unbridled lust of conquest which moved
_ Germany was not wholly the outcome of an
arrogant and aggressive militarism. The spirit
which still pervades masses of her people shows
that the origin of the war had its roots much more
deeply and widely spread. We are out to crush
Prussianism, by which we mean the unscrupulous
policy which actuates the dynasty which has
become the predominant power and directing force
But Prussianism
would never have obtained its present influence
unless it had appealed to a more deep-seated desire.
than territorial aggrandisement, or a more potent
influence than the spectacle of increased dynastic
pomp and pride. North Germans are far from
being wholly beloved throughout the Empire. Still,
in spite of the existence of other crowned heads -
and other capitals in Germany, Berlin as effectu-
ally rules the destinies of the Empire as Paris does
those of France, which has only one metropolis
and nowadays no dynastic embarrassments. Nor is
militarism so universally popular that, even in
Prussia, it could have maintained the struggle
after so many disappointments and disillusion-
ments and such widespread misery, unless aided
and strengthened by other factors.
The fact is—and we cannot recognise it too
clearly—the underlying and actuating force which
still moves Germany, as it has moved her from the
very beginning of the struggle, of which it is the
real cause, is economic; it is the desire for power
as the means of securing wealth. The process of
peaceful penetration was too slow: she sought by
force to gain, as by a stroke, what the methods of
peace would assuredly have brought her if she had
had only the patience to wait. The military party
are not the sole aggressors; rather they have been
the tools and cat’s-paws of a still larger and more
powerful class, of far wider influence and much
richer in material power and intellectual efficiency,
and united by a definite and common impulse. The
military power of Germany may, and undoubtedly
will, be crushed by military methods, but the
power of that aggressive element in Pan-
Germanism which has its roots in economic
influences can be effectually combated only by
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
‘greed and selfishness have brought her.
economic means—that is,
closest co-operation. ae
The conditions of a lasting peace which are
faintly adumbrated—we cannot say defined—by
Germany’s present Chancellor, and which are
re-echoed, more or less vaguely, by leading
spokesmen of the only one of her Allies that counts’
by organisation and the
among the industrial communities of the world,
clearly indicate that amongst the overwhelming
wreck and ruin that the Central Powers have
brought upon themselves the only salvage that is”
now possible is their economic life, and eyery
effort is to be made to secure it. The rulers of
Germany now realise, as General Smuts tells us, |
that they have lost the war: the legend of their
military invincibility is a myth, and their deluded
people will soon recognise that fact. Their
Chancellor now, apparently, fears that the nations
may enter upon an economic war, and so stamp_
out that phase which Germany herself imported
into it. With nearly the whole of the civilised
world embittered against her, he is plainly appre-
hensive of her future in the struggle to which her
Hence
all the vague talk about the ‘‘freedom of the
seas,’ which is meaningless in the mouths of
those who countenance and direct a piracy which
-Is infinitely more abominable, as an international
menace, than that waged, of old time, by Bar-
bary corsairs or the buccaneers of the Spanish
Main. ;
We, like the Chancellor, deprecate the world-
wide economic warfare he dreads. But we would
remind him that his countrymen, by means fair
and foul, had already embarked upon it, even
before the beginning of military hostilities, and
that now, in their rage and chagrin, they threaten
to continue it with a tenfold violence and persist-
ency. We regard the Chancellor’s pious platitudes
as on a par with his feeble and insincere gene-
ralities about the so-called ‘‘ freedom of the seas.”
His motive is obvious. In both cases he desires
to see the strength of this country undermined,
whilst reserving to Germany unrestricted power to
pursue her present policy. : 4
It behoves us, therefore, to be watchful and
alert. . The Minister of Reconstruction has acted
wisely in appointing a committee, as announced
elsewhere in this issue, to advise him on the subject
of the position of the chemical trades after the war.
Dr. Addison has requested the committee to con-
duct its deliberations with a view to the creation
of some organisation which should be adequately
representative of the trade as a whole, and by
means of which the trade may be enabled here-
after to continue to develop its own resources and
to enlist the closest co-operation of all those
engaged in the chemical industry. - oie
We welcome the appointment of the committee, .
although we have some doubt as to whether its
composition is altogether such as will command the ~
confidence of the chemical trades as a whole. It
consists of four members connected with the
Ministry of Munitions, one gentleman attached
to the Ministry of Shipping, three members
5 _ Octoser 11, 1917]
NATURE
107
~ interested in chemical industry, together with the
) ex-president of the Society of Chemical Industry,
who i is a leading member of the coal-gas industry.
. fhe committee’s terms of reference are pur-
7 posely somewhat vague and general, and it
remains to be seen how they will be interpreted.
In effect, however, they would seem to be limited
‘to the creation, or suggested creation, of an
organisation to be adequately representative of
chemical industry; but, of course, much turns
‘upon the functions with which this organisation
should be endowed and the powers with which it
should be entrusted, and it is in defining these
either make or mar the whole scheme.
The matter is confessedly one of great difficulty
complexity, and involves far-reaching consider-
ns. If the committee’s deliberations result
the creation of what is practically a parliament
of the industry in which all sections are adequately
represented by persons of influence in industrial
commercial circles, and who, by virtue of their
wledge, experience, and position, are able to
ire the confidence and co-operation of the
a ature and of Government departments, Dr.
a Xb s action will undoubtedly result in great
Z
We trust, therefore, that the committee, which,
it must be admitted, is soméwhat bureaucratic in
exion, will take a broad and statesmanlike
view of the question which has been submitted to
it, and will not be hide-bound by purely party and
departmental considerations, or by points of fiscal
policy or the shibboleths of economic doctrinaires.
i present times are somewhat out of joint: the
future is full of changed conditions and demands
4 wide and bold outlook.
‘ In an address delivered to teachers at the Regent
Street Polytechnic on October 6, Prof. W. J.
yess of Cambridge, showed how the huge chemi-
| industry of Germany, primarily based on the
oal-tar industry, and mainly built up by the
nius and skill of her men of science and techno-
logists, some of whom had spent their wanderjahr
in this country, had been subordinated to the
ional effort to secure an economic supremacy
: the world. He pointed out how the true mean-
gE of that object-lesson had still to be learned by
who direct our national policy; he might
co Tip
D OSE
‘influential class which, in the long run,
nanz s and controls our commercial and indus-
rial development, namely, the purely moneyed
ss, which, for the most part, owing to its
artial and limited education, is practically
enorant of the real value and nity of
cience in a civilised community.
_ That such is the case is evident from the past
istory of the synthetic colour industry in this
puntry, where it originated. So long as this
ndustry was under the management and direction
f business men of science, like Sir W. H. Perkin
nd. Edward Chambers Nicholson, it flourished
nd might have been extended. When it was
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
functions and powers that the committee will |
of ioe House of Commons more or less directly |
lave added, also, by that much larger and not |
fastened upon by capitalists who subordinated the
chemist to the counting-house, it gradually lan-
guished and ultimately almost died out. Those
who have succeeded in keeping it alive in this
country have been largely of German or Austrian
extraction, for the most part themselves trained
_ as chemists, or who have had practical knowledge
of the methods and policy of the great organisa-
tions in Germany to which Prof. Pope referred.
There is an uneasy feeling abroad that the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,
in its well-meant efforts to administer the million
pounds with which it has been entrusted, has,
in regard to the resuscitation of the synthetic
colour industry in England, failed to perceive the
true principles by which alone the problem can
be properly solved. This aspect of the matter
may well receive the attention of Dr. Addison’s
committee,
THE STELLENBOSCH MEETING OF THE
SOUTH AFRICAN ASSOCIATION.
HE South African Association for the Advance-
ment of Science met in annual session for
the fifteenth time in what will soon be the “ univer-
sity town ” of Stellenbosch during the first week in
July, under the presidency of Prof. John Orr, of the
South African School of Mines and Technology,
Johannesburg. The sectional meetings were held
in the buildings of the institution at present known
as Victoria College, but which will become the
University of Stellenbosch from April 2, 1918.
On the afternoon of Monday, July 2, the visitors
were Officially welcomed to Stellenbosch by the
Mayor, and on the evening of that ‘day, in the
Conservatorium Hall, the president took the chair
and delivered his address, an abridgment of which
appeared in NATuRE of September 27 (p. 76).
The association met from day to day in five
sections, and ninety-seven papers were submitted,
including the addresses of the five sectional
presidents. Outlines of some of these are
sketched below. :
Prof. W. N. Roseveare, of Natal University
College, Maritzburg, was president of Section A,
and entitled his address “ Mathematical Analysis
in Science.”” He sketched the development of the
Newtonian philosophy as the basis of all the
mechanics of modern civilisation, from Galileo and
Newton to Clerk Maxwell’s electro-magnetic
theory of light and the electron theory. The old
theory had left some facts unexplained, but the
principle of relativity developed during recent
years by Einstein and Minkowski had been put
forward to explain changes in the orbit of Mer-
cury, and had reduced gravitation from a force to
a quasi-geometrical property of space-time.
Prof. M. M. Rindl, professor of chemistry at
Grey University College, Bloemfontein, chose as
the subject of his presidential address to Section B
“Phytochemical Research.” In the course of the
address Prof. Rindl emphasised the fact that
every year many thousands of cattle die within.
the Union of South Africa, and many aboriginals
108
NATURE
[OcToBER II, 1917
accused of culpable homicide are acquitted because
adequate knowledge of the poisonous principles
contained in indigenous plants is lacking. He
urged, as a first step, co-ordination of effort
amongst those actively interested in the problem.
A census of the work already accomplished and '
of that still to be done would be comparatively
simple, but none the less essential.
J. Burtt-Davy occupied the presidential
chair in Section C, which embraces the biological
sciences, and he devoted his address to setting
forth the need for an organised biological survey
of South Africa. An economic survey of the
natural resources of the country had recently
been recommended to the Government by the
Central Committee on Industrial Research. He
pointed out the importance of a biological survey
as part of that economic survey, and suggested,
as means to that end, definite co-ordination of
existing biological workers, together with their
equipment.
The Rev. B. P. J. Marchand presided over Sec-
tion D and discussed in his address certain points
relating to educational matters. He expressed
gratification at the encouraging movements in
the direction of solving the problems connected
with (a) industrial education; (b) gathering in the
large number of children who are not attending
school; and (c) educating the public on the sub-
ject of child-life protection. He announced that
40,0001. was about te be expended on the erec-
tion of an up-to-date technical institute in Cape
Town, and expressed himself in favour of the
establishment of agricultural schools under the
school boards, of rural schools of industry, and
of school farms of an elementary type.
Of Section E the president was the Rev. Noel
Roberts, who began his address by asserting that
the native population of South Africa is undoubt-
edly one of the country’s chief assets. Yet, said
he, year follows year, and nothing is done to
develop so valuable an asset. Only education
can convert this vast amount of latent energy
into productive power, and whether we send him
to school or not, the native is being educated by
the example of the ruling races—often, unfor-
tunately, by the vices and evil habits of the
white man—an education which sends him down-
' hill. Mr. Roberts discussed the hindrances in
_the way of turning the native into a productive
member of the community, and spoke highly of
the lofty attitude generally adopted by the
Government department which administers native
affairs, the effect of which had been to arouse in
the native mind a real affection for the Govern-
ment which protects and cares for them.
The necessary limitations of space forbid
referring in more than a few brief words to some
of the eight dozen papers submitted to the various
sectional meetings.
In Section A Mr. Innes, Union Astronomer,
announced the discovery of a star in the
constellation Centaurus, as near to us as, or pos-
sibly nearer than, a Centauri. Prof. J. T. Morrison
read a paper on problems in terrestrial physics, the
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
immediate outcome of which was the appointment
of a standing committee to promote meteorologi-
cal and geophysical research in South Africa.
Mr. H. Pealing, lecturer in physics at the South
African College, Cape Town, discussed the effect
of vegetation on the rainfall of South Africa, and
incidentally mentioned that the evidence regarding
the desiccation of many large tracts of South
Africa is so overwhelming that few will dispute
the fact. The author of the paper sought to show
that the amount of summer rainfall in districts
far from the coast largely depends on the charac-
ter and quantity of the vegetation in the inter-
vening country. He urged afforestation of all
suitable areas and the cessation of the wholesale
denudation of tree, bush, and grass land.
Dr. S.J. Shand, professor of geology at Victoria
College, ‘read a paper before Section B on the geo-
logy of Stellenbosch, in the course of which he
directed attention to a powerful dislocation that
had occurred along the line of Jonkers Hoek, giv-
ing rise to what may be fairly called the Jonkers
Hoek fault. Dr. A. W. Rogers, director of the geo-
logical survey of the Union, produced an interest-
ing old report, of 250 years ago, on the copper
fields of Namaqualand. Mr. G. F. Britten, of
the Government Chemical Laboratory, Cape
Town, read a paper on Ecklonia buccinalis as a
source of potash. The seaweed occurs in large
quantities on the South African coasts, and Mr.
Britten thinks it would be easy to tecover its
potash on a commercial scale; he urged the
institution of an exhaustive marine survey in this
connection: Prof. G. H. Stanley, of the South
African School of Mines and Technology, Johan-
nesburg, read before the same section a paper
on the prospects and possibilities of a South
African iron industry, in view of the fact that the
pre-war importations of iron and steel. articles into
South Africa used to approximate to six and a
half million pounds sterling in value annually.
He pointed out that on one small range alone,
near Pretoria, above four million tons of ore assay-
ing 45 per cent. of iron or more were in view,
while the wattle timber that was annually burnt
to waste in Natal could furnish 40,000 tons of
charcoal.
Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton, in Section C, showed
how the ancient East African forests, once pro-
bably continuous from Melsetter to Beira, had
been replaced by wooded pasture land. He sug-
gested means for reconquest by forest of the
land so invaded. Prof. J. W. Bews gave a
detailed account of his study of plant succession
in the thorn veld around Maritzburg, and a very
useful contribution was made by Mr. T. R. Sim
on the geographical distribution of the Bryophyta
in South Africa. Dr. T. F. Dreyer contributed
to the section a paper in which he offered sug-
gestions regarding a ee bk: the inherit-
ance of acquired characters. J. Leighton,
in view of the increased demand a paper-making
materials and textiles, gave the members of the |
section opportunities of seeing some new mate-
rials available in connection with each of these
a series of papers by Mr.
nae
EA;
ee OcTOBER 11,
ape
1917 | :
NATURE
109
- industries. Insect pests of various kinds and
_ means of destroying them were dealt with in a
C. W. Mally, and Dr.
-P. A. van der Byl contributed a valuable mono-
aren on a fungus which attacks the Black Iron-
weed tree.
_ Mention must not be omitted of Prof. H. B.
ntham’s excellent account of the intestinal
a blood organisms which the war operations in
Salonika and Gallipoli had afforded special
ao for studying.
tion D was largely taken up with educational
_ questions. Agricultural education in South Africa
‘was dealt with by Dr.-A. I. Perold, recently
- principal of the Government Agricultural School
at Elsenburg and now professor of cenology at
_ Victoria College, while by way of comparison
Dr. C. F. Juritz read a paper on agricultural
education in Australia. Entomological education
in the United States was the subject of a paper
“by Dr. E. S. Cogan. Mr. W. J. Horne discussed
_ the movement towards a national system of tech-
_ nical education, and the Rev. Prof. J. I. Marais
completed the symposium with a paper on some
ieee factors in education. Section D, too,
_ discussed the dearth of paper-making materials,
an account being given by Dr. Juritz of the
_ grasses of the eastern coast belt of the sub-conti-
nent available for paper-making: these grasses
_ were mainly species of Andropogon, Erianthus,
and Anthistiria.
The results of mental tests applied to Zulu
2 guideits at a mission station in Natal were dis-
Bx cussed by Mr. S. G. Rich before Section E.
_ The author urged continuance of the investi-
i kage with the view of settling the question whether
_ the native mind ceases growth at puberty. Dr.
_C. T. Loram at a later stage contributed a paper
dealing with the same question, which he answered
_ in the negative, ascribing appearances to the con-
_ trary to the courses of study and methods of
pe semce tig adopted in native schools. He reiterated
_ suggestions made at the Maritzburg meeting a
_ year ago by the Rev. J. R. L. Kingon that part
at least of the course of study should be conducted
, in the Kaffir vernacular. The Rev. W. A. Norton
__ read some important papers before Section E: in
_ one of these he urged the need and value of an
academic study of native philology and ethno-
ogy, and in another he emphasised the advan-
_ tages of stenography as an aid to the phonetic
_ analysis and comparison of the Bantu languages.
_ A very interesting paper on native ideas of cos-
mology was contributed by the Rev. S. S. Dornan,
and equally interesting was one read by Mr. J.
_ MglLaren, who illustrated the wisdom and the wit
of the Bantu people by numerous quotations of
their proverbial sayings.
Prof. Orr, at the conclusion of his presidential
address on the opening evening of the session,
presented the South Africa medal and an award
of sol. to Prof. J. D. F. Gilchrist, professor of
zoology at the South African College, in recog-
_ nition of his researches in marine biology. There
were two evening discourses of the usual popu-
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
lar type during the week, one by Prof. Gilchrist
on the marine animals of South Africa, and the
other by Mr. H. E. Wood, of the Union Obser-
vatory, on ‘‘ Some Unsolved Problems of Astron-
omy.’
Next year’s meeting will be held at Johannes-
burg, with Dr. C, F. Juritz as president.
THE PHYSIQUE OF RECRUITS.
i the summer of 1916 the Board of Scientific
Studies was established under the zgis of the
Royal Society to serve as a means of placing
knowledge in the possession of scientific and tech-
nical societies at the disposal of Government de-
partments. At the first general meeting of this
board in July, 1916, the urgency of a physical
survey of the nation, to discover whether or not
there existed definite evidence of physical deteri-
oration, was discussed. Emphasis was laid by
various speakers on the fact that an Interdepart-
mental Committee had reported in 1904 that such
a survey was necessary. Nothing, however, had
been done. The mobilisation of a national Army
had provided an opportunity, as well as a need,
for such a survey.
The Board of Scientific Studies requested the
Royal Anthropological Institute to report on the
desirability and possibility of such a survey. The
institute having reported that such a survey was
both desirable and possible, the board formed an
Anthropological Survey Sub-Committee to con-
sider the manner in which such an investigation
could best be carried out. This sub-committee
has not yet reported to the Board of Scientific
Studies, but we understand that it is seeking for
the means of carrying out such a survey through
the Government departments which have directly
to do with the health and physique of the nation :
the Recruiting Authority—now the Ministry of
National Service—the Local Government Board,
and the Board of Education. Representatives of
these departments have joined the Anthropological
Survey Sub-Committee, and it is hoped that a
practical scheme may be formulated at an early
date.
Meanwhile American anthropologists have
stolen a march on their British colleagues. When
the United States entered the war the National
Research Council was at once created to serve the
same purpose as our Board of Scientific Studies.
Its Anthropological Committee, formed to advise
in the selection, standardisation, and examination
of recruits, has already issued its report and
recommendations. It proposes that six of the six-
teen great concentration camps should be selected
for an anthropological survey—two in the Eastern,
two in the Middle, and two in the Western States
—and that special men, who had been trained to
use exactly the same anthropometrical methods at
the National Museum at Washington, should be
dispatched to carry out a survey of the men in the
selected camps. The noints for investigation have
been reduced to a minimum, namely, standing and
sitting heights, three dimensions of the head, two
I1o
NATURE
[OCTOBER II, 1917
of the face, two of the chest, with precise records
of the colour of skin, eyes, and hair. The statis-
tical staff of the Prudential Insurance Company
of America has undertaken to deal with the data
collected, while the Smithsonian Institution. will
faciliate the publication of results.
Although the intentions of the British committee
are more wide-reaching and aim at ascertaining
the condition of all elements in the population, it is
to be hoped that the observations taken in Britain
and America will be capable of direct comparison—
for, beyond doubt, the bulk of the population of
the United States has a British ancestry.
PROF. CHARLES LATHAM.
Y the sudden death of Prof. Charles Latham
on September 27, the University of Glasgow
has lost an eminent member of its teaching staff in
the department of applied science. In 1go02 the late
Dr. James S. Dixon, an eminent coalmaster of
Glasgow, ‘‘ recognising the want of a means of
teaching the higher branches of the theory and
practice of mining in the University, and the desire
for acquiring’ such knowledge displayed by many
young men connected with mining,” gave the
University 10,000l. for the foundation of a lecture-
ship in the subject. In the various branches of
engineering, and in naval architecture, curricula
were already provided which prepared for the
degree of B.Sc. in applied science. . Mining was
added as an alternative curriculum, and the new
department was entrusted to Mr. Latham. He had
been trained in the Wigan School of Mines, and
had been assistant general manager of the Moss
Hall Coal Co. For nine years (1893-1902) he was
director of mining at University College, Notting-
ham. The first Dixon lecturer speedily made his
department efficient, and his numerous courses of
instruction attracted many pupils.
In 1907 Dr. Dixon supplemented his original
endowment by 6500l., and the University, with the
consent of the Privy Council, transformed the
lectureship into a.chair. To this Mr. Latham
was forthwith appointed,. the electors including
H.M. Inspectors of Mining and the presidents of
the Scottish Mining Institute and the Coalmasters’
Association. In. the new chair Prof. Latham con-
tinued to devote himself to the advancement of
his subject by teaching and research. He raised a
considerable Equipment Fund, by means of
generous contributions from the leaders of the
Scottish mining industries, who had great con-
fidence in his policy and character. Assisted by
the fund, the University was enabled to equip the
museum and laboratory of the department with
~ valuable exhibits and apparatus, and Prof, Latham
gave himself to the training of his pupils and
assistants in the practical and experimental. sides
of their work, and in original investigations on
mine-pumps, winding machinery, coal-cutting,
inflammable gases, life-saving appliances, etc. His
course was. recognised by the Home Office as
equivalent to two of the five years’ practical train-
ing required under the Coal Mines Acts for -the
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
qualification of mine manager. By arrangement —
with a number of the largest collieries in Scotland, __
his students were enabled, during the summer
months of each year of the course, to acquire —
Many of them now
occupy responsible positions in the industry, and —
in technical institutions throughout the country. —
Prof. Latham served on numerous advisory and
other committees relating to mining, and pub- —
lished, in the Transactions of the Mining Institute —
and elsewhere, memoirs of importance on his —
experience of mining practice.
researches in the above-mentioned subjects.
T
NOTES.
Tur Minister of Reconstruction has appointed 2 —
committee to advise him as to the procedure which —
should be adopted for dealing with the position of the
chemical trades after the war. The committee consists
of the following members :—Sir Keith W. Price (chair-
man), Mr. J. Anderson, Mr. J. F.. Brunner, Dr. C.
Carpenter, Prof. J. G. Lawn, Sir William Pearce, Mr.
K. B. Quinan, and the Right. Hon. J. W. Wilson.
Mr. G. C. Smallwood, Ministry of Munitions, will act
as secretary to the committee.
of their respective Ministers, and the other members
of the committce have been appointed at the sugges-
tion of a representative meeting of chemical manufac-
turers. Dr. Addison has requested the committee to
conduct its deliberations with a view to the creation
of some organisation which should be adequately re-
presentative of the trade as a whole, and by means of
_ The officers of Govern-
ment departments are appointed with the concurrence ~
which the trade may be enabled hereafter to continue —
to develop its own resources and to enlist the closest
co-operation of all those engaged in the chemical in-
dustry. -
‘On October 6 Prof. W. J. Pope addressed a meet-,
ing of teachers at Regent Street Polytechnic on the
neglect of expert knowledge of scientific subjects by
the British Government. :
the Times to have said, prepared for war by the estab-
lishment of a huge chemical industry, which was built
up round the coal-tar industry, and then by exporting
a large proportion: of the world’s requirements of coal-
tar colours and pharmaceutical and photographic pro-
ducts... This success was achieved in spite of the fact
that England once possessed the whole of the heavy
chemical industry of the world. We formerly produced
practically all the nitric and sulphuric acids and the
greater part of the alkali used throughout the world.
This industry has been taken from us as the result of
Germany’s foresight and exploitation of scientific
ability. The coal-tar industry was established origin-
ally in this country, and until ten years ago Germany
was practically dependent on us for crude coal-tar and
Germany, he is reported by _
for the simpler first products separated from coal-tar. —
Alluding to the establishment of the Department of ©
Scientific and Industrial Research with an endowment —
of 1,000,000l., Prof. Pope remarked that the question -
to be answered is why that experiment was not made
twenty years ago, at a time when it would have been
undoubtedly successful in preventing the horrors of the
last three years.
because he is politically acceptable, and because he
knows nothing whatever about the subject which is —
to. be administered, and is therefore not likely to be—
prejudiced by any previous convictions. .The process
of appointing someone who knows nothing. to. super-—
We have suffered in. the past from ~
the exclusively British method of making the specialist
entirely subservient to the administrator, the adminis-
trator being generally chosen because he is available, —
hase,
Octoser 11, 1917]
NATURE
ERs
the work of someone who does know how to do
job: seems to have been at the bottom of a great
y of our misfortunes in the past. In 1915 the
rmment applied the same method to re-establish
coal-tar industry in this country. An organisation
is established in which all the people in control were
‘knew nothing of chemistry or science, and,
enough, the Government organisatiom has
failure. Organisation apparently was to do
ng that was necessary, and consequently pri-
‘ort was to a considerable extent hampered.
percent but entirely mistaken, activity arises,
Pope claimed, from a lack of education. If it
‘ally demanded that no person should be
led as reasonably educated who had not mastered
rudimentary principles of natural science and of
fic method, this mistaken policy in connection
the coal-tar colour question would have been
the invitation of the British Engineering
s Committee, the American Institute of Elec-
Engineers has sent over Mr. H. M. Hobart to
esent the institute at a conference to be held with
- Richard Glazebrook’s Panel Committee on Stan-
uwdisation Rules ‘for Electrical Machinery. Mr.
is the author of several standard treatises on
ul machinery, and was for many years a lec-
at Faraday House Engineering College before
ed to America about ten years ago. He is
ly persona grata to the engineers in this
, and a happier or more tacttul choice could
ave been made. The standardisation rules of
the American and English electrical engineers are in
substantial agreement, and we see no reason why com-
plete agreement should not be obtained. The Amer-
have had far greater experience with pressures
exceeding 50,000 volts than we have had, and they
are fully aware that testing apparatus with very high
altho 10) the. aratus may survive the test. The
se ap gp baling the temperature measurements of
. : under load and the methods of testing the
dielectric have been discussed at previous conferences.
Electricians are practically unanimously in favour of
the metric and decimal systems, but the standard pres-
sure for lighting in this country seems to be anything
between 220 and 240 volts. It is to be hoped that the
lead which the Glasgow Corporation gave to the
‘country many years ago, by fixing 250 as the standard
voltage for lighting, will be generally adopted.
_ Tue recent air raids have provoked much discussion
as to our future air policy, and as to possible improve-
“ments in aircraft design. The question of reprisals
is more a moral than a technical one, as there is no
doubt of our ability to carry” out eflective raids on
German towns. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, in a
letter to the Times, points out that the air-raid casual-
ties are really small, and fewer than those due to
‘London traffic. This is poor consolation, and should
not prevent the utmost efforts to secure an effective
‘means of defence. At a meeting “in support of an
-inereased air service,’’ held at the Central Hall, West-
“minster, on October 4, Mr. Joynson Hicks criticised
the Government very severely, stating that warnings
had been neglected and that progress was consequently
slow. He spoke of the improvement in aircraft during
the last few years, and said that in his opinion another
year would see machines flying at 250 miles an hour
instead of 150. He implied that the Government knows
that such machines are possible, but is not preparing
for them. Such a statement as the above shows a
lack of knowledge of the principles governing flight.
A machine must be able to land at a reasonably low
NO. 2502, VOL. 100|
a
S may permanently weaken the insulation, .
speed, as well as to fly. at'a high speed, and the lana-
ing speed at once imposes a limit on the top speed.
Thus, with a landing speed of forty miles per hour
a machine of good design, weighing one ton, needs
200 horse-power to fly at 100 miles per hour, and
would require 1700 horse-power to fly at 200 miles per
hour. If the landing speed is raised to eighty miles per
hour—a very. high value in practice—go horse-power
will be required at: too miles per hour, and 400 horse-
power at 200 miles per hour. Mr. Joynson Hicks’s
250-mile-an-hour machine would require 800 horse-
power to fly it, even with a prohibitive landing speed
of eighty miles per hour. Such a machine is obviously
impracticable with present-day engines, and with any
engine likely to be evolved in the near future. The
engine alone would weigh one ton, which is the total
weight of the machine for which the above calculation
was made. Our best present-day machines are near
the limit of practicability with existing engines, and
every possible effort is being made to improve their
ee by careful scientific attention to details of
esign.
Dr. Apptison, the Minister of Reconstruction, speak-
ing on October 3 at the annual meeting of the Library
Association, said that one of the features of the pro-
gramme which appealed to him was the movement,
which was apparently making considerable progress,
for the formation of technical and commercial libraries
and for the setting up of research libraries to suit the
particular needs and industries of various districts. If
we are to pay for the war—and it is not necessary to
put the matter on a higher plane than that—we want
the different trades and industries of the country to
organise more and more for the production and dis-
semination of useful and necessary information. A
working relationship between higher educational autho-.
rities and the business community is absolutely essen-
tial to our industrial welfare, and public libraries can
do a valuable work by placing information useful to
industry at the disposal of the community. Certain
recommendations were made at the meeting. The
council of the association is of opinion that it is of
urgent national importance to increase the supply of
scientific and technical books and periodicals, the exist-
ing supply being quite inadequate for higher research,
and, in many places, insufficient for the requirements
of the student and the artisan. To this end it was
strongly urged (a) that local authorities should afford
more generous support to public libraries for the pro-
vision of scientific and technical literature; (b) that
municipal and other library authorities and institutions
should co-operate in issuing union catalogues of tech-
nical books, and adopt such other co-operative methods
as will make their resources available over wider areas;
(c) that a State scientific or technical library should
publish periodically a descriptive list of selected books
in science and technology; (d) that a closer union
should be arranged between State and copyright libra-
ries on one hand, and municipal libraries on the other,
so that the resources of the former may directly or
indirectly be made available for scientific and technical
students in the great industrial areas of the provinces;
and (e) that funds should be provided for some State-
supported library, such as the Science Library of South
Kensington, or. a library controlled by the Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research, to purchase books.
required for research, and to make them available for
loan to public libraries. All the recommendations were
adopted unanimously. -
A GENERAL discussion on pyrometers and pyrometry
will be held by the Faraday Society at the Royal Society
of Arts on Wednesday, November 7. Sir Robert Had-
field, president of the society, will preside over the
T1l2
NATURE
[OcTOBER II, 1917
discussion, and deliver an introductory address. In-
struments for high-temperature measurements will be
exhibited by leading makers.
Pror. G. H. Bryan has received from the’ Depart-
ment of Scientific and Industrial Research a grant to
enable him to complete the researches into some of
the unsolved problems as to the effects of atmospheric
and other disturbances, such as gusts, air-pockets,
bomb-throwing, etc., upon aeroplanes, referred to in
his ‘Stability in Aviation.” He has been granted
leave of absence for a year from the University College
of North Wales, where he is professor of mathematics,
and has proceeded to the University of Bristol, where
he proposes to work for a time.
ANNOUNCEMENT is made that Mr. Walter Long, who
has been requested by the War Cabinet to take control
of all questions affectins petroleum oils and petroleum
products, has appointed Prof. J. Cadman to be his
technical adviser and liaison officer between the various -
Government departments. Prof. Cadman will also
take charge of an organisation to be established for
giving effect to Mr. Long’s instructions, and will
assume the title of Director of the Petroleum Execu-
tive. Mr.
economy offizer to the Petroleum Executive, and he
will be concerned in introducing economies both in the
Services and in the civil use of petroleum and petrol-
eum products. The headquarters of the Petroleum
Executive are at 8 Northumberland Avenue, W:C.2,
to which all communications should be addressed.
MELBOURNE newspapers of August 10 and 11 contain
accounts of large magnetic disturbances which occurred
on the afternoon of August 9 and on the forenoon of
August 10, Australian time. These clearly correspond
with disturbances recorded in England during the
morning and late evening of August 10, Greenwich
time. The earlier of the two disturbances, lasting
from about 2 to 8 p.m. local time, was accompanied
by bright aurora. At Melbourne there was a brilliant
display of streamers for about an hour.. At Ballarat
the aurora, being of a ruddy tint, was mistaken for a
conflagration, and the fire brigades turned out. There
were also strong earth currents throughout Australia,
interfering with the telegraph service, especially in Vic-
-toria and New South Wales.
THE Royal Photographic Society is holding its
annual exhibition this year in the society’s own house
at 35 Russell Square, W.C. Admission is free for about
six weeks. The autochrome process still holds its own
for colour transparencies, though the few results on
Paget plates leave little or nothing to be desired so far
as an inspection, without the original for comparison,
is concerned. The Astronomer Royal, Greenwich, has
contributed recent photographs of. sun-spots, nebulz,
comets, and star regions. Among other astronomical
photographs taken with telescopes of very large aper-
ture are several by Mr. J. H. Reynolds, of Birming-
ham. These include series of the moon, Jupiter,
Brooks’s comet, and the great nebula in Orion. The
photomicrographs are far more numerous than usual,
and vary very much in quality. An experiment by
Dr. Rodman, made at the suggestion of Capt. Owen
Wheeler, of using a more highly corrected lens as eye-
piece (a Ross 3-in. achromatic objective was used in-
stead of the “ordinary ocular’’) distinctly discourages
any further attempts in this direction. Mr. Ernest
Marriage shows an extensive series to demonstrate the
comparative proportion of starch in plant roots, espe-
cially in those plants that market-gardeners would
wish to be rid of. He photographs sections (x5) as
cut, and also after treatment with iodine, the darken-
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
E. S. Shrapnell-Smith has been appointed.
ing with iodine indicating starch. Photographs at
x250 show the starch granules. There are n
collections of radiographs, natural history photog.
and other matters too numerous to mention. oubt-
less the photographs of the widest general interest are
those contributed by the Royal Flying Corps.
exigencies of the times have caused aerial photography -
to advance to a perfection scarcely thought possible a _
few years ago. The photographs show definitely the
changes in buildings, trenches, etc., during the various —
stages of the war.
Ir is announced that the Ministry of Munitions does —
of
On the question of the unrestricted
not regard coal-gas as coming within the categ
a petrol substitute.
use of gas, the Ministry states that it is consulting
the Home Office.
= Sean 5 Figs
The motor industry has now taken
up this substitute for petrol, which involves only a —
slight alteration to the engines of the vehicles. Gas
has been used as the motive power in many char-d- —
bancs during the summer season, the fuel being stored j
in a large bag carried on the roof. The question as to
how gas can be stored in motor-cars, taxi-cabs, etc.,
has given rise to the adoption of several plans.
motor-cars are not adapted to the carriage of
bags, and the experiment of using light trailers for
that purpose is being tried.
In the case of taxi-cabs —
Open
of gas- ;
little difficulty will arise} and a slight alteration of —
the front seats on the top of motor-omnibuses is all —
It is likely |
that gas will be adopted largely, since it can be ob-
that is necessary for the storage of bags.
tained at about one-fourth the present price of petrol.
Owing to the difficulty of procuring steel cylinders, —
compressed gas is not likely to come into use during
the war; there is also the point to be considered that
coal-gas stored under pressure is liable to deteriorate.
_ A Reuter message from Tokio, dated October 1,
which appeared in the Times of October 4, reports the —
occurrence in Japan of a typhoon of unprecedented
—
violence, which swept over Tokio on the morning of —
that day, lasting for four hours, The casualties caused —
by the visitation appear to have been deplorably
numerous, and the destruction of property exception-
ally great, thousands of people being rendered home- —
less. The typhoons of the North Pacific and China —
Seas are divided by the Rev. J. Algué, S.J., director ©
of the Manila Observatory, in his *‘Cyclones of the
Far East,” into classes, according to the zones of their
trajectories: those of the North Pacific, all of which
keep to the west of the twenty-fourth meridian, East;
and those of the China Sea, which cross this meridian.
It is the former to which the typhoons that visit Japan
belong. Fr. Algué then groups these*conformably with
the months of their occurrence; the mean inclination
of their branches (1) before, (2) after they have re-
curred; also the mean latitude of their vertex. Re-
duced to three groups, December to March, inclusive,
is the first; April, May, October, November,
second; June to September, inclusive, the third. The
typhoon of October 1 belongs rather to the third group —
of trajectories than to the second, because in the case
of the former the latitude of its vertex is highest of —
al) the groups. The zone of origin of typhoons of the
first group lies between the parallels of 5° N. and
12° N.; that of the second between 6° N. and 17° N.;
that of the third between 8° N. and 20° N. In the
Philippines
travel rapidly; when at fewer than from six to twelve
miles an hour to move slowly, but to have a regular
velocity when it progresses at that rate. :
pub-
_ AN interview with Sir Henry Trueman Wood
lished in Sunday’s Observer (October 7) brings together
several interesting reminiscences of his long association
a typhoon with an hourly velocity of
motion exceeding twelve nautical miles is said to
Ocroser 11, 1917]
NATURE
113
_ with the Royal Society of Arts, of which he was secre-
tary from 1879 until his recent retirement. Among
_ the distinguished representatives of applied science who
_ were chairmen of the council from that year onwards
- were Sir Frederick Bramwell, Sir William Siemens,
_ Sir J. Wolfe Barry, Sir William Preece, and Sir Wil-
liam White. Dr. Dugald Clerk has just retired from
_ the chairmanship, and has been succeeded by Mr.
_ Campbell Swinton. The society played a large part
_ in the foundation of the Great Exhibitions of 1851 and
_ 1862, and, through these, of that long series of inter-
_ national exhibitions which had such far-reaching in-
fluence on the arts, as well as on industry and trade.
_ Sir Henry had much to do with the organisation of
_the Health, Inventions, and Colonial Exhibitions at
_ South Kensington, the Paris Exhibition of 1889, and
i the Chicago Exhibition of 1893, for which the Govern-
_ ment appointed the council of the Society of Arts as
the British Commission. With regard to this exhibi-
_ tion, Sir Henry, who managed the British Section in
_ Chicago, said:—‘‘The amount given by our Govern-
ment, though fairly liberal, was nothing compared
_ with that which the German and French Governments
gave. The Germans had never exhibited at big exhibi-
tions before, because they had all been held in France,
_ and after the Franco-Prussian War they would have
_ nothing to do with them. They gave their commis-
_ sioner an absolutely free hand. He told me himself
_ he had as much money as he could do with. The
_ result was that they made a much finer show in build-
s than we could do. I do not think their actual
at ibits were as good as ours, but the way in which
__ they were shown was infinitely superior.””. Throughout
__ his long association with the society, Sir Henry was
always ready to assist other organisations having the
_ application of scientific knowledge as their object. In
__ the early days of the British Science Guild his active
co-operation in many directions, and the hospitality
_ afforded by the society as regards the use of rooms for
meetings, were of the highest assistance; the aid thus
given will long be gratefully remembered.
In the issue of Knowlédge just published
(No. 582) MM. Albert and Alexandre Mary
describe experiments, in continuation of the
late Dr. Charlton Bastian’s work, on the develop-
ment of micro-organisms in carefully sterilised
solutions of certain salts, e.g. potassium ferrocyanide
and ferrous sulphate. Tubes after being charged were
sealed and sterilised for ten minutes at 130° C. The
_tubes, after standing for a year and a half, were opened
and examined, and all yielded growths of micrococci
which could be cultivated in iron lactate solutions.
‘They affirm, therefore, the correctness of Dr. Bastian’s
work. In the same number Dr. Butler Burke, com-
menting on Mr. Onslow’s communication to NATURE
of February 22 last on a repetition of Dr. Bastian’s
experiments with negative results, suggests that some
_kind of radiation other than sunlight, such as radio-
activity, may prove to be the stimulant required to
_ Start vital processes in non-living matter, and so to
_ cause the spontaneous generation of the living from
the non-living.
Mr. J. A. CusuMan has published (Bulletin 71, U.S.
Nat. Mus., Pp. 103, 52 text-figures, 39 plates, 1917)
the sixth and last part of his work on the Foraminifera
of the North Pacific, which deals with the single
family Miliolida. Preceding the systematic account
of the species recorded are detailed descriptions of the
development of nine genera (and observations on their
derivatives), beginning with Cornuspira.
In the report of the Dove Marine Laboratory at
Cullercoats for the year ending June 30 Prof. A. Meek
NO. 2502, VOL. 100}
and Miss Stone record the results of examination of
about 3000: herrings caught off the Northumberland
coast. These show that the year 1916 was abnormal
in that the herring caught were for the most part a
year older—their scales having four winter rings-—
than those obtained during the years 1912-15. Miss
Jorgensen gives a short description of the development
of the common shore sponge, Grantia compressa.
She agrees with Prof. Dendy that the oogonia arise
from collared cells. Prof. Meek contributes a brief
account of the Phoronidea, making special reference
to Phoronis ovalis, which was rediscovered recently by
Dr. Harmer in a shell obtained off the Northumber-
land coast. Prof. Meek states his reasons for believ-
ing that Actinotrocha branchiata is the larva of P.
ovalis. He reports on larval lamprevs collected in the
North Tyne, but although the larvae are so common,
efforts made to secure the adults have thus far failed.
He directs attention to the serious nature of the pollu-
tion of the Tyne in the neighbourhood of Newcastle
and the consequent destruction of descending kelts and
smolts and of sea-fish which are drifted up the river,
and urges that steps should. be taken to render effluents
innocuous before they are poured into the river.
In his presidential address to the Quekett
Microscopical Club, published in the Journal,
vol. xiii., Prof. A. Dendy gave an_ interest-
ing account of the development of the chess- .
man spicule of the sponge Latrunculia, and discussed
the view that the position of the whorls of outgrowths
on the spicule correspond with the nodal points of a
vibrating rod. The evidence suggests that the forma-
tive cells of the spicule are sensitive to vibrations and
avoid the internodes, taking up their positions on the
surface of the young spicule at the points of compara-
tive rest of the vibrating rod, and thus the whorls
present in the adult spicule are formed at these points
by local accumulations of silica. Profs. Dendy and
Nicholson have since published (see Nature, June 14,
p. 318) an account of their mathematical study of a
spicule with simpler whorls, the observed positions of
which correspond closely with the calculated positions
of the nodes in a vibrating rod similar in form to that
of the shaft of the spicule when the nodes are com-
mencing to develop. In the same volume of the
Quekett Club’s Journal Mr. G. T. Harris gives the
results of studies on the desmid flora of Dartmoor;
based on two hundred gatherings made ‘in July—Octo-
ber, 1915 and 1916. The total number of species and
varieties recorded is about 400. Some of the rarer
species are figured and are the subject of special notes.
The richness of the desmid flora of Dartmoor lends
support to the view that ‘the rich desmid areas corre-
spond geographically with pre-Cambrian and older
Palzeozoic outcrops.”’
THE principal features of scientific interest in the
current number (vol. xlii., parts 2 and 3) of the Journal
of the Royal Horticultural Society are the reports on
the experimental work at Wisley and a report of in-
vestigations relating to Paradise apple stocks, which
is contributed by Mr. R. G. Hatton as the first report
of the Wye College Fruit Experiment Station, East
Malling. The latter is a detailed record of experi-
mental work on this important subject which has
been carried out at the station since November, 19I2.
Nine distinct types have been identified from English
sources, whilst six other types have been obtained from
German sources. The report is profusely illustrated,
and reveals substantial progress towards the solution
of what has long been regarded by fruit-growers as an
important problem.
AGRICULTURISTS are indebted to Prof. T. B. Wood
for a useful series of tables of the composition and
114
NATURE
[OcTOBER II, 1917
\
nutritive value of feeding-stuffs which is issued by
the Cambridge University Press. The tables cover
the whole range of farm feeding-stuffs, and give in-
formation as to average composition, digestible nutri-
ents, food units, nutritive ratios, and relative values
for maintenance and productive purposes, the last-
named being expressed in the now familiar-form of
“starch equivalents.’’ Wherever possible the averages
are based upon analyses of the materials actually used
by British farmers, and this feature alone renders the
tables invaluable and indispensable to all concerned in
the inculcation and carrying out of rational methods
of feeding live stock in this country.
Tue Food Production Department of the Board of
Agriculture and Fisheries has issued a report (Mis-
cellaneous Publications, No. 19) on the methods
adopted in breaking up grass land during the past
winter, and on the results achieved. The report is
based upon the replies furnished by more than 300
farmers in fifty-five counties, to whom schedules of
questions were addressed. In view of the difficulties
attending the work last spring the results are con-
sidered to be very satisfactory, failure being reported
in only one-fifth of the cases dealt with. Although some
of the failures cannot be accounted for, most of them
were due to reasons which further experience should
enable farmers to avoid. Failures occurred chiefly in
‘ the south and east. In by far the greater number
of cases wireworm was reported as the ostensible cause
of failure, but it is suggested that in many of these
cases the damage was primarily due to the drying out
of the newly ploughed soil through lack of proper
tillage, whilst in other cases it was almost certainly
due to fritfly. There was general unanimity that the
production of a firm seed-bed by pressing or heavy
rolling after the plough is of prime importance for
success. In a discussion of the lessons drawn from the
successes and failures of 1917 much useful guidance is
furnished as to time of ploughing, subsequent cultiva-
tion, and manuring in relation to land of different
types. A brief résumé of the report is issued separately
as Food Production Leaflet No. 5.
Messrs. Honpa anv IsHtwara describe, in a report
from the Alloys Research Institute of the Tohéku Uni-
versity, Japan, the results of tests on the magnetic
properties of manganese-antimony alloys in a field of
about 500 gauss. Manganese is paramagnetic, and
antimony diamagnetic, but their compounds, Mn,Sb,
and Mn,.Sb, are both ferromagnetic with a critical
temperature at 315° C. Magnetisation at different
high temperatures was also measured. ‘This gives im-
portant data with regard to the structure of the alloys.
In a report from the Alloys Research Institute of
the Tohéku University, Japan, Messrs. Honda and
Murakami publish certain data with regard to the
thermomagnetic properties of the carbides found in
steels. They find that iron cementite is ferromagnetic,
the specific magnetisation of which (p=2-559) in a field
of 500 gauss is 19-7. Its critical temperature is 215°C.
In the free state it is almost wholly decomposed into
its components by heating it sufficiently long at goo° C.
The double carbide of iron and tungsten found in low
tungsten steels is also ferromagnetic, and its specific
magnetisation (p=1-435) in a field of 500 gauss is 15-5.
Its critical temperature is 400° C., and in the free stat
it is decomposed on heating to 850° C.
Tue August number of the Journal of the Franklin
Institute contains a valuable outline of the publica-
tions on the subject of the submarine and its equip-
ment which have appeared in the technical Press during
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
the last six years. It is due to Helen R. Hosmar, —
and deals in order with the history of the development _
of the submarine, its proper function in war, the power _
and dimensions of the most recent submarines built in
different countries, the various forms of internal-com-
bustion engine used for propulsion on the surface, and —
of storage cells for use when submerged, the peri-
scopes, and the forms of apparatus for signalling to
and from submarines. A list of builders and a biblio-
graphy conclude the article, which occupies fifty-five
pages of the journal. The outlines given are sufficient
to give the reader a good general knowledge of the
rapid advances which have taken place during the last
few years, while the bibliography provides the refer-
ences which enable the specialist to turn to the original
sources for detailed information.
AN article in Engineering for October 5 contains
some interesting particulars of ferro-concrete shipbuild-
ing. It is satisfactory to learn that Lloyd’s Register
of Shipping has approved plans for the construction
of a number of such ships up to 500 tons dead-weight
capacity. A director of the Norwegian Veritas has
lately given his views, unofficially. He is convinced
that ferro-concrete, under normal conditions, will be
used for lighters, floating docks, buoys, etc., where the
weight does not play a very important part. So far
as sea-going vessels are concerned, he is of opinion
that the weight of ferro-concrete vessels will detract
from their carrying capacity to a serious extent. The
Fougner yard in Norway has already commenced work
on its eighteenth ferro-concrete floating structure—a
floating dock—while several vessels up to 1000 tons
dead-weight have been contracted for. Sister com-
panies of the Fougner firm are in course of formation
in England and America. M. Harald Alfsen, of the
Norwegian company, has from the outset been con-
vinced that ferro-concrete boats should be built bottom
uppermost, and by using only an inner shuttering, or
only outer boarding, so far as the vertical sides are
concerned,
ward, in the position in which it is cast, and is turned
The vessel takes the water bottom up- —
Seer ie = ee wes"
upright after launching. The article contains an illus- __
trated description of the ferro-concrete ship, Beton I.
One of the completest and most conveniently ar- 4
ranged special catalogues of second-hand books that
have recently reached us is New Series No. 81, Zoo-
logical, just issued by Messrs. John Wheldon and Co.,
38 Great Queen Street, W.C.2. It is divided into two
parts—classified subjects and faunas of all countries—
and should appeal to all zoological readers, being very .
easy of reference and containing many scarce works
and others not easily obtainable at the present time,
being of foreign origin. | We notice that Messrs.
Wheldon are offering for sale a set of the Phil. Trans.
of the Royal Society from 1665 to 1913; Proceedings
of the Royal Society from 1800 to 1916; the Ibis from
1859 to 1915; Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’
Club, vols. i. to xxxiv.; Transactions of the Linnean
Society from 1791 to 1916; a complete set of the
Zoologist; and Nature from its commencement to —
1916.
THE new announcement list of the Cambridge Uni-
versity Press contains the following books :—‘‘ The
Theory of Electricity,” G. H. Livens; ‘‘ British Grasses
and their Employment in Agriculture,” S. F. Arm-
strong, illustrated; ‘‘ Instinct in Man: A Contribution
to the Psychology of Education,” Dr. J. Drever;
‘“‘Locke’s Theory of Knowledge and its Historical
Relations,” Prof. J. Gibson; “Agriculture and the
Land,’’ G. F. Bosworth (Cambridge Industrial and
Commercial Series); and a new and revised edition of
NATURE
115
"“Manuring for Higher Crop Production,” Dr. E. J.
Russell.
A Book which should be of interest and value is
1 ced by the Chiswick Press, viz. ‘The Ancient
arthworks of the New Forest,’’ described and
neated in plans founded on the 25-in.-to-one-mile
ance Survey, with a coloured map showing the
eal features of the ancient sites of the New Forest
ded on the 1-in.-to-one-mile Ordnance Survey, by
Sumner.
RS. LONGMANS AND Co. annource a new edition
Sir W. Crookes’s ‘The Wheat Problem,” contain-
an additional ehapter on “‘ Future’ Wheat Supplies,”
Sir R. H. Rew, and an introduction by Lord
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
_ Epnemeris oF Encke’s Comet.—The following
_ ephemeris of Encke’s comet, which is due at perihelion
on March 25, 1918, is given by M. Viljev :—
1917 R.A. Decl. Log » Log A
t's h. ms. aie
23 41 24 +10 17°5 0:1'732
34°27 9 37:9
27 45 8 57-2 0-3757 0-1674
| 2124 8 16-4
15 29 * 7 36-1 0: 1670
2 6 57:0
5 12 - 6 19-7 0°3473 0-1709
23. 9 53 5 447
22 57 12 5 12-6 0:1780
54 13 4 436
51 53 4 180 0°3145 0- 1869
prise. 9 3 560
o 3 376 0-1964
B27 3 22-9
6 48 29 3.117 02762 0-2054
10 ero: 3 3 42
! 14 50 8 Be. -O3 0°2130
w 51 45 2 59°9
22. 53 50° 3. 29 02307 02188
26 56 22 3 92
30. 22 59 19 +3 186 0:2218
6946.—A further account
; by Ritchey in the spiral
nebula N.G.C. 6946 (H. iv. 76 Cephei) has been given
Df Ry Dr. Max Wolf (Astronomische Nachrichten,
_No. 4902), including a reproduction of a photograph
taken with the K6nigstuhl reflector on August 21. The
__ region is very rich in faint stars, but the only B.D. star
_ in the neighbourhood is +59° 2662, magnitude 9:5,
_ which is slightly preceding, and about 7’ north of the
centre of the nebula. The nova was identified by
_ comparison with earlier photographs of the nebula, and
_ its estimated position, for 1917-0, was R.A. 20h. 33m.
3:Is., declination +59° 50’ 15”. The central star of
the nebula follows the nova by about 4-05s., and is
105” to the north. On August 21 the magnitude of the
nova was estimated to be’ 13-5; on the photograph re-
produced it appears to be less bright than the central
star, but this is an illusion produced by the nebulosity
about the latter, as in photographs taken with short
' exposures the nova was considerably the brighter. The
nebula extends about 6’ to 7’ in the direction east and
west, and the spirals exhibit a very complex knotted
structure. The nova is situated near the southern end
of an arm which runs obliquely from east to south
of the central star. It was not possible to photograph
the spectrum of the nova on account of the feeble
luminosity.
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
: ‘ 2 Tue New Srar ww N.G.C.
of the new star discovered
WORK-HARDENED METALS.
C)N= of the most interesting of the papers presented
at the autumn meeting of the Institute of
Metals was that by Prof. Jeffries, of the Case School
of Applied Science, Cleveland, U.S.A. Hanriot came
to the conclusion in 1912 that metals subjected to very
high hydrostatic pressures, of the order of 10,000 kilo-
grams per square centimetre, even though they under-
went no change of shape, showed an increase of hard-
ness (Brinell test). Although cubes of silver, copper,
and aluminium showed a considerable increase of
ball-hardness in these experiments, he decided that in
no case were they appreciably deformed, and that the
pressure was sufficient for hard-hammering the metals
without deformation. Prof. Jeffries reviews this work,
and has repeated the experiments. Tests were carried
out by Dr. Bridgman with pure aluminium and an
alloy containing 88 per cent. of aluminium and 12 per
cent. of copper, in the form of cylinders 7/16 in.
diameter by 3 in. long, the dimensions of which were
accurately measured. The tensile strengths and
scleroscope hardness values of the materials _ were
determined with the following results :—
Tensile stress Scleroscope
Ib. per sq. in.- hardness
Aluminium cae wee 14,890... 6:5
Aluminium-copper alloy ... 31,950 24'0
Cylinders of each kind of metal were then exposed
to a maximum pressure of 12,400 kg. per sq. cm. at
25° C., the transmitting liquid being petroleum ether
mixed with kerosene. The pressure was maintained
at the maximum for twenty minutes, and the total
period of the test was about 2} hours. The cylinders
were then measured and found to be unaltered in
size, and the following results were obtained in the
subsequent tests:
Tensile stress Scleroscope
1 lb. per sq. in. ardness
Aluminium bs Sas $4300 Sees 6°5
Aluminium-copper alloy 27,300 24'0
In the case of the alloy the threads were stripped
at the stress specified, and the specimen was un-
broken. Similar experiments at 40° C., using kero-
sene alone as the transmitting medium, gave a similar
result, except for a slight increase of tenacity, and
no alteration in structure was observed. These results
contradict. those of Hanriot, who found a 30 per cent.
increase of ball-hardness in the case of aluminium
under a hydrostatic pressure lower than the above.
Bridgman directs attention to the fact that Hanriot —
used vaseline to transmit the pressure, and that this
freezes hard under pressure, so that at the higher
pressures the stress applied was not hydrostatic. ‘This
explanation is plausible. Prof. Jeffries concludes from
these and other tests that the hardness of metals
cannot be increased without permanent deformations
unless such an® increase in hardness is due to an
allotropic change. The latter might, of course, cause
either an increase or a decrease in hardness. As all
Hanriot’s results pointed to an increase of hardness it
is probable that there was slight permanent deforma-
tion which he did not detect, and that this was the
immediate cause of the increase. ’
In spite of the large number of researches which
have been carried out, both on the purely scientific
and technical aspects of the annealing of work- .
hardened metals and alloys, the subject still presents
features which require more detailed investigation than
they have yet received. The laws of annealing are
considerably more complicated than the early investi-
gators suspected. Especially does this apply to the
first effects liable to be produced by heating. That in
certain cases a hardening of the metal or alloy is
| produced, as measured by the tensile and ball-hardness
116
NATURE
[OcTOBER II, 1917
tests, must be regarded as established by the work of
Charpy, Bengough and Hudson, Mathewson and
Phillips and ‘Ihompson. Moreover, according to Howe,
the first effect of slight heating in the case of iron
may be either a softening or a hardening, depending
on the intensity of the previous deformation, and in
his view at least two agencies are at work in pro-
ducing these results.
Prof. Carpenter and Mr. Taverner, of the Royal
School of Mines, have investigated the way in which
the tenacity of cold-worked aluminium of one par-
ticular degree of hardness is affected after the sappiica-
tion of heat at various temperatures, and for periods
of time very much longer than any that have been
employed in any previous investigations. They find
that the effect of heat at temperatures from
550°-300° C. inclusive is to cause a very rapid soften-
ing of the metal, and that the same ultimate value of
tenacity is reached in all cases. Softening is complete
in ninety-six hours, and nearly the whole of this
occurs in the first hour of the test. At 250° C.. the
rate of softening, while still considerable, is much less
rapid. Between 600 and 800 hours are required for
complete softening, and here also the same ultimate
value of tenacity is reached as at higher temperatures.
From 200° to roo° C. inclusive the rate of softening
is slow, and as the temperature of 100% is approached,
very slow. The actual sequence of changes can be
classified conveniently under three heads :—({1) A com-
paratively rapid drop in tenacity in the first hour.
(2) A tendency either to cease falling or actually to
rise, such rise, in one case only, bringing the tenacity
up to the original value. This period is in most cases
completed in about 100 hours. (3) A relatively very
slow fall of tenacity which is maintained on the whole
steadily. These tests are still in progress. Assum-
ing the present rate of loss of work-hardness to be
maintained, and that the metal ultimately reaches the
same tenacity as specimens tested at the higher tem-
peratures, periods of the order of from one to three
years will be required for completion. ‘The fluctua-
tions in the tenacity values referred to under (2) appear
‘to be well established. Similar fluctuations in the rate
of solution of hard-worked aluminium-sheéet had pre-
viously been recorded by Seligman and Williams.
The authors have also shown that the cold-rolled
aluminium loses a considerable part of its work-hard-
ness, in the temperature range 200° to 100° C., with
scarcely any recovery of plasticity as judged by the
H. Cy ei
elongation test. ; §
BRILLIANT FIREBALL OF OCTOBER 1.
+ Ed seme of the largest type exhibit a propensity
to appear in the twilight of early evening. On
Monday, October 1, at 6.37 p.m., a splendid object of
this class presented itself, moving slowly along an
extended flight in a south to north direction.. It was
observed by alarge number of persons in various parts
of the country, and descriptions have been received
from places so wide apart as Weston-super-Mare,
Somerset, and the extreme North of England.
. The accounts to hand are not, as usual in such
cases, in perfect agreement, but some of them are
excellent, and form a good basis for determining the
meteor’s real path in the air. The Rev. Canon J. M.
Wilson observed the meteor from Worcester,,and de-
scribes its flight as from 40° E. of N., alt. 15° to 18°, to
5° E. of N., and alt. 5°. Duration about 2% sec. for
the section of path he viewed. The Rev. J. Dunn, of
Weston-super-Mare, describes the fireball as very bril-
liant, passing just above Capella. It was visible for
five seconds; the head was some ten minutes of arc In
diameter, and it threw off a short, reddish trail of
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
sparks. Mr. H. J. Woodall saw the fireball from
and falling towards N. at an angle of 30°.
Oldham, and says it was in a direction 9° S of a
he Rey, ©
Watson Stratton, writing from Goole, Yorks, gives
the path as from N.N.E., nearly as high as Polaris, —
to a point a few degrees W. of N., and about alt. 12% —
Mr. Philip Burtt was at Penrith Station, and viewed —
the meteor as it descended and terminated its career —
just to the right of the moon. It was of a rich yellow
colour. Mr. TI. J. Moore reports from Doncaster that
the direction was from E.N.
about one minute after the object had passed a very
loud explosion was heard. 1” eiapteay
Many other accounts from Liverpool, Grantham
(Notts), and other places might be quoted. Spectators
agree as to the remarkable brilliancy of the object, and
state that it aroused apprehension in cases where its —
real nature was not understood. ‘
I have computed the real path as follows :—
Height at appearance, 56 miles over 4 miles E. of
Boston, Lincolnshire. - é :
Height at disappearance, 19 miles over 15 miles N.
of Stanhope, Durham. ey:
Length of luminous course, 160 miles.
Velocity per second, 23 miles. _
Radiant point, 320°—22° in Capricornus. — Me
The Rev. J. Dunn’s estimate of the diameter would
give the dimensions as half a mile, but this included
the flaming effect and glare. Probably the solid
nucleus was not many inches in.diameter. As to the
sound heard at Doncaster, it came toe
to have been a meteoric effect. ;
Another fireball was seen on September 23. It lit up
the sky, and was directed from a radiant at about
322°—23°, and probably belonged to the same system
as the more recent one of October 1.. Observations of
the latter are still coming in, and it may be found
desirable slightly to alter the results above given. A
second fireball was seen on the same night at 10.46.
Its radiant appears to have been at 351°+2°, and its |
height seventy-six to forty-one miles.
W. F. DEnninc.
THE TASK OF BRITISH AGRICULTURE,
E. to N.N.W:, end eae
a 7. it ah
ee a ee ee
4 $
quickly for it
-
*
(x8
att speech of the President of the Board of Agri-
culture at Darlington on October 5 calls for the
widest attention as an authoritative pronouncement on
the present situation of British agriculture in relation
to the need for increased food production.
exigencies of a long war have imposed upon the
British farmer the duty, on one hand, of securing a
greatly increased production of bread-corn and pota-
toes, and, on the other, of maintaining the supplies
of milk and meat.
the Board of Agriculture in the first place is an in
crease of 3,000,000 acres under grain, potatoes, and
roots, to be obtained partly from existing arable land —
and partly by ploughing up pasture. To secure this
end the Government is prepared to help, and Mr.
Prothero outlined how much has already been done in —
the way of guaranteed prices for corn, extension of
credit facilities, supply of soldier and women labour,
increased supplies and controlled prices of fertilisers,
supply of horses, ploughs, and ploughmen, and further
of mechanical tractors. Of the last-named 1500 are
already at work, and it is hoped that by February next
the number will have increased more than fourfold.
A timely warning was given, however, that the tractor
in its present stage of development must be regarded
as the least, efficient of ploughing implements, and
should be used preferably for the lightest work.
The
The ideal placed before him by
an in-
On the question of the maintenance of the milk _
supply Mr. Prothero urged that with the reasonable
NATURE
117
made to secure reduced prices for feeding-stufis and
preferential call upon supplies, the dairy farmer was
s fairly treated, and should endeavour to sur-
it his difficulties by securing greater economy in
cow.
the subject of beef production Mr. Prothero did
ceal his apprehension that the scale of prices
the Food Controller for the winter would not
n! vely imperil our meat supplies, but would
ven operate adversely against corn production. From
tical experience he was convinced that current
left little margin of profit, if any, for the arable
who feeds and fattens cattle for the winter
rket. A price of 60s. per cwt. live weight for stall-
| cattle puts a premium on grass as the cheapest
of cattle-feeding, and thus renders the farmer more
nt than ever to plough up grass; it penalises
seding on arable farms, and so tends to diminish
y of manure for the needed corn crops. We
glad to see, therefore, the announcement in Wed-
ssday’s Times that the War Cabinet has conceded the
of the farmers for a revision of the scale of
um prices fixed some months ago for home-
beef for the Army. Under the sliding-scale of
for live cattle, as originally announced, the price
for home-killed beef fell from 74s. per live cwt. in
ee to 72s. in October, 67s. in November and
Decei , and 6os. from January 1, 1918. It has
now been decided that the November and December
price of 67s. shall continue until July 1, 1918, and that
_ the 60s. maximum shall then come into force for the
rest of the year.
At the best, with the reduced supplies of feeding-stuffs,
will be difficult to avoid a serious shortage of meat in
_ May and June next year. We must not be driven to
_ slaughter more cows or veal calves; we cannot depend
_ upon an increased import of meat; the only safeguard
within our control is a reduction in our consumption
of meat, and this must be pressed for more and more
insistently. The eloquent appeal to farmers in the
closing part of Mr. Prothero’s speech will assuredly
’ not fall on deaf ears, but it is equally necessary that
the public shall realise their difficulties and extend to
_ them the sympathy which no section of the community
‘more rightly deserves.
_ CHEMICAL LABORATORY PORCELAIN.1
E first attempts to make porcelain in Europe
¥ were undoubtedly in imitation of the Chinese
;
|
porcelain imported into Europe by the Dutch, English,
and French East India Companies about 1673.
____ Its beautiful whiteness, its thinness, its translucency,
its close vitreous fracture, apart from, and also in
y baie Meee with, its decoration, at once appealed to
and obtained the admiration and emulation of the
_ Europeans. .
_ The story of the struggle in the attempt to repro-
_ duce it is not within the scope.of this paper, but
suffice it to say that it was accomplished in Germany
_ by Bottcher about 1706-18, and in England by Cook-
_ worthy, of Plymouth, about 1767.
The one factory continued for the reason that not
only were the products excellent, but the financial suc-
_ cess was not the main object, while the other had to
bear its.own losses, and though there was considerable
promise of success, the financial aspect of the under-
taking was a complete failure. It is well, then, at the
outset to note that we do not owe the origin of the
porcelain to the Continental potters, but to the Chinese.
1 Abrid from a paper read at the annual meeting of the Suciety of
Chemical Industry, July 18-20, by Mr. Henry Watkin.
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
‘of prices fixed for milk and the efforts being
s¢ of food and an increased average milk output
Chinese porcelain being at that time the only trans-
lucent pottery in existence, there can be no wonder
about the admiration it called forth.
It cannot be surprising, then, that the English
potters were very anxious to produce such a body, and
if that object .could be attained, the means by which
it was achieved were secondary matters, and we find
that instead of continuing the manufacture of hard-
paste porcelain, they produced, about the end of the
eighteenth century, (1) a ‘beautiful white earthenware
which for generations secured the market of the world, »
and made it possible to replace almost all other pottery
for domestic purposes ; (2) a translucent white porcelain
similar to the Chinese, by the use of other materials
and methods, equally beautiful, which for more than
a century has held its own amongst all other porce-
lain productions, and is generally known as bone china.
The ceramic productions of the world as regards
their bodies or paste, apart altogether from decorative
effects, vary from goods made from the coarsest to the
finest clays, through almost every variety of texture, by
admixture of the natural clay with other materials,
such as sand, flint, barytes, felspathic rock, etc. From
these materials were produced at one end of the scale
the cinerary urns of our great ancestors, and, at the
other end, the excellent hard-paste porcelain which we
are considering to-day.
The marvellous difference in the productions of the
various peoples of the world may probably be explained
by the general assertion that the potters have from
the very earliest times worked with the materials they
had at hand. The cinerary urns of the ancient Britons
were made from natural clays.
The Staffordshire potters used, at first, natural clays,
found cropping up simultaneously with the coal, and
afterwards improved. the colour and texture of the
product by the addition of, first, fireclay, then Devon
and Cornish clay, and calcined flint. Messrs. Eler
Bros. used the red marl of the Burslem district for
their fine red ware. Bottcher, of Germany, at first
made red ware from local clays, etc., and afterwards
porcelain from the white clays or kaolin, and pegma-
tite.
The Chinese for centuries had been working with
their natural materials, kaolin and petuntze, and from
these produced their fine porcelain. Some of these
various clays naturally required a much greater heat
than others to produce hard vitreous bodies.
These varying conditions with regard to materials
to the hand of the potter, when means of communica-
tion were so restricted, necessarily, involved very varied
methods of manufacture. The materials differing so
essentially from each other naturally required very
varying degrees of heat necessary to bring to maturity.
The kaolin and petuntze used by the Chinese would
require a much higher temperature to mature than
the clays, etc., used in other countries at the time.
The exact temperature would not be found at once,
and in working out the same an observant potter could
not fail to notice the changes taking place in the fired
material in regard to vitrification, translucency, and
finally distortion at the various temperatures. Thus in
all probability, without any more scientific knowledge
whatever than careful observation, the fine product
of that time would be produced which even now
(centuries later) is the object of our research.
While the Chinese were for centuries making the
most suitable material in the world for chemical labora-
tory ware, they had no use for such, and consequently
did not make it. It was only with the advance of
scientific chemical knowledge in Europe that the need
was felt for the various porcelain accessories that were
then called into use.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Germany and
France, having continued making the Chinese tvpe of
118 | | NATURE [OcTOBER II, 1917
{
porcelain, should have applied. themselves to this par-
ticular demand, and while the English porcelain manu-
facturers were busy on their own particular class of
porcelains they. should have almost entirely secured
the trade of the world in this branch.
With the cessation of the importation of Continental
porcelain into this country came the call to the English
potter, and, as might have been expected, it was not
every manufacturer that would listen to the call;
neither was it needful that he should.
There was no very tempting offer of any lucrative
opening in the new business, and a potter must be
more tempted by patriotism to his country, and a desire
to meet.its needs, than by immediate prospective finan-
cial success.
It is almost impossible to give a definition of chem-
ical porcelain which could generally be regarded as
entirely satisfactory. When first. porcelain was intro-
duced into Europe, its translucency was sufficient to
differentiate it from all other ceramic productions of
that period.
We have seen that in the attempts to produce a simi-
lar porcelain in Great Britain and on the Continent other
kinds of translucent pottery were discovered, which are
known under other names, such as bone china, .soft-
paste porcelain, etc., the first of which: for more
than a century has held its own amongst the finest
productions of the world.
It is quite clear, then, that what was once the pre-
dominant and characteristic definition of Chinese and
Continental hard-paste porcelain is so no longer, and
translucency alone could never be regarded as the
guarantee of chemical porcelain. Translucency is only
one of the properties of porcelain, and that rather of
beauty than utility, as evidenced by the fact that so
much of the beautiful translucent.porcelain of England
has been found useless for the purposes ave have in our
minds at the moment.
More than 150 years’ experience of the manufacture
of hard-paste porcelain at the State-supported Royal
Factory of Berlin, the experience of which was placed
at the disposal of the porcelain trade of Germany,
gave it a tremendous advantage over the English manu-
facturer. It was therefore no light task for an English
manufacturer, minus that experience, under entirely
different conditions, with all the models and moulds
to prepare, to attempt the task. Some three or four
English manufacturers, however, have attempted the
same with very considerable success.
While I cannot speak with any degree of confidence
in relation to the manufacture or supply of other fac-
tories than our own, I think I may safely say that
there is now no very serious occasion to go abroad for
any of the chemical porcelain accessories needed in this
country.
In spite of all the difficulties surrounding the
problem, English samples were in the hands of the
dealers for testing purposes in November, 1914. On
January 20, 1915, deliveries were commenced. The
permanent success of the venture for all the firms
concerned will depend upon the behaviour in use.
Doubtless demand will be made upon our manufac-
turers, from time to time, for very special articles,
such as the condensing worms as shown in the Royal
Berlin Catalogue, p. 107, but if our Government will
behave towards British potters as Continental countries
have done to theirs, such articles will be made by
special assistance.
We cannot refrain from expressing a sense of satis-
faction that something has already been done by mak-
ing a grant of 10.000!. to the North Staffs. Technical
School, Stoke-on-Trent, for experimental work in con-
nection with hard-paste porcelain, and extensive scien-
tific research work in that direction is being carried
out under the superintendence of Dr. Mellor.
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
With regard to the future of the trade, it may be
well to repeat that the English potters for two years —
now have supplied Great Britain with nearly all that —
has been needed for scientific work, as also for chem-
ical processes in connection with the war. The cry,
therefore, that it cannot be done is no longer ad-
missible. avn ae
We may not at present have succeeded in — .
anything superior to the German production, but I ~
venture to say that in much less time than chemical —
hard-paste porcelain has been manufactured our coun- —
try will be making something superior. ep BK:
Much will depend on conditions prevailing after the
war as to the-permanent success of the undertaking.
That there will be a keen fight for the trade need —
scarcely be said. The Germans will not very willingly
relinquish their hold upon a trade they have held so
long. Other countries also will compete. France,
Denmark, Japan, and Russia have already commenced
to supply, and the Engineer says :—“ Like this coun-
try, America, prior to the war, depended upon Ger-—
many for porcelain articles” used in chemical work,
and especially for laboratory work. Since the war the
German supply has ceased, and much inconvenience
was caused to chemists across the Atlantic. Tlo-day,
however, we learn that American pottery manufac.
turers are producing porcelain equal to any produced
in Germany.”’ BE Jide Ns,
The aim of the English potter in relation to this —
matter should be not slavishly to.copy the hard-paste
porcelain, but rather to follow the method pursued in
the past, viz. to produce his own particular type of
porcelain; but in this case it should be a porcelain
suited to the particular requirements. The occasion
is ripe for the introduction of something better than
anything yet produced, and whatever the slight differ-
ence as to the colour and the degree of translucency,
the main endeavour should be to produce a porcelain
that will fulfil the requirements demanded of it. — .
daar
al
-
Sire Naas
eer See
eye tote
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
_ INTELLIGENCE.
CampripGE.—The Rev. T. C. Fitzpatrick, president
of Queens’ College, who has held the office of Vice- —
Chancellor during the past two years, made, in accord-
ance with the usual custom, an address to the Senate
on vacating this office on the first day of the Michael-
mas term. He referred to the loss which the Univer- —
sity had sustained during the past academic year
through the death of, amongst others, Mr. Charles
Smith, master of Sidney Sussex College; Prof. T.
McKenny Hughes, who had held the Woodwardian
professorship since 1873; Dr. W. H. Besant, the oldest
living Senior Wrangler; Dr. Keith Lucas, who lost
his life by an aeroplane accident; and Mr. W. E. Hart-
ley, first assistant at the Observatory, who was killed
in the explosion on H.M.S. Vanguard. He reported
that the work of all the departments of the University
had been maintained during the past year, though
the number of students had again decreased. There
were in residence in the Michaelmas term of 1916 444
undergraduates, as against 825 in the Michaelmas term —
of 1915. The number of Cambridge men on service
had increased to 14,450. The list of killed now num-
bered -1872, of wounded and missing 2622.
The honours won. numbered 2855, and_ in-
cluded eight V.C.’s, 210 D.S.O.’s, and 729
M.C.’s. Besides those serving with the forces,
many members of the electoral roll were engaged on
war service of various kinds.
Among the reports approved by the Senate during
the year was an amended report on degrees for re-
search, including recommendations whick were not in
NATURE
119
the first report for the establishment of degrees of
Litt.B. and Se.B., and the shortening by one year of
s period required to elapse before admission to a
conferring membership of the Senate. It was
d out that the question of research degrees was
up with the question of the residence of students
jer universities for a limited period, and that
s of such students called for sympathetic and
s treatment by the University.
regard to the Previous Examination, wtich
en the subject during the past year of no fewer
six reports, two of them dealing with the question
npulsory Greek, now under consideration by a
ted Previous Examination Syndicate, the
thancellor urged that it was time that the method
mption from this examination should-be simpli-
nd pointed out that this* simplification was ren-
the more easy as the various examining bodies
recently established examinations for certificates
common lines. Various educational bodies were
for simplification, and™one and all demanded
\ ition of compulsory Greek. He hoped that
way in which the University would mark the
clusion of the war would be by asking of candidates
admission only whether they had had a sufficient
articular subjects. ~ )
ne Financial Board had reported that the estimated
income of the Chest for 1917 was 20,400l., a decrease
of 60 per cent. from the pre-war income, whilst. the
expenditure was estimated at 36,2001. The board in
report had indicated how the deficiency might be
met. The financial position of the University was
aie than had been expected, but, even if the income
of the University after the war reached the pre-war
standard, it would be insufficient to meet the claims
. - future expenditure. Returns made by the Special
_ Boards of Studies indicated that large increases in
_ annual and capital expenditure must be expected if the
_ University was to meet the claims that might be made
upon it as a place of teaching and research. Con-
_ tributions from the colleges to the Common University
_ Fund to raise the statutable amount of 30,0001. had
é from 10? per cent. in 1915 to 12} in 1917;
_ this gave some indication of the effects of the war on
_ the incomes of the colleges.
The new Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Shipley, master of
, Christ’s College, was prevented by indisposition from
' being present at the Senate House, and was admitted
at the lodge of Christ’s College.
__. Oxrorp.—The Herbert Spencer lecture will be de-
_ livered in English by Prof. Emile Boutroux on Satur-
Pe day, October 20. he subject will be ‘‘The Relation
between Thought and Action from the German and
from the Classical Point of View.”
w The Rev. H. E. D. Blakiston, president of Trinity,
has been appointed Vice-Chancellor for the ensuing
_ year.
_. St. AnprREws.—Prof. D’Arcy W. Thompson, pro-
fessor of natural history, University College, Dundee,
_. has been appointed to the chair of natural history at
& St. Andrews, in succession te Prof. W. C. McIntosh,
.
_who has just retired.
- Ar University College (University of London) a
course ot six lectures on ‘‘Coals, Peats, and Some Oil
Shales: their Origin, Structure, and Significance,
Palzobotanical and Otherwise,” will be given by Dr.
Marie Stopes on Tuesdays from October 16 to Novem-
ber 21, at 3 p.m. The lectures will deal with micro-
scopic evidence in some detail, and will be specially
adapted to students of botany and geology, but are
open to the general public interested in coal.
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
cation, and not as to whether they could qualify
Pror. F. J. CHESHIRE, director of the Department of
Technical Optics in the Imperial College of Science and
Technology, South Kensington, S.W., has been ap-
pointed honorary head of the Technical Optics Depart-
ment of the Northampton Polytechnic, Clerkenwell, in
accordance with the schemes of the Board of Education
and of the London County Council for the provision of
instruction in technical optics. These schemes may now,
therefore, be regarded as definitely and fully launched,
and it is not too much to hope that in view of the
careful consideration given to their elaboration their
effect upon the training of present and future genera-
tions of optical workers .will be an important factor in
replacing the optical trade of this country in the lead-
ing position which it occupied until about the last
quarter of_the nineteenth century.
Mr. T. Li. HuMBERSTONE, secretary of the com-
mittee of the Education Reform Council concerned with
university education, writes with reference to the com-
ment of our reviewer on the report of the council
(NatuRE, September 27, p. 61) that the section’
of the report dealing with universities ‘speaks too
much from the London point of view.” He urges that
as the report deals only with questions of general
interest, there is no peculiarly London aspect. Our
reviewer points out in reply that the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the newer provin-
cial universities, were not strongly represented on the
committee referred to, and he suggests that the
statesmanlike policy to have adopted -would have been
to secure well-chosen representatives from these uni-
versities so as to obtain from them an adequate expres-
sion of the desirable and practicable reforms at their
respective universities. Reforms at the various univer-_
sities will, he believes, prove to be most salutary and
productive when they arise from within, and the surest
plan, even if more difficult of attainment, is to create
the appropriate impetus at the universities themselves,
rather than to attempt to impose changes from outside.
In an address on organisation of business and the
development of the resources of the British Empire at
the opening of the School of Pharmacy of the Phar-
maceutical Society, Lt.-Col. Harrison, C.M.G., ex-
pressed his opinion that one of the most important
problems that civilisation has to solve is how to secure
the economy and efficiency of thorough organisation of
the production and distribution of commodities of all
kinds. In pharmacy this organisation has been taking
place but slowly, and it is essential that it should be
undertaken without delay by pharmacists themselves.
A curriculum of study should be made compulsory, and
the scientific standard raised so that pharmacists may
take the place to which they are entitled. The num-
ber of women entering pharmacy has been steadily
increasing, especially since the outbreak of war, and
they have been filling the places of men who have been
called to the colours. While women make excellent
students, they are too prone to yield to authority and
ure indisposed to make independent experiments on
their own initiative, without which progress in science
is difficult. Teachers of women students should, there-
fore, do their best to instil into their students the spirit
of investigation and- research, and to develop their
faculty of criticism.
Last week Lord Sydenham, presiding at a meeting
of the Women’s Indian Study Association, raised again
the urgent question of the education of women in
India. The results as disclosed at the census of 1911
are sufficiently deplorable. Only thirteen females per
mille attain the low standard of literacy prescribed for
the enumeration. Sir E. Gait, reviewing these figures,
found some comfort in the consideration that the pro-
portion of literates at the age period fifteen-twenty is
NATURE
[OcToBER 11, 1917
120
now much greater than at the higher ages. ‘* Until
recently, very little encouragement was given to
females to keep up their previously acquired knowledge
after marriage, and many soon forgot what they had
learned at school. But the main reason no doubt is
that at the present time education is spreading very
rapidly amongst them, and the number which is being
taught in the schools is very much larger than even a
decade ago.’’ Female education is checked by the
seclusion of women in the higher classes and by the
early age of marriage. The results of this prevailing
ignorance are shown in the high death-rate among
young women, due to want of fresh air, inefficient
midwifery, hard work at the critical period of life, and
neglect of girl babies due to hypergamy. As Miss
Boyd, the secretary of the Women’s University Settle-
ment, Bombay, pointed out, the Indian woman in
childbirth has less chance of life than a soldier on the
battlefield.
had touched the Indian soldiers in France and Belgium
more than seeing how the women helped the men in
those countries. More active sympathy between Eng-
lish ladies in India towards their native sisters, leading
to the establishment of women’s clubs, zenana visiting,
employment of Indian women in the medical and nurs-
ing professions, etc., is greatly to be desired. At the pre-
sent time the way is open, without any violent disturb-
ance of existing social conditions, to ameliorate the
condition of women and children in our Indian Empire.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, September 24.—M. Camille
Jordan in the chair.—G. Sizes: Practical modifications
of the ‘“‘law of resonance of sonorous bodies” and
correction to the note on Chinese gongs.—M. Travers :
A new separation of tin and tungsten in wolframs
containing tin. The mineral is fused with sodium
sulphite, the aqueous solution slightly acidified, and
the impure stannous sulphide, which is free from
tungsten, filtered off. The tungsten is determined in
a separate sample, opening up with sodium sulphite
fusion as before.—M. Baudouin: A new disease of
‘Clupea spratta, caused by a_ parasitic Copepod,
Lernoeenicus sardinae.—P. Wintrebert : The gastrula of
Scyllium canicula.—L. Lapicque : The separation of bran
and the food yield of wheat. The calorific value, and
hence the food value, of bread increase with the
amount of bran extracted in the process of milling, so
that white bread is more nutritious than wholemeal
bread. It is pointed out, however, that, taking into
account the percentage of white flour obtained for a
given weight of wheat, a higher nutritive value is
obtained with a wholemeal bread, since white flour
rejects about 28 per cent. of the wheat. The 85 per
cent. extraction now practised in France appears to
be beneficial.—G. A. Le Roy: The use of. glucosates
of lime in bread-making. Glucosates of lime may be
employed with advantage from the points of view of
taste and keeping power in the place of lime-water, for
improving bread made from flour containing a high
proportion of bran, such as the 85 per cent. extraction
in current use.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
Histology of Medicinal Plants. By Prof. W. Mans-
field. Pp. xi+305. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons,
Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 13s. 6d.
net.
Manual for the Essence Industry. By E. Walter.
Pp. iii+427. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 18s. 6d. net.
NO. 2502, VOL. 100]
Lord Sydenham remarked that nothing
Practical Cheesemaking. By C: W. Walker-Tisdale
(London; Headley”
and W. E. Woodnuit.. Pp. 182.
Bros., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. net.
Through Lapland with Skis and Reindeer, with
some Account of Ancient Lapland and the Murman
Coast. By F. H. Butler.
illustrations. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.)
12s. 6d. net.
Mémoires de la Société de Physique et d’Histoire |
Naturelle de Genéve. Vol. xxxviii., fasc. 6. (Genéve:
Georg et Cie.) 25 francs.
The Road and the Inn.
XVili + 435 +32 illustrations. (London: Macmillan and
Co., Ltd.) tos. net.
About Winchester College. By A. K. Cook. To
which is prefixed De Collegio Wintoniensi. By
Mathew. Pp. xvii+583.
Co., Ltd.) 18s. net.
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY; Ocroser 11
OpricaL Society, at 8.—The Grading of Carborundum for
Purposes: J. W. French. ;
TUESDAY, OcrosBer 16. .
INSTITUTION oF PeTRoLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS, at 8.—Testing and Standard-
isation of Motor Fuel: E. L. Lomax, aN
(London: Macmillan and
i WEDNESDAY, Ocroser 17.
Royat Microscopica Society, at 8.—Report on the Recent Foramini
Dredged off the East Coast of Australia
Dart, Station 19 (May 14, 1895): H: \
Preserving Marine Biological Specimiens : F. Martin Duncan.
ENTOMOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 8. ;
FRIDAY, Octoser 10.
InstiTUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—A Comparison of the
Working Costs of the Principal Prime Movers : O. Wans.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Marshall’s “Explosives”. ......... poe As
The Car and its Design...) 3 (eee +. 362
Our Bookshelf’ 2 ce yay «aac te SORE
Letters to the Editor:— :
The Modern Range-finder.—James Weir French ;
Prof: :C. V. Boys, Fi RS, 25 2 eee hee
A Plea for the Fuller Utilisation of Coal.—Prof.
K. C. Browning ; Major Arthur J. Martin . . 104.
The Harvest Moon.—C, T. Whitmell . Ae 105,
Folk-lore and Local Names of Woodlice.—Dr. \
Walter E. Collinge ...,. Maer ipa a itis) “<5
The Convolvulus Hawk-moth.—J. Laker .... . 105
Organisation of Chemical Industry after the War 106
The Stellenbosch Meeting of the South African
Association kes 4 ae 107
The Physique of Recruits...) 4 ee 109
Prof. Charles Latham. }) 203° .4 4 ae eee ato LAOh
Notes MEL mitch eS 6 (Sat a
Our Astronomical Column :—
Ephemeris of Encke’s Comet . . . . . > Wee aan ¢ 0
The New Star.in N.G;C::6046... Vi seo eee A II5
Work-hardened Metals. By H. C. H.C. osha cee
Brilliant Fireball of October1. By W. F. Denning 116
The Task of British Agriculture Pie Wap aie oy
Chemical Laboratory Porcelain. By Henry Watkin 117
University and Educational Intelligence . . . 118
Societies and Academies. ........
‘©On the Number of Stars of Each Photographic Magnitude in Different
Galactic Latitudes.” By Dr. P. J. van Rhijn. (1917.) Bo
2 F. H. Seares, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington, v l. iii., p. 217.
(1917-)
‘
*
OcToser 18, 1917]
NATURE
129
'» selected by Prof. Kapteyn for his ‘‘ Plan of
’ Selected Areas ” (1906), the number of regions for
_which data were available for preliminary discus-
- sion being sixty-five at Harvard and eighty-
eight at Mount Wilson. Dr. van _ Rhijn’s
’ discussion is much the more detailed, Prof.
-Seares dealing only with the numbers of
stars down to the limiting magnitude on
each plate. The two investigations agree, how-
ever, in indicating a progressive increase in the
concentration of the stars towards the galactic
_ plane, as we proceed from brighter to fainter stars.
_ Comparing star densities (a) in a belt of 20° on
a either side of the galaxy, and (b) inthe caps of
ett s © radius round the galactic poles, the ratio is
_ found to be 2’5 for stars brighter than 5™*o or
6™0, 55 for stars brighter than 16™0 (Har-
___ vard), and about 1o for those brighter than 17™o
_ (Mount Wilson); magnitudes are here reckoned
on the revised Harvard photographic scale.
_. These results differ to some extent from those
arrived at by earlier investigators, among whom
_ the more recent are Pickering (1903), Kapteyn
_ (1908), and Chapman and Melotte (1914). The
differences, however, can now, in the main, be
accounted for. The counts on which the first-
_ mentioned work was based were incomplete in the
_ richer regions of the sky, and the galactic con-
_ densation thus appeared to increase but little for
the fainter stars. Kapteyn’s memoir, on the con-
trary, gave values of the condensation which are
brought into fair agreement with them when his
_ magnitude. scale i is corrected to the absolute scale
determined more recently. Chapman and Melotte’s
tion, which was photographic (thirty
ates), and in many respects similar to the new
arvard-Groningen study, gave too small a galac-
tie” concentration for the faint stars (i.e. 3°1 at
-16™0). Dr. van Rhijn points out that the method
sug reduction which they adopted was faulty, and
_ would lead to too small a value; from'a note in
his memoir it appears that, after allowing for this
error, Chapman and Melotte find that their data
Guat results i in close accordance with his own.
It is of interest to note that Dr. van Rhijn’s
‘estimate of the total number of stars in the sky
_ brighter than the 16th magnitude is approximately
_ thirty-three millions. Also, if the law of increase
in number which is obeyed down to this limit is
used to obtain, by extrapolation, an estimate of
the total number of stars of all magnitudes, the
result is found to be 3360 millions; of these stars
_about half will be brighter than magnitude 25'5.
Lo OR
s: %; Bais
,
ae oft, =e
ALCOHOL FUEL AND ENGINES.
a pp Re special committee on ‘Alcohol Fuel and
Engines” of the Australian Commonwealth
Advisory Committee on Science and Industry has
presented its first report. The need for such an
investigation arises from the prospective shortage
of supplies of mineral oils and the consequent high
price of motor spirit.
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
er than those mentioned above, but which are .
_the question of supply.
There are three branches into which the inquiry
divides, namely, the design and manufacture of
the engine, the supply of the alcohol, and its
denaturation. As the committee points out, there
is no special difficulty with the engine ; indeed, the
use of alcohol, by permitting the compression ratio
to be increased considerably, offers a prospect of
some gain in thermal economy. Nor with a given
engine need there be any loss of power, since the
average calorific value per unit volume of a mix-
ture of alcohol with the air necessary for its
combustion is almost identical with the corre-
sponding figure for petrol. Nevertheless, if alco-
hol be compared with petrol pound for pound,
the latter has the advantage by some 50 per cent.
A comparison gallon for gallon is more favourable
to alcohol, but, whichever be adopted, alcohol
needs to be at a lower unit price than. petrol to
be the more economical fuel.
Alcohol unfortunately suffers from the grave
disadvantage that an engine will not “‘ start up from
the cold’’ with it, whereas its alternative. rival,
benzol, will easily enable this to be done on all but
the very cokdest days. Doubtless the possible use of
benzol was outside the terms of the reference of this
particular committee ; but, had it not been so, the
committee would certainly have had to point out
that, although the alterations to the engine to suit
it to “alcohol as fuel are not considerable, the use of
benzol enables the engine to be used without any
alterations whatever.
The main difficulty seen by the committee is
‘It appears unlikely that
any considerable quantity of alcohol can be manu-
factured in Australia from -either waste or raw
materials not at present utilised.” ‘ The same
remark applied to benzol before the war, but will
it apply after? The quantity , of benzol at
present being produced for munitions is shrouded
by the secrecy of war, but it is not out of place
to speculate that when the need for vast munitions
ceases a supply of benzol may be released for use
in internal-combustion motors which will give a .
new aspect to the problem which this Australian
committee is considering. The further reports of
the committee: will be looked forward to with
interest.
NOTES.
Amonc the several matters which the deputation
from the Jomt Committee of Approved Societies and
the Conference of the Amalgamated Society of Indus-
trial Assurance brought before the Prime Minister, when
he received it on October 11, not the least important
was that with regard to the early establishment of a
Ministry of Health. Mr. Lloyd George did not fail
to recognise its “mportance, and in the reply which
he made to the deputation showed that he was alive
to the necessities of the case and understood the point
of view of the deputation. In effect, the demand
made was that, in connection with the establishment
of the Ministrv, the aim should be to give satisfaction
to the national insurance organisations. It was sug-
gested, too, that the one thing that must be done was
to avoid allowing the Local Government Board to have
any part in the work. The reason for asking this
130
NATURE
[Ocroser 18, 1917
was that the Board dealt with pauperism, and insured
persons and trade unionists were opposed to it, would
not have anything to do with it, and, in short, hated
it. As a matter of fact, this was probably all that the
deputation desired to say as to the Ministry of Health,
except to assure the Prime Minister that the bodies
concerned with national insurance were much more
capable and deserving of the honour of being charged
with the care of the nation’s health. Except that he
may possibly have been hinting that it was the fault
of the Local Government Board that the laws as to
public health were not satisfactory, and that there had
been no drastic reform in connection with their ad-
ministration, the Prime Minister said very little in
praise or dispraise of this department. If he had
words of praise for the national insurance bodies as
public health administrators they did not appear in the
newspaper reports of the proceedings. From these it
would seem that perhaps the most important. state-
ment made by Mr. Lloyd George, so far as the Ministry of
Health was concerned, was not one likely to bring much
cheer. to persons desirous of seeing an early settlement
of the question. The Prime Minister made it clear
that he regarded the matter as important, and that he
saw the necessity for drastic alterations. Also he
made it plain that he did not think this was the time
to ask that changes should be made. It appears to be
his view also that even if there is postponement and
the country is asked to depend upon the existing ar-
rangements for even a year or two, probably nothing
very serious will happen.
UNDER the Representation of the People Bill now
before the House of Commons, it is proposed to do
away with the Livery vote of the City of London.
A meeting was held at the Guildhall on October 15 to
protest against this.proposal. The Lord Mayor pre-:
sided, and Lord Halsbury moved the following resolu-
tion, which was seconded by Major Rigg and carried
by the meeting :—‘‘That the Livery Companies of
the City of London, in common _ hall assembled,
earnestly protest against the attempt now disclosed,
under the provisions of the Representation of the
People Bill, to deprive the Livery of one of its most
valued and long-established rights and privileges in
exercising the Parliamentary franchise in the City of
London; and against the injustice and wrong at such
a moment in our history of having to defend these
rights; and they further submit that the provisions in
the Bill for preserving and. extending the university
franchise should include the retention of the ancient
Livery franchise on educational grounds alone, apart
from the other rights of the Livery to its retention.
The Corporation and the Livery Companies have from
time immemorial represented the founders and sup-
porters of all grades of education, including faculties
in science and literature in the universities to which
the Bill rightly proposes to preserve or give the Par-
liamentary vote, and have cherished and supported all
forms of manual, industrial, commercial, and scientific
training, based upon and combined with such educa-
tion. The City and Guilds Institute and the schools
and colleges founded and still maintained in the City
of London constitute in themselves an educational
claim to the Parliamentary franchise, based on tradi-
tional influence, contemporary activity, and prestige as
great as can be claimed for any kindred constituency,
and the Livery make their appeal to Parliament to
preserve. to them rights they have well earned and
ever exercised in the public interest.’’ A strong case
can certainiy be made out for the retention of the
Livery vote on the ground of the educational activities
of the Livery Companies of the City of London. To
the City and Guilds of London Institute alone these
companies and the Corporation have contributed more
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
than one million pounds, and they led the way in the
provision of facilities for technical education in’ Lon-
don. Their historical claims to Parliamentary repre-
sentation are undoubted, and they are supported by
beneficial national influence. Whatever reasons can be
adduced for university representation can be applied
with increased force to the Livery franchise; we hope,
therefore, that the ancient right will be preserved.
One of the industries concerning which little is per-
haps generally known, but upon which the steel, non-
ferrous metals, gas, glass, and other industries are
absolutely dependent, is that which is concerned with
the production of refractory materials. In the days
before the war we were content to draw from abroad
not only important supplies of raw materials, but also
finished products. The new. spirit in manufacturing,
however, has led to a movement to make British indus-
tries particularly self-supporting in this direction. Mr.
W. J. Jones, of the Ministry of Munitions, who is the
president of the Ceramic Society, the autumn meeting:
of which concluded at Glasgow on October 3, in an
address delivered to the Refractory Materials Section
of that society, referred to the useful work which has
been done by. this section.. He pointed out how the —
urgent needs of manufacturers for refractory materials
have been met by the home industry, which, notwith-
standing the depletion for national service of so many
of the best men, has increased the output of coke-oven
bricks by 100 per cent., of silica bricks by 60 per cent.,
of calcined dolomite by 80 per cent., and of firebrick by —
more than 20 per cent. In view of the fact that our
manufacturing output must remain at a high level, both
during the war period and after, Mr. Jones outlined
the steps that should be taken to bring about the neces-
sary increase in the supply of refractory materials of
the right quality in order that they might withstand
the high temperatures that would be certain to be
applied, and the more severe conditions of service
generally... What he asks is that there should be a
‘closer combination between manufacturer and con-
‘sumer, with the scientific investigator as a connecting
link, and he urged: upon all interested the desirability
of at once giving consideration to a scheme of scientific
research in which other societies are likely to co-
operate. If the suggestions put forward by Mr. Jones
commend themselves to the makers, and the necessary
steps are taken to bring about their realisation, a great
step forward will have been made by an industry which,
although in a certain sense a subsidiary one, is inti-
mately bound up with the future prosperity of . our
staple manufactures.. Ke he ae
-WE ‘learn from the Daily Telegraph that President
Poincaré has conferred the Legion of Honour upon
Dr. John Cadman, C.M.G., professor of mining, Uni-
versity of Birmingham, in recognition of valuable ser-
vices rendered by him in the cause of the Allies.
Tue King has conferred the dignity of a peerage of
the United Kingdom upon the Right Hon. Sir Francis
Hopwood, vice-chairman of the Development Commis- —
sion, and a member of the General Board and Execu-
tive Committee of the National Physical Laboratory.
WE regret to note that the Engineer for October 12
records the death of Mr. William Robert Sykes, the
inventor of the lock-and-block system of railway signal-_
ling. Mr. Sykes died on October 2, at the age of
seventy-seven years; he was responsible for the inven-—
tion of many appliances relating to railway signalling:
Tue death is announced in the Engineer for October —
12 of Mr. Bernard Arkwright, chief of the engine works
department at Elswick. Mr. Arkwright was born in
1861, and educated at Harrow, and he became assistant
manager of the engine works belonging to Sir W. G.
seven years.
\
es.) 4
Ocroser 18, 1917]
NATURE
131
_Armstrong and Co., Ltd., at the early age of twenty-
He was appointed a local director of the
company in 1912, and was a member of the Institution
of Civil Engineers and of the Institution of Mechan-
ical Engineers. He occupied a prominent position in
the North-East Coast Engineer Employers’ Federation.
Dr. Appison, the Minister of Reconstruction, has
_ appointed a committee to consider and report on ques-
- tions connected with the supplies of raw materials
which will be required by British industries for the
_ purpose of restoring and developing trade after the
_ termination of the war and the best means of securing
and distributing supplies, due regard being had to the
_ interests of the Allies. The committee, which will be
_ known as the Central Committee on Supplies of Mate-
rials, consists of the following members :—Sir Claren-
_ don Hyde (chairman), Sir H. Birchenough, K.C.M.G.,
_ Mr. Cecil Budd, Sir C. W. Fielding, K.B.E., Sir H.
_ Babington Smith, K.C.B., Mr. W. Thorneycroft, and
_ Mr. A. Weir. The secretary is Mr. J. F. Ronca, who
_ should be addressed at the Ministry of Reconstruction,
_ 2 Queen Anne’s Gate Buildings, Westminster, S.W.1.
' Iw discussing the development of the steel industry
in Great Britain the leading article in Engineering
for October 12 asks whether there are any signs during
_ the last two years in the desire of our manufacturers
_ to profit from scientific methods, and obtains a welcome
affirmative from the recent autumn meetings of the
Iron and Steel Institute and the Institute of Metals.
_ There has always been great difficulty in getting British
_ manufacturers to combine to solve collectively problems
which affected all, and no better evidence that the ‘old
order changeth” could be supplied than the report of
- Committee No. 1 on ore, fuels, and refractories, with
_ which the Iron and Steel Institute opened its session.
_ This report was compiled by Messrs. Guy Barrett
ig Vale) and T. B. Rogerson (Glasgow), and gives
‘an admirably concise form the present state of our
knowledge regarding the subjects dealt with, and re-
ceived warm commendation from the members. In
connection with the utilisation of low-grade ores, con-
centration will be required to convert these into high-
_ grade ores, while briquetting will be necessary to make
the product usable. Meanwhile there is money to be
saved, the conservative estimate of the authors of the
report being more than 5oool. per furnace-year.
Tue Revue Scientifique records the death on July 22
last of M. Frangois Cyrille Grand’Eury, correspondant
of the Institute of France in the section of botany.
Born at Houdreville (Meurthe-et-Moselle) on March 9,
1839, Grand’Eury adopted the profession of a mining
engineer, and spent his life in the coalfields. Early in
his career he became interested in the fossil plants
occurring in and around the coal-seams, and he con-
tinued until the end to make the best use of his un-
rivalled opportunities for observing the fossils in their
_matural position. He was thus able to make many
_ important contributions to knowledge of the flora of
the Carboniferous period, by correlating the roots,
_ stems, foliage, and fruits, which were until then
_ known only by isolated fragments and bore several
distinct mames. At the same time he made many
_ striking observations in reference to the mode of origin
of the coal-seams themselves. There are still differ-
ences of opinion as to some of his theories and deduc-
tions, but all are agreed as to the keenness of his
insight into the problems before him and the success
_ with which he helped to solve many of them. His
_ humerous writings are beautifully illustrated, and will
_ always be esteemed among the early classics of palzo-
botany. His memoir on the Carboniferous flora of the
department of the Loire and the centre of France was
published by the Academy of Sciences so long ago as
NO. 2502. VOL. I00]
Igol.
1876. His ‘great work on the coal basin of the Gard
appeared in 1890, At the time of his death he had
begun the publication of ** Recherches géobotaniques,”’ in
association with his only son, who has fallen in the
War.
Lr.-Co_. Gopwin AUSTEN writes with reference to
the late Capt. G. F. T. Oakes, R.E. :—*‘ I have only very
recently heard of the death of this promising young
engineer officer, which took place so long ago as July
15 last year at Ovilliers la Boiselle, when urging his
men to complete a communication trench. Educated
at Dulwich College, he entered Woolwich in Septem-
ber, 1900, and obtained his commission in December,
Proceeding to India in 1904, he was appointed
to the Indian Survey Department, and saw active ser-
vice in the Abor Expedition of 1911-12, was mentioned
in despatches, and received the medal and clasp. He
did some fine work in this then unknown part of the
Eastern Himalaya, in the great valley of the Dehang
(the Tsanspu of Tibet, the Brahmaputra of Assam), -
carrying the triangulation and topography for 100
miles up the course of that great river to lat. 29° N.,
long. 95° E., including the great tributaries of the
Siyom and Shimang on the right bank, with the
Yamne on the left bank. The trigonometrical stations
are lofty, up to 11,000 and 12,000 ft., covered with
dense tropical forest, climatic and transport difficulties
are great, and the people of the country wild; this
survey he continued for another season after the troops
had retired. Capt. Oakes did, besides, much for
zoology, and I shall, ever be grateful to him for the
fine collection of land Mollusca he brought together ;
many rare species reached this country alive, and lived
through the summer. This material, together with
what was collected by Mr. S. W. Kemp, of the
Indian Museum, during the Abor Expedition, shows
that a very distinct molluscan fauna has developed in
the Tsanspu valley, throwing much light on its ancient
geological history and course. The Surveyor-General
of India has lost a most promising assistant, and the
Royal Engineers a brave officer, one who, on the return
of peace, would have taken part in future pendulum
Porter operations in India, for which he was well
tted.”’
RAINFALL and gunfire is the subject of a note by Dr.
H. i)eslandres, director of the Meudon Astrophysical
Observatory, in the Comptes rendus of the Paris
Academy of Sciences for August 27. A communication
is included from the pen of M. C. Saint-Saéns, whose
eminence in the world of music serves him as a pass-
port into the realms of science. The composer relates
that in the time of Louis Philippe the evening display
of fireworks which terminated the national festival of
the “Trois Glorieuses’’ in July at Paris had to be
helped out by the discharge of ordnance with the
view of increasing the noise, which was otherwise
insufficient to satisfy the public; and that afterwards
there was nearly always a heavy storm, although the
afternoon was the usual time for such phenomena.
M. Saint-Saéns is of opinion, however, that rain is
only produced by gunfire in certain circumstances
(which are not specified). Dr. Deslandres maintains
that gunfire is never the primary cause of rainfall, but
that it may serve to provoke, expedite, and increase
precipitation. In the latter part of the note the author
remarks that the statements of Pliny and Plutarch to
the effect that great rains followed great battles in
ancient times, long before the invention of explosives,
may not be without foundation; he considers that the
friction of javelins, arrows, stones, and other missiles
may have been sufficient to effect an increased ionisa-
tion of the air, and thus by facilitating condensation to
bring about premature or excessive rainfall. M. Angot,
however, has recently pointed out that the lower
132 NATURE
t
[OcToBER 18, 1917
regions of the atmosphere are always highly ionised,
and that it has yet to be proved that any addition of
ions can excite premature condensation in unsaturated
air (see Natrurg, August 9, p. 467).
An extraordinary feat of engineering is reported
from America in the Times for October 10, under the
heading ‘‘A Standardised Air-engine.” Our Amer-
ican friends seem to have realised at the outset the
inadvisability of using a number of engines of different
design, and have sought to standardise an engine from
the first. With this object in view, two eminent
engineers, whose names have not yet been disclosed,
were invited to meet and discuss the question of an
all-American engine, embodying the “best experience’
available on engine design. Manufacturers and con-
sulting engineers have also co-operated, and, we are
told, have patriotically given up trade secrets to assist
in the new design. The work of designing and con-
structing a trial engine was completed in the amaz-
. ingly short space of one month, and the new engine
was run in Washington on Independence Day for the
first time. The United States Official Bulletin of
September 13 states that the tests have given complete
satisfaction, and even goes so far as to say that the
tests ‘‘justify the Government in accepting the engine
as the best produced in any country.’ This is high
praise indeed for an engine so rapidly designed and
made, and motor engineers will await details of the
design with considerable interest. Little is said in the
Official Bulletin as to the details of the new engine.
Standardisation is the keynote of the design, and the
cylinders have been so arranged that engines having
either eight or twelve cylinders can be built from the
same standard paris. It is, of course, impossible to
criticise the engine from a technical point of view
with so little definite information, but the Americans
are to be congratulated upon their early appreciation
of the importance of a standard engine, and the
immense amount of time in production and repair that
can be saved by adopting such a design.
In a circular letter received from the Decimal Asso-
ciation, and headed ‘‘ The Breakdown of the Penny,”
a proposal is again put forward for the establishment
of a system of decimal coinage based on the sovereign,
or pound sterling, which would retain its present
name and value, and would represent ‘‘ 1000 mils.”
It is pointed out that most of our existing coins down
to and including the sixpenny-piece are available for
incorporation in such a system without any alteration
whatever in their respective values, and that ithe com-
pletion of the system by the division of the florin into
100 parts would involve only a slight modification in
the values of our present bronze coins. The circular
states that war-time conditions have completely
changed the purchasing power of the penny, that
the inflexibility of our subsidiary coinage has been one
of the causes accentuating the high prices of daily
necessities, which have been found to be the root of
so much industrial unrest, and that the proposed
changes will be of advantage to the industrial classes.
Prices of halfpenny goods have in many instances
been raised to a penny and those of penny goods to
three-halfpence for lack of coins having values inter-
mediate between our present halfpenny and penny
and between the penny and three-halfpence. The pro-
vision of an enlarged range of low denomination coins
in closely: graduated steps would accordingly afford
much relief to purchasers while enabling the seller to
get a fair increase of price for his article. A table
of the proposed decimal coinage, given in a pamphlet
accompanying the circular, shows that the new coins
introduced would be nickel pieces of 10, 5, and 23 mils,
and, if necessary, bronze pieces of 4, 2, and 1 mils.
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
Tue annual report for 1916 of the Agricultural and
Horticultural Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol
(the National Fruit and Cider Institute), forms an
interesting record of work continued under great diffi-
culties owing to depletion of staff. Cider and apple
investigations form, as usual, the most prominent
feature of the report, whilst several questions relating
to black currants have also been studied. In addition
to the staple research work of the station a number
of questions which have arisen out of war-time condi-
tions have been investigated, including experiments on
the utilisation of cider apples and apple pomace as
food for live stock and the substitution of glucose for
cane-sugar in jam-making.
Tue Bulletin of the Imperial Institute (vol. xv.,
No. 1) gives an account of the results of examination —
of Ecdeiocolea monostachya ‘‘leaves’’ from Western ~
Australia, Neoboutonia macrocalyx timber from the —
East Africa Protectorate, and bark of Brachystegia —
Randii from Rhodesia, which have been investigated
at the institute recently as sources of pulp for paper-
making. The results on the whole were such as to
indicate that these materials could be satisfactorily
employed for the purpose. A further addition to the
valuable information on oil-seeds supplied by the insti-_
tute is given in articles on manketti nuts, babassu~
kernels, tucan nuts, and Paraguay kernels. In an
article on the production of wheat in Egypt
Mr. G. C. Dudgeon, of the Ministry of Agriculture,
arrives at the conclusion that, except in years when
the cotton crop is largely restricted in area, Egypt
cannot grow enough cereals to supply completely her
own necessities. Other reports, articles, and notes,
covering a wide variety of subjects, contribute to make
an interesting number.
In his address to the Physical and Chemical Sec-
tion of the Franklin Institute in January, last Prof.
Millikan, of the University of Chicago, dealt with one
of the unsolved problems of modern physics—the rela-
tion of the electron to the absorption and emission of
radiation. The fact that short-wave radiation passes
through matter without influencing more than one in
a thousand billions of the atoms in the space traversed
forces us to assume either that the energy of the
radiation is not spread evenly over the wave front, or
that there _is some property of the atom which, while
permitting it to take in energy from the radiation
gradually, only admits of that energy*being emitted in
bundles or ‘‘quanta.’”’ The former alternative has
been adopted by Thomson and by Einstein, but Milli-
kan points out the objections to it, and is disposed to
think the second alternative the more promising,
.although in its present state it leaves us in the dark
as to the conditions which exist within the atom and
the modification of them that the incident radiation
brings about. Prof. Millikan’s address is reproduced
in the September number of the Journal of the insti-
tute. f 22
Two 14-metre comparators, complete with the neces-
sary standards, have recently been completed and
shipped for the Imperial Japanese Government. The .
object of these comparators is to enable the final
standards of length, as used by our Japanese Allies, to
be comparable with those in use at the National
Physical Laboratory at Teddington. The supreme im-
portance of accurate final standards, from the point of
view of interchangeability of ordnance, is universally
recognised. The standards themselves are divided in
metric units, and consist of H-shaped bars of 58 per
cent: nickel-steel with platinum-iridium divided sur-
faces. In their general method of construction, all
ee -Ocrozer 18, 1917]
NATURE
133
comparators consist of a heavy cast-iron base, on the
back of which micrometer microscopes are fixed. The
bars, to be compared, are mounted in a moving car-
riage, which is traversed to and fro beneath the micro-
- scopes, thus enabling plus and minus difference read-
ings to be taken. 2
consists essentially of a double tank mounted on
this case the moving carriage
Ww.
Is. The two standards are carried on light beams
_ in the inner tank, which beams are fitted with accurate
_ levelling screws. The inner tank is filled with water,
so as to maintain the standards at a constant tem-
_ perature, whilst a complete system of thermometers
enables the temperature accurately to be determined.
The outer tank acts as a jacket to the inner. By
filling the interspace with ice,‘ or, alternatively, hot
_ water, coefficients of expansion can be obtained to a
high deg
_ the supply of the detail fittings, the utmost precautions
ree of accuracy. In the general design and in
‘have been taken to eliminate small sources of error,
and an accuracy of about +o-1 » is anticipated after
final erection.
the Société Genevoise, of 87 Victoria Street, London,
and Geneva, to the
These instruments were constructed by
specification of Mr. O. Paul
Monckton. - :
_ Tue September number of La Science et la Vie
. ‘contains a description of the stereoradioscope invented
__ by Major Liévre, of the French Army Medical Corps.
principle of the apparatus is as follows. A body
acted upon by the Roéntgen rays emanatiag from two
different sources distant from 6 to 10 centimetres from
each other projects two parallel shadows -on to the
screen. If by a suitable arrangement the right eye
is made to see only ene of the images at the same
_ time as the other image is seen by the left eye ‘only,
an observer will have a stereoscopic view of the radio-
‘scopic image. To dissociate the two images. in this
‘manner and render each visible to the corresponding
_ eye, Major Liévre has applied the principle of the per-
_ sistence of luminous impressions on the retina.
_ apparatus itself consists of three essential parts super-
5 pane viz. a double source of X-rays underneath, fol-
owe
of La Science et la
The
d by the usual screen, then a sighting device pro-
vided with a shutter and a commutator. The commu-
__ tator serves the purpose of operating one of the X-ray
tubes simultaneously with the uncovering of one of the
eyepieces, and of shutting off the other X-ray source
and closing the shutter of the other eyepiece. The
| device, which has been adopted by the French Army,
has the advantage of great mechanical simplicity and
ease of application.
_ Tue problem of the landing of an aeroplane in the
_ shortest distance and with the minimum of shock is a
_ very important one in aviation, especially with the
advent of the heavier machines of the bombing type.
In a very interesting article in the September number
ie M. Jean Fontanges deals with
the question, and describes the systems of landing car-
riage employed on various French and German
machines. The type of carriage provided with skids
only is now practically obsolete, the most usual pattern
‘consisting either of wheels alone, or wheels in con-
junction with skids, or a rear crutch. The centre or
supporting wheels have to be built on a high-strength
framework (usually of steel tubing), with (smaller)
front wheels to prevent the machine landing nose
down. Some of the types‘ are provided with brakes
on the wheels, to give quicker landing. Mention is
made of the Paul Schmitt biplane, which is provided
with a device for altering the incidence of the wings
‘and so reducing the speed of the machine prior to
landing. The article also discusses the types of shock-
absorber usually employed.
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
Mr. G. Burton BAKER contributes to the Chemical
News for September 21 an interesting note on a colour-
ing matter extracted from Wasahba wood. The latter
has a specific gravity 1-214; it is difficult to work,
being extremely hard and almost bony in texture.
When the sawdust is extracted with hot alcohol a
colourless solution is obtained which becomes a bright
salmon-pink when treated with an alkali solution, the
colour being discharged by acids. If the alcoholic
extract is used side by side with a one per cent. solu-
tion of phenolphthalein in the ‘titration of ammonia,
potassium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide solutions
with hydrochloric acid, the same result is ob-
tained in the case of potassium hydroxide as with
phenolphthalein, whilst with ammonia and sodium
hydroxide the results were approximately the same.
Concordant results could not be obtained when sodium,
potassium, and ammonium carbonates were the alkalis
employed. Further, the red alkaline solution will act
as a dye, staining white pine quite deeply.
THE issue of Engineering for September 21 contains
an account of the hydraulic power undertakings con-
nected with the town of Barcelona and its electric
supply. Under the control of the Barcelona Traction,
Light, and Power Co. there has been inaugurated a
threefold development of the hydraulic resources of the
adjacent country. Power accessible to the extent of
60,000 h.p., under a head of 164 ft., is already obtained
from the river Segre, from Lerida downwards for a
distance of 18} miles. By the formation of a dam,
262 ft. high, a reservoir has been formed on the river
Noguera Pallaresa, giving a head of 492 ft., from
which two power stations of 50,000 and 60,000 h.p.
respectively are supplied. The river Ebro is to yield
the third quota, a dam 1378 ft. long and 197 ft. high
being contemplated, and this will enable its power
station to develop no fewer than 300,000 h.p. The
Noguera Pallaresa dam has only recently been com-
pleted. It impounds a volume of 6,909,000,000 cub. ft.
It is constructed across the narrowest part of the valley
and is curved to. a radius of 984 ft. The dam is a
gravity dam, with a volume of 9,500,000 cub. ft. The
Tremp power-house is situated about half a mile below
the dam, and has four turbines, which run under a
maximum head of 229 ft. and a minimum head of
98 ft.
Mr. Humpurey MiLrorp, of the Oxford University
Press, announces “Studies in the History and
Method of Science,” edited by C. Singer. It will con-
tain the following contributions :—‘t The — Scientific
Views and Visions of St. Hildegarde,” C. Singer;
‘Vitalism,”” Dr. J. W. Jenkinson; ‘‘A Study in Early
Renaissance Anatomy,” C. Singer; ‘‘The Blessing of
Cramp Rings,” R. Crawford; ‘Dr. John Weyer and
the Witch Mania,” E. T. Withington ; ‘‘ The ‘ Tractatus
de Causis et Indiciis Morborum,’ attributed to Mai-
monides,”’ R. Levy; “Scientific Discovery and Logical
Proof,” F. S. Schiller. Mr. Milford will also pub-
_ ‘The Determination of Farming Costs,” by C. S.
rwin.
THE October list of Publishers’ Remainders of Mr.
H. J. Glaisher, 55 Wigmore Street, W.1, is miscel-
laneous in character, and should be seen by those in
search of books in new condition at low prices. Among
the books likely to be of interest to readers of NATURE
are Sir F. Galton’s “Memories of My Life’; ‘The
Life of Sir Joseph Banks”; ‘The Life and Work of
Prof. C. Pritchard”; and ‘Eleanor Anne Ormerod:
Autobiography and Correspondence,” all of which are
listed at a very low figure. The ‘Library of Useful
Knowledge ’’—a series of shilling volumes—is offeréd at
half-price.
134
NATURE
[OcroBer 18,1017 8
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
Tue Nature oF Sun-spots.—A useful summary of
our knowledge of the phenomena presented by sun-
spots is given by the Kev. A. L. Cortie in Sctence
Progress tor October. A spot is regarded as an up-
rush of metallic vapours, which become cooled by
rapid expansion, so that the spot appears dark by
contrast with the bright solar surface. The umbra is
considered to rise above the level of the photosphere,
while the penumbra is built up by dark radial streams
flowing from the umbra and_ seeking a _ level
slightly lower than that of the photosphere. In round
spots the penumbra is a shallow, saucer-like cavity,
the lowest portion being due to the falling-in of the
photospheric clouds caused by the initial uprush. This
falling-in and heaping together of the photospheric
clouds to fill the partial void produced by the ejection
of the umbral vapours would account for the bright
border which is generally seen to separate the umbra
and penumbra. At a high level above the spot are the °
hydrogen flocculi, the rotation of which gives rise to
the appearance of the solar vortices. Friction of the
gyrating gases and vapours is considered competent
to generate electric currents, and the accompanying
magnetic fields which produce the Zeeman effects in
the spectra of spots. Father Cortie considers it doubt-
ful whether the umbra and penumbra of the spots
themselves share this gyratory motion.
SoLaR PROMINENCES IN 1915.—An account of the
observations of solar prominences made at Catania
during 1915 has recently been given by Prof. Ricco, in
continuation of the admirable series commenced by
him in 1880 (Mem. Soc. Spett. Italiani, July-August,
1917). The number of days of observation was 168,
and the total number of prominences exceeding 15” in
height was 1264, giving a mean daily frequency of 7:5.
The activity in the northern hemisphere was the
greater, the respective numbers being.677 and 587.
The prominences were distributed almost symmetric-
ally in the two hemispheres, few or none appearing in
the polar and equatorial regions, while there were well-
defined maxima in the zones +30°-35° and +50°-55°.
Twenty-four of the prominences exceeded 100” in
height, and one observed on May 5 reached 286". The
mean latitude of all the prominences was 38-65°, which
was rather lower than for the preceding year. There
was a marked increase of activity as compared with
1914.
- A COMMERCIAL IRON OF UNUSUAL
PURITY.
Fer some time past the Shelton Iron, Steel, and
Coal Co., of Stoke-on-Trent, has been manu-
facturing a commercial iron of unusual purity in the
basic open-hearth furnace. This iron is guaranteed
to be 99-84 per cent. pure, and has been placed on
the market under the trade name ‘Armco Iron.’ It
differs from wrought-iron in that it has been melted
and cast, and thus contains much less slag, and from
mild steel in that its carbon content is so low that no
pearlite is present. It has been found, however, to
possess a peculiar property which militates against
its practical usefulness, viz. the property of a char-
acteristic red-shortness, or brittleness, when subjected
to mechanical treatment between certain limits of
temperature. The reason for this peculiar behaviour,
which is not shared by other forms of commercial
iron and mild steel of high quality, has been investi-
gated by Messrs. Brooke and Hunting, and their pre-
liminary results were communicated in an interesting
noté to the recent meeting of the Iron and Steel Insti-
tute.
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
Very early in the history of the process it was”
found that this brittleness always appeared between
certain fixed limits of temperature, which they place
at from goo°-800° C.; that on heating the iron to well
above Ac3, and allowing it to cool, brittleness appeared,
first at about gco° C., and disappeared sharply at
about 800° C.; and that above and below these tem-
peratures the metal possessed an unusually high de-
gree of ductility and malleability. In fact, they com-
ment on its similarity when cold to copper in respect
of malleability, thus emphasising also its resemblance
to the electrolytic iron investigated in 1913 by Stead
and Carpenter.
The authors then proceeded to carry out systematic
experiments on specimens of the iron quenched from
various temperatures. They determined the tensile pro- —
perties, and examined its structure and the type of frac-
ture. Most interesting and illuminating results were ~
obtained with the photographic records. |Quenched
from temperatures above 1ooo° C., the structure was
that of y iron with ‘martensitic’? markings. As the
quenching temperature fell this appearance altered,
and the “y iron effect changed to a more definite
ferrite form.’ The authors say that at about the
Ar3 point a complete change occurred, the ferrite
grains increased considerably in size, and at the junc-
tions of many of the crystal boundaries a peculiar
structure was observed which was ‘‘ perfectly constant —
and always possessed the same characteristic .. .
viz. a-central structure more or less pearlitic and very
clearly defined, surrounded by a space composed of
ferrite, and the whole again surrounded by a definite —
boundary which connects up with adjacent crystal
grains.” This structure is clearly seen in the photo-
graphs published by the authors. They say that a
-very large number of experiments have been made,
and that in every case this peculiar structure has
appeared in exactly the same manner. On lowering
the quenching temperature somewhat the structure:
gradually becomes less pronounced, and’ at just above
800° C. it ceases to exist. Below 800° C. it was
never observed, and the structure was that of normal —
ferrite. The temperatures at which this material is
precipitated: and reabsorbed coincide so remarkably
with the beginning and end of the zone of brittleness
that a strong presumption has been established that
herein lies the origin of the characteristic red-short-
ness of the iron. The authors suggest that it is a
eutectoid, probably composed of iron carbide, phos-
phide, and sulphide; with’ possibly traces of man-
ganese sulphide and ferrous oxide, and that jit is
thrown out of solution in a semi-liquid or plastic
condition, causing the grains to be very loosely held
together, and thus making the structure relatively
weak. If the iron is quenched in the goo0°-800° C.
zone, no brittleness is observed in the static tests.
The authors have found that a sample of Swedish
iron’ similar in purity to the above material also
shows a brittle zone in the same temperature range,
and that an iron containing carbon 0-06 per cent. and
manganese o-10 per cent. shows no brittleness when
manufactured in the same way as “Armco” iron.
At one stage of the investigation they were inclined
to connect the appearance of the material with the
existence of dissolved oxide, since in one set of experi-
ments they found it difficult to reproduce the char-
acteristic structure, and this coincided with a remark- |
able absence of spots of ‘‘oxide material.” Samples
of metal, however, taken from the bath, just before
tapping, when it was known to be in a super-oxidised —
condition, gave only a normal amount of. eutectoid
structure. Again, when complete deoxidation was
attempted it still appeared. There is no reason, there-
fore, for connecting it with the presence of an unusuat
amount of oxide, and the nature of the ‘‘eutectoid"’
Ocroser 18, 1917] |
NATURE 135
_ be hoped that the authors will investigate this aspect
of the research, difficult though it will probably prove
to be.
The authors entitled their paper ‘“‘A Note on the
Microstructure of Commercially Pure Iron between
- Ar3 and Ar2.” Strictly speaking, this is not the case.
Mr. P. Tucker, who took cooling and heating curves
for them, found Ac3 at 888° C. and Ar3 at 874° C.,
and makes the significant statement that it was
_ “practically impossible so far to determine the Ar2
point of this material even on the most delicate in-
_ struments.” Now the new structural constituent is
-. shown in the photographs at 899° C., while the mate-
_ rial was still in the y range—above Ar3. It does not
a , therefore, that thé upper limit of brittleness
ES. peas with the Ar3 change. Arz2 is normally found
at about 765° C. in commercially pure irons. This is
_ about 35° lower than the temperature at which the
_ eutectoid structure disappeared. No iron has ever
_ been found to give Ar2 at so high a temperature as
- 800° C., which is actually below that at which the
_ mew constituent. vanishes. Neither, therefore, does
_ the lower limit of brittleness coincide with the Arz
_ change, assuming that it does exist, according to the
evidence at present available.
pi H. C. H. Carpenter.
_ RECENT RESEARCHES AT VESUVIUS.
_ PROF. ALESSANDRO MALLADRA, ‘the suc-
p24 cessor of Mercalli at the Royal Vesuvian observa-
_ tory, has published a number of papers, from 1912
_ onwards, on the volcanic manifestations and progres-
_ sive changes in the great crater formed in 3906. It
| has been possible in recent years to descend, by hazard-
ous paths, to the edge of the central funnel, 250 metres
_ below the crater-edge, and valuable observations have
been made on the gases emitted from the fumaroles.
_ Prof. Malladra furnishes a well-illustrated summary of
_ the conditions in 1914 in ‘Nel cratere del Vesuvio”
(Boll. reale Soc. Geografica, 1914, p. 753). The
_ gradual widening of the crater by the falling in of its
cliffs is shown in plan in a paper, ‘‘ Sulle modificazioni
del Vesuvio dopo il 1906” (ibid., p. 1237). The small
_ aperture of 1900 is also here indicated, almost imme-
_ diately over the pit that is now active. ‘The volcano
"remained quiet, in a solfataric stage, for seven
years after the enormous outburst of 1906; but a
glowing funnel opered in the floor of the crater of
explosion on July 5, 1913. Prof. Malladra was en-
_ gaged in a hypsometrical survey on the cone a few
_ hours after this outbreak (‘‘Sui fenomeni consecutivi
all’ apertura della bocca 5 Luglio, 1913,” Rend. R.
_ Accad. Sci. Fis. e Mat. di Napoli, fasc. 11 and 12,
1914), and has recorded a true incandescence, accom-
panied by the emission of fresh scoriz, specimens of
which were collected on one of many later visits. The
_ “yellow fumarole’’ in the crater gave a temperature-
_ reading of 128° C. in 1911. In September, 1913, this
had risen to 330°, and in October to 347°. During
the collection of gases from this fumarole for analysis,
water condensed, containing hydrochloric acid in the
proportion of 9-21 grams per 100 c.c., and smell-
ing strongly of sulphuretted hydrogen. The author
points out that, following the arguments of
Brun as to the possibility of the . permeation
of watér into a heated mass from without, this water
_ must be truly magmatic. He thus provides further
evidence, in addition to that of Day and Shepherd,
against Brun’s main contention.
_ Prof. Malladra illustrates (‘I Gas vulcanici e la
Vegetazione,"’ Boll. Soc. Sismologica Ital., vol. xviii.)
the acid gases of Vesuvius rolling in a dense cloud
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
structure is still a matter of pure conjecture. It is to
down the mountain slope. They deposit on the leaves
and branches of the trees a white dust consisting of
chlorides and sulphates of iron and the alkalies; and
these anhydrous or slightly hydrated gases are easily
recognisable to the experienced eye from the ordinary
masses of water vapour. Like the descending clouds:
that brought death to Saint-Pierre and Morne Rouge,
they consist of very finely divided solid matter and
gas, and resemble the smoke of a conflagration. The
caustic effect produces brown spots and decay in
leaves, and experiments are in progress in the planting
of bare parts of the Vesuvian slopes with Euonymus.
and with a bamboo, appropriately known as Arundo
Plinii, which flourishes fairly upon Stromboli. Both
these, it is hoped, will resist the acid emanations.
An investigation of the rainfall on Vesuvius, and of
the distribution of snow on the variously heated areas
near the vent (‘‘La pioggia sul Vesuvio, 1863-1913,”
ibid., vol. xviii.), contains an interesting passage on
the snow-accumulations formed by the freezing of the
vapour of the fumaroies. G. A.
se
FUEL RESEARCH.!
ie its first report? the Board stated that it had
in view two main lines of research: first, a survey
and classification of the coal seams in the various
mining districts by means of chemical and physical
tests in the laboratory, and, secondly, an investigation
of the practical problems which must be solved if any
large proportion of the raw coal at present burned in
its natural state is to be replaced by the various forms
of fuel obtainable from coal by carbonisation and gasi-
fication processes.
When the previous report was written it was be-
lieved that the survey and classification of coal seams
might be proceeded with in advance of the second line
of inquiry; but further consideration has shown that
from the practical point of view the two lines are so
thoroughly interdependent that they can, be most satis-
factorily dealt with side by side. This view will be
further developed after the position and prospects with
regard to the second line of inquiry have been more
fully explained.
In preparation for the organisation of the first line,
however, an experimental study of standard methods
for the examination of samples of coal in the labora-
tory has been made. Hitherto in the systematic exam-
ination of coals in the laboratory there has been no
generally accepted low-temperature carbonisation test.
In the survey and classification of coals for the pur-
poses of the present inquiries a test of this kind is
practically indispensable. Certain existing tests are
designed to ascertain the suitability of coal for gas-
or coke-making, but as both these methods of carbon-
isation are carried out at temperatures above goo® C.
they give little or no direct information as to the be-
haviour of the coal when carbonised at 500° to 600° C.
As a result of experimental work carried out for the
Board in the fuel laboratory of the Imperial College
of Science and Technology, a test has now been elabo-
rated which by direct weighing and measurement gives
the yields of gas, oil, water, and carbonaceous residue
which result from carbonisation at any definite tem-
perature. The apparatus is simple and is so arranged
that the progress of the distillation can be watched
from start to finish. The products can be weighed or
measured with reasonable accuracy, and any or all of
them can, if desired, be submitted to further examina-
tion.
1 Report (slightly abridged) of the Fuel Research Board on its Scheme
of Research and on the Establishment of a Fuel Research Station. (Pub-
lished for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research by H.M-
Stationery Office.) Price 2d. net.
2 This report was not published.
NATURE
[OcTOBER 18, 1917.
With regard to the organisation which will ulti-
mately be required in the principal. coal-mining dis-
tricts for the collection and registration of samples, the
Board is glad to say that it has found every
disposition on the part of the representatives of the coal-
owners to co-operate in this work. It is not proposed
to start any extensive organisation for this purpose
until the preparations for the second line of inquiry
are further advanced. The accumulation of large num-
bers of samples would serve no useful purpose at pre-
sent, and would be decidedly inconvenient. It is cer-
tain that as soon as the arrangements for the exam-
ination and testing of samples are in working order
it will be an easy matter to maintain the necessary
supply of samples to keep the laboratories and the
research station fully occupied.
In the first report the following statement with re-
gard to the second line of inquiry was made :—
‘“The second of the proposed lines of inquiry has
been led up to by a variety of influences during the
past eight or ten years. Among these influences have
been the demands for cheaper and more ample supplies
of electrical energy, for home supplies of fuel oil for
the Navy, of motor spirit for the Transport and Air
Services, and last, though by no means least, for
smokeless domestic fuel. This last has been brought
about through the growth of public and municipal
opinion on the subject of smoke prevention in cities
and in industrial centres.
‘The only development which would satisfy all these |
needs simultaneously would be the replacement of a
large proportion of the raw coal which is at present
‘burned in boilers, furnaces, and domestic fires, by
manufactured fuels prepared from raw coal by submit-
ting it to distillation. 5
“The greater part of the coal which is consumed
in Great Britain is burned in its natural state as it
comes from the mines. The question of the moment
then is: To what extent can and ought the present use
of raw coal to be replaced by the use of one or other
of the various forms of fuel manufactured from coal—
coke, briquettes, tar, oil, or gas? While there is
already in the possession of experts a certain amount
of knowledge and experience which might enable them
to organise and direct schemes for the replacement of
. raw coal by manufactured fuel in particular directions
and on a fairly large scale, no really comprehensive
scheme can be formulated until certain perfectly definite
problems in coal distillation have been solved. —
‘These problems can be solved only by carefully
organised experiments on a working scale carried out
under the conditions likely to arise in practice.”’
The gas retort and the coke oven have become highly
developed appliances for the carbonisation of coal at
temperatures ranging from goo° to 1200° C. In the
former the primary object of the carbonisation is to
obtain the maximum yield of gas suitable for domestic
- and industrial lighting and heating, while in the latter
coke is regarded as the principal product. In both
cases the by-products of the operation are of economic
value, but are necessarily of secondary importance. In
considering the broad question of the replacement of
any considerable’ proportion of the coal which is at
present being burned in its raw or natural state by
manufactured forms of fuel, the part which may be
played by high-temperature methods of carbonisation
will need to be taken into account. For this purpose
a great amount of experience is available, and ‘trust-
worthy data on which to base the calculation of the
economic possibilities are in existence.
The distillation of oil shales at low temperatures
for the production of mineral oils, paraffin wax, and
ammonia is a highlv developed industry, but the oil
shales are totallv unlike coal in their nature and in the
products which they yield, so that the experience gained
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
in this industry, though undoubtedly valuable, is only —
indirectly useful so far as coal is concerned. ;
As regards the carbonisation of coal at low tem-
peratures, there is no corresponding body of experience
in existence, and there are very few properly accredited
data available.
vidual inventors and syndicates, and a certain amount
of experience has been gained. While only portions of —
Some work has been done by indi-—
this experience have been disclosed, enough is known —
to justify the conclusion that much still remains to be
done in devising the special forms of apparatus required
for the economical carrying out of this type of carbon-
isation. i
The way is cleariy open for a serious attempt to
determine whether an economical and efficient. appa-
ratus can be devised for thé carbonisation of coal at
low temperatures, and whether, by the use of such an
apparatus, for the carbonisation of properly selected —
coals, products will be obtained of a collective value
greater than that of the original coal plus the cost of —
carbonisation and handling. Obviously the evolution —
of an economical and efficient apparatus is at the root
of the whole matter, for only after a thoroughly prac-
tical apparatus is available can trustworthy tests of the
various classes of coal be made and the economic
possibilities of the method be fully weighed and con-
sidered. ;
The solution of these fundamental problems will
supply a new base from, which to attack questions like
the following :— Reel:
(1) Can the thirty-five to forty million tons of raw
coal which is used every year for domestic heating be
wholly or partially replaced by smokeless fuel, solid
and gaseous, prepared by the carbonisation of this —
coal ?
(2) Can adequate supplies of fuel oil for the Navy :
be obtained by carbonisation of the coal which is at ~
present used in its raw form for industrial and domestic —
purposes ?
(3) Can supplies of town gas be obtained more ~
economically and conveniently by methods of carbonisa- ©
tion and gasification other than those at present in use —
in gasworks ?
(4) Can electric power be obtained more cheaply if t
the coal used for steam raising is first subjected to ©
processes of carbonisation and gasification ?
(5) Will the more scientific development of the pre- —
paration and use of fuel, which would be implied in ~
the successful working out of the foregoing questions, —
enable the peat deposits of the United Kingdom to
take a serious place as economic sources of fuel for
industrial purposes ? :
(6) Can the use of gaseous fuel in industrial opera-
tions be forwarded by the development of more scien-
tific methods of combustion in furnaces, muffles, and
ovens used in metallurgical, ceramic, and chemical
operations ? : By
The answers to these questions will be obtained only
by co-ordinated research carried out on the lines of a
broad and well-considered scheme.
be dealt with are already attracting the attention of ©
serious workers in the industries, and it is to be ex-—
pected that solutions of some of the problems will be
supplied by these workers. The Board sincerely hopes
that this will be the case. It would regard it as a
great misfortune if the establishment of a Government
organisation for fuel research were to result in the
discouragement or limitation in any way of the activi-
ties of outside workers or organisations. It ventures”
to hope rather that many of these workers will be —
disposed to welcome a national scheme of research,
the aims of which are broad and yet definite, and in-
which the more specialised contributions from all sides
| will naturally take their place.
In considering new and extensive schemes of carbon-
ry
The subjects to ~
' Ocrozer 18, 1917]
NATURE
£37
isation- it is necessary to bear in mind that outlets for
all the products of carbonisation must be found. The
' gas, coke, and shale-oil industries are all of old stand-
_ ing, and each has had to develop outlets for its pro-
ducts by patient and continuous etfort. No new carbon-
isation scheme can be justified economically if it can
only live by poaching on the preserves of the existing
industries. . Even if an efficient method of low-tem-
perature carbonisation is evolved, it will be valueless
in the wider sense unless profitable outlets for all the
_ important products can be developed. It is obvious
that the Fuel Research Board, which is in official touch
with the Admiralty, the Ministry of Munitions, the
_ Board of Trade, and other public departments, is excep-
tionally placed for the furtherance of schemes which
_ involve the finding of large outlets for products new
- and old. It is known, for instance, that the Admiralty
_ attaches great importance to the development of supplies
of fuel oil from home sources, so that it may be taken
ces
_ for granted that this requirement alone would absorb
P “all the oil which could be produced by the carbonisation
of tens of millions of tons of. coal per annum. This
fact alone gives an entirely new aspect to the extension
of carbonisation in hitherto untried directions, but while
it will undoubtedly help on the economic side of the
problem, it in no way relieves the pressure on the
technical side. In a way, moreover, it accentuates
_ the problem now to be referred to, the profitable dis-
_ posal of the coke or carbonaceous residue left when
__ the volatile products are distilled from the coal. The
_ percentage of coke obtained varies with the quality of
_ the coal and the temperature at which it is carbonised,
_ but it may be taken on the average that each ton of
_ coal carbonised will give about 15 cwt. of coke. Thus
' to obtain one million tons of fuel oil for the Navy it
_ would be necessary to carbonise twenty million tons of
toal, and the coke produced would amount to fifteen
million tons.
-The*disposal of this very large quantity of coke or
_ char at a profitable price must be regarded as the
vital question if low-temperature carbonisation is to be
__ established on a sound economic basis. The research
_ scheme must therefore include a very complete inquiry
on three main lines :—
__ (1) The use and value of this coke for the direct
firing of steam boilers.
_ (2) Its gasification in producers for the manufacture of
_ low-grade fuel gas and the recovery of its nitrogen
as ammonia. )
’ (3) Its use for industrial and domestic heating either
directly, as it comes from the retorts, or after its
conversion into briquettes.
_ The second of these inquiries will involve the de-
velopment of a special form of gas-producer and
auxiliary plant if the best results are to be obtained
from the coke. It will also involve the development
of a system of boiler firing in which fuel gas of
130 B.T.U. can be burned at least as efficiently as
coal, both as regards thermal efficiency and the effec-
tive evaporation per square foot of heating surface.
- In all that concerns the preparation and use of
special forms of fuel there are two distinct stages of
development to be passed successfully. In the first
stage apparatus and methods have to be evolved and
tested until a practical standard of efficiency is reached.
_ In the second stage the consumers of fuel must be
induced to study the new apparatus and-methods until
they thoroughly understand and in the end adopt. them.
This second stage will be most readily passed if an
expert staff trained at a fuel research station is avail-
able to undertake the education of those who desire
to adopt the new methods and appliances.
The use of town gas as a fuel for industrial pur-
poses has made great strides during the past few years,
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
and a number of experts are to-day engaged on the
design and adaptation of furnaces and apparatus for
these purposes. The actual practice of gas-heating
still lags a long way behind the ideals of economy
and efficiency, and there is room for much useful ex-
perimental inquiry into principles and methods.
The use of the lower grades of fuel gas, though
successfully carried out in ‘certain directions, is very
imperfectly understood in the majority of industries in
which gas might be used for heating and power pur-
poses. In this direction there is scope for much useful
work, both in research and in the education of experts
and consumers,
A single illustration may be given of the complicated
inquiries which will have to be conducted before an
answer can be given to what seems to be a simple
question.
There is a very general belief among electrical ex-
perts that the future of British industry will be greatly
affected by the cost at which power in bulk can be
supplied in the form of electricity. It has been pro-
posed, for instance, that large electrochemical works
should be established in this country for the manufac-
ture of products which in the past have been manu-
‘factured in parts of the world where cheap water-
power is available. In this connection it has. been
suggested that the cost of producing power from coal
in this country would be substantially reduced if
instead of burning the coal directly under the steam
boilers it were first subjected to carbonisation and
gasification processes which, in addition to fuel gas,
would yield valuable by-products. Plausible statements
have been issued showing the enormous savings or
profits which would accrue if schemes of this sort were
adopted. Unfortunately, these estimates have gener-
ally been made on a very slender foundation of know-
ledge and experience. On the other hand, those who,
by experience and practice, are best qualified to judge
hesitate to prophesy as to what the economic result of
a combined carbonisation and power generating scheme
would be, but they agree that the interests at stake
are so great that the question ought to be authorita-
tively answered once for all. But no answer can be
accepted which is not founded on the complete working
out of the scheme, no important step in the series of
operations being omitted or slurred over. This series
of operations will start from the mechanical preparation
of the coal and its conversion into solid, liquid, and
gaseous products by carbonisation. It will end with
the delivery of a known weight of high-pressure steam
under the conditions most favourable for power pro-
duction by turbo-generators. In the proposed scheme
of research it will be seen that the investigation of
each of the steps involved in the above inquiry is
provided for. Three, at least, of these steps involve
pioneering work on an industrial scale, and the work
may occupy a considerable time. The Board realises
that it is possible that the net result of this particular
inquiry may be to show that purely as a means of
cheapening the cost of electric power, the use of
carbonisation methods has not much to commend it,
but that certain incidental advantages will justify its use
in particular cases.
The Fuel Research Station:
The scheme of research which has been outlined in
this report can be efficiently carried out only in a fuel
research station designed and equipped for the pur-
pose, in which operations on an industrial scale can be
carried out under proper working conditions.
It is desirable that the station should be within easy
reach of London, that there should be ample railway and
other facilities for the transport of coal from all parts
of the kingdom, that there should be ready means for
~
138
NATURE
[OcroBER 18, 1917 f
the disposal of the large quantities of coke, oil, and
gas which, would be produced in the regular course of
experimental work, and that a supply ot labour, skilled
and unskilled, should be available. It was realised that
these conditions could be fulfilled only by a site in the
neighbourhood of a large gasworks, and some months
ago the Director of Fuel Research approached Dr.
Charles Carpenter on the subject. Dr. Carpenter is
chairman. of the South Metropolitan Gas Company,
and he is a member of the Carbonisation Sub-Com-
mittee of the Coal Conservation Sub-Committee of the
Reconstruction Committee, of which the Director is
vice-chairman. Following this conference, Dr. Car-
penter, on behalf of the board of the South Metro-
politan Gas Company, made the following very gener-
ous offer to this Board :—(1) To lease to the Govern-
ment at a peppercorn rent sufficient land at the East
Greenwich gasworks for the erection of a research
station; (2) to prepare drawings and specifications for
this station on lines to be laid down by this Board,
and to make contracts for its erection; (3) to give
every facility for the transport of coal and other sup-
plies to the station, and to take over at market prices
the surplus products, gas, tar, liquor, and coke result-
ing from the operations at the station. After further
conferences a suitable site was agreed upon. The pro-
posed site is a strip of level ground about 250 ft. wide
by zoo to 800 ft. long, situated on the main siding
which connects the gasworks with the South-Eastern
Railway and with access to an existing road.
The foregoing scheme of research is obviously not
intended to cover the whole of the territory which is
open for exploration to-day. Still less ought it to be
regarded as setting any limits to the exploration of
new territories in the future. The root idea of the
scheme is that certain fundamental changes in the
preparation and use of fuel which have been proposed
are of such far-reaching importance that the solution
of the technical and economic problems involved ought
to take precedence of all other matters. This does not
mean that other lines of research will be ignored, but
only that the larger issues must be‘kept well to the
front until definite solutions of those technical and
economic problems can be given. Though no direct
reference has been made to the preparation and use of
fuels from oil shales, brown coals, and peat, it is
obvious that experimental inquiries on these matters
will naturally find a place in the developments of the
present scheme.
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
Oxrorp.—The term has begun with a greatly de-
pleted number of undergraduates. The entry of fresh-
men, which used to average nearly 1000, fell in 1914 to
550, in 1915 to 238, and last year to 150. The number
for the present academical year is about 100. Some
colleges have none. The American Rhodes scholars,
who have hitherto helped to raise the numbers above
the vanishing point, are now called up for military
service. Among the men who are now coming into
residence for the first time are some who, after service
at the front, have been discharged on the ground of
wounds or sickness.
On October 10 a memorial tablet was unveiled at
Oxford, commemorating the life and work of Roger
Bacon. The tablet has been fixed to the old wall of
the city, dating from early in the thirteenth century,
close to the site of the Grey Friars Church in the
precincts of which Roger Bacon was buried. The
. church has long since disappeared, but the position
of the burial ground, though not the exact spot of
Bacon’s grave, is known. After the celebration at
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
Oxford in 1914 of the seven hundredth anniversary of q
Bacon’s birth, it was thought fitting that in addition —
to the statue then erected in the University museum,
a permanent and public memorial should be set up as
near as possible to the site of the Franciscan friary
in which Bacon passed so many years of his strenuous
life. This has now been accomplished, and the
prophecy uttered by the Elizabethan dramatist Greene, —
which was recalled by Prof. James Ward, of Cam-
bridge, at the ceremony in 1914 (see NATURE, June 18, —
1914, p. 406), has at length been virtually fulfilled.
The Latin inscription on the tablet is as follows :—
. ROGERUS BACON
Philosophus insignis Doctor Mirabilis
Qui methodo experimentali
Scientiae fines mirifice protulit
Post vitam longam strenuam indefessam —
Prope hune locum
Inter Franciscanos suos
In Christo obdormivit
A-S*MCCXCIL.
Auaie
‘Tue College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Medical —
School of Columbia University, has decided to admit
“women on an equal standing with men. This step has
been taken after long consideration, and has been has- —
tened by a great change in woman’s position in —
Europe since the outbreak of the great war. For many
years past a large number of women have worked in
the laboratories of the Department of Health of New
York, and have done admirably. The laboratories in
the hospitals, also, frequently employ women, and with —
the repeated disappearance of men owing to the draft
and enlistments in the Medical Reserve Corps, many
places will be vacant which can only be filled by
women. The opening of the Columbia Medical School
to women has been made possible by a gift of 10,0001.
from Mr. G. W. Brackenridge, of San Antonios Texas.
Tue Glasgow libraries have taken a step in the —
right direction in publishing a detailed catalogue of
all the works on aeronautics to be found on their
shelves. The list is not a long one, owing to the lack
of books upon the new science, but it is fairly com-
plete, the most notable omission being the works of
Eiffel, or the excellent English translation thereof b
Mr. J. C. Hunsaker. The pioneer experimental wor
of Eiffel should certainly find a place in any aero-
nautical library pretending to completeness. The
committee representing the public and other libraries in —
Glasgow announces that this aeronautical list is to be
the first of a series dealing: with special subjects, and
that the second of the series will deal with the in-
ternal-combustion engine. Other libraries would do
well to follow Glasgow’s example, for the catalogues
ordinarily issued are of very little use as reference
lists for any particular subject, and the increasing
number of technical readers has created a demand for
a convenient means of reference to technical subjects.
A copy has been received of the calendar for the
present session of the Merchant Venturers’ Technical
College, in which the faculty of engineering of the
University of Bristol is provided and maintained.
Among the varied and comprehensive arrangements
explained in the calendar we note the Bristol “ sand-
wich” scheme of training for engineers. The method ©
is optional. The total length of the course is five —
years, of which about half is spent in the University
and the rest in a works. Fourteen months are spent
in a works at the end of the first session, and these —
enable a student to return to the University better
qualified to understand the theory of engineering and
the laboratory work than if he had had no such
experience. Two months of the third year and
. Ocroser 18, 1917]
NATURE
£39
the whole of the fifth year are also spent in a
works. Some twenty-one important engineering firms
in different parts of, the country have already agreed
to take part in the experiment, and a satisfactory trial
of the plan is assured. Full details are given in the
‘ealendar as to the courses of study demanded of
‘students desiring to graduate in engineering in the
University of Bristol.
Tue annual report for 1916 of the chief medical
officer of the Board of Education is now available
(€d. 8746, price 1s. net). The report furnishes ‘a
record of the school medical service of the local educa-
- tion authorities in England and Wales carried out
- under the general direction of the, Board of Education.
_ Sir George Newman contributes an introduction to the
_ report, in which he says the fact must be faced that
- in 1916, as in former years, the records show a large
amount of ill-health, of bodily impairment, and of
_ physical and mental. defect. Of the six millions of
Soo nodes attendance at school, medical inspection
shows that many, though not specifically ‘* feeble-
_ minded,” are so dull and backward mentally as to be
- unable to derive full benefit from schooling, that’ up-
_ wards of to per cent. of the whole are at a like dis-
ability on account of uncleanliness, and that 10 per
A year ago a moderate
“ESE Na RIAN I Tepeagemse =
cent. also are mal-nourished.
_ computation yielded not fewer than a million children
of school age (not children in school attendance) as
being so physically or mentally defective or diseased as
to be unable to derive reasonable benefit from the
_ education which the State provides. Local education
_ authorities do not yet understand the nature of the
_ problem which presents itself in their areas. Each
| steps necessary from a medical point of view to secure
_ the full value of the school medical service to every
child of school-age in its area. The irreducible mini-
-mum, Sir George states, which will yield the results the
nation requires is as follows:—(1) That”every child
_ shall periodically come under. direct medical and dental
_ supervision, and if found defective shall be ‘‘ followed
up.” (2) That every child found mal-nourished shall,
_ somehow or other, be nourished; and every child found
_ verminous shall, somehow or other, be cleansed. (3)
_ That for every sick, diseased, or defective child skilled
- medical treatment shall be made available, either by
_ the local education authority or otherwise. (4) That
_ every child shall be educated in a well-ventilated school-
room or classroom, or in some form of open-air school-
room or classroom. (5) That every child shall have
daily organised physical exercise of an appropriate
_ character. (6) That no child of school age shall be em-
ployed for profit except under approved conditions.
(7) That the school environment and the means of
_ education shall be such as can in no case exert un-
_ favourable or injurious influence on the health, growth,
~ and development of the child.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
: Paris.
_ Academy of Sciences, October 1.—M. Camille Jordan
in the chair.—M. Angelesco: A method of summation
_ of trigonometrical series.—W. Sierpinski and N. Lusin :
_ A decomposition of an interval.—Q. Majorana ; Experi-
_ mental demonstration of the constancy of the velocity
of light reflected by a mirror in motion.—C. Benediks :
The thermo-electric effect by contraction in the case
of mercury. The thermo-electric effect described by
the author in an earlier paper may be regarded as
the reversal of the Thomson effect. It is, however,
open to the possible objection that the effect observed
NO. 2503, VOL. 100]
_ authority should have continually a clear view of the.
wounds.
may be due to the non-homogeneity of the metal wire
employed; a similar effect is now demonstrated with
pure mercury, in which case this objection cannot
apply.—M. Siegbahn and W. Stenstrém: The X-ray
spectra of the isotopic elements. A comparison of the
X-ray spectra of RaG and ordinary lead has proved
their absolute identity——P. Dejean: Martensite, troos-
tite, sorbite. A discussion of the definition of these
micrographic constituents of steels.—L. C. Soula: A
new method of graphically recording in physiology.
The method is based on the principle that if a battery,
microphone, and solenoid are placed in circuit, and a
magnet is put in the axis of the solenoid, any varia-
tion of resistance produced in the microphone by ex-
ternal pressures produces corresponding modifications
of the magnetic field, and a piece of soft iron carrying
a writing point placed before the magnet gives a
record of the pressures.—V. Galippe: Parasitism in
toxic seeds or seeds rich in essential oils. The pre-
sence of micro-organisms was found to be general in
both classes of seeds.—Edm. Sergent and Et.
Sergent: A new method for the destruction of mos-
quitoes by alternation of their breeding-grounds. The
life of the larva of the mosquito in the Mediterranean
climate is from sixteen to twenty-five days before the
metamorphosis into the winged insect. In the case of
a spring, around which a breeding-bed of mosquitoes is
liable to form, it is sufficient to dig out two channels
and every eight days to change the water from one to
the other. During the week the soil dries and the
larve die for want of water. This method has given
excellent results in Algeria, requires slight supervision,
and costs little. —G. Bertrand : The digestibility of bread
and the best utilisation of wheat. A comparison of
existing data for white bread (72 per cent. extraction),
wholemeal bread (100 per cent. extraction), and the
intermediate (85 per cent.), taking into consideration the
calorific value of the digested portion and the feeding
of farm animals on the wheat offal, leads to no definite
conclusion from a_ theoretical point of view.—H.
Vincent: Results of antityphoid vaccination in the
armies during the war.—C. Levaditi and L. Delrez:
The cutaneous origin of the streptococci found in war
New SoutH WALEs.
Royal Society, August 1.—H. G. Smith: The resin of
the outer bark of Melaleuca uncinata. The author
describes the resin which is the chief constituent in
the outer bark of this Melaleuca. A piece of this outer
bark, if ignited at one end, will continue to burn like
a candle until entirely consumed, giving at the same
time a considerable amount of black smoke. The in-
flammable material consists almost entirely of a resin,
as only a very small amount of a vegetable wax, melt-
ing at 67°-68° C., was detected. It is a rare occur-
rence for a true resin to be obtained in quantity from
any member of the natural order Myrtacez, and in
only one previous instance does it appear that a
Myrtaceous resin has been recorded. The resin, which
is present in the outer bark of M. uncinata to the
extent of 23 per cent., is of an orange-brown colour,
semi-transparent, and very brittle. It is almost
entirely soluble in alcohol, quite soluble in ether-
alcohol, and very soluble in acetone. It is only slightly
soluble in chloroform and benzene, and turpentine has
little action upon it even on boiling. The acetone -
solution makes a splendid lacquer for brass, and is
perhaps one of the best uses to which the resin could be
economically put. The chief constituent of the resin is
a resin acid, the formula of which is C,,H,,O,. It
melts at about.148°-150° C., and in alcoholic solution ©
gives a deep-green colour and green precipitate with
ferric chloride. The neutral bodies of the resin melt
ae NATURE [Ocroser 18, 1917
at about 125°-130° C., are brittle, of a resinous nature, | The Quest for Truth (Swarthmore | Lecture). By = @
and do not give the green coloration with ferric |S. P. Thompson. Pp. 128. (London: Headley Bros.,
chloride. Ltd) 1s.
VICTORIA.
Heat Drop Tables: H.P. Gauge Pressures. L.P.
Royal Society, July 12.—Prof. W. A. Osborne, ‘esis Absolute Pressures. Calculated by H. Moss from the
dent, in the chair.—J. H. Gatliff and C. J. Gabriel: | Formule and Steam Tables of Prof. H. L. Callendar.
Additions to, and alterations in, the catalogue of the | Pp. 63. (London: E. Arnold.) 5s. net.
marine shells of Victoria. Ischnochiton proteus,
Reeve, I. atkinsoni, Iredale and May, and J. (Steno-
chiton) pallens, Ashby, were Sago ze Victorian
species. Figures of Dosinea grata, Desh., from: speci- : ; ; >
dine bipered with the British Museum type are Amusements in Mathematics. By H. E. i
iven.—F. Chapman; New or little-known Victorian Pp. viii+258. (London: T. Nelson and Sons, Lt .)
ossils in the National Museum. Part xxi.: Some | 3°: 6d. net. ;
Tertiary Cetacean remains. A fine example of the Letters concerning the War between an American
cranial rostrum of the ziphoid, Mesoplodon compressus, | and a Relative in Germany. March-June, 1915. Pp.
Huxley, sp., is described, ae pe st ck) ae 82. (New York: Privately printed.)
erfect, both tending to prove the specific identity o ‘ . : :
the two examples descritied by Huxley and Owen re- ae WT wes the id - ee ant Noe eee =
spectively. A new species of Scaldicetus (S. lodgei) Orange judd Co.) ste e ollaee vs i
is described, which, as a Balcombian or Oligocene : F :
form, is the oldest recorded example of the genus. :
Education: , Scientific and Humane. Edited by
F. G. Kenyon. Pp. 32. (London: J. Murray.) 6d.
net. ra
A well-preserved tooth referred to Stenochiton (S. cud- DIA
morei) is apparently the first discovery of this genus wipes 1 SOC
in the fossil state, from the Kalimnan, or Lower Plio- ¥, OcTopEr 29, ;
ey. peti INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—A CG parison
cene, of Port Phillip.—H. J; Grayson : Description of a Working Costs of the Principal Prime Movers: O. Wanees panne
new engine for ruling diffraction gratings. The ruling TUESDAY, Octoser 23
engine differs from other machines in respect to the
t ZooLocicaL Society, at 5.30.—Present Knowledge of the Life-history of —
following :—The screw and ways of the ruling car- | ‘he Common Eel: C. He se ean. A Hermaphroitg oa aaa
riage lie in one axial plane. The screw thrust occu- mba Pannnere— Ant Tike Spiders front Malays 5 tn
pies a central position upon the machine bed, and. the
screw is free from any stress other than that due to, CONTENTS. PAGE
a direct axial pull upon the nut which is connected Wicddech) mad diecast
with the ruling carriage by means of two steel rods peat ‘ ; eae
lying parallel with the screw-axis. All the bearing saeetles open Dragonfiten. By Prof. G. H. Carpenter 123
surfaces or ways of the machine are ground circular | The Individual in Society. By W.L.S. ..... 124°
bars of steel or glass, the latter forming the ways, Our Bookshelf . Sone 8 8 ee 0 ea ian oll
of the diamond carriage. Thzy are semi-polished and | Letters to the Editor:— Peer
require no lubrication; the frictional resistance is there- _ Plated Teeth of Sheep.—Thos, Steel. ...... 126
fore uniform and constant. The teeth of the ratchet
wheels are ground and finished with diamond-charged
cutters, by which means a high degree of accuracy is
An Optical Phenomenon.—Capt. C. J. P. Cave . . 126
The Fireball of October 1.—W. F. Denning ... 126
: The Aut Moon.—Alex. Macdonald ..... of
obtained and compensating devices are dispensed with. Etaverial ania ae Pipes presets By Sir tae |
Gratings submitted to the Mount Wilson Observatory $1: ki. Johnaton,-G Oars KCB hess: “
have been pronounced practically free from periodicity The N, + & Diatribution of tha Mine bs ft
and diffused light. (This research was awarded the e Number and Distribution of the Stace aa
1917 Syme prize for the most important work published | _ 8-©. » +--+... i the 8) AE ce Be cee ewe 1287
in Australia during the preceding biennium.) Alcohol Fueland Engines ............., 129
: Notes ee ee | © <.at)) ee len ee ideo ae een eet coer me . 129
is Our Astronomical Column :— Mu
BOOKS RECEIVED. The Nature of Sun-spots. .... oad Ge pee - 134)
ae Stee : ; : Solar Prominences in 1915 . ...... Pe a 134°
ose tigi Piles accu 4. Wile + eae - A Commercial Iron of Unusual Purity. By Prof.
London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) © 16s. 6d. net. Bi eg oto oe eaergs 2 on ¥ c a4 a
The Industrial and Artistic Technology of Paint and “it ober es at Veeuvias. 2) 2 ie Ne
Varnish. By A. H. Sabin. Second edition. Pp. x+ ‘ Fi d eit at. a eee ene oe) 3 3.
473. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London : University an Educational Intelligence «3947
Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 16s. 6d. net. Societies and apasscans ee 39; 315 55 7-4 4 —470°
Mars {Nov. 1, 0.15 A.M. 7.28 A.M, ee
Roos 90, 11.45 P.M ORR og Bie.
Gropuysics CoMMITTER, at 5.—Magnetic Surveys and Charts: Dr. S. _
Chapman.— Magnetic Survey of the United Kingdom: Dr. G, W. Walker. j
FaraDAy. Society, at 8.—General Discussion on Pyrometers and Pyro- —
metry: Introductory Address: Sir Riehard Glazebrook.—High Tem-
Production and its Measurement : Dr. F..Northrup
Dr. Ezer Griffiths ai F, “3
Standardisation :
ture of Liquid Metals by means of Optical Pyrometers :
Darling.
Sheimry or Pustic ANALYsTs, at 8.—The Reductase Test for Milk:
Paul S. Arup.—Note on Jets:for Burettes: J.. H. Coste.—Analytical
Examination of Acorns and Chestnuts: Julian L. Baker and H, F. E.
ulton. : ,
INSTITUTION.OF CivIL ENGINEERS, at 5.30.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—The Nimrud Crater in
Dr. Felix Oswald.
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8
THURSDAY, NoveEMBER 8.. E
Roya Society, at 4.20.—Probable Papers : The Structure, Evolution, and’
Originofthe Amphibia. I, The ‘‘ Orders*’ Rachitomi and Ster &
D. M. Watson.—The Enzymes concerned in the Deco I of
Glucose and Mannitol by Bacillus coli communis, 11, Experiments of
Short Duration with an Emulsion of the Organisms. III. Various Phases
in the Decomposition of Glucose by an. Emulsion of the Organisms : E. C.
Grey. : :
ache MORE or ELEcTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—President’s Address:
C. H. Wordingham. : j
Optica. SociEry, at 8.—Certain Optical Stores Captured from the Enemy :
Lt.-Col. A. C. Williams. {
FRIDAY, NoveEMBER 9g.
Roya ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. .
Turkish Armenia: .
yb at da
CONTENTS.
Stone Worship in the Near East ,;.......
Ocean Drift Fruits. By D.M. ... .° end
Observation, Philosophy, and Teaching. By®@. .
Our Bookshelf i iy Moteahte aga ae
Letters to the Editor:— :
On an Appearance of Colour Spectra to the Aged.—
R. Brudenell Carter : ie a i caeeeabas
An Optical Phenomenon.—Dr, F. J. Allen . .
Native Grasses of Australia. —Prof. Henry Fairfield
Osborn El came rar ick ine pe
Vegetable Pathology and the Vicious Circle.—Dr.
Jamieson B. Hurry Ree ae girs
Coal-gas for Motor Traction. (Ji/ustrated.) By ~~
Lt.-Commdr. H. E. Wimperis ...... ..
A National Food Policy. ByC.C. .....
University Representation in Parliament. —
Ti. Eh: Humberstone...) v3. ee ae
The Education Bill. eve we
Prof; Edward Hull, .F.Ri S82 .\.4.. 43a eee
PROtO 8 oo, io oe bees ee i
Our Astronomical Column :— bs
The Planets in November Oe Er rier ge OS
New. Zealand Standard’ Time...) swan) wale eres
New Stars in Spiral Nebule ... . wilteg
The Utilisation of Condemned Army Boots... .
The Organisation of Engineering Training .. .
The Offspring of Deaf Parents .. .
The Utility of the Useless, By Dr.
Bradley... 0... nc. Gs ee
University and Educational Intelligence ....
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Books Received 9.02 fs ae ee
Diary of Societies... 0.2078 oe
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i ce peke NATURE
181
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1917.
» UNIVERSITIES AND THE’ SUPPLY OF
ale RESEARCH WORKERS.
\NE of the most important matters to which
the Department of Scientific and Industrial
has to give close attention is the supply
research workers by our universities and
lleges. ~ Military necessity has reduced the
umber—already small—of students being trained
research methods at these institutions; and
| inquiry shows that the output of such students
‘must be greatly increased after the war if suffi-
“cient men are to be available to widen the founda-
‘tions of our staple industries by the application
of scientific knowledge. People are accustomed
‘to think of universities as educational institutions
only, whereas the essential standard of value, and
the measure of their greatness, is the worth of
‘their contributions to the growth of knowledge.
_ This principle was set forth very decidedly in the
Feport of the Duke of Devonshire’s Royal Com-
mission on Scientific Instruction and the Advance-
‘ment of Science more than forty years ago.
On no point,” said the Commissioners, ‘‘ are
" the witnesses whom we have examined more
united than _they are in the expression of the feel-
ing that it is the primary duty of the universities
to. assist in the advancement of learning and
Science, and not to be content with the position of
merely educational bodies. We entirely concur with
he impression thus conveyed to us by the evidence,
and we are of opinion that the subject is one to
which it is impossible to call attention too strongly.
We think that if the universities should fail to
ognise the duty of promoting original research,
they would be in danger of ceasing to be centres
of intellectual activity, and a means of advancing
science would be lost sight of which, in this
cc antry, could not ect be supplied in any other
way.’
At the time when these words were written
scientific research was all but dead in England;
and so far as the advancement of knowledge was
concerned we occupied the position of a third- or
fourth-rate Power. Scientific men were convinced
that action was urgently needed in order to pro-
mote the future development of our national
i ndustries, but neither the State nor the old
universities to which the appeal was made took
i ny steps to remedy the existing condition of
things. The result is that, whereas we should
7: ave had hundreds of research workers trained
“in university institutions and making their
‘influence felt afterwards in industrial works for a
couple of generations, their numbers have had to
‘be counted in tens.
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
The State began to accept its responsibility for
providing facilities for university education and
research when in 1889 the House of Commons
decided to recognise university colleges as national
institutions by voting 15,00ol. for distribution
among them. This grant, which was recom-
mended for the London colleges and Owens
College, Manchester, by the Devonshire Com-
mission in 1874, was increased to 25,0001. in 1897,
in addition to a grant of 12,0001, to the three.
University Colleges of Wales. In 1904, a large
and influential deputation urged upon Mr. Balfour,
then Prime Minister, the need for further assist-
ance 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 increase, which repre-
sented 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.
Ten years later, in 1914, the Exchequer grants to
universities and colleges in England and .Wales
amounted to 201,000l,: the stages of growth by
which this sum has been reached are shown
graphically in the diagram on p. 182.
It cannot be said, even now, that the funds at
the disposal of our modern universities are suff-
cient to ensure the supply of advanced students
and research workers demanded by the conditions
of industrial development and the competition of
other countries. There must be an increase in the
number of scholarships from secondary schools
to universities, and every inducement should be
offered to promising students to train for research
as a post-graduate study.
The Consultative Committee of the Board of
Education, in a report on scholarships for higher
education, published last year, estimated that the
‘cost of the additional scholarships and other forms
of endowment advised in the report would be
about 340,o00l. a year. It was recommended
that the State provide, at an estimated annual
cost of 67,500l1., about 250 scholarships for
students from secondary schools who intend to
pursue scientific or technical subjects at the
universities, these scholarships to be awarded by
the universities themselves, and to be renewable
for a year or more after the conclusion of a
degree course, upon the recommendation of a
professor at the university, for the purposes of
research in some branch of science or tech-
nology. An annual sum of 20,0001, was estimated
to be required for these research scholarships.
The recommendations of the Consultative
Committee have not yet been acted upon; but the
scheme of the Committee of the Privy Council
L
182
NATURE
[NovEMBER 8, 1917
for Scientific and Industrial Research provides for
the establishment and award of research student-
ships and fellowships, as well as for the under-
taking of specific researches and the assistance
of institutions, or departments of institutions, for
the scientific study of problems affecting
particular industries and trades. In the first
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report of this committee it was stated that grants
had been recommended to an amount not exceed-
ing 60001, for about forty individual students and
research workers, but the actual amount expended
was only about 35501. upon thirty-six workers;
and the committee -said in its second report:
“Throughout our work has suffered in amount
owing to the war, and we were unable to expend
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
more than 14,524l. out of the 40,oool. placed at 4
our disposal by Parliament for the financial year
1916-17.”
is necessary for the success of its work, and
points out that the output of the universities is
The committee recognises that a
largely increased supply of competent researchers —
altogether insufficient to meet even a moderate
It adds :-—
‘“The ‘annual number of students graduating
with first- and second-class honours in science and
technology (including mathematics) in the univer-
sities of England and Wales before the war was
only about 530, and of these but a small pro-
portion will have received any serious training in
research. We have frequently found on inquiry
that the number of workers of any scientific stand-
ing on a given subject of industrial importance is.
very limited. . The responsibility for dealing
with the grave situation which we anticipate rests
with the Education Departments of the United
Kingdom. We shall be able to do something to
encourage a longer period of training by the offer
of research studentships and the like; but that
will not suffice. It is useless to offer scholarships
if competent candidates are not forthcoming, and.
they cannot be forthcoming in sufficient numbers
until a larger number of well-educated students
enter the universities. That is the problem which
the Education Departments have to solve, and on
the solution of which the success of the present.
movement, in our opinion, largely depends.”
The report of the Consultative Committee
already referred to suggests how the number of
students might be increased by the State providing
maintenance grants to enable selected scholars
expansion in the demand for research.
to continue their secondary education from the —
age of sixteen to that. of eighteen or nineteen, by
scholarships to universities from secondary
schools and senior technical schools, and by the
prolongation of scholarships for the purpose of
training in research. Sir William Ramsay thought
it preferable to subsidise teachers and teaching
institutions with the object of increasing efficiency
and reducing fees, rather than to add to the pecu-
niary resources of the student. His objection to
the scholarship system was based chiefly on the
method of award by competitive examination, by
.which it is impossible to estimate justly the capa-
city of candidates to deal with unfamiliar problems
or ultimately to undertake research. This defect,
however, may be obviated at the universities by
placing the responsibility for the nomination for
scholarships upon the professors under whom a
student has been trained and making capacity for
research a condition of award.
A considerable impetus to scientific study and
training in research was given by the establish-
ment of the now well-known science scholarships
of the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of
_ Novemser 8, 1917]
NATURE
183
#851. In 1889 the Commissioners announced their
_ antention of appropriating from their accumulated
funds an annual sum of not less than 5000l. a year
for the foundation of scholarships to enable the
most promising students in selected colleges to
_ continue their studies beyond the ordinary period
of three years, provided that they show high
| promise for advancing science and its applications.
The scholarships are awarded, not by exami-
nation, but upon the nomination of the institutions
‘to which they were allotted, and their value is
a50l. a year for two years, with possible extension
to three years. The principle of selection was
decidedly in advance of any scheme existing at
the time, and the value of the scholarships is
sufficient to encourage students of high capacity
to devote time to research.
_ These scholarships are given for research only,
and they are not allowed to be held at the insti-
‘tution where the scholar has graduated. It is
icknowledged that nothing has done so much to
promote free interchange among the universities
of the Empire, and also with those of other
countries, as the 1851 Exhibition Scholarships, and
they might well form the nucleus of a great
system of scholarships and fellowships expressly
£ lesigned to promote that end. Since 1891 the
Commissioners have appointed, on the nomination
of universities throughout the Empire, in every
year twenty research scholars. The number of
workers thus subsidised has been small in com-
parison with the needs of the Empire; but it is
niversally admitted that the results have far more
than justified the expenditure. The Consultative
Committee, in its Report on Scholarships for
Higher Education, notes, however, that in 1916
out of 305 scholars known to be at work, only
seventy-nine were engaged in industry, as against
194 engaged in educational work and thirty-two
in Government service. Moreover, of the seventy-
nine engaged in industry, twelve had appoint-
ments in the United States, and seven more out-
side the British dominions.
_ The probable reason why two-thirds of these
capable research students became teachers at the
end of their scholarship periods is that suitable
posts were not open to them in industrial works.
This waste of capacity for original investigation
will not be avoided unless manufacturers offer to
t ained researchers positions and prospects much
more attractive than have “been customary.
Amprovements have certainly been effected since
é, e opening of the war, and the signs are favour-
pble that the demand will 3 increase when peace is
restored. Meanwhile, the governing bodies of
ur universities and technical colleges should
BB onsider ‘whether their resources will enable
NO. 2506, VOL. 100}
ie
original investigators on their. staffs to \ be
relieved of the necessity of preparing students
for examination in order to train the most gifted
of them in the methods of research. Unless this
relief is given, and the first duty of the occupant
of a scientific chair in an institution of university
rank is recognised to be the promotion of research,
the award of scholarships will be in vain, and the
introduction of graduates into industry will not
lead to the developments necessary to make our
future position high and secure among the fore-
most nations of the world.
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY.
(1) A Bibliography of British Ornithology from
the Earliest Times to the End of 1912, including
Biographical Accounts of the Principal Writers
and Bibliographies of their Published, Works.
By W. H. Mullens and H. Kirke Swann. Parts
i.—vi. (London: Maemillan and Co.,; Ltd.,
1916.) Price 6s. net each,
(2) British Birds. Written and illustrated by A.
Thorburn. In 4 vols. Vol. iv. Pp. vii+107+
plates 61-80. (London: Longmans, Green, and
Co., 1916.) Price, 4 vols., 6l. 6s. net.
(1) A Bee the issue of the sixth part Messrs.
Mullens ‘and Swann bring to a con-
clusion their great ‘‘Bibliography of British
Ornithology,” forming. a-volume of more than
700 pages. This should, perhaps, be considered
as only the first section of the whole work; for
hopes are held out that it is to be followed by a
geographical bibliography of the same subject,
which will be another very laborious and most
useful undertaking.
At the foot of
their prefatory note the
authors disarm criticism by very fittingly
quoting from Dr. Samuel Johnson’s © preface
to his Dictionary: ‘‘In this. work, when
it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not
be forgotten that much likewise is performed.”
Much, indeed, has been performed in this monu-
mental work, and as to omissions, some sixteen
pages of addenda and corrigenda go far to
supply any there may have been. This later
matter has been printed on one side of the paper
only for the convenience of those who wish to
cut it up and insert in the proper places in the
work.
We have already, when noticing the earlier
parts, referred to the general plan of this work,
to its far-reaching scope, and to its going back
to the earliest days of anything in the shape of a
study of our British birds. It goes back, indeed,
to Bartholomzus Anglicus, who flourished about
1230-60, and whose “‘ De Proprietatibus Rerum,”
in the translation printed by Wynkyn de Worde
about 1495, is one of -the earliest printed
works on natural history in the English
language. A feature of’ this final part is
the remarkably full and able bibliography of
the ‘‘ Natural History of Selborne.” The many
184
NATURE
[NoveMBER 8, 1917
editions are here arranged in groups, for of some
of them there have been many issues, as, for
instance, that of the popular Capt. Thomas Brown,
which either as a new edition or as a re-issue
has appeared more than a score of times. A list
of separate books and reprinted articles dealing
with White and Selborne is added. This final
part also contains lists of the bibliographical and
biographical works which have been consulted,
of the. periodicals cited, and of the special abbrevia-
tions used in the present work.
The biographical side of the book can scarcely
be considered so satisfactory as the bibliographical
portion. To begin with, it is avowedly, and by
the plan of the work unavoidably, incomplete as
a biography of British ornithologists; and, indeed,
it never professed to be otherwise. The aim of
the authors has been ‘‘to give a biographical
account of each author or co-author of a sepa-
rately published work,” the result being a bio-
graphy of the greater part of our ornithologists
—and of a good many other people, too: to Wit,
the authors of works which mention birds, but
are of a worthless nature, ornithologically speak-
ing at all events. At the same time we miss
well-known. names of really. good ornithologists
who have done some of the best work, and whose
writings will be referred to long after more popu-
lar and showy books have sunk into oblivion, as
many of them had already done. But we:miss
the names of these good men in the present work
because their published writings appeared only in
periodicals, transactions, and the like, and were
not separately published. The second portion,
or continuation, of the bibliography, already
alluded to, will, however, doubtless set this
right and complete the biography of British
ornithologists. As to the biographies given of
living ornithologists—a delicate subject—they
vary greatly in extent; and as in this respect they
probably depended a good deal on the amount of
information furnished by the subjects of the
respective notices, they differ greatly, as may
readily be imagined, in the kind, as well as in the
extent, of the information they afford. British
bird-men will read them all with considerable
curiosity,
(2) Mr. Thorburn and his publishers are to be
congratulated on the completion, by the issue of
vol. iv., of this famous and beautiful set of
coloured plates of the birds on the British list.
A book which stands high in the fine arts, and
from its price (low as this is for all these pictures)
must be looked upon as one of the luxuries
of life, has been begun and finished during the
Great War. The volume now before us includes
the wading birds (plovers, sandpipers, ete.), the
terns, gulls, skuas, auks, divers, grebes, and
petrels. They are beautifully drawn and coloured ~
and true to Nature, though in one or two cases
it may seetn to some people that the peculiar
attitudes are a little exaggerated. The colour
reproduction leaves little or no fault to be found.
But the former remark does not apply to the
valuable and most interesting drawing of a
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
“drumming” snipe, which, ‘‘ made from sketches.
taken in the spring of 1914 after watching the
bird, shows the position of the outer tail-feathers, _
spread out and separated only during the descent.”
The letterpress notes are concise, but most use-
ful, informing, and very much to the point. To
those who wish to have a good coloured figure
of every species of bird which has ever occurred —
in a wild state in this country, it may be said that —
this is the only work which can satisfy them. Ae
more desirable book for the country-house hibrary :
or billiard-room it would be difficult to find, 4
THE NUTRITION OF FARM ANIMALS. ©
The Nutrition of Farm Animals. By Dr. H. P.
Armsby. Pp. xvii+743. (New York: The
Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and: Co.»
Ltd., 1917.) Price 11s, net.
coe advances have been ‘made in the sudy
of animal nutrition since Dr. Armsby
began his investigations at the State ae ; ‘Of
Pennsylvania and wrote “his ‘‘ Manual of ©
Feeding” and his “ Principles of Animal Natei-
tion.’’ He has now brought together the material
and presented it anew. There has been no funda-
mental upheaval since the last edition of his earlier »
book appeared, but there have been remarkable
changes in details, and in consequence the picture
is now very different from what it was, though
it is still recognisable in its main features. —
In the first section, dealing with the composi-
tion of plants and of the animal body, considerable
advances are recorded in our knowledge" of
lipoids, the proteins, and the non-protein nitt
genous substances.
The second section deals with digestion and
resorption, and gives a useful summary of
American and German investigations. Consider-
able interest attaches to the digestion of carbo-
hydrates. For long it was supposed that the
cellulose of feeding-stuffs was indigestible: no
digestive enzyme was known to attack it, and there
seemed no mechanism for breaking it down.
Henneberg and Stohmann proved that it was
digested, and at a later date both Wildt and
Zuntz showed that the process occurs in the por-
tions of the alimentary canal where the food stag-
nates, 1.e. in the paunch of ruminants, and in the
cecum and colon. Later investigations indicate
that it is brought about by organisms inhabiting
the alimentary ‘canal, and that it gives rise to con-
siderable quantities of carbon dioxide and methane,
as well as various acids, mainly acetic and butyric.
These are resorbed as salts, which appear to
constitute the sole contribution that cellulose
makes to the nutrition of the animal body. One
cannot help wondering whether better use could
not be made of the cellulose by subjecting it to
some chemical or bacterial treatment before using
it. Apparently the pentosans are digested in the |
same way, and also the mucilage of linseed c
according to Neville’s experiments, which, how-
ever, the author does not mention. Bacteria cause
nt Bee eER 8, 1917]
NATURE
185
“some decompositions of protein, although Kell-
her’s investigations indicate that the animal does
not benefit thereby. The decomposition by bacteria
is prevented in the stomach by the hydrochloric
- acid of the gastric juice, and in the lower part of
_ the large intestine by the progressive resorption of
i water from the intestinal contents. In the small
_ intestine, however, the organisms are more active,
iving rise to ammonia, phenols, indols, etc. The
wo latter are largely resorbed; they are of little,
_any, use to the animal—indeed, they are
; they combine, however, with other sub-
stances and are excreted in the urine as the so-
ep ether-sulphates.
_ Considerable progress has been made in our
kn bwlecige of the utilisation of fat. At an early
in the mobilisation of the reserve in the adi-
stains cells the fat becomes hydrolysed, yield-
a glycerol, which, perhaps, serves as a source of
dextrose, and a fatty acid, which is oxidised. Dakin
and others have shown that the oxidation of the
acid begins at the 8 carbon atom (i.e. at the second
rom the COOH group), and results in the splitting
f of two carbon atoms at a time, yielding water,
arbon dioxide, and another fatty acid containing
two fewer carbon atoms than the original one, with
which the same process of erosion is repeated. It
s co yet clear, however, how the animal utilises
prmic, acetic, and propionic acids, although it
adoubiedly does so.
_ The author then proceeds to discuss the various
types of experiments made by investigators in
animal nutrition : the simple feeding trial, in which
the gross gain in body-weight is measured for
particular ration; the digestibility experiment,
hich requires more careful measurement and aims
determining what proportions of the various
‘ood constituents have been digested and resorbed ;
the “‘ balance experiment,’’ in which respiration
leterminations are added to the foregoing in order
© make up a balance-sheet showing exactly what
y
alorimeter experiment, in which an attempt is
ade to trace the energy changes involved.
The author is well known for his investigations
n the energy relationships of nutrition, and his
wn beautiful calorimeter at State College is the
nvy of many another institution. He devotes
onsiderable space to this aspect of the subject.
dower plant.
by a working horse was 2°8 therms;
mergy of the ration was 55'8; the over-all effi-
iency was, therefore, 5° per cent.
decd six hours per day. Supposing his bodily
nachinery was stopped for the othereighteen hours
as an engine would be), and he was charged with
nly a fourth of his maintenance requirement, the
ver-all efficiency would be raised to 63 per cent.
—about that of a modern American locomotive. In
i ctual practice the conditions with an animal are
much as if it were necessary to keep up a full
head of steam for twenty-four hours, or to run an
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
h,
Become of the food; and, finally, the elaborate |
| and some correction of 1’,
_ Incidentally, he makes an interesting comparison |
yetween the efficiency of a horse and that of a_
He finds the total useful work done |
the gross |
The animal |
internal-combustion motor continuously, although
work is only done for part of the time.
The author attaches less importance than usual
to starch equivalents, which he considers: may
obseure the energy relationships. Altogether the
volume is very interesting, and will be read by
agricultural teachers with much pleasure.
ULUGH BEG’S CATALOGUE OF STARS.
Ulugh Beg’s Catalogue of Stars, revised from all
Persian manuscripts existing in Great Britain,
with a vocabulary of Persian and Arabic words.
By E. B. Knobel. Pp. 109. (Washington:
Carnegie Institution, 1917.) Price 2 dollars.
op As work forms a sequel to Mr. Knobel’s
edition of Ptolemy’s Catalogue (see NaTuRE,
vol, xcvii., p. 282). Owing to the war he has
only been able to use codices existing in England,
but these are fortunately rather numerous, and
twenty-two Persian and Arabic MSS. have been
collated. A partial collation of three Persian
MSS. at Paris by the late Prof. C. H. F. Peters
has also been utilised.
This catalogue of 1018 stars, the first original
catalogue since that of Ptolemy, is founded on
observations made during the reign of Ulugh Beg,
a grandson of Tamerlane, at his observatory near
Samarkand, the epoch being a.p. 1437. It was
published in 1665 by Hyde from three codices at
Oxford, and this edition was reprinted in 1767 in
the collected edition of Hyde’s works. It was again
issued by Baily in 1843 in his edition of ancient
star-catalogues, in which the stars were for the first
time identified and the modern designations given.
Mr. Knobel’s edition differs from Hyde’s not only
by being founded on a far greater number of
codices, but also by giving the places of the stars
for 1437 computed from modern star-catalogues
(by Peters) and a comparison of these with Ulugh ©
Beg’s places.
No particulars about the instruments employed
or the methods of observing are known. Peters
was the first to notice that the minutes of the
longitudes are generally of the form 3n+1, while
the minutes of latitudes are multiples of 3, as if
the circles of the instrument were graduated to 3!
4’, or 7’ had been
applied to the longitudes. Ulugh Beg states that
twenty-seven stars in Ptolemy’s Catalogue were
too far south to be observed at Samarkand, and
that their places were, therefore, borrowed from
Ptolemy, allowance being made for precession.
Mr. Knobel has found that the longitudes of four
other stars were derived in the same way, and
were not observed. In addition to these, there
are at least eighty-two pairs of stars of which
the longitude of one star only was observed, while
that of the other (a few degrees distant) was
obtained by adding or subtracting Ptolemy’ $
difference of longitude. The latitudes of sixty-
eight stars were simply copied from Ptolemy,
and there are at least forty-four pairs
186 NATURE [Novemser 8, 1917
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 ~
of stars of which the latitude of one star only
was observed, while that of the other was ob-
tained by means of Ptolemy’s difference of lati-
tude. Therefore, the longitudes of only about
goo stars were -actually observed, and the lati-
tudes of about 878 stars. But there is a strong
suspicion that the original observations should be
still further reduced, as there are some forty or
fifty stars the errors of the places of which resemble
the errors of Ptolemy, and thus suggest a deriva-
tion from the Almagest. These very interesting
results of Mr. Knobel’s examination of the cata-
logue have escaped the attention of all previous
historians of astronomy. ae
The comparison with modern star-places shows
that the accuracy of Ulugh Beg’s observations
was not much superior to that of Ptolemy’s.
Mr. Knobel reproduces a drawing of an altazi-
muth from a Persian MS. in the British Museum
(a treatise on astronomical instruments), which
shows the use of diagonal scales for subdividing
graduations. As the MS. dates from A.D. 1700,
the influence of knowledge derived from Western
sources is not excluded. But as diagonal scales
were known to Levi ben Gerson, a Spanish Jew
who died at Avignon in 1344, it is very possible
that some later Arabian observers may have
employed them. Judging from his star-places,
Ulugh Beg scarcely did so. We congratulate
~ Mr. Knobel on this completion of the long labours
of Prof. Peters and himself on ancient star-
catalogues. | figs OMS: get 8
OUR BOOKSHELF.
A Chemical Sign of Life. By Shiro Tashiro.
(The University of Chicago Science Series.)
Pp. ixt+142. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press; London: Cambridge University Press,
1917.) Price 1 dollar or 4s. net. ‘
Dr. TasuHtRo gives a useful and readable sum-
mary of the results which he has obtained on
the production of carbonic acid in nerve and in
seeds by the employment of an ingenious micro-
chemical method. He regards the evolution of this
gas as a sign of life analogous to the “blaze
currents ” described by Dr. Waller. The magni-
tude of the CO, production which he observes in
nerve fibres has raised doubts. as to the exact
significance to be ascribed to the results obtained.
The author deals with some of the criticisms
which his work has evoked.
Morphology of Gymnosperms. By Profs. J. M.
Coulter and C. J. Chamberlain. Revised edition.
Pp. xi+466. (The University of. Chicago
Press.) Price 5 dollars net.
Tuis important work was reviewed at length in
the issue of Nature ‘for August 10, 1911 (vol.
Ixxxvii., p. 171). The revised edition is in no
sense rewritten, but important changes and
additions occur, the more important of which are
in the chapter on Cycadales ‘and in the biblio-
graphy. A supplementary list to the latter adds
150 titles to the 484 of the first edition.
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
this or any other part of NATuRE.
taken of anonymous communications. ]
Tidal Energy Dissipation.
Mr. Street is in error in attributing to me (NATURE, —
‘contention that viscous
October 25, p. 145) the
action in a solid earth cannot be an appreciable cause
of the slowing of its rotation.” I have never made
any such assertion, it is opposed to my personal
opinion, and in the present state of knowledge it is.
quite impossible either to affirm or to deny a state-
ment of such definiteness. His criticisms of the law
of viscosity used by me (M.N., R.A.S., vol. Ixxvii.,
Pp- 449-56) are confined to its precise mathematical
form, to which I attach little importance, and do
not touch the physical conceptions underlying it, which
are fundamental. The mathematical argument was.
only a numerical illustration of the order of magni-
tude of the effects to be expected from these.
_The theory that viscosity in the solid earth is the
cause of the lunar secular acceleration requires its
effect to ‘be considerable for variable stresses with,
periods of the order of a day. If, then, the viscosity
is of such a character as to permit an indefinite flow
when a constant stress is applied for a long enough
time, then for stresses with a period of a year or more
the substance will have time to flow like a liquid,
keeping approximately the hydrostatic form through-
out the changes. Hence the Eulerian nutation, a
long-period vibration depending for its existence en-
tirely on solid rigidity, could not persist. Similarly,
annual variations in the distribution of mass over the
surface would be compensated by internal flow, and
there could therefore be no annual variation of latitude.
If, on the other hand, the viscosity is not of a type
that permits indefinite flow, the strain when a constant
stress is applied must tend to a finite value, and
afterwards remain approximately constant. The effect
of viscosity must then be limited to the initial stage.
In the case of a periodic stress the period of which
is long compared with this initial stage, the rigidity
will be of much more importance than viscosity, and
the substance will behave nearly as if perfectly elastic.
On the other hand, if the period is short in com-
parison, viscosity will be of greater importance. This
is supported by the fact that if the viscous forces are
directly proportional to the rate of straining, as is
inherently probable on account of the analogy to elec-
tric resistance and fluid viscosity, the same is found
to hold. On such ideas the law I called that of
‘‘ firmo-viscosity ” is based. If, then, the effect of such
vistosity is considerable when the period is twelve
hours, it must be more important than elasticity when
the period is only a few seconds, as in the case of
earthquake waves. Thus the transmission of these
waves would be prevented. It follows that firmo-vis-
cosity is absent from the earth so far down as seismic |
waves travel; it may, however, be important at stil!
greater depths.
If on the application of a constant stress to a body
the strain at once assumed a finite value, then slowly
increased for a few days, and afterwards remained
constant, the viscous properties of such a body would
bear a close resemblance to those of the earth as a
whole. In this case, however, the rigidity found from
the Eulerian nutation should be much less than that
found from earthquakes, which does not appear to be
the case. This suggestion, therefore, alters the diffi-
culty without removing it.
No notice is
I EE a
oo More neR 8, 1917] .
NATURE
187
Mr. Street’s statement that an infinite number of
Jaws could be found that would satisfy the conditions
is obviously true, but any of them, by what has been
said above, would necessarily bear a strong re-
‘semblance to the firmo-viscous law, and the simplest
“hypothesis that is acceptable on physical grounds is
q “that of firmo-viscosity near the centre.
- . J am unaware of having modified my views on this
- question in any vital matter save by addition; in any
case, I fail to see that such modification would afford
any argument against my present position.
Boy ae Haro_p JErrrReys.
=
St. John’s College, Cambridge.
THE PROPOSED MINISTRY OF HEALTH.
\AJHEN Lord Rhondda some months ago
& declared that there was a great deal of
overlapping in connection with the work of public
health administration, and that a separate Minis-
try was urgently required, of the many who
_ agreed with him few, if any, seemed to be pre-
_ pared to tell him in detail how he might set about
abolishing the overlapping and constructing the
Ministry. The faults of the system under which
health service was given to the public were plain
to see. The reason for their existence was also
obvious.
| There was no real planning when the scheme
was initiated; no one grasped the importance of
health work or foresaw that it would and must
ow. Even the.enthusiasts underestimated the
' importance of the cause they had at heart, and
_ the persons they induced or compelled to listen
_ to them and to take action naturally also under-
estimated it. Both parties builded worse than
they knew. They did, indeed, the worst thing
possible: they chose the wrong foundations, and
they did not look ahead and plan for future
extensions. _ |
_ _ Imbued with the dread, so common in relation
to central administration in this country, that
trouble would follow if there was any suggestion
to form a new department; believing that, so far
‘is “more men and fewer of them,” they canvassed
the existing departments for one or more upon
which the new duties might be placed. Not
unnaturally, they eventually found a department.
That concerning itself with Poor Law adminis-
tration, now known as the Local Government
- Board, was obviously the proper one to take on
_ the new work. As organisation went, it was fairly
well organised. It had some doctors and a number
_ of lawyers attached to it, and through its officials
_of a lower grade it was in touch with the class
be person whose health reqtired most looking
ter.
_ The easy and pleasant task of placing new work
in old departments, once commenced, was con-
tinued. As new lines of work were found and
the necessity for doing something along these
_ lines was recognised, it became essential once
~ more to Jook round for departments to which the
_ duty of doing what was required might be en-
trusted.
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
-
a
i?
as Government work is concerned, the safest plan .
In some cases the Local Government Board felt
unable or disinclined to undertake it, and it was
taken round until another department more suit-
able or complaisant was found. There came at
length a time when health work was regarded as
the most important of all the public works, and
the necessity for seeking departments to accept
fresh work in this field ceased. Actually the
departments began to compete for it, and it was
counted as essential by each that it should have
part of the nation’s health work to do.
It was tegarded as nothing that there should be
absolute lack of uniformity and co-ordination ;
that work on behalf of the public health was so
organised that one part, the largest perhaps, was
at the Local Government Board with Poor Law
administration, another part at the Board of
Education, and portions more or less important
at the Home Office, the Insurance Commission,
the Board of Agriculture, the Board of Trade,
the Admiralty, and the Ministry of Munitions.
Recognition of the fact that such a-distribution
of important work is undesirable and likely to
lead to inefficiency, overlapping, and waste of |
money is easy. Those who recognised it, how-
ever, did little more ‘than this. If they had any-
thing to offer in the way of suggestions as to
how the existing difficulties might be overcome
and the Ministry of Health that was considered
so indispensable formed, they did not advertise
the fact very widely.
The one scheme that has been given publicity
was drafted by certain persons interested mainly,
apparently, in State insurance and bodies con-
cerned with its administration. Quite obviously
this scheme had for its chief intention the belittling
of the importance of the work done by other
departments, and particularly that of the Local
Government Board, the body at present regarded
as the central health department. This scheme
and a Bill founded upon it the Prime Minister
was asked to bless by a deputation. that waited
upon him on October 11. Wisely he refused to
do so, pointing out that the matter bristled with
difficulties, and hinting that consideration, in-
volving a vast amount of time and trouble, would
have to be given to it.
It is certain that long and serious consideration
will be necessary. The drafting of a scheme is
not the work of half a dozen persons’ known only
to one class of the population and knowing but
one side of health work. “To suggest that a Com-
mission would be the best body to deal with the
subject is almost. to ask to be regarded as
ridiculous. Nevertheless, there is something to
be said in favour of a suggestion that a Commis-
sion should be appointed, with the proviso that it
must be something more than the ordinary body
that meets and reports and. rests. ;
The Ministry of Health Commission must con-
sist of individuals possessing business ability and
capable of taking a broad view, if the very best
is to be done for the health of all the public.
' Further, it must be given a clear reference and
| a free hand; the right even to embody its recom-
188
NATURE
: [NoveMBER 8, 1917
mendations, not in a report, but in a Bill, might
be conferred upon it. If it is necessary to pass
an Act of Parliament to allow of the creation of
such a Commission and the giving of such powers,
then the passing of such an Act must be the first
step. The matter is so important as to justify
such procedure. The difficulties with which it is
attended, mainly because of the number of depart-
ments and interests that are involved, render it
almost hopeless to expect that a solution will be
found if only the methods regarded as constitu-
tional are available.
PROF. ADOLF VON BAEYER, For.Mem.R.S.,
* Bats announcement in the Times of September 8
of the death of Pref. Adolf von Baeyer at
Starnberg, near Munich, in his eighty-second year,
must have come as a shock to his many pupils in
this country. It was known to several of us that
he had not been in good health for some years,
but the quiet life which he led at his beautiful
home on the shores of the Starnberger See seemed
to benefit his health so much that his sudden
decease, even at his advanced age, was quite un-
expected. It is questionable whether any teacher
or investigator ever exerted a greater influence on
the development of chemical science, and especially
of organic chemistry, than Baeyer has done, for
not only was he a great teacher whose pupils are
to be found in every civilised country, but his
researches have also laid many of the foundations
on.which the amazing structure of modern organic
chemistry has been raised. Apart from the interest
which always attached to his published work, it is
probable that his main influence on chemical
thought was due to his magnetic personality and
power of imparting to others some of his
enthusiasm for discovery.
For many years, and particularly diabine the |
period 1880-1900, it was the custom for the large
majority of those who wished to come into contact
with the later developments of experimental
method to attach themselves, for a short time at
least, to the laboratories at Munich. The power’
which Baeyer exercised in connection with the
progress of chemistry in Germany can scarcely be
better illustrated than by the fact that during
these years. almost every professor of chemistry
in Germany of the first rank was a pupil of Baeyer.
Among these we find, for example, the names of
E. Bamberger, L. Claisen, Th. Curtius, Emil
Fischer, Otto Fischer, P. Friedlander, -C. Graebe,
L. Knorr, C. Liebermann, Victor Meyer, H. v.
Pechmann, J. Thiele, and R. Willstatter.
Baeyer’s influence on the development of
chemical industry, and especially of the colour
industry, was not tess remarkable, for in every
works were to be found such men as Caro and
Duisberg, Homolka and Weinberg, and a host of
others who had learnt their chemistry and ac-
quired their methods of research in the laboratories
at Munich. If inquiry is made into the reason for
the wide influence which Baeyer has exerted on
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
chemical thought,
ordinary enthusiasm for research and the keen joy
which he felt and expressed when he had suc+
ceeded in producing’ some new substance of im-
portance which he had probably been seeking for
many months, and possibly for years.
assistants and advanced pupils.
fired the enthusiasm of his hearers, and unques-
tionably did much to awaken and stimulate the —
desire to make discoveries and achieve something
perhaps of equal importance.
in the development of new theories, although some
of his views, such, for example, as those on the
constitution of benzene, the structure of oxonium
salts, the cause of colour in the triphenylmethane
series, and the mechanism of the formation of
On such —
occasions he used to walk about the laboratories —
beaming with delight and discuss his latest’ dis-
covery and its probable consequences with his —
His enthusiasm
Baeyer was essen-
tially an experimenter, and had little real interest
sugar in the plant, were valuable contributions to
theory, and his well-known “Spannungs Theorie ”
was a brilliant conception of real value in con-
nection with stability in ring structures.
It was Baeyer’s habit to adjourn to his private
laboratory directly after his early-morning lecture,
for perhaps an hour, in order to carry out any
experiments which had occurred to him after the
close of the previous day’s work and to discuss
He would
the day’s programme with his assistant.
then walk through the research laboratories and |
talk over any difficulties with those with whom he
happened to be working, and with others whose
work happened to interest him. Baeyer’s custo!
was to work himself with comparatively few of
those engaged in research in his laboratories,
and he left to the Privatdozenten almost Sotrie
the supervision of the Doctorarbeiten.
Unless something of real interest had happened .
it was usual for those working with kim to te
him-at once that there was nothing to report, and,
in. this way, Baeyer frequently made the tour of
the large laboratories so rapidly that he was back
in his private laboratory soon after eleven o ‘clock,
and the whole of the rest of the day was spent at
his own work. His private laboratory—a large
and very well lit room—usually contained, besides
one private assistant, some other researcher in
whose work he was specially interested, and it
was not unusual for such a student to remain in
the private laboratory for weeks at a time. Suck
an experience was, of course, of the utmost value
to those who were fortunate enough to enjoy the
privilege; in such circumstances it was impossible
not to be profoundly influenced by the skill,
patience, ‘and resource with which the experi-
mental difficulties of so many intricate problems
were gradually overcome. His equipment for
research consisted almost entirely’ of test-tubes .
and glass rods, and it rarely happened that he
used anything larger than quite small beakers and
flasks. Large wooden racks containing hundreds
. test-tubes were always at hand, and it used to
pe
TR
it will be universally agreed bi}
that this has been due in the maia to his extra-
7 fs NoveMBER 8, 1917]
NATURE
189
_ be said that these test-tubes, after the usual wash,
were subjected to a further cleaning, first with
alcohol, and then with distilled water. Baeyer
always insisted that the occurrence of a chemical
change can be more easily observed and its course
more closely followed with small quantities of
_ material and the aid of a test-tube and glass rod
than by the employment of a hundred grams of
Substance and large flasks or beakers. That this
view was undoubtedly correct is demonstrated not
~ only, by the brilliant results which Baeyer himself
achieved with such simple means, but even more
conclusively by the fact that his pupils, if perhaps
reluctantly at first, all ultimately adopted his
method of work. There can be no doubt that the
discovery and careful characterisation of so many
neces, and the publication of so much im-
portant work covering such a wide field, would
not have been possible had not Baeyer early
acquired the habit of working with small quanti-
ties of material.
Baeyer’s immense power of work is shown by
the fact that, until his eightieth birthday, he
delivered his usual lectures on five mornings of
each week and continued to experiment in his
laboratory with his usual unflagging energy. Had
the war not-robbed him of his private assistant
_and laboratory staff, it is probable that he would
have gone on even longer. He confided to one of
his intimate friends that ;work in the laboratory
gave him as much pleasure after fifty years’ toil
as at any time during his career, and to the last
he took the greatest interest in any developments
in the domain of natural science which’ were
brought to his notice. It is well known that he
viewed with disfavour and apprehension the grow-
ing domination of military power in Berlin and
Prussia generally, and it was mainly, no doubt,
for this teason that he refused to accept the invita-
tion to Berlin on the death of Hofmann.
_ Adolf Baeyer was born on October 31, 1835, in
Berlin, and he spent his early life in the house
_ (242 Friedrichstrasse) of his grandfather, which at
that time was a centre of the literary life of Berlin,
and it thus came about that Baeyer was brought
-upina literary atmosphere. He always referred
to this early intimate contact with literature with
_ pleasure, and considered that the love for litera-
ture which he acquired in those days was of great
service to him throughout his later career.
_ Baeyer’ s chief interest in these early days seems
to have been for botany and in living things
_ generally, and his first contact with chemistry was
on his ninth birthday, when his father gave him
a copy of Stéckhardt’s ‘‘ Schule der Chemie.”
In his “Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben,”
which he wrote for the celebrations organised in
_ connection with his seventieth birthday, he tells
_us that he converted a passage in the house into
_ a small laboratory, and there carried out the usual
_ dangerous and unpleasant experiments associated
_ with early youth. It was during this time that. he
_ made his first discovery, that of the double salt,
_ CuCOs,Na,CO;,H,O. The activity of the small
hs laboratory does not seem to have been altogether
. NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
appreciated, and the poet, Paul Heyse, who was
a frequent visitor at the house, had reason to
protest:
Es stinkt in diesem Haus gar sehr
Das kommt vom Adolf Baeyer her.
When he entered the university Baeyer seems
at first to have entirely forsaken his chemical
experiments and to have devoted himself to physics
and mathematics; but the interest in chemistry
soon returned, and in 1856 he entered Bunsen’s
laboratory at Heidelberg. After studying the
methods of analysis in this famous laboratory for
a year, he came under the influence of Kekulé,
whom he afterwards followed to Ghent, and whom
he always considered was his real teacher.
Baeyer obtained the Ph.D. degree in 1858; his
dissertation, “De arsenici cum methylo conjunc-
tionibus,” presented and printed in Latin, was a
difficult and important piece of accurate work and
a great achievement for so young an investigator,
especially as it was commenced and carried out
entirely on his own initiative. In the spring of
1860 Baeyer returned to Berlin and became Privat-
dozent at that university, but in the same year he
was appointed teacher in organic chemistry in the
Gewerbe Institut, an institution which later de-
veloped into the Berliner Technische Hochschule.
The foundations of many of Baeyer’s most im-
portant researches were laid during the next few
years, for we find him publishing papers on the
uric acid group, mellitic acid, isatin and indigo,
the reduction of benzene carboxylic acids, acetylene
derivatives, etc., subjects which later developed
into the classical memoirs with which his name is
so intimately associated. Among: the distinguished
workers who were attracted to Baeyer’s laboratory
during this time we find the names of Graebe,
Liebermann, Nencki, ‘and Victor Mever, and it
-was in 1866 (Annalen, cxl., 295) that the method
of reduction by distillation with zinc dust was
elaborated which enabled Graebe and Liebermann
to demonstrate that alizarin is a derivative of
anthracene, and thus to proceed with the synthesis
of this important colouring matter.
‘The next stage in Baeyer’s career began in 1872,
when he was appointed professor of chemistry in
Strasburg, and it was here that he numbered
among his pupils Emil and Otto Fischer and
H. Caro, and produced many papers, of which
those dealing with the phthaleins are probably the
most important. Baeyer stayed in Strasburg for
three years, and then proceeded in 1875 to Munich,
where he remained for forty years, and it was in
the Munich laboratories that most of his famous
researches reached maturity.
It is impossible to mention even the titles of
the long series of papers which appeared with
such regularity during this long period, and are
so well known to every student of chemistry.
Mention may, however, be made of his researches
on the phthaleins, the reduction of the phthalic
acids, the constitution of benzene, indigo and its
derivatives, and last, but not least. the researches
on the polyacetylene derivatives, which are marvels
190
NATURE
_ [NoveMBER 8, 1917
of experimental skill and have perhaps never been
sufficiently appreciated.
His later researches were concerned with the
peroxides, the constitution of Caro’s acid, and par-
ticularly with the constitution of the oxonium salts
and of the coloured derivatives of triphenyl-
methane, and his last research, published in 1911
together with Jean Piccard, was on the oxonium
salts derived from dimethylpyrone (Annalen,
ecclxxxiv., 208, 224).
W. H. PERKIN.
NOTES.
THE announcement made by the Admiralty on Satur-
day that “‘an attack was made on our vessels patrol-
ling the Belgian coast by an electrically controlled
high-speed boat” (which was destroyed in the attempt)
recalls the various suggestions and experiments made,
ever since Hobson’s “bottling ”’ exploit at Santiago, to
devise an unmanned craft capable of being steered for
attack from a safe distance. Brennan’s wire-con-
trolled torpedo was a clumsy device compared with the
radiotelegraphic control worked out by J. H. Ham-
mond in America, and tested before the present war
commenced. There is no doubt that it is possible to
construct a craft steered by wireless which will attack
and hit a target two or three miles off.. The difficulty
of seeing the craft at such distances from the steering
station can be overcome at night by attaching to it
a light directed backwards and invisible from the
target. But the main objection to wireless control is
that it can be “‘jammed” by the enemy. To meet
this difficulty it has been proposed to use a selenium
control- actuated by a searchlight. There is little
doubt that this can be successfully worked over a
range of several miles, but here again the objection
is that something must emerge and be illuminated,
and that this something is liable to destruction by the
enemy. The question resolves itself into one of adapt-
ability to exceptional circumstances. It will be in-
teresting to learn which of the various possible con-
structions has been adopted by Germany. The Press
Association is authorised ‘to state that four electric-
ally controlled boats have already been destroyed. The
boat destroyed last week had a petrol engine, ~was
electrically controlled from the land, and was convoyed
by an aeroplane. Tee oe!
~ AN article of considerable length upon the stabilisa-
tion of aeroplanes and ships by means of the
gyroscope appears in La Nature for October 20.
The apparatus designed by Sperry for these purposes
is described in some detail. The application to the
case of ships and the-superiority of Sperry’s stabiliser
to that of Schlick are fairly well known, .but the applica-
tion to the aeroplane. is perhaps. less familiar and
deserves a word of comment. The claims made for
the apparatus are that it relieves the pilot of all control
except that of the rudder, and that the machine will
continue to fly for almost any length of time at the
attitude for which the gyro controls are set. But this
is also true of an inherently stable machine, and in-
herent stability can be obtained without any addition
of weight and without any increase of head resistance
such as that due to the windmills which drive the
servo-motor and generator of the Sperry apparatus.
The Sperry stabiliser may be of some utility for large
aeroplanes used for commercial purposes or long
passenger flights, but it is certainly not required for
military aircraft. One of the greatest necessities for
the military machine is flexibility of control and ability
to execute mangeuvres, such as looping, spinning, and
steep nose-diving. For such a machine the Sperry
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
stabiliser is worse than useless; indeed, the construc-
tion of the apparatus appears to be such that looping /
the machine would completely derange the adjustment. — '
The additional weight of the apparatus and the extra
head resistance involved are serious drawbacks to its
use in any machine, and the great complexity of its
mechanism is antagonistic to the best principles of —
aeroplane design—simplicity and directness of control.
Tue Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for Octo-
ber 19 contains an extensive extract from Capt. B. C.
Hucks’s paper entitled ‘“‘A Further Three Years’ Fly-
ing Experience,’’ which was read before the Aero-
nautical Society last June. This paper is an exceed-
ingly interesting one, coming from such an experienced
pilot, and contains many points of scientific interest.
Possibly the most interesting of these is the question
of flight in a cloud, or when the earth is not visible.
Capt. Hucks vividly describes his own experience of
such flights, and states that in gusty weather it is
exceedingly difficult to keep the machine on a straight
path, and that once control is lost it is almost impos-
sible to regain it until out of the cloud. The air-
speed indicator and: other instruments fitted do not
give sufficient indication of the machine’s actual
motion through space, and Capt. Hucks suggests that
some instrument should be fitted which shows a line
fixed in space, whatever be the motion of the machine.
Such an instrument must apparently depend either on
the earth’s magnetic field or on gyroscopic action, and
the latter seems the more promising. ‘The chief diffi-
culty in designing an instrument of this kind is to
_render the supporting gimbals sufficiently frictionless, —
as friction. will cause the gyroscope to deviate from
its initial position. It seems doubtful if an instru-
ment can be made for continuous use throughout a
long flight, but it should be quite possible to design
one for intermittent use. The instrument could be set
with the gyro axis in some definite direction, such as
the vertical, when the machine was flying normally,
and then set free when a cloud was encountered. he
gyro would maintain its direction sufficiently well for
a short time, and could be reset whenever an oppor-
tunity afforded.. Such an instrument should prove an
interesting problem in design for the scientific inven-
tor, and would undoubtedly be a valuable addition to
the instrument board on an aeroplane. :
WE notice with much regret the announcement of
the death on. November 4, at forty-five years of age,
of Mr. W. Duddell, F.R.S., C.B.E., past-president
of the Réntgen Society and of the Institution of Elec-
trical Engineers. j
WE regret to announce the death on November 4,
at seventy-two years of age, of Sir David C. McVail,
professor of clinical medicine in St. Mungo’s College,
Glasgow, from 1889 to 1906, and author of a
number of publications on physiological subjects, espe-
cially on diseases of the heart and lungs. ;
Tue following is a list of those who have been re-
commended by the president and council of the. Royal
Society for election into the council at the anniversary
meeting on November 30 :—President, Sir J. J. Thom-
son; Treasurer, Sir A. Kempe; Secretaries, Prof. A.
Schuster and Mr. W. B. Hardy; Foreign Secretary,
Prof. W. A. Herdman; Other Members of the Coun-
cil, Dr. H. K. Anderson, Sir G. T. Beilby, Prof. G. C.
Bourne, Prof. A. R. Cushny, Dr. M. O. Forster, Prof. |
P. F. Frankland, Dr. J. W. L. Glaisher, Prof. B.
Hopkinson,. Mr.. J. H. Jeans, Prof. W. H..Lang, Major
H. G. Lyons, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, Prof. C. S:
Sherrington, Prof. R. J. Strutt, Mr. J. Swinburne,
and Prof. W. W. Watts. aan er eae
ae
November 8, 1917] | :
~ council of which he served
considerable experience as an examiner, having acted
Institute of Chemistry, and other bodies.
_ Canadian Government Commission on _ nickel.
NATURE
19I
$« Ar the annual general meeting of the London Mathe-
matical Society, held on November 1, the president
announced the award of the de Morgan medal to Prof.
W. H. Young, and stated that, owing to Prof. Young’s
absence from England, the medal would be given into
the charge of the Master of Peterhouse. The follow-
ing were elected as council and officers for 1917-18 :—
President, Prof. H. M. Macdonald; Vice-Presidents,
Prof. H. Hilton, Prof..E. W. Hobson, and Sir J.
Larmor; Treasurer, Dr. A. E. Western; Secretaries,
7 Dr T. J. I’A. Bromwich and Mr. G. H. Hardy; Other
Es Members of the Council, Prof. W. Burnside, Dr. S.
an, Mr. A. L. Dixon, Miss H. P. Hudson,
Mr. A.E. Jolliffe, Mr. J. E. Littlewood, Prof. A. E. H!
_ Love, Major P. A. MacMahon, and Prof. J. W. Nichol-
Soni"
'- THERE is a widespread feeling of regret among
4 metallurgists and chemists at the death of Mr. G. T.
- Holloway, which occurred, after a long and painful
illness, on October 24. Mr. Holloway entered the
Royal College of Science in 1881, and obtained the
associateship in chemistry in 1884. He was assistant-
_ demonstrator in chemistry in the college from 1884 to
1886. He spent some time in Newtoundland, and,
returning to England, established a practice as
analytical and consulting metallurgist in Chancery
Lane. This practice was afterwards transferred to
testing works and laboratories in Limehouse, and the
business conducted in the form of G. T. Holloway,
Ltd. He specialised in some of the less common
metals, and few had more knowledge of their occur-
rence or methods of treatment. Mr. Holloway was
a fellow of the Institute of Chemistry and a member
f various other societies.. He was specially interested
in the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, on the
or many years. He had
in this capacity for the University of Birmingham, the
His most
recent work, and that perhaps by which in future he
will be best known, was the chairmanship of the
The
report of this commission has been issued during the
present year, and will long be a standard of reference
and a model of what such reports should be. _ Handi-
capped from the first by pecuniary circumstances, per-
manent lameness, and a weak constitution, he had a
remarkably clear intellect and a charming personality.
He lived to accomplish more than many men who
had all the advantages which he lacked. For one who
found all physical effort a trial he was wonderfully
aetive and had travelled considerably.
Pror. DastRE, whose death was announced in
Nature of October 25, was one of the most distin-
eee pupils of the great physiologist, Claude
nard. Another pupil, Paul Bert, succeeded
Bernard in the chair of physiology at the Sorbonne,
_and, on Bert’s death in 1886, Dastre was elected to
the post. Portraits of all three of these noted men
are to be seen in the well-known picture by Lhermitte,
in which Dastre is represented as taking notes of an
experiment shown by Bernard to a number of his
friends. Dastre was for many years one of the editors
of the Journal de physiologie et de pathologie générale,
and his kindness in offering to Physiological Abstracts,
on its foundation, the free use of the excellent abstracts
ublished in his journal was much appreciated by
British physiologists. His work in research covers a
wide field, both in chemical and in what is sometimes
called “experimental” physiology, but that done in
conjunction with Prof. Morat on the vasomotor system
of nerves is perhaps best known. In this work the
€xistence of vaso-dilator nerves was shown to be more
general than had previously been supposed, and much
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
new light was thrown on the functions of the sym-
pathetic nerves. Allied to these problems we find ex-
periments made in order to elucidate the relations be-
tween the nervous regulating mechanism of the heart
and the functions of the muscular structure itself. A
number of papers was published relating to the diges-
tion and metabolism of fats and sugars. The part
played by the bile in the digestion and absorption of
fats was pointed out. Of other important work, the
rapid accommodation of the vascular system to the
injection of large amounts of saline solutions and the
method of mixed anzesthesia with morphine and chloro-
form may be mentioned. Contrary to general opinion
at the time, Dastre showed that expired air does not
contain any toxic substance. He also devoted some
attention to the more morphological problems of
embryology.
Mr. WortTHINGTON G. SMITH, whose death was
announced in Nature of November 1, was a man with
varied interests and a broad outlook. A good towns-
man (he was the first Freeman of Dunstable to be
elected since the foundation of the borough by Henry 1.),
a keen politician, originally by profession an architect,
a draughtsman and engraver, an antiquary of note,
he was also among the first botanical artists in black
and white, and an admitted authority on the larger
British fungi. At the age of twenty-three he gave up
the practice of architecture in favour of book illustra-
tion, and for many years drew architectural subjects
for the Builder. Plant-forms, and especially the
larger fungi, had attracted him, and in 1867 he drew,
lithographed, and described two large coloured sheets
of ‘‘ Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms”’ for Mr. Hard-
wicke, the publisher. In 1869 he was discovered by
Dr. Maxwell Masters, and from ithen onwards for
nearly half a century supplied the drawings of new or
noteworthy plants with which readers of the Gardeners’
Chronicle are familiar. To his training as an archi-
tect we doubtless owe the sharp, clear accuracy of his
drawings and his careful attention to detail. In 1884
was published his ‘‘ Diseases of Field and Garden
Crops,” chiefly such as are caused by fungi, written
and illustrated by himself. : A beautiful memorial of
his work on the larger mig) is exhibited in the botan-
ical gallery at the Natural History Museum in the form
of more than a hundred large sheets of coloured draw-
ings of our British species. His ‘‘ Synopsis of British
Basidiomycetes,” published by the trustees of the
British Museum in 1908, is descriptive of these draw-
ings. His ‘‘Guide to Sowerby’s Models of British
Fungi” (British Museum, 1891) is a capital little hand-
book on the larger species. Many of his drawings
have been acquired by the museum, chee 3 a fine
series illustrating the larger British fungi. orthing-
ton Smith was a fellow of the Linnean and various
other societies, and in 1903 he was elected president of
the British. Mycological Society. The Royal Horticul-
tural Society showed its appreciation of his work by
several awards, including the Knightian gold medal in
1895 for his researches into the life-history of the
potato-disease fungus. An appreciation of ‘Worthing-
ton Smith’s work, with an excellent portrait, forms the
leading article in the issue of the Gardeners’ Chronicle
for November 3.
THE trustees of the British Museum have issued three
more of the useful pamphlets (Nos. 4, 5, and 6) of the
‘‘Natural History Economic Seri¢s.’’ These describe
mosquitoes; the bed-bug, and species of Arachnida and
Myriopoda injurious to man, and are written respec-
tively by Mr. F. W. Edwards, Mr. Bruce F. Cum-
mings, and Mr. Stanley Hirst. The outward form,
life-histories, and habits of the various creatures are
clearly described, with good figures and some practical
advice for the destruction of pests. Most readers of
192
NATURE
f Me
-[Novemser 8, 1917
the last-named pamphlet will be surprised to learn of
the number of species of centipedes and millipedes
which are recorded as accidental inhabitants of the
human intestine.
THE extreme severity of the winter of 1916-17 levied
a heavy toll on the birds throughout the British
Islands, and it seems to have borne.no less heavily.on
our native flora. Not even Ireland escaped. Mr.
C. B. Moffat has already placed on record a number
of observations as regards the birds of Ireland, and he
now follows these up with a similar survey of the
havoc wrought among the native plants of Co. Wex-
ford. In the Irish Naturalist for October he tells us
that at least five species of plants have been so reduced
that it seems doubtful whether they will recover their
former plenty. These are the weld (Reseda luteola),
pale-flowered flax (Linum angustifolium), fleabane
(Pulicaria dysenterica), greater broomrape (Orobanche
major), and the lesser broomrape (O. minor).
A VALUABLE and illuminating summary of what is
known of the habits and migrations of Chimezrz off
the Scandinavian coasts and the northern waters of our
own shores is given by Prof. D’Arcy Thompson in the
Scottish Naturalist for October. Though his survey
includes two species, Chimaera monstrosa and C.
mirabilis, his remarks are mainly concerned with the
former species. Hitherto it has been generally sup-
posed that this spawned only in deep water, but it is
now shown to spawn off the Norwegian coasts in
shallow water in winter-time, and to migrate to the
depths during spring and summer. Prof. Thompson
is disposed to regard these migrations as governed by
temperature rather than by the search for food; for the
species shows a partiality for cold or cool water, and
while in general it finds this optimum temperature in
the deeper waters outside the continental shelf, so also
it finds it in winter, but then only in the shallow
coastal waters of Norway. Many gaps, however, in our
knowledge of these migrations yet remain to be filled;
for it is pointed out that from its occurrence more or
less all the year round off the south-west of Ireland
we are precluded from supposing that the various
localities where the species has been found lie in one
continuous and regular route of migration. Wecannot
correlate what we know of it in Norway, in the northern
North Sea, and off the Hebrides with what we know
of it in the Bay of Biscay, the south-west of Ireland,
and the Farde Channel. It seems, on the whole, prob-
able that in its more southern and more western
habitats the habits of the species are different from
those in the north; that it is here confined to
deeper waters, but that it tends to resort periodically
to still deeper parts of the ocean, where it chiefly
spawns. ;
Dr. J. D. F. Gitcurist has sent to us a note on
luminosity in South African earthworms. He refers to
the Rev. Hilderic Friend’s interesting letter in NATURE
(vol. xlvii., 1893, p. 462) for earlier records, and states
that other cases have been noticed since then.
Opinions are, however, divided as to the source of the
phosphorescence, the latest suggestion being that it is
due to luminous fungi. During a dark and damp even-
ing. Dr. Gilchrist observed bright patches on the ground
in a pinewood on the slopes of Table Mountain. These
were traced to earthworms, specimens of which when
dug up discharged a viscid luminous fluid from the
mouth, and usually from the anus as well. Phos-
phorescent patches seen on the body were attributed to
portions of this discharge, perhaps scattered by the
movements of the worm; but they may have been due to
something given out from an injury to the body. The
luminous discharge contained numerous nucleated,
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
granular cells, some of which showed active move-
ments, and resembled Gregarines. Dr. Gilchrist
thinks he has found sporoblasts and spores which
confirm this view of their nature. The proof that
the cells were luminous was obtained by examining
them under the microscope, in a dark room, by means
of their own light. The fluid containing them, when
dried at 60° C., recovered its luminosity when
breathed on or otherwise moistened. A useful survey
of what is known in regard to the production of light
by animals will be found in papers by Prof. U. Dahl-
gren, referred to in recent volumes of Nature (vol.
XCVii., p. 146; vol. xcix., pp. 191, 430). Oy Se
Wir the continued. improvement of he
methods our knowledge of the minute details of the
growth and maturation of the germ-cells is constantly —
increasing. At first attention was focussed upon the —
remarkable changes undergone by the nucleus and the
mechanism of nuclear division during these processes,
with results which are now well known to every
serious student. More recently a large amount of
laborious research has been devoted to the behaviour
of the cytoplasm and its various inclusions—mito-
chondria, macromitosomes, ‘micromitosomes, acro-
blasts and acrosomes, to mention only some of the
numerous terms employed by recent investigators. The
story of the behaviour of these enigmatical bodies is —
scarcely less remarkable than that of the behaviour
of the nucleus, and may well be regarded as affording
some justification for the view that the cytoplasm
plays an important part in the transmission of in-
herited characters. To those who have not followed
the gradual elaboration of this story by various writers
a memoir in the current number of the Quarterly
Journal of Microscopical Science (vol. Ixii., part 3), by ©
Mr. J. Bronté Gatenby, will come almost as a revela-~
tion. It deals with the cytoplasmic inclusions of the
germ-cells in Lepidoptera, a subject which is far too ~
complex to be adequately summarised in this place. |
This memoir is a veritable triumph of microscopical”
technique, and the numerous figures by which it is’
illustrated are remarkably beautiful and convincing.
As a clear exposition of the latest views on the subject,
as well as for the sake of the new results which it”
deals with, it should meet with a hearty welcome from
all biological students. ;
AGRICULTURAL problems are largely represented in
recent numbers of the Aiti dei Lincei. Thus Prof.
Alfonso Splendore (vol. xxv., 2, p. 12) describes re-~
searches on the bacterial parasites of the field mouse
(Patymys) with a view to their application to the
extermination of these pests. The parasitic fungi
which give rise to the so-called “ink disease” in
chestnut trees are discussed by Dr. L. Petri in the
same number. Dr. Mario Topi (vol. xxvi., 1, p. 4)
gives statistics showing the effect of arseniate of lead.
and tobacco in destroying the larvae of the Tinezx,..
which attack vines. Dr. Benjamino Peyronel (vol.
xxvi., p. 9) describes a potato disease new to Italy,
due to the fungus Spondylocladium atrovirens, which
was first discovered in Vienna on the tubers of pota-—
toes in 1872, and -described by Johnson as
occurring in Ireland in 1903. It would appear, how-
ever, that though this fungus is difficult to destroy
chemically, its effects on the tubers are mainly super-
ficial. In a later number (vol. xxvi., p. 11) Prof. Vit-
torio Peglion discusses the Peronospora of the hemp
(P. cannabina), which is referred to a new subgenus,
and of which the life-history is, still in doubt.
The same writer, in a later number (vol. xxvi., 1,
12) discusses the gummy fungus which is at
i present threatening the apricot trees in Emilia, and is
. NoveMBER 8, 1917]
NATURE
193
referred to the genus Sclerotinia. It appears to attack
_ the flower, fruit, and all parts of the apricot.
Tue October number of the Journal of the Board of
Agriculture contains several articles of interest relating
to seeds. A summary is givén of the more general
_ measures taken by the Governments of British
Dominions and of foreign countries with the object
_ of eradicating weeds and providing pure seeds. The
summary deals mainly with measures for the preven-
_ tion of the importation of weed seeds, restrictions on the
_ internal sale of seeds, and control stations for analyses
of seeds. It is of interest to note that the reproach
_ that England’ is almost the only important country
having no adequate seed regulations and no official
seed-testing station is about to be removed, as it is
announced that an official seed-testing station for
_ England and Wales is being organised at the Food
Production Department. e station will be under
the direction of Mr. R. G. Stapledon, adviser in agri-
cultural botany to University College, Aberystwyth.
Other articles in the same number deal with seed
_ production in Canada and economy in the use of
_ vegetable seeds. The latter is published arately
as Food Production Leaflet No. 8, copies of which
may be obtained gratis on application to the Board.
Tue disadvantages of the various thermometric
scales in use is raised by Mr. A. McAdie, director of
the Blue Hill Observatory, in a paper in the Geo-
graphical Review for September (vol. iv., N
growing study of the upper air and the structure of
the atmosphere has led, at least in America, to a tend-
ency to use the Absolute scale, instead of the Centigrade
or Fahrenheit. The chief advantage of the Fahrenheit
over the Centigrade and Absolute scales is the smaller
divisions, which give the readings more definite-
‘ness. In order to combine this feature with the ad-
vantages of the Absolute scale Mr. McAdie proposes a
new scale, for which he has found no name. Zero is
_ the same as in the Absolute scale (—273-02° C.), and
_ freezing point is 1000. The divisions are considerably
smaller than on the Fahrenheit scale, there are no
minus signs, and there is a fundamental difference
between readings above and below freezing point, to
cite only some of the merits which the author claims
for his new scale.
Tue weakest part of school geography as a rule lies
_ in the teaching of climate. Broad generalisations
_. based on the general laws of physics, but fallacious
in their application, mar the treatment of the subject
in almost all school books. We welcome, therefore,
an article by Mr. B. C. Wallis on the monsoon in the
School World for October (abridged from an article
written for Indian Education). In this article Mr.
Wallis sets out the facts of the monsoon and the
incidence of the monsoon rains, wisely refraining from
any attempt to explain the phenomena. He gives five
rainfall areas for India, each marked by rainfall in-
tensity at one or other period of the year, and indi-
cates the major portions of each without vainly
attempting to find precise boundaries. The article,
which we notice is not copyrighted, should be most
useful to teachers and students in its clear present-
ment of facts and its absence of any striving for
false simplicity. Incidentally, it is hoped that it will
help to kill the lons-established myth of the monsoon
as gigantic land and sea breezes based on the heating
and.cooling of Central Asia. This fallacy is still cur-
rent in school geography, despite repeated attempts
by the late Prof. Herbertson to dispel it in his many
text-books.
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
0. 3)
entitled ‘‘The Passing of the Fahrenheit Scale.” The
A REPORT of the Fernley Observatory, Southport,
with the meteorological résults for the year 1916, under
the directorship of Mr. Joseph Baxendell, meteorologist
to the corporation, hasbeen issued by the\county borough
of Southport. The observations are carried out with
the greatest care, and the instruments and their posi-
tions are such as to render the results of the highest
possible value. Close contact has been kept with the
Meteorological Office, and detai'ed observations are
supplied for the various official reports. In the statis-
tical tables the new units of measurement are given, as
well as the old. A new table is given which shows
the amount, duration, and intensity of rainfall for each
eight points of wind direction. For the year 1916 the
largest amount of rain fell with south-west and south
winds, the measurement being six times as great as
with a north wind. The duration of rainfall was
greatest with south-west, west, and south-east winds.
A ‘discontinuity ’’ in the amount of rainfall for the
several months of the year is shown by the series of
observations. During the twenty-six years from 1871
the average rainfall for July is given as 3-64 in., whilst.
during the subsequent nineteen years it was only
2:25 in.; September in the earlier series has 3-46 in.,
and later only 2-38 in. The later series of observa-
tions shows that all the months July to November have
become drier, whilst six out of seven of the remaining
months, December to June, have actually become
wetter. Older records in the district show the change
in the character of the weather to be subject to periodic
variation.
RECENT writers on the subject of optical glass have
shown a tendency to assign the whole of the credit
for the introduction of the newer materials like
baryta, magnesia, and the phosphates into glass-
making to Abbe and Schott, of Jena. In an editorial
note in the British Journal of Photography for Octo-
ber 19 it is pointed out that baryta has been used in
glass-making since 1830, and that both Fraunhofer
and Faraday made boro-silicate glass, Schroeder made
magnesia glass, Mais used zine oxide, both Harcourt
and Stokes made phosphate glasses, while French
glass-makers have used thallium and fluorides for
some time. The journal claims that some of the
credit for the introduction of the newer materials now
used in glass-making should be given to these pioneer
workers.
What is called the ‘‘uniform movement” of flame
occurs when an inflammable mixture of gases is
ignited at the open end of a horizontal tube closed
at the other end. Messrs. W. A. Haward- and
S. G. Sastry (Journal of the Chemical Society,
September, 1917) have determined the speeds
of this uniform movement in mixtures of acety-
lene and air. When ‘these speeds (obtained
with a glass tube 12 mm. in diameter) are
plotted against the percentages of acetylene, a curve
is obtained which rises rapidly from 3 per cent. of
acetylene to a maximum at 8-10 per cent., and then
falls more slowly to 20 per cent. of acetylene. Mix-
tures richer than the last in acetylene deposit soot
when burnt, and the propagation of flame is slow.
There is a gradual flattening of the curve towards
the limits of inflammability, as in other inflammable
mixtures. Previous experiments with mixtures of
acetylene and air, by Le Chatelier, led him to depict
the results by a curve consisting of three straight
lines, the first to a maximum at 1o per cent. of
acetylene, the second falling from this maximum, and
the third (from 20 per cent. acetylene to the limit of
inflammabilitvy) corresponding with combustion with
a fuliginous flame. As stated, the authors obtained a
smooth curve not consisting of straight lines. +
194
NATURE
[NoveMBER 8, 1917
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
THe METEORIC SHOWER OF OcTOBER.—Between
October 13 and 28 last, inclusive, observations were
obtained at Bristol on fourteen nights, and 197 meteors
were seen in twenty-three hours of watching, chiefly
before sunrise. Fifty-six of the meteors recorded be-
longed to one or other of the two principal displays
of the October epoch near € Geminorum (98°+14”,
thirty-two meteors) and v Orionis (g2°+15°, twenty-
four meteors). The former was also the stronger
shower in 1916, and in some previous years, though in
1877 and 1887 the Orionids formed by far the richer
display. Of the minor showers the most.active were
at 42%+20° in Aries, and 163°+59° near B Urse
Majoris.
Two fireballs have been recently observed with suffi-
cient completeness to allow their real paths to be
ascertained, viz. :—
(1) October 18,° 2h. 15m. a.m., radiant 90°+ 16°,
height seventy-two to forty-seven miles over Lincoln-
‘shire.
(2) October 23, 7h. 33m. p.m., radiant 42°+20°,
height sixty-five to thirty-three miles from over North
Sea to west of Scarborough. ‘
GaLactic CONDENSATION OF StTARS.—Expressing
galactic condensation as the ratio of the number of
stars per unit area at 5° galactic latitude to the num-
ber at 80°, Kapteyn found values ranging from 2-8 at
the ninth magnitude to 27-7 at the sixteenth. The
relatively large value for the very faint stars did not
appear in Chapman and Melotte’s discussion of the
Franklin-Adams plates, but it has Since been substan-
tially confirmed by work with the 60-in. reflector at
Mt. Wilson. A further investigation of this question
has been based by Dr. F. H. Seares on the counts of
nearly 600,000 stars which have been collected by
Prof. Turner (Astrophysical Journal, vol. xlvi., p. 117).
The galactic condensation deduced from these is in
close agreement with the results obtained by Kapteyn.
The variations of density with right ascension, how-
ever, are not greater than the uncertainties affecting
the results, so. that no evidence was found for the
‘spiral of obscuring matter derived by Prof. Turner
from the same data. It would appear that Prof.
Turner did not make sufficient allowance for the high
galactic concentration of the faint stars.
Tue Variability or B.D. +56-547°.—The variability
of this star was first detected by Mr. J. Van der Bilt,
and, at his suggestion, the photographic magnitudes
have been determined by Messrs. Martin and Plummer
from numerous plates taken at Dunsink in connection
with a previous study of three other variables in the
region of x Persei (Monthly Notices, R:A.S., vol. Ixxvii.,
p- 651). The star has turned out to be of rather special
interest, inasmuch as it shows an unexpected
periodicity. The interval from maximum to maximum
is about 704 days, and the range of variation is from
magnitude 9-8 to 10-3. The other three stars resemble
it in having a high colour-index, and are therefore
probably in a similar physical condition, but these vary
in the irregular way which is characteristic of nearly
all variables which are very red.
Tue ‘‘ JOURNAL DES OBSERVATEURS.’’—The index to
vol. i. and the first number of vol. ii. of this publica-
“tion have been received. The journal is especially
noteworthy for communications relating to observations
and ephemerides of minor planets and comets. The
current issue gives ephemerides of the planets (108)
Hecuba .and. (394) Arduina, together with observations
of numerous planets made at Nice, and of Mellish’s
comet (1917a) made at the Cape Observatory. The
editor is M. Henry Bourget, director of the Observa-
tory of Marseilles.
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
MILITARY AIRCRAFT AND
THEIR
ARMAMENT,
AN article of considerable interest, under the title
of ‘‘La Technique Allemande de l’Armement
Aérien,” appears in La Nature tor October 6 by Jean-
Abel Lefranc. The author traces out the development
| of German aerial warfare, with particular reference
to the armament of military aircraft. Victory in the
air, he says, depends on two sets of factors—tactical
and technical. Under the former head he places
favourable time of attack, good position, powerful
formation ; under the latter, armament, speed, tiexibility
of control, and altitude. To secure a
position a machine must possess good technical factors ;
good tactical —
for instance, good armament is useless unless a
machine is fast enough to be able to challenge the —
enemy to battle. Nevertheless, the pilot counts for a
great deal, and the ‘*‘Farmans” of 1915 beat the
Aviatiks,”. although the latter were faster, better
armed, and more ftiexible.
the relative importance of the technical elements de-
pends on the purpose of the machine; for a battle-
plane, he places them in the order speed, flexibility,
armament, and altitude. The last attribute might
omitted, since a fast machine is always a good climber —
unless the landing speed is abnormally high. For
slow and heavy machines designed for bombing, a
powerful defensive armament is most essential. For
night raiders radius of action, bomb capacity, and
facility of landing are more important than armament.
The speed of both French and German fighters varies
from 100 to 120 miles per hour. These speeds could
be higher but for the necessity of a reasonable landing
speed and a good climbing rate. The heavy bombing
machines fly at speeds from eighty to ninety-five miles
per hour. Flexibility nas now developed almost with-
out limit. Beak
M. Lefranc divides the period since the war com-
menced into two parts.
appreciated, and aerial combats were rare. The chief
In the early days the import-_
ance of the mastery of the air had not been fully
M. Lefranc remarks that.
use of aeroplanes was to obtain information as to the
enemy’s position. The French machines, bein
‘“pusher’’ type, mounted the gun in front, an
of fire of the gun. The German machines were mostly
tractors and mounted their guns behind the main
planes. They had the decided advantage that their
of the.
had a.
large ‘‘ dead angle’’ behind, which was out of the range -
‘dead angle’’ was under the surveillance of the pilot.
Early aerial fights were generally ineffective, and re-
sulted in a few bullet-holes in the wings, mainly owing ~
to difficulties of aim and the small quantity of ammu-_
nition carried.
The later period of the war’has produced three main
types. The first type resulted from the design of a
gun firing through the propeller and under the control ©
Firing through the propeller may be ~
of the pilot.
achieved by fitting metal shields to the blades to pre-
vent destruction by the bullets, but is better attained
by automatic timing of the firing to miss the blades,
as this need not interfere with the design of an efficient —
propeller. The second type, a heavier machine, mounts
a rear gun on a turntable, in addition to that firing
ahead through the propeller. In the third type, of
which the 1916-17 Gotha is an example, twin pro-
pellers are used, and both forward and rear guns have
a wide angle of fire.
below the fuselage, as a defence against attack from
below—a very vulnerable point in the older machines.
This third type has no “‘dead angle,’’ but can bring
one or other of its guns to bear on any point. One
of the greatest difficulties of effective gun practice in
the air is that due to error of aim resulting from the
relative movement of the two machines. Various
There is also a third gun firing
NoveMBER 8, 1917]
NATURE
195
attempts to correct the aim by automatic sights have
been made, but the most effective measure is to fire
as many rounds as possible during the combat; hence
thé frequent duplication of a forward fixed gun.
__M. Lefranc concludes his article with a brief descrip-
tion of the types of bullet used by the Germans. He
mentions four types: the ordinary bullet, the perforat-
ing bullet for destroying the ra a and metal parts
of a machine, the incendiary bullet, and the explosive
bullet. The article is liberally illustrated with sketches
and diagrams, and is well worthy of perusal. Any
attempt to trace developments further than M. Lefranc
has done would doubtless be censored ; indeed, some ten
lines of the article in question have teen censored as
it is. We have, therefore, contented ourselves with a
brief résumé of the most important points of the
article, as they will doubtless be of interest to those
who follow the progress of the scientific development
of aircraft. —
REPORTS ON CLIMATES.
Ah interesting memoir on the climate of Bagdad
(“Sul Clima di Bagdad’’), by Prof. Filippo
Eredia, appears in a recent issue of the Bollettino della
Reale Societa Geografica Italiana, under the auspices
of which a mission was dispatched in 1908, led by
Dr. A. Lanzani. Prof. Eredia summarises the more
salient features of this expedition’s work, and
further utilises information given in various papers
by Eliot, Hann, and Gilbert Walker. Bagdad is in
lat. 33° 19’ N., long. 44° 26’ E., the height of the
cistern of the barometer above sea-level being
127 ft. The mean barometric pressure at 32° F.
sea-level and lat. 45° is 29:893 in., being highest,
30149 in., in January, and lowest, 29-543 in., in July,
a variation in the monthly means of o-60 in. The
mean annual temperature is 730° F., ranging from
945° in July and August to 489° in January. The
mean of the daily maxima is 86-0°, the mean monthly
values ranging from tI09-9° in August to 595° in
January. The mean of the night ‘minima is 60-1°,
highest in July, 795°, and lowest in January, 38-19.
The highest temperature recorded was 122°, and frost
is not uncommon from November to February. The
mean daily range of temperature varies from 33° in
August and S r to 20° in December. The
relative humidity is 58, rising to 80 per cent. of
saturation in December and January, and falling to
38 per cent. in June. The mean cloud amount (over-
cast sky=100) is only 16, the extremes being 29 in
March and 1 in July. Various authorities place the
' annual rainfall between 6-94 in. and 9-04 in., practicall
all of which falls between November and April.
June, July, and September are rainless, but slight
showers have fallen in May, August, and October.
A useful paper cpa in the Bollettino d’Informa-
zione (Anno iv., N. 7-8-9) of the Italian Ministry
for the Colonies, by Prof. Eredia, on the climate of
Derna, an important commercial centre of Bengasi,’
situated in lat. 32° 45’ N., long. 22° 40’ E. Some
fragmentary data collected by previous writers is
first summarised, but the greater part of the paper
is taken up with a discussion of observations extend-
ing from March, 1913, to December, 1915, made with
a complete instrumental installation. The observa-
tions made at 9 a.m., 3 p.m., and g p.m. are col-
lected in ten-day periods for each of the three hours.
The mean annual temperature is 68° F., of August,
the warmest month, 78-39, and of January, the coldest
month, 574°. The extremes noted have been 112°
and 40°. The mean annual barometric pressure is
exactly 30 in., showing a range of 0-17 in. between
December (the month of highest pressure) and July
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
¥
(the month of lowest pressure). The annual rainfal}
is 7-94 in., of which 86 per cent. falls between Novem-
ber and February. There are fifty-one days in the
year with precipitation, July and August being rain-
less. In spite of the small rainfall heavy downpours.
are occasionally observed. Thus 3-13 in. have fallen
in two days, and three daily falls exceeding an inch
have occurred. The prevailing wind, except in De-
cember and January, is north-west, one result of this.
being the remarkable steadiness of the relative
humidity, which in no month differs appreciably from
the annual mean of 62. The mean amount of cloud
varies from g per cent. in July to 57 per cent. in
February.
Prof. Eredia discusses in vol. xxvi. of the Rendi-
conte della R. Accademia dei Lincei the monthly
variations of barometric pressure at twelve places in
Italy, based on data for the thirty-five years 1881-1915.
The maximum is in January and the minimum in
April at all stations. At Pesaro, Florence, Rome, and
Lecce there is a well-marked secondary minimum in
July. The variation in the monthly means diminishes ~
appreciably with latitude, the amplitude between the
months of highest and lowest pressure being 0-07 in.
less on the southern coasts than at northern inland
stations. Prof. Eredia also contributes a paper, ‘ Le
Brine in Italia,’’ to a recent issue of the Bollettino
Bimensuale della Societa Meteor. Ital., in which he
summarises the results of an investigation into the
frequency of hoar frost in Italy. The mean monthly
number of cases is given for fifty stations well dis-
tributed over the country for the five months, Novem-
ber to March, during the twenty years ending 1915-
The greatest number of cases is in January, closely
followed by December. Pavia, in Lombardy, has an
average of forty-one cases during the five months
under consideration, whilst at Naples the mean fre-
quency is only 0-4. In most districts coastal stations
have a relatively small number of cases as compared
with inland stations contiguous. The distribution of
pressure and also local conditions favourable to the
production of hoar frost are discussed in considerable
detail. The insertion of a small map showing the
position of the stations utilised would add much to
the interest of Prof. Eredia’s valuable investigations
into various phases of Italian climatology.
R. C. M.
EVOLUTION OF THE PRIMATES.
R. W. K. GREGORY, of the American Museum
of Natural History, New York, has contributed
to the Bulletin of that institution a series of studies on
the ‘Evolution of the Primates.” In part i. he re-
views the theory of cusp-formation which was
first formulated by Cope and afterwards _ elabo-
rated and perfected by Osborn, and_ contends
that all later discoveries have justified their
supposition that the upper molars of primates
(and also of all typical placental mammals) are modi-
fications of a common tritubercular type, while the
lower molars are modifications of a ‘ tuberculo-sec-
torial” form. In his opinion the similarity of the
molar type in all forms of man and anthropoid, both
living and extinct, is a matter beyond dispute.
In part ii. Dr. Gregory discusses the phylogeny of
the known anthropoid and human types. He regards
the chimpanzee and gorilla as man’s nearest allies,
and, on the present evidence, thinks the common stock
from which all three arose may have been in existence
during the Miocene period. His review of the dental
characters of extinct anthropoids is most welcome.
He cannot agree that the genus Sivapithecus, recently
described by Dr. G. E. Pilgrim, of the Geological
Survey of India, stands in the direct line of human
196
NATURE
\
[NovemBER 8, 1917
ancestry. He supports his colleague, Dr. W. D.
Matthew—in opposition to the view generally held in
this country—in regarding the lower jaw of Eoan-
thropus as that of a Piltdown chimpanzee associated
by a curious chance with the Piltdown man in a pocket
of gravel. We look forward to the appearance of
parts iii. and iv. of Dr. Gregory’s studies, in which
he proposes to review the phylogenies of the catar-
rhine, or Old World, monkeys, and platyrrhine, or
New World, monkeys and Lemuroids.
HEREDITARY CHARACTERS IN RELATION
‘TO EVOLUTION.
Pp Ror H. S. JENNINGS, of the Johns Hopkins
University, delivered a lecture on March 15 be-
fore the Washington Academy of Sciences on “ Ob-
served Changes in Hereditary Characters in Relation
to Evolution.”” This lecture, published in the Journal
of that Academy (vol. vii., No. 10), consists of a
discussion on the factors of evolution of such great
interest that we have decided to print an abridgment
so that readers of NaruRE may have the opportunity
of studying and appreciating his arguments as set
forth in his own words. The older school of biologists
in this country will doubtless welcome Prof. Jennings’s
brilliant and ingenious interpretation of the recent
work of American zoologists on genetics, so as to
support the Darwinian interpretation of the evolu-
tionary process. Prof. Jennings’s criticism of Mr.
Bateson’s British Association address (1914) leaves the
reader in doubt whether he has appreciated the view
that the ‘‘loss. and disintegration”? in the germ-plasm
are conceived by Bateson as the shedding of successive
inhibitory factors the withdrawal of which leaves the
hypothetical fundamental germ-complex free to pro-
duce an increasingly complex result in the developing
organism.
The problem of- the method of evolution is one
which the biologist finds it impossible to leave alone.
Can we bring ‘the facts which experimental work has
brought out into relation with the method of evolu-
tion ? it
_ What we may call the first phase of the modern
experimental study of variation is that which cul-
minated in the establishment of the fact that most
of the heritable differences observed between closely
related organisms—between the members of a given
species, for example—are not variations in the sense
of alterations; are not active changes in constitution,
but are permanent diversities; they are static, not
dynamic. This discovery was made long ago by the
Frenchman Jordan; but, as in the case of Mendelism,
science ignored, it and pursued cheerfully its false path
until the facts were rediscovered in recent years. All
thorough work has led directly to this result: that
any species or kind of organism is made up of a
very great number of diverse stocks, differing from
each other in minute particulars, but the diversities
inherited from generation to generation. This result
has in recent years dominated all work on the occur-
rence of variations; on the effects of selection; on the
method of evolution. The condition is particularly
striking in organisms reproducing from a_ si
parent, so that there is no mixing of stocks; I found
it in a high degree in organisms of this sort which
I studied. Thus the infusorian Paramecium I found
to consist of a large number of such heritably diverse
stocks, each stock showing within itself many varia-
tions that are not heritable. Difflugia corona shows
the same condition in a marked degree. A host of
workers have found similar conditions in all sorts of
1 Jennings, 1908-11. (See Bibliography.)
2 Jennings, 1916. (See Bibliography.)
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
single’
organisms,
genotypes.
nature static; alteration does not fit into the scheme. |
This discovery seemed to explain ‘fully all the
observed effects of selection within a species; but gave
them a significance quite the reverse of what
had been supposed to have. It seemed to account for
practically all the supposed variations that had been
observed; they were not variations at all, in the sense
of steps in evolution; they were mere instances of the
static condition of diversity that everywhere
prevails.
Jordan, the devout original discoverer of this condi-
tion of affairs, maintained that it showed that organ-
isms do not really vary; that there is no such process
as evolution; and, indeed, this seems to be the direct
logical conclusion to be drawn.
Now, this multiplicity of diverse stocks really repre-
sents the actual condition of affairs, so far as it goes.
Persons who are interested in maintaining that evolu-
tion is occurring, that selection is effective, and the —
like, make a very great mistake in denying the exist-
ence of the condition of diversity portrayed by the
genotypists. What they must do is to accept that
condition as a foundation, then show that it is not
final; that it does not proceed to the end; that the
diverse existing stocks, while heritably different as the
genotypists maintain, may also change and differen-—
tiate, in ways not yet detected by their discoverers.
But, of course. most of the adherents of the “* ortho-
dox genotype theory”’ do not maintain, with their first
representative Jordan, that no changes occur. Typi-
cally, they admit that mutations occur; that the geno-
type may at rare intervals transform, as a given
chemical compound may transform into another and
diverse compound. We all know the typical instances ;
the transforming mutations of CEénothera: the bud
variations that show in a sudden change of colour or
form in plants; the dropping out of definite Mendelian
units in Drosophila and elsewhere; the transformation
of particular Mendelian units into some other condi-
tion.
So much, then, may serve as an outline of a pre.
vailing theory; organisms forming a multitude of
diverse strains with diverse genotypes; the genot
a mosaic of parts that are recombined in aden
inheritance; selection a mere process of isolating and
f
{
It led to the idea of the genotype
(Johannsen), as the permanent germinal constitution
of any given individual; it supported powerfully the
conception of Mendelism as merely the working out of
recombinations of mosaic-like parts of these permanent
The whole conception is in its essential)
recombining what already exists; large changes occur- ©
ring at rare intervals, through the dropping of bits
of the mosaic, or through their complete chemical
transformation; evolution by saltations. Rise
Certain serious difficulties appear in this view of the
matter; I shall mention merely two of them, for their
practical results. One is the very existence of the
minutely differing strains, which forms one of the
main foundations for the genotype theory. How have
these arisen? Not by large steps, not by saltations,
for the differences between the strains go down to the
very limits of detectibility. On the saltation theory,
Jordan’s view that these things were created separate
at the beginning seems the only solution.
Secondly, to many minds there appears to be an
equally great difficulty in the origin by saltation of
complex adaptive structures, such as the eye.
not analyse this difficulty, but merely point to it and
to the first one mentioned, as having had the prac-
tical effect of keeping many investigators persistently
at work looking for something besides saltations asa _
basis for evolution; looking. for hereditary changes
that would permit a continuity in transformation.
Where reproduction is from a single parent we
meet the problem of inheritance and variation in its
I shall.
+
bo. November 8, 1917]
NATURE
197
simplest form; for there is nothing which complicates
_ genetic problems. so enormously as does the continual
_ mixing of diverse stocks in biparental inheritance. In
_ wniparental reproduction we have but one genotype to
; leal with; we can be certain that no hereditary char-
__ acters are introduced from outside that genotype.
_ To hope for results on the problem in which we
are interested, we must resolve to carry on a sort
‘secorid degree research, as it were. We must take
single stock—choosing an organism that is most
yourable- for such work—then proceed to a most
extensive and intensive study of heredity, of variation,
and of the effects of selection for long periods within
such a stock.
Such an organism, most favourable frcm all points
of view, I found in the rhizopod Difflugia corona.
_ It has numerous distinctive characters, all congenital,
all inherited in a high degree, yet varying from parent
to offspring also; none of these characters changed by
cc th or environmental action during the life of the
idividual.
: ng-continued work showed that a single strain of
this animal, all derived by fission from a single parent,
does differentiate gradually, with the passage cf
generations, into many hereditarily diverse strains.
‘he important facts about the hereditary variations
and their appearance are the following :—
(1) Hereditary variations arose in some few cases by
_ rather large steps or ‘ saltations.”
_ (2) But the immense majority ‘of the hereditary
‘variations were minute gradations. Variation is as
- continuous as can be detected.
(3) Hereditary variation occurred in many different
ways, in many diverse characters. There was no
single line of variation followed exclusively, or in the
everwhelming majority of cases. .
(4) It gave rise to many diverse combinations of
characters: large animals with long spines; small
animals with long spines; large animals with short
spines; small animals with short spines; and so on.
Any set of characters might vary independently of the
pestis"
(5) The hereditary variations which arose were of
just such a nature as to produce from a single strain
the hereditarily different strains that are- found in
I judge that if the intermediate strains were killed,
the two most diverse strains found in Nature might
well be classed as different species, although the ques-
tion of what a ies is must be left to the judgment
or fancy of the individual. ~ ace
How do these results compare with those found by
other men? If we take a general survey, we find the
_ following main classes of cases :—
(1) First, we have the mutations of Ginothera and
its relatives: large transformations occurring sud-
denly.
(a) Secondly, we have a large miscellaneous collec-
tion of mutations observed in various classes of organ-
isms: ‘‘bud variations,” dropping out of unit factors,
and the like—all definite saltations, but not genetically
fully analysed.
(3) In Drosophila as studied by Morgan and his
associates, we have the largest and most fully analysed
body of facts which we possess with respect to changes
in hereditary character in any organism. The changes
here are pictured as typical saltations; but of these
I shall speak further.
(4) In paleontology, as the results are presented in
recent papers by Osborn,‘ the evidence is for evolution
by minute, continuous variations which follow a single
definite trend.
(5) Finally, we have the work in biparental inherit-
_ 8 The full account of this work is given in Jennings, 1916. (See Biblio.
Ws Osborn; 1912, 1915, 1916. (See Bibliography.)
NO. 2506, VOL, 100]
’
arice from Castle and his associates*; this gives evi-
dence for continuous variation, not following a single
necessary trend, but guided by external selection.
Furthermore, we discover in our survey that there
are at least two well-marked controversies in flame at
the present time :—
First, we have the general controversy between, on
one hand, those who are mutationists and adherents
of the strict genotype view; on the other, those who,
like Castle, believe that we observe continuous heredi-
tary variations in the progress of biparental reproduc-
tion. The mutationists attempt to show that the
apparent gradual modification of characters observed
in breeding is in reality a mere working out of Men-
delian recombinations.
Secondly, we have a somewhat less lively controversy
between the genotypic mutationists and the palzonto-
logical upholders of evolution by continuous variation.
Now let us look briefly into the points at issue in the
controversy between the “‘ genotypic mutationists’’ and
the upholders of gradual change during biparental in- -
heritance.
Castle finds that in rats he can, by selection, gradu-
ally increase or decrease the amount of colour in the
coat, passing by continuous ss hig from one extreme
to the other. As to this, he holds two main points :—
(1) The change is an actual change in the hereditary
characteristic of the stock; not a mere result of the
recombination of Mendelian factors. © This is the
general and fundamental point at issue.
(2) More specifically, he holds it to be an actual
change in a single-unit factor; this single factor
changes its grade in a continuous and quantitative
manner.
On the other side, the critics of these views maintain
that the changes shown are not actual alterations in
the hereditary constitution at all, but are mere results
of the recombinations of Mendelian factors. And
specifically, they find a complete explanation of such
results as those of Castle in the hypothesis of multtple
modifying factors. There is conceived to be a single
‘“main factor’’ which determines whether the “* hooded
pattern”’ shall, or shall not, be present. In addition
to this there are a considerable number of “ modify-
ing factors’? which, when the ‘hooded pattern” is
present, increase or decrease the extent of pigmenta-
tion. When many of the positive factors of this sort
are: present, the rat’s coat has much pigment; when
fewer are present the extent of pigment is less, and
so on. The process of changing the extent of pig-
mentation by selection consists, according to this view,
merely in making diverse combinations of these fac-
tors, by proper crosses. - '
This same explanation is applied to a great variety
of cases. Castle had carried the war into the enemy’s
country by predicting (or at least suggesting) that the
so-called unit characters in Drosophila would be found
to be modifiable through selection.® Later research
by MacDowell (1915), Zeleny and Mattoon (1915),
Reeves (1916), Morgan (1917), and Sturtevant (1917)
actually verified this prediction; it has indeed been
found that the Drosophila mutations can be modified
by selection. Again, the mutationists counter the
blow with their explanation of multiple modifying
factors, which are segregated in the process of selec-
tion; and they give some real evidence that such is
actually the case. What I am going to do is to aban-
don the ground that Castle would defend, proceed
directly into the territory of the enemy, accept the
conditions met there, then see where we come out in
relation to the nature of variation, the effects of selec-
tion, and the method of evolution.
In no other organism have heritable variations been
5 Castle, 1915 a, 1916, 1916 a, 19164, 1917; Castle and Phillips, 1914, etc.
(See Bibliography.) ~ ‘
6 Castle, rors, p. 39. (See Bibliography.)
198
NATURE
‘[NovemBeErR 8, 1917
studied so thoroughly as in Drosophila, and no other
body of men have been more thoroughgoing upholders
of mutationism and of the multiple factor explanation
of the effects of selection than the students of Droso-
phila—Morgan and the others. We may therefore
turn to the evidence from Drosophila with confidence
that it will be presented with fairness to the muta-
tionist point of view. We shall first ask (1) what we
Jearn from the work on Drosophila as to the possi-
bility of finding finely graded variations in a single
unit character. Next we shall inquire (2) as to the
relation of the assumed modifying factors to changes
in hereditary constitution; to the nature of the effects
of selection.
(To be continued.)
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
CampBrIDGE.—Mr. F. C. Bartlett and Mr. G. M.
Bennett have been elected to fellowships at St. John’s
College. Mr. Bartlett, who was placed in the first
class in the Moral Sciences Tripos, 1914, is assistant
in experimental psychology, and is acting as interim
director of the psychological laboratory during the
absence of the director. Mr. Bennett was placed in
the first class of the Natural Sciences Tripos, both
in Part I. in 1914 and in Part II. (chemistry) in 1915.
Lreeps.—The University has received with great
regret the resignation by Prof. A. S. Leyton of the
chair of pathology and bacteriology in the University...
In accepting this resignation, the University Council
has taken the opportunity of recording its high appre-
ciation of the valuable services which Prof. Leyton
eager to the University during his tenure of the
chair.
A coursE of eight lectures on the philosophy of
mathematics is being given this term by the Hon.
Bertrand Russell at Dr. Williams’s Library, Gordon
Square, W.C.1.’ The lectures (of which the first was
delivered on Tuesday, October 30) are given on Tues-
days at 5 p.m. The present course, which deals with
the theory of order, cardinal numbers, and formal
deduction, will probably be followed after Christmas
by one on the philosophy of the proposition. Applica-
tions for tickets should be made to Miss D. Wrinch,
Girton College, Cambridge.
TuE recently established Department of Technical
Optics ot the Imperial College at South Kensington
has now begun its work. It will be remembered that
on the initiative of the London County Council a
general scheme for providing instruction in this highly
important national work was agreed upon by the several
parties concerned in the early part of the year when
an Advisory Committee to the County Council repre-
sentative of the trade, the workers, and other interests
concerned was appointed, under the chairmanship of
the Rt. Hon. A. H. Dyke Acland. An important part
of the scheme was the establishment of the above
department, which is administered under the governors
of the college by the same committee. In June Prof.
F. J. Cheshire was appointed director of the new
department; in July Prof. A. E. Conrady was ap-
pointed to the chair of cptical design, and other subor-
dinate appointments are in hand. During the summer
two courses of lectures were given on the designing
and computing of telescope systems, and attended by
sixty-six students, of whom forty-two came direct from
the workshop—a gratifying indication of the recogni-
tion by the manufacturers of the importance of this
work. About twelve of these were men of academic
distinction. The Ministry of Munitions, the National
Physical Laboratory, the Royal Observatory, and
Woolwich Arsenal were well represented. This session
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
well-attended courses are being given in optical design-
ing and computing, practical optical computing, the
construction, theory, and use of optical measuring in-
struments, theory of the microscope, and microscope
technique. Every effort is thus being made to meet
the more immediately urgent demands arising in con-
nection with the war.
optical students will be introduced as soon as the
exigencies of the time permit.
THE current issue of the Quarterly Review includes
two contributions on educational subjects. One, by Mr.
Edward Porritt, not only reviews the condition of agri-
cultural education in the United States, but also pro-
vides an interesting historical survey of the steps taken
to bring the work of the Department of Agriculture
to its present high degree of efficiency. The Depart-
ment of Agriculture at Washington has been a depart-
ment of first rank in the executive branch of the
A complete curriculum for
Government of the United States—a department pre-—
sided over by a Cabinet Minister—since 1889. In the
fiscal year 1916-17 approximately 6,800,000l. was being
expended by the U.S. Government on the department,
on the agricultural colleges and experiment stations,
and on extension work, the object of all these branches
of the work being to improve all departments of farm
economy, to ameliorate conditions on the farms and in
the farm homes, and thereby to retain in rural pur-
suits the men, women, and children who are now on
the six million farms of the United States. Mr.
J. E. G. de Montmorency writes on national educa-
tion and national life, and shows’ in a convincing
manner that much useful guidance can be obtain
from history in considering current suggestions for
educational reform. One of our earliest historical docu-
ments, he tells us, for example, is an edict of the
Emperor Gratian regulating the salaries of teachers.
The proposals of Mr. Fisher’s Education Bill are
examined in the light of the’ experience of
previous centuries, and after his criticisms Mr.
de Montmorency comes to the conclusion :—
“Tt would be a
of educational reconstruction, which at last brings to
the doors of the people the larger hope that is essential
to a great democracy, were to fail because, in a com-
paratively small matter of money, the Government |
lacked that courage which is needful for the conduct
of peace as it is for the prosecution of war.”
On October 18 the President of the Board of Educa-
tion received an influential deputation representative
of the North-East Coast. Institution of Engineers and _
sad thing if a great scheme —
Shipbuilders and other technical societies and educa- |
tional interests in the same district.
membered (Nature, August 23, vol. xcix., p. 519) that
this institution has elaborated an excelleht scheme for
the training of apprentices, and the object of the depu-
tation, which was headed by the Duke of Northumber-
land, was to lay before Mr. Fisher its reasoned
opinion regarding the organisation of junior day
technical schools. The most suitable school for the
prospective engineer is of this type, and the institution
has already demanded that adequate provision of these
schools should be made in the North-East Coast area,
which has about 14,000 marine engineering and ship-
building apprentices, and that these schools should be
regarded as in no sense inferior to secondary schools.
It will be re-
Mr. Rowell referred in detail to the Board’s regula-
tions for junior day technical schools, and expressed —
the view that the declaration in the regulations that
they were ‘‘not intended to promote the establishment
of courses planned to furnish a preparation for the —
professions, the universities, or higher full-time tech-
nical work ’’ was open to grave exception, as viewing ~
the work of such a school as lying within a blind-alley.
The point was, surely, one of spirit rather than of
administration, for he could not imagine that the
_ Novemser 8, 1917]
NATURE
199
_ Board. would deliberately arrest a sequential scheme
of development, such as that. set out.in the institu-
_ tion’s report. Mr. Fisher promised that the points
raised would receive careful consideration. [hose
_who have been intimately acquainted with the work-
ee, of the Board of Education towards junior
_ technical schools will be .gratified that a large and
influential body of engineers has at last spoken out
with no uncertain voice, and will look with renewed
for the speedy removal of the crippling regula-
tions under which such schools have been governed.
_ Tue widespread disappointment at the Government’s
_ decision to postpone for the present any further con-
_ sideration of Mr. Fisher’s Education Bill continues to
_ receive expression in resolutions passed by public
_ bodies and in letters to the Press. Among the latter
- may be mentioned a letter signed by a number of
_ representative persons, including the Bishops of Oxford
- and Winchester, the Master of Balliol, Mr. W. L.
_ Hitchens (chairman of Messrs. Cammell Laird), and
several Labour members of Parliament. The letter
states that the signatories are convinced that they ex-
press the opinion of a large majority of their country-
men when they say that no more urgent task confronts
the nation than the creation of an educational system
which will cultivate more fully the physique, the intel-
lect, and the character of the rising generation of English
_ children, and that it would be little less than a national
_ disaster if the present opportunity were allowed to pass
unused. Again and again in the last ten years the
_ nation has been warned that in allowing nearly one-half
of its children to leave school before their fourteenth
birthday, and more than three-quarters of those be-
tween fourteen and eighteen to escape educational
supervision altogether, it is creating a moral and
economic problem which no intervention at a later
age can solve. The chief medical officer of the Board
of Education has directed attention to the prevalence
among large numbers of school children—one million
is the latest figure—of ailments which undermine their
vitality, which render futile the efforts of the teachers
and the educational expenditure of the State, but can
_ be remedied only by the adoption of a more compre-
hensive sh physical education and medical treat-
ment. general character of the right educational
policy is not disputed. If it be said that the crisis of
a great war is not the right moment to proceed with
educational legislation, the answer is that if the im-
_ provement of our national system of education was
_ desirable before the war, the war itself has made that
_ improvement indispensable. ‘The letter urges that it
is in the public interest that at least the educational
‘ he ene of the Bill should be passed into law at a
sufficiently early date to be brought into operation
before the conclusion of the war. We are glad to see
the statement in the Times of November 6 that the
_ Government has been so much impressed by the
_ amount of feeling aroused by its decision not to pro-
ceed any further with the Education Bill this session
that the position is to be reconsidered.
P
1
4 SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
: LONDON.
Royal Society, November 1.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
president, in the chair.—Lord Rayleigh : The reflection
of light from a regularly stratified medium. The re-
markable coloured reflection from some crystals of
chlorate of potash described by Stokes, the colours of
opals and of old decomposed glass, etc., lend interest to
the calculation of reflection from a regularly ‘stratified
medium, in which the alternate strata, each of con-
stant thickness, differ in refrangibility. The higher
the number of stratifications, supposed perfectly regu-
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
ripe, > Fae
lar, the nearer is the approach to homogeneity in the
light of the favoured wave-lengths. A general idea
ot what is to be expected may be arrived at by con-
sidering the case where a single reflection is very
feeble, but when the component reflections are more
vigorous, or when the number of alternations is very
great, a more detailed examination is required. An
important distinction reveals itself according to the
relative values of the refractivity and thicknesses. In
one case a sufficient multiplication of the number of
strata leads to complete reflection; in the other it does
not.—Sir William Abney: Two cases of congenital
night-blindness. The two cases were examined spec-
troscopically. An interesting fact appeared that in their
extinction of the different rays of the spectrum all
light disappeared throughout the spectrum at the same
moment that the colour vanished, and that the colour
vanished to the normal eye at the same point that it
did to the colour-blind. This pointed to the fact that.
the colourless part of the rays failed to give any
sensation of light. As normal eyes see in a faint
light with these colourless rays, itis to be presumed
that the night-blind owe their blindness in faint lights
to the absence of certain retinal processes which the
normal eyes possess.—Hon. R. J. Strutt: Duration of
luminosity of electric discharge in gases and vapours—
further studies. (1) The behaviour of jets of luminous
gas flowing away from the region of discharge at 2
low gaseous pressure has been investigated, using the
principal permanent gases, also mercury vapour. «In
a transverse electrostatic field the luminosity is de-
flected, part of it in most cases going to the positive’
plate, and part to the negative. But in hydrogen,.
when the pressure is not very low, nearly the whole of.
the luminosity is deflected to the positive plate, a small
part remaining undeflected. As the pressure is re-
duced, an. increasing part of the luminosity goes to
the negative plate.. Similar results are observed in
mercury vapour. (2) .Further observations are re-
corded on these jets at higher pressures, arranging
a spark discharge so that the gas can flow out from
it through an orifice into a sustained vacuum. With
hydrogen (condensed discharge) the exuded jet of
luminositv,. about q mm. long, shows the Balmer
series. The discharge spectrum shows widened lines.
These become narrow as the luminous gas emerges.
(3) Nitrogen in the same arrangement, with an un-
condensed discharge, shows a jet. with periodic swell-
ings similar to those observed by Mach and Salcher
and Emden when a jet of compressed air, examined
by the shadow. method, escapes into the open. The
wave-length agrees with that to be anticipated from
their experiments. (4) This nitrogen jet luminosity
is not to be confused in any way with active nitrogen.
The time for which it endures is of quite a different
order of magnitude, and the spectrum is essentially
different.—G. W. Walker: Surface reflection of earth-
quake waves.—Dr. H. S. Allen: Characteristic fre-
quency and atomic number. (1) Simple relations are
found to hold between the values of the product Nr
for different elements (N being Moseley’s atomic num-
ber and v the characteristic frequency). (2) For twenty-
five metals it is found that the product can be ex-
pressed in the form Nv=nv, (n a whole number and
vy a constant of value 21-3 xX 1o0!*sec:—* approximately).
(3) The same rule is obeved in the case of certain non-
metallic elements. (4) Similar results are found when
the characteristic frequency is calculated from the
elastic constants by Debye’s formula. The value of
n thus obtained is not in all cases the same as that
deduced from the specific heats. (5) Application of
the theory of probability shows that there is but a
small chance of the product Nv approaching so nearly
to integral multiples of a constant frequency by a
mere accident. (6) It is found that the atomic num-
200
NATURE
[NovemBER 8, 1917
bers of Mowelay give better agreement with: the pro-
pore relation than do the atomic ordinals of Rydberg.
(7) The empirical results are discussed from the view-
point of the quantum theory, and it is suggested that
the integer n may be related to the number of elec-
trons concerned in determining the crystalline space-
lattice of the element in the solid state. (8) A relation
similar in character is found to hold for certain elec-
tronic frequencies. In such cases v, must be replaced
by vz = 3-289 x to* sec. ~* (Rydberg’s constant). (9)
This relation is considered with reference to the maxi-
mum of the photoelectric effect, the limiting frequency
of this effect, ionisation potentials, and thermionic
potentials. —Dr. C. Chree: Historical note on a réla-
tion between the gravitational attraction exercised and
the elastic depression caused by load on the plane
surface of an isotropic elastic solid.
Zoological Society, October 23.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, vice-president, in the chair.—H. D. Badcock :
Ant-like spiders from Malaya, collected by the Annan-
dale-Robinson Expedition, I901-2.—Miss Ruth C.
Bamber; A hermaphrodite dogfish.
Mathematical Society, November 1.—Prof. H. M. Mac-
donald, president, in the chair.—J. H. Grace; Tetra-
hedra in relation to spheres: ‘and quadrics. —Prof.
M. J. M. Hill: The continuation of the hypergeometric
series—Prof. W, H. Young: Restricted Fourier series
and the convergence of power-series.—Prof. B.
Stouffer; Invariants and covariants of linear homo-
geneous differential equations.—H. W. Turnbull; The
cealaespienceal system. of two quaternary quadratic
orms
BOOKS RECEIVED.
Principles of Quantitative Analysis, By Prof. W. C.
Blasdale. Second edition. Pp. xii+4o02. (London:
Constable and Co., Ltd.) os. 6d. net.
The Student’s Handbook to the University. and Col-
leges of Cambridge. Sixteenth edition, revised to
June 30, 1917. Pp. vi+703. (Cambridge: At the Uni-
versity Press.) 6s. net.
Manuring for Higher Crop Production. By. Dr.
E. J. Russell. Second edition. Pp. vi+94. (Cam-
bridge: At the University Press.) 3s. 6d. net..
The Chemistry of Linseed Oil. By Dr. J. N.
Friend. Pp. vii+96. (Chemical Monographs.) (Lon-
don: Gurney and Jackson.) 2s. 6d. net.
A Roumanian Diary, 1915, Bla 1917. By Lady
Kennard. Pp. vii+1g1. (London: W. Heinemann.)
5s. net.
The National Physical Laboratory. Report for
1916-17. Pp. 67. (Teddington: W. F. Parrott.)
The National Physical Laboratory. Collected Re-
searches. Vol. xiii., 1916. Pp. 278+ fig. Lente 3
Harrison and Sons.)
Modern Whaling and Bear-Hunting. By W. G.
Burn Murdoch. Pp. 320. (London: ‘Seeley, ‘Service
and Co., Ltd.) 21s. net.
The Distances, Absolute Magnitudes, and Spectra of
734 Stars. Arranged for Use with Ordinary Star
Maps. By T. E. Heath. Pp. iv+52. (Tenby: Miss
Crealock.) 2s. 6d. net. ‘
Foods and their Relative Nourishing Value. By
Prof. W. H. Thompson. Second edition. Pp. 38:
(Dublin: University Press.) 4d. net.
The Pupils’ Class-Book of Geography. Scotland.
Pp. 96. Asia, with Special Reference to India. Pp.
128. By E. J. S: Lay. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd.) 7d. and 8d. respectively.
Biology. By Prof. G. N. Calkins. Second edition.
Pp. viilit+255. (New York: H. Holt and Co.
he Born Fool. By J. W. Byrd. Pp. 316. (Lon-
don: Chatto and Windus.) 6s. net.
NO. 2506, VOL. 100]
Probleme der Volksernahrung. By Dr. A. Lip- —
schiitz. Pp. 74. (Bern: Max Drechsel.) 2.80 frances. —
Power Wiring Diagrams. By A. T. Dover. Pp.
xv+208. (London: Whittaker and Co.) 6s. net. - ©
Continuous-Current Motors and Control Apparatus.
By W, P. Maycock. Pp. xvi+331+4 Agent and
Index. (London: Whittaker sud Co.) 6s. net
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, NovemMBer 8.
Roya. Society, at 4.30.,—The Galsmncsenerys Measurement of ‘* Emo- e
tional” Physiological. “Changes : Prof. A. Waller,—The Sirageere, ‘
Evolution, and Origin of the Amphibia. I. vrhe ‘Orders’? Rachitomi —
and Stereospondyli : M Watson. meene _ Ehaymes concerned in:
the Decomposition of Glucose and M itol by Bacillus coli communis.
II. Experiments of Short Duration with an Emulsion of the Organisms.
III. Various Phases in es Decomposition of Glucose by an Emulsion of
the Organisms : E. C. Gre
INSTITUTION OF ieermine ENGINEERS, at, 6.—President’s Address ;
C. H. Wordingbam.
Optica Society, at 8.—Certain Optical Stores Captured fromthe Enemy:
Lt.-Col. A. C, Williams, ;
FRIDAY, NoveMBER 9. h ;
Rovat ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.
Puysicav Society, at 5.—The Thermo-electric Properties of Fused Metats :
C. R. Darling and A. W. Cone. —Triple Cemented Telescope Objectives :) ;
T. Smith and Miss A. B. Dale. !
MONDAY, NoOvEMBER 12,
Roya. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.
THURSDAY, NoveMBER 15.
Rovat Socixry, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Investigation inte Fa Imbibi- ;
tion Exhibited by some Shellac Derivatives 7A, P, Laurie and C. Ranken,
—Phenomena connected with Turbulence in the. Lower ae Wate
G. I, Taylor.—The Relation between Barometric Pressure and the Water
Level in a Well at Kew Observatory: E, G, Bilham. :
INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 5.30.
FRIDAY, NovEMBER 16.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.
PAGE
CONTENTS.
Universities and the Supply of Research ‘Workers. .
(With Diagram.) | 6 eo ae a ‘ weak a eae
British Ornithology’.’ 6s 303 D4 ae “ ata . 183
The Nutrition of Farm Animals . . 184)
Ulugh Beg’s Catalogue of ‘Stare, By J. L. 'E. D. . 185)
Our Bookshelf ©‘! 1%: “oy Us Vee oes 8 a
Letters to the Editor:—
Tidal Energy Dissipation. Harold J efeys ive : 186 —
The Proposed Ministry of Health . » 187,
Prof, Adolf von Says ys For.Mem.R.S. ‘By Prof,
+
W. H. Perkin, FRG.) ui eee aine eo
| oO eS gy ae ab REY PLP Maree erry ar
Our Astronomical Column :—
The Meteoric Shower of October . ., .: . +. + 104
Galactic Condensation of Stays. .., .« «. ss 194)
The Variability of B.D, + 56°547°. . 4: ik a a
The Journal des Observateurs. . - . . + « + + «> 194
Military Aircraft and their Armament, ...... 194
Reports on Climates. By R.C.M. ....... 195
Evolution of the Primates + 195
Hereditary Characters in Relation ‘to Evolution, E
By Prof. H. S. Jennings . igh sinh pe
University and Educational Intelligence etre
Societies and Academies. ... . Peer
Booke Received (os 3o4co gas poh 05 a Chal cal a ee
Diary of Societies”... oo. os ce ene ee »! 3200}
Editovial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., _
ST, MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, bites
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to mé! y
Publishers. :
Editorial Communications to the ite
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
Beste: + ee | NATURE
201
fe, eseY, peta 15, 1917.
ee
mee. BLECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Q) The Theory of the Submarine Telegraph and
Co osgaleanen Cable. By Dr.
Pp. xi+565. (London:
g ing and Publishing Co., Ltd., n.d.)
net.
(2) Alternating-current Electricity and its A pplica-
tions to Industry. Second Course. By W. H.
_ Timbie and Prof. H. H. Higbie.
a Yor k: John Wiley and ‘Sons,
id ‘Chapman and Hall, Ltd.,
4 Price 138. 6d. net.
(1), : the summer of 1850 a small party of
+ engineers arrived at Dover in order to lay
cable across the Channel.
Price 18s.
‘Inc. 5
One of them—Wil-
loughby Smith, who was afterwards president of
the Institution’ of Electrical Engineers—has left
an interesting record of their adventures. At that
period it was considered absolutely unnecessary to
test copper wire. All copper wires were supposed
0 ) have the same conductivity. The cable was
enty-five miles long, made up of short lengths
wire which purported to be No. 14 Birmingham
ad ire Gauge, but which varied in diameter... It
was covered with gutta-percha, so that the out-
side diameter was about half. an inch. No
armouring of any kind was used. ‘The cable
aS a on board the tug Goliath,.and the party
had to wait some weeks for a calm day. The pro-
ct excited much good-natured ridicule amongst
town folk. A man was found cutting the
able with his knife to show his friends. that there
as a wire inside. A spectator was heard ex-
blaining to interested listeners that it was im-
dossible to pull a cable of this kind 25 yds. long
esting at the bottom of the sea. _It was, therefore,
bsolutely impossible to pull one twenty-five miles
long. He evidently thought that the function of a
cable was similar to that of \a bell-pull. On an
deal calm day the pioneers laid the cable from
Dover to Grisnez, but they were destined to bitter
lisappointment. The letters printed by the type-
writing instrument at Grisnez were so mixed that
the few messages received were quite undecipher-
ible. To make their discomfiture complete, the
anchor or the trawl of a fishing-smack cut the
able in two not many hours .after it was: laid.
ey were thus prevented from carrying out ex-
yeriments which would probably have enlightened
tt em considerably on the laws governing the
transmission of submarine signals.
they had no conception that their failure was
mainly due to ignorance of the laws of electrical
apacity and induction. .
In 1866, when world-wide. interest. and en-
th siasm were aroused by the laying of the
A Hantic cable, one would have anticipated that a
‘ bok on the theory of the subject would be pub-
shed, at least in a+ few years’ time. The
xe development of the theory, however, was difficult,
nd needed laborious investigations by mathe-
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
_ matical physicists.
‘| train: their own engineers, ‘giving: them an insight
H. W.. Malcolm.
The Electrician ‘Print-
Pp. ix+729.
1916.)
of the submarine telephone ’ cable
‘Most of the cable: companies
into both their technical and commercial ‘activi-
ties. Few cable experts, therefore, have sufficient
mathematical knowledge to understand the writ-
ings of Kelvin, Heaviside, and Pupin, and so there
was little demand for a text-book on the subject.
When, however, submarine telephony *began to
be studied the importance of the labours of Heavi-
side and Pupin were appreciated. The engineers
of the Post Office and of the late National ‘Tele-
phone Company studied the theory enthusiastically
and carried out most painstaking work in their
research laboratories. They were helped in no
‘small measure by the papers of Kennelly. Flem-
ing, also, by numerous papers and lectures, ren-
dered invaluable help to our telephone engineers.
The recent great advances in submarine telephony
are due to the recognition by engineers of the
importance of the work done by the mathematical
physicists. The application’ of these results to
practice, however, was a triumph for which all
the engineers concerned deserve the greatest
credit.
Let us compare, for instance, the simple. order
for twenty-five miles of cable given to the Gutta-
Percha Company in 1850 with the specification
for the sixty-four-mile Howth and Aber Geirch
(Ireland and Wales) submarine telephone cable
laid in 1913. The specification’ says that the
attenuation constant of the cable must not exceed
o’016 per naut (nautical mile) for _sine-shaped
waves of frequency 800. Considering that the
value of the attenuation constant depends on many
factors, this clause proves the confidence of the
practical engineer in his ability to gauge the pro-
perties of the materials he uses and his faith in
theory. Experiment later proved that the actual
value of the attenuation constant was o‘or5 at
the specified frequency. ‘The €ngineers had few,
if any, misgivings that the cable might prove a
failure. Once they had determined the physical
constants of the cable, they knew from their
laboratory experiments that they could calculate
the quality of the speech transmitted. The only
evidence of lack of faith, perhaps, . is that they
connected Aber Geirch with Manchester, and
Howth with Dublin, by aerial lines of copper
having the abnormal weight of 600 lb. per mile.
We know that, if the position of the “loading ”
coils and their sizes had not been calculated, by
elaborate and lengthy mathematical | formule,
speech between Manchester and Dublin would
_ have been impossible.
As it was, |
At first sight it is not obvious why the iheoty
should be
simpler than that of the submarine telegraph cable.
The reason is that speech-sounds can be treated
as periodic waves. The microphone transmitter
also is admirably adapted for producing these
waves, and the telephone receiver is a marvellously
sensitive instrument. The working of the receiv-
ing apparatus of a submarine cable, however,
depends on what electricians call transient pheno-
mena. The mathematical solution is given in a
M
_ further
202
NATURE
[NovEMBER 15, 1917
Fourier. series, each term of which has an ex-
ponential factor. It is, therefore, much. more
unmanageable.
If we except Dr. Fleming’s introductory text-
book, this treatise is the first to give a complete
account of the electrical theory of the transmis-
sion of signals along a submarine cable. The
industrious student, provided he has a good mathe-
matical foundation on which to build, can readily
acquire the whole practical theory from this work.
He will also find suggestions for improved methods
of submarine telegraphy and for improving cables,
both of which are very promising subjects for
mathematical and physical research.
Hitherto radio-telegraphy has acted largely as a
“feeder” for the submarine cable. companies.
After the war it is unlikely that the radio-tele-
graphists will be content to play this subsidiary
réle. Cable engineers, therefore, are alive to the
necessity of making continual improvements in
their methods, and a book like Dr. Malcolm’s
should prove a great help to them.
In the earlier portions of the book a résumé is
given of the necessary mathematical theorems.
The complete solutions are also given of the funda-
mental equations of transmission, particular stress
being laid on the transient phenomena. Perhaps
the treatment in this portion of the book is a
little too modern. It is very tempting to define
the sine and cosine functions by means of series,
but to prove that they are periodic functions of 27
is extremely difficult. The author’s proof, although
ingenious, is not rigorous. The values of the
ordinates of the sine and cosine curves are
obviously not calculated from the series. The
ordinary clumsy geometrical definitions of the
hyperbolic sine and cosine might have been omitted
with advantage. The negative sign in Formula 44
is. inadmissible, but this does not follow from the
proof given. The statement that the root with the
negative sign is either less than sero or negative
is rather quaint. On p. 299 we come across a
divergent series due to Heaviside, and we are
told that it is to be taken as far as its smallest
term. As this needs explaining, we turn up
Heaviside and find that the only comment he
makes on it is that it is lucky that it is divergent.
A reference to a book on modern analysis such as
Whittaker and Watson’s would, in this connec-
tion, be a help to the student.
As to the author’s nomenclature, definitions,
and mathematical methods we have only minor
criticisms: to offer. The numerous and excellent
diagrams illustrating the formule are worthy of
the highest commendation. The calculation of all
the curves shown must have required a great deal
of labour. We. can heartily recommend the book
to cable and telephone engineers and to physical
mathematicians desiring subjects for research.
The Committee of the Privy Council for Industrial
and Scientific Research would, in the reviewer’s
opinion, be well advised to give grants to en-
courage: mathematical research on some of the
problems discussed by Dr: Malcolm. Re
(2) This book is not written for the designer.
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
It is written, we are told, for the engineer who is
responsible for the working of the machinery, and
for the purchaser who pays the bills and seeks the
profit. The special features of the book are the
numerous questions and problems _ scattered
throughout the text and the summaries in large —
type of the contents of the various chapters. The
results given are trustworthy «nd can _ be
easily understood by readers with very limited
mathematical knowledge. Occasionally the authors
seem to get a little weary. The appendix, for
instance, refers us to p. 54 for a mention of the
Tirrill voltage regulator. We are there told that
it “is rather a complicated device involving the
interaction of solenoids, differential magnets,
levers, and contacts which it is not in the province
of this book to describe, as no new principles are
to be learned thereby.” If we insist, however, on.
knowing about it, we are told to secure the “bul-
letins and instruction sheets’’ of the General Elec-
tric Company. After saying all this, the principle
is described quite satisfactorily.
We wonder what the old-fashioned Cambridge
don would have said to this question (p. 150):
“How many dollars less per year does it cost to
operate a 50 kv.-a., type S transformer (Table A)
than a 50 kv.-a., type SA transformer? How
many dollars more can we afford to pay for the
‘S’ than for the ‘SA’?” Apart from the word-
ing, it is.really a very admirable question, teach-
ing the student how to study a maker’s catalogue
intelligently. An excellent feature of the book is
the stress laid on the distinction between
“economy ” and “efficiency.” The most efficient
apparatus is by no means the most economical, as
the first cost and maintenance expenses have to
be taken into account. This very obvious con-
sideration is often neglected by beginners.
It may be more logical to talk about capacitance
than about capacity, but when the word is re-
peated twenty-two times on one page (p. 376) it
gets very monotonous. The authors should have
stated that the model to represent the capacity
of a transmission line (pn. 376) is applicable only
when the load is balanced. - A. RUSSBLL.
THE THYROID GLAND.
The Thyroid Gland in Health and Disease. By
Major R. McCarrison, I.M.S. Fp. xvii+286.
(London: Baillitre, Tindall, and Cox, 1917.)
Price 12s. 6d. net. ~
[IN this well-appointed volume, with excellent
illustrations, Major McCarrison has collected
much useful information about the thyroid and
parathyroid glands in health and disease. The
work is of peculiar value in that the author has an
intimate experimental and clinical. acquaintance
with the subject, and this first-hand knowledge
has guided him in discriminating between the
many and conflicting theories that have been ad-
vanced as to the physiological réle of these
glands. He is at the same time in a position to
advance views. of his own of far-reaching import- _
ance. .. rk
~-NovemBer 15; 1917]
WATURE
203
‘ ‘The volume is divided into'three parts. About
‘a third: of its bulk deals, first, with anatomy and
“physiology, and, secondly, with the factors: which
- determine ‘the departure of the thyroid and para-
thyroid glands from the normal. The remaining
j ‘sideration of the diseases of the thyro-parathyroid
’ baeceg
__ The anatomy and histology of the glands are
gemcenrs described, and in no other work can one
_ find so concise and accurate an account of the
_ histological alterations presented by the thyroid
in its various degrees of physiological activity.
The physiology of the glands, despite the large
amount of recent work upon them, is still obscure,
_and some of the functions ascribed to them by the
author do not carry conviction. His statement
that “‘ the thyroid gland is to the human body what
the draught is to the fire’’ is a particularly happy
one. Further than that it is, perhaps, unsafe to
go. The thyroid stimulates metabolism in
general, and the growth of certain organs: in
particular. Hence it follows that secondary re-
sults occur in the body from the increased activity
of the stimulated organs. There is evidence, in-
“other ductless glands, and that pathological altera-
Hons in its activity upset the normal balance be-
‘tween them. There are also sex differences as
yet imperfectly understood. Excess of thyroid,
for example, checks the development of the pitui-
| tary body in the female, but accelerates it in the
‘male. Further differences i in the sexes result from
this peculiarity.
— Major McCartison insists upon the great im-
portance of the thyroid in maintaining the health
and efficiency of the body at different stages of the
life-history of the individual, and shows how its
activities are normally influenced. Some of his
statements cannot escape criticism. That ‘‘ mar-
‘ried men under forty years of age are, on the
whole,: of better physique than the unmarried ”’
“may be true enough, but that this is “‘a fact which
is probably dependent in considerable measure
on the maintenance of thyroidal activity, which
Marriage ensures’ is an assumption that it would
take much evidence to prove.
The factors which bring about pathological
changes in the thyroid Major McCarrison dis-
cusses in detail, and this is one of the most valu-
able sections in the book. The author divides
them into three categories—nutritional, infectious,
‘and psychic. Major McCarrison has established
beyond doubt that endemic goitre is frequently the
‘result of infection of the alimentary canal by the
fecal contamination of drinking water. The
“exact organism or organisms responsible have not
‘been isolated, and, indeed, Major McCarrison’s
observations leave one somewhat confused as to
whether the virus is the product of. a_ special
organism or of the normal bacteriological flora of
the colon. Predisposing factors are of some im-
‘portance, and their nature is fully considered. In
spite of the strong evidence brought forward, one
is not quite convinced that Major McCarrison has
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
}
_ altogether solved the problem of the causation of
endemic goitre.
Does the condition occur in all
districts where the drinking water is thus con-
taminated? These must be fairly numerous. On
| the other hand, goitre may be very prevalent, as
‘two-thirds of the -volume are devoted to a con- |
it is in a district in New Zealand, where thé water
supply is entirely derived from deep artesian wells,
the water from which is stated to be bacteriologi-
cally pure. In that district radium emanations in
-the water are generally blamed.
The major portion of the volume is an excellent
work on the diseases ofthe thyroids and para-
thyroids, and as such is a valuable addition to
medical literature. Of its many admirable fea-
tures, that of the treatment of these conditions de-
serves especial mention. As is to be expected
from the views of the author, the promotion of a
healthy intestinal condition is of paramount im-
portance in treatment. The author lays stress on
the frequency with which Graves’s disease is asso-
ciated with, and presumably caused by, intestinal
disorders. He regards the increased activity of
the thyroid as a result of toxemia, and until this
is remedied treatment based on diminishing ‘the
secretion by medical or surgical means is ob-
viously misapplied.
The volume is full of interesting information,
and will be welcomed by physiologists and medical
men generally. ree HERRING.
OUR BOOKSHELF.
The Use of the Voice. By the Rev. T. Grigg-
Smith. Pp. 118. (London: S.P.C.K., 1917.).
Price 2s. 6d. net.
Tuts is an admirable little book written by a
teacher of experience who realises the importance
of careful training in the use of the voice both in
singing and in reading. The mechanism of the
larynx is described in simple and, so far as pos-
sible, in untechnical language, and there is a suc-
sinct account of the mechanism of breathing.
The author favours the view that the kind of
breathing best adapted for the development of a
good voice is neither wholly diaphragmatic nor
wholly higher costal, but what may be termed
general breathing; in other words, all parts of
the mechanism of the chest should be brought into
play. Very sensible instructions are given as to
the use of the resonance cavities on which the
quality of the voice largely depends. Graduated
exercises on vowel and consonant sounds are
highly recommended, and there can be no doubt
‘that, following the xood advice given, the best
use can be made of the pupil’s structures for voice
production. We accept the author’s view that
far too little attention is paid to the education
of the voice both in ordinary conversation and in
public speaking, and that we have, therefore,
often to suffer from mumbling, indistinct utter-
ance, lack of modulation, and incorrect accentua-
tion. Not only should one be trained to express
his thoughts when ‘‘on his feet,’’ but he should
also be able to express them in ‘sounds that give
pleasure to those who listen. How very often is
204
NATURE
[ NOVEMBER 15, 1917
this not the case and we are glad when the
speaker sits down. ‘There is an excellent chapter
on ‘‘stuttering,’’ with many wise suggestions.
G. M.
Practical Cheesemaking: A General Guide to the
Manufacture of Cheese. By C. W. Walker-
Tisdale and Walter E. Woodnutt. Pp. 182.
(London: Headley Bros., Ltd., 1917.) Price
4s. 6d. net.
Tus book deals with the technical side of cheese-
making, and is intended to serve both as a text-
book for dairy students and as a reference-book
for practical cheesemakers. The subject-matter is
well chosen, and whilst the explanations which are
given at each stage are clear and simple, there
is’ a great deal. of practical information which it
has previously been difficult to obtain in print.
Very properly, a considerable amount of space
is devoted to the composition of milk and the |
methods which must be adopted if a milk suitable
for.cheesemaking is to be obtained. This side of
the subject cannot be put forward too strongly,
for, unless the cheesemaker can start with a
reasonably pure product, no skill on her part.can
turn it into really first-class cheese. - Bg ie
_ Full working details of the methods used in
analysing milk by the Gerber test and by the
lactometer: are given, also the usual tests for
obtaining information as to the purity of the milk
in respect of cleanliness. The nature and pre-
paration of rennet are dealt ‘with, and instruc-
tions given for the making of home-made rennet.
The chapter treating of. starter is a particularly
good one, from both the theoretical and-the prac-
tical points of view. te ;
About half the book is devoted to the practice |
of cheesemaking, and the preparation and pro-
perties of all the best-known British varieties are
dealt with in detail. -This portion of the book is
to be strongly recommended, for the. authors’
wide practical experience .is.drawn upon with the
best results. The chapter on faults or defects of
cheese should also be specially noticed: . Sag
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. |
On an Appearance of Colour Spectra to the Aged. ©
_May I suggest that the appearances described by Mr.
R.. ‘Brudenell. Carter in. Nature of: November 1 all
harmonise with the assumption that their cause is in
some way due to diffraction ?
‘The fact of the blue internal band and the red ex-
ternal band, and ‘that the diameter of the colour circle
increases in size;in approximate ratio to the distance
of the light viewed,-seems clearly to point to this, no
less than the fact that when the pupil is contracted,
or when the ligtit is viewed through a pinhole, the
appearances vanish, because the actual number of
diffracting elements upon which the light impinges
would then be too small to give rise to the appearance.
MO. 2507, VOL. 100]
ness of
The spacing and the number per unit area of the
diffracting elements could readily be estimated from
the data so clearly given. Whether they take the form
of particles or of lacunz in the humours of the eye, or
whether due to some alternating structure of the lens, is.
a matter on which I am not competent to express any
opinion.
It is interesting that Tyndall had a somewhat similar —
case brought to his notice, to which reference is made
in his ‘‘ Notes on Light”’ delivered at the Royal Institu-
tion in 1869 (Longmans, Green and Co., 1890, p. 54)
in the following words :— rene.
‘One of the most interesting cases of. diffraction by
small particles that ever came before me was that
of an artist whose vision was disturbed by vividly
coloured circles. When he came to me he was in great
dread of losing his sight, assigning as a cause of his
increased fear that the circles were becoming larger
and the colours more vivid. I ascribed the colours to
minute particles in the humours of the eye, and en-
couraged him by the assurance that the increase of size
and vividness indicated that the diffracting particles
were becoming smaller, and that they might finally be
altogether absorbed. The prediction was verified.”- ©
- Jutius R#EINBERG. °
.23. The Avenue, Brondesbury Park,’ Sapa ie Tees
London, N.W.6, November 5...
an 5
I am much obliged to you for permitting me
to see- Mr, Pepe, interesting meee and
am humiliated by the proof of my forgetful-
the passage from Tyndall. which 1
must often have read in past ‘years. But, as a patho.
logist, I incline to my supposition of lenticular in-
efficiency, perhaps only an excess of that which is
universal as life advances, for: 1 do not see how the.
occurrence of a cloud of particles in the ocular media
in otherwise healthy and perfectly effective orga:
to be explained. Nor is it probable that the. clov
it existed, woula be of similar density in the two «
or that it could exist at all without some impairment o!
sight. In my own case, at least, the colour circles
of the two eyes are of equal size and brightness.
R. BRUDENELL CARTER.
76. South Side, Clapham Comman, S.W.4,
November to. "Ao ea ae
Paraffin a Scottish Product. = = = § —
In Lt.-Commdr. Wimperis’s interesting article on
‘‘Coal-gas for Motor Traction,” which appears in
Nature of November 1, he says .-" Paraffin can be
used quite well on slow-moving vehicles .
again, is not home-produced.” ___. aE
I should like to point out that paraffin is, and always
has been, a Scottish product; and it is fortunate in-
deed for the country that it is-so. No doubt Lt.
Commdr. Wimperis is thinking of the similar
petroleum products:which are imported, but paraffin oif
distilled from shale is.exclusively a home product. - So
ke WUE this,
| satisfactory is paraffin oil as an engine fuel that it has
been adopted by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland |
for use by their agricultural tractors on its merits in
preference to the foreign product.
ae H. R. J. Conacuer. -
*High Holm, Horsewood Road, Bridge of Weir,
November 3. pn ee fe
Mr. Conacukr: is quite right. I should have said
that before. the war Scotland.was .able to produce a
very useful, though small, percentage of our home de-
mand for paraffin. What the proportion may be now
I do not know. “H. E,. WInperis.
November 8. ,. ; :
/
NoveMBER 15, 1917]
NATURE
205
a FERRO-CONCRETE SHIPS.
r ae heavy demand for steel and iron for muni-
3 tions has enforced economy in the use of
these materials for other purposes, and led to
the substitution of other materials wherever pos-
sible. The shortage of shipping and the necessity
of making good war losses have produced recently |
a considerable development in the building of
ferro-concrete vessels of a sea-going type, especi-
ally in the Scandinavian countries, where the
losses have been great and the scarcity of metals
lias been much felt. Reference has already been
made in our Notes columns to articles in Engin-
' eering giving interesting information as to what
_has been done in Norway in the building of such
vessels, and most of the experience available at
_ present has been obtained in Norwegian yards.
- The production of concrete and ferro-concrete
i.
Concrete is weak under tension, and the re-
inforcement in ferro-conerete structures is always
placed so as to take the tension, leaving the
concrete to take the compressive stresses. There
is difficulty in doing this throughout the structure
of a ship, and lack of effectiveness in this matter
may produce cracks, which, in the presence of
salt water, may lead to trouble. Strict inspection
and overlooking during construction are of much
greate? importance in all ferro-concrete structures
than in buildings of other types. This is owing
to the nature of the materials used and to the
possibility of the reinforcing bars becoming dis-
placed during the casting and ramming process.
The life of the ship will depend probably upon
the chemical composition and water-tightness of
the concrete, on the proper placing of the rein-
forcement, and on the effect of salt water upon the
f
Fic. 1.—Vessel being launched, bottom uppermost.
vessels such as barges, intended for quiet waters,
is by no means novel, but the problem becomes
complicated when the vessel is to undertake sea
voyages under her own propulsive power. This
is principally owing to the uncertainty of the loads
imposed on the vessel, especially when in turbu-
lent waters. Of course, the same difficulty occurs
in the design of steel vessels, but the strength of
these is determined almost entirely by experience,
and there is plenty of experience available and
embodied in the rules of the various registration
societies. Until experience has accumulated of
the actual behaviour of ferro-concrete sea-going
vessels no rules will be formulated. The leading
societies, however, are taking an active interest
in the development, and Lloyd’s Register has
approved of plans up to 500 tons. The maximum
weight of vessel projected so far appears to be
tooo tons.
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
concrete and
upon the _ re-
inforcement if
there are
cracks.
Ferro - con-
crete vessels
weigh con-
siderably more
than steel
vessels of cor-
responding
dimensions;
hence their
cargo - carrying
capacity is less.
This will prob-
ably make it
impossible for
them to com-
pete against
steel vessels in
normal times.
Owing, how-
ever, to the
ease with
which __ repeti-
tion orders for
vessels of the same size can be executed, and
to the reduced quantity of steel required in their
construction, their production wil! certainly be
useful during the war.
Particulars are given in Engineering of several
of the vessels already built in Norway. The
Namsenfjords is 84 ft. long, 24 ft. broad, and
116 ft. deep. The hull is monolithic with the
deck and frames round the hatches. There are
two large wooden fenders outside the hull, and
the ship has a Bolinder motor and appliances
‘for prompt loading and discharging. She
is well suited for carrying timber, and _ will
be put on a Norwegian coasting route. She
passed her trial trip on August 1. Another.
vessel, ordered by the South Varanger Iron
Ore Company, will have’ double sides and
bulkheads, since ore does not ‘take up. much
space,
200.
NATURE.
[| NOVEMBER 15, 1917
The Porsgrund Cement Casting Company took |
up the question of ferro-concrete vessels in 1913,
and built a bridge pontoon in 1915 which is
most, and using an inner shutter, or outer board-
ing only, so far as the vertical sides are con-
with the lighter
cerned. This plan was adopted
; Beton I., in=
Fic. 2.—Vessel turning over.
claimed to be the first vessel of this type built in
Norway. . This vessel was cast with double board-
ing, or shuttering, in the walls. Experience of
this method
terior shutter-
ing only being
used. This
vessel is a 200-
ton deadweight-
carrying motor
vessel; the cal-
culations and
design were
prepared by
Messrs. Bonde
and Norman.
As the vessel is
intended to be
sea-going, the
reinforcement
was made 50
p-err -; Ces
heavier than in
lighters in-
tended for in-
land waters,
rib and girder
dimensions
were increased,
and a fat con-
crete mixture of
1 to 2 without cobbles was used. The wall thick-
ness is 1°97 in.
The shuttering was built on a sledge, which
showed con-
siderable — diffi-
culties; the ar-
rangement of
the __reinforce-
ment gave
trouble, and
there was no
guarantee. that
the iron would
be in proper
position. Cast-
ing the con-
crete also was
troublesome,
and one or two
places were
found where
faults had to
be remedied. It
was considered
that these
difficulties with
pontoons _hav-
ing fairly rect-
angular section
would become
very pronounced in building vessels of ordinary
section, and Mr. Harald. Alfsen has overcome
them by building the vessels bottom upper- |
NO. 2507, VOL. 100|
ways, bottom uppermost, as built.
Fic. 3.—Final stage of launching.
followed the vessel into the
water at the launch.
Fig. 1
shows the vessel travelling, down the
On becoming
NOVEMBER 15, 1917]
NATURE
207
fully water-borne the vessel is in stable equili-
_-brium, and the turning right side uppermost is
_ accomplished by permitting the air to escape from
tthe interior; the vessel sinks in the water until
a draught is reached for which the equilibrium
becomes unstable, and the vessel then turns over
without further aid until the deck is uppermost.
_ Fig. 2 shows the vessel with the turning opera-
_ tion about half accomplished, and in Fig. 3 the
vessel is seen floating in its ordinary position.
The first vessel took about six weeks to arrange
the boarding and reinforcement, and two days
to cast; three weeks were allowed for the con-
crete to set. It is estimated that the next vessel
can be done in half the time, since the same
shuttering can be used again. —
» W. DU BOIS DUDDELL, C.B.E., F.R.S.—
‘THE death of William Du Bois Duddell on
. November 4, at forty-five years of age, leaves
a gap in the ranks. of our men of science
which it will be difficult to fill, His was a rare
and precious gift, for he had, in the highest
degree, extraordinary patience and _ scientific
instinct. When a problem was set him, however
difficult, however insoluble it might appear to be
at first, he was never satisfied until he had
obtained a solution. It was an inspiration for
anyone to have the privilege of helping him in a
piece of scientific work. I shall always remember
the development of his oscillograph. We were
working together on the study of the alternate
‘current arc and were using a laborious ‘‘ point
by point’ method for obtaining the curves of
‘current and potential difference. He had set his,
mind on the production of an instrument that
would record the curves instantaneously, and at
this problem he worked continuously. He made
the first instrument in his workshop at home and
brought it along to test; the damping was unsatis-
factory, and we set to work to find a method of
damping that was efficient. In the end he made a
separate channel, with incredibly thin walls, for
‘each strip, and succeeded. It was remarkable
that, although the first instrument was designed
by eye, the final form of the oscillograph, so far
as the vibrator was concerned, did not differ very
4 much in its principal dimensions from the original
instrument. Theory enabled the best conditions
to be determined, but a full understanding of
theory did not lead to a very great improvement.
~Duddell’s instinct as a designer gave the right
dimensions from the start. No one. who saw it
_will forget the demonstration that was given by
Duddell before the Institution of Electrical
Engineers of -his instrument, perfect in every
detail. There is no doubt that its production
_ marked an epoch in the experimental investigation
of alternating current phenomena. If genius is
an infinite capacity for taking pains, then Duddell
had genius of the very highest kind, for his
patience was boundless. His gift as an instrument- ,
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
maker was hereditary, for he was connected with
the great Du Bois family, famous in that home of
watchmaking, Switzerland, for its products.
Duddell’s rise to the front rank of scientific men
was meteoric. Soon after his paper on oscillographs
(the first edition of which had been given before
the British Association in Toronto) he read a
classical paper on the resistance of the electric arc
before the Royal Society. It was in the course of
this work that he discovered the ‘‘ singing arc,’’
which formed the starting point in the develop-
ment of the Poulsen are, now so largely used in
wireless telegraphy, and built the first really high
frequency alternator. It was necessary, in order
to prove his theory, that a current should be sent
through the arc of such a frequency that sensible
variations in the temperature of the arc could not
be produced by it, so he designed and built an
alternator giving 120,000 cycles per second,
a frequency which at that. time no one had
attempted to produce by a mechanical alternator.
Not only was Duddell’s gift as an inventor of
the highest order; he had also rare skill as an
experimenter; his experiments always worked. I
can never remember having seen a lecture experi-
ment of his that failed, while his power of talking
clearly was a gift possessed by few; he reached, I
think, almost the highest point in his career as.a
lecturer in the demonstration on ° ‘* Pressure
Rises ” that he gave when he was elected presi-
dent of the Institution of. Electrical Engineers for
the second time. The experiments were nearly all
difficult, and liable to go wrong, but they all suc-
ceeded, and his model of the oscillating arc was
a triumph of demonstration.
Duddell was made a fellow of the Royal Society
in 1907, and his was one of the few cases in which
election took place at the first time of asking, for
he was elected on the first occasion on which. his
name appeared on the list of prospective new
fellows. In 1912 he was awarded the Hughes
medal. He was. president of the Commission
Internationale de Télégraphie sans Fil. In 1907
he was president of the Réntgen Society, and
had been hon. treasurer of the Physical Society
since 1910. He was a member of the Advisory
Council to the Department: of Scientific and
Industrial Research and of the Board of Inven-
tions, and Research of the Admiralty. Last
August the honour of Commander of the Order
of the British Empire was conferred upon him.
As a chairman of.,committees Duddell was
always excellent, being businesslike and to the
point; no time was ever wasted when he was in
charge. He was no mean linguist, and those who
have seen him conduct an international conference
will remember his gifts, and the infinite tact with
which he was always able to reconcile the differ-
ing points of view and characteristics of men of
different nationalities. It is an unspeakable grief
to his friends that he has died so young, though
few men have ever achieved so much in so short
a time; but he worked himself to death. He was
always in his laboratory or his office; he scarcely
308
NATURE
[NovEMBER 15, 1917
ever took a holiday. He was at school at Cannes, —
and at ‘that time the French took leSs interest in |
sports and games than they do now, so that he
had none of that love for outdoor pursuits which |
is so characteristic of the average -Englishman.
He had no enemies, for everyone who knew him
liked. him for his kindliness and his extraordinary
modesty, though, when the occasion arose, he
could show great firmness and decision. He will
long be remembered as a great man of science
and a great gentleman. E. W. Marcnant.
NOTES.
| specific decline in fertility.
| that the increasing foulness of the arable land owing
‘ In its column entitled ‘‘ Through German Eyes,” the |
Times of November 13 gives. prominence to notices
appearing in German newspapers of further important
steps. now, being taken to strengthen and consolidate
the great dye syndicate, ‘of which the seven largest —
firms control a‘ capital of nearly 12,000,000,
three largest undertakings in this group, namely, the
Hochst colour works, the Badische Anilin- und Soda-
The |
Fabrik, and the Bayer colour factories, are each to—
increase their capital from. 2,700,000l. to 4,500,000l. |
These increases of capital, raised by the Rhenish firms
themselves, will be supplemented by additional sums to
be provided by the German Government, so that the .
total capital will be more than 20,000,000l. The German
Préss appreciates fully the prominent part played by
chemical industty in the war, and’attributes largely to |
this group: of factories the extraordinary striking force |
displayed .by- Germany on the fields of battle. The —
intimate relationship between synthetic dyes and high
explosives has slowly dawned on the British public, but
it is deplorablé ‘that even. after three years of war
the English colour industry is in a position even more |
disorganised and chaotic than it was at the outbreak —
of hostilities. A beginning of co-ordination and co-
operation in dye production has developed among the
Lancashire firms, but the State-aided company which
was to-have united. the colour trade and to have
administered the research grant of 120,000l. for the |
benefit of all the manufacturers concerned, so far from
effecting these vital improvements, has actually been |
the direct exciting cause of additional. friction and —
needless internal competition. Now that public ap-
peals are being. made for more. Government support
for this company it is surely time that a non-political,
impartial Parliamentary inquiry should be set on foot
to ascertain how the earlier grants have been expended,
and whether the existing organisation is adequate to
meet the competition of a powerful enemy syndicate
operating under expert and scientific management.
In a speech delivered on November 8 the President
of the Board of Agriculture again directed public atten-
tion to the gravity of the food outlook; and outlined
clearly the concatenation of circumstances which render
it inevitable that.even the establishment of peace cannot
bring automatically the proverbially associated plenty.
Of ‘special interest was Mr. Prothero’s warning that
the productive power of the soil of Europe is falling.
Not only have large cultivated areas become desolate
wastes through the direct ravages of warfare, but even
regions remote from the firing line are losing their
fertility for want of labour and fertilisers. That is
true of Germany; it is also true of areas in this country.
Mr. Prothero pointed out that the yield per acre fell in
1916; it has fallen still further in 1917, and, so far
as existing areas go, will almost certainly undergo a
further decreasé. On broad general grounds this pre-
diction is doubtless reasonably probable, but statis-
ticians will scarcely regard the results of the last two
seasons as a sufficient basis for such a broad generalisa-
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
tion, especially as these have been years in which
natural conditions alone have notoriously been un-
favourable to a heavy grain crop. The average yield
of wheat per acre in England and Wales this year is
estimated at 29:88 bushels, of barley at 30-36 bush.,
and of oats at 38-49 bush., as compared with
28-60 bush:, 31-11 bush., and 39°95 bush. respectively
in 1916, and averages of 31-40 bush., 32-44 bush., and
40-03 bush. respectively for the ten years 1907-16. Thes
differences are well within the range of natural varia- —
tions, and can scarcely be adduced as evidence of ©
It is certain, however,
to lack of adequate labour for the necessary cleaning —
| operations must tend towards a reduction of crop.
On the other hand, it is equally certain that an ex-
tended and more skilful use of fertilisers for corn crops
would lead to an appreciable increase of the average
yields. An instance in point is furnished by a report
on oat manuring experiments recently issued by the
West of Scotland Agricultural College, in which it is
recorded that on the average of seventeen experiments
in three years the oat yield of 413 bush. on the
‘unmanured plot was increased fully 30 per cent. by the
combined use of superphosphate, kainit, and sulphate
of ammonia. The wheat crop offers probably less
scope for intensive manuring, but undoubtedly is
capable of very substantial improvement on many
farms.
‘It was remarked in these columns, at the time of
the establishment of the Air Board, that more co-
ordination was needed between the various branches of
the Air Services, and that the Air Board should do
much to secure this end. The introduction of the Air
Force Bill shows that the Government now intends to
| make such co-ordination complete by the establishment |
of an Air Council, which is to enjoy a status similar
to that of the Admiralty and the Army Council. The
Times remarks that this is a landmark in the history
not only of aviation in this country, but also of the armed
forces of the Crown; for it formally recognises the air
as a distinctive fighting element, and provides for the
establishment of a third service, to be called the Air
Force. Those whose labours lie in the field of scientific
aeronautical research will welcome the new régime as |
a step of great importance. A closer connection is
very desirable between scientific work and practical
aircraft design, and there seems little doubt that this
end will be achieved much more rapidly if the present
air services are organised as a single force and con-
trolled by one central council. It is, indeed, a triumph
for aviation that in only.a few years of development it
should rise to such importance as to cause the creation
of a third Service, and it is pleasing to reflect that
scientific research has played a very important part in
this rapid development of the new industry.
A RECENT lecture delivered by Major Astor, M.P.,
on ‘‘ Health Problems and a State Ministry of Health,”
at the Royal Institute of Public Health, was the third
of a series of lectures and discussions on public health
problems under war and after-war conditions. Not
unnaturally, on this occasion, the bulk of what the |
speaker, and those who took part in the discussion,
had to say related to the Ministry of Health, and
Major Astor, having declared that the Local Govern-
ment Board, and not the Insurance Commission, would
form the best nucleus for a Health.Ministry, there was
a tendency on the part of other speakers to take sides.
Amongst those who showed no inclination to declare
in favour of any particular body was Mr. H. A. L-
Fisher, President of the Board of Education, who pre-
sided over the meeting, and remarked, in the course
of his speech, that thcugh, as matters now stood, there
was considerable possibility of overlapping, it did not
se
a | NOVEMBER 15, 1917|
NATURE.
209
_ of necessity follaw. that the system was bad. Before
-tondemning it he desired. first of all to learn whether
_ or not it worked well or ill; whether or not. it was
_ economical, and if there was friction. With reference
_ to this question, it may be pointed out that Lord
_ Rhondda ‘has stated that the Board of Education and
_ the Local Government Board have had differences of
: ple to their respective shares in the work of
ria welfare, but that before he left the latter Board
an ent had been arrived at. Possibly it was
_ because there had been an agreement that Mr. Fisher
_ desired to be non-committal.
THE organisers of the meeting held to take steps to
form a representative association of British chemists,
_ held at the Manchester School of Technology on
_ November 10, are to be congratulated on the result of
_ their efforts. Seldom have chemists been brought to-
ther in such numbers, at least 500 being present.
uch criticism was levelled at the Institute of Chem-
, which has hitherto been held to be too exclusive
and not sufficiently representative of the rank and file.
In justice to the institute, however, it was recognised by
the kers that it has done a great deal for chemists
and has within recent times evinced a disposition, as
_ @ War measure, to open its doors to properly trained
and qualified chemists on a more liberal basis within
the limitations of its constitution. The Provisional
Committee of the new association obtained the support
of the meeting to the main objects, but it agreed to
submit its scheme to the council of the Institute of
Chemistry before proceeding to definite incorporation,
on the understanding that the institute, which has
been established for forty years, should be asked in
the first place to adopt its aims. The chairman of the
_ meeting, Dr. Rée, intimated that the Provisional Com-
mittees for Manchester and Birmingham have already
had an informal conference with the representatives
of the — edie ‘that the ee pe se ti its
sympathy wi general aims of the proposed asso-
cia Pp A soregon depends on what constitutes a
chemist, and much will yet depend on the extent of
the training and qualifications regarded by the
organisers as necessary to justify registration of a
candidate under the scheme. The meeting showed no
disposition to claim that. pharmaceutical chemists, many
of whom are held to be sound chemists in the technical
and technological sense, should be deprived of their
right to the title. The meeting showed a healthy sign
of activity among chemists, and it should produce far-
reaching results.. We trust that the Institute of Chem-
_ istry will welcome the opportunity of developing its
_ sphere of usefulness. There is much to be considered
and much to be done yet to secure for British chemists
_ the position and recognition to which by their work they
are clearly entitled.
Tue death is announced, while leading his platoon
during one of the recent advances in France, of 2nd
Lieut. F. Entwistle, second assistant at the Observa-
_ tory, Cambridge, aged twenty-one years. Mr. Ent-
_ wistle was a computer at the Royal Observatory,
_ Greenwich, and he went to Cambridge as second
assistant in December, 1914. He was there a few
months only before he was given a commission in the
Norfolk Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant. Mr. Hartley,
first assistant at the Cambridge Observatory, was killed
on the Vanguard on July 9. The double tragedy ex-
_ hausts the staff of the observatory, as distinct from
__ the Solar Physics Observatory, except for the director.
4 Mr. F. N. Hawarbp, writing from 95 Uxbridge Road,
_ Ealing, W.5, points out that the late Mr. Worthington
_. G. Smith, whose work was referred to in Nature of |
_ November 8, p. 191, was not only a botanist, but had
2 also a world-wide reputation as an antiquarian.
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
“W. G. S. was one of the most practical authori-
ties in matters relating to prehistoric man, of whose
implements of flint he made many discoveries of great
importance. Besides being the author and illustrator
of such a classic as ‘Man, the Primeval Savage’
(1894), he contributed largely and wisely to the
current literature of the subject, and, being an expert
engraver, he illustrated many of the works of his
contemporaries on various scientific matters.”’
Mr. J. A. HarpcastLE, whose death on November 10
we much regret to record, was a grandson of Sir John
Herschel, and himself a very capable astronomer in
the fourth generation of that illustrious race of scien-
tific men. Always a man of delicate health, and
obliged in early manhood to winter abroad, he had
been able by care and courage to carry through several
important pieces of work in the intervals of illness,
and the friends who had the privilege of knowing him
recognised how considerable a share of the family
talent was his. About fourteen years ago he under-
took the measurement for the late Mr. S. A. Saunder
of a series of lunar negatives from the Paris and
Yerkes Observatories, which formed the observational
basis of the now classic catalogue of precise ‘positions
on the moon’s surface. Never, perhaps, in the history
of observational astronomy has there been a more
striking improvement on previous results than was
shown in this work, and Mr. Saunder was always
insistent on giving to’Mr. Hardcastle a large part of
the credit for his remarkable skill and judgment in a
difficult task. A second large piece of work that he
carried to a successful end was the examination and
classification of the nebulz on the 210 plates of the
Franklin-Adams photographic chart of the whole sky,
the results of which are published in the Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society for June,
1914. This has the unique merit that it is the only
examination of the nebulz of the whole sky made with
the same instrument and of approximately uniform
standard. For a number of years Mr. Hardcastle was
a very successful University Extension lecturer in
astronomy; he had served as secretary of the British
Astronomical Association, and as member of council of
the Royal Astronomical Society. A few months ago he
was appointed to succeed Dr. Dreyer as director of the
Armagh Observatory, and’ was looking forward with
the keenest pleasure to the enjoyment of better health
and the responsibilities of an officsal post, when a
return of illness disappointed his hopes, and he died
after much suffering at the early age of forty-nine.
Tue Royal Geographical Society has sustained a de-
plorable loss in the death of one of its most active
and most valued supporters, Brig.-Gen. Cecil Raw-
ling, C.M.G., one of the gold medallists of the society
this. year. Many famous names are to be found in the |
list of soldier-geographers who have made exploration
the one grees objective of their lives, but there is not
one which recalls a personality more inspired with high
ideals or better endowed with all those qualities of
mind and body which are the. necessary outfit for the
true explorer than Rawling. His best contributions to
geographical. science were gathered in Tibetan fields.
He was there responsible for the results of an expedi-
tion in 1897-98 which added considerably to our know-
ledge of about 40,000 square miles of that inhaseeee
country. Such an experience fitted him well for the
leadership of a subsequent expedition which was
planned, after the Tibetan campaign under Sir -F.
Younghusband, for the determination of the sources of
the Brahmaputra and Indus. Col. Ryder was attached
to the expedition as surveyor, and brought back excel-
lent-mapping of the wild districts bordering the great
Tibetan high road between Gartok and Lhassa, but
the success of the expedition was doubtless due to the
210
NATURE
>
| NOVEMBER 15, 1917
remarkable capacity of its leader.
pedition, to New Guinea, whilst it was not productive
of all the geographical information. which was antici-
pated, was nevertheless a most valuable pioneer ex-
ploration into an utterly unknown region, and proved
to be of the highest interest to many collateral branches
of science which depend on geographical discovery as |
It was ‘fitting perhaps that .
their preliminary basis.
a right good soldier and a famous explorer should meet
his end in the field of a war waged in the interests of
all’ humanity. Like Toppin (of the Peru-Bolivian
boundary), who died at Mons, he never lived to reach
his. highest ideal. “That ideal with Rawling was
nothing less than the ascent of Everest, and who shall |
say that a man of his stout heart and magnificent
physique would not have accomplished what many >
men have pronounced to be an impossibility ?
Tue Royal Society announces that the King has
approved of the award by the president and council of
the society of a Royal medal to Dr. John Aitken, for
his researches on cloudy condensations, and a Royal
medal to Dr. Arthur Smith Woodward, for his re-
searches in vertebrate paleontology. The following
awards have also been made by the president and
council :—The Copley medal to M. Emile Roux, for
his services to bacteriology and as a pioneer in serum
therapy; the Davy medal to M. Albin Haller, for his
researches in the domain of organic chemistry; the
Buchanan medal to Sir Almroth Wright, for his con-
tributions to preventive medicine ; and the Hughes medal |
to Prof. C. G. Barkla, for his researches in connection
with X-ray radiation.
Ir has been decided to dissolve the Société Inter-
nationale de Chirurgie, and to form, after the war, a
new society on the lines of the former one, but to be
called the Société Interalliée de Chirurgie, the member- |
ship of which will be open not only to surgeons of
the Allied countries, but:also to those of neutral coun-
tries who shall be nominated for election by the general |
committee. ,
At the annual general. meeting of the Cambridge
Philosophical Society held on October 29 the following
were elected officers of the society for the ensuing
session :—President, Prof. Marr; Vice-Presidents,
Prof. Newall, Dr. Doncaster, and Mr. W. H. Mills;
Treasurer, Prof..Hobson; Secretaries, Mr. A. Wood,
Mr. G. H. Hardy, and Mr. H. H. Brindley; New
Members of Council, Sir J. Larmor, Prof. Eddington,
and: Dr. Marshall. ;
Tue council of the Institution of Civil Engineers has
made the following awards for papers published in the
Proceedings without discussion during the session
1916-17; A Watt gold medal to Major H. S. B.
Whitley (Neath); Telford premiums to W. C. Popple-
well (Manchester), H. Carrington (Woodley, Stockport),
Dr. A. A. Stoddard (Bournemouth), A. E. L. Chorl-
ton, (Lincoln), and B. M. Samuelson (Rangoon); the
Manby premium to R. Bleazby \(Perth, W.A.); the
Webb prize to J. B. Ball (London); and the Howard .
Quinquennial prize to Dr..W. C. Unwin.
At the anniversary meeting of the Mineralogical
Society, held on November 6, the following were
elected officers and ordinary members of council :—
President, Mr. W. Barlow; Vice-Presidents, Prof.
H. L. Bowman and Mr. A. Hutchinson; Treasurer,
Sir William P. Beale, Bart.; General Secretary, Dr.
G.:T. Prior; Foreign Secretary, Prof. W. W. Watts;
Editor of the Journal, Mr. L. J. Spencer; Ordinary
Members of Council, Mr. T. V. Barker, Mr. G.
Barrow,..Prof..C..-G..Cullis,. Mr. F..P. Mennell,..Mr;
H. Collingridge, Mr. T. Crook, Dr. G. F. Herbert
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
Rawling’s last .ex- |
Smith, Dr. H. H. Thomas, Mr. H. F. Collins, Mr.
J. P. De Castro, Prof. H. Hilton, and Lieut. Arthur
Russell.
THE programme of the one hundred and sixty-fourth —
session of the Royal Society of Arts, to be opened.on
Wednesday, November 21, shows that the society is
continuing its valuable work for ‘‘the advancement,
development, and practical application of every depart-
ment of science in connection with the arts, manufac-
tures, and commerce of this country.” At the orcas
meeting an address will be delivered by Mr. Alan A,
Campbell Swinton, chairman of the council, upon
‘Science and its Functions.’’ At a later meeting the
general aspects of the application of science to industry
will form the subject of a lecture by Sir Dugald Clerk,
and during the session leading authorities will deal
with particular industries, such as those of sugar,
rubber planting, cotton, timber, and the manufacture
of margarine in Great Britain. Some of the papers
to be read after Christmas are :—The relations between
labour and capital, Lord Leverhulme; The war and
its effects on the mind, Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones ;
Water-power in the British Isles, A. Newlands; Agri-
cultural machinery, F. S. Courtney; and Organic chem-
istry in relation to industry, Dr. M. O. Forster.
Cantor lectures will include courses on progress in the
metallurgy of copper; high-temperature processes and ~
products; and military explosives of to-day.
Tue Postmaster-General, speaking at the Mansion
House.on November 12, said :—‘‘ It is intended, as soon
| as the military position will admit, to institute inter-_
national aerial posts between London and the various
principal capitals of Europe.”
Mr. A. ApAms, writing from Looe, Cornwall, records
the occurrence in that county of the little owl (Carine
noctua). A specimen was sent to him recently for
identification by a rabbit-trapper in the neighbourhood,
who had found it in a trap. In the Zoologist, in 1914, ©
the little owl was recorded as breeding in Somerset;
Mr. Adams’s communication shows that it has ex-
tended its range westwards and southwards, as one
would expect. ;
Mr. T. McKenna, chairman of the Executive Com-_
mittee of the Decimal Association, informs us that at
a recent joint meeting of the association with the Insti-
tute of Bankers and the Association of Chambers of
Commerce unanimous agreement was secured as to
the retention of the £ sterling as the monetary unit
and its division into 1000 parts, or mils. This enables
all the existing gold and silver coins down to and
including the sixpenny-piece to be retained without any
alteration in their respective values. For example, the
sixpence is represented exactly by 25 mils. In regard
to the coins of lower denomination, it was unanimously
agreed that they should consist of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and
1o mil pieces, of which the two latter would be o
nickel. This enlarged range of the coins of lower value,
in addition to providing coins substantially equal in
value to the existing halfpenny and penny, would pro-
vide coins of intermediate value between the present
halfpenny and penny, and thus overcome a defect in
our ‘present coinage which has resulted in prices in
millions of small transactions in daily life pies: unduly
increased because of the absence of suitable inter-
mediate coi‘s.
Ow1nc to ill-health Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, director
of the Queensland Museum, resigned his appointment
on September 30. Referring to his retirement, the
Brisbane Courier remarks that it will be a serious loss
to the institution and to the cause of science in ©
Queensland. It is. about» seven years since Dr. Ham-
lyn-Harris was appointed director, and in the interven-
/NoveEMBER 15, 1917|
NATURE
2¥II
jing period he has laboured with enthusiasm and ability
to make the museum an educational force in the com-
munity. He succeeded in making the museum both
attractive to non-scientific visitors and a centre of
- student and scientific activity.
; He raised the scientific
status of the institution, and reorganised the whole of
the valuable collections, and the fine eee de-
tment of the museum owes a great deal to his
inowledge, study, and enterprise.
: Tue Admiralty has issued the following particulars
of the unmanned, controlled high-speed craft to which
we referred last week (p. 190) :—The electrically con-
trolled. motor-boats used,on the Belgian coast are twin
petrol-engined vessels partially closed. in,.and travel at
a high speed.. They carry a drum with between thirty
and fifty miles of insulated single-core cable, through
which the boat is controlled electrically... The fore part
carries a considerable charge of high explosive, prob-
ably from 300 Ib..to 500 Ib. in weight. The method of
operating is to start the engine, after which the crew
leave the boat. A seaplane, protected by a strong fight-
ing patrol, then accompanies the vessel at.a distance of
three to five miles, and signals to the shore operator
the helm to give the vessel. ‘These signals need only
be “starboard,” ‘‘ port,” or “‘steady.”” The boat is zig-
_ zagged while running;. this may’ be either intentional
_ or unintentional. On being steered into a ship the
charge is exploded automatically. The device is a very
old one. A boat similarly controlled was used in
H.M.S. Vernon (the torpedo experimental ship) so far
back as 1885. The only new features in the German
‘boats are gai engines and wireless telegraphy signals,
neither of which existed then.
Tue first report of the Conjoint Board of Scientific
Societies shows that many subjects of national import-
ance have engaged the attention of the board since it
was constituted in June of last year. Forty-eight lead-
ing scientific and technical societies are represented
upon the board, and the expenses are met by contribu-
tions from them. The receipts at the end of September
last amounted to 6521. 6s. 8d., the expenses to
270l. 12s. 3d., and the balance at that date was
3811. 14s. 5d. There are ten sub-committees concerned |
respectively with the International Catalogue of Scien-
. tific Literature, the a
ture, technical optics, education, the prevention of. over-
lapping among scientific societies, the metric system,
anthropological survey, iron-ore, the water-power of the
Empire, and timber for aeroplane construction. The
Sub-committee on Agriculture emphatically believes that
a great future awaits the development of. electrical
applications to agriculture in the United’ Kingdom.
The board recommends, therefore, that the’ Board of
Agriculture be asked to grant the necessary funds for
designing, constructing, and testing practically an’ elec-
trical tractor and certain other agricultural. machines.
The Sub-committee on Education, in conference with
representatives of the Council of Humanistic Studies,
has arrived at a reasonable statement as to the essen-
tial place of science in education. It has also com-
municated to Sir Joseph Thomson, for the use of the
Government Committee on Science in the Educational
System of Great Britain, two resolutions referring to
the importance of training teachers to give inspiring
and attractive courses in science, and the need for
adequate salaries to be paid to such teachers. Dr.
G. W. Walker having stated that in working on the
_ magnetic survey of the country he had found evidence
of disturbance in certain areas which he considered
_might be explained by the presence of iron ores, the
board, upon the recommendation of the Iron-ore Sub-
committee, has arranged for a detailed ’‘magnetic survey
of (1) the neighbourhood of Melton Mowbray, and (2)
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
lication of science: to agricul-.
that of Strachur and Lochgoilhead. The survey will
be accompanied by (1) a detailed geological and petro-
logical investigation of the rocks in each area, and (2)
a determination of the magnetic permeability of the
rocks and minerals occurring in each area. The re-
port refers, among other matters, to the establishment
of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Re-
search, of the Department of Technical Optics at the
Imperial College, and proposals by the British Associa-
tion for the formation of a Geodetic Institute, with
which the board has expressed itself entirely in sym-
pathy. ©
Unper the title of ‘“‘Links between North and
South,”’. Prof. Flinders Petrie, in the October issue: of
‘Man, traces a connection between the Teutonic god-
dess Brynhild and Ishtar.of Babylon. “The position
seems. to be that a warrior goddess, with lovers, but
never married, who ‘forced her way into hell, was‘an
idea of a Central Asian people; that this was trans-
formed into Ishtar by the peoples who pressed down
in prehistoric days into Babylonia ;:that it was ‘carried
in some form westward by the Huns, and transformed
into Brynhild by ithe Norse ethics and customs; and
it was finally treated by the Germans much as Malory
treated the Arthurian. legends. Such are a few of the
dim links between North and South which may some
day serve to join up the two great streams of ancient
history.” 7.
Tue second number of “Recalled to Life’ was
issued in October. It is a journal devoted to the care,
re-education, and return to civil life of disabled sailors
and soldiers, and contains valuable matter dealing
with treatment and training and with administrative
matters such as pensions. In the present number
Col. Sir John Collie discusses neurasthenia and allied
disorders, Major Horton-Smith Hartley deals with.
tuberculosis in its relation to the war, and Sir William
Osler offers some remarks on the problem of the
crippled. '
Tue method cf determining the surface tension of
a liquid in air by allowing drops of the liquid to form
slowly at the lower end of a thick-walled capillary
tube and. counting the number which fall off is so
simple that it is very unfortunate that a satisfactory
theory of’ the process has never been given. Lord
Rayleigh. showed that the mass m of the drop of a
liquid of surface tension T which falls from a tube
of. outer’ radius r is given by mg=CTr, where C is
a constant which varies from 3-7 to 4-2, according to
the properties of the liquid and the radius of the tube.
The problem is a dynamical one, and its ultimate
solution will be; facilitated by the recent kinematograph
pictures of the formation of falling drops which have
been taken for M. F. L. Perrot, and are reproduced
in his article on the subject in the Revue générale des
Sciences for October 15. They show that the drop
before it breaks away is connected to the liquid above
it by a thin filament of considerable length, which
breaks’ simultaneously in two places. We hope M.
Perrot will succeed in placing the method on a sound
basis.
Tue following works are in preparation for appear-
ance in Messrs. Longmans and Co.’s Monographs on
Physiology :—‘‘The Physiology of Reflex Action,”
Prof. C. S. Sherrington; “‘The Physiological Basis of
the Action of Drugs,” Dr. H. H. Dale; ‘‘ The Nature
of Muscular: Movement,” Dr. W. M: Fletcher; ‘‘ The
Cerebral. Mechanisms of Speech,” Dr. F. W. Mott;
“‘Tissue Respiration,” Dr. C. Lovatt Evans; ‘‘ The
Physiology of Muscular Exercise,” Prof. F. A. Bain-
bridge; and ‘‘ The Vaso-Motor System,” Prof. W. M.
Bayliss.
£Y2
NATURE
[ NOVEMBER 15; 1917
“ QUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN,
NOVEMBER METEORS.—The moon being absent this
year at the epoch of the Leonids, a favourable oppor-
tunity will occur, should the atmosphere be-clear, for
re-observing the ‘shower. The parent comet (Tempel
1866 I.) is, however, now near aphelion, and there is
little prospect of witnessing an abundant display. _ But
‘some of the swift, streaking meteors directed from the
‘Sickle of Leo” are visible every year, and may well
repay observation on the morning of November 16.
There is another shower, possibly more irregular and
uncertain in its returns, connected with Biela’s comet.
These meteors, radiating from near y Andromede,
travel very slowly, as they are moving. in the same
direction as the earth and have to overtake us.. They
are due on the nights from November 19 to November
22, and may be observed at any hour. These Andro-
medids were seen in 1872, 1885, 1892, 1899, and 1904,
but have not reappeared in plentiful numbers since the
last-named year. The parent comet has not been seen
since 1852, though it must have made nine returns
to perihelion, the periodic time being about 6-6 years.
Encke’s Comet.—It is curious that although this
comet was photographed a year ago, when close to
its aphelion, yet repeated search in the present autumn
has failed to reveal it. The object observed for it in
mid-September by Wolf proves not to be a comet, but
a minor planet. It has been designated CP, and the
following orbit published :—
_ Epoch 1917 October 35: See
M 29" eee p I 1° 30°4'
o 39° “ 1057°9"
&3 285° a3 7 1917'0 log @ 0°35038
2 4 43'7' Period 3°354 y-
It will be recalled that in January, 1908, Prof. Wolf
announced an object as Encke’s comet that proved to
be an independent comet. The very large value 3:84
was found for its perihelion distance, but the observa-
tions were too few to give trustworthy elements.
EFFECTIVE WAVE-LENGTHS OF CLUSTERS AND SPIRAL
NEBuL2&.—A new series of determinations of the effec-
tive wave-lengths of certain spiral nebulz and globular
clusters has been made at Upsala by K. Lundmark
and B. Lindblad (Astronomische Nachrichten, 4907)-
The method employed was that in which a coarse grat-
ing, with spacing in this case of 1-3422 mm., is fixed in
front of the object-glass of a photographic telescope.
Some of the results are as follows :—
Rbiee: Mag. © wevelangtit uae
Cluster M5... 67 4tot fe
Bp ag a OO Le a ee
Spiral Mo4 ... 7-7 4367253 1.3
OED: | 2 a a” AR IP
i eO . SO0 CU
A Faint STAR AS NEAR AS a CENTAURI.—In Circular
No. 30 of the Johannesburg Observatory attention was
directed by Mr. Innes to a faint star in Centaurus
which had been’ found to have the large proper motion
of about 5” per annum. Mr. J. Vodte, of the Cape
Observatory, now announces (Monthly Notices,
R.A.S.,- vol. Ixxvii., p. 650) that the parallax and
proper "motion of this star are nearly identical with
those of a Centauri, which is still the nearest star
known. Mr. Votite finds the parallax to be 0-755" , and
the proper motion 3-76" in the direction 282-7°, while
the corresponding figures for a Centauri are o- 759", and
3°68" in the direction 281-4°. It will be seen that the
agreement is extraordinarily close, ‘although the dis-
tance between the two stars is 2° 12’. The question is
raised as to whether the stars are physically con-
nected, or are members of the same drift.
NO. 2507, VOL. 100 |
*bath.
The visual and photographic magnitudes of the faint
star are respectively i1-0 and 13-5, so that the spec
trum is probably of type M. The magnitude reduced
to a distance of 10 parse¢s is 15-4, or 17-9 photographic- _
ally, and the star would thus appear to be the —
faintest at present known.
‘The position of the star for 1916: 11 is RAL bn :
23m. 54-28s., declination —62° 19! 10-1"
PYROMETERS AND PYROMETRY.
Sate meeting of the Faraday Society on November 7,
at the Royal Society of Arts, Sir Richard Glaze-
brook occupying the chair, was devoted to a ite
discussion on ”Pyrometers and Pyrometry.”’
the character of the papers read and the remarks peso the
various speakers, it may be inferred that present-day z
activities in this direction are mainly devoted to -
ing existing instruments to industrial uses, rather
to the development of new methods of measuring high 4
temperatures. -The extent to which pyrometers are
now employed may be gauged from the fact that one
armament firm alone has six hundred instruments in
daily use, and in all branches of industry where accu-
rate temperature control is necessary _pyrometers Pee
form an indispensable part of the equipment. —
In this country the standardisation is undertaken b
the National Physical Laboratory. At the outbreak af
the war negotiations were in progress with a view to
the production of an international scale of temperatures,
in the absence of which a provisional scale has been
adopted for present purposes. Dr. Ezer, Griffiths and
Mr. F. H. Schofield, on-behalf of the N.P.L., gave an
account of this scale, and also of the methods adopted
in standardising pyrometers of various types. A strik-
ing confirmation of the value of central standardisation ~
was furnished later in a paper read by Prof.
J. O. Arnold, who, in experiments on the quenching
of high-speed steels, used four different types of pyro-
meters to control the temperature of a barium chl
The agreement of the instruments near ta
1300° C. was remarkably good, and proved that any
of the four could have been relied upon to regulate the.
temperature independently.
The ty
chiefly the thermo-electric, for. temperatures up to
1200° C.,
for higher temperatures. The chief drawback to the
thermo-electric instrument is the error caused by fluc-
tuations in the temperature of the cold junction, to
obviate which various devices have been introdu
from time to time. Mr. R. S. Whipple suggested that
this trouble might be overcome by burying the cold
junction in the sround to such a depth that any tem-
perature variations would be negligible.
ments conducted at Cambridge, and extending over
three years, it was found that at a depth of io ft.
the variation in temperature was only 16°. It was
pointed out, however, that in the vicinity of a group
of steel furnaces it would be necessary to locate the
cold junction at a much greater depth than to ft. to
secure anything approaching constancy, and that in
consequence the method would have a limited applica-
tion in practice. With regard to optical pyrometers,
it was rather disquieting to learn that the mono-
chromatic glass used in some of these instruments
could not yet be produced in England. Pre-war sup-
plies were of German origin, and at present this indis-
pensable material is obtained from the United States.
It is to be hoped that one of our own glass firms will
take this matter in hand, patticularly in view of the
rapid extension of the use ‘of optical pyrometers.
Several ofthe papers read bore on the temperature
of molten steel, and the discussion made it clear that
steel-makers now attach great importance to the tem-
pes of pyrometers now used industrially are
and total radiation and optical pyrometers .
From experi-.
\
- NoveMBER 15, 1917 |
NATURE
213
perature at-which steel is poured, as the properties of
the ingot produced are influenced by this factor. The
correct measurement of this: temperature is difficult;
thus, if an optical pyrometer be sighted on the molten
stream as it issues from the furnace, black-body con-
ditions are not realised, and the apparent temperature
‘indicated may vary according to the quantity of slag
. ying the metal: Similarly, the layer of cooled
Slag on the surface of the metal in the ladle prevents
the true temperature from being ascertained by optical
means, Although an occasional reading may be taken
with a sheathed junction of platinum and platinum-
iridium alloy, the method could not be used regularly
owing to the rapid destruction of the sheath. One pro-
sal made was to encase the wires in a large mass of
clay, leaving the ends uncovered, so that both
touched the molten steel; but it was pointed out that
this method would cause a rapid destruction of the
wires. In spite of these difficulties much progress has
been made by following out definite lines of procedure,
such as sighting on a certain part of the molten
stream at definite intervals of time during the pouring.
Mr. Cosmo Johns and others found it possible, under
uniform conditions, to obtain readings varying only
by 5° to 10°, which, as the chairman remarked, was a
surprising result considering the temperature measured.
All the s rs who had attacked this problem agreed
_ that the temperature of open-hearth stee! when being
poured was about 1600° C., careful determinations by
Dr. Hatfield with a thermal junction indicating 1600°
to 1625°. Further work in this direction is very desir-
able, as a trustworthy method would be of the greatest
value to the steel-maker. —
- described in co arena read by Mr. H. Watkin, one
of which consisted in placing the test-pieces across two
sloping ights, decider fashion, so that the droop or
complete fusion of any could be readily observed.
Two new st tions for measuring temperatures of
the nature of 1600° C. were put forward, both of which
entailed the use of a fused metal. Dr. Northrup, of
Trenton, U.S.A., described an instrument based on
the expansion of molten tin, constructed on the same
lines as an ordinary thermometer. The bulb and stem
were of graphite, and a nickel wire passing through a
gland in the top of the stem could be pushed down so
as to touch the top of the molten tin, when an electric
circuit was completed. The position of the top of the
column of tin in the stem could thus be ascertained and
the stem divided up in the same manner as a thermo-
meter. many years ago suggested a thermo-
meter of tin in a silica envelope, but the instrument
never came into practical use, and the graphite en-
closure is an undoubted improvement. Dr. Northrup
has found that molten tin does not give off vapour at
ee ‘C., and proposes to use his instrument up to
or even hi temperatures. Mr. C. R. Darling
suggested a thermo-electric pyrometer in which one or
both of the members of the couple might melt without
breaking the circuit. Asshown by Mr. A. W. Grace and
Mr. Darling, the thermo-electric properties of metals in
general are unchanged by fusion, and hence cheap
metals, such as tin or copper, might be used to measure
temperatures of 1500° C. or more, as their boiling
points usually exceed 2000° C. >
_ An excellent feature of the meeting was an exhibition
in the room of pyrometric apparatus of all kinds. In-
cluded in these was the original tapered gauge used by
Josiah Wedgwood for measuring the contraction of his
clay cylinders, by means of which the science of high-
temperature measurement was founded. The modern
productions of British makers are highly satisfactory,
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
and this young but flourishing industry has undoubtedly
a great future in front of it. Special-mention’ may- be
made of an automatically controlled furnace, ‘on the
principle devised by Mr. R. P. Brown, of Philadelphia.
The control is effected by means of a thermo-electric
pyrometer inserted in the furnace, the indicator of
which is provided with two stops, which may be:set in
any position, one on either side of the pointer. . To
control a furnace to within 5° above or below a given
: temperature, the stops are set at 5° on either side of
the number on the indicator. The pointer of the indi-
cator is depressed periodically by means of clockwork,
and when touching either. stop an electric circuit is
completed which actuates a relay. If touching ‘the
lower stop, the effect is to cut out an external. resistance
from an electric furnace, or to open wider the tap of
a gas supply in a gas furnace, whilst when in contact
with the higher stop resistance is added or the gas
supply checked. There appears to be no good reason
why large furnaces should not be similarly controlled,
and the saving in fuel and labour effected should soon
‘cover the cost of the apparatus.
The success of the discussion, in which makers of
pyrometers, representatives of various industries, and
scientific men were able to ‘compare notes, suggests
that meetings of this -kind are desirable in connection
with the application of science to manufacturing pro-
cesses, and cannot fail to act as a stimulus to all con+
cerned.’ tes
HEREDITARY CHARACTERS IN RELATION
TO EVOLUTION.}
if
(1) F IRST, then, what are the facts as to numerous
finely graded variations in a single unit factor?
Here we have certain remarkable data as to the eye-
colour of Drosophila—data that are of great interest
with relation to the nature of evolutionary change. This
fruit fly has normally a red eye. Some years ago a
variation occurred by which the eye lost its colour,
becoming white, a typical mutation. Somewhat later,
another variation came, by which the eye colour be-
came eosin. By those wonderfully ingenious methods
which the advanced state of knowledge of the genetics
of Drosophila have made possible, it was determined
that the mutations white and eosin are due to changes
in a particular part of a particular chromosome,
namely, of the so-called X.chyomosome or chromo-
some I. And further, it was discovered that the two
colours are due to different conditions of the same
locus of the chromosome; in other words, they repre-
sent two different variations of the same unit. More-
over, the normal red colour represents a third condi-
tion of that same unit. And now, with the minute
attention paid to the distinction of. these grades of
eye colour, new grades begin to come fast. Up ‘to
date we know from the mutationists’ own studies of
Drosophila that a single unit factor presents seven
gradations of colour between white and red, each
gradation heritable in the usual Mendelian manner.
These grades are the following :—(1) red; (2) blood;
(3) cherry; (4) eosin; (5) buff; (6) tinged; (7) white.
Considering that the work on Drosophila has been
‘going on only about seven or eight years, this is
remarkable progress toward a demonstration that a
single unit factor can present as many grades as can
be distinguished; that the grades may give a prag-
matically continuous series. The extreme selectionist
asks only a little more than this.
Besides showing that a unit factor may thus exist
in numerous minutely differing grades, this case shows
1 a from an address by Prof. H. S. Jennings.
p- 198.
Continued from
214
NATURE
[NOVEMBER 15, I9I7
that a heritable variation may occur so small as to be
barely detectible. Although the variations do not
usually occur in this way, the case presents the condi-
tions which would allow of a gradual transition from
one extreme to the other, by means of numerous inter-
mediate conditions. In a population in which were
occurring such minute changes as are here shown to
be possible, we could get by selection such a continu-
ous series of gradations as Castle describes in his
rats.
(2) But, as we have seen, the mutationists reject the
view that the changes in the coat colour of the rat are
due to alterations in a singe unit factor; they explain
this and other cases of the effectiveness of selection
on a single character by multiple modifying factors,
Accepting. again their contention, the question is
shifted to the nature of such factors.
Our direct experimental knowledge of these ‘‘ modi-
fying factors’ is scanty. We find data as to certain
known modifying factors by one of the workers on
Drosophila, Bridges (1916), in his recent important
paper on non-disjunction of the chromosomes.’ Bridges
found a factor the only effect of which was to lighten
the eosin colour in a fly with eosin eyes; this factor,
indeed, nearly, or quite, turns the eosin eye white.
Another factor has the effect of lightening the eosin
colour a little less, giving a sort of cream colour. A
third factor dilutes the eosin colour not so much. In
addition to these, Bridges has discovered three other
diluters of the eosin colour, and another factor the
only effect of which is to modify eosin in the direction
of a darker colour. None of these factors has any
effect save on eosin-eyed flies. These things add tre-
mendously to-our gradations in eye colour. We had
already been furnished seven grades, from white to
red; now we have seven secondary grades within a
single one of these seven primary grades. These
_ seven new grades are not located in the same unit
factor as are the seven primary ones; their loci are
in other chromosomes (or possibly in other parts. of
the same chromosome). ;
Here again, then, we have minutely differing condi-
tions of a single shade of colour, brought about by
seven modifying factors. Bridges makes the follow-
ing remark concerning them :—
““A remarkably close imitation of such a multiple
case as that of Castle’s hooded rats could be con-
cocted with the chief gene eosin for reduced colour,
and these six diluters which by themselves produce no
effect, but which carry the colour of eosin through
every dilution stage from the dark yellowish pink of
the eosin female to a pure white.” ®
Now this is an extremely interesting statement, one
that must arouse the keen interest of the student of
the method of evolution. In Drosophila we could get
the same sort of graded results that Castle does with
his rats, only in Drosophila this is by means of mul-
tiple modifying factors, whereas Castle believes that
in the rat it is by actual alterations of the hereditary
constitution !
But what are these modifying factors? And here
we come to the astonishing point. These modifying
factors are themselves alterations in the hereditary
constitution.
as actual changes in the hereditary material.
Where, then, is the difference in principle between
the condition in Drosophila and.that: in the rat? In
Drosophila there occur minute changes in the ger-
minal material, such as to give, so far as our present
imperfect knowledge goes, seven diverse grades of a
colour which is itself only one grade of another series
of seven known grades. By means of these graded
7 Bridges, 1916, p. 148. - (See Bibliography.)
8 Jéid., p.149. (See Bibliography.)
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
Bridges leaves no doubt upon.this point. -
He lists and describes them specifically as mutations;
changes one could obtain, by the mutationist’s own
statement, the continuously graded results which selec-
tion actually gives. What more can the selectionist
ask ? :
The mutationist thinks of all these numerous grades
as, after all, essentially discontinuous, as a series of
steps so minute that the difference between one and
the next one is not detectible. His opponent, on the
other hand, perhaps thinks of the series as actually
continuous. But when steps become so minute as to
be beyond detection, the question whether they exist
becomes metaphysical. pe
To put the case in brief, if the mutationists are to
show that the existence of multiple modifying factors
has any bearing on the general question of the effec-
tiveness of selection, they must show that such factors
are not themselves minute changes in the hereditary
constitution.
do this, but in the only well-examined cases they state
squarely that such factors are indeed alterations in
the hereditary constitution. ;
For the inheritance of such factors as Mendelian
units, of course absolutely nothing is required save
that the location of the change is in a chromosome.
No particular degree of magnitude, no unity of any
other kind is required.
But there remains one point brought out by the ~
mutationists which is of great importance to the
student of the method of evolution. While they must
admit, by their own account, that all these grades
s do
rOSO-
occur, they, of course, point out that the chan
not occur in a continuous series. In the eye of
phila variation may occur from red to white directly,
without any transitional stages; or from any grade
to any other; the continuous scale is obtained only
by arranging the steps in order.. Therefore, it is
maintained, evolution may have occurred by such
Not only have they made no attempt to
large steps, not by continuous gradations.® ‘This is,
of course, a matter deserving of serious consideration.
But certain other points must be considered also.
First, the very facts known for Drosophila show that
to the other by minute changes, just as is held to
occur by the paleontologists and selectionists, although
change by large steps occurs also. Secondly, in such
cases as the eye colour of Drosophila we are dealing
with characters that are already highly developed. We
know, for example, that this particular character is
formed by the co-operation of many separate parts of
diverse chromosomes; it is a highly complex product
of evolution.
there is nothing to prevent a passage from one extreme ~
oa
Now, we find that one or another of ~
these parts may suddenly cease to perform its function, —
so that the red colour is not completely formed; there
is a sudden change in it; or it may disappear entirely.
But is this, after all, strong evidence that in the
original production of this complex character with its
numerous underlying functional parts, there was the
same change by sudden large steps? Indeed, is it not
rather true that such destructive changes in a fully
formed character could not be expected to throw light
on how that character was built up?
To sum up, it appears to me that the work on
Drosophila is supplying a complete foundation for
evolution through selection of minute gradations. The
so-called ‘‘ multiple allelomorphs”’’ show that a single
-unit factor may thus exist in a great number of
grades; the ‘““multiple modifying factors’? show that
a visible character may be modified in the finest grada-
tions by alterations in diverse parts of the germinal
apparatus. The objections raised by the mutationists
to gradual change through selection are breaking down
as a result of the thoroughness of the mutationists’
own studies. The only outstanding difficulty is+the
9 See particularly the discussion of this point in Morgan, 1916, pp. 7-27.
(See Bibliography.)
ct -NovEMBER 15, 1917]
NATURE
215
fact that large changes occur as well as small ones;
this seems perhaps due to the fact that we are wit-
nessing the disintegration of highly developed appa-
_ ratus in place of its building up.
In all this, except the last point, the work on Droso-
phila is-in agreement with my own observation of
gradual variation in Difflugia, with Castle’s similar
results on the rat, and with the conclusions of palzeon-
tologists as to the gradual development of the char-
acteristics of organisms in past ages.
But there is one point in the palzontological con-
clusions which is not in agreement with the experi-
mental and observational results on existing organ-
isms; this I wish to notice briefly. Osborn sets forth
that in following given’ stocks from earlier to later
ages, characters arise from minutest beginnings, and
pass by continuous gradations to the highly developed
condition; these developing characters do not show
random. variations in all directions, but follow a
definite course, which might seem to have been in
some way predetermined. And this is emphasised by
the fact that the same sorts of characters (horns, for
example) may arise independently, at different ages,
in diverse branches of the same stock, and each follow
in later ages the same definite course of development.
Evolution is characterised. by Orthogenesis, as this
phenomenon has sometimes been called.
Now it appears to me that we do not observe this
in the present-day experimental work; by selection we
can move in more than one direction. There is no
indication, so far as I can see, that the variations
push in one determinate direction only. Examining
the palzontological summaries further as regards
this, we find that diverse courses are followed by given
characters, in diverse branches of a given group.
A second point which Osborn sets forth is deserving
of particular attention. He states, in agreement with
Waagen, that in any given geologic stratum, we do
find, in addition to characteristics that are in the line
of determinate descent, other variations from this line,
which are of the sort that constitute what we call at
the present time varieties; things that are like the
diverse races of Difflugia in my own work. But, say
Osborn and Waagen, there is a great difference in
_ principle between these and the others, for those which
are in the determinate line of progress persist into the
_ next geologic stratum, while the mere varieties do not,
The persistent changes were called by Waagen muta.
tions (in a sense somewhat diverse from that in which
the word is used by de Vries). .
Osborn expresses the opinion that these “varieties”
may be merely non-heritable modifications.'° But in
our present geologic “aha we find just such diverging
forms, in great number, and we find that their pecu-
liarities are heritable. There is, then, no reason for
supposing that these variations were not heritable in
earlier geological periods; there must have been many
races heritably diverse, just. as there are now; and
these are what Waagen called varieties.
Now, since this is so, the only difference between
Waagen’s mutations and his varieties is that the
former persisted and the latter did not. But this tells
us nothing whatever about why the latter did not. It
is perfectly possible, so far as these facts go, that it
was a matter of selection by external conditions ; many
diverse stocks were present, on an equal footing;
some were destroyed, others were not. The conditions
described by the palzontologists support strongly the
soonget of evolution by gradual change, but I cannot
see that they tend to establish the view that. varia-
tions show a tendency to follow a definite course, as
if predetermined. The palzontologists appear rather
to report precisely the conditions which we are bound
to find if evolution occurs through the guidance of
10 Osborn, 1915, p. 225. (See Bibliography.)
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
natural selection. operating -on a great: number -of
diverse variations, the typical Darwinian scheme.
There is one other point, made by Bateson (1914), in
his presidential address before the British Association, :
and further developed by Davenport: (1916) in a recent
paper: the proposition, namely, that since practically
all observed variations are cases of loss and disintegra-:
tion, we are driven to suppose that evolution has
occurred by loss and disintegration. Davenport com-;
bines this idea with the theory that these disintegrat-
ing variations follow a definite course, predetermined
in large measure by the constitution of the disintegrat-
ing material.
There are two points worth consideration in dealing:
with this theory. The first is one of fact; although,
it is true that many of the so-called mutations appear
to be cases of loss and disintegration, yet there is no»
indication that this is the case in such effects of selec-
tion as have been described by Castle and myself;
variations are not limited to any particular direction..
Secondly, it appears to me that this conclusion—that
because the variations we see are cases of loss and:
disintegration, therefore evolution must have occurred.
by loss and disintegration, involves an error in logic,
which makes it unworthy of serious consideration. .
To summarise, then, what I have obtained from-
experimental work combined with a survey of-the work
of others, the-impression left is as follows :-—
(1) Experimental and observational study reveals.
that organisms are composed of great numbers of:
diverse stocks differing -heritably by minute degrees. »
(2) Sufficiently thorough study shows that minute
‘heritable. variations—so minute as to represent prac-
tically continuous gradations—occur in many organ-.
isms, some reproducing from a single parent others by
biparental reproduction.” >
(3). The same thing is reported from palzeontologica
studies.
(4) On careful examination we find even that the
same thing is revealed by such mutationist work as
that on Drosophila; single characters exist in so many
grades due to minute alterations in the hereditary con-
stitution as to form a practically continuous series.
(5) It is not established that heritable changes must
be sudden large steps; while these may occur, minute
heritable changes are more frequent.
(6) It is not established that heritable variations
follow a definite course as if predetermined; they occur
in many directions.
(7) It is not established that all heritable changes are
by disintegration ; although many such do occur, they
cannot be considered steps in progressive evolution
from the visibly less complex to the visibly more com-
plex.
Evolution according to the typical Darwinian
scheme, through the occurrence of many small varia-
tions and their guidance by natural selection, is. per-
fectly consistent with what experimental and palzon-
tological studies show us; to me it appears more con-
sistent with the data than does any other theory.
Bibliography.
W. Bateson (1914), Address of the President of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science,-
Science, vol. xl., pp. 319-33. C. B. Bridges (1916),
Non-disjunction as proof of the chromosome theory of
heredity, Genetics, vol. i., pp. 1-52, 107-63. W. E.
Castle (1915), Mr. Muller on the constancy of Men-
delian characters, Amer. Nat., vol. xlix., pp 37-42.
W. E. Castle (1915 a), Some experiments in mass selec-
tion, Amer. Nat., vol. xlix., pp. 713-726. W. E.
Castle (1916), Can selection cause genetic change?
Amer, Nat., vol 1., pp. 248-56. W. E. Castle (19164),
Further studies of piebald rats and selection, with ob-
servations of gametic coupling, Carnegie Institution,
Washington, Pub. 241, part iii., pp. 161-92. oe
216
NATURE
| NOVEMBER I5, 1917
Castle (1916b), Genetics and Eugenics, Cambridge,
le aes. Amer. Nat., vol. li., pp. 102-14. W. E.
Castle and J. C. Phillips (1914), Piebald rats and
selection: an experimental test of the effectiveness of
selection and of the theory of gametic purity in Men-
delian crosses, Carnegie Institution, Washington, Pub.
195, pp. 56. C. B. Davenport (1916), The form of
evolutionary theory that modern genetical research
seems to favour, Amer. Nat., vol. |., pp. 449-65. A. L.
and Mrs. A. C. Hagedoorn (1914), Studies on variation
and selection, Zeitschr. f. ind, Abst..u. Vererb., vol.
xi., pp. 145-83. A. L. and Mrs. A. C.. Hagedoorn
(1917), New light on blending and Mendelian Inherit-
ance, Amer. Nat., vol, li., pp. 189-92. R. R. Hyde
1916),. Two new members of a_ sex-linked multiple
sextuple) allelomorph system, Genetics, vol. i., pp.
535-80. H. S. Jennings (1908), Heredity, variation,
and evolution in Protozoa: II., Heredity and variation
of size and form in- Paramecium, with studies of
growth, environmental action, and selection. Proc.
Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. xlvii., pp. 393-546. H. S.
Jennings (1909), Heredity and variation in the simplest
organisms, Amer. Nat., vol. xliii., pp. 321-37. H. S.
Jennings (1910), Experimental evidence on the effec-
tiveness of selection, Amer. Nat., vol. xliv., pp. 136-45.
_H. S. Jennings (1911), Pure. lines in the study of gene-
tics in lower organisms, Amer, Nat., vol. xlv., pp.
9g. -H. S. Jennings (1916), Heredity, variation, and
the results of selection in the uniparental reproduction
of Difflugia corona, Genetics, vol. i., pp. 407-534.
E. C. MacDowell (1915), Bristle inheritance in Droso-
phila, Journ. Exper. Zool., vol. xix., pp. 61-97. E. C.
MacDowell (1916), Piebald rats and multiple factors,
Amer. Nat., vol. 1., pp. 719-42. .T. H. Morgan
(1916), A critique of the theory of evolution, Princeton
University Press, pp. 197. T. H. Morgan (1917), An
_ examination of the so-called process of contamination
of genes, Anat. Record, vol. xi., pp. 503-4. H. F.
Osborn (1912), The continuous origin of certain unit
characters as observed by a palzontologist, Amer. Nat.,
vol, xlvi., pp. 185-206, 249-78. H. F. Osborn (1915);
Origin of single characters as observed in fossil and
living animals and plants, Amer, Nat., vol. xlix.,
pp. 193-239. H. F. Osborn (1916), Origin and evolu-
tion of life upon the earth, Scientific Monthly, vol. iii.,
PP. 5-22, 170-90, 289-307, 313-34, 502-13, 601-14. Ray-
mond Pearl (1915), Seventeen years’ selection of a
character showing six-linked Mendelian inheritance,
Amer. Nat., vol. xlix., 595-608. Raymond Pearl
(1916), Fecundity in the domestic fowl and the selection’
problem, Amer. Nat., vol. 1., pp. 89-105. Raymond
Pearl (1917), The selection problem, Amer. Nat., vol.
li., pp. 65-91. Edna M. Reeves (1916), The inherit-
ance of extra bristles in Drosophila melanogaster,
Meig, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. xiii., pp. 495-515.
S. R. Safir (1916), Buff, a new allelomorph of white
eye color in Drosophila, Genetics, vol. i., pp. 584-90-
A. H. Sturtevant (1917), An analysis of the effect of
selection on bristle number in a mutant race of Droso-
phila, Anat. Record, vol. xi., pp. 504. C. Zeleny and
E. W. Mattoon (1915), The effect of selection upon
the “‘bar-eyes”” mutant of Drosophila, Journ. Exper.
Zool., vol. xix., pp. 515-20.
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
It is proposed by the governors of the West Ham
Municipal Central Secondary School to call the insti-
tution ‘The Lister School,”’ to perpetuate the associa-
tion of Lord Lister with the borough of West Ham.
THE annual meeting of the Association of Public-
School Science Masters will be held on Tuesday and
NO. 2507, VOL. 100] ~
W. E. Castle (1917), Piebald rats and multi-
foe
Wednesday, January 8 and 9g, at the City of London
School, under the presidency of Sir Ronald Ross, who
will give an address on ‘‘ Observations on the Results _—
of our Present System of Education.”’ The subjects
to be discussed during the meeting are:—Examination _
or inspection as a test of science teaching, G. F.
examinations, O. H.
university scholarships examinations, H. de Havillard;
Descriptive astronomy in the “
ject, V. S. Bryant.
A SCHOLARSHIP designated the ‘‘ Institution of Naval
Architects Scholarship in Naval Architecture” will be
offered for competition among students of the institu-
tion in 1918. All students (being British subjects) who
have been elected at or before the annual general meet-
ing of the institution (March 20, 1918) will be eligible
for this scholarship, subject to the conditions named
below. The scholarship is of the annual value of —
1ool., and is tenable for three years, provided that they
are not less than eighteen or more than twenty-one
years of age on March 1, 1918, and at that date have
been continuously employed for at least two years upon —
naval architecture or marine engineering. Candidates
for the scholarship must forward a written application
to the secretary of the Institution of Naval Architects, —
5 Adelphi Terrace, London, W.C.2, to reach him not —
later than January 15, 1918.
Mr. FisHer is still hopeful that the passage of his
Education Bill into law will not be postponed in-
definitely. Speaking at Swindon on November 10, he
said that, though the pressure of Parliamentary busi-
ness may render it impossible for the Government to —
proceed with the Bill this session, it must not be
supposed that the Bill will therefore be discarded. The
Government intends to proceed with the measure at the
earliest possible opportunity, always, of course, assum- —
ing that the complexion of European events permits
Parliamentary attention to be bestowed on domestic
legislation. So important is it to the nation that the
education of those on whom its industrial efficiency
depends shall be extended and improved that we ©
are confident, if the Government is really in earnest,
there will be no insuperable difficulty about finding the
time at least to pass the educational clauses of the Bill.
The meeting at which the President of the Board of Edu-
cation spoke passed a resolution approving the Bill and
protesting against any delay in securing its passage
through Parliament.
THE subject of University Representation in Parlia-°
ment was before Committee of the House of Commons
on November 8, in connection with the Representation
Bill. Sir Philip Magnus’s amendment, giving separate
representation with one seat to the University of Lon-
don and two seats to the group composed of Durham, |
Manchester, Wales, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Birm-
ingham, and Bristol, was adopted on a division by a
majority of 128 (162 for, 34 against). The amendment
was supported by speeches also from Sir William
Collins, Mr. Burdett-Coutts, Mr. Macmaster, Mr. Boy-
ton, and Col. Greig, and accepted by the Home
Secretary (Sir George Cave). Sir Philip Magnus laid
stress on the peculiar constitution, character, and work
of the University, and pointed out the practical objec-
tions to the large group, including London, proposed
by the Bill. This point was emphasised also by Sir
William Collins, who said that the three representa-
tives of the proposed group would speak with no sense
of individuality, and would represent nothing but a
fortuitous and heterogeneous concourse of academic -
atoms. Sir George Cave said he: did not think the-
Speaker’s Conference intended.to put a slight upon.
the University of London, but had in mind the
science for all’? course,
Rev. A. L. Cortie; and Map reading as a school sub- —
ey
Daniell; Compulsory science in university entrance
ie
Latter; Subsidiary subjects in
‘
i | NovemsBer 15, 1917]
NATURE
217
transferable vote; and if London preferred one repre-
sentative to itself rather than the half of three to which
it. was entitled under the Bill and by the number of
its graduates, he had no desire to oppose its wishes.
One of the great captains of industry of Scotland
thas, specially organised and equipped an engineering
factory for the employment exclusively of educated
women of good social standing instead of the usual
woman factory worker, and with the fixed determination
to carry on operations permanently under those condi-
tions, the work to be taken up being that associated
with the manufacture of internal-combustion motors.
There is a fully illustrated account of the new factory
in Engineering for November 9, from which we learn
that it has some of the salient features of a technical
ae combined with practical work in the factory,
which gives that stimulus, to study not realisable in
the laboratory of a college. The factory is situated in
_. the south of Scotland amidst beautiful scenery, so that
students of botany and of wild-life generally can have
full opportunity of pursuing their hobby.. All the acces-
sories which are now placed under the wide term
““welfare’’ have been adopted to the fullest extent.
Highly trained lecturers conduct classes at the works;
these are compulsory.. Entrants’ receive 20s. per week
during the probationary, period of six weeks; they then
decide whether or not they intend to pursue the en-
gineering career. If such be the case, and they are
considered suitable, an apprenticeship agreement is
entered into, and the wages become 25s. per week.
Examinations are held at six months’ intervals, and each
“pass” means an increase of 5s. per week. It is evident
that the whole scheme provides for women the: oppor-
tunity of prosecuting an engineering career under the
most favourable and stimulating conditions, and that
the conditions are those best calculated for women of
good education and social standing to attain a broad
experience of engineering science and practice.
AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.
SOCIETIES
Royal Society, November 8.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
- president, in the chair.—Prof. A. D. Waller: The gal-
vanometric measurement of ‘‘ emotional ”’’ physiological
changes. The principal object of this communication
is to prove that emotional response of the human
subject is characterised (and can be measured) by altera-
tions of the electrical resistance of the skin, inde-
pendent of the well-known muscular and vasomotor
and secretory manifestations of emotion.—Lieut.
D. M. S. Watson : The structure, evolution, and origin
of the Amphibia. Part I.—The “orders”? Rachitomi
and St yondyli. In this paper all known ex of
Rachitomous and Stereospondylous Stegocephalia are
reviewed, the brain-case and basi-cranial region,
hitherto practically unknown, being described more or
less completely, and much new information about other
regions set down.—E. C. Grey : The enzymes concerned
in the decomposition of glucose and. mannitol by
Bacillus coli. communis. Part IIl.—Experiments of
short duration with an emulsion of the organisms.
Part III.—Various phases in. the decomposition of
lucose by an. emulsion of the organisms. By selec-
tion, Harden and Penfold obtained evidence. that the
proportion in which the enzymes of bacteria occurred
could be. artificially modified, which result might sug-
gest that the enzymes, although intracellular, .are able
to act independently of one another. . The present re-
searches demonstrate that this is a fact.
- Physical Society, October. 26.—Mr. W.- R. Cooper,
vice-president, in the chair.—T. Smith; A class of
multiple thin objectives. The objectives dealt with are
cemented combinations of several thin lenses. Two
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
kinds of glass only are employed, the odd elements
being of one kind, say. crown, and the even elements
of the other kind, flint. Such lenses may. be regarded
| as combinations of achromatic cemented doublets, and
formule are found for the aberration coefficients of
such lenses.in terms of those of a standard doublet
when the geometrical conditions for the absence of
air-gaps between the components are satisfied. Gener-
ally speaking, the results reached are that the outer
surfaces are concerned with coma, and the. inner
surfaces with spherical aberration. In all cases the
determination of a system to satisfy given conditions
involves only the solution of a quadratic equation,
and an algebraic method thus effects a solution in a
fraction of the time involved in a trigonometrical in-
vestigation. Chromatic differences of first-order’ aber-
rations are easily determined. The application of the
method is. illustrated by a series of quadruple objec-
tives which satisfy the ordinary conditions for tele-
scope objectives. Diagrams show the variation of the
curvatures. with the different forms, the magnitude of
the second order spherical aberration, and the chromatic
differences of first-order aberrations.—Prof. J. W.
Nicholson : The radius of the electron and the nuclear
structure of atoms. The electron is usually regarded
as a globule of electricity. with a definite radius.’ This
conception has proved valuable, but involves difficulties
in connection with the nuclear structure of complex
atoms. On the view that the electron consists of a
region of strain in the ether such line, constants ‘should
have some significance throughout the whole ether,
which may, in fact, be in some manner ‘cellular with.
these linear magnitudes involved in the specification
of the cells, and therefore in any strained structure
composed of them. The electron would be regarded
as a state of strain which for practical purposes is
concentrated at its centre, rapidly diminishing out-
wards according to some very convergent law involv-
ing some line constant in its specification. By way
of illustration the idea is worked out mathematically —-
on the assumption. that the strain varies as e-\”, on
which hypothesis A-* is the ‘radius,’’ . It .can be
shown that the Lorentz formula for mass as a function
of velocity can. be obtained. for this type of electron.
The charge on the electron is regarded as a funda-
mental property of the ether, and is related to
Planck’s constant h.
‘Linnean Society, November 1.—Sir David Prain,
president, in the chair.—Prof. W. A. Herdman : Spolia
Runiana. III., The distribution of certain Copepoda
and Diatoms in the Irish Sea throughout the year.
The author explained the prevalence of certain genera
at definite periods of the year, such as the abundance
of seven genera of Diatoms in the maximum attained
about April in the many (more than 5000) standard
hauls of the plankton-nets on the yacht Runa, in some
cases reaching hundreds of millions of Diatoms per
haul. The Copepoda, which were of much greater
size, did not reach such numbers, but attained as many
as tens to hundreds of thousands per haul, in the
autumn maximum at-a period when the Diatoms. had
practically disappeared. These two periods, spring and
autumn, showed monotonic plankton in each case of
phytoplankton and zooplankton respectively. The con-
nection between the prevalent plankton and the move-
ment of. migratory. food-fishes was traced in several
cases, and the fact was emphasised that the bulk of
the plankton of our seas is made up of a very few
organisms present in enormous numbers.—Lt.-Col.
J..H. Tull Walsh : The germination of Iris pseudacorus,
Linn., in normal and abnormal conditions. .°
Aristotelian Society, November 5.—Dr. H. Wildon
Carr, president, in the chair.—Dr. H.-Wildon Carr:
Inaugural address : The interaction of mind.and body.
After a brief allusiom to the_ progress. made. during
“218
NATURE
[NOVEMBER 15, 1917
thé’ last two or three decades in the clinical know-
ledge-of mind and body, and particularly to the amount
of material for study furnished daily by the injuries of
war, the president passed to the consideration whether
saan, our new knowledge throws light on the old
philosophical problem. He rejected as inconceivable
thé notion that psychical and physical action can be
comprised within one energetical system, or that there
can be direct equivalence of exchange between the two
otders. The alternative of parallelism, apart from its
incredibility on the ground of extravagance, is in direct |
conflict with the facts of individual experience. The
important fact in regard to the nature of mind and
body is that each is the unity and continuity of an
organic individuality, and that every modification of
either is a modification of the whole. Interaction
must therefore, it was argued, be interaction between
the whole mind as an individual unity of personal ex-
perience and the whole body as a living unity of co-
ordinated mechanisms. Such interaction is not causal
in the sense the term is used in physical science. It
is the mutual adaptation of two individual systems
distinct in their order, diverse in their function, and
divergent in their principle, both of which are neces-
sary and complementary to the common end for which
they co-operate, living action. The term which best
expresses their interaction is solidarity in its old legal
meaning, which denoted the unity of common purpose,
the diverse obligations, and the corresponding -claims
on the:members, of a partnership. The philosophical
theory sought further to deduce the principle of a dicho-
. tomy of living experience into two divergent but com-
plementary systems, mind and body, from the nature
of living action. é
Mineralogical Society, November 6.—Anniversary
meeting.—Dr. J. W. Evans in the chair.—Miss E.
‘Smith: Etched crystals of gypsum. Baumhauer con-
ducted experiments on colemanite and calcite to de-
termine whether the phenomenon of etched figures is
‘due to lack of homogeneity or irregularity in the inci-
dence of the dissolving liquid, or to lack of homo-
geneity in the crystal itself. Further experiments now
made on cleavage surfaces of gypsum tend, on the |
whole, to confirm Baumhauer’s conclusion that the
second hypothesis is the correct one.—Dr. G. T. Prior ;
The mesosiderite-grahamite group of meteorites.
Analyses of the mesosiderite Hainholz and the gra-
hamite Vaca Muerta show that these meteorites ‘do
not differ materially as regards the amount of felspar,
‘and microscopical examination of other mesosiderites
supports the idea that there is no real distinction be-
tween them; the name mesosiderite is therefore pro-
posed for the whole group. The ground-mass of these
“meteorites consists mainly of anorthite and a pyroxene,
poor in lime and having a ratio of MgO to FeO of
about 2. The iron and olivine are very unevenly dis-
tributed, and have chemical compositions such as they
shave in the pallasites. the iron being poor in nickel
(ratio of Fe to Ni generally greater than 10) and the
olivine poor in ferrous oxide (ratio of MgO to FeO
from 6.to 9). In accordance with the author’s concep-
tion of a genetic relationship of meteorites, it is sug-
gested that a eucrite-like magma, i.e. one of higher
oxidation, was, invaded by a pallasite-like magma of
lower oxidation. The curiously unequal distribution
of the nickel-iron and the shattered (cataclastic) struc-
ture, which is generally confined to the parts rich in
iron, support this view.—-Prof. H. Hilton: Chang-,
ing the plane of a gnomonic or stereographic projec-
tion. A method.was described by means of which the
gnomonic or stereographic projection of a crystal on
any plane may be obtained, when the projection on one
plane is given. The. application to the drawing or
orthographic, projection of the crystal was also. dis-
NO. 2507, VOL. 100| |
‘cussed.:—Prof.
, action of the male element.
been termed artificial parthenogenesis.
H. Hilton : )
random section of a crystal. A graphical'method was
given by means of which it is possible’ to calculate the
chance that the angle between the ‘cleavagé-cracks on
a random section of a crystal with two good cleavage
may lie between specified limits.
between the cleavage-planes was 90° or 60°.
Optical ‘Society, November 8.—Prof. F. J. Cheshire,
+ De.
president, in the chair.—Lt.-Col. A. C. Williams
scription of certain optical stores which have been cz
tured from the enemy. The paper dealt with certain
optical military instruments which are representative
of those employed by the Central Empires. Most of
them are used in connection with artillery. The first —
part of the paper had reference to the general require-
ments of such instruments and the methods of their
employment.
viceability, portability, finish, internal cleanliness, the
employment of complicated prisms, and adjustments.
Finally, the principal needs as. to the designing of
military optical instruments in this country were con-—
Cleavage ‘angle in’ a |
The method was
worked out in detail for the cases in’ which the angle
The second part contained a detailed —
description of the instruments, including the optical —
data, mechanical construction, weight, dimensions, ete. —
The concluding part contained some observations as to
the general design of the instruments as regards ser-—
sidered, and suggestions given as to the most satis-
factory solution of the question. Wee
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, October 16.—Mr. ie
W. Thomson, president, in the chair.—D. ard
Cutler: Natural and artificial parthenogenesis in
Parthenogenesis, or the production of an —
‘organism from an egg which has not been previously
fertilised by the male element, was shown to be of
animals.
wide occurrence in the animal kingdom, though con-
fined to only a few of its great divisions. The life-
cycles of many of the animals which exhibit this
method of reproduction were described, and it was —
ao
pointed out that though fertilisation, among these ~
animals, almost always resulted in the production of .
females, the sex of the animals developing from par- —
thenogenetic eggs was male in some species, female —
in others.
Experiments: were then. described which ~
tended to show that the cause of the change from
sexual to parthenogenetic reproduction was due to the ©
aha
interaction of the external factors (environment) and —
internal factors resident in the egg. The cytological
aspect of the subject was developed in detail in the t
Some of the most important theories regard- —
paper.
ing the cause of sex-production were then discussed, —
and it was shown that.the one put forward by Wilson
and Castle seemed at present to fit the facts more
nearly than any other. This theory regards male and
female formation as a quantitative phenomenon and
not a qualitative one; thus ‘femaleness is maleness —
plus something else.’”’ The second part of the paper —
dealt with the experiments which had been performed
on the eggs of various.animals that are not normally
parthenogenetic, causing them to. develop without the
This phenomenon has
oursier in
1847 stated that a virgin silkworm placed in sunlight
and then shade produced eggs from which caterpillars
developed, and Tichomoroff was able to get larve
from unfertilised eggs by placing them for a short
time in strong sulohuric acid. Since 1869, however,
observations have accumulated enormously, and the
substances capable of producing development are many
and various. The following are a few of the sub-
stances used :—Hypertonic solutions, acids, thermal
changes, cytolytic agents, blood sera, shocks from in-
duction, coils, Although most observers have worked
| NovemBer 15, 1917]
NATURE
219
with invertebrate eggs, Bataillon has largely confined
his attention to the lower vertebrates. e was able
by pricking the frog’s eggs to cause development,
which proceeded in three cases up to the tadpole stage.
‘The various theories which have proceeded from the
iments were then discussed. Finally, it was
pointed out tlat although various substances were
capable of inducing development, no factor or factors
common to all these substances had been isolated,
and that until this was done the problem of fertilisa-
tion could not be said to have been solved. Further,
it was significant that up to the present no animal
_ had been raised to sexual maturity by artificial means.
October 30.—Mr. W. Thomson, president, in the
chair.—Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins: The organisation of
museums and galleries of art and technology in Man-
chester. The author gave an outline of the organisa-
tion of the Manchester Museum. The scheme of
classification is based upon the two great principles of
time and evolution. It begins with the ancient history
of the earth, dealing first with minerals. built of
elemental bodies, secondly with the rocks built up of
minerals, and thirdly with the history of life as revealed
in the rocks. The history of life is represented in its
three great stages of evolution—primary, secondary,
and tertiary, the series ending with the groups illus-
trating existing Nature, plants, animals, and man. An
account was then given of art in Manchester at the
present time, and a scheme outlined for the organisa-
tion of a collection of new art in Manchester. The
needs of manufacturers and workers generally who
look for the best examples of mechanical processes and
handicrafts can only be met by the establishment of a
great industrial museum.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, October 22.—M. Camille Jordan
in the chair.—E. Branly: Electro-metallic influences
exercised through insulating leaves of very small thick-
ness. An experimental study of the conditions under
which a very thin sheet of mica exhibits unipolar or
bipolar conductivity.—H. Douvillé: The Tertiary ot the
Aquitanian gulf and its differences of facies——M. de
Sparre: The influence of the variation of wall thick-
ness on strokes of the ram in a constrained pipe.—G.
Charpy and S. Bonnerot: The heterogeneity of steel.
The imens discussed were etched by a copper re-
agent, the metallic copper being afterwards removed
by solution in ammonia. The advantages of the
method are shown by six illustrations reproduced from
photomicrographs, four showing the progressive effects
of rolling on the structure of the metal.—E. Goursat :
The integration of certain systems of differential equa-
tions.—S. Bays: The triple cyclic systems of Steiner.—
H. Larose: The uniform movement of a wire in a
resisting -medium.—C. Camichel, D, Eydoux, and M.
Gariel: The strokes of an hydraulic ram.—M.
Mesnager: The thick rectangular plate, loaded at the
centre, and the corresponding thin plate.—J. C. Sola:
The parallax of the star P Ophiuchi. An _ appli-
cation of the stereoscopic method; the parallax found
for this star is 0-418"+0-24".—M. Brillouin ; The elec-
tromagnetic field of an element of constant current in
a biaxial anisotropic medium.—A. Mailhe and F. de
Godon : The transformation of secondary and tertiary
fatty amines into nitriles. Diisoamylamine, passed
over reduced nickel at 300°-320°, gives amylene,
hydrogen, ammonia, triisoamylamine, and isoamyl-
nitrile. Triisoamylamine, under similar conditions,
also yields isoamylnitrile. The formation of a nitrile
is unexpected, and further investigations will be made
to see if the reaction is a general one.—M. Guerbet :
Condensation, under the action of potash, of cyclo-
hexanol with secondary butyl alcohol. The synthesis
of 4-cyclohexyl-3-butanol.—L. F. Navarre; The struc-
NO. 2507, VOL. I00] .
ture and petrographic composition of the Pic du Teyde
(Teneriffe).—]. Deprat: The presence of the Lower
Cambrian to the west of Yunnanfou.—H. Coupin :
The acid, excretion of roots. The acid excretion is
due, not to the root-hairs, but to the superficial
cells of the outer layers, especially when the latter
have suffered lesions.—Em. hbourquelot ; The influence
of glycerol on the activity of invertine. Unsuccessful
attempts to synthesise sugar by the action of invertine
on solution of glucose and levulose led the author to
make a study of the hydrolysis of sugar by invertine
in presence of glycerol. Without glycerol the inver-
sion is practically complete in seven days; increasing
proportions of glycerol cause a progressive weakening
in the activity of the invertine, so that in 50 per cent.
glycerol solutions only 21-6 per cent. of the sugar was
hydrolysed.—M. Cazin and Mile. S. Krongold ; The use
of commercial sodium hypochlorite solutions (eau de
Javel) in the treatment of infected wounds. Of 510
patients treated by this solution only three died. The
question of the supposed irritating properties of this
solution is discussed, and the results of comparative
experiments made with Dakin’s solution and 0-5 per
cent. sodium hypochlorite solution are given.—C. Benoit
and A. Helbronner: The treatment of war wounds by
the combined action of visible and ultra-violet: radia-
tions.
October 29.—M.
Cremieu: Experimental
Ed. Perrier in the chair.—V.
researches on gravitation.
—P. Pascal: The distillation of mixtures of
sulphuric and nitric acids. The boiling points
of mixtures of water, sulphuric acid, and_ nitric
acid have been studied and the results shown graphic-
ally. The diagrams give all the elements necessary
for the theory of the concentration of weak nitric acid
in retorts, and the denitration in towers of nitro-
sulphuric acid mixtures.—J. Bougault : The preparation
of acyl hydroxylamines, starting with the oximes of
a-ketonic acids. By the action of iodine and sodium
bicarbonate upon the oxime of an a-ketonic acid an
acyl hydroxylamine is formed, CO, being eliminated,
a nitrile being also formed by a secondary reaction.
Thus the oxime of phenylpyruvic acid,
C,H,.CH,.C(NOH).CO.H,
| gives phenylacetylhydroxylamine,
C,H,;.CH,.CO.NH(OH),
and phenylacetonitrile, C,H,.CH,.CN. Other examples
are given proving the generality of the reaction.—A. B.
Chauveau: The diurnal variation of potential at a
point in the atmosphere with clear sky. It is shown
that part, at least, of the diurnal variation is due to
dust particles.—F. Morvillez: The leaf trace of the
Rosaceze.—W. Kopaczewski: Researches on the serum
of Muraena helena: the toxic power and_ physical
properties of the serum. ‘The toxic action of the serum
remains after thirty days’ storage in the dark, but
sunlight exerts a destructive effect. The toxic effect
disappears after exposure to 75° C.—A. Lécaillon: The
appearance of “‘bivoltins accidentels"’ in univoltine
races of silkworm, and the rational explanation of this
phenomenon.—J. Amar: Rational prothesis of the
lower member: a practical model of the leg.
MELBOURNE.
Royal Society of Victoria, September 13.—Prof. W. A.
Osborne, président, in the chair.—Dr. C. Fenner ; The
physiography of the Glenelg River. The Glenelg ori-
ginated in a post-Pliocene uplift forming the low
western end of the main divide of Victoria. The uplift
having a westerly tilt, all the tributaries enter from
the east. Part of the asymmetry results from vigorous
tributaries crossing the divide and capturing ‘head-
2:20
NATURE
[ NovEMBER 15, el
waters of) north-flowing streams, while the flooding of
iditieks ‘Victoria with basalt diverted. south-flowing |
streams’ to the west, and augmented the importance
of the Wannon, the. principal ‘tributary of the Glenelg
River. —Kathleen Haddon (communicated by Sir Bald-
win Spencer) : Some Australian string figures. Mak-
ing these figures, which form imitations of animals
and other natural objects, is a favourite amusement
of women in-all aboriginal races, and in the form of
the well-known cat’s cradle they are supposed to have
reached Europe from:China, along with the tea-trade.
Similar figures are found to be in use all the world
over, and it is, in fact, possible that this is one of the
earliest sedentary prehistoric games.—Dr. S, Pern:
A method .of éstimating minute traces of calcium
in thé blood. To a faintly acid solution containing: cal-
cium three-quarters. its volume of alcohol is added,
then three drops or more of a ‘saturated solution. of
oxalic acid. It is then shaken up, and within a few
minutes a white cloud appears, which under the ultra-
microscope shows no crystalline shapes, ‘but rounded
bodies, 0-1 » in diameter. This method is so sensitive
that a four-thousandth part of a milligram of calcium
can be detected in 5 c.c. volume. The main object of
the method is for the estimation of calcium in tthe
blood in different diseases.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
The Organism as a Whole from a Physicochemical
Viewpoint. By Dr. J. Loeb. .Pp.x+379. (New York
and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.) 2.50 dollars net.
_ An Ethical System based on the Laws of Nature.
By M. Deshumbert. Translated by Dr. L. Giles. Pp.
ix+231. (Chicago and London :, : Open Court’ Publish-
ing Co.) 2s. 6d. net.
“The Electron: Its Isolation and Measurement and
the Determination of some of its Properties. By Prof.
R.A. Millikan. Pp. xii+268. (Chicago: University
of Chicago Préss; London: Cambridge . University
Press.) © 1.50 dollars’ net.
‘Radiography. and Radio-Therapeutics. By Dr. R.
Knox. Part i., Radiography, Second edition. Pp:
SpA sede, plates. (London : A. and C. Black,
Ltd.) 30s. net.
British Grasses and_ their- Employment. in Agricul-
ture. By S. F. Arnistrong.. Pp. viit199. (Cam-
bridge: At the UniversityPress;)\ 6s. net.
Instinct in Man. By Dr. J. Drever. Pp. x+281.
(Cambridge : ‘At - the University Préss.) gs. net.
‘Highways and Byways in Wiltshire. . By E. Hutton.
Pp. xvii+ 463:. (London : “Macmillan and Co., Ltd.)
6s. net.
The Psychology of War. By Dr.Juste MacCurdy.
Pp. xi+68. ' (London: W. Heinemann.) 2s. 6d. net.
Biologia Marina. By: R. Issel. Pp. xx+607.
(Milano: U. Hoepli.) ‘10.50 lire:
' Pisticoltura ‘Pratica. By Prof. F. Supino. Pp. -
Viti +327. (Milano: U. Hoepli.) ©5.50 lire. -
_ DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15.
‘ROYAL SOCIETY, at 4.30.—A New Gyroscopic Phenomenon: E. E. Tournay
Uinde. —Investigation into’ the Imbibition Exhibited by some Shellac
Derivatives: A. P. Laurie and C. Ranken.—Phenomena connected with
Turbulence in the Lower Atmosphere: -G. I. Taylor.—The Relation
between Barometric Pressure and the Water Level in a Well at Kew
» Observatory :.E. G. Rilham.
IysTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 5.30.—Slime Tecansbient on
“Corish Frames, with Particular Reference to the Effect of Surface :
. J. Truscott.—Comparative Concentration Tests'on Wood and-Fluted
Glass Surfaces.at Porco, Bolivia: H. A. Lewis.
‘LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 5. —Methods of Staining Embryonic Cartilage > E.S.
Goodrich. —Notes on Calamopitys: Dr. D. H. Scott.
FRIDAY, NoveMBER 16.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL, ENGINEERS, at 6.—Some Notes-on Air Lift
Pumping: A..W. Purchas,
NO. 2507, VOL. 100]
3 MONDAY, eoubes I
ARISTOTELIAN Socikty, ‘at 8.—Thought* and “Tntuition :
“Mrs. Karin
Stephen:
4
Barton,
RovaL GrocRAPHICAL Society, at 5—Sandbanks ‘and Deltas; E. Cy ad
SocieTy oF ENGINEERS, at 5.—Sewage and its Aare amis Further : ae
Experiments: R. Brown, ry
TUESDAY, Wegrnsimeut 20 :
Roya ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 5. —Witch Sacrifices : Miss M.A. ;
urray.
INSTITUTION oF CrviL ENGINEERS, at 5:30.—The say ai Bridge over
the Lowér Ganges at Sara: Sir R. R, Gales.
[nstiTUTION oF PeTRoLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS, at 8.—The Oil Prospects, of
the British Isles; W. H. Dalton.
ZOOLOGICAL Soctery,, at 5.30.—The New-born Marsupial and its Mode of —
Birth: Prof.. J. P. Hill.—The Development of Echinocardium ¢ordatums
Prof, E. W. MacBride. —(1) New South American Rhopalocera ; (2 ‘New. :
South American Arctiide ; (3) New Butterflies from Africa and the e:
(4) Gynandromorph of Papilio lycophron; Abn,’; (5) Three Aberrations of -
Lepidoptera: J. J. Joicey and George Talbot. 4 veformity of os penis
a Phoca caspica, Nilsson, Sergius Alpheraky.—Notes on a pest sert
Heterocera made by Mr. W. Feather in cass East ‘Africa, gttIg+
Lt.-Col. J. M. Fawcett. PTL Meet Ota
Roar STATISTICAL SOCIETY, at 5,15. : eget
frie)
WEDNESDAY, NovEMBER 21.
RévaL Society or ARTS, at. 4.30. —Inaugural Address : "didded and its Age
Functions: A. A..\Campbell. Swinton. -
Royat METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5. The Tel veces ees ;
Oscillation : Dr. G. C. Simpson—Abnormal Temperature, with
serge to the Daily Maximum Air Seperate at Greenwich : ; We
ryant.
GEOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 5.30.
Roya Microscopical Society, at 8.—Some Forsuninifenl from the Noh
Sea, ete. V. Vhuranimina papillata, ome A’ Stu y in Variation ?
E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland, ; = +e
Enromotocicat Society, at 8. BACs
THURSDAY, NOvEMBER 22.
Rovav Society; at 4.30.—Probable Papers: eecelaagi Pro
ferred on the
Essay on the Evolution of a Group of Cretaceous Polyzoa: W.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6. oe Boil
Hunter. wv i a ie
een
CONTENTS. ec PAGE e
Electrical Engineering. By Dr. A. Russell . . 201
The Thyroid Gland. By Prof. P, T. Herring ... 202
Out Mookshelf.. 2 ....0 2 ae
Letters to the Editor:— Mao g 4
On an Appearance of Colour Spectra to: the Acar ek
_. ° Julius Rheinberg; R. Brudenell Carter .. . ees
Paraffin. a Scottish : Product.—-H. R. J. ‘Conacher 5,
‘Lt.-Commdr. H. E. Wimperis . ... . . . 204 ©
Ferro-concrete Ships. (J/i/ustrated.) . .... . 205
W. Du Bois Duddell, C.B.E., F.R.S. By Profi
E. W.Marchant ... ... | ee a
Notes _ . me
Our Astronomical Column .— ~ ue
November Meteors ;. :.:) « 4 >< “Suess a ee
Encke’s Comet j one ee BIZ
Effective Wave- Aeueths ol Cleat and Spiral N Nebulae 212)
A Faint Star as near asa Centauri . . 2... . » 212
Pyrometers and Pyrometry : rm “212
Hereditary Characters in Relation’ ‘to ‘Evolution,
_ Il. By Prof. H. S. Jennings pee an . 213
University and Educationai Intelligence ts ok) eee
Societies and Academies... ....... .- ae
Books Received pet rs 220
‘Diary of Societies 2,220
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221
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1017.
CLASS-BOOKS ON ELEMENTARY
eos WD CHEMISTRY,
41) A Class-book of Organic Chemistry. By Prof.
Jj. B. Cohen. Pp. viii+344. (London: Mac-
- millan and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 4s. 6d. net.
(2) Practical Chemistry for Medical Students. By
Dr. A. C. Cumming. With preface by Prof.
J. Walker. Second edition. Pp. 8+ 165.
(Edinburgh: James Thin, 1917.)
(1) | seperti the systematic basis of organic
“ chemistry, it is always difficult to initiate
students in the study of the subject, and especially
o get them to grasp the general prin-
of the science as a_ precedent to
study. The majority of elementary
text-books are burdened with far too much
preliminary detail of an abstract character, so
far as the beginner is concerned, before he is
brought into touch with the materials and methods
of the science, with the result that he finds his
‘studies lacking in interest and objective. This
defect is very successfully avoided in Prof. Cohen’s
book. It bears, in every respect, the mark of the
experienced teacher, and is most suitably adapted
to the requirements of first-year medical students
and of senior science students in schools, for
whom it is designed. .
first of which the principles of the subject are
illustrated by a detailed elementary study of ethyl
and methyl alcohols. By means of these examples
ypical methods of experiment and investigation
employed in the examination of organic compounds
and-.in the determination of their structure are
described. A more systematic account of the chief
aliphatic compounds forms the second portion of
the book, which is concluded with a brief descrip-
tion of the more important cyclic compounds. A
series of practical exercises is included in each
section, and a set of questions appended to each
shapter. These exercises are well chosen, and do
‘much to keep the theoretical work within the scope
of experimental knowledge. A few fuller explana-
‘tions of some reactions and structural relations
“might be usefully added—for instance, in regard
to the acidity of aniline hydrochloride, the relation
of azo-colours to their mother-substance,. azo-
benzene, the diazonium formula, and the proof. of
‘the presence of the two hydroxyl groups in ali-
-zarin. Also, in view of the book being designed
for the use of medical students, their interest would
have been stimulated by a little more specific detail
of the therapeutic properties of such substances as
salicylic acid, salol, antifebrin, and phenacetin.
_ (2) Although a course of practical chemistry for
medical students need not differ in character from
the instruction required for other students in the
more elementary stages of the subject, it is advan-
_tageous if the material selected is restricted to
_ such methods of experiment and to descriptions
of the properties of such substances as will serve
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
The volume is divided into three parts, in the
NATURE
as a helpful introduction to subsequent medical
study. From this point of view the experiments
described in Dr. Cumming’s book are very suit-
_ ably selected and their sequence is well arranged.
The first exercises deal with the manipulation of
apparatus, solubility, crystallisation and its value
in the purification of compounds. These are fol-
lowed by an account of the properties of the
commoner acids and alkalis, of the preparation
and properties of the more important gases, and
of the properties of sulphur, iodine, and carbon.
These descriptions are accompanied by a series
of instructions for qualitative experiments, to
which a few simple quantitative exercises—for
instance, in the case of carbon dioxide and of
hydrogen—might have been added with advan-
tage. :
The succeeding sections deal with the prepara-
tion of salts, elementary volumetric analysis, and
the qualitative reactions of inorganic and of the
commoner organic compounds, including the more
important alkaloids. In this new edition the
subject-matter of the previous issue has been care-
fully revised and a few additional experiments
with bread, potatoes, and fats, the fermentation
of glucose, and the action of saliva on starch have
been introduced. The descriptions of the experi-
ments and of the associated details of manipula-
tion are throughout direct and concise, so that the
course should form a really practical help to the
study of the general principles of chemistry.
C. A. K.
AMERICAN GUNNERY.
Stresses in Wire-wrapped Guns and in Gun-
carriages. By Lt.-Col. Colden L’H. Ruggles.
Pp. xi+259. (New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.,
1916.) Price 13s. 6d. net.
A Taece preface to this the second edition explains
that: the text was originally prepared-for the
cadets of the U.S. Military Academy. The title does
not fully indicate the contents.. The elastic stresses
in wire-wrapped guns are the subject only of
chap. i., pp. 1-36. Chaps ii. and ili.,. pp. 37-105,
deal with the forces which the firing of the gun
occasions in the principal parts of the carriage,
the 3-in. field carriage, the 5-in. barbette carriage,
and the 6-in. disappearing carriage being taken
as examples. The problems are dealt with in these
two chapters as problems in ordinary statics and
dynamics. Chap. iv., pp. 106~73, treats of the
elastic stresses in parts of gun-carriages. Chap.
V., pp. 174-227, if not very. obviously. connected
with the professed subject of the book, gives a
clear descriptive account of “toothed gearing.”
The subject of the last chapter, vi., counter recoil
springs, has more connection with guns than
might appear at first sight.
The numerous illustrations, which form a great
feature of the book, are generally very clear.
Some, especially those relating to toothed gearing
—for instance, Figs. 78, 80, 89, and 93—are
quite works of art. If scarcely necessary for the
N
ous
NATURE
information of those who have actually to handle
the objects illustrated, they at least adorn the
book. Another great feature is the number of
numerical illustrations of the formula. Even if
the student does not properly understand the
formula, or the physical principles on which they
depend, the guidance afforded by the numerical
_ wise md4/32, where d is the diameter). ame
formule are applied to springs coiled from bars —
of rectangular section, hxb, with the following —
_ explanation :
illustrations will probably enable. him to deal with |
concrete cases. The book, in short, seems in-
tended for the man for whom facts are a necessity,
but reasons a luxury. If the form and contents
of the book were dictated, as one would naturally
suppose, by the wants-of U.S. military cadets, the
most natural inference is that when the cadet
is called the: ‘polar moment of inertia’ (other-
The
“As first shown by Saint-Venant ~
. a. plane section whose axes are unequal q
becomes a warped surface when subjected to great —
torsional strain. . Reuleaux states that the ~
polar moment of inertia of a rectangle bis ae
jected to great torsional strain is WA, 3
I, = (hb)® = {3(h? + b°)},
-and that the distance from the centre of crite
commences the study of ordnance he does not. ;
possess that knowledge either of mathematical
analysis or of the mathematical theory of elas- |
ticity desirable for a critical study of the problems
presented by wire-wrapped guns and recoil springs.
to the point of the section most distant from He
is r=hb(h? + b?)-3.” The author then inserts these
_ expressions for I, and r in the formula deduced for
the circular sections The student will naturally ,
infer that the “warping” appears only when the
torsional couple is large, and his ideas as to the
geometry of a rectangle must receive something
The author begins his treatment of wire-
wrapped guns_ by quoting from __Lissak’s
“Ordnance and. Gunnery” formule for the |
strains and stresses in a hollow circular cylinder.
from a printer’s error, Rg for R,?. The differ-
ences between stresses and ste and the rela-
tions between them are not made altogether clear,
the expressions for the strains being multiplied
by E, Young’s modulus,
explicit reference to Poisson’s ratio, which is
tacitly assumed to be 1/3. This, no doubt,
simplifies the mathematics, and a further simpli-
fication is effected by accepting a common value
of E for the forged steel of the tube, the steel
wire of the winding, and the cast steel of the
jacket. -These materials are supposed to differ
only in their “elastic limits.’
may be necessary to bring the problem within the
powers of the average cadet, but there are, it is
to be hoped, superior cadets who would benefit
by having the limitations of the formule pointed
out. It is to be feared that the reader will find
the way of reaching the formule relating to the
elastic strains and stresses produced by wire-
wrapping rather a feat of jugglery. He is also
not unlikely to miss the fact that the inferences
as to elastic limits are generally based on a
greatest strain theory.
The student who will derive benefit from the
treatment of elementary elastic problems given
on pp. 106-20 has not reached the stage of know-
ledge desirable when tackling wire-wrapped guns.
There is, moreover, no clear statement of prin-
ciples. Formule are quoted from various sources,
apparently simply that they may be available for
reference in connection with the numerical illus-
trations. No warning seems to be given as to
the risks in applying to short and irregularly
shaped beams formule based on_ the Euler-
Bernoulli treatment of hending.
The treatment of helical springs in the last
chapter, though very arbitrary, seems fairly satis-
factory so far as concerns snrings in which the
section of the original bar is cirevlar: but the
and there being no |
These assumptions |
of a shock. The author does not seem well
advised in using the same letter E to denote the
rigidity and Young’s modulus.
The first formula, as ill-luck will have it, suffers |
A work which contains so much information —
about U.S. ordnance, even if not the absolutely —
extension to cases in which-the section is rectan- -
gular invites criticism. The formule obtained
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
_a set of analytical rules applied to analytical ex-
| pressions ;
latest patterns, and the methods employed by
_U.S. ordnance experts will naturally appeal to an
unusually wide circle at present.
Re pe
ISAAC BARROW, — a
The Geometrical Lectures of Isaac Bevee ;
Translated, with Notes and Proofs, by J. M. -
Child. Pp. xiv+218. (Chicago and London: »
Open Court Publishing Co., 1916.) ‘Priee :
4s. 6d, net.
M R. CHILD begins by. laying down the
startling thesis that “Isaac Barrow was
the first inventor of the Infinitesimal Calculus;
Newton got the main idea of it from Barrow by
personal communication; and Leibniz also was
in some measure indebted to Barrow’s work.’”
To interpret this according to the writer’ s inten- —
tion we must use the term ‘‘ calculus ’’ to mean. Ss
with this restriction, Mr. Child has
made out a case that is convincing enough in =
this sense, that if Barrow had been given any
function likely to be constructed in his time, he
would have been able to differentiate it by apply-
ing a few standard rules. .
It is extremely interesting to read Barrow’s
lectures, because they were written at a time
when the power of the new analysis was be-
coming apparent, whereas every mathematician
of note had been thoroughly grounded in the —
classical geometry of the Greeks. Barrow makes —
considerable use of algebraic symbols—otherwise
we could only say that he generalised the methods
of Fermat and others; even the fact that he —
practically gives rules for differentiating a sum,
product, quotient, etc., would not make him the —
inventor of the calculus. At the same time #
Barrow’s treatment is, in the main, geometrical, vf
and we feel that he would like to make it com- |
pletely so, if he could. f
NOVEMBER 22, 1917]
NATURE
223
The outstanding features of the lectures may
be summarised as follows :—Barrow regards a
curve as the locus of a moving point, and makes
its velocity at any moment the resultant of two
velocities parallel to two fixed axes; one of. these
velocities is taken to be constant, and then the
nature of the curve determines the ‘other com-
_ ponent velocity for any position of the moving
_ point.
the calculation of the variable velocity (¥);
constructs an infinitesimal triangle, and oa.
this determines, generally by a sort of method
of “exhaustion,’’ the value of the subtangent, or
some such finite segment, from which the posi-
tion of the tangent can be inferred. Barrow’s
rule for differentiating a product accordingly
appears in a form equivalent to
d(uv)/uvdx = du/udx + dv/vdx,
and similarly for a quotient. It may be added
that Barrow gives (Lect. x., ex. 5) an analytical
pores of a proposition equivalent to
d tan x/dx =sec? x,.
_and in this he neglects small quantities of higher
order than the first. It is, therefore, practically
certain that, if he had chosen to do so, Barrow
could have written an algebraic treatise on the
differential calculus; and to this extent Mr.
Child’s contention seems to us to be fully justi-
fied. Barrow was probably too enamoured of
the old geometry to wish to do anything of the
kind; and we may venture to think that he had
no conception of the immense importance of an
abstract, arithmetical calculus for mathematics in
general. It is here that the value of Leibniz’s
contributions becomes so manifest, and_ it
matters little how far he was really indebted to
Barrow’s lectures, of which he was known to
have had a copy.
_ Mr. Child gives paraphrases (in moderti nota-
tion) of the most important parts of the iectures,
with notes of his own in different type. At the
end we have a reduced facsimile of two pages
of the original, and of a sheet of the original
diagrams. So far as we have tested it, the
paraphrase is satisfactory ; P. 575 Il. 14, 16,
ii decreasing ” and ‘‘ decrease ’’’ should be ‘“‘ in-
_ creasing” and “increase,” and p. 66, last line,
** that I know ’’ should be “‘ so far as I know,’’
and there may be other similar slips. Altogether,
Mr. Child may be heartily congratulated on the
result of his six months’ research. G. B. M.
OUR BOOKSHELF.
“The Distances, Absolute Magnitudes, and Spectra
of 734 Stars. Arranged for Use with Ordinary
Star Maps by T. E> Heath. Pp. iv+s52.
(Tenby: Sold by Miss Crealock, South Cliff
Street, Tenby, n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
q ve determination of the distance of a star, by
' measuring its minute change of position when
seen from opposite points of the earth’s orbit, is
an extremely laborious work. According to Mr.
No. 2508, VOL. 100]
Barrow does not, like Newton, Sea
Heath’s pamphlet, the parallaxes of about 700
stars constitute the total’ output up to now from
the various observatories of the world; and for
many of these the only information obtained is
that the star is at a great but unknown distance
beyond the reach of the method. The general
fate of these data is to fall into the hands of some
mathematical astronomer, apparently actuated by
an irresistible impulse to add things up and take
the mean; then comes a sudden jump to mathe-
matical formule ; integrals gather in formidable
array, and the error-function makes its inevitable
appearance; and so the riddle of the universe is
slowly disentangled—or knots itself tighter—to
the great satisfaction of those who have any
notion what it is all about.
Mr. Heath is one of those who would rescue
the precious knowledge from this socialistic use.
For him the stars each have their individuality ;
they are personal acquaintances, not mere items
on a census-form. When he looks at the Great
Dog, in his mind’s eye he sees Sirius a modest
star of 30 sun-power eight miles away (to use
his “Road-Book ”’ scale), and its less conspicuous
neighbour Beta, a brilliant globe of 750 sun-power
223 miles distant. Then turning to the gleaming
belt of the Milky Way, on the same scale, “if we
took ship to America we might probably come to
the beginning of the Milky Way before we arriv ed,
and get through it before we came to the Pacific.’
And so he places out the stars at their pr
distances and gives the true measure of their
brightness.
There must be many watchers of the skies to
whom the stars will acquire a new interest from >
the information here set out. It has hitherto been
practically inaccessible except to specialists. Mr.
Heath does not conceal the fact that the individual
results are often very uncertain; they are taken
from the best authorities, but it is only for excep-
tionally near stars that the distances are known at
all closely. But we can agree with him that on
the whole a true general view is conveyed. We
are glad to learn that the author has presented a
large number of copies to the Admiralty for dis-
tribution among the Fleet. Ro. E.
The Road and the Inn. By James John Hissey.
Pp. xviii+ 435. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd., 1917.) Price ros, net.
THE latest addition to Mr. Hissey’s already long
list of travel books will delight every lover of
English byways. In a small motor-car, provided
with camera and brush, Mr. Hissey went from lane
to lane from Eastbourne to the Dukeries, Rugby
being his most westerly, and Dunwich his most
easterly, visit. There was no hurry and no bustle ;
and he preferred the country inn to the town hotel,
for his ‘‘aim was to get into the heart of the real
country.” The serenity and charm of his gossipy
narrative show how well he succeeded in securing
the quiet holiday he desired; and the beauty of
his photographs and drawings indicates his
re-discovery of some of the hidden glories of the
English countryside.
224
NATURE
[NovEMBER 22, 1917 _
~ +
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.]
On the Theory of Magneto-ionisation,
I BEG permission to make a few remarks on the -
note in Nature of September 13, p. 32, in which one
of my latest papers is criticised, the one in which |
gave, | think, a direct proof of magneto-ionisation.
‘In the experiment which the writer of the note
takes into consideration the intensity of the current
in the air ionised by a beam of X-rays between two
parallel metal plates is measured. I find that a mag-
netic field directed perpendicularly to the electric field,
and the ‘intensity of which is below a certain value,
causes an increase of current, although the deviations
of the ions and electrons tend to produce a decrease.
This effect is uncertain in the case of small potential
differences, but it becomes considerable when ionisa- |
tion by collision begins.
The writer of the note remarked that ‘“‘when a
magnetic field of 430 gauss is superimposed, there is
found a current decrease .’ Now, the numerical
table to which he alludes is not the only one given
in the paper, and it shows such a decrease (which is
very small) in one case only, which may be considered
as accounted for by experimental error, since nothing
of the kind is found in the other numerical tables.
That, of course, leads one to suppose that the writer
is not fully acquainted with certain parts of my work,
and what he says farther on seems to confirm this
supposition : ‘‘In the opinion of the writer of this note
Prof. Righi’s, interpretation of his results is by no
means the only one which is possible, and though his
ingenious experiments are of great interest, his theory
will need further support before it obtains general
acceptance. In particular, it will be necessary to show
that the increase of current is not caused by the
oblique, and therefore longer, paths of the ions under
the joint actions of the two fields.”
The writer then offers a new theory, or, more
exactly, he states a general idea, which he seems to
consider to be preferable to my theory. But this idea
cannot be admitted, as I now propose to show.
Apart from the fact that the writer appears to
believe that the effect of the magnetic field is simply
the obliquity of the trajectory of the ions, whereas
these trajectories become certain well-known curves
(which may be deduced from the formule given in
‘the third paragraph of the note added to my paper), —
I at once make the fundamental objection that it is
not sufficient to increase the distance travelled over by
an ion in order that the latter may become capable |
of ionising a larger number of atoms. In fact, as in
ionisation by collision an ion loses a part of its kinetic
energy, it would be necessary to prove that the mag-
netic field causes the said energy to increase. Now
this is not at all the case, since by means of the
formulz of the movement of an ion in an electric and
magnetic field it is demonstrated that when ‘the ion
traverses a plane perpendicular to the electric field it
possesses exactly the same velocity, be the magnetic
field existent or not.
It may be added that when the magnetic field does
exist, the speed of the ion may increase only to a
maximum value, after which it decreases again, the
ion retroceding in respect of the lines of electric force,
while if the magnetic field does not exist, the velocity
may increase without limit, provided it be not stopped
by the electrode which attracts it or by collision with
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
tention.
molecules. All this is clearly understood when one
knows that, apart from the velocity parallel to th
magnetic force, which remains constant, the trajecto:
of the ion is nothing but the curve described by
point travelling at a constant speed over a circumfer-
ence, while the latter is itself travelling uniformly in
a straight line in a direction perpendicular to the two
fields. pe |
Finally, I wish to point out that, even if the idea —
expressed by the writer of the note did not lack a
basis, my theory ‘could not easily be rejected. It is,
in fact, but a direct consequence of the conceptions
already accepted by most physicists, nor does it need
the addition of any subsidiary hypothesis. = =
As a matter of fact, it being admitted that atoms
have satellite electrons, they must tend to orient them-
selves in the magnetic field as if the orbits of such
electrons were closed electric currents. Now the sense
of this orientation is such that the force due to the
field, and acting on the electrons, is directed towards —
the outside of the orbits, which causes a decrease of
the energy required to detach them from the rest o
the atoms: : a
It is this facility of ionisation produced by the mag-
netic field that constitutes ‘‘magneto-ionisation.”
Aucusto RIGHI.
Bologna (Italy), September 27.
I am sorry if, owing perhaps to the brevity of my ~
note, I have led Prof. Righi to think that, in my
opinion, his theory of magneto-ionisation can be
‘‘easily rejected.” Nothing was further from my- in-
I believe I have read all Prof. Righi’s papers
on the subject as they have appeared, and have re-—
peated some of his experiments. The impression they —
have left on my mind is that, although Prof. Righi’s
theory gives a plausible explanation of the complex |
phenomena investigated, yet it is not the only one —
possible, and further work is necessary before a final
conclusion can be reached. I did not express a prefer- —
ence for another theory.. I merely suggested objéc-
tions that would have to be met before the theor
under discussion could be unhesitatingly l.
The question as to whether I have given a fair account
of the numerical results must be left to the decision
of the readers of the memoir. ees
THE WRITER OF THE NOTE. ©
The Introduction of the Word ‘* Magneton.’’
Tue word “magneton” is now so frequently used
that it has seemed worth while to me to seek to lea
to whom is due this addition to the vocabulary of
physics. y 3
So far as I can find, Dr. L. A. Bauer was the first to —
employ the word. In the weekly journal, Science
(June 10, 1910, vol. xxxi., p. 920), is a report of a —
meeting of the Philosophical Society of Washington,
D.C., held on May 7, 1910. There is included an
abstract of a paper by Dr. Bauer entitled “Is there
an Emanation from a Magnetised Substance?” in
which the following occurs :—‘*The corpuscles in
magnetism might be atomic systems in which the elec-
tron is revolving about an inner nucleus parE siA for —
example, of a positive ion, such as assumed by Righi ©
for the formation of his so-called ‘ magnetic rays.’ . . -—
Since the system creates-an atomic magnetic field the
axis of which passes through the centre of rotation
of the electron and perpendicular to the plane of rota-
tion, the speaker suggested calling such systems ‘mag- _
netons.’”’ mot oe
In a letter to me Dr. Bauer says :—‘‘ The term was
used not only in my paper before the Philosophical
Society of Washington on May 7, 1910, but also in my
a ‘NoveMBeER 22, 1917]
bee.
NATURE
225
lectures on terrestrial magnetism at the Johns Hopkins
University a month or so previously.”
_ Because Prof. R. Gans had used the same word
“quite early, I wrote to him to ask his aid in locating
its earliest occurrence. He replied to me from Argen-
tina, saying :——‘ Auch mich interessirt es zu wissen
wer das Wort ‘ Magneton’ zum ersten Male gebraucht
hat. Ich selbst habe wohl das Wort zuerst in der von
Ihnen erwaehnten Arbeit in den Géttinger Nachrich-
ten, 1910, verwendet. Die Arbeit von Bauer, den Sie
-zitieren, kenne ich nicht.” The article referred to by
Prof. Gans in Géttinger Nachrichten, 1910, p. 200,
was presente at the session of May 28, 1910, by C.
Runge. In the course of the discussion we find this :
“Die lage jedes Molekularmagneten, oder wie wir
kuerzer sagen wollen, jeden Magnetons. . . .”’’
Since Prof. Pierre Weiss conferred on the word under
investigation the quantitative meaning which it seems
likely to retain, I turned to him also for assistance,
He wrote me in reply:—‘J’ai imaginé le nom de
magnéton’ & la suite de mes recherches expérimen-
tales. L’analogie avec l’éléctron s’imposait. J’ai eu
‘connaissance plus tard que M. Gans avait fait usage
antérieurement du méme terme dans un sens différent.
Il me semble que, dans ce sens, l’expression de moleé-
e magnétique convient tout aussi bien. Je n’avais
pas connaissance jusqu’A présent de l’emploi fait de
M. L. A. Bauer et je vous remercie du
x
.
“matiére.” Near the close we come upon the follow-
:—* Le nombre d’atomes dans |’atome-gramme est
=70 x 10% (Perrin). Le quotient m; N=15-94x10~*
ast le moment de l’aimant élémentaire lui-méme, corre-
‘spondant a la partie aliquote des moments des atomes-
rammes. Je l’appelerai magnéton. . . . Le magnéton
st done un constituant universel de la matiére.”’
It is surely interesting to note that three physicists
nm as many serert countries independently introduced
the word within a year. Priority appears to belong
o Dr. Bauer. j
_ As some uncertainty can be observed in the pronun-
iation of ‘‘magneton,” I appealed to its sponsor, Dr.
Bauer, for a decision. He replied: ‘‘I hesitate greatly
jesiring to appear competent to pass on the official
sronunciation of the word ‘magneton.’ I prefer the
uccent on the second syllable, and giving the sound of
@ as in ‘thee,’ thus—magneeton. Still, I should not
“quarrel with anyone who wishes to put the accent on
‘the first syllable and pronounce the e as in ‘ met.’
i e alone will decide.” GrorGE F. STRADLING.
_ Northeast High School, Philadelphia.
a An Ontical Phenomenon.
_ A peEscripTion of the phenomenon mentioned by
Capt. Cave in Nature of October 18 will also be found
in Nature, vol. Ixx., p. 107 (1904), and vol. Ixxviii.,
Ppp. 255, 277, and 305 (1908). J. W. Givtay.
Delft, November 9.
=
a
THE NICKEL INDUSTRY.
T°HE complete report of the Royal Ontario
4 Nickel Commission, of which a summary was
» published in March last, has recently been received
, oa, Sie country. It is a document of absorbing
interest and exceptional importance. The com-
mission was appointed on September 9, 1915, and
asked to inquire into, and investigate and report
-- NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
upon, the resources, industries, and capacities,
both present and future, of the Province of Ontario
in connection with nickel and its ores. Its refer-
ence also included an inquiry into the system of
taxation by the province of its mines, minerals,
and mineral industries. There were four com-
missioners, Messrs. Holloway, Miller, Young, and
Gibson, representing metallurgy, geology, law,
and administration respectively. They set to
work at once and completed their labours in
eighteen months—a remarkably short time con-
sidering what they did. Their report contains
nearly 600 pages, and the appendix more than
200. It is a model of lucidity of exposition, and
displays such a complete grasp of the subject in
all its bearings and details, and such shrewdness
of judgment in regard to its recommendations,
that it will certainly rank as:the most authorita-
tive monograph on the nickel industry that has
ever been published. The commissioners have
rendered to Canada a service of remarkable value.
It appears that, so recently as 1900, as much as
65 per cent. of the world’s market was supplied
by nickel made from® the New Caledonia ores,
the balance being furnished by Canadian ores.
New Caledonia, although discovered and named
by Capt. Cook in 1774, was not claimed by any
European country until 1854. -In that year it is
said that a French and a British frigate sailed
simultaneously from Sydney (Australia) to take
possession of it. The former was the first to
find a way through the barrier reef and thus
secured the island for France. The commissioners
comment on the striking fact that ‘‘ two countries
so widely separated as are Ontario and New Cale-
donia, not only by distance, but in almost every
other way, should alone be rivals, not merely in
Se sagen of nickel, but in that of cobalt as
well.”
For many years nickel from New Caledonia had
an established world market. It was included in
all British Government specifications where nickel
was required. When the Mond Nickel Co., work-
ing on Sudbury ores, entered the ‘field, it found
an immensely strong prejudice both in Government
departments and the trade against them, which
was overcome only after elaborate and expensive
trials and tests. Moreover, the New Caledonia
nickel had for many years a tied market among
the principal consumers in Europe, owing to the
close business connections of the leading French
producer—Le Nickel—with the great armament
firms. This company has the financial backing
of the Rothschilds and is the chief rival of the
Canadian companies.
Since 1900 Ontario has forged ahead with its
production. The world’s output has increased
sixfold since that time, and of this Ontario now
furnishes about 80 per cent. The main factor
in this change is the great difference in the size
of the ore-bodies in the two countries. Whereas
those of New Caledonia are reckoned in at most
hundreds of thousands of tons, the Sudbury
(Ontario) deposits are measured in millions. In
spite of its apparently favourable position, how-
226
NATURE
[NOVEMBER 22, I917 _
ever, the main questions which the commissioners
had to answer were not easy. They were: (1) Are
the nickel deposits of Ontario of such a character
that this province can compete successfully as a
nickel producer with any other country? (2) Can
nickel be economically refined in Ontario? When
they took up their work they were faced with the
opinion of the companies interested that the
answer to the latter question was in the negative.
They also found that “‘ for nearly fifteen years the
whole of the great and highly profitable industry
connected with the production of refined nickel
from the vast deposits of nickel-copper ores in the
Sudbury district has been divided between two
powerful corporations. Both companies mine,
smelt, and refine their own ore, and possess their
own process of refining; both produce their
refined metal product outside of Canada, and
neither is a Canadian company. Other companies,
British, American, and Canadian, some of them
with excellent promise of success, have operated
mines, erected plants, or have been otherwise
engaged in the industry. In no case has any of
their undertakings been permanent or successful.”
They had_also to reckon with the fact that there
is no certainty that large profits can be made
every year from the nickel industry. It is neither
a necessity of life-nor an article of universal con-
sumption or use. Its uses may be classified under
four headings: (1) as a component of alloys; —
(2) as a surface coating for other metals; (3) as
a chemical or catalytic reagent; (4) as a pure
metal. In the past the output has had to be cur-
tailed at times.
In spite of these facts, the commissioners have
had ‘‘no hesitation” in answering both the above
questions in the affirmative. They say that the
nickel deposits of Ontario are much more extensive
and offer better facilities for the production of
nickel at low cost than do those of any other
country. Nickel-bearing ores occur in many parts
of the world, but the great extent of the deposits
in this province, their richness and uniformity of
metal contents, and the success of the industry
point strongly to the conclusion that Ontario
nickel has little to fear from competition. They
say also that any of the processes now in use
for refining nickel could be successfully worked in
Ontario, and conditions and facilities are at least
as good in this province as in any other part of
Canada. There is now an ‘‘assured prospect”
of the erection in Ontario of two large plants for
the refining of nickel—one by the International
Nickel Co. of Canada at Port Colborne (Lake
Erie), d th th by the British A ica |
rie), an e other by e Britis merica | the end of the first month to the end of the third
Nickel Corporation, probably at Sudbury. The
latter company, in which the British Govern-
ment is a large shareholder, has been formed
since the outbreak of the war. For special
reasons the Mond Nickel Co. will continue to
refine at Clydach, near Swansea. In its business
the manufacture of copper sulphate is almost as
important as that of nickel, and this is marketed
chiefly at Mediterranean ports.
H. C. H. CARPENTER.
No. 2508, VOL. 100]
STUDIES IN. INFANT AND CHILD
MORTALITY.
t
ascribed at the present time to the saving —
of child life (see NaTurE, October 26, p. 146), the —
N view of the importance which must be
Medical Research Committee has been well ad-—
{
vised to institute an inquiry into the causes of —
death in infancy and childhood. The results of —
this inquiry have now been published in a series”
of essays,! which, it is pointed out in an intro- —
duction, have been written primarily with a view —
to the planning of future lines of research rather
than for publication as finished reports.
An introductory historical note is contributed by
Dr. Chalmers, in which he remarks that deliber-
ate effort to conserve infant life can be said only ~
to have begun with the recognition of the contrast
which the movement in the death-rate of infants
presents when compared with that of the general
death-rate. Whereas the latter fell continuously
and considerably during the fourth quarter of the
last.century, fluctuations of the infant-mortality
rate remained fairly constant and without very
marked indication of a corresponding decrease.
The first report, by Dr. Brend, deals with the —
relative importance of pre-natal and post-natal
‘conditions as causes of infant mortality.2 He con-
cludes that under the term “infant mortality’
we are classing together two radically different
types of deaths, which are brought about by dif-
ferent causes and are governed by different influ-
ences. The first type consists of deaths due to
developmental factors which vary but little in place,
time, and class of the population, and appear to —
be caused by fundamental influences which we —
The
second type consists of deaths mainly due to |
neither understand nor are able to control.
respiratory diseases and enteritis caused by the
influence of the post-natal environment—over-
crowding, atmospheric pollution, etc.—and prob-
ably entirely preventable. These two types of
death overlap somewhat in time, but the end of
the first month after birth provides a fairly sharp
line of division. Some three-quarters of the mor-
tality during the first month represents a bedrock
loss of life which we have hitherto failed to reduce
and which is mainly due to developmental condi-
tions, while mortality after the first month is part
and parcel of the general mortality of childhood,
due to the same causes and demanding for its
reduction the same measures. Mine
Dr. Brend suggests that it might be of advan-
tage to divide “infant mortality ’’ into ‘‘ birth
mortality,’’ the deaths during the first month, and
“mortality of early childhood,’’ the deaths from
year.
In the second report Dr. Findlay discusses the
causes of infantile mortality. He brings out the.
importance of environment (housing, etc.) as a_
factor in causing the present high infantile mor-
tality, and he urges the need for a more scientific
1 “The Mortalities of Birth, Infancy, and Childhood.” Medical Research _
Committee, Special Report Series, No. 10, October, 1917. :
In vital statistics the term ‘‘infant mortality ’is used to denote he
deaths of infants up to one year of age.
| Novemser 22, 1917]
NATURE
227
investigation of the results following schemes of
infant. welfare if their true effects are to be deter-
mined. With regard to the latter, the danger of
“overdoing it ’’ is emphasised. For instance, in
“Poplar, in spite of an extensive infant welfare
r scheme i in being, the infantile death-rate has risen.
It is suggested that this disappointing result may
be traceable to the people being harassed by a
‘multitude of health visitors, which upsets them
and makes them disinclined to adopt the measures
ur upon them.
e third and final report is a statistical study
‘by Dr. Brownlee of some of the data relating to
infantile mortality. It is shown that the growth
“of the child is a continuous process from a period
at least six months prior to birth up to the age of
about four years, a process which is not inter-
i pted either by the act of birth or by the act of
weaning.
_ Certain disease conditions have also been in-
vestigated. Convulsions diminish in a perfectly
definite manner from the age of two months to
‘that of four years. In the group of premature
births and wasting diseases some considerable sav-
ing of infantile life seems to be possible. The
group of diarrhoeal diseases is found to be a homo-
reneous statistical group, though it undoubtedly
Encludes several distinct specific infections, from
which it is inferred that the reason for the fre-
quency of these diseases at the ages at which
they occur must be sought for in the development
_of the child rather than in the type of parasite.
‘Scarlet fever, measles, bronchitis, and pneumonia
i ave also been investigated.
i een that this report contains matter of much
mportance, and its appearance at this time is
most opportune. Be Fe
BARON DAIROKU KIKUCHI.
Se alas KIKUCHI, whose death took place on
August 19, was one of the most conspic-
ous among the band of men who modernised
education in Japan. He was born in Yedo (now
Tokyo) on March 17, 1855, and came of a family
of noted scholars.
a father were specially interested in Western learn-
ing, and Kikuchi himself early received a strong
bias in the direction of scientific study. He was
e€ youngest member of a small group of
_ promising students whom the old Shogunate
Government sent to Europe in 1866. Owing to
“the revolutionary change of government which
occurred in Japan in 1868, Kikuchi was recalled
home; but two years later he was again ordered
abroad, this time to England. After some years
“spent at school he entered the London University
College in 1873, but ere long passed on to Cam-
“bridge, where he graduated as nineteenth wran-
ae in 1877.
Returning home, he became. professor of mathe-
“matics in the college where he had been himself a
young pupil, which had developed gradually to
the standard of a university. Originally known as
the Kaisei-gakko, this school grew into what was
No. 2508, VOL. 100]
From the foregoing brief summary it will be
Both his father and grand--
afterwards known as the Tokyo University, and
this in due course amalgamated with the Kobu-
daigakko, or College of Engineering, and became
the highly organised Imperial University of Japan.
It was in the Tokyo University that Principal
Sir J. A. Ewing, then professor of engineering
and physics, carried out his well-known experi-
ments on magnetic hysteresis ; and associated with
Kikuchi in these and later days were Edward
Divers, professor of chemistry, C. D. West, pro-
fessor of mechanical engineering, John Milne, the
famous seismologist, as well as others, including
the writer of this notice. Our intercourse with
Kikuchi was marked with cordiality and mutual
appreciation from the first, in great measure due,
no doubt, to his experience as a schoolboy and’.
student in London and Cambridge. He greatly,
admired the English genius for self-imposed
discipline, and used to say that if he had not been
a Japanese he would have desired above every-
thing to be an Englishman.
From 1881 Kikuchi added to his professorial
duties the office of the Dean of the College of
Science, a highly responsible post at that time of
strenuous educational development. As one of the
members of the House of Peers under the new
Constitution he was of great service in advancing
various Bills of educational and economic impor-
tance, and rapidly established for himself a high
reputation as a man of sagacity and administra-
tive power. The mere enumeration of the public
offices which he filled is a tribute to the confi-
dence his fellow-countrymen reposed in him. In
succession he held the posts of Vice-Minister of
Education (1897-98), President of the Imperial
University, Tokyo (1898-1901), and Minister of
Education (1901-3). ~ ;
As one of the representatives of the Imperial
Academy of Japan, he attended the meeting of the
International Association of Academies at Vienna
in 1907, and thereafter spent a considerable time
in this country. His course of lectures on Japanese
education, delivered in that year under the auspices
“of the University of London, were published in
English in 1909. This book contains the first
systematic account of the history of education in
Japan given to the world at large, and will ever
remain a work of great value to the educational
historian. A remarkably succinct sketch of the
fundamental characteristics of the old Japanese
civilisation, and of the way in which it proved
itself equal to the absorption of Western learning,
was given in an address delivered before the
Royal Society of Edinburgh in June, 1907, and
published in the Proceedings (vol. xxvii.).
After this stay in Europe, where Kikuchi
renewed acquaintance with many former. friends
and made many new ones, he returned to Japan to
take up again responsible educational duties. Up
to the day of his last illness he was in the midst
of. all movements which were making for effi-
ciency in education. In March of this year, for
example, he was appointed director of the newly
established National Physico-Chemical Institute.
Called comparatively early in life to take a great
228
NATURE
[NoveMBER 22, 1917
and ever-increasing share in shaping the destinies
of his country in regard to science and higher
education, Kikuchi had scant leisure for mathe-
matical research. His chief work as an investi-
gator was historical, and he contributed a number
of papers to the Tokyo Mathematical Society on
the mathematics of the old Japanese school. He
also wrote a text-book on elementary geometry for
use in Japanese schools and colleges. Of far
greater moment to his country, however, was his
disinterested devotion to the cause of the higher
learning in science and morals. It was for this
that he was created a Baron in 1902. His succes-
sive honours came to him simply because he was
indispensable to his country and to his sovereign.
But to the end he retained all the characteristics
which endeared him to us—modest, courteous,
gracious, always acting from the highest motives,
strong in purpose yet never aggressive, and com-
bining in a singular degree the finest traits of the
Japanese Samurai with the best qualities of the
youth of England. At the most impressionable
time of life Kikuchi lived under the full influence
of the best culture our island kingdom can offer ;
and we may be pardoned for regarding his pre-
eminent success as in no small measure due to his
unconscious training in a land where liberty,
individuality, and zeal for the common good are of
the very air we breathe. C. G. Knorr.
- NOTES.
In three Chadwick public lectures on the part, of
hygiene in the European war Dr. Woods Hutchinson
gave some noteworthy facts in connection with the
progress of military hygiene. The present world-
struggle is probably one of the least deadly ever fought
in proportion to the numbers engaged. Less than
5 per cent. of the wastage of former wars was due
to wounds or deaths in battle; the other 95 per cent.
was caused by disease. In the armies themselves the
ratio was six to nine deaths by disease to one in battle
or from wounds. In this war the ratio is sixteen
deaths in battle to one from disease. Of the wounded
who survive six hours go per cent. recover, of those
who reach the field hospitals 95 per cent. recover, and
of those who arrive at the base hospitals 98 per cent.
get well. Barely 5 per cent. of the wounded are
crippled or permanently disabled. There is good
reason to believe that the death-rate of this war
does not exceed 5 per cent. per annum. The
subjects of food and diseases of an army were also
discussed. The superb health and vie of our armies
on the Western front are due largely to the rich and
abundant supply of food. These armies had less sick-
ness and fewer deaths from pneumonia and other
diseases than they used to have in barracks in times of
peace. The old plagues of army camps—cholera, Black
Death, and spotted typhus—all lifted ‘their heads
in Italy, in Serbia, and in Russia, but all were
promptly stamped out by modern sanitary science. The
total number of cases of serious or lasting ‘shell-
shock,” so called, and mental disturbance, during 1916
in the trenches in France, was 2600, fewer than one
per 1000 of the armies in the field, and fewer than
half of the ordinary insanity rate in men of military
ages in times of peace. Modern nerves had stood the
fearful strain of this war, superbly.
AN appeal to the Local Government Board to take
action towards establishing a Ministry of Health was
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
-being asked of the new Ministry of Health.
League, the Women’s Co-operative
It was urged that the new department’s basis must
Guild, the
Women’s Labour League, the National Federation of —
Women Workers, and the Railway Women’s Guild.
>
id
<
ay
,
be the public health side of the Local Government —
Board, and that it would not serve merely to re-name —
that Board the Ministry of Health. Such a Ministry —
should take into partnership the National Insurance
Commissioners, and it was absolutely essential that
it should be dissociated from the old Poor Law system.
On the same day Mr. Hayes Fisher received a depu-
tation on the same subject from the Society of Medical
Officers of Health, and the Association of County
Medical Officers of Health. Mr. Hayes Fisher, in
replying, said that the Local Government Board was
asking for a Bill that would enable local authorities
in England and Wales to do all the things that were
had not been able to go any further because the
National Insurance Commissioners were asking for
similar powers in respect of infant welfare and mater-
nity. Whoever might obtain the powers, the responsi
bility for carrying them out would rest wi
medical officers of health. a
THE stress of war has brought success sooner than
was anticipated to the efforts which have been ma
for many years to secure the establishment of a
National Seed-testing Station for England and Wales.
Scotland and Ireland have for several years had the
advantage of such stations, and now England has
at last fallen into line. The new station, which is
associated with the Food Production Department of
the Board of Agriculture, was formally opened on
November 14 by the President of the Board, pe
the same evening the text of the Testing of Seed
Order was issued by the° Ministry of Food. :
Order becomes operative on January 1, 1918.
and institutes a close control over the sale of the more
important seeds The testing of samples in connection
with the Order will be carried out in the new ee
which is fully equipped for the purpose, and wi
further undertake the testing of seeds for farmers and
allotment-holders at a nominal fee of threepence per
sample, and for seed traders at half a crown per
sample. The station is located at 7o Victoria S
S.W.1, and is under the direction of Mr. R. G. Sta le-
don, advisory botanist of University College, Aberyst-
wyth, who for some time has been actively associated
with the work of the Food Production Department at
headquarters. In declaring the station open, Mr. Prothero
expressed the hope that in years to come there would
be associated with it an Institute of Applied Botany,
which would be of great service to agriculture.
AN interesting and important report of the Nitrate
Supply Committee (appointed by the United States
Secretary of War) is summarised in Science for Sep-
tember 14. The chief recommendations made are as
follows :—That out of the 4,000,000l. nitrate supe
appropriation the following sums be made available for
the purposes indicated :—(1) 600,000l. to be used in
building a synthetic ammonia plant (best in south-west
Virginia or a contiguous region), contingent upon the
completion of
General Chemical Co. for the rights to use its syn- —
thetic ammonia process; (2) 120,000l. to be placed at
the disposal of the War Department for building a
plant for the oxidation of ammonia to nitric acid and °
concentrating the latter; (3) 40,o00l. to be allotted to
y
satisfactory negotiations with the |
t
_ pimene®
ne
fi
f4
<3
:
4
2 apa ee a eA We = ea
PMNS,
_ tigate conditions at the front in this subject.
_ sound-ranging service which will be developed under
_ their direction will utilise in the near future more than
_ fifty men. A meteorological service has been organised
_ under the Signal Corps, U.S.A., in which about one
Force in France will be in charge of Mr. E. H.
of the U.S. Weather Bureau.
hall, of the University of Wisconsin, has been placed
_ NovVEMBER 22, 1917]
NATURE
229
experimentation in the industrial development of the
_ Bucher process for the production of sodium cyanide
_ and ammonia, contingent upon a satisfactory arrange-
ment being made with the Nitrogen Products Co. ;
_ (4) 20,0001. to be made available for the active prose-
cution of investigations into processes for the indus-
trial production of-such nitrogen compounds as are
j . "Bitters.
_ War Department proceed with the construction of the
_ plants mentioned under (1) and (2) above at the earliest
in the manufacture of explosives and fer-
The committee further recommends that the
racticable date, that the Government promote the
tion of ‘by-product coke-ovens in order to in-
crease the production of ammonia and toluol, and that
a decision regarding the more extensive installation of
nitrogen processes be postponed until the plants now
recommended are in operation. The committee is of
opinion that the immediate accumulation and _ per-
_ manent maintenance of a reserve of Chile saltpetre of
_ mot fewer than 500,000 tons is a measure urgently
necessary.
WE learn from Science that upon the recommenda-
: tion of the U.S. National Research Council Dr. A.
_ Trowbridge, of Princeton University, and Prof. T.
Lyman, of Harvard University, have received com-
missions in the Signal Corps, U.S.A., for work in
sound-ranging. They have sailed for France to inves-
The
hundred physicists and engineers will be engaged in
aerological observational work under the direction of
Dr. W. H. Blair, of the U.S. Weather Bureau, who
has sailed for France to investigate conditions abroad.
Forecasting work for the American Expeditionary
Bowie,
Prof. C. E. Menden-
in charge of the development of aeronautical instru-
ments. All the work of these services, sound-ranging,
meteorology, and aeronautical instruments, is included
_ within the scope of the Science and Research Division
of the Signal Corps, which, in accordance with a
_ recent order of the chief signal officer, has been estab-
lished and placed under the direction of the National
_ Research Council, of which Major R. A. Millikan is |
the executive officer. functions of this division
_ of the a se Corps are twofold, namely : (1) to furnish
personnel of the research sort to the other divisions
when the situation warrants the assignment of men
of this type to these divisions, and (2) to have a per-
sonnel of its own which maintains intimate contact
with all research and development work in other divi-
- sions, and distributes research problems to university,
industrial, and governmental research laboratories with
which it is associated. Similar, though in some cases
less formal, relations have been established with other
4 technical bureaux of the War and Navy Departments.
Upon request of the French High Commission a num-
ber of American physicists and chemists are being
sent to France to assist in various war problems in
3 which technically trained men are needed. Upon the
- recommendation of the National Research Council
Prof. R. W. Wood, of Johns Hopkins University,
Prof. E. Bartow, of the University of Illinois, Prof.
__R. Stevenson, of the College of the City of New York,
and other men of science are receiving commissions
_ in this connection, and a number of them have already
_ sailed for France.
Tue Committee of the Loutreuil Foundation has re-
ported to the Paris Academy of Sciences (Comptes
_rendus, October 22) that it has recommended the fol-
NO. 2508, VOL. 100] ;
lowing grants:—The National Natural History
Museum, 3000 francs to Prof. Louis Roule for assist-
ance in his researches on the migrations of the Sal-
monidz. Central Council of the Observatories : 8000
francs to the Observatory of Lyons for the installation
of a telephone line; 1500 francs to Henry Bourget,
director of the Marseilles Observatory, for assisting in
the publication of the Journal des Observateurs. Ecole
Polytechnique; 1000 franes to Prof. A. Colson for his
physico-chemical researches on the theory of solutions.
National Veterinary College of Lyons: 5000 francs for
the installation of radiological apparatus; 350 francs
to Prof. Charles Porcher for the purchase of appa-
ratus for researches on milk. National Veterinary
College of Toulouse: 5000 francs for the purchase of
a projection’ apparatus capable of utilising kinemato-
graphic films. Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers:
5000 francs to Prof. Léon Guillet for the organisation
of a metallographic laboratory. In reply to demands
addressed direct: 5000 francs to Charles Alluaud and
R. Jeannel; tooo franes to Henri Blondel; 5000 francs
to the Institute of Hydrology and Climatology; 2000
francs to R. Ledoux-Lebard and A. Dauvillier for their
X-ray researches; 2000 francs to A. Paillot, for the
purchase of material required for bacteriological re-
searches; 1000 francs to J. de Thézac; and 3000’ francs
to Albert Portevin and Marcel Garvin. The grants
proposed amount to 47,850 francs, and the committee
considers it necessary to carry forward a large balance,
in view of probable demands at the close of the war.
Pror. J. A. FLEMING will deliver a Christmas course
of six illustrated lectures (adapted to a juvenile audi-
tory) at the Royal Institution, on ‘‘Our Useful Ser-
vants: Magnetism and Electricity.”
A GENERAL meeting of the Geological Physics Society
will be held in the rooms of the Geological Society,
Burlington House, on Wednesday, November 28, at
3.30 p.m., at which a lecture will be delivered by Mr. C.
Carus-Wilson on “Theories and Problems relating to
Musical Sands,” illustrated by experiments. The
meeting will be open to visitors.
Tue Thomas Hawksley lecture, 1917, of the Insti-
tution of Mechanical Engineers will be delivered at
six o’clock on Friday, November 30, in the hall of the
Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street,
Westminster, by Capt. H. R. Sankey, who will take
as his subject ‘‘ Heat Engines.” An invitation is given
to visitors.
At a meeting o. the Chemical Society held on
November 15 the following exhibits were shown :—
Laboratory glass apparatus and specimens of chem-
icals, by Messrs. Baird and Tatlock; laboratory ware,
by Messrs. Doulton and Co., and by the Royal Wor-
cester Porcelain Co.; specimens of dyes used in the
clothing of the Armies of the Allies, and medicinal
agents and antiseptics, by Messrs. Levinstein, Ltd.;
balances and weights, by Mr. L. Oertling; and labora-
ae 8 apparatus, by Messrs. Wood Bros. Glass
O., :
As the subject of the metric system was very fully
discussed at the Institution of Civil Engineers in the
early part of the year, especially from the point
of view of the relative merits of that system and the
British, it may be well to state that the main object
of the discussion to be held at the Institution of Elec-
trical Engineers on December 13 is to consider the
effect on the British electrical trade of the introduction
of the metric system at the present time, espe-
cially in those markets in which the British system
is at present in vogue, with the view of determining
whether the compulsory introduction of metrical
measures should be pressed for or resisted. It is hoped
230
NATURE
Nore 22, I917
that it may be found possible to take steps after the
discussion to obtain some authoritative pronouncement
on the matter from tthe trade as.a whole that will put
an end to the present hesitating and unsatisfactory —
attitude towards the question.
WE regret to record the death of Mr. Wilson Noble
on October 31, at sixty-two years of age. Mr. Wilson
Noble was a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
From 1886 to 1895 he was Conservative M.P. for
Hastings. He devoted much of his time to electrical
investigations, particularly in connection with X-rays,
and having a very fully equipped laboratory was able
to render great service in the medical applications of
radiography in the early days of- the discovery. He
held the position of president, of the Rontgen Society
in 1900, and was the author of some important papers
on X-ray technique.
News has been received of the sudden death last
week, at fifty-nine years of age, of Prof. Emile Durk-
heim, the distinguished philosopher and _ sociologist,
editor of the Année Soctologique, and professor. of
pedagogics at-the Sorbonne. The loss of his only son,
a young philosopher of great promise, in the fighting
at Salonica at the end of 1915, and a Jong uncertainty
as to his fate, had visibly affected Prof. Durkheim’s
health, but he was able to continue his courses to the
end of the scholastic year. In. November, 1916, a
nervous breakdown obliged him. to . discontinue his
work, and in spite of temporary improvements he never
recovered.
2ND Ligzur. L. P. SipnEy, whose death, at twenty-
four years of age, is reported in the Times, was an
observer in the Royal Flying Corps. He was the son
of Mr Sidney, assistant secretary of the Iron
and Steel Institute, and’ studied for a time at the
National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, in the en-
gineering department under Dr. Stanton, and in the
metallurgical department under Dr. Rosenhain. On
leaving Teddington the spent a year in iron and steel
analysis with Mr. F. W. Harbord, and when the war
broke out he was in. the service of Messrs. Bell
Brothers, Middlesbrough, as metallurgist.
WE learn from Science that Mr. J. Y. Bergen,
author of several well-known text-books of ae and
physics, died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., on
October 10, at sixty-six. years of age. In 1887 Mr.
Bergen became teacher of physics in the Boston Latin
School, and later for many years he was instructor
in biology in the Boston English High School. In
collaboration with Prof. E. H. Hall, of Harvard
University, he was the author of * A’ Text-book. of
Physics,” which has passed through several editions.
He was also the author of ‘‘Elements of Botany,”’
‘‘ Essentials of Botany,’ and ‘‘ Foundations of Botany,”
including a condensed flora for. school use. Other
successful text-books with | special - adaptation for
schools of particular grades of scientific equipment
were prepared by Mr. Bergen in collaboration with
Dr. O. W. Caldwell and Prof. B. M. Davis.
THE inaugural lecture in connection with the George
Herdman chair of geology at the University of Liver-
pool was delivered by Prof. x. H. Boswell on
Friday last, November 16. In a short introductory
address, the Vice-Chancellor (Sir Alfred Dale),
who presided, remarked that many of ‘the Uni-
versity chairs were memorials of those who
had done. their work or whose work was _ nearly
done, but the chair they. were now inaugurating
was one established in memory of youth, and of ‘a
work that was just begun. It had been "established
by Prof. and -Mrs. Herdman in memory. of their. son,
George Andrew Herdman, who fell rather more than a
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
year and a half ago in France. He was young, and an
undergraduate at Cambridge.
given “something more than mere promise, and old le:
men who knew him regarded him as one who not only
honours he had inherited with his name.—The subject
of Prof. Boswell’s lecture was ‘Sands:
Sir W. T. TuisELton-Dyer has - presented to the —
library of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a ae
tion of about a hundred personal letters addressele “ue
him by Charles Darwin between the years 1873 and
1881. Those of more general interest have been a '
published. In one he writes, “It is a dreadful
to be so ignorant of botany as I am,” and many of
them contain allusions to experiments and discoveries —
of the utmost interest. These letters constitute a
valuable addition to the now extensive collection’ of
original documents to the Kew Library. | ie Hes
WE learn from Kew Bulletin, No. 6, that the jsland
of Ascension has suddenly been clothed with Mabe:
a grass, Enneapogon mollis, having appeared in great
abundance on the lower parts of the island. The
account is illustrated by a photograph showing men
cutting a luxuriant. crop of the grass, which has con-
verted what Sir Joseph Hooker described as a
‘scorched mass of volcanic matter, in part resembling _
bottle-glass and in part coke and cinders,” into a com: |
parative paradise. The grass, which is apparently
annual, has not been reported from the island before,
but is a native of tropical Africa, and seeds may
reached the island through the agency of birds, or
have been wind-borne. It appeared after some good
showers, rain being of very rare occurrence in Asceay
sion.
DurING ‘the present war more use “has been made
of electrical treatment than at any previous time.
Cases that are seldom or never seen in times of peace,
such as shell-shock and trench-foot, are receivin their
trial of electric treatment, as well as neurasthenia and
various neuroses, so that more detailed information
of the value of this form of treatment will be obtained.
Cases of nerve injury are also numerous, and muc
experience is being obtained of the uses of electricity.
in their diagnosis and treatment. The Archives of
Radiology and Electrotherapy proposes to publish re-
ports from the electrical departments of various war
hospitals, and in the October number (vol. xxii.,
No. 5) an account is given by Lieut. Burk
of that of the Horton War Hospital, Epsom. :
report of the Radium Institute of work from Janvaiya
1915, to December, 1916, is also included. Of
cases of cancerous disease treated (excluding rodent
ulcer) twenty-six were apparently cured.
Tue West Indian colonies, in common with: the veer
of the world, have their bread problem. How this
is to. be’met is the subject of an official inquiry, and
an interim report of the British Guiana Flour ubsti-
tutes Committee, published in the Bulletin of the
Department of ’Agriculture, Trinidad and Tobago
(vol. xvi., part 2), indicates the lines upon which action —
can be most usefully taken. Analyses collated by the
committee show that the products of tropical origin |
which most nearly approach wheat flour in food value
are rice, guinea-corn, and maize. These materials
can be employed alone ‘only in the preparation of cakes.
Without. wheat flour they do not give a satisfactory
bread. Other products of relatively higher starch con
tent which are of local origin, e.g. cassava, sweet
potatoes, tannias, and eddoes, can also be employed. in
this way, but they yield an article of lower food value |
and wider. nutrient ratio.. It.is possible, however, by
the addition of a proportion of meal obtainable from
But he had already _
considered
Geologically. and Industrially under War Conditions.” — f
(oa
would maintain, but also might possibly increase, the
a
&
i
petra PES aps
BL FY owih ak
Py Oe”
NEL,
if
)
d
} in
b
| NOVEMBER 22, 1917]
NATURE
231
locally grown pulses, e.g. pigeon-peas, black-eye peas,
lima, and bonavist beans, to bring the nutrient ratio
of these more starchy products up to the desired
- standard. Action upon these lines is recommended,
and a proposal is put forward for the establishment of a
factory, or factories, for converting the locally grown
__ raw materials into non-perishable and marketable pro-
duets. The same number of the bulletin contains also
‘papers by Mr. R. O. Williams and Mr. H. Meaden,
in which more detailed information on the various
suggested flour substitutes is given.
_. Since the war began it has become apparent that the
_. resources of the Empire in food and raw materials have
- not hitherto been used ito meet the needs of the Empire
itself to anything like the extent that is desirable.
Rice is a striking example of this state of things.
Thus India, which produces (principally from Burma)
about 40 per cent. of the world’s exportable surplus
of rice, distributed its exports in 1913-14 in the follow-
ing proportions: to British countries 42-6 per cent.,
to foreign countries 57-4 per cent. The gross imports
into the British Empire were little less than the total
exports of rice from India, so that it would be quite
possible to find a market within the Empire for nearly
all the rice India can spare for export. While this
country occupied a relatively unimportant position as a |
_ direct importer of rice from India, it imported con-
siderable quantities of rice from Holland and Ger-
many, which had been first exported from India to
_ those countries, and, after being milled and polished
_ there, had been re-exported to England. It is clear
that there is much leeway to make up in the way of
developing inter-Imperial trade in food and raw mate-
rials. In the new number of the Bulletin of the
Imperial Institute is published an exhaustive article
on the “ Production and Uses of Rice” (British litera-
ture on which subject has hitherto been practically
non-existent), which, it is hoped, will assist in that
_ direction. It gives precise information as to the pre-
sent production of rice throughout the world and the
demand for this grain within the Empire, the general
tendencies of the trade, the directions in which markets
should be sought, and various uses to which rice is
freely applied in certain countries, though not, as
yet, within the Empire.
IN a paper on the testing and standardisation of
motor fuel, read at the Institution of Petroleum Tech-
nologists on October 16, Mr. E. L. Lomax described an
improvement of the Engler process for determining
the degree of volatility of motor fuels. The method
consists essentially in the adaptation of a jacketed
designed to give results similar to those obtained by
_ the original method of distillation, but with greater
_ rapidity and easier manipulation. In connection with
this subject attention is directed tothe gradual
change in the composition of motor-spirits correspond-
ing with the development of motor engines during the
last decade. Whereas formerly the average proportion
of these spirits volatile below 1too° C. was about 60
_ to 70 per cent., it is now only about 20 to 4o per cent.,
with a correspondingly ereeer proportion of higher
boiling hydrocarbons. his is important, since. it
means that motor engines have been so improved that
they can utilise more of the heavier fractions of
_ petroleum than formerly; the present-day automobile
_ engine will run quite well on spirit which would have
_ given much trouble with the engine of earlier days.
It is for motor engineers to see that the engine of the
_ future will run well on éven a less volatile mixture
than that now employed. The world’s supply of
_ petroleum products suitable for use in internal-combus-
tion engines is. strictly limited, and development on
the lines indicated is one of the means by which the
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
petroleum industry may be enabled to meet the grow-
ing demands. At ithe present time it is a waste of
valuable products to use spirit containing an unduly
large percentage of the more volatile compounds for
road and water vehicles, as these light fractions assist
the vaporisation of heavier hydrocarbons which are not
by themselves satisfactory fuels for internal-combustion
engines, but which can be used for the purpose when
mixed with the lighter fractions. Thus utilised, they
serve greatly to increase the available supplies of motor
uel, ;
ALTHOUGH the calls made on the services of the
National Physical Laboratory for work connected with
the war during the past two years have been excep-
tionally heavy, the appearance of vol. xiii. of the
Collected Researches of the Laboratory shows that
research work has not been neglected. The volume
extends to 300 pages, and includes researches from. the
Froude tank, the engineering, metallurgical, optical,
and magnetic departments. More than half the total
number deal with optical questions of vital importance
to the instrument-maker. Some of these describe new
methods which instrument-makers have already
adopted, while others provide material for future use.
A paper on tests of fuel oils made for the Royal Com-
mission on Oil Fuels by Messrs. Pannel and Higgins
appears not to have been published previously. It deals
with the flow of Mexican, Texas, Trinidad, and Scotch
shale oils, and of mixtures of them through pipes of
various diameters, and shows that the pressure head
necessary to give a prescribed flow can be determined
by the expression’ which has been shown to hold for
the flow of water or air through pipes of different
diameters. The viscosities, densities, and flash points
of the above oils, and of Borneo, Persian, and Kim-
meridge shale oils, and of their mixtures, were also
investigated, and the advantages of certain mixtures
are pointed out. .
La Nature for October 27 gives some particulars
of the Institute of Applied Hydraulics which has re-
cently been inaugurated by the University of Padua.
The new institute is situate at Stra, on the Padua-
Venice tram route. Pa
org ole
stratified among Alle-
nian (Toarcian) shales
OF JHE
_MINETTE ORE-FIELD OF LORRAINE —
3 ees
Ra Ourcror or Ironstone Formation
cumeee Proven Workasce Extent Or THe Grey Bep |
and limestones, almost
identical in age with the
Northamptonshire iron mie 2
—AFTER VILLAIN.
—!'09_ Contours. HEIGHTS EXPRESSED in Metres -
xn ABOVE SEA LEVEL. .
ores. The outcrop of PM Lhe a a
5 MILES.
~-e-+= Frontiers. As in III.
the Minette formation
extends from _ the
southernmost tip of Bel-
gium through the
borders of Luxembourg with France and German Lor-
raine, southwards at an average distance of about
three miles inside the 1914 German border as far as
Metz, and crosses into France just east of Nancy.
_Of the workable orefield about 160 square miles
lie on the German side of the border, fourteen square
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
Fic. 2.
man authorities, quite the best of the ore comes from”
the deeper mines beneath the Briey plateau, and had
not the German ironmasters been bound by agreement |
to continue the payment of royalties to the owners of
minerals in Germain Lorraine and Luxembourg, they
would have abandoned these workings in their own |
ssa is
sree eae Taek pe
— NoveMBeR 22, 1917]
Fe
NATURE 237
country and smelted the bulk of their pig-iron from
the produce of the Briey mines. Since the late
eighties, with the perfecting of the basic process the
| _ Lorraine district has established itself as the source of
the cheapest supply of steel in Europe, and in the
‘pre-war year the output from it was not much short
of fifty million tons of ore. From German Lorraine
about 300 out of 2000 million tons, and from France
about 200 out of 3000 million tons proved, are won.
“Truly, the Lorraine iron-ore district is an asset of
the highest national importance, and there can be no
doubt that, when official Germany has allowed rumours
of her arrogant peace terms to be bruited, the indus-
trialists of the Rhineland are at one with the military
caste of Prussia in classing Briey and Longwy as
essential strategic points.” ‘
Despite their nearness to the ports of Britain, the
orefields of western France have not received from
British ironmasters the attention they deserve, and more
than two-thirds of their produce was, in the pre-war
years, exported to Germany. The ironstone formation
there is of Upper Arenig (Llanvirnian) age, and some-
what phosphoric in character. In the Normandy dis-
trict, within sixty miles of the port of Caen, an ore
reserve exceeding 200 million tons has been already
proved, and the output of the mines of that district
is expanding rapidly. The more southerly region north
of the mouth of the Loire, in Anjou and Brittany, is
as yet less well developed, but there is great hope of
discovery of abundant rich ores of quite similar type.
Western France is dependent upon English coal for
fuel, and it is argued that vessels carrying coal thither
should bring return cargoes of iron ore to British
blast-furnaces.
For the production of ‘‘Swedish iron” the mag-
netite ores of central Sweden ‘are generally selected by
hand, or, after crushing, are concentrated by the wet
magnetic process and bri ted. The supply of non-
phosphoric magnetite in Sweden is very limited, and
the immense magnetite lenticles of Norbotten, in Lap-
land, are of far greater importance to the Swedish
export trade. The ore mass of Kirunavaara is one
of the largest in the world, and is more than five
miles long. In general, this, as also the other Lap-
land magnetite massés, carries a good deal of fluor-
apatite, and being very dense requires a strong coke
to carry its burden in the blast-furnace. For this
reason, and because the produce from the Lapland
mines requires to be converted into steel by way of
the basic process, more than four-fifths of the ore
exported from Sweden has found its market in Ger-
many and Belgium.
In Norway the ore masses associated with. the
ancient schists are generally of lower grade than those
of Sweden, atid require to be crushed, concentrated,
and vg “age to make them suitable for export, and
few of mines have yet advanced to the producing
stage. From Sydvaranger, near the shores of the
Arctic Ocean, on the borders of Russia with Norwegian
Lapland, crushed ore is being successfully concentrated
. and exported. Some hundred million tons of available
low-grade magnetite have been proved there lying in
reserve.
Previous to the war produce from the orefields of
North America affected the British market rather as a
commercial competitor in outside markets than as an
alternative source of supply. Since the: outbreak of
war, however, the British metal market, in former
times largely supplied from the orefields of Lorraine.:
has had to replace its stock with steel and iron smelted
in America from American ores. The “banded jasper”
ironstone formations occur in the midst of Algonkian
and Archean sediments in the region of the Great
Lakes, and segrevsation of snecular iron ore in these
formations has taken vlace along belts determined by
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
| tectonic folding. Largest of all the ore bodies in,
| America are those of the Mesabi range, which district
_ is responsible for nearly two-thirds of the total U.S.A.
| production. For magnitude of present output, as for
gross quantity of metal yielded in the past, the Lake
Superior region holds precedence over all the iron-
fields of the world. The available reserves there are
enormous, and have been variously estimated at be-
tween 2000 and 3500 million tons, with a further
70,000 million tons of lower-grade specular material
also in view. The Clinton oolitic ironstone of Silurian
age in the eastern States has many features in common
with the Minette series of Lorraine. lt is worked
extensively in thé Birmingham district of Alabama,
and as a producer of basic pig-iron its importance, is
increasing rapidly.
The ironfields of the Overseas Empire are separated
from home furnaces by distances too vast for it to be
economical to bring so low-priced and bulky a com-
modity as iron ore to compete with the produce from ,
ironfields in the European countries which have no
coal. In Canada, Australia, South Africa, New
-Zealand, and India, iron is already being smelted at a
cost less than it can be brought in from Europe, and
in due course we may expect to see local iron indus-
tries develop, perhaps to such-an extent that outlying
portions of the Empire may send manufactured or
semi-manufactured metal to supply the British market.
Among the world’s great ironfields which are sup-
plying their raw material to the iron and steel indus-
tries only those in which the ore is to some extent
phosphoric have been able since the beginning of the
present century to increase their output on an extensive
scale. The development of iron-mining in the various
European countries and in America is shown on the
diagram, Fig. 3. :
The chief natural advantages which have enabled
this country to outbid foreign rivals in the overseas
markets for non-phosphoric hematite are the
native wealth of the home supply of fuel,
and the accident of geography which sited our
magnificent coalfields near the harbours of our
coasts. The high quality and cheapness of the
fuel have enabled this country to maintain the supre-
macy of its mercantile marine throughout the age of
steam, and this has been the dominant factor in secur-
ing to our ironmasters their ample hamatite supplies.
Meanwhile, the Germans, drawing the bulk of their
ore supplies from deposits in closer proximity to their
coalfields, have been able at very low prices to put on
the market steel which is sufficiently satisfactory made
from the Minette ores of Lorraine; and in the markets
of the world this product has largely supplanted the
lower grades of acid steel. British ironmasters, who
were the last to feel the pinch of hamatite shortage,
have foreseen little commercial advantage to be ob-
tained by smelting the cheaper low-grade supplies of
home phosphoric ores, and have been reluctant either
to reorganise or to extend their works in order to
compete for low-grade trade, and only for high-quality
tool and special alloy steels has the British Empire
continued to supply her former proportion of the
world’s demands. Beaten in competition for the non-
phosphoric hzmatite supplies, only available from over-
seas, Germany perfected the basic method of. steel
refining, and has certainly made the best of the
mineral supplies she had at hand. America also has
recognised that it is cheaper to work up ores which
are abundant and occur in large masses in the neigh-
bourhood of existing transport routes, and most of her
recent steel works extensions have adopted the basic
open-hearth process of steel-making. It has paid both
Germany and America to adopt the basic process to
provide a bulk supply of steel, and it should be equally
238
NATURE
profitable for this country to develop a part of its
steel-making practice along similar lines, and from
home Jurassic ores to produce at least sufficient metal
to take the place of the two or more million tons
of semi-manufactured metal which until lately was
imported from abroad. Probably in peace-time scarcely
more than one-fifth of the total output of British pig-
iron is applied to purposes which suitably refined
basic iron could not serve. ‘‘ Does it not, therefore,
seem that when labour again becomes available for the
mining or quarrying of home ores, and for handling
the relatively greater bulk as it passes through the
furnaces, it will be sound policy here to adopt the
basic process on such a scale that, even with expand-
ing trade, it will become unnecessary to purchase from
J
_ | IRON ORE OUTPUT
o——- United States
o———« Cermany fe /.
o----0 Britain f
o -~-0 Spain f \ f
o———o France \ {
Sisccows e Sweden y y i /
Bo L i I
90 7_i\ [ \ ii
/ \ [ Aw
\ fi \
FA \ iT
VA \ { Wi
VA \ } \
VA \ fl
Vif
{I ]
40 fi if
40 1 TO
fi Mf
\
|
ii
fe + ro
nm
s f \ fi
sa i OR ai Pas
=20 fe \_ tT Fs
hte Ui eg
S \ j—
i = s f
ee a
Pa
C58
20 4.
r.4 WA
°C a
vg
_-o ~. of -% va
oe rte of bes 4
Me PY Odes: aes va mat
“Age Pit
10 ~ oe rn Phin
oO Sa 8 bahia axle. cde ce
== ee th 4
‘ foe gee
1900 ‘or ‘o2 ’03 '04 ‘0S ‘06 ‘07 'o8 ‘og ‘10 “Ir ‘12 713
Fic. 3.—Curve of iron-ore output of the United States and Europe.
abroad so large a quantity of ore, for the carriage of
which so great a proportion of our mercantile shipping
tonnage has in the past been employed?”
Because of the short sea passage, the blast-furnaces
near the western coalfields are likely to continue to
bring ore from Spanish or. Mediterranean ports, and
to manufacture hematite pig-iron therefrom. To the
Cleveland and East Midland districts the orefields of
western France and Scandinavia are more convenient,
and there are immertse possibilities for the extension of
the basic iron industry for the smelting of home
Jurassic ores. . This latter development has already
well begun, and in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Derby-
shire, and Nottinghamshire is proceeding rapidly.
“With five thousand million tons of ore ready for
NO. 2508, VOL. 100] |
quarrying or mining within fifty miles of a region
which holds at least fifty thousand million tons of
the very best non-anthracitic coal, there is no val
reason for the iron and steel industries of eastern
England to.look forward except with confidence to —
the time when the price of overseas haematite becomes
prohibitive.”
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE. ae
CamBRIDGE.—The professor of anatomy has, with the
consent of the Vice-Chancellor,
W..L. H. Duckworth, of Jesus College, to be senior
demonstrator of anatomy for five years.
A sILVER medal, which will be known as the Adami. i
[ NoVEMBER 22, 1917 r
reappointed Dr. —
age
Ss
y
medal, in honour of Prof. J. G. Adami, F.R.S., is to
be awarded annually in the department of pathology in
Queen’s University, Belfast. The founder o
medal is Mr. J. H. Stirling, Belfast.
In connection with the Students’
the 2
Institution of Electrical Engineers an address will be —
delivered to-morrow, November 23, at 7 o’clock, at the —
City and Guilds (Engineering) College, South Ken- —
sington, by Sir Oliver Lodge, on ‘‘ Astronomical Ap-
plication of the Electrical Theory of Matter.” =
Tue Parliamentary correspondent of the Times states
that the chances of the Education Bill passing into —
law this session have been materially improved.
Mr. Fisher has in the last few days been in per-
sonal conference with important bodies representing —
Section of the
local education authorities with reference to the ad-
ministrative clauses of the Bill; it is understood that —
their support may be counted on for its second —
reading. his
THE Maypole Dairy Company has given ioool. to
the governors of the Southall County School to estab-—
lish a leaving scholarship in connection with the —
school, tenable at the Royal College of Science, Lon-—
don, and to be known as the ‘Maypole Science —
Scholarship.’’ The headmaster of the school, Mr. S. —
Pollitt, recently appealed to local manufacturers for
financial aid to establish such science scholarships, ~
and the example of the Maypole Company, whose —
works are at Southall, will, it is hoped, be followed by —
other industrial enterprises in the district, so that the
school may be able to take its part in meeting the —
need of the immediate future for highly trained tech-—
nical chemists and other experts in science. ‘f
Board é
WE learn from Science thats the
of Regents of the University of Minnesota
has ratified by a unanimous vote the per-—
manent agreement making the Mayo Foundation
at Rochester the absolute property of the University,
to be used perpetually for higher medical education —
and research. Securities totalling 330,000l., represent- —
ing the fortunes of Drs. William J. and Charles —
Mayo, were turned over to the University. Expenses —
of the foundation will be paid by the Drs. Mayo until —
a fund of 400,000l. has accumulated. Thereafter the —
income from the fund will maintain it.
tion has been affiliated with the University for two years,
which was agreed upon as a trial period. Under the ©
final agreement the headquarters of the foundation ~
can. be moved from Rochester to another point in the
State after twenty-eight years. : tee
Tue report of the president of the University Cok
lege, Cork, for the year 1916-17 has been received. —
The number of students attending the college during
that year was 486, as against 422 during 1915-16, and
The founda- i
ME ee ee
4
x a8
4
Fr
-/ NoveMBER 22, 1917]
Pape
NATURE
239
only three of the 486 were not studying for the degrees
_ of the National University, of which the Cork Univer-
sity College is one of the constituent colleges. The
port records that the city of Cork has made a grant
_ of i50l. per annum to the college for the purpose of
3 promoting the higher education of the working men
. Additions have been made to the physio-
a}
_ logical and pathological departments of the college to
_ supply in some measure the accommodation for the
__ large
_ faculty. Further additions are urgently necessary as
_ soon as funds permit of their being carried out. A com-
siinepsrghh list of books and papers published by mem-
bers of the college staff during the session is printed
at the end of the report.
A copy of Section X., Higher Education, of the
Handbook of the Education Committee of the County
Council of the West peat: of Yorkshire has been
received. It gives full particu
» number of students now entering the medical
rs regarding the scholar- —
q ships and exhibitions offered by the committee for |
competition in 1918. The needs of every class of
_ deserving student appear to be catered for.
_ among these numerous aids to the prosecution of
higher education the county major scholarships, of the
estimated value of 60l. to 65/1. per annum, to be held
- at universities, university colleges, or other approved
_ institutions; the county free studentships, covering
_ tuition fees at the University of Leeds or the Univer-
a 3 ig Sheffield; the county technological scholarships,
_ value 601. per annum, tenable for day courses or for
_ combined. day and evening courses at institutions
where higher technical work is carried out; and county
coal-mining exhibitions, covering tuition fees for full
_ courses in coal-mining, or in electricity applied to
mining, at the University of Leeds or at the University
_ of Sheffield. There are also scholarships for qualified
_ women desirous of specialising in midwifery and nurs-
ing, dairy work, horticulture, and other activities.
Section IX. of the same part of the handbook will be
_ published in its revised form next January; meanwhile
the committee has issued a circular summarising the
particulars respecting scholarships and grants available
persons intending in 1918 to adopt the teaching pro-
ession. ;
«
AmonG other papers included in the June issue of
the South African Journal of Science is one by. the
Rev. J. R. L. Kingon on native education in the
Transkei. Mr. Kingon refers to the national import-
ance of educating the native, and urges that the plain
fact of the matter is that the natives are determined
to have education, and will resort to private schools if
they cannot get encouragement from the authorities.
_ More than sixty years of native education havg produced
a rich harvest and fully vindicated the efforts of pioneer
workers in this field. A new situation has arisen in
South Africa, the article points out, since the consum-
mation of the Union. The responsibilities and dangers
We notice’
of the white men are greater, because of the millions |
of black men who are now subject to one central
Government. Hitherto in the Orange Free State, the
Transvaal, and Natal little has been done to educate the
native. Again, owing to a defective system, education
in the Transkei, which is taken as a typical example,
is almost wholly literary in character, though agricul-
tural education is receiving attention apart from the
schools. But for the future, Mr. Kingon says, agri-
cultural education must be given a large place in the
schools; industrial education, at present a scandal,
must be developed, and facilities must be provided for
commercial education. From his experience in Trans-
kei, Mr. Kingon insists that the introduction of a
liberal and far-seeing policy of native education
throughout the Union of South Africa would secure
the future progress and stability of the Union.
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.
Royal Society, November 15.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
piesiuent, in tne chair.—k. k. T. Minae: A new gyro-
scopic phenomenon.—A. P. Laurie and C. Ranken; [n-
vestigation into the imbibition. exhibited by some
shellac derivatives. The paper deals with experiments
made on the substances obtained by boiling shellac
with carbonate of soda or borax. These solid sub-
stances, very similar in consistency to gutta-percha,
are found to expand rapidly when placed in water.
The control of the expansion by ‘the addition of soluble
salts is not the same as in the case of gelatine, since,
at any rate in a large number of cases, it does not seem
to depend upon the nature of the salt, but simply upon
the strength of the solution, the amount of the expan-
sion increasing with the diminution of the strength of
the solution. If ithe expansion is allowed to become
complete in cold water, it is not possible to contract
the mass again, but in the case of the expansion in a
salt solution it is possible to get the mass to contract
again by putting it into a stronger solution. Strong
salt solutions are also found to precipitate the soluble
portion of the shellac borax compound.—G, |. Taylor :
Phenomena connected with turbulence in the lower
atmosphere. In a previous paper by the author it was
shown theoretically that a connection should exist be-
tween the rate at which heat is conveyed into the
atmosphere by means of eddies, and the amount of
retardation of the velocity of the lower layers of the
atmosphere behind the gradient velocity due to the
friction of the. ground. In the present paper the
amount of the turbulence over Paris is calculated from
temperature observations taken on the Eiffel Tower.
It is shown that the amount is the same as that cal-
culated from observations of the change in direction
of the wind between the bottom and top of the Eiffel
Tower due to the friction of the ground. The daily
variation in wind velocity which depends on the daily
variation in turbulencé is next discussed, and it is
shown that the chief characteristics of the observed
phenomena of daily variation are explained, both quali-
tatively and, so far as is possible, quantitatively by
the author’s equations.—E. G. Bilham: The relation
between barometric pressure and the water-level in a
well at Kew Observatory. The water-level shows a
well-marked response to changes: of barometric pres-.
sure at all times of the year. Under similar conditions
a given increase of pressure, 6p, will depress the water-
level in ithe well by an amount 6u, which is propor-
tional to 8p. The value of du/3p varies with the mean
level of the water, but is always negative. The validity
of the equation du=a.dp was established between limits
given by dp/dt>o-5 mb./hr., and the value of a was
determined in the case of three groups of months
representing high, intermediate, and low levels. The
sensitiveness of the water-level to pressure was found
to increase rapidly with the height of the water, the
value of a for a height of 360 cm. above M.S.L. being
four times as great as for a height of 200 cm. The
change of sensitiveness appears to be entirely due to
the change in the condition of the soil. The average
value of a is 1:1 mm./mb. There appears to be no
lag in the response of the well to changes of pressure,
and under favourable conditions the most rapid fluc-
tuations of pressure are shown on the water-level trace.
Zoological Society, November 6.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, vice-president, in the chair.—Lieut. F. F.
Laidlaw : Some additions to the known dragonfly fauna
of Borneo, with an account of new species of the
genus Cceliccia.—Dr. G. A. Boulenger: The use of
the names Plesiosauria and Sauropterygia.—Dr. J. C.
Mottram : Some observations upon concealment by the
apparent disruption of surface in a plane at right
angles to the surface.
240
NATURE
[NOVEMBER 22, I917
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, November 5.—M. Camille Jor-
dan in the chair.—H. Douvillé: The lower Eocene of
Aquitaine and its fauna of Nummulites.—E. L.
Bouvier ; The classification of the Eupotamonea,. fresh-
water crabs of the family of Potamonidze.—G.
Lemoine: Free agricultural education. An account of
the institutions giving free agricultural teaching in
France, most of which are due to private initiative.—
W. de Tamnenberg : A functional equation and spherical
unicursal curves.—E. Camichel, D,
Gariel; The strokes of an hydraulic ram: calculation
_ of the pressures at any point in the pipe.—aA.
Véronnet ; The absorption of water on the moon and
planets. If the constitution of the moon is analogous
with that of the earth, it is both possible and probable
that the rocks of the moon’s crust have absorbed all
the water by slow diffusion.—P. Mercanton ; The mag-
netic state of the Greenland basalts. Under certain
conditions, the magnetomettic examination of a speci-
men of lava containing magnetite, the geographical
orientation of the specimen having been carefully de-
termined, may indicate the direction of the terrestrial
freld at the time of cooling of the lava. But the cases
in which the theoretical conditions are perfectly ful-
filled are rare, and much discrimination is required.
Some basalts from Disco (West Greenland), like cer-
tain diabases from Isfjord, in Spitsbergen, possess a
magnetisation in the sense opposed to the magnetic
field existing to-day.—P. Mahler: The amount of
nitrogen in oxidised coals. Samples of Decazeville
coal, from the Combes outcrop, show varying states
of oxidation, the calorific values ranging between 8000
and 5200 calories. Analyses of eight specimens are
given; the nitrogen content is not much altered by
the oxidation.—E. Maury: The present conditions and
remote origin of the Triassic lignites of the Maritime
Alps.—J. Deprat: The presence of the Permian at
Hongay, and the structure of the edge of the Rhztian
of the Tonkin coast in the bays of Along and Fai-tsi-
long.—M. Mirande ; The metachromatine and the chon-
driome of Chara.—L,. Roule : The habitat of the tunny-
fish (Orcynus thynnus) and its coast displacements in
the western French Mediterranean.—F. Mesnil and M.
Caullery: A new type of. evolutive dimorphism in a
polychetal Annelid, Spio martinensis—M. Marage :
The form of intralaryngeal vibrating air.—J. Wolff
and B. Geslin: The diastatic degradation of inulin in
chicory root.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
Organic Evolution. By Prof. R. S. Lull... Pp.
xviii+729. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; Lon-
don: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 3 dollars.
Volcanic Studies in Many Lands, being Reproduc-
tions of Photographs taken by the Author, Dr. Tem-
pest Anderson, the Text by Prof. T, G. Bonney.
Second series. Pp. xv+88. (London: J. Murray.)
T5s. net.
On the Eves of the World. By R. Farrer. In
two vols. Vol. i., pp. xiit+311+illustrations and map.
Vol. ii., pp. viiit+328+illustrations and map. (Lon-
don: E. Arnold.) 30s. net.
The Conduction of the Nervous Impulse.
K. Lucas. Revised by E. D. Adrian.
(London: Longmans and Co.) | 5s. net.
Lloyd’s Diagram for Calculations. By-H. G. Lloyd.
(London: E. and F. N. Spon, Ltd.) 2s. 6d.
The Yearbook of the Universities of the Empire,
1916 and 1917. Pp. xiii+412. (London: H. Jenkins,
Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. :
Origenes y Tendencias de la Eugenia Moderna. By
J. Bonilla. Pp. 96. (Liverpool: Daily Post.) 3s. 6d.
net.
By Dr.
Pp. xi+ Io2.
NO. 2508, VOL. 100]
‘Pp. x+478.
Eydoux, and M.°
Cotton and other Vegetable Fibres: Their Produce
Dr. E. Goulding. Pp. x+ ©
tion and Utilisation. By
231. (London: J. Murray.) 6s. net.
1917-18. Pp. xxvi+1065. (Cambridge: At the Uni-
versity Press.) 8s. net. : its
Originality : A Popular Study of the Creative Mind,
By T. Sharnol. Pp. xvi+304. (London: T. Werner
Laurie, Ltd.). 15s. net. hae 3
or ek cad
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22.
Roya. Society, at 4.—Special General Meeting to receive the Annual b
Report -of the Council.—At 4.30:—Bactericidal Properties conferred on.
the Blood by Intravenous Injections of Diamino-acrid 3 C. Ef j
Browning and .R. Sulbransen,—The Pelmatoporine, an Essay on the
Evolution of a Group of Cretaceous Polyzoa:
. D. Lang. Pas he
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Gas-firing Boilers: T. M..
Hunter. 7
FRIDAY, NovEMBER 23. : be
Puyvsicat Society, at 5.—Some Problems of Stability of Atoms and Mole- :
cules: Prof. J. W. Nicholson.—Uses of Certain Methods of Classification
in Optics: T. H. Blakesley. ‘
MONDAY, NoveMBER 26.
Rovat GrOGRAPHICAL SocieTy, at 8.30.—The Geography of the Italian
Front : Dr. Filippo De Filippi.
Rovav Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Land Settlement within the Empire:
Sir John McCall. ;
WEDNESDAY, NovEMBER 28.
Rovyat Society or ARTS, at 4.30.—Aerial) Transport after the Wars
G. Holt Thomas. }
: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30.
InstiTUTION oF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.— Thomas Hawksley”
Lecture ; Heat Engines: Captain H. Riall Sankey.
CONTENTS. PAGE.
Ciass-books on Elementary Chemistry. ByC. A, K. 221
American Gunnery et Hanis PO ht ei
Isaac Barrow.. By G. B. Mo ns 3. cee ee 222
Qur ‘Bookshelf *: 0201-0) a A soe ee 2230
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On the Theory of Magneto-ionisation. — Prof. i
Augusto Righi, For.Mem.R.S.; The Writer :
, of the Note : ’ Lbs cake 224)
‘The Introduction of the Word ‘* Magneton.”— Dr. :
George F. Stradling eae wo) ee ao
An Optical Phenomenon.—J. W. Giltay 225)
The Nickel Industry. By Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter 225
Studies in Infant and Child Mortality. By R. T. H. 226
Baron Dairoku Kikuchi. By Dr. C. G. Knott . . . 227
Notes : oe AS Sane iol Aletheia a
Our Astronomical Column :— 7
Orbits of Comets 0...) er sd,
The Iron Arc as a Source of Standard Wave-lengths . 232
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The Classification of the Brittle-stars. By F. A. B. 233
Atmospheric Pollution. ByJ.B.C ..... Pee ek
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The Shortage of the Supply of Non-phosphoric 43
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The Anatomy of Woody Plants. By E. C. Jeffrey.
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press;
London: Cambridge University Press.) 4 dollars met.
The Cambridge University Calendar for the Year —
and nervous factors.
Bes: _ NATURE
241
"hy
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1917.
ORGANISM. AND ENVIRONMENT.
_ Organism and Environment as illustrated by
_ the Physiology of Breathing. By Dr. J. S.
_ Haldane. Pp. xi+138. (New Haven: Yale
__ University Press; London: Oxford University
Press, 1917.) Price 5s. 6d, net. .
R. HALDANE’S book isa record of four
public lectures delivered by him under the
Silliman Trust at Yale University in 1916. In
the short compass of little more than a hundred
_ pages the author gives an admirable account of
_ the physiology of breathing, based mainly on the
researches of himself and his pupils, which have
played so great a part in moulding our present
_ ideas on the subject. .
’ The special value of the book to students lies
in the fact that the function of respiration is
treated simply as one aspect of the activities of
_ the organism as a whole, as a chapter in the un-
_ ending series of adaptations, internal and ex-
_ ternal, which make up the life of an individual.
_. There is a real danger that, in the detailed ana-
_ lytical study of isolated phenomena and functions
which the student meets with in successive chap-
ters of any text-book of physiology, he may lose
sight of the essential unity of all the phenomena
presented by a living organism.
The first lecture is devoted to the regulation. of
respiration and the part played therein by chemical
The second treats of the
readjustments of regulation in acclimatisation
and disease. After a description of the method
in which the hydrogen-ion concentration of the
blood is regulated and the effects on the organism
of alterations in oxygen-tension, an account is
given of the Pike’s Peak experiments.. It will be
_ remembered that these experiments led to the
~ conclusion that under such conditions of stress
-as are met with at high altitudes, where there
is a chronic deficiency of oxygen, the taking up
of this gas by the blood is enhanced by the
_ activity of the. epithelium of the lung alveoli,
_ which transfers the gas to the blood at a higher
tension than it possesses in the alveolar air. On
_ these experiments many physiologists are inclined
to reserve judgment until they have been con-
_ firmed and controlled by the use of different
_ methods, especially in view of the fact that earlier
_ experiments, which seemed to show the same
active intervention, of the alveolar epithelium. at
normal oxygen-tension, have been disproved by
Dr. Haldane himself. It is suggested that these
earlier results were obtained when the experi-
menters were in a condition of chronic CO poison-
- ing, so that their alveolar epithelium had under-
_ gone the same acclimatisation as would be evoked
_ by a stay of some duration at high altitudes.
_ The third lecture deals with the regulation of
the environment, internal and external. It. is
pointed out that '‘‘ the gross regulation of the cir-
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
culation is of such a nature as to’ keep-the. venous
gas-pressures nearly steady, while regulation of
breathing keeps the arterial gas-pressures nearly
steady.” Emphasis is laid on the fact that, in the
regulation of the blood-flow, as of the respiration,
the determining factor is the metabolic activity
of the body as a whole.
In the fourth lecture, which is entitled “ Organic
Regulation as the Essence of Life: Indadequacy
of Mechanistic and Vitalistic Conceptions,” the
results of the preceding lectures are used as a
text from which to expound the author’s views as
to the methods and aims of physiology. He seems
herein to erect dummies, labelled ‘‘ vitalist ’’ and
““mechanist ” respectively, for the pleasure later
of knocking them down. The reader would gather
from this chapter that physiologists were divided
into two camps, mechanistic and vitalistic. Is
this any more true than the statement, often made
by the layman, that the medical world is divided
into allopaths and homceopaths? Is there funda-
mentally any difference in the point of view of
physiologists at the present day? All pursue
similar methods—the only methods which are open
to them—the careful observation of the phenomena
of living animals and the average sequence of
these phenomena. It is true that one finds among
physiologists, as among all other classes of
scientific men, the tendency to over-simplify, to
fit a new experience into a series which is already
familiar, while neglecting details which cannot be
so fitted in—an adjustment of facts to curves
rather than of curves to facts. But the opposite
danger is equally found. Workers, impressed by
the seeming impenetrability of the unknown just
in front of them, may give up too soon and yield
to the temptation of relegating to the arcana of
cell-activity processes which further research would
have shown to fall within a known category. This
faint-hearted attitude might be encouraged by @
sentence such as the following : ‘‘ Those who seek
in physiological phenomena for the same kinds of
causal explanations as can usually be assigned
in connection with inorganic phenomena have no
prospect but to remain seeking indefinitely.” This
prospect is common to all scientific workers, but
if the statement implies that no useful results can
be obtained in this way, it is not true. We can-
not claim to understand or to know fully even the
most familiar process in chemistry or physics, and
there is no question that further research will
considerably modify, what are now regarded as
fundamental principles—but are_ really working
schemata—in physics and chemistry. The ten-
dency of science is to make its formula—its short-
hand of phenomenal sequence—more and more
wide-embracing. It is a dangerous thing, and
savouring of,dogma, to set bounds to this develop-
ment and to assume that the phenomena presented
by living beings, as well as those observed in so-
called inanimate objects, may not in the future
be brought into some one great sequence or
natural law. ;
The fact of consciousness will always remain
to remind each of us that all these laws are but
Oo
242
NATURE
| NOVEMBER 29, IQI7”
mental shorthand, invented to increase man’s con-
trol of his environment and his power to survive
in the struggle for existence. We can never pre-
tend that they represent ultimate reality, if such a
thing is indeed thinkable. Or does Dr. Haldane
believe that there is some great formula which will
. embrace the worlds of soul and body, and will re-
place, because including, the concepts which we
employ in dealing with the objective world? If
this were possible, we should indeed be as gods,
and there would seem to remain little place for the
last few pages of these lectures, in which the
author, in accordance with the wishes cf the
founders, refers to “‘the presence of God in the
natural and moral world.” It is the teaching of
biology, as of every religion or State code of
ethics, that ‘‘we are not mere individuals, but one
with a higher reality.” No system of education is
complete which does not inculcate this as its funda-
mental doctrine, but it is not given to everyone
to make the further inferences drawn by the author
of these lectures. ai: 1. ,
THE PERENNIAL PROBLEM OF DYES.
Artificial Dye-stuffs: Their Nature, Manufacture,
and Uses. By A. J. Ramsay and H. Claude
Weston. Pp. ix+212. (London: George
Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1917.) Price 3s. 6d.
net.
IFTER a concise historical introduction, the
authors deal with the distillation of coal and
the manufacture of direct coal-tar products. In
referring to the very small yield from coal of the
principal colour-producing hydrocarbons, the pos-
sibility of a new source of these products from
petroleum is mentioned. A more general con-
version of coal into coke before consuming it as
fuel would also lead to a further supply of these
valuable hydrocarbons. '
It is an unfortunate feature of this text-book
that the chemical foundations are unsound. This
detracts considerably from its utility as an intro-
ductory manual to the study of the artificial dye -
industry. The only other raison d’étre for the
work, namely, that of an exhaustive treatise, is
disclaimed by the authors. :
The azo-group present in the largest class
of artificial dyes is defined incorrectly as “a
radical consisting of two atoms of nitrogen
which can be substituted in a suitable substance
for one atom of hydrogen.”” The consequences of
this fundamental error are to be seen in the absurd
formula for Bismarck brown on p. 63. The
chemical mechanism of the diazo-reaction defined
long ago with precision by Griess, the discoverer
of the process, is apparently not understood clearly
by the authors, who on p. 41 give the formula
C,H;.N,HCI to diazobenzene hydrochloride (sic).
This confusion is continued on p. 42 in the forma-
tion of aminoazobenzene. It is only fair to direct
attention to these elementary details, because the
authors attach importance to them, stating (p. 44)
that “if the reader has thoroughly mastered the
explanation in the foregoing pages . . . he will
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
be in a position to understand the nature and
manufacture of almost any of the series of azo-
dyes.”
Pyrogallol or “v-trihydroxybenzene” is fur- .
nished with the structural formula of its isomeride, —
Salicylic acid is stated to be —
phloroglucinol.
manufactured from anthranilic acid, but this can
scarcely be the prevailing method. Confusion
rules in regard to “1:8: 4-dioxynaphthalenesul-
phonic acid,” this dihydroxy-derivative of naphtha-
lene being endowed with two atoms of univalent
oxygen. Direct or “substantive ” dyes are said to_
be formed within the fibres themselves. Phthalic
anhydride is formulated as C,H,(CO,).O, but the
eirant carbon atom returns to the molecule at
phthalimide.
“right” should replace “top” and “bottom” in
the description of the quinonoid hexagon.
formulation is accepted, it is incorrect to add that
the hexagon is linked to chlorine as well as to an
amino-group. The formula for m-tolylenediamine
on p. 133 is incompatible with the constitutions —
assigned to tolylene red and blue on the same
page.
These and other similar chemical errors mar
the utility of a text-book which is much more
satisfactory in its outline of manufacturing pro-
cesses, and contains a_ series of informing
diagrams. .
THE NEW REGIONALISM.
Can We Set the World in Order? The Need for
a Constructive World-culture. By C. R. Enock.
Pp. 198. (London: Grant Richards, Ltd.,
1916.) Price 3s. 6d. net. j
Oe man of fact and the brooding thinker are
rarely united in one to form a great leader.
Here we have pre-eminently the man of fact.
Few pages of this work but evidence the travelled
observer richly harvesting facts with admirable
zeal for social reconstruction; we therefore warmly
recommend his labours to all who would amelio-
rate the gross and widespread inequalities of
human lot,
The author pleads for a ‘‘ science of human duty
in moulding the earth that it may be the home of
a high and universal civilisation ” (p. 34): truly
a lofty ideal. He advocates a co-operative world-
survey of economic possibilities, and thereafter
the development of a world-order, based upon
federated units of industry so organised that every
region shall become, so far as geographically
possible, an “organism ” (p. 41), “self-supplying ie
and self-contained,” within “its natural radius of
action” (p. 40). A sense of “place-possibility,”
or “the culture of the locality,” should teach us
‘to regard a place as an organism, capable of
being brought to a flourishing and permanent
state of life, just as we bring an individual to
such a state” (p. 56). To this end, useful ‘‘ Town- ~
planning” should grow into “Industry-planning ”
Acts, together culminating in ‘‘ country-planning,”
or “the economic consideration and control not
only of urban but of rural areas, for . . . in the
On p. 111 the words “left” and -
If this
er
{PoP tapes th
ue
NATURE
243
' NoveMBER 29, 1917]
‘exercise of a science of corporate, or constructive,
human geography, manufacture and agriculture,
the workshop and the land must become reci-
procal and complementary” (chap. iv.). This
policy would involve national co-operation, and
ultimately international also (chap. ix.).
Amongst the far-reaching consequences, Mr.
_ Enock anticipates: scientific limitation to the
_ growth of towns and the healthy “pruning and
reconstruction” (chap. v.) of over-grown
population-centres, with their nests of hunger,
squalor, and disease; world-wide decentralisation
of industry (chap. vi.); and the rehabilitation of
native “arts and crafts” (chap. vii.), now
rapidly disappearing or pathetically deteriorating
under cut-throat competition of the unregulated
growth of machine industry.
So much for the strength of a notable volume
that courts a second study, though revealing
thereby its weaknesses also.
In good faith we accept Mr. Enock’s belief in
the originality of his diagnosis and proposals.
But his historical chapter (xv.: “The Failures of
Utopias ”) with the book as a whole is, to one
‘sympathetic reader at least, conclusive evidence of
the insufficiency of his grasp of ‘the work of pre-
_ decessors and contemporaries; of failure or
_ incapacity to think out fundamental principles
systematically; and of inadequate assessment of
human passions and financial factors.
Perhaps Mr. Enock is himself not wholly un-
aware of these serious defects: he mentions,
frankly and often, serious difficulties, but only to
fass them by on the ground—ill-chosen, we sub-
mit to him—that they are not substantially
relevant.
In the spirit of his own “corporate ” science we
‘therefore venture this advice: Let the author con-
join with himself, or at least seek the frank
‘
_ mic history, and another versed in finance. , And
let him add a good index. ve Es
behets: ' BENCHARA BRANFORD.
s.
-. _QOUR BOOKSHELF.
Le Paludisme Macédonien. Par P.. Armand-
Delille, P. Abrami, G. Paisseau, et Henri
, Lemaire. (Collection Horizon Précis de Méde-
cine et de Chirurgie de Guerre.) Pp. viii+ 100.
_. (Paris: Masson et Cie, 1917.) Price 4 francs.
_ Tuis is a very lucid and terse description of the
symptoms and treatment of malaria, based
largely on experience of that malady among
soldiers infected in Macedonia. The subject
is treated after the method of many recent
French writers, in that a sharp distinction is
_ drawn between the symptoms of primary and
secondary malaria. We doubt, however, the
_ reality of the distinction, and if it exists, it prac-
tically is not of great import, for the funda-
mental treatment is always the same, viz. quinine.
In one respect we consider the authors’ mode of
dealing with the subject is unsatisfactory: they
discuss malaria as a whole. We believe, on the
NO. 2509, VOL. 100] ,
criticism of one thinker expert in politico-econo-
contrary, that the proper method is’ to determine
first what species of parasite is present in the
blood, and then to associate clinical observations
with that species alone. That this is the sounder
method is exemplified by the occurrence of coma-
tose symptoms almost exclusively with the malig-
nant tertian parasites, and other instances might
be given.
In the section dealing with treatment, sufficient
emphasis is not laid on.the very important distinc-
tion between a temporary and a permanent cure.
Any of the methods given in this book would
suffice to secure the former, but none of them will,
in the majority of cases, affect a real cure, i.e.
the elimination of parasites from the system—ce. ¢.
in simple tertian malaria—at least in a reasonable
time, say two to three months; for in longer
periods generally vis medicatrix naturae alone will
produce the desired result. That, however, a cure
can, in the majority of cases, be effected by
improved methods of quinine treatment, we believe
experience of malaria in this war has shown. The
student of malaria can with advantage study this
book.
The Quest for Truth (Swarthmore Lecture). By
Silvanus P. Thompson. Pp. 128. (London:
Headley Bros., Ltd., 1917.) Price 1s.
“Tue Quest for Truth” is a iecture given to the
Society of Friends, of which the late Prof.
Silvanus Thompson was a member; but it will be
helpful to all who, like genuine students of
science, put truth in the first place. Of that com-
munity any distinctive opinions are mentioned only
in the latter part, and here an orthodox Church-
-man, though he could not admit that the Council
99
of Nicea decided ‘‘ person ’’ and ‘‘ substance ’’ to
be the same, for the terms there used were the
more adequate ‘‘hypostasis’’ and ‘‘ousia,’’ and
may think. Prof. Thompson failed to apprehend
the full significance of the ‘‘ Virgin Birth,’’ will
welcome the catholicity of his creed. The earlier
and darger part’ of the lecture deals with the
methods and spirit demanded in all who under-
take so toilsome,a pilgrimage. Here is made
clear the © distinction» between categorical and
analogical truth, the moral obligation of truth-
speaking, the evils consequent on neglecting it,
and those which arise from the misuse or mis-
understanding of words, from over-respect for
authority, from carelessness and impatience in re-
search, and other weaknesses of human nature—
evils so patent at the present day in politics, in
religion, sometimes even in science.
The quest for truth is never popular, for it is
not that of the crowd, and the discovery of it is
‘‘not for him who is careless of truth in speech
or deed, or in habit of mind. Neither is it for
him whose thinking apparatus is in a state of
confusion.’’ Extremists in orthodoxy will doubt-
less place Prof. Thompson’s book on their Index,
and materialists will class him with the credulous;
but others; and they not few, will welcome this
little book as the legacy of an eminent student of
science and a truly religious man.
244
NATURE
[| NOVEMBER 29, 1917
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.]
** Fascination’’ of Birds by a Snake.
I HAVE just received the following record of an ob-
servation made on Septembet 19 by Capt. G. D. H.
Carpenter, at Itigi, about 150 miles east of Tabora, on
the Central Railway of late German East Africa.
Capt. Carpenter’s account recalls the behaviour of
small birds to a cuckoo or an owl, and suggests that
they were ‘‘mobbing’’ an enemy rather than fas-
cinated by it. The observation may supply the clue to
the interpretation of all cases of supposed “ fascina-
tion”? by snakes. EpwarpD B. Poutton.
Oxford, November 24. :
“Yesterday afternoon I witnessed what I have always
found difficult to believe, namely, the strange ‘ fascina-
tion’ of birds by a snake. I came upon a party of
very pretty little finches hopping about among thick
dead twigs of a fallen branch on the ground. came
on them quite suddenly from round another bush,
and stopped dead when I saw them to watch them.
Though I was within a couple of yards they did not
fly away, but continued to hop about, all gradually
coming closer and uttering faint chirps. I thought I
had never seen such tame birds, and admired their
beauty. While looking at the birds J quite missed an
Elapine snake, which suddenly attracted my attention
by striking at a hen finch just in front of me! It
fluttered back a foot or two, and the snake. got a
mouthful of feathers among its teeth, which seemed
to incommode it, for it went down among the thin
grass at the foot of the clump of twigs, where I could
still see it. The birds none of them made any attempt |
to get away, but actually several of them, including
the one already struck at, hopped further down to get
another look at the snake! ‘The latter bird did show
some signs of agitation, as every now and then she
spread out her tail fanwise and kept on chirping, but
still went nearer. However, after a bit the birds flew
away one by one, without any excitement, and I crept
up and found the snake had gone. I wished I had
seen the snake before. it struck, to.see which way its
head was pointing. Of course, I do not believe in the
mesmeric theory, but it was not a question of a snake
pursuing a victim which was too frightened ‘to run
away.”
Pyrometers and Pyrometry.
I DESIRE to compliment you on the summary in
Nature of November 15 of the recent meeting of the
Faraday Society on pyrometers and pyrometry; it is
quite the best of the various summaries and accounts
published in the technical Press.
' ‘With reference to the question of automatic control,
I think it is only fair to the English pyrometer manu-
facturers to say that methods of the kind described by~
Mr. R. P. Brown, of Philadelphia, have been employed
previously, using instruments of English manufacture.
In my judgment the present position is rather that
the instrument manufacturer is waiting on the furnace
user. Heating processes, in the majority of cases, are
not so far developed towards standardisation as to make,
any very extensive call for this automatic control. Int
the majority of cases an ordinary recording pyrometer,
producing its record under the observation of the man
controlling the furnace, achieves all that industries at
NO. 2509, VOL. 100] ;
present require ; the shape and slope of the record line —
give the furnaceman a power of anticipating the tem- —
perature change which will take place in his furnace
and of altering the firing paasiies ,
Letchworth, Herts, November 19.
IRON-ORE DEPOSITS IN RELATION TO
THE WAR, i
it Dade Fortnightly Review for November con-
tains. an important article headed “Coal and
Iron in War: The Importance of Alsace and
Lorraine,’’
of the European war that has received far too —
little attention in this country, though its import-
ance has been for some time fully recognised on
the Continent. The article consists essentially of —
a statement as to one of the main causes of the
origin of the war, and of a deduction showing the -
proper nature of the penalty that should be exacted —
from the originators. The contributory cause dis- —
cussed is the intense desire of the German pluto-—
cratic group, the great German ironmasters, of ©
Has. E. Foster.
which sets forth very clearly an aspect —
which such firms as Krupp and the Deutscher —
Kaiser are representative, to obtain a monopoly —
of that vast deposit of iron ore which covers
so large an area of Central Europe, and is
known as ‘“Minette.’’ The writer in the Fort-
nightly Review rests his presentation of the case
very largely upon the strong evidence contained
in a memorandum submitted on May 20, 1915,
by the six leading industrial and agricultural
societies of Germany to the Chancellor, in which
their requirements and demands in regard to the
terms of peace are set forth. The most important
of these in the present connection is the demand
that Germany should retain possession of the
French coast region as far as the Somme, because
“by the acquisition of the line of the Meuse ae
of the French coast the iron-producing district of
Briey, as well as the coal-fields of the north and
of the Pas de Calais, would be acquired.”
The Fortnightly Review has done valuable
service to the nation in directing attention to this
memorandum; if any evidence at all were needed
to show that Germany was not forced into this
war for self-defence, as Germans are so fond of
alleging, but went into it deliberately for the sake
of rapine and plunder, this document supplies it to
the full, seeing that it specifies in detail the booty
of which Germany was deliberately preparing to—
rob her neighbour, an act of robbery which would
certainly have been consummated but for British
\
§
intervention. The facts as to the importance of the _
Minette ores are well enough shown in the article
referred to, but a full knowledge of all the circum-
stances makes the case even stronger. In the year
rg1i a full account of the Minette iron-ore deposits
appeared in the well-known German paper Stahl
a
|
und Eisen, the figures given in which are most
illuminating. It is stated that the area within
which these ores are workable covers 70,000 to
80,000 hectares, of which French Lorraine pos~
sesses 40,000 to 50,000, German Lorraine 27,000
to 28,000, Luxemburg 2500, ari Belgium only a
ania -
i
NOVEMBER 29, 1917]
NATURE
24.5
tities of ore available are given as follows :—
_ French Lorraine 3100 million tons
German Lorraine BEAT: 55 33
Luxemburg ... 250 5 ”
Total 5191 million tons
It may be added that the Briey basin alone, by
far the most important of the French ore-fields, is
estimated here to contain 2000 million tons, or
more than the whole of the German deposits, and
it is this particular basin that, as shown above, is
the main objective of German rapacity.
There is, however, more in the question than
of Minette; it is also a question of quality. The
_ German writer of the article referred to admits
_ that the Briey ore is at least 4 per cent. richer
’ in iron than the Minette on the German side of
the frontier, whilst other authorities put the dif-
ference at 6 per cent., averaging the German ore
_ at 29 per cent. and the Briey ore at 35 per cent.
_ of metallic iron. No ironmaster will need to be
- told that the advantage in favour of the French
ore is of immense importance, and the German
writer shows very clearly how great is the fear of
_ French competition. “From the point of view of
_ the domestic Minette-mining industry,’’ he writes,
“it would be a matter for sincere regret if in the
German customs area [i.e. Germany proper and
Luxemburg] the import of French ore were to
increase more and more, thus displacing Minette
of German origin.”’ ;
The fear of French competition grew year by
_ year, and in 1913 the same paper, Stahl und Eisen,
pointed out that owing to the increasing produc-
_ tion of the richer French ore, large portions of
_ the Minette of German Lorraine would necessarily
have to remain unworked. The anxiety of the
_ plutocratic German ironmasters was becoming
_ evident; they were gradually, by their methods of
_ “peaceful penetration,’ getting a considerable
financial control over the Briey ore-field, but these
_ methods were too slow and too costly for their
: measureless greed, and they did not hesitate to
sacrifice millions of human lives in order to effect
_ their policy of rapine. So recently as October last
a. Pan-Germanist Leipzig paper was maintaining
that Germany must not only keep Alsace-Lorraine,
but must also annex the ore-fields of Longwy. It
| Says :— .
_ Before the war France produced annually twenty-two
million tons of ore, of which nine-tenths came from
the Longwy basin, and Germany extracted annually
from Lorraine twenty-one million tons, or, say,
three-fourths of its entire output. If therefore Ger-
Rta aii
many k the mines of France and of Lorraine, she
would have available fifty million tons of iron ore
yearly. She would then ss the monopoly of iron
tinuous w nd prosperity to the German working
classes. eee :
: All this mass of evidence drives home the con-
tention of the writer in the Fortnightly Review,
and shows clearly how important the German iron-
-masters consider the ores of the Briey basin to be
to them. The present war would have been
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
ore in li which would furthermore assure con-
ork a
few hundred hectares, and estimates of the quan- |
appears even from the above figures of quantity |
impossible had not two British inventors, Messrs.
_ Gilchrist and Thomas, shown how to convert
| phosphoric iron ores into good steel, incidentally
also producing at the same time a slag of a high
manurial value; having applied this process,
which, by the way, was not discovered until after
| 1870, to the Minette in the portion of Lorraine
already annexed,, German ironmasters now want
to grasp the rest of this valuable iron-ore deposit,
the importance of which has been rendered evi-
dent through the basic steel process.
H. Louis.
SCIENCE, INDUSTRY, AND COMMERCE IN
INDIA.
TES more than ten years have come and
gone since the suggestion was first made that
lack of co-ordination, in the scientific departments
of India, had often resulted in needless duplication,
in useless departmental jealousies, and in the
_ divorce of what may be called economic research
from commerce and industry. Under Lord Cur-
zon’s enlightened guidance this impasse led to the
formation of the Board of Scientific Advice for
India. Since 1902 each year has witnessed im-
portant advances of a gratifying nature, so that it
may be said that the annual reports of the Board,
of which that for the year 1915-16 is before us,
epitomise certain aspects of the scientific work
accomplished in India.
The Government of India had previously tried
the experiment of subsidising societies and institu-
tions (both in India and England) with the view of
delegating to them its responsibility in the matter
of science research. This had the effect, not of
encouraging the growth of science, but of degrad-
ing local scientific men into specimen collectors.
The linking together, therefore, within India itself,
of the chief scientific departments gave the strength
of unity and the courage of public recognition. But
has this very necessary reform been carried to its
rational conclusion? The chief officers of the fol-
lowing departments constitute the Board: the
Secretary of the Department of Revenue and
Agriculture (ex-officio President of the Board),
the Directors of Observatories, of Zoology, and of
Surveys, the Principal of the Veterinary College,
the Inspector-General of Forests, the Agricultural
Adviser, the Directors of the Geological and Medi-
cal Services, the Secretary in the Public Works,
and the Directors of the Indian Institute of Science
and of the Botanical Survey.
But why is education not more directly and fully
represented? Surely the utilisation of the chemical
and physical laboratories of the universities, and
| of the services of the professors in charge of these,
"are obvious directions of economy and utility. So,
again, one is tempted to ask, Why has statistics
| been overlooked? Still again, Why has the Direc-
'tor-General of Commercial Intelligence no seat on
‘the Board? To the non-official mind the Depart-
'ment of Commerce and Industry should very
_ possibly have a co-equal share with the Department
of Revenue and Agriculture (and certainly a
246
NATURE
[NOVEMBER 29, I9I7
stronger claim than that of the Public Works De-
partment) to participate in the deliberations of the
Board. But, leaving the great departments of
State on one side, there are other very important
interests that might with advantage be directly
associated with State science, such as the chambers
of commerce, the various associations of special
trades and industries, the learned societies, the
Industrial Conference, the superintendents of
museums, the directors of industries, of engineer-
ing works, factories, foundries. etc., and the experts
in charge of the investigations into silk, cotton, jute,
paper, timbers, dyes, tans, leather, tea, coffee, etc.,
both public and private—these and many others
need opportunity, guidance, encouragement, or, it
may be, direct help. The Board of Scientific Advice
will not fulfil its programme of public service until
it has designed. a working plan that will link up all
branches of industry with both official and private
science research.
For some reason, unknown to the public, the old
office, first designated that of the Réporter on Pro-
duce to the Secretary of State and then resident in
London, and afterwards that of the Reporter on
Economic Products ‘to the Government of India
and resident in India, has been abolished and its
duties assumed apparently by the officers of eco-
nomic branches in botany, zoology, geology, agri-
culture, and forestry. But this new arrangement,
while it gains in official influence, fails in public
advantage,. since it loses touch very largely with
commerce. To the merchant it is immaterial
whether a resin, a medicine, or a fibre is of animal,
vegetable, or mineral origin. If, therefore, he has
to go from one State department to another in
search of needed information, he may find his
patience exhausted long before he has discovered
the object of his ‘quest. With a Reporter on
Economic Products (and a commercial museum
fully equipped with all products, whether of animal,
vegetable, or mineral origin) attention could be
focussed on the products themselves, not on de-
partmental limitations. It is to be feared that this
illustration exemplifies the danger that underlies
much of the Indian departmental research, even
when controlled by a central organisation such as
that of the Board of Scientific Advice. The cart
is put before the horse. The machinery is cum-
brous and research made to supersede material,
both in interest and value. Is the Board working
so as finally to meet this position? Has it not
even now been made evident that a bureau or ex-
change (call it by whatever name you please) may
have to be reorganised so as to act as the Re-
porter on Economic Products did, as the inter-
mediary between science and commerce in all
departments ?
It is scarcely necessary to classify research ; there
are obvious diversities according: to the object aimed
at—commercial, medical, veterinary, etc. Hence
it follows that the field of operations covered by the
Board. of Scientific Advice is far wider than that of
economics pure and simple, but it may perhaps be
useful to concentrate attention on one issue, ‘since
it is more or less illustrative of the whole of the
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
great temptation,
Board’s activities.
tion for jottings, interesting no doubt, but often
gleaned from papers and periodicals published
throughout the world, instead of being confined to
a fairly detailed Imperial review of the actual —
operations controlled by the Board? In place of
jotting's one is surely justified in looking for special
chapters devoted, far more than they are, to nar-
rating commercial and industrial requirements and
setting forth the progress made with such pre-
viously agreed-upon subjects of investigation.
So, again, too much importance would appear
to be attached to the compilation of lists of scien-
tific papers, books, and periodicals. The report
is thereby converted into a sort of advance proof
of the catalogue of the Royal Society. Doubtless
these classified lists, especially of extra-Indian
publications, are useful to the various departments
concerned, but they do not appear of sufficient im-
portance to constitute so very distinct a feature of
the annual report of the Board of Scientific Advice
for India.
new species of plants or animals, discovered during
the year,
scientific research. Systematic studies in the
aggregate stand on quite a different platform from
the mere mention of a few individual species, in
themselves of no importance. Trivialities of this
nature give the impression that’ the fundamental
principles of research are being lost sight of, and
possibly very largely so, through the reason set
forth, namely, of science being divorced from com-
merce and industry.
b
)
4
PITFALLS OF METEOROLOGICAL
PERIODICITIES.*
HERE is a real danger that some meteorolo-
gists, resenting the accusation frequently
made against them of accumulating masses of
data without making any real use of them, may
be tempted to apply the processes of mathematical
analysis to any and every set of observations, re-
gardless of the considerations which limit the
suitability of the method for the particular data
proposed for analysis. This may easily be
the case when hunting for periodicity. There is a
especially for anyone accus-
tomed to the regularity of so many cosmic
phenomena, such as eclipses, comets, planets, etc.,
to expect to find such periods recurring in the
weather, but the work before us, consisting of the
essential portions of a dissertation by Dr. Ryd, for-
tunately thought worthy by Capt. Ryder, direc-
tor of the Danish Meteorological Institute, of a
wider publication, and so included in the Communi-
cations of the Institute and done into intelligible :
English, should be studied before much time is
spent in the search.
Dr. Ryd sets out cleatly certain characteristics
of meteorological data, wherein they differ essen-
tially from, e.g., astronomical data. One of these
1 dagcep ons fra Lp ed pelea Ober Institut We Red.
No. 3, ‘On p io 1 Observations. By V. H. R
(Copenhagen, 1917.)
Is there any particular advan- |
tage in the report becoming a channel of publica- ~
Further enumerations of the names to
scarcely amount to manifestations of |
{>
|
wa
axle ibis Be!
RS
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TMD Ap)
Bley,
rae gh
pm
i
' NoveMBER 29, 1917]
=
NATURE
247
is the impossibility of eliminating some forms of
“systematic” error, which are too likely to be
_ variable to be strictly systematic, such as the dif-
ference between the indications of a thermometer,
under various conditions of exposure, and the real
temperature of the air. Another is an error
neither accidental nor systematic, but due to the
fact that the data are meteorological; a good
example of this is afforded by the mean diurnal
variation of air temperature as shown on (a) over-
cast or (b) cloudless days.
Dr. Ryd regards harmonic analysis applied to
such data as an excellent interpreter, but a very
untrustworthy probe. The known periods—the day
and the year—are unexceptionable, and the varia-
tion from hour to hour in one case, and from day
to day, or preferably from “pentad”’ to “pentad,”
in the other, are obviously fit subjects for analysis.
Dr. Ryd prefers to use both sine and cosine
terms instead of the usual transformation, because
the determination of mean error is more direct
when two constants enter similarly. This is clearly
important, as the mean error is a vital considera-
tion. Analysis for testing a real period, such as
one of the lunar periods, on the meteorological
data is not quite so risky as tentative fishing for
an unknown period, in which case at least one
coefficient, according to Dr. Ryd, must be five
times its probable error before it can be regarded
-as likely to be real. :
The brochure is divided into two sections, the
first dealing generally with such routine problems
as the computation of the mean error, smoothing
and adjustment of observational data, and har-
monic analysis, with an additional chapter on
secondary minima and maxima in the annual varia-
‘tion of the temperature, in which the author deals
with the proverbial “‘Ice-men” of May 11, 12, and
13, and exposes the weakness of Dove’s supposed
proof of the reality of this legendary phenomenon.
The second part deals fully with “mechanical”
adjustment, factors of variation, and sugges-
tions on the choice of adjusting formule, of which
several are given, and a longer chapter is devoted
to the working out of four concrete examples,
‘viz. the hourly inequality of air temperature,
‘Greenwich, 1849 to 1868; and of pressure, Green-
wich, 1854 to 1873; the annual inequality of pres-
sure, Batavia, 1876 to 1905; and the annual varia-
tion of temperature, Copenhagen, 1875 to r1g10,
the last being a case of partial data—only three
observations at fixed hours of the day,. instead of
the full set.
Dr. Ryd reminds the reader that when data
such as July air temperature for twenty years are
entered in rows for days and in columns for years,
‘they cannot be analysed similarly in both direc-
tions, inasmuch as the successive days are not
independent, while the columns are. He also dis-
cusses at some length the “order” to which
harmonic analysis, if used for adjustment, should
be pushed, with hints for saving labour; but on
‘the whole he prefers the “mechanical” adjust-
‘ment with a suitable formula in the majority of
cases, and thinks this method less liable to intro-
‘duce new errors into a problem. W. W. B.
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
NOTES.
Sir ARcHIBALD GeEIkIE, O.M., who has long been a
correspondant of the Paris Academy of Sciences, has
now been elected an associate member of the academy.
Tue Times announces that the report of the Depart-
mental Committee on salaries of teachers will be issued
within the next few weeks. The report of Sir J. J.
Thomson’s committee on science teaching is also ex-
pected at an early date.
THE council of the Royal Meteorological Society has
awarded Dr. H. R. Mill the Symons gold medal for
1918 ‘“‘for distinguished work in connection with
meteorological science.”” The medal will be presented
to Dr. Mill at the annual meeting of the society in
January next. :
At the meeting of the Chemical Society to be held
on December 6, Dr. F. L.. Pyman will deliver a
lecture entitled ‘‘ The Relation between Chemical Con-
stitution and Physiological Action.’’
Tue Hon. Sir Charles Parsons, member of council
of the Institute of Metals, is to give the eighth annual
May lecture before the institute next spring. He will
deal with the subject of the formation of diamonds,
with the artificial production of which he has been
experimenting for more than thirty years.
Tue death of Mr. Alexander Adamson is announced
in Engineering for November 23. Mr. Adamson was
born in Glasgow in 1846, and took a prominent part in
the evolution of the modern Atlantic liner, and was
later identified with the early stages of development of
the Barrow works, now the most important naval
armament and munition works in the kingdom. He
served for some years on the council of the Institution
of Naval Architects.
TuE death is announced in the Chemist and Druggist
of November 24 of Prof. Charles Caspari, jun., dean of
the Department of Pharmacy in the University of
Maryland, and Food and Drug Commissioner of the
State of Maryland. Prof. Caspari’s ‘‘Treatise on
Pharmacy ”’ is well known on this side of the Atlantic.
In addition, Prof. Caspari was one of the editors of
the U.S. Dispensatory and a member of the Revision
Committee of the United States Pharmacopeeia.
WE regret to note that Engineering for November
23 announces the death, from heart failure, of Mr.
Peter Denny, a member of the Dumbarton family
which has done so much work to establish shipping and
marine engineering on a truly scientific basis. In this
work Mr. Denny took an effective part, and also fulfilled
in a marked degree those varied duties of an employer
of labour connected particularly with the social life of
the worker. Mr. Denny, who was in his sixty-fifth
year, joined the Institution of Naval Architects in 1880.
At the monthly meeting of the Zoological Society of
London, held on November 21, it was stated that
during the months of August, September, and Octo-
ber 281 additions had been made to the society’s
menagerie. Of these, perhaps the most interesting are
a brindled gnu, from South Africa, and an anoa, from
Celebes. Having regard to the times, one can scarcely
be surprised at the announcement of a falling-off. in
receipts during 1917. From January 1 to October 31
this amounts to 38061. Happily, the number of fellows
elected and re-admitted shows an increase of thirteen,
as compared with the corresponding period last year.
In. his presidential address to the Royal Statistical
Society on November 20 Sir Bernard Mallet referred
to the damage which the present war must inflict upon
this and other nations. The United Kingdom has lost
248
NATURE
‘
[NOVEMBER 29, 1917
by the fall in births more than 500,000 potential lives,
while Germany during the same period has_ lost
2,600,000, and Hungary 1,500,000. At the outbreak of
war the population of the Central Empires was about
two and a half times as great as that of the United
Kingdom, but their losses of births have been appar-
ently ten times as great. The reason for this differ-
ence may be that while the poorer classes in this
country have never experienced more favourable condi-
tions, the Germans, if all indications are to be believed,
have suffered to such an extent as to affect seriously
the general health of the population. The infant mor-
tality in Germany has been some 50 per cent. higher
than in this country.
Tue Revue Scientifique announces the death on
November 4, at fifty-eight years of age, of Prof. R.
Nicklés, professor of geology in the University of
Nancy. Early in his career he investigated the geology
of the provinces of Alicante and Valencia, in Spain,
and in 1891 this was the subject of his doctoral thesis.
He also published important memoirs on the Lower
Cretaceous ammonites which he had collected in Spain.
While professor at Nancy he collaborated with the
Geological Survey of France, and devoted special atten-
tion to the coalfields buried under Mesozoic strata in
Lorraine. By purely scientific work he was able to
indicate the most likely spots for successful borings, and
the result was the discovery of valuable coal-seams
at a depth between 700 and 800 metres. Prof. Nicklés
communicated several notes on this subject to the
Academy of Sciences from 1905 to 1909, and the value
of his researches was acknowledged by the Geological
Society of France, which awarded to him the Gosselet
prize in IgII.
By the death early in November of Lieut. Cyril
Green on, the Palestine front a botanical career of
much promise is cut short. Cyril Green was the
youngest son of the late Rev. T. Mortimer Green,
registrar of University College, Aberystwyth. At this
college, where he studied botany under Prof. R. H.
Yapp,*he graduated in science in Ig1I, receiving a
first class in botany honours. In 1912 he joined the
staff of the Department of Botany at University Col-
lege, London, where he showed marked abilities as a
teacher. Green’s investigations lay especially in the
field of plant ecology, and included a detailed survey
of Borth Bog, an area of no little botanical interest.
He also worked at the physiological anatomy of water
plants. Since the outbreak of the war he had been
appointed head of the Department of Botany in the new
Welsh National Museum at Cardiff, a position which
was to have been held open for him until the conclu-
sion of hostilities. Already before the war Green
held a commission in the London University O.T.C.,
and was transferred to the Royal Sussex Regiment.
Severely wounded in action in France in May, 1915,
he. was, on recovery, attached to an officers’ cadet
battalion as instructor. In June, 1917, he was sent
to Egypt, and fell in action in the recent advance in
Palestine. This Egyptian campaign had a special
interest for Green, as it brought him in contact with
a flora of which he had previously gained some know-
ledge in botanico-antiquarian studies carried out by him
in connection with the Department of Egyptology at
University College. The last correspondence received
by his colleagues related to this flora. His brother,
Capt. H. M. Green, of the Welsh Regiment, has been
posted as missing since Suvla Bay.
THE proposed organisation of the clay industries, dis-
cussed at a meeting of employers at the Guildhall on
November 23, would undoubtedly have a beneficial and
far-reaching effect if properly carried out, as seems
highly probable. The keynote of the speakers (among
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
labour, with the ideal of substituting for the proved —
time and energy the resources of the British Empire. aif
whom were Messrs. H. Lewis, J. H. Whitley, and G. Jas .
Wardle) was cordial co-operation between capital and
general inefficiency of individualism a sense of indus
trial solidarity for national service. Mr. Wardle inti
mated that the scheme does not propose to pool capital
or profits, but rather technical knowledge, the in-
adequacy and restricted diffusion of which have been a
very serious obstacle to British industry. Men of Ba
science long ago proclaimed this disadvantage, but —
their strenuous efforts to bring about an improvement ~
failed almost entirely. Now, under the stress caused —
by ‘a terrific world-conflict, a flood of new light has —
been thrown on many matters which used to be sub-
vpit
| jects for bitter controversy. Standardisation would un-
questionably tend to check waste, but, as Mr. Wardle _
remarked, it must not stand in the way of invention
and new processes. It is noteworthy that Mr. Lewis
handsomely acknowledged that no grant of public —
money had been more usefully employed, or was likely
to be productive of greater results in the future, than
that voted for research purposes. This is certainly no
less true of money provided for research in connection —
with the clay industries than of contributions made —
towards research in other directions. eel!
Pror. Leonarp Hitt has in Monday’s Times, —
November 26, an interesting letter on scientific ration-
ing. He points out that as a machine the efficiency ~—
of a man is about 25 per cent., three times as much —
heat being produced as external work done. During
complete rest in bed, fasting, the energy spent in the -
internal work of the body is determined. This aver-
ages one Calorie per kilogram of body-weight per
hour for all average people—about half the tar tiered 3
ture of the man doing light work. All unproductive
people, idlers, old, and invalid, can save a large part
of the food they eat by lying in bed warm and at rest. |"
With regard to different classes of workers, the same
measure of meat is not suitable for them all, because
meat, far more than carbohydrate or fat, stimulates
the living cells to live at a vigorous rate. Prof. Hill
states that experience shows that the higher class of —
brain-workers, the organising and driving power of the ~
nation (which must not be lessened), secures its energy
most easily out of a diet containing a higher propor-
tion of meat, and that carbohydrate is utilised very
well by producers of mechanical work. He says that ~
the Yapp ration, considering the difficulty of securin
all the rationed foods, affords scarcely more than ha
the energy necessary for productive labour. “At cur-
rent prices flour yields more than 700 Calories for a
penny, meat and cheese about 100, margarine 300.
To ration bread and flour, then, should bé the last
measure of emergency; the physiologist cannot con-
ceive rationing these while luxury trades continue and
fields are not fully cultivated or ships built to the |
utmost; while spirits are distilled from. foodstuffs for
munitions, and great stores of alcohol are left un- ~
touched; while the problem of transport of potatoes
and swede turnips to the urban populations has not +
been solved; while shipping is not used to the maxi-
mal advantage to maintain the importation of cereals.”
Fas est et ab hoste doceri. In an article on “A Cen-
tral Bureau of Commercial Intelligence” in ithe
November issue of ‘United Empire, Major Cuthbert
Christy urges us to follow the example of Germany in
taking steps ‘to turn to account with the least loss of —
The point which he chiefly insists on is what may be
comprehensively described as the indexing of know-
ledge. The parts of the Empire that he has principally _-
in view in making his present suggestions are those in
Africa, especially tropical Africa. ‘The once ‘Dark —
Continent,’’’ he says, ‘‘is certainly the richest of the —
x
F _ NoveMBeER 29, 1917]
and must in the near future,
African railways are constructed, become a field of vast
NATURE 249
five, though the fact may be known to few, not only
jn mineral wealth, but also in agricultural possibilities,
when central and trans-
d ings, of thriving native industries, and _ per-
ups the world’s chief source of raw materials.’’ What
would have in order to hasten the utilisation of these
resources is, first, a central institution in London
which, according to his ideas, would be merely a fuller
development of the Imperial Institute on the lines of
the Hamburg Colonial Institute, of which he gives an
account, and, secondly, Colonial sub-centres which the
chief centre would supply with abstracts of the volu-
minous information already collected. ‘‘It should be
obvious that where the information and training are
3 most useful is at the source of the raw material.” For
this idea also he acknowledges German origin, refer-
ene fs his own experience at the fine botanical gardens
and laboratories at Victoria, in the German Cameroon
- colony. All this seems well worthy of consideration,
_ but we would add one suggestion, that the information
thus collected and distributed should include, so far as
possible, estimates of the cost of production of the
onial commodities, expressed not merely in money,
but also in amount of labour employed. Production
per head is an even more important rubric than pro-
duction per acre.
THE inaugural address on “Science and its Func-
tions,” delivered by the chairman, Mr. A. A. Campbell
_ Swinton, at the Royal Society of Arts, on November 21,
_ contained an appreciative reference to the work of Sir
ROME OTR tact an it ee sae ema
Se oe J ¥
_ primitive peoples had applied
_ theoretical work leading to u
- Henry Trueman Wood, who recently resigned the
post of ester? 4 of the society held by him for thirty-
_ eight years. Mr
. G. K. Menzies, who has been Sir
Henry’s assistant for the past nine years, succeeds him
as secretary. chairman then reviewed the pro-
of science in the past, showing that the most
a knowledge of natural
laws in an elementary way in fashioning their weapons
and implements. Later, in the kingdoms of Babylon,
Assyria, and Egypt, and later in Greece, various
sciences were studied, and the lecturer mentioned in-
stances of their application to practical problems.
Turning to more recent periods, he contrasted the con-
- dition of this country in 1754, the year in which the
society was formed, with those prevailing to-day. The
society was older than many familiar discoveries and
inventions. Dealing with the problem of scientific
education, Mr. Campbell Swinton pointed out that
many of the greatest discoveries and inventions had
been made in thes past by men with little formal
scientific training, and in fields quite outside their
ordinary vocations. Thus James Watt was a maker
of mathematical instruments,
a colliery fireman, Arkwright a barber. Edison
began life as a railway porter. | Cavendish,
Boyle, Sir William Herschel, and other great
‘workers in the field of pure science might be
described as gifted amateurs. No rigid distinction
could be drawn between pure and applied science.
Wireless telegraphy afforded a anes instance of purely
nforeseen vast practical
results, and the same would doubtless apply to recent
researches in molecular physics. Finally, the lecturer
pointed out that the acquisition of wealth was not
necessarily a disservice to humanity. Inventors and
men of science by their discoveries created wealth, and
in general received but a small fraction of the riches
which their efforts conferred on the community.
In the November issue of Man Mr. Harold Peak
George Stephenson
_ describes a figure recently acquired by the Borough of
Newbury Museum. It is said to have been discovered
at Silchester, and it has all the appearance of bein
NO. 2509, VOL. 100] ;
contemporary with the Romano-British town of Cal-
leva. It is of dark bronze, 12 cm. in height, and
represents a male deity or Lar, standing erect, with
the head surmounted by a sun with twelve rays. The
right hand holds three ears of some grain, probably
wheat, while the left, which is raised to the level of
the shoulder, but with the elbow flexed, is bearing
what seems to be a crescent moon attached to a handle.
In the centre of the crescent is a small figure with two
faces, the head surmounted by what appears to be a
pair of short horns. -
Mr. N. W. Tuomas, in the November issue of Man,
excusing the brevity of the account of secret socie-
ties in West Africa, published in his recent report,
remarks that he was about to be initiated into the
Poro Society, which is by no means banned by the
Government, and carries on its rites with as little
secrecy as a Masonic lodge, had he not been prevented
by an order issued by a subordinate official to the chief
forbidding him to allow Mr. Thomas to go near Poro,
Bundu, or any other sacred bush. This case, now
brought to the notice of the local Government, should
lead to the reconsideration of such orders, which throw
difficulties in the way of ethnographical investigations
carried on by the official ethnologist.
Mr. H. Linc Rortn has issued in the second series
of Bankfield Museum Notes, No. 9, the second part
of his ‘‘ Studies in Primitive Looms,” this instalment
being devoted to those of Africa. He finds no fewer
than seven forms of loom in use in the continent :
the vertical mat loom, the horizontal fixed heddle loom,
the vertical cotton loom, the horizontal narrow band
treadle loom, the pit treadle loom, the Mediterranean
or Asiatic treadle loom, and the Carton loom. These
forms are easily distinguishable, and occupy distinct
areas, although in parts they overlap considerably.
The most primitive of all the forms, the vertical mat
loom, has a wide distribution, noone, frgm_ the
west coast to the east of the Great Congo Basin. The
paper is lavishly illustrated by excellent sketches, and
forms a valuable contribution’ to the study of the
history of primitive weaving.
IN a paper in the Geographical Journal for Novem-
ber (vol. 1., No. 5) Miss Newbigin discusses the rela-
tionships between race and nationality. After point-
ing out that the physical differentiz of race, at least
as they occur in the sub-races of Europe, are of little
importance under modern conditions, Miss Newbigin
maintains that man’s power of adaptive response to
his" environment is incompatible with the view that
the practice of a peculiar mode of life endows him
with certain fixed characteristics, such as are cited
by many writers as racial characteristics. Nationality
is not permanent and unalterable. What makes a
nation, according to the author’s argument, is not
only race, or religion, language, history, or tradi-
tion, but, partially at least, community of economic
interests dependent upon geographic factors. One of
the most important of these factors is the existence
of an area capable of supporting a large population
surrounded by one which becomes progressively less
fitted to support such a population. Among nation-
making factors she emphasises the existence side by
side, within the belt favourable to population, of the
most fertile lands, of those best fitted to form seats of
industries, and of great nodal points focussing internal
and external lines of communication.
In May, 1903, Dr. C. Gorini, writing in the Rends-
conti del R. Istituto Lombardo (vol. xxxvi., p. 601),
directed attention to the property possessed by the
bacillus of typhus and certain other bacteria of climb-
ing up the surface of the agar used for the culture,
250
NATURE |
[NOVEMBER 29, 1917 ~ ’
while other species failed to do so. This property was
afterwards used by Choukevvich, Metchnikoff, and other
bacteriologists for isolating the climbing species,
notably Proteus, and separating them from _ others
which do not possess the same power.
number of the Lombardy Rendiconti (vol. xlix.), Dr.
Gorini details further experiments on the method, and
gives a general résumé of the observations of other
writers bearing on ‘the subject. ;
Tue possibility of the transmission of plague by bed-
bugs is the subject of an investigation by Lt.-Col.
Cornwall and Asst.-Surg. Menon (Indian Journ.
Med, Research, vol. v., No. 1, 1917). Their
conclusion is that the likelihood of the trans-
mission of human plague by bugs in biting under
natural conditions is small. The reason for this is that
though plague bacilli may survive in the stomach of
the bug for nearly six weeks, bugs cannot np
their stomach contents in the act:of feeding. If, there-
fore, bugs transmit plague by~biting, they must do so
by washing out with the salivary secretion plagué
bacilli stranded in their sucking tubes, and the bacilli
are unlikely to remain in the sucking tube for long
after an infected feed.
AN important paper on the zoological position of
the Sarcosporidia is contributed by Mr. Howard Craw-
ley to the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of -Philadelphia (vol. Ixvii:, part 3). The
author arrives at the conclusion that the Sarcosporidia
are to be regarded, not as Neosporidia, but as Telo-
sporidia, and as being nearly related to the Coccidio-
morpha, a conclusion exactly opposite to that arrived at
’ by Minchin, who regarded these parasites as nearly re-
lated to the Myxosporidia. But apart from problems
of taxonomy, the author has much to say in regard
to this group which is based upon original research,
though he has failed to throw any further light on
the migration of the product of the zygote into the
muscle-cells.
Tue skull of the lesser cachalot (Kogia breviceps)
has recently been investigated by Dr. H. von Schulte,
who records the results of his labour in the Bulletin
of the American Museum of Natural History (vol.
XXXVii., article xvii.). The material at his disposal
comprised the skull of an adult female and that of a
calf about two-thirds grown, and these are compared
with those already described in other museums. The
author finds that the cranium of Kogia is subject to
a considerable degree of fluctuating variation, and
that it is impossible to distinguish sexual characters
therein. Finally, he holds that a comparison between
the skulls of Kogia and Physeter shows the former
‘to be the more highly specialised form, though both
have deviated in different directions from the common
ancestral type. oe alah ae Pte 4:
An interesting account of the high alpine flora of
the Upper Mekong in. N.W.. Yunnan is given. by Mr.
George Forrest in the Gardeners’ Chronicle for Octo-
ber 27. Dwarf rnododendrons are the dominant
feature of the region from 12,000 to 15,000 ft., forming
a moorland vegetation very similar in appearance to
our own heather moors. Of the 7ooo-8000 species of
plants already collected by Mr. Forrest, fully 20 per
cent. he estimates are rhododendrons. Their wealth,
he writes, ‘‘is.almost incredible ... . each individual
seems to have a form or affinity on every range and
divide differing essentially from the type.” ne of
his new species, a shrub 1-23 ft. high, bears masses
of brilliant yellow flowers, and was found covering
“many acres of country. ;
Kew Bulletin Nos. 4.and 5, which .are issued
together, are almost entirely occupied by an account
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
In a recent,
of the genus Strychnos in India and the East by the
assistant-director. - Ninety-two species are now knowr
from this region, twenty-two being described in this”
paper for the first time. The genus is broken up into —
four sections on well-marked floral characters, and itis
in the section with long-tubed flowers and large fruits
that the economic species are to be found. Strychnos
Nux-vomica, it is found, occurs wild, not only in —
South India and Ceylon, but also in Cochin-China.
The plant. from Burma and. Siam formerly con-
sidered to belong to this species proves to be quite
distinct, and is described as a new species under the
name of Strychnos Nux-blanda, It is.of interest that ae
the seeds of this tree, which resemble those of the well-
known Nux-vomica, contain practically no alkaloids. ~
Another economic species, S$. Gautheriana, from French
Indo-China, about which much confusion has existed,
has also been satisfactorily determined with the help
of material at Paris. Several interesting questions of
geographical distribution are raised in the introductory
pages, and the paper is illustrated with text figures. =
In the Agricultural Journal of India, vol. Xii., —
part iii., Messrs. J. H. Barnes and B, Ali give an
account of investigations which demonstrate that the —
progress of reclamation of alkali soils can be effec —
tively tested by measurements of the activity of the
oxidising, nitrifying, and nitrogen-fixing bacteria in —
the soils. Mr. J. N. Sen contributes observations
made at Pusa on the occurrence of infertile patches
under trees, which indicate that numerous factors are
involved, such as competition for light and food, pro- —
duction of toxins, and accumulation of soluble salts. —
Mr. H. E. Annett contributes the results of further
experiments in the improvement of the date-palm sugar _
industry. The deterioration of the juice by fermenta-
tion during collection was found to be largely obviated
by coating the earthenware collecting pots internally
with lime. Metal buckets, as used in North America —
for maple juice, were found to be very unsatisfactory. —
The dark colour of the date-palm sugar (gur) was
found to be due to the alkalinity of the fresh juice.
When this was neutralised before concentrating the
juice a very satisfactory light-coloured gur was —
obtained. 4
Qn:
~*~.
H
>
=~
Lt
x.
< [
Mr. T. A. JaGGar, jUN., director of the Hawaiian
Volcano Observatory, occupies sixty pages of the
American Journal of Science (vol. xliv., p. 161, 1917)
with an important and well-illustrated account of
recent ‘‘ Volcanologic Investigations at Kilauea,” sum-
marising much that has been published in the Bulletin -
of the observatory from time to time (compare NATURE,
vol. xcviii., p. 436, and-vol. c., p. 92). The large photo-
graphs of two aspects of Halemaumau, by Mr. Mori-
hiro, of Hilo, are reproduced in a very impressive
plate. aces
4 ' fie £
Tue late Mr. Clement Reid’s memoir on the Bourne-
mouth district, published by the Geological Survey in
1898, was the result of his mapping of the superficial —
deposits ; but Sir A. Geikie, as was stated in the preface,
then looked forward to the issue of a more detailed
account of this very interesting area. Mr. H. J. |
Osborne White has now prepared a second edition, ~
which is practically a new work (Mem. Geol. Surv.,
Explanation of Sheet 329, 1917, price 2s.), as a guide
to the colour-printed map ‘which appeared in 1904
a EA RN hl A ant a hl a eae pal
in le ee kd ~ a eee lal let lak
or 74
.
rage
gravels with Palwolithic implements receive just atten- |
mains that in Sir A. Geikie’s preface, where he com- |
y
© NoveMBER 29, 1917]
NATURE
251
pares the Ordnance Survey map of ‘‘Bourne Mouth”
fp ast: with that issued in 1893. The present géo-
logical map, with its colouring of the eet gravels
of Winton and Boscombe, and of the Bagshot Sands
_ of Parkstone, affords a good explanation of the human
development of the district. .
_ ©» AccomMpanyING the main coal seams in some parts
_ of England are often found seams of inferior coal sub-
_ stances. These frequently resemble canneli coal: more
or less closely, and are distinguished by giving a large
proportion of a very voluminous ash, making them use-
less for ordinary fuel purposes. In some districts the
_ carbonaceous portion, considered apart from the ash,
_ is comparable in composition with that of a good coal,
_ so that the substance contains a large amount of poten-
_ tial energy, which is at present wasted. Experiments
_ have therefore been made in order to ascertain whether
_ by low-temperature distillation of the waste coal any
tion of this potential energy can be made available
in the form of oil fuel © or: other valuable’ products.
_ An account of these experiments is given by Mr. T. F.
_ Winmill in the Journal of the Society of Chemical In-
_ dustry for August 31. The main bulk of the liquid
_ products obtained was a hydrocarbon oil of a new type,
favhid a specific gravity of from 0794 to o-gIo, and
boiling between the range 150° to 360° C.; it proves
to be a mixture of unsaturated and polymethylene
_hydrocarbons. The only obvious use for the mixture
is as a fuel oil. Unfortunately the experiments indi-
- cated that treatment of the coal as described. would not
in present circumstances be a ee profitable
_ process, the cheapness of the waste coal being more
_ than offset by the fact that no residue of saleable coke
5-18 left. - A
-_Ina r which appears in the Proceedings of the
— Royal Sotie y_of Bataburgh for the session 1916-17
_, Dr. John Aitken gives an account of his investigation
of the nature of the nuclei present in air on which
- condensation of moisture occurs when the air is
slightly supersaturated. The supersaturation is pro-
_ duced in the usual way by the expansion of the air
_ by amounts which, in Dr. Aitken’s apparatus, were
2, 4, 6, or 8 per cent. The smallest expansion causes
condensation on the largest nuclei, and it is repeated
oe no further condensation occurs. Expansions of
_ 4 per cent. then bring down smaller nuclei, and finally
expansions of 8 per cent. brin
_ vestigated by Dr. Aitken. All are much larger than
_ the “small ions” requiring expansions of 25 per cent.
to bring them down. Pure air has fewer nuclei of
all kinds than polluted air, which, when freshly pol-
tuted by combustion or some other chemical process,
has a great number of large nuclei, removable by a
per cent. expansion, and many requiring expansions
p to 8 per cent. The smaller nuclei disappear faster
_ than the larger. Many substances give off. nuclei at
_ ordinary temperatures, but heating facilitates the pro-
cess, especially if chemical action occurs. Dr. Aitken
takes exception to the use of the term ions for these
nuclei, even when they are electrically charged.
pe
o
SEVERAL aeronautical articles appear in the issue of
_ the Scientific American for October 6. .One article
§ deals with the training of airmen in the States, and
_ lays special emphasis upon the importance of the tech-
nical instruction which the men receive, enabling them
- to understand every detail of the mechanical equipment
of their machines. A complete report is given of
Capt. Hucks’s paper on “A Further Three Years’
Flying Experience ”—noted recently in these columns.
An article on ‘‘The Classification of Military Aero-
planes” is of some interest, but most of its contents
NO. 2509, VOL.: 100]
| gress in-this country.
down the smallest in-
) _ is well known to those who follow aeronautical pro- |
A short note on the use of kite
balloons deserves comment, as these invaluable aids to
artillery are seldom mentioned .in our periodicals.
Their greatest advantage lies in the fact that they are
in direct telephonic communication with the battery
for which they are ‘‘ spotting,” as the Scientific Amer-
ican duly points out. An excellent plate is given
illustrating the leading types: of German aeroplanes
for 1917, together with a table giving their main
dimensions, armament, and engine power.’ Among .
the shorter articles is one which informs us_ that
America’s first “Blimp” is now in commission.
Another short note discusses the advantages of the
tractor-pusher type of battleplane, a design in which
a small car is mounted in front of the airscrew of a
tractor machine, giving the gunner an excellent field
of fire. This idea is not new, but has not hitherto
met with much approval on account of the mechanical
difficulties of supporting the forward: car.
Engineering for November 23 contains an illustrated
article on the armament of aeroplanes, in which refer-
ence is made to the arrangements whereby a machine-
gun can be fired through the propeller. The German
Fokker of 1915-16 had a fixed quick-firing gun mounted
in this way, and combined with the engine, so that
its firing synchronised with the working of the engine.
This method has been adopted on most of the French
and enemy machines. Illustrations of a Parabellum ~
gun and also of a Maxim gun with the synchronising
device attached are given in the article. “The ammuni-
tion used by the Germans is also illustrated; the belt
contains ordinary, perforating, incendiary, and explo-
sive bullets. The incendiary bullets are hollow and
filled with an incendiary material, the basis of which is
phosphorus; these bullets produce a trail of light, the
object of which is to fire airships and petrol tanks, and
also to enable the gunner to correct his range. The
perforating bullets consist of a hardened .steel core
surrounded by a German-silver cover. The belts con-
tain about 1o or 15 per cent. of explosive bullets, the
action of which is that of small explosive shells.
' SINCE 1906, when Mr. Palin Elderton’s useful volume
on ‘Frequency Curves and Correlation’? was pub-
lished, many further advances have been made in
statistical method, and the author has now issued an
addendum (C. and E. Layton, 1917) with the idea of
bringing the book up to date. The first part deals
with the exceptional types of frequency-distribution
derivable from Prof. Karl Pearson’s differential equa-
tion, and the second and third parts describe briefly
the calculation of a coefficient of correlation for a two-
rowed table by Prof. Pearson’s method and the cor-
relation-ratio respectively. The pamphlet should be
in the possession of all owners of the original work,
a list of errata in which is also given. We have also
received a reprint of a.short paper on the coefficient
of correlation by Mr. W. G. Reed, of the U.S. Weather
Bureau, from the Quarterly Publications of the Amer-
ican Statistical Association. The paper gives illustra-
tions of the calculation of the coefficient,:and a biblio-
graphy of the literature. One illustration seems a
little misleading, though it is given as a warning. The
correlation between the phase of the moon and the
height of high-wate: is found to be near zero. But the
phase of the moon is measured by the number of days
after full moon;-if it were expressed: as a periodic
function the correlation would be high.
Mr. V. C. Suippee contributes to the Chemical News
for November 2 an interesting note on pure sodium
chloride: A specimen prepared by dissolving metallic
sodium in distilled water, neutralising with pure hydro-
chloric acid, and precipitating with hydrogen chloride
252
NATURE
[NovEMBER 29, 1917
contained a considerable amount of potassium salt as
detected by the flame test. After four recrystallisations
from distilled water, however, the purified salt con-
tained only oor per cent. of potassium chloride. A
sample prepared and purified in the same way, except
that caustic soda ‘‘pure by alcohol’? was employed,
contained 0-03 per c2nt. of potassium chloride, whilst
four recrystallisations of a sample of “C.P.” common
salt gave a product containing o-o7 per cent. of the
same impurity. The chief conclusion drawn is that
although potassium chloride obstinately persists with
sodium chloride, it can be remoyed by repeated re-
crystallisations.
A crear deal of information is contained in a paper
on gas-firing boilers read by Mr. T. M. Hunter at the
Institution of Electrical Engineers on November 22.
Mr. Hunter believes that there is a great future for this
method of firing boilers, despite the unfortunate ex-
periences which “have been the lot of many engineers
in the past. Mr. Hunter’s paper—which is almost a
text-book on the subject—should assist engineers to
understand and to obtain the proper conditions for
economical gas-firing. In connection with the testing
“of results, the following extract is of interest :—‘‘ The
apparatus for boiler control will cost a considerable
amount, and it must not be overlooked that the best
outfit of recording instruments is useless unless a
constant and intelligent use of them is enforced abso-
lutely. If, in addition to this, the boilermen and the
man in charge of the boiler plant are given a premium
for maintaining good results, boiler control will soon
develop into a fine art, and prove an important source
of revenue.” We think that Mr. Hunter’s remarks
should be noted by owners of boilers. There are
numerous cases’ where CO, recorders, pyrometers, etc.,
have been installed, and are practically ready for the
scrap heap after a few weeks’ life, when they have
served much the same purpose as toys, On the other
hand, if these instruments are kept in thorough work-
ing order, and if the workmen are taught to take an
intelligent interest in their records, it is astonishing
what improvements can be effected in the working of
the plant.
WE have received a small booklet from Messrs. Wat-
son and Sons (Electro-Medical), Ltd., of 196 Great
Portland Street, W.1, entitled ‘‘The Sunic Record,”
dealing with some recent developments in the produc-
tion of apparatus for the generation and application of
X-rays. The work is edited by Mr. T. Thorne Baker,
and is an interesting indication of present activity in
the British electro-medical industry. In addition to the
description of new apparatus the booklet contains
an original article on the suppression of the “ inverse”
current in induction coils, notes on the X-ray examina-
tion of metal castings, radio-active paints, the Coolidge
X-ray tube, reviews of books, etc. It is proposed to
continue the publication monthly, and the proprietors
undertake to send copies to those who will forward
their names and addresses.
Messrs. H. K. Lewis anp Co., Lrp., 136 Gower
Street, W.C.1, have sent us a list of the new books
and new editions added to their Medical and Scientific
Circulating Library during July, August, and Septem-
ber. As the library contains upwards of 13,000 works
dealing with medicine, surgery, astronomy, biology,
botany, chemistry, electricity, engineering, geology,
microscopy, mining, physics, philosophy, sociology,
technology, voyages and travels, zoology, etc., and as
any recent book of importance ‘which may be applied
for, if not already available, is added to it, it should be
of great service to science workers. The list will be
sent to any address on application.
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
‘afternoon.
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN,
Tue Tora Ecvipse OF THE SUN, JUNE 8, 1918.—Th
total eclipse of the sun on June 8, 1918, will be vis:
in the United States along a belt having a maximur
breadth of sixty miles, extending from the State of
Washington, through parts of Oregon, Wyoming, ar
Idaho, across Colorado and Kansas, and finally co
ing Florida about sunset. The duration of calit
will diminish from 2m. 2s. at the coast of Washington
to less than half that amount in Florida. It is reported 2.
in Science (October 26) that Profs. Frost and Barnard eo
have made a personal investigation of certain localities, —
and have decided upon Green River, Wyoming, as the ia
principal station for the expedition from the Ee
Observatory. Green River is situated setae Chey! it
enne and Ogden, in the so-called Red Desert, and with
a rainfall of about 10 in. per year, and an elevation —
of 6000 ft., it appears to be one of the most: ing —
stations along the belt of totality. The transparency — a
of the air on the day of the visit of the Yerkes astro-
nomers is described as extraordinary. Denver is a
possible observing station, but there appears to be some _
risk.of cloud in the Colorado mountains on a Lbniiac
It is probable, however, that a
graph from the Yerkes Observatory will be attached x
to the 20-in. equatorial of the University of Denver. :
Another site very favourably reported upon is near
Matheson, Colorado, about sixty miles south-east of _
Denver, at an elevation of 6000 ft. On account of the ~
war no British expeditions have been organised for ob. —
servations of this eclipse. ae
REpoRTS OF FRENCH OBSERVATORIES.—From > ‘the: “3
official report on the provincial observatories of France —
for 1916 it appears that a large amount of valuable —
work has been carried on, in spite of the serious deple- a
tions of staff which are recorded. Meridian observa- —
tions, observations of minor planets and comets, and
work connected with the astrographic chart of ‘the —
heavens are prominent features of the reports.
siderable attention has also been devoted to terrestri il
magnetism and meteorology. At Lyons M. Luiz
has continued his important studies of short-
variables, and numerous observations of double paid
have been made by M. Montangerand at Toulou
The retirement of M. Coggia is announced by the dies
tor of the Marseilles Observatory; M. Cogs ia join
the staff of this observatory in 1866, and was the
discoverer of seven comets, of which Comet VI. (1873) :
and Comet III. (1874) were especially notable. - _
STRUCTURE OF PLaNETARY NEBUEA:.—An investig rentigation
of the internal movements and possible structure of ¥
planetary nebulz 654g and 7009 of the N.G.C. has been.
made by Mr. W. K. Green (Lick Observatory Bulletin, —
No. 298). In each case several long-exposure photo- =
graphs of the spectrum were taken with different orien-
tations of the slit, so as to give the radial velocity at —
a large number of points. ‘The central portion of each —
nebula gives direct evidence of rotation about the. @
shorter axis, but the outer portions along the major —
axis seem to be rotating in the opposite direction, and —
some of the observed velocities follow no regular. law. \
i
at
i
ot
paidaibhane eT La bye |
Photometric measurements of plates obtained with the
Crossley reflector have been made, and curves are
given showing the distribution of intensity along vari- _
ous diameters. Both sets of observations point to a
rotating ellipsoidal shell as a possible form, but the cy
luminosity curves which have been calculated for such —
forms are in disagreement with the observations as —
regards the major axis. An attempt is made to ex-| —
plain the reversal of direction of rotation at the outer —
ends by supposing that the central ellipsoid is sur-— =)
rounded by a fainter ellipsoidal shell or ring, which —
rotates in the opposite direction, but this hypothesis | is L'
not considered to be entirely satisfactory.
,
~ NoveMBeR 29, 1917]
NATURE
253
Sere THE EDUCATION BILL.
THE important conference between representatives
_ *£ of the local education authorities and Mr. Fisher,
President of the Board of Education, held ia London
_ on November 20, is indicative of the keen interest taken
_ by responsible men in the Education Bill so far as its
j clauses are concerned. Mr. Fisher was not called
_ from his high office as Vice-Chancellor of the Univer-
_ sity of Sheffield simply that he might promote a
measure embodying certain changes in methods of
educational procedure and administration, or to in-
crease the bureaucratic powers of the Central Authority
with some possible advance in the essential features
of education, but in response to a growing and in-
- sistent demand, largely induced by the lessons of the
fierce conflict im which we are engaged, which has
thrown a lurid light upon the defects of our educa-
tional system, that Parliament should initiate a liberal
- measure of educational reform so complete and all-
_embracing that no child ofsthe nation shall be allowed
to escape from its fostering care, however insistent
_ may be the demands of industry.
_ Mr. Fisher has enthusiastically responded to this
_ demand, and by his speeches in and out of the House
_ has aroused a deep and almost universal desire that his
_ educational reforms, by no means rising to the height
of his aspirations or fulfilling the ardent hopes of
- some educationists, should be given a chance of legis-
- lation. Unfortunately, the measure is weighted with
_ certain provisions which, in the opinion of many per-
sons jealous of the claims of local government, are
likely to impede the initiative and sap the public spirit
and independence of the local authorities. From the
_ tenor of the interview mentioned above it is fairly
_ meet the criticisms offered so far as certain of the
- administrative clauses are concerned, and there is hope
will dispose of the excuse that the Government cannot
_ find the necessary time for its discussion.
_ Many measures of reconstruction, to take effect after
the war, are afoot, but most of them are likely to
be futile of result in the absence of an educational
measure of the character Mr. Fisher has placed before
_ the nation. It is accordingly with warm approval that
we note that an important body like the British Science
Guild has on this ground approached the Prime Minis-
Se Poo Sih aoe
enable the Bill, after due consideration and = such
amendments as may be found necessary, to become
law in the course of the present session of Parliament.
In all, 331 resolutions, of which 156 are from Labour
organisations, have been received by the Government
i urging that the Bill should be pressed forward with all
_ possible speed. The prospects of the Bill becoming
an Act have, indeed, improved greatly during the past
~ few days. On November 23 Mr. Fisher, in a speech
at Brighton, declared that the Government intends to
_ pass the Bill, and the Parliamentary correspondent of
_ the Times says it is understood that the Government
__ is prepared to consider favourably the giving of facili-
ties. for the Bill this session, provided that a guarantee
is given that the debates in the House of Commons
are limited to a specific number of Parliamentary days.
A large deputation, representative: of all parties in
_ the House of Commons, waited upon the Prime Minis-
_ ter on Monday to urge the importance of passing the
Bill into law without delay. Mr. Lloyd George was
unable to give any definite pledge, but he suggested
that if the present session were prolonged it might be
possible to take the Bill towards the end of the session,
and if not, it would be given priority next session. It
is possible, therefore, that the second reading will be taken
before Christmas, and, in any case, the Billis to be given
precedence next session if it does not come on before.
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
ee eS ae
clear that Mr. Fisher is prepared to go a long way to.
.. therefore that an agreed measure may result which ©
ter with a demand that facilities shall be given to.
MARINE BIOLOGY.
FOURTEEN papers, forming vol. xi. (1917, pp. 360),
are issued from the Department of Marine
Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Three papers record observations on the scyphomedusa,
Cassiopea xamachana, which is common in shallow
water near the laboratory at Tortugas, Florida. This
medusa, which thrives well in aquaria, is accustomed
in nature to a considerable range in salinity and in
temperature, and, having commensal algal cells, is in
some measure independent of the oxygen supply of the
surrounding water. On removing, by means of two
circular cuts, the peripheral region, including the
sense-organs, and the central stomach, an annular piece
of tissue is obtained which is paralysed (owing to
removal of the sense-organs), but is capable of stimu- ©
lation by an induction shock until a contraction wave
going in one direction is entrapped in it. Such a wave
may maintain itself for days with little change of rate
provided the temperature, CO,, salinity, and H-ion
concentration of the sea-water remain constant. Such
rings of tissue provide extremely favourable material
for the study of variations in the rate of nerve-con-
duction in natural sea-water “and in artificial sea-
water solutions. Dr. A. G. Mayer ‘concludes, after
many experiments on these rings, that nerve-conduction
is due to a chemical action involving the cations
sodium, calcium, and potassium (magnesium is non-
essential), the sodium and calcium combining with
some proteid. The high temperature-coefficient of
ionisation of this ion-proteid may account for the high
temperature-coefficient of the rate of nerve-conduction.
Dr. L. R. Cary has carried out experiments to test the
influence of the sense-organs of the medusa on meta-
bolism and regeneration. The oral arms and stomach
having been cut away, a strip of subumbrellar ecto-
derm, in which alone the nervous elements are con-
tained, was removed along a diameter, and thus
nervous connection between the halves of the disc
prevented. Comparison of such insulated halves, in
one of which the sense-organs were present, while in
the other they had been removed, showed that the
half-disc with sense-organs always regenerated more
rapidly, especially in the early stages. The experi-
ments indicate that the rate of regeneration is simply
an expression of the general metabolic activity of an
animal, and as such is subject to the influence of the
nerve-centres Dr. S. Hatai gives an account of the
composition of normal and starved meduse.
Prof. E., N. Harvey describes experiments on, and
discusses, the chemistry of light-production in
animals. He has studied in detail a Japanese marine
ostracod Crustacean, Cypridina hilgendorfi, in which
light-giving material is formed in a gland opening
near the mouth and, on agitation of the animal, is readily
extruded as minute yellow globules which dissolve in
water to a colourless solution. Oxygen is necessary
for light-production, in which two substances—" photo-
genin’’ and ‘‘photophelein’—are shown to be con-
cerned. Photogenin, present in the luminous gland
cells, is colloidal, and probably a proteid. Photo-
phelein, which is found in high concentration through-
out the body of Cypridina, is crystalloidal and of un-
known composition. One part of the gland in
1,700,000,000 of water will give visible light on the
addition of photophelein. A similar photogenin-photo-
phelein reaction was found in fence fireflies
(Luciola). Mrs. Harvey records observations on Noc-
tiluca, the luminescence of which is traceable to
granules (photogenin) in the protoplasm, but photo-
phelein could not be demonstrated.
Dr. A. J. Goldfarb has investigated the variability of
the eggs of sea-urchins; Dr. H. L. Clark records the
habits and reactions of a Comatulid (Tropiometra) ; Dr.
A. L. Treadwell describes several new species of Poly-
254
NATURE
[ NOVEMBER 29,. 1917
cheta; Dr. H. E. Jordan gives an account of the
structure of the striped muscle of Limulus, and also
traces the embryonic history of the germ-cells of the
loggerhead turtle from the emigration of the primordial
germ-cells from the yolk-sac endoderm to their arrival
in their final positions.
RESEARCH PAPERS FROM THE
| UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY,
HE University of Sydney has recently issued (for
private circulation) several volumes of reprints
of papers by members of its staff and by its research
students during the period 1909-16. It is clear that
. the University is doing its duty in contributing to
scientific progress, and in training its best students in
the methods of research. ‘Thus in vol. A we have a
list of upwards of sixty papers (twenty of which are
included in this volume) ranging over the subjects of
mathematics, physics, chemistry, agriculture, and
engineering; and although, of course, they are of un-
equal value in the eyes of an expert, they are all con-
cerned with genuine scientific problems, the solution
of which means something more than a mere class
exercise. One paper is ot an exceptional kind, as
dealing with a chapter of mathematical history. ‘This
is Prot. H. S. Carslaw’s Napier commemorative lec-
ture, which gives a clear and interesting account of
what Napier’s logarithms were (even yet this is often
wrongly stated), and of the way in which they were
calculated. The other papers are technical, and we
must Content ourselves with noting those in the com-
plete list which ‘obviously deal with specially Austra-
lian matters. These are: (1) Two papers on super-
annuation and pension funds; ; (2) one on the teach-
ing of mathematics in Australia; (3) one on Australian
coalfields and collieries; (4) one on the Hargreaves
goldfield, N.S.W. None of these, however, appear in
this volume, probably because the stock has been
exhausted.
An interesting record of the activities in research
of the anatomists and biologists of the University is
contained in vol. i., series B. Unfortunately the
volume is by no means complete, for of the fifty-seven
papers which have actually been published during the
period covered (1909-16) only twenty-eight are repre-
sented. This, however, is five more than we are led
to expect from the table of contents, which is to that
extent inaccurate. These papers represent the original
research of a dozen different authors, and naturally
range over a wide field, from pathological anatomy
to zoogeography. The most distinctively Australian
contributions are those dealing with the fauna of the
great island-continent. The botanical side of biological
science is but slightly represented, though we may
expect to see a great advance in this direction now
that a separate department of botany has been estab-
lished in the University. A good many of the papers
were originally published in English journals, and are
already well known to workers in this country. Of
the remainder, the Proceedings of the Linnean Society
of New South Wales furnish a very large proportion.
We may direct special attention to Mr. E. Hall-
mann’s “ Revision of the Monaxonid Sponges described
as new in Lendenfeld’s Catalogue of Sponges in the
Australian Museum.” Such a revision was greatly
needed, for the catalogue in question is a singularly
unsatisfactory piece of work. Mr. R. J. Tillyard’s
papers on dragonflies constitute a conspicuous feature
of the volume and a very notable contribution to the
study of this group of insects, which is dealt with from
the different points of view of systematic zoology, geo-
graphical distribution, and physiology. We note that
Messrs. Hallmann and Tillyard are, or were, both
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
Linnean Mackay fellows in zoology. These fellow-
ships have done much to promote the study of zoolog
in a country where an immense amount of work
remains to be done before our knowledge of the fau
can be placed upon a really satisfactory footing. “
issue ot this volume coincides with the retirement of —
Prof. Haswell from the chair of zoology, which he has
so long held. He himself contributes four memoirs —
to the collection, and we hope that his valuable re-
searches in Australian zoology will long be continued.
Series B, vol. ii., is concerned with geology, patho- —
logy, and physiology, the first-named science oceupy-
ing by far the greatest portion. The papers iriclude a —
series by W. N. Benson on the ‘Great: Serpentine —
Belt of New South Wales,” where the perennial —
subject of the connection between radiolarian cherts —
and pillow-lavas comes up for discussion in the case of
rocks of Middle Devonian age. The association of —
frequent casts of Lepidodendron with radiolaria has
raised interesting physiographic questions. The allu- —
vial deposits of Copeton, N.S.W., containing tinstone
and diamonds, have been worked since 1873, and Mr.
L. A. Cotton has recorded (1914) a diamond in a
quartz-dolerite of the district. He regards the basic
magma as the true matrix, and does not suggest a
derivation from underlying rocks. Prof. Edgeworth
David has stimulated so much of the geological work in —
the University of Sydney that his address to the Aus- —
tralasian Association in 1913 seems very fittingly in- —
cluded in this volume. It deals with the influence of
an Antarctic continent, varying in dimensions in geo-
logical time, on the climate of Australia, and attributes
the cold Permo-Carboniferous conditions to the im-
mense extension of land in the south of the southern
hemisphere. Among the physiological papers is one of
importance to chemists, by Mr. H. Wardlaw, on ‘‘The —
Accuracy of Neumann’s Method for the Estimation
of Phosphorus.” Though this author’s work has been
largely concerned with milk, of human or other origin,
he has found time for a specially Australian study on
¥ ;
the variations of temperature in Echidna.
THE SURVEY OF INDIA. A
oTHE Indian Survey Report for 1915-16 contains —
nothing of special interest either in the department
of exploration or in that of science, but it is a good —
record of solid work carried out under the direction of
Sir Sidney Burrard, curtailed in certain branches by
the exigencies of war service, but on the whole a most
satisfactory report. The progress made in the topo- —
graphical mapping of the huge area of India in the —
ten years preceding 1916 shows that between one- —
fourth and one-fifth of that area has been completed —~
on various scales and by various methods up to date,
but one is left in doubt as to the comparative values
of the revision necessary in the mapping of an older
date than 1905. The whole of India (or very nearly
the whole) must havé been mapped by then, on scales
which are much the same as those now adopted for —
various classes of land area. Surely very little revision
is necessary in those barren areas (within the frontier)
z
that were mapred on the smaller scales. On the other _
a |
wt
l- | hand, much of the 1 in. per mile mapping must have
required actual re-survey. The area remaining to be —
mapped amounts to 1-382767 square miles (or there-
abouts?), so the Survey of India has still a career
before it. ges ae
‘It is worthy of note that thirty-six ‘Impe- |
rial” officers have been withdrawn for active —
service, and that of that number no fewer than seven —
have already laid down their lives for their oe At
A survey party has been attached to the forces in —
Mesopotamia, and the result’ of its work will be of
special interest, but otherwise no trans-frontier geo-
Fi
b4
/NoveMBER 29, 1917|
NATURE
259
graphical “work is reported. The trigonometrical
‘branch has necessarily been curtailed in its activities,
the scientific work of that branch (astronomical, mag-
‘netic, and tidal) making un its chief record, with but
little reference to the extension of geodetic triangula-
- tion. In the department of map publication there has
been great activity, the total number of maps published
(626,329) during the year being in excess of that of
the year previous. TOS H.
MODERN DEVELOPMENTS OF THE GAS
INDUSTRY.
WING to sudden illness, Mr. W. B. Worthington
asked at the end of October to be released
from the duties of the presidency of the Institution of
_ Civil Engineers. Mr. Harry Jones, who has been
- elected to succeed him, delivered the presidential ad-
dress before the institution on November 6. Mr.
_ Jones is the chairman of the High Explosives Com-
mittee, of which Lord Moulton is president, and is the
first member of the gas engineering profession who
has occupied the chair at the Institution of Civil
Engineers. In his address he dealt with modern de-
_ velopments in gas practice, how far the practice has
_ been making itself useful during the war, the fresh
prospects it has in the coming time of peace, and,
finally, the special qualification of the gas engineer
and the work he has to do. Subjoined are extracts
from the address.
There has come about in the work of the gas
engineer an entire revolution. We used to be called
_ “gas light companies,’ and the ancient Act of Parlia-
' ment used to of “ furnishing a luminous vapour.”’
The revolution that I speak of is in the fact that the
_use of gas for direct lighting has become almost ex-
. tinet, and there has been an enormous development
of gas as pure fuel, both for domestic and trade pur-
poses, as well as for motor-cars. So extensive has the
use of incandescent mantle burners, not 5 per cent. of
the whole output is now used for direct illumination.
The fuel and engine use varies as the towns are
more or less industrial, but evidence is not wanting
_ that that also is growing very rapidly. For instance,
in the East of London the Royal Mint melts the whole
' of the coinage by gas furnaces, and Messrs. Roth-
_ schild’s eel refinery uses the same means of smelting.
_ It is remarkable that the gas company which furnishes
_ that supply, having made fuses for war purposes, was
_ found to have by its furnaces melted the metal with
such good effect as to produce an alloy so superior
that the company has been specially asked to smelt
' metals on a large scale for the Munitions Department,
and is now carrying out a considerable amount of
+ smelting for that department, and you may be in-
terested to learn that this is entirely done by women
_ operators. -
Sir Robert Hadfield has stated that in his Sheffield
works he uses as much as 500,000,000 cub. ft. of gas
per annum for smelting and metallurgical purposes,
which represents the output of 45,000 tons of coal.
Mr. Hanbury Thomas, the manager of the Sheffield
Gas Company, has stated that his company has no
fewer than 642 furnaces, consuming 372,000,000 cub. ft.
of gas, at work in his district, while 15,116 h.p. gas
engines consume 789,000,000 cub, ft. From Birming-
ham, Manchester, Glasgow, and, indeed, from all the
manufacturing towns, we hear similar statements. For
such purposes the cleanliness, flexibility, intensity of
siderations indeed. The effect of all these use$ of gas
has been to level the load factor and to remove the
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
- growth been that it is estimated that, allowing for the
heat, and control of gas fuel must be very great: con-.
maximum demand peak from night-time in midwinter,
which was formerly the time when people wanted
special light, and often some heat; but to-day the mid-
day cooking hour on a summer Sunday forms the
peak in the industrial suburbs of London. There is
no hour which demands so much gas as that par-
ticular hour on a July Sunday.
An important result of these extended uses gf gas
appliances has been their ready applicability to the
rapid furnishing of munitions on emergency. Acknow-
ledgment is due to makers of furnaces and stove
plants for the aptitude and energy shown by them in
forcing their output to meet the stress of war, in face
of scarcity of materials and labour. Moreover, they
have devised a great variety of useful and ingenious
plant for facilitating processes of all kinds and for
- speeding up output, and these have been eagerly
accepted by those cngaees on munition works,
But, quite apart from general service of this kind,
a special direct supply of high explosive material was
effectively furnished at short notice in adequate quan-
tities to the War Department, and, although I must
not enlarge upon this, I have obtained Lord Moulton’s
permission to quote to you the full and generous recog-
nition he has given publicly to these services of the
gas industry. Among other complimentary and gener-
ous expressions he has: stated :—‘‘ Without the direct
aid of the gas industry, and, further than that, the
assistance and the knowledge which have been
acquired ‘by those who devote their lives to it, it would
have been perfectly impossible for this country ito have
waged the campaign of the last three years, or even
for any but a trifling time resist the overwhelming
floods of enemies that were poured upon it. When I
first was asked to take charge of the manufacture and
production of explosives, it took me but a few days
to realise my absolute dependence on your great in-
dustry. My appeal to the leaders to assist me was
made immediately. ... The response has been so
splendid that we have become, [ might almost say,
affluent where I expected nothing but pauperism, and
gradually we have seen ourselves creeping up to an
equality with the supplies that our enemies have been
piling up year after year in anticipation of a war that
they intended to bring upon us, until now I think that
our anxiety in this department, which at first was
probably the keenest anxiety of all, has passed away
through your assistance.”’
The explanation of this graceful acknowledgment is
that at the time the appeal was made there was in’ the
hands of the gas engineer neither a process nor plant
for the recovery of one special requirement. For the
best process the plant foundations and housing wanted
months for execution. But Dr. Carpenter found that
by using our own tar as a solvent at a suitable tem-
perature and diverting part of our existing plant from
_its normal use, the greater part of the recovery could -
be effected at once, and that, too, by gasworks below
the scale justifying the special plant being erected.
Lord Moulton sanctioned this departure, and within a
fortnight some of us got. going on the Carpenter pro-
cess, and began to “deliver the goods,” which were
at that time very vital. So much has -been needed
since that we have mostly installed the more complete
plant on large-scale works, but no profit at all is got |
out of this; moreover, the service of the chiefs of the
staff for organising the co-operation of all the gas
undertakings in this work has been furnished by the
gas companies without any charge whatever to the
Government, and many other accommodations have
been gratuitously afforded.
The extended number and variety of processes aris-
ing in the prosecution of war service generally in the
furnishing of munitions inevitably lead us to the con-
sideration of how far these processes will help us in
256
NATURE
[| NOVEMBER 29, I9I7
times of peace in the future. Inevitably connected
with the present distribution of gas as fuel, the chief
“residual, coke, though not valued as it deserves to be,
is a useful smokeless fuel, and can be converted into
water-gas, and so made use of as a fuel. Ammonia,
when fixed by the acid from our sulphur, is of great
value as a fertiliser, and is wanted everywhere for the
land.‘ Tar yields chiefly pitch, which is also a fuel,
but is needed for the repair of our roads. It is also
the parent of many useful by-products. In the past
it has been almost a drug in the market, chiefly, it
is feared, through our own supineness in allowing the
recovery processes largely to leave this country,
although the country itself is a large buyer of most
of the developed products. The sub-products can, for
simplicity, be shortly grouped as follows :—There are
ten products which, by their energetic combustion, are
capable of explosion for war or motor fuel; there are
nineteen various colour dyes of great brilliancy; there
are nine drugs and antisepties, among which are sac-
charine and aspirin; there are eight perfumes and
flavourings; there are ten salts of ammonia and
cyanogen, and one sulphur for acid-making and fixing
ammonia and cyanogen; altogether fifty-seven, and
these may be brought out by further permutations into
an almost endless number of interesting and _ prob-
_ ably, in the future, most valuable products. For war
purposes the first ten products and the last eleven are
especially useful; but 1 must not tell you how or why,
at any rate at present. :
Most of these products, such as the drugs and dyes,
have sprung into unexpected importance lately, owing
to the limitation of imports due to the war. Their
manufacture previously had been very largely appro-
priated by the Germans, who bought the raw products
extensively in this country. Now, more wisely, the
larger gas undertakings and newly formed British com-
panies are, increasing their production at home.
When the full value of these products is realised
under peace conditions steps must be taken to prevent
—as has long been done in Germany—the inevitable
loss of these values where raw coal is burned to de-
struction, as' in ordinary grates and furnaces under
steam boilers. To this end there are important in-
quiries going on into the question of the conservation
of coal as a national asset.
With regard to the general question of the destruc-
tion of ‘fuel and of meeting other general needs, con-
sidering the now universal demand for gas and coke
fuel, pitch for roads, benzol for motor transport, and
ammonia for the land, to say nothing of the lesser
products, it is surely wise to distribute their production
where the population exists, and it is clear that the
existing supply of gas, as at present arranged, lends
itself to that distribution, as the population lies around
the works. This will be true also, in a less degree,
of even. scattered rural populations, as they eagerly
avail themselves of gas as a fuel, the distribution of
coal being difficult and expensive in such small quan-
tities. Through the extended use of gas already a
very large amount of coal has been displaced for
domestic and trade use, to the great improvement of
the atmosphere and to the cleanliness of buildings.
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL -
INTELLIGENCE.
Lonpon.—The following doctorates have been con-
ferred :—D.Sc. in Chemistry: Mr. W. H. Gibson, an
internal student, of University College, for a thesis
entitled ‘“‘The Products of Nitration of Toluene.”
D.Sc. in Geology: Mr. C. B. Horwood, an external
student, for a thesis entitled ‘‘The Gold Deposits of
the Rand,” and other papers. D.Sc. in Physiology:
Dr. N. C. Lake, an external student, for a thesis
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
.
entitled “‘ Report upon an Investigation into the Effects
of Cold upon the Body,” and other papers. A
_ By his will the late Dr. Archibald Carmichael, who
died in. February of last year, has bequeathed the
residue of his estate, subject to certain life-rents, to
the University of Aberdeen. The value of the residue
is estimated at about 12,000l., and the income thereof
may be applied ‘for the advancement of the work of
the medical side of the said University in such manner _
and subject to such regulations as the Senatus
Academicus of the same University may from time
to time determine and think fit.” The late Dr. Car-
michael was a graduate of Aberdeen University. ro Toes
ied
Tue Bureau of Education, India. has issued the —
seventh of its ‘‘Occasional Reports.” It deals with —
the methods of school inspection in England, and is —
by Mr. H. G. Wyatt, inspector of schools in the Rawal-
pindi Division. There is much in the volume which —
will be of practical value in India, where the history —
of school instruction and of inspection has passed
through phases similar to those in England. theres
spective functions of general and specialist inspectors _
are explained with considerable clearness, and_ the -
author points out that in India, where specialists are
already being employed for certain subjects, such as —
science and handicraft, the chief lessons from the —
English experience are that the specialist should keep ~
in close contact with the general territorial inspector —
and consult him in formulating his general recom-
mendations; that he should see something of the -
general work of the school, and not confine his atten- —
tion to his special subject. In the particular case of —
the inspection of secondary schools, Mr. Wyatt urges
that the danger of specialist inspections is that they
tend to disregard the aims and character of the school —
as a school, and consider it too much as an gate
of classrooms. It is satisfactory to find that India
has witnessed a revulsion from “grind” and from
examination, and that inspection has ceased exclusively
to regard the pupil and the results of instruction, and
has tended to focus rather on the class and the
teacher’s methods.
A copy has been received of an essay by Mr. Fletcher
Durell on the ‘Reform of the Princeton University
Curriculum,” which was awarded the Philip Le Bou-
tillier prize in February, 1916. Among other subjects
discussed is the function of a college. The view gener-
ally held, the essay maintains, is that it is the principal
aim of the secondary school to train the mind, so that
it shall be a good working machine; that the leading
function of the college is to have the pupil use his
mind after it is thus trained so as to obtain a general —
world view; and that it is the essential aim of univer-
sity education, or of other training subsequent to col-
lege work, to master some specialty or ies Tn
other words, after the school has laid the foundation,
the college is to teach something about everything,
and the university everything about something. But —
the functions of these three periods of education must
overlap. During the secondary-school stage the pupil
should assimilate large stores of varied information;
at college the development of thought-power should
continue, and as comprehensive a grasp as possible of
the world’s affairs should be secured. The American
elective system of deciding a student’s course of work
is examined, and the treatment of the problem at
Princeton University explained. The essay then sug- ~
gests that to assist students in the choice of a faculty _
each department should work out a concise statement
of the vital principles and most representative facts in
its domain, and that in drawing up these statements
‘ attention should be directed to the efficiency or value
| aspects of the principles and facts. Princeton should,
yy
Teip¥ Spon 20 ena NER
a)
i a eg ah all a nO
a7 .
hy ee fed
. : ~ NoveMBER 29, 1917]
NATURE
257
Mr. Durell pleads, aim at developing in her sons the
broadest scholarship. and deepest general culture, and
thus safeguard specialism from vagaries and develop
it to the highest pitch.
We have received a report on trade catalogues
- drawn up by the Technical and Commercial Libraries
_ Committee of the Library Association. The report
- points out that much information of value to students
of science is contained in these catalogues, and that
therefore it is desirable that they should be collected
and indexed in such a way that students may readily
ascertain what new apparatus and inventions have
been devised relating to the field of study in which
they are working. The Library Association is of
_ opinion that a National Lending Library of books
_ suitable for giving assistance in scientific and indus-
trial research would be of the greatest advantage to
_ technologists. In such a library trade catalogues
would hold an important place. It is pointed out that
_ there are peculiar difficulties in indexing trade cata-
logues. They are seldom dated, and are therefore not
_ easily identified, though the name of the firm by which
_ they are issued can be given. Moreover, they are
_ ffequently without any -precise description of their
contents. The librarian would therefore find it neces-
_ sary to call in the aid of scientific experts to help
_ in the special indexing required. The report refers
_ to the index to the collection of trade catalogues at
the ries eet of Commercial Intelligence (foreign
_ samples) published by the Board of Trade as an
_ example B an alphabetical subject-index of such cata-
_logues. In view of the special difficulties inherent
in collecting and organising the literature of the
_ trade catalogues, and with a view to the widest pos-
sible dissemination of the undoubtedly valuable in-
_ formation which these catalogues contain, the com-
_ mittee of the Library Association recommends that
_. proposals be submitted to the leading professional
_ societies and trade journals for the organisation of
_ this class of literature on standardised lines, and
_ possibly for the publication of periodical condensed
catalogues of British manufacturing firms.
J
__ In proposing his amendment to the Representation
_ of the People Bill, which, as we recorded in our issue
_ for November 15 (vol. c., p. 216), was adopted, giving
separate Parliamentary representation with one seat
__to the University of London, Sir Philip Magnus gave
_the House of Commons some interesting details of the
_ size and activities of the University. London Univer-
‘schools, about eighty in number, scattered over the
_ County of London. It was founded in the year 1837,
and for the past fifty years it has been represented in
_ Parliament. It includes under its zgis three large and
‘important classes of teaching institutions. First, there
are the Incorporated Colleges, with endowments and
other funds, administered by the Senate of the Univer-
sity. These comprise University College and King’s
_ College, each of which is a complete university in
itself. The second group of teaching institutions,
_ known as the “Schools of the University,” are thirty-
_ three in number, and include the Imperial College of
Science and Technology and the School of Oriental
Studies, both of which have been established to meet
not only national, but also Imperial needs. Somewhat
similar in its Imperial character is the School of
Economics. But among these thirty-three schools of
the University are the eleven medical schools attached
to our hospitals, the Royal Holloway College, Bedford
College for Women, and other institutions. The third
class of teaching institutions, twenty-seven in number,
- include all our polytechnic schools, the laboratories of
which are now rendering valuable help to the Ministry
_ of Munitions. There is also the vast scheme of Uni-
NO, 2509, VOL. 100]
sity consists of a collection of colleges and special |
versity Extension Lectures, In the session imme-
diately preceding the war 135 courses of lectures were
delivered on philosophy, economics, history, and other
subjects, and were attended by 12,902 students. At-
tached to the University itself are more than 100 pro-
fessors; and, in addition, there are 1200 recognised
teachers ; 21,000 members of the University are or have
been serving in his Majesty’s forces, and of these
nearly 7oo have already made the supreme sacrifice.
At the General Election in December, 1910, the number
of graduates who voted at the University of Oxford
was 6895, at the University of Cambridge 7145,
and at the University of London 6072. The number
of graduates, therefore, who voted at the London elec-
tion was only 823 fewer than those who voted for
Oxford, which has the privilege of sending two mem-
bers to Parliament. The total number of male London
graduates is about 11,500.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LonpDon.
Royal Society, November 22.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
president, in the chair—C. H. Browning and. R.
Sulbransen : Bactericidal properties conferred on the
blood by intravenous injections of diaminoacridine
sulphate. Whereas antiseptic compounds are in general
greatly reduced in their bactericidal activity by the
presence of serum, it has: been found that ‘salts of
3: 6-diaminoacridine, both unsubstituted and also
various derivatives with methyl groups substituted in
the amino-side-chains, or in the benzol-rings, or in
both situations, are enhanced in their lethal action on
bacteria by the presence of serum:; this is also the case
with the salt of 3 : 6-diamino-1o-methylacridinium. The
sulphate of 3:6-diaminoacridine has been found
specially suitable for intravenous injection on account
of its low toxicity. By means of an intravenous injec-
tion of diaminoacridine sulphate in a dose which had
no harmful effect on the treated animal (rabbit), it has
been ‘possible to confer antiseptic properties on the
blood so that the serum from a specimen of blood
withdrawn as late as from two to two and a half
hours after the treatment failed to yield a culture when
inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus or B. coli.—
W. D. Lang: The Pelmatoporinz: an essay on the
evolution of a group of Cretaceous Polyzoa. The
evolution of this sub-family is considered in detail. In -
order to present the facts intelligibly, they are mar-
shalled according to the following theoretical considera-
tions :—The species lie along diverging lineages; to-
wards the bases or proximal ends of these are forms
(radicals) with less caleareous skeletal matter and less
elaboration of structure, and these forms appeared
earlier in geological time; towards their higher or
distal ends are forms with more skeletal matter and
more elaborate structure, appearing later in geological
time. The evolutionary tendency was to deposit the
increasing superfluity of calcium carbonate where it
least interfered with the organism’s bionomics, if pos-
sible in such position and shape as might even be use-
ful to the organism. Sooner or later the race perished
through being unable to cope with its constitutional
and increasing habit of excessive secretion of calcium
carbonate.
Geological Society, November 7.—Dr. Alfred Harker,
president, in the chair.—Dr. F. Oswald: The Nimrud
crater in Turkish Armenia. The Nimrud volcano,
one of the largest craters in the world, is situated on
the western shore of Lake Van, and was surveyed
geologically for the first time by Dr. Oswald in 1898.
The western half of the crater is occupied by a deep
fresh-water lake, while the eastern half is composed of
recent augite-rhyolites. The crater-wall is highest on
258
NATURE
[NOVEMBER 29, 1917 |
the north (9903 ft.). The southern wall only reaches
_ the height of 9434 ft. The crater-wall has slipped
down on the south-west to form a narrow shelf. The
crater is nearly circular, and the lowest points lie on
the long axis. The crater-wall, has an external slope
of 33° on the south and east. The history of the
volcano may be summarised thus :—(1) Its forerunner
was the Kerkur Dagh on its southern flank—a denuded
mass of grey augite-trachyte. : It was probably erupted
in the Pliocene period, following the folding of
the Armenian area, in. which the latest folded rocks
are of Miocene (Helvetian-Tortonian) age, consisting
of limestones with corals and oysters. It came into
existence at a period when the sedimentary rocks could
no longer be folded, but were fractured along definite
lines, and Nimrud is situated on the great fracture
transverse .to the Armenian folds at the apex of their
bending round from the Antitauric to the Persian
direction. (2) Numerous flows of augite-rhyolite built
up the vast cone of the Nimrud Dagh, and the
increasing pressure on the central vent became relieved
by extrusions of augite-trachyte along radial fissures.
(3) A presumably long period of inactivity was followed
by violent explosions destroying the summit of the
cone, and from this crater vast lava-flows of a fluid
basalt flooded the country and filled up the valleys,
which have since then been eroded a little below their
former depth. (4) Further explosions widened the
crater, in which a large lake was formed, while the
eastern half of the crater became filled by a succession
of outflows of augite-rhyolite. (5) The last eruption
was recorded in 1441 by a contemporary chronicler,
and resulted in the extrusion of a viscous augite-
rhyolite along a north-to-south zone of weakness, both
inside the Nimrud crater and also to the north. (6)
A violent earthquake in. 1881, which destroyed the
village of Teghurt, was the last sign of activity; but
earthquakes are still frequent in the Plain of Mush,
and recent fault-scarps are visible along the borders
of this faulted depression. Dr. Oswald has presented
his model of the crater to the Museum of Practical
Geology, and the rocks and slides to the British
Museum, where his fossils from Armenia are pre-
served.
Physical Society, November 9.—Prof. C. V. Boys,
president, in the chair.—C, R.. Darling and A. W.
Grace: The thermo-electric properties of fused metals.
In a previous paper (‘‘ Proceedings,”’ vol. xxix., parti.)
the authors described. experiments with bismuth,’ the
apparatus then used only being capable of furnishing.
readings up to 560° C.. Methods have now. been -de-
vised in which ithe, metals. examined may be heated
in the tube of an electric. furnace, and observations
made up to the. temperature ‘limit’ of the. furnace.
The metals experimented with were lead, tin, and
antimony up to 1000? C., and zinc and cadmium up
to temperatures approaching the boiling point. No
change in thermo-electric properties was noticed at
fusion, except in the case of antimony, which, like
bismuth, shows an abrupt bend in the E.M.F.-tempera-
ture curve at the melting point, 632° C. This excep-
tional behaviour of antimony and bismuth is in keeping
with the anomalous properties of these metals, both
of which expand on solidification; and it is suggested
that an allotropic change occurs at fusion in these
metals. In the case of lead, which is used as the refer-
ence metal in thermo-electric diagrams, it is shown
that extrapolation of lines in the diagram beyond 300°
led to serious errors, and that although at low tem-
peratures the E.M.F.-temperature curves are approxi-
mate parabolas, the departure from this shape above
300° is so marked as to render thermo-electric dia-
srams of. little value.—T. Smith and Miss A. B. Dale:
Triple cemented telescope objectives. The paper de-
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
wh
scribes the four series of triple cemented thin telescope
objectives which can be made from two kinds of S65:
and determines their construction when first-order
spherical aberration and coma. are eliminated. 1e
second-order spherical aberration and coma are
calculated, and the former found to be of the sé
sign for all optical glasses when the surfaces are
spherical. The best standard attainable varies’ Bee
little over a considerable range of glasses. Dies ;
show the variations in the curvatures as the glasses —
are varied for refractive index and dispersion. Con- —
trary to the general belief, it is found that the objec- —
tives with least second-order aberrations (absolute —
values) are not those with the least curvatures for their —
refracting surfaces. pes
aap ia 3
Linnean Society, November 15.—Sir David Prain, —
president, in the chair.—Dr. D. H. Scott: Notes on ©
Calamopitys, Unger. Calamopitys is a, genus of fossil —
plants, with structure preserved, of Lower Carbon- —
iferous age; some species may perhaps go back to the -
Upper Devonian. ‘The first part of the paper deals
with the origin and division of the leaf-trace in C.
americana. ‘The relations of the five known species
among themselves, and of the genus as a whole, are —
then considered. : eat
Aristotelian Society, November 19.—Dr. H. Wildon —
Carr, president, in the chair.—Mrs. K. Stephen: —
Thought and intuition. An attempt to bring out the —
meaning of Bergson’s theory of knowledge. Bergson ~
confines his attention to knowledge of existence, and .
maintains that the best way of knowing existence is —
to be directly acquainted with it. Thought, which can —
only give knowledge about, is, according to him, a —
pis aller, and he only deals with it so far as it affects
the actual experience which we get by acquaintance.
Thought and acquaintance defeat one another. _ Never-
theless, in practice we try to carry on both operations —
together, and the result is our everyday experience of 3"
things having qualities and relations. This experience
is a hybrid product. It still has some of the content —
of the original act of intuition, but whatever could —
not be used as material for thought has been left out :
of it, and it has borrowed the form which belongs to —
the symbols used by thought. It has been “intellec-
tualised.””. As a new philosophical method, Bergson
proposes that. instead of, limiting our attention to just
so much of experience as provides material for thought,
and instead. of. intellectualising: cur experience, we
reverse our, mental habits, make an effort to enlarge —
rather than to limit the whole field of experience wi :
which intuition acquaints us, and attend to it directly
without anv intermediary. - Sak Ss Gis =
Royal Meteorological Society, November 21.—Major
H. G. Lyons, president, in the chair—Dr. G. C.
Simpson : The twelve-hourly barometer oscillation. (1) _
The existence of the twelve-hourly atmospheric vibra- _
tions, one parallel to the circles of latitude and the
other parallel to the meridians, first suggested by A.
Schmidt in 1890, and investigated by E. Alt in 1909,
has been proved. (2) A mathematical expression for
the amplitude and phase of each vibration containing
the geographical position as the only variable has been
obtained. (3) The interference of these two waves ~
has been shown to account very completely for the
observed variations in amplitude and phase of the ~
twelve-hourly barometer oscillations, especially in high —
northern latitudes.—W. W. Bryant: Abnormal tem-—
perature, with special reference to the daily maximum —
air temperature at Greenwich. The author proposes
that for certain meteorological elements a value shall
bé defined as ‘‘abnormal” if the departure from a’
well-established normal is at least twice the mean
residual, both normal and residual being determined
Novemser 29, 1917]
NATURE
#59
by smoothing values from a long series of observations.
He applies this method to the maximum air tempera-
tures at Greenwich for the period 1841 to 1916, using
the first sixty-five years as a standard. The limit thus
calculated varies at different times of year from 8° to
125° F., so that a fixed limit of 1o° would not be
applicable. In the analysis it appears that one day
in ten is abnormal, the proportion being higher in the
months from May to October, and much lower in
_ December and January. Additional tables deal with
spells or alternations of heat and cold, and generally
_ with the distribution of abnormal days. The principle
_ is also extended to monthly and annual values, and the
_ effect of a higher limit, three or four times the mean
residual, is considered. The relatively hottest month
- in the period was June, 1846, and the coldest Decem-
_ ber, 1890, the hottest year 1868 and the coldest 1879.
. CAMBRIDGE.
___ Philosophical Society, October 29.—Prof. Marr, presi-
dent, in the chair.—G. H. Hardy: The convergence
_ of cértain multiple series.—G. N. Watson : Bessel func-
tions of large order.—H. Todd: A particular case
of a theorem of Dirichlet—L. J. Mordell: Mr.
- Ramanujan’s empirical expansions of modular func-
- tions.—Dr. A. K : Extensions of Abel’s theorem
and its converses. :
eh MANCHESTER.
___ Literary and Philosophical Society, November 13.—Mr.
_W. Thomson, president, in the chair—Miss Constance
_ Lightbown: The Siphonozooids of the sea-pens. The
author made an investigation of the Siphonozooids of
_ a large number of sea-pens to determine the presence
_ or absence of the mesenteric filaments. It was found
_ that these filaments are usually present in the fleshy
forms, but absent in the slender ones. In species of
Pennatula and Pterceides which possess Mesozooids
_ the mesenteric filaments are usually absent.—Dr. J. H.
Salter: Regional distribution of the native flora of
_ Teneriffe. Particular attention is directed to the ever-
green. character of the vegetation and the large pro-
_ portion of shrubby or arborescent forms.
_ number of endemic forms is due to the long isolation
_ of the island from the African continent, and to the
climatic conditions, which differ considerably from
those of the adjacent continent. Among the Com-
_ posite nearly 50 per cent. are endemic to the island,
_ while in such Saceige as Senecio, Euphorbia, Semper-
-vivum, and ot the proportion is still higher. In
_ the coastal region there is a definite foreshore vegeta-
__ tion of cosmopolitan character, including many Cheno-
_ podiacez (goosefoot family), with only two endemic
_ forms belonging to the genus Beta. On the barren
_ slopes above the foreshore is a desert-like vegetation,
in some places ten kilometres in breadth, largely given
up to Opuntia (prickly pear), formerly cultivated in
‘connection with the cochineal industry, and now a
serious pest in the island. The upper portion of the
_ coastal region comprises all the more fertile portions
of the island, and is mainly under cultivation with
_ the aid of a system of water channels. Of the native
_ plants, Sempervivum, Euphorbia, and Dracaena
(dragon tree) are the most characteristic of this region,
while certain xerophytic ferns, such as Notochlzna,
Ceterach, and Cheilanthes, are also in evidence. The
“cloud region,’’ commencing at about 2500 ft., runs
up to 5000 ft., the lower portion forming the char-
acteristic ‘‘Monte Verde,’ while the last 1000 ft. con-
stitute the ‘Pinar’ (pine woods). The former con-
sists of a transition from scrub to woodland, compris-
_ ing several species of Cistus (rock-rose), Erica arborea
(tree heath), Ilex canariensis (the native holly). M yrica
Faya (the candleberrv myrtle), and several forms of
_ faurel. The higher-lyins pine forests consist mainly
ot Pinus canariensis. Above the cloud belt vegetation
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
The large
is very scanty and mainly characterised by scattered
bushes of the broom-like “retama’’ (Spartocytisus
nubigenus). There is no true alpine vegetation, but,
protected by the retama, several grasses and other
plants of small stature are found to occur.
. EDINBURGH.
Royal Society, November 5.—Dr. John Horne, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Dr. J. Horme: Opening address :
Science applied to industry. The president reviewed
the work of the Committee of the Privy Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research and of the Advisory
Council during the past year. Reference was made to
the appointment of a Fuel Research Board; and other
administrative changes, such as have been proposed in
reference to the Geological Survey, the fisheries,
oceanography, geodesy, etc., were also noted among
the signs of the times. A special appeal was made on
behalf of Dr. Bruce’s Oceanographical Laboratory,
established for a number of years in Edinburgh, and
now suffering lamentably from want of funds.—
R. K. S. Lim; Period of survival of the shore-crab
(Carcinus maenas) in distilled water. Shore-crabs sur-
vive a short time in fresh water, and the duration of
survival is closely connected with the moult cycle.
The harder the shell, the longer the period of survival.
Examination of the immersed fluid showed the pre-
sence of salts which must have been derived from the
animal before its death. Thus the survival depends
upon the rate of loss of salts and the rate of intake
of water, and these factors vary with the condition
_of the membranes, and therefore with the moult age.
SYDNEY.
Linnean Society of New South Wales, June.—Dr.
H. G. Chapman, president, in the chair.—Dr. W. N.
Benson: The geology and petrology of the Great Ser-
pentine Belt of New South Wales. Part vi., General
account of the geology and physiography of the wes-
tern slopes of New England (concluded).—R. J. Till-
yard: Studies in Australian Mecoptera. No. 1, The
new family, Nannochoristida, with descriptions of a
new genus and four new species; and an appendix
descriptive of a new genus and species from New
Zealand. With the exception of a single specimen
from Ebor, N.S.W. (5000 ft.), all the representatives
of this family were discovered in Tasmania, where they
are to be obtained by sweeping the vegetation border-
ing lakes and small mountain-streams. The insects
are of small size, and quite unlike other scorpion-flies
in appearance; indeed, they might almost be described
as ‘‘four-winged Diptera.’’ The venation is much re-
duced for Mecoptera, and resembles that of the
Diptera Brachycera in having R,,;, a straight, un-
branched vein. The head is glébular; without a pro-
minent beak ; the mouth-parts are in a very interesting
stage of evolution, the mandibles being absent or vesti-
gial, the labium beginning to form a proboscis, with
labellum, but’ no pseudotrachew. Wishing to put the
‘Antarctic theory,’? as advocated by Hedley, to the
test, co-types of the Tasmanian type-species were sent
to correspondents in New Zealand, with a suggestion
that similar insects should occur there. In reply, Mr.
A. Philpott, of Invercargill, sent the pair of specimens
herein described, which had been taken in 1913, and
put by as ‘‘anomalous lacewings.”’ :
Tuly.—Dr. H. G. Chapman, president, in the chair.
—Dr. A. J. Turner: Revision of Australian Lepido-
ptera. Part vi. (first instalment), Nineteen genera of
Australian Lepidoptera. Nineteen genera and forty-
six species of the subfamily Boarmianze, family
Geometridae. are reviewed.—T. G. Sloane: De-
scription of a new tiger-beetle from the North-
ern. Territorv.—T. Sloane: The endo-skeleton
of the head, the anterior coxw, and the an-
260
NATURE
oles
es
[NOVEMBER 29, 1917. |
terior coxal cavities in the families Carabidz and
Cicindelidz (Coleoptera).
August 29.—Dr. H. G. Chapman, president,-in the
chair.—E. F, Hallmann: The genera Echinaxia and
Rhabdosigma (Porifera). The genera were proposed in
a recent paper, without definitions, for two species
wrongly referred to Axinella and Sigmaxinella respec-
tively. The definitions are now given, with remarks
on the probable relationships of the Big: nera, and re-
descriptions of the type-species.—T. G, Sloane; Cara-
bide from tropical Australia. Twenty-one species be-
longing to the tribes Scaritini, Harpalini, Odacanthini,
Lebiini, and Helluonini are described as new. The
Australian genera of the tribe Odacanthini, including
four proposed as new, are tabulated. tur A. if
Turner : Revision of Australian Lepidoptera. Part vi.
(second instalment), Eighteen genera, and eighty-two
species of the sub-family Boarmiane, are discussed.
Royal Society of New South Wales, September 5.—J. H.
Maiden: Notes on the genus Acacia, No. 111 (extra-
tropical Western Australia). Several species are pro-
posed as new to science (one on behalf of Mr. W. V.
Fitzgerald), and also a new variety of A. pyrifolia.
Several imperfectly known species are more fully de-
scribed, and A. chisholmi, hitherto known only from
Queensland, is shown to belong, to Western Australia.
The synonymy of certain species is elucidated, and
additional information is given as to distribution and
other points.
Care Town.
Royal Society of South Africa, September 26.—Dr. L.
Péringuey, president, in the chair.—W. von Bonde:
-Note on the abnormal development of the genital
organs of Jasus lalandii.icG. H. Malan: The colour-
octahedron’ as a complexity: being suggestions to-
wards a mathematics of colour. Developing certain
ideas of -Meinong, who contends that the possibility
of representing certain well-known facts in connection
with colour-psychology by a diagram in the form of
an octahedron rests on the presence of certain a priori
relations incidental to the very nature of colour itself,
the writer is led to examine Meinong’s contention
critically in the light of modern mathematical logic
{as expounded by B. Russell). The result of this
examination is (1) to show that Meinong’s theory,
though true in its intention, is at fault in its practical
conception of an a priori science of colour, and (2) to
necessitate a more exact discrimination between the
viewpoints of empirical psychology and mathematical
science.—Miss A. M.. Bottomley: A list of South
African . fungi. This paper is a ‘systematic
compilation,’ “with indexes of all the South
African fungi in the Government Mycological Herb-
arium. It records some 276 genera and 800 named
species,, some of the more important or more interest-
ing of which are illustrated by photographs of actual
specimens. Considerable space is occupied by the
rusts, the perisporiales, and the pore fungi, three
groups which are receiving particular attention in the
mycological department.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
British Rainfall, 1916. By Dr. H. R. Mill and C.
Salter.” Pp. 256. (London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) tos.
How to Collect and Dry Flowering Plants and Ferns.
By H. S. Thomoson. Pp. 56. (London: G. Rout-
ledge and Sons, Ltd.) 4d. net.
Lord Lister. By Sir R. Godlee, Bart. Pp. xix +676.
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 18s. net.
Vegetable Forcing. Bv R. L. Watts. Pp. xx+431.
(New York: Orange Judd Co.) 2 dollars net.
NO. 2509, VOL. 100]
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, NoveMBER 20.
LINNEAN SOcIETY, at 5.—(1) Intensity and. Direction of Light as Factors in
Phototropism ; (2) Spore-coloration in Agaricacex : Dr. Harold Wager.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30.
InsTITUTION oF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—‘‘ Thomas Hawksley”
Lecture ; Heat Engines: Captain H. Riall Sankey. +
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1. ee
GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION, at 3. —The Gold Coast: A. E. Kitson. ee
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3. i
Roya Society or ARTS, at 4.30. —Progress i in the Metallurgy of fsa
Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter. Hy
ARISTOTELIAN SociIEety, at 8.—The “Development of Criticism: F.C.
artlett. ;
Vicrorta INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Prehistoric Man: his Antiquity and —
Characteristics: W. Dale. saed
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4 ped,
Society oF Cuemicat InpustRY, at 8. Presidential Address: The Eco-
nomics of Coal Production : Prof. H. Louis. i=
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ogg at 5.30.—Recent Developments in —
By-product Coking: G. B. Walker. ;
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5:
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.
ENTOMOLOGICAL SociETy, at 8. re
Rovav Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Iinaugural ‘Trueman Wood Lecture : !
Discovery and Invention: Sir Dugald Clerk, K.B. i
Society oF Punic ANALYSTS, at 5. ie: Valenta Number as a Dis-
criminative Test for Oils and Fats: P. J. Fryer and F. E. Weston.—The
ne gece of Sharps and Bran: E. Cox.—Notes on Porcelain :
. T. Burgess.—Note on the Colorimetric Estimation of Iron: Be R..
Sites
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6. :
Roya. SociEty, at 4.30.—Pvobable Papers : The Series of Le: endre: Prof.
W. H. Young.—Uhe Discharge of eg under High Gis 4
Hartshorn.—The Electrostatic Problem of a Conductin Sphere as a
Spherical Cavity: Dr. Alexander Russell.—1he Zeroes of Repeal Func- —
tions: Prof. G. N. Watson.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Electrical Cooking as
applied to Large Kitchens: W. A. Gillotr.
CueEmicat SociEry, at 8:—The Relation between Chemical Constitution
es
and Pkysiological ‘Action: Dr. F. L. yman. 2
- CONTENTS. PAGE ©
Organism and Environment, By E.H.S. .... 241
The Perennial Problem of Dyes. ByG.T.M. . . 242 |
The New Regionalism. is Benchua: Branford. . 242 —
Our Bookshelf orang oo ie eae eee
Letters to the Editor:— _ i ae
‘‘ Fascination” of Birds by a Snake. — Prof, i
Edward B. Poulton, F.RS re ee ee
Pyrometers and Pyrometry. Betas ‘BE, Foster . . 244
Iron-ore Deposits in Relation to the War. ci x
Prof. :H. Leuis’) i 2 244
Science, Industry, and Commerce in India ee 5 Ss
Pitfalls of Meteorological Periodicities. By ;
) = ee re
Notes . a WO Daher Sl ed Ne A «
Our Astronomical ‘Column: ~ 3
The Total Eclipse of the Sun, June 8, 1918 Baia, See + ee
Reports of French Observatories... . 1. +» + . 252
Structure of Planetary Neha ot 5 i ge keg ee Tee
The Education Bill ...... ROMA er
Marine Biology i i 253 =
Research Papers from the iiniveriy of ardaay: 254
The Survey of India. weed 2254
Modern Developments of the Gas Industry 74 5 255 @
University and Educational Intelligence ..... 256 —
Societies and Academies sec geegene peer SS ae
Books Received ....... reer ere or ae
Diary of Societies ....... yee ae 260
.Editovial and Publishing Offices: is ee
MACMILLAN AND CO., Enrp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters to be. addressed to the
‘ Publishers. ‘
Editorial Communications to the Editor, ee
Telegraphic Address: PuHusis, Lonpon. ° ele cae
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. | + > ie
. ‘ i
NATURE
261
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 10917.
THE CO-ORDINATION OF RESEARCH.
T is often said in political circles that the way
to shelve a subject is to appoint a Royal
_ Commission upon it. The Commissioners collect a
large amount of evidence and present a report, but
usually the matter ends with the publication of
_the Blue Book, and nothing is done to carry the
_ recommendations into effect. The Royal Commis-
sion on Scientific Instruction appointed in 1870 is
an example of this kind. The whole of the
_ scientific instruction given in the United Kingdom
_from the elementary schools to the universities,
and including the museums and scientific work
recognised by Government, is surveyed in the
teport of this Commission, issued in ten parts
from 1871 to 1895; and the nation has suffered
incalculable loss by not giving heed to its recom-
mendations.
_. We wonder whether the deliberations and reports
_of the numerous Committees appointed since the
opening of the war to deal with scientific subjects
_ will meet’ with a like fate; and we anxiously await
a sign that the Ministry of Reconstruction intends
_ to produce from the information with which it will
be provided a coherent and ordered scheme of
national development. Lack of the spirit’ of
organisation and system in both industrial and
_ €ducational matters has prevented us from taking
the lead even when we possessed the necessary
_ knowledge and men to do so. Little has yet been
done to show that the Government realises its
responsibility for united effort in scientific and
_ industrial advance, and for correlating the work
of its various advisory Committees.
__ We are reminded of this deficiency by a question
_ put by Sir Philip Magnus to the Secretary of State
) for the Colonies. _ Sir Philip Magnus askec
| * whether any efficient system of co-ordinating the
research work now being conducted in the labora-
tories of our universities, in the National Physical
Laboratory, and in the Imperial Institute is being
or has been arranged, more especially with the
'. into close relation with fresh problems connected
1) with our Colonial trade and with our productive
industries in this country and in our Dominions
_ overseas; and whether opportunities are afforded
for placing at the service of our manufacturers
scientific experts to advise them or to conduct in
their factories special investigations; and, if so,
under what conditions.” :
The reply given in the House of Commons on
November 29 was as follows :—
‘‘ The important questions raised by the hon.
“member are too large for effective treatment by
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
way of question and answer, but, as he is no doubt
aware, the Committee of the Privy Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research are in the course
of their administration collecting information as to
research being conducted in various places and
different types of institution which cannot but
facilitate the co-ordination of research work which
the hon. member desires. Moreover, as he will
have gathered from the annual reports of that
department, similar organisations have come, or
are coming, into existence in other parts of the
Empire, which are in close relation with the
Research Department in this country. As an
example of what is being done in the Oversea
Dominions, I would refer the hon. member to the
report of the Commonwealth Advisory Council of
Science and Industry and the recently published
South African Journal of Industries, which may be
seen in the Colonial Office library. This Imperial
machinery will enable those who are engaged in
our Colonial trade and in our productive industries
to become acquainted with the problems arising
in different parts of the Empire, and with the
results of any researches now in progress either
here or in the Dominions. The hon. member will
be aware of the work of the Imperial Institute,
which is always willing to put its expert advice
at the disposal of manufacturers. As regards thé
final part of the question, the establishment of
research associations, which is one of the main
objects of the Research Department, is intended
to place at the service of our manufacturers
scientific experts who may advise them or conduct
in their factories special investigations.”
It cannot be said that the information provided
in answer to Sir Philip Magnus’s question throws
much light upon the main subject of co-ordination
of research work; it is merely a statement that
various bodies are now concerned with research,
but as to how far they are organised with common
objects, or are co-operative, little is said. What
we should like to know is whether the various
Committees which have been appointed to deal with
national and Imperial matters of scientific import-
ance are working independently and whether their
reports published or in preparation are being
brought together to produce an organic scheme
view of bringing the results of such researches |
assigning definite work to different departments.
We have not much faith in the influence of the
- recommendations of these Committees unless a
directorate exists to survey them as a whole and
to show how they can be carried into effect with-
out overlapping. Either the Ministry of Recon-
struction or the Department of Scientific and In-
dustrial Research might fulfil this function, but,
so far as we know, neither is doing it. There
should be a single bureau of’scientific intelligence,
where any manufacturer or industrial research
worker may obtain information as to the position
of published knowledge upon the particular subject
‘in which he is interested and the laboratories
iy
262
NATURE
[DECEMBER 6, 1917
where the subject can be further investigated if
necessary. In some large industrial works the
head of any department can obtain such informa-
tion through the works library. in which a staff
exists to supply it. Something of the same kind
is wanted on a national basis; and the most useful
purpose the Department of Scientific and Indus-
trial Research could perform would be to institute
such a central bureau.
The institution of a great clearing-house for
scientific facts and industrial needs would he of
ssupreme value to national development. Intitnate
connection must be established between workers
in the fields of science and industry in order to
bridge the gap which exists between scientific in-
vestigation and industrial application; and a sure.
way of accomplishing this is through an efficient
and easily accessible intelligence bureau. It is to
what has been termed the science of the use of
science that the Germans owe to a great extent
the place they have attained in the industrial
world, though they have often employed unscru-
pulous means to reach their end. Every large
industrial concern should have its own informa-
tion and records department, which should be
planned.on the same lines as the central bureau.
A few months ago M.- Paul Otlet, director of the
International Institute of. Bibliography at
Brussels, published in the Bulletin of the French
Société d’Encouragement pour 1’Industrie
nationale a scheme for an international bureau
of this kind having as its functions the
collection, classification, and dissemination of all
information available which will tend to facilitate
or develop industry. Without waiting for this
scheme to be established, a beginning should be—
made with a national clearing-house having like
intentions.
Something has been done in this direction at
public libraries in different parts of the country.
At Coventry, for example, the staff of the Central
Library invites inquiries for information, whether
made personally, or by letter, or by telephone,
and lists of original papers and books dealing
with particular technical subjects are issued in
printed form and circulated widely among manu-
facturers. and others interested in them. The
Glasgow libraries are also issuing lists of works
on various technical subjects; and the Library
Association, in a report referred to last week
(p. 257); points out that a national lending library
of books suitable for giving assistance in scien-
tific and technological research would be of the
greatest advantage to technologists.
At the annual meeting of this association, held
at the beginning of October, Dr. Addison, the
Minister of Reconstruction, said that one of the
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
| features of the programme which appealed to
was this movement for the formation of technical
and commercial libraries and for the setting up of —
research libraries to suit the particular needs and —
industries of various districts. It is, however, not
sufficient to provide for local needs; there should —
also be a central libraty and bureau which would —
make the position of knowledge in any scientific —
or technical subject available to any inquirer. Such -
an institution could be made self-supporting after
a time, for manufacturers would not hesitate to
pay fees for information required by them to
develop their industries. We look to Dr. Addison —
and the Advisory Council for Scientific and Indus- =
trial Research to provide this centralised means —
of pete industrial l deve
7
4
THE ORDER OF NATURE.
The Order of Nature. By Prof. L. J. Headend
Pp. iv+234. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard —
University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, —
xord University Press, 1917.) Price 6s, od,
“e
PRor. Bes HENDERSON, of Halcvatall is:
well known for his important experimental _
work in bio-chemistry. He is also the author |
of a previous book entitled “The Fitness of the
Environment,’’ in which the inherent fitness for
life of the actual physical and chemical world is
pointed out in detail. In the present work he
has followed up and developed’ the same thesis.’
“The first three chapters, beginning with an
analysis of Aristotle’s distinction between “final ’’
and ‘‘efficient’’ causes, are devoted to an historical a
survey of ideas on the teleological appearance, £
not only of organic structure, but of Nature as —
a whole, considered as a fitting environment for _
life. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century
the fact of a teleological determination of Nature
as a whole was admitted by nearly all leading
thinkers, however variously this fact was ex-
plained. The same admission appears in some of ©
Darwin’s writings; but since the publication of —
the theory of natural selection the teleological con-
ception of Nature has almost disappeared from”
scientific thought. It has come to be assumed —
that the reason why the physical and chemical —
environment appears to be specially fitted for life
is simply that life has, by natural selection, been
so moulded as to fit its environment. Against
this conclusion the main chapters of the book are.
directed; and the argument is the more remark- —
able and original since the author accepts without —
question the. theory of natural selection. His dis-
cussion of Spencer’s conception of evolution is
perhaps specially luminous. uM
The reasoning is based entirely on the general!
characteristics of life from the point of view of —
physical chemistry, and particularly from that of
Willard Gibbs’s- analysis of the conditions of —
stability and variability of physico-chemical —
systems, living organisms being regarded as such
>
Decemser 6, 1917 |
NATURE
263
systems. The difficulty in forming any clear con-
ception at present of the physico-chemical origin of
dife, or of completely understanding life as a
physico-chemical system, is fully acknowledged,
but is passed by as presenting a4 problem which
cannot yet be solved owing to the imperfection of
existing knowledge. |
_ The general scope of Prof. Henderson’s argu-
‘ment, which is presented with much interesting
detail, is as follows. The actual distribution of
properties among the actual elements, and _par-
icularly carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, is of such
a nature as to give a maximum of freedom in the
process of evolution.
So far as the known properties of matter are con-
cerned, considering them both quantitatively and quali-
tatively, every other sensibly different distribution of
the properties among the elements*would involve great
restrictions. Thus conditions are actually established
relatively to other imaginable arrangements’ of the
‘properties of matter) for the existence of the greatest
possible number, diversity, and duration of systems,
phases, components, and activities. So it comes about
that, in every physical respect, the process of evolution
is free to produce more rather than less.
__ It cannot be that the nature of this relationship is,
like organic adaptations, mechanically conditioned.
For relationships are mechanically conditioned in a sig-
nificant manner only when there is opportunity for
nodification through interaction. But here the things
related are supposed to be changeless in time, or, in
short, absolute properties of the universe. According
to the theory of probabilities, this connection between
the properties of matter and the protess of evolution
cannot be due to mere contingency. Therefore, since
the physico-chemical functional relationship is not in
action, there must be admitted a functional relation-
ship of another kind, somewhat like that known to
physiology. This functional relationship can only be
described as teleological. _
_- The author is content with the conclusion that
the universe has a teleological arrangement in
relation to organic evolution. He carefully avoids
all theological inferences, and leaves us with
teleological arrangement as an ultimate and mys-
terious empirical fact. Granted his initial assump-
tion that what we call Nature is nothing but a
physico-chemical universe in the sense at present
currently accepted, we do not see how his general
argument can be shaken.
It is not only strik-
ingly original, but also very cogent, and seems
srtain to exercise much influence, on the general
trend of philosophical thought in connection with
matural science.
_’ If we may offer any criticism of the argument
it is this.
in connection with its environment as a physico-
chemical system in the sense of current physical
chemistry fails to express the facts of biology.
If we call it a system it is a system in which
relationship to the whole determines both the
LL LTT
ment, are a function of their relation to the other
parts, and therefore to the whole: hence biology
ordinary physics and chemistry, but also with what
Aristotle called “final ’’ causes. In biological facts
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
The conception of a living organism —
constitution and the activities of the parts. These |
parts and activities, including biological environ-— :
_ equations. In their
teleology is revealed as immanent in Nature—as
of its essence, and no mere accident, and as in-
herent in environment, and not merely in what
_we ordinarily distinguish as the bodies of organ-
isms.
It seems to follow that the detailed ex-
tension of biological conceptions to what we at
present regard as the inorganic world can only be
a matter of the further extension of knowledge.
| We have not at present the data for this ex-
tension: hence the teleological constitution of the
inorganic world can only appear to us as a mys-
_terious empirical fact, and cannot appear other-
and unchangeable independent entities.
wise when we assume at the outset that the
universe is composed of material units as eternal
The
question inevitably raised by Prof. Henderson’s
_book is whether this assumption is valid, and
|
/
|
|
whether we must not look to the future penetra-
tion of physics and chemistry by conceptions akin
to those of biology. In the latter case teleological
reasoning will take a natural place in the physical
sciences. ue? Pe
HIGHER ALGEBRA AND DYNAMICS.
(1) A First Course in Higher Algebra. By Prof.
Helen A. Merrill and Dr. Clara E. Smith.
Pp. xiv+ 247. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ;
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.)
Price 6s. 6d, net,
(2) Problems in Dynamics (with Full Solutions)
for the B.A. Students (Pass and Honours) of
the Indian Universities. By Atma Ram. Pp.
245+diagrams 16. (Anarkali, Lahore: Atma
Ram and Sons.) Price 3s. |
(1) ‘Oh these two bodks, the first is interesting
as being the work of two American ladies
who are colleagues in the same institution. Each
of the authors is a Ph.D., and for this and other
reasons we may surmise that they received a good
part of their training in Germany. They are
keenly interested in their subject, have studied its
history, and are acquainted with some of its most
recent aspects. Thus equipped, they have chosen
for their main topics rational, irrational, and
(ordinary) complex numbers, logarithms, theory
of equations, and elementary calculus. Each
chapter is headed by an appropriate quotation;
there are a number of historical notes, and some
references are made to more advanced text-
books. All this is to the good, and the authors,
on the whole, have carried out their programme
successfully.
But, unless we are mistaken, this is their first
book, and, like all first books, it has the inevitable
faults of the beginner, the chief of these being
a want of clearness, or a want of detail, just
where they are most required. To illustrate this,
we will turn to the chapter on the theory of
‘*proof” of Descartes’ rule of
| € ; signs they put down the usual +, —, + diagram,
}/ deals, not merely with the “efficient’’ causes of, |
and then say: ‘‘ The original polynomial had five
changes of sign, while the resulting one has at
least six, even when the ambiguous signs are so
264
NATURE
[DECEMBER 6, 1917
chosen as to give the smallest possible number of
changes. A little reflection shows that this will
always be the case,” etc. The sentence we have
italicised contains the fault referred to. The pre-
sent reviewer learnt the theory of equations mainly
from Todhunter’s treatise; the immortal Isaac, in
his old-fashioned, unemotional way, does not
appeal to his readers’ powers of reflection, but
does his best to show that in his diagram, and
any such, the last row of signs must have at least
one more variation than the first. We doubt
whether anybody could write, in a reasonable
space, a better explanation than Todhunter’s;
nevertheless, it took us a good deal of reflection
to appreciate it. A still more striking instance is
in the discussion of Sturm’s theorem (p. 219).
Here we read: ‘‘It will be seen,” etc., followed by
a statement of the theorem for a particular case.
We learnt Sturm’s theorem in the first instance
from De Morgan’s article in the ‘‘ Penny Cyclo-
pedia.”” The great Augustus does not say: ‘‘It
will be seen . . .” (Did he ever say so, in this
kind of way?)
One more example, of a rather different kind.
Pp. xi-xiv contain a list of formule, etc., which
the reader is supposed to know, and are given for
reference. Under ‘‘ Binomial Theorem” we have:
‘* Key number of term. The number of factors in
the numerator of any term, the number whose
factorial occurs in the denominator, the exponent
of x, and the number subtracted from m to form
the exponent of a are always the same number,
viz. n—1.” Doubtless this would be lucid to the
late Henry James, but it is not so to us, and we
do not believe that it would be so to an average
English student, except after a good deal of
previous explanation.
Of actual mistakes we have found very ‘few.
P. 20 (top) the reasoning is so vague that a student
might fairly argue that the proper formula is
n!—r! instead of n!+r!; p. 23, in England, if the
probability of an event is 3/7, we say that the odds
are 4 to 3 against it, but ‘‘odds” may have a
different meaning in the States; p. 56, ‘‘a vari-
able can have only one limit” is wrong as it
stands; p. 79 (bottom) gives a very cryptic rig-
marole for differentiating u°; p. 108, for “a
number” read ‘‘a fixed number,” otherwise the
whole argument breaks down; p. 115, the expan-
sion of (2-3x+4x)/(1-—3x+2x?) should be
done by synthetic division, not by undetermined
coefficients; p. 149, the notes about Napier’s
logarithms are incorrect (in particular, Napier’s
logarithms are not ‘‘ natural” logarithms) ; p: 169,
‘*¢ represents the positive square root of —1” is
meaningless, especially the ‘‘ positive.”
(2) Prof. Atma Ram’s book ought to be
extremely useful to those who can use a collection
of solved examples in the proper way. It is a
sort of abbreviated ‘‘ Walton” fairly brought
up to date, the range being from elementary
dynamics and kinematics to central forces, includ-
ing planetary motion. So far as we have been
able to test them, the solutions are all correct,
sufficiently detailed, and often very elegant. The
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
English is thoroughly idiomatic, and Prof, Ram
is his own printer and publisher. Paper and
typography are as good as many Indian Govern-
ment samples; we wish that the quality could
improved all round.
BIOLOGY OF WATER SUPPLIES.
The Biology of Waterworks.
G. B. My #
By R. Kirkpatrick.
(British Museum (Natural History) Economic —
Series, No. 7.) Pp. 58. (London: Printed by
order of the Trustees of the British Museam, |
1917.) Price 1s.
oleae men of science became more intimately ;
associated with engineers in the management
of waterworks, questions of animal and plant life
in water supplies have been brought more into the
foreground, and it is with the object of directing
attention to the importance of these questions that _
the trustees of the British Museum have placed
an exhibition in the South Kensington Museum
and have published this pamphlet as a ae
thereto. .
The first section, dealing with the dana asso-
ciated with water supplies, opens with an account ~
of some experiments made in 1886 on the pi
fauna of Hamburg, then ‘supplied with unfiltered
water from the Elbe. Examples of as many as fifty -
genera, representing most of the main groups of
the animal kingdom, were obtained, and the
author gives an interesting account of the life-
history of some of the more important, show
ing how when once established they can rapidly”
spread to the whole of the system, and in some
cases—for example, sponges and molluscs—cause _
grave restrictions to the flow of water in a
pipes.
Under the second heading of ‘‘ Plants in Water-|
works ” the author deals chiefly with algze and bac-
teria. The former class, when present in exces-—
sive amounts, may cause serious choking of filter
beds, and sometimes give rise to unpleasant tastes”
and odours, but otherwise are an important parker)
in efficient filtration.
Ordinary bacteria, including those which cause.
water-borne disease, are not dealt with, but ani
very full account is given of the dreaded creno-
thrix or iron bacteria. Several water supplies,
im
j
both in this country and abroad, notably Chelten-—
and Rotterdam, have 4
ham, Liverpool, Berlin,
suffered from this pest, and the author describes —
in some detail the history of these visitations, —
which have had the effect not only of almost en-
tirely choking the pipes, but of imparting to the |
water a deep red colour and an unpleasant odour. |
In the last section the question of biology in
relation to water purification is dealt with. The
theory and practice of slow sand filtration, de-
pending as they do on the formation of a biological
film on the surface of the sand, are fully described, —
and the section concludes with a brief summary _
of the pioneer work of Dr. Houston on storage. —
The pamphlet is profusely illustrated with -
diagrams and photographs, and is a most useful,
interesting, and readable work. €
ee
ECEMBER 6, 1917]
NATURE
265
: OUR BOOKSHELF.
Laws of Physical Science: A Reference-book.
| By Dr. E. F. Northrup. Pp. viit+210. (Phila-
_ delphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., n.d.)
Price 8s. 6d. net..
Tuose who at any time have had to look up the
laws of some branch of physics rapidly must have
felt very seriously the absence of any pocket-
book of the type so much used by engineers in
which those laws were briefly and clearly stated.
They will be in a position to appreciate Dr.
-E. F. Northrup’s book, in: which the principal
laws are summarised. In a book which so
obviously fills a gap in our literature it is perhaps
a little ungrateful to point out minor defects. The
contrast between the thoroughness of the section
devoted to current electricity and the incomplete-
mess and lack of unity of some of the other sec-
tions is very marked. On p. 45, for example, the
author speaks first of the ‘‘force” of a musical
ssound, and then of the ‘‘intensity” of a sound.
On p. 47 the velocity of sound is given in terms of
quantities expressed in gravitational units, while
on p. 51, in another formula for the velocity,
tensions are expressed in dynes and masses in
grains (probably a misprint for grams). On p. 61
ignored, while on p. 68 many of the general
gah of isothermal surfaces and of lines of
flow are given as if they held for a point source
only. While in magnetism there is a partial
definition of unit pole, in electrostatics there is no
definition of unit quantity of electricity, and
formule are given sometimes with, sometimes
without, the dielectric constant appearing. In
the light section the laws of refraction include the
‘statement that the incident and refracted rays are
on opposite sides of the normal, while the laws of
reflection contain no corresponding statement.
Again, the relative sizes of object and image
formed by a spherical mirror are stated on p. 168
as if the only possible objects and images were
lines perpendicular to the axis of the mirror. In
a second edition it is to be hoped that these defects
will be remedied.
The Student’s Handbook to the University and
Colleges of Cambridge. » Sixteenth edition.
Pp . vii+703. (Cambridge: At the University
Press, rg17.) Price 6s. net.
HE present edition of this useful handbook has
been revised to June 30 last. Three important
additions only have been necessary in this issue,
namely, the regulations for the new English
Tripos, the new regulations for the Modern and
Medieval Languages Tripos, and certain modifica-
ons of the conditions under which prize exercises
eto be sentin. The war has occasioned further
emporary emergency legislation, and the part of
affecting undergraduates is duly recorded here.
The book has been compiled from authentic
sources, and its helpfulness to students at Cam-
bridge is undeniable.
NO, 2510, VOL. 100}
a a a a
heat. energy other than translatory energy is
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. |
Earthquake in Burma.
AN earthquake of some intensity was felt in parts of
Lower Burma in the early morning of July 5 last, when
the moon was in total eclipse. ‘The only damage re-
ported was at a famous pagoda at Pegu, a town forty-
six miles distant by rail from’ Rangoon, an ancient
structure held in great veneration by all Buddhists,
and towering 324 ft. over all surrounding buildings.
Its golden cone, or umbrella, studded with jewels to
the value of many thousand pounds sterling, was
shaken down, destroying several smaller pagodas at
its base. Fortunately, there seems to have been no
loss of life, for the fall happened about 4.40 a.m., when
most people were in bed. On festival or fast days
there are often thousands of visitors in the precincts
of the pagoda, for worshippers come from hundreds
of miles distant to this famous shrine, and though
the population of the town is less than 20,000, there
are often'150,000 there on such occasions. The pagoda
trustees and Buddhist elders at once took steps and
formed a committee to supervise the removal of the
débris and to recover the valuable jewels which had
fallen, and in this the civil and police officials rendered
every assistance. The Lieutenant-Governor, directly
he heard of the disaster, telegraphed to the Deputy-
Commissioner :—‘‘ His Honour is much distressed to
hear of the damage done by the earthquake to your
beautiful Shwemawdaw Pagoda, and would be glad if -
you would kindly convey his sympathy to the pagoda
trustees.”” The trustees wired the following reply :—
‘*We thank his Honour most sincerely for his telegram
expressing sympathy at damage done to our beautiful
pagoda. Some valuables discovered among the débris.”
The largest diamond, which was placed on the
top of the golden umbrella, has not yet been
recovered, and as Pegu has some thousands of
non-Buddhists amongst its population, fears are enter-
tained that many valuable jewels may get into dis-
honest hands.
The effect of the disaster has, of course, not been
wholly bad for everyone. The Burma Railway has
had its passenger service from all parts of its line
strained to the uttermost. From 5000 to 10,000 people
beyond the ordinary traffic are now daily arriving at
the town. ‘Taxi-cab and bullock-cart owners are
making small fortunes carrying visitors to and
from the railway station to the pagoda, situated about
a mile distant. These visitors, of course, require food
and lodging, so that money to an extent previously
unknown, except in holiday or festival time, is now
daily circulating in the place.
Pegu is a very ancient town, and was formerly
the capital of an independent kingdom. It is men-
tioned by the first European travellers to Burma in
the seventeenth century as a place of great wealth
and very populous. It is now one of the largest rice-
producing districts in Burma. It will not be very long
before its famous: pagoda is restored to. all its former
magnificence, for, although the Burmese are not very
familiar or appreciative of co-éperation in mundane
transactions, all Buddhists are willing to spend money
on such a work of ‘‘merit’ as the restoration or re-
building of a celebrated pagoda like the one at Pegu,
and putting jewels or valuables at such a height in the
| air that nobody can see them. This characteristic
266
NATURE
[DECEMBER 6, 1917 :
seems all the more curious when one notices the
hundreds of small, dilapidated pagodas all over the
country. These, although they may have been built by
their own relatives, the Buddhists usually allow to perish
from old age and the effects of the climate, and if
one inquires into the reason’ one gets for answer that
such repairs would go to the ‘‘ merit”’ of the original
builder, not to the repairer. They therefore, if they
had the money available, prefer to erect another small
pagoda or religious building, when they would be
acquiring ‘‘merit’”’ for themselves. But when money
has to be spent over a famous shrine like the one at
Pegu, they seem to have a national, rather than a
réligious, motive in co-operating, and giving what they
can afford—it may be a rupee,. or a thousand rupees.
Hence money for such an object is always forthcoming.
F. N. Burn.
42 Pyinmagon, Dalla P.O., Lower Burma.
THE NITROGEN PROBLEM.
NDER this term we have come to denote a
question of most pressing importance at the
moment. It not only affects our present and
prospective national welfare; our very exist-
ence as an Empire is directly and immediately
concerned with it. This arises from its bearings
upon war and agriculture. Nitrogen compounds
are absolutely necessary to the manufacture of
munitions; they are no less indispensable to the
production of food. All nations, therefore, and,
for obvious reasons, especially those which are
locked together in a life-and-death struggle, are
eager to solve it, and under the compelling strain
of a dire necessity an extraordinary measure of
success is attending their efforts. This is more
particularly the case with Germany, owing to the
special circumstances of her position, and to the
fact that she and the other Central Powers are
practically cut off from external supplies of com-
bined nitrogen products.
That Germany should be so far in advance of
other nations in this respect is due to her prior
recognition, years ago, of certain factors by which,
under the very conditions which she dreaded might
arise, and which have, in fact, arisen, her actual
existence as a nation might be imperilled. The
whole history of her association with the nitrogen
problem shows that under the semblance of a
peaceful venture it was part of the great con-
spiracy by which she sought to. dominate the
world. Her first efforts were made in Norway,
when she secured a controlling interest in that
country’s abundant supply of hydro-electric
energy, and took the fullest advantage, as is her
method, of other people’s originality and pioneer-
ing efforts. As the problem evolved itself
and the political situation became apparently
clearer, in proportion as manufacturing processes
passed beyond the experimental stage, the great
combines, financial and industrial, at the back of
the enterprise gradually unloaded their interests in
Norway upon an unsuspecting world. It is doubt-
ful whether the whole of the synthetic stages from
atmospheric air to ammonia and nitric acid were
in full working order at the time the Serajevo
tragedy forced the Kaiser’s hand; but, as the
NO. 2510, VOL. 100|
sequel has shown, they were so far advanced that
under the stress of compulsion, aided by the finan.
cial support of the State and with no hampering ©
commercial restrictions, they could be made to
serve the necessity of the nation. We all re-~
member with what a glow of pride Bethmann-
Hollweg revealed to the world that Germany’s
chemists had at length solved the great nitrogen
problem, and thereby secured, henceforth and for
all time, as he said, her national security. =
Owing largely to our command of the sea, our
position, and that of our Allies, in respect to this
matter is less acute than that of our enemies. At
the same time, apart from the submarine menace,
which is transitory, there are elements in the situa-
tion which require us to pay very serious heed to
it. It would be the greatest possible folly on our
part to neglect its study. For there can be no
doubt whatever that this question of the fixation
of nitrogen and the production of synthetic am-
monia and nitric acid has come to stay. Matters
of this kind have hitherto been considered as out-
side the business of the State. Government had
no direct interest in them. They were subjects to
be left to private enterprise and individual effort.
But the circumstances of the time have changed
much in our time-honoured and traditional view
of the mutual relations of the individual and the
State. Public opinion, under the hustling influ-
ence of the moment, now compels the State to
accept responsibilities and exercise initiative 4
an extent hitherto undreamt of. Accordingly, a
number of official bodies connected with the
Government are engaged in the consideration of
the nitrogen problem, and we are given to under- —
stand that a gratifying measure of success has
already attended the systematic research work
which has been undertaken at their instance. The —
attempt should now be made to co-ordinate this —
business with a view to economy of effort and t
bring the whole to a common focus. Government
Departments are too apt to encase themselves it
water-tight compartments, and department
jealousies are prone to interfere with unity
action. pan
We trust that, in view of the urgency and seri-
ous nature of the matter, no such trivial con
siderations will be allowed to operate. The Nitr
gen Products Committee of the Ministry of Muni-
tions, constituted more than a year ago under the
auspices of the Munitions Inventions Department,
is no doubt primarily concerned with the matter,
for at the moment the question affects the prose- —
cution of the war and is, therefore, of the first
consideration, and every agency~ should be
directed to that issue. In solving the problem as
it affects war we incidentally go far to solve it as”
it affects peace and agriculture. The Comptroller
of Munitions Inventions has just issued a report
giving a general account of the action which has”
been taken by his Department in dealing with the
subject, and he promises a more complete rep
based upon the work of the various sub-com-
mittees which have been instituted to deal with
its several aspects.
| om
Bh
=a
a
|
Prt
3
of its success.
_ in Germany in 1913, when it was said to have pro-
_ DEcEMBER 6, 1917]
NATURE
267
_ We have already directed attention to the
action which the United States has taken in con-
mection with the same subject, even before its
entrance into the war. A report to his Govern-
ment by Dr. C. L. Parsons, which has recently
_ been published, contains a mass of valuable in-
formation as the result of inquiries and visits to
‘manufacturing plants in various European coun-
tries. As regards the account of the arc process
of synthesising nitric acid, there is little that is
not generally known to experts in this country.
Its position as a permanent industry depends
largely on local conditions, which are now well
understood. Of the Haber process for the pro-
_ duction of ammonia, to which the German Chan-
_ ¢ellor referred in such exulting terms, we have
as yet no very precise information concerning
plant construction and operation. The method is
_ not at present at work as a manufacturing process
outside Germany, and its post-war use in other
_ countries will probably be restricted owing to the
practically prohibitive royalty demanded by the
_ Badische Company.
a difficult, and even dangerous, process to work.
_ Its technical control requires so high a degree of
It is, however, known to be
training and skill that Dr. Parsons is assured
_ that if the Badische people were to lose their
present staff many months would be required to
train another. There can, however, be no doubt
It was first commercially installed
duced 20,000 tons of ammonium sulphate. In
1914 this grew to 60,000 tons, in 1915 to 150,000
tons, and in 1916 to 300,000 tons. With the new
_ works recently completed by the Badische Com-
pany the 1917 output will be equivalent to up-
wards of 500,000 tons of ammonium sulphate. As
regards cost, it is stated that pure anhydrous
_ ammonia can thus be produced in liquid condition
at less than 4 cents per lb. If such is the case,
| the Haber method is the cheapest process yet
known for the production of synthetic ammonia.
_ The cyanamide process for producing ammonia
resembles the are process of making nitric acid
in requiring cheap power for its successful
development. In special circumstances it may be
able to hold its own with the Haber process, as
seems to be realised in Germany, where the
method has been subsidised by the Government.
It is said that the 1917 German production of
_ cyanamide will be not far short of 400,000 tons.
Agrarian interests are endeavouring to induce the
_ Government to establish a nitrogen monopoly to
ensure the continuance of the cyanamide industry
in Germany, in view of the competition of the
Haber process and of coke-oven ammonia after
the war.
_As_ regards by-product
ammonia and_ the
| cyanide process, and the methods of transforming
ammonia into nitric acid, there is little in Dr.
Parsons’s report which is not now common know-
- ledge. Naturally his conclusions and recommenda-
_ tions are more particularly applicable to the cir-
-¢eumstances of America, but there is much in his
arguments and in the details of his estimates of
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
is
construction and of operating costs that will
necessitate, and will doubtless receive, sym-
pathetic attention in this country.
One fact clearly emerges from this considera-
tion of the nitrogen problem. The combined
efforts of the warring nations in seeking the means
for their mutual destruction will inevitably ensure
the future position of agriculture and the produc-
tion of cheap food to those who come after us.
Out of this evil at least this good will come.
SCIENCE AND OTHER HUMANISTIC
‘ “STUDIES IN SCHOOLS.}
a Mee report edited by Sir Frederic Kenyon
gives evidence of progress towards that
agreement among educational experts which is
necessary if the construction of a scheme designed
for general adoption is to meet with general
acceptance. A serious obstacle to this progress
‘“‘the great mass of ill-informed public
opinion, which distrusts or despises all education,
Or measures its value by its immediate money-
earning capacity.’’ This remark, to be found on
the first page of the report, is perfectly true; but
it is équally true that another serious hindrance
has been the obstinate refusal of so many of the
supporters of the old-established classical system
to yield ground and to recognise the claims of
modern subjects, especially science, to any con-
siderable share in the time, emoluments, and
honours which have so long been the portion of
the older studies. ‘‘The object of the present
pamphlet is to record certain attempts that have
been made to give a healthier tone to the. discus-
sion; to show that a large measure of agreement
is possible, ... and to bring the weight of
this agreement to bear on the solution of the out-
standing problems which have been the cause of
bitter controversy in the past.”
The starting point of the movement here de-
scribed was a letter which appeared in the Times
of February 2, 1916, in which the educational
claims of science were put forward with consider-
able emphasis. This was followed by the meet-
ing at the Linnean Society on May 3, which has
been completely. reported in a pamphlet entitled
‘*The Neglect of Science.’’ A rejoinder was
published in the Press of May 4, 1916, signed by
Lord Bryce and a number of other eminent per-
sons. This letter, though containing some state-
ments which were open to criticism, was con-
ceived in a liberal and conciliatory spirit, which
could not fail to have a good effect.
‘A movement was then begun with the object of
securing co-operation among the principal bodies
representing ‘‘humanistic’’ studies in their educa-
tional aspect, and a conference was held on June
17, 1916, in which representatives of the Classical,
English, Geographical, Historical, and Modern —
Language Associations took part. The result was
1 “ Education, Scientific and Humane.” A Report of the. Proceedings of
the Council for Humanistic Studies, Edited by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon.
Pp. 32. (London: John Murray, 1917.) Price 6d. net.—Committee on
the Neglect of Science. Report for the Year 1916-17, (Hon. Sec 17
Grosvenor Road, Westminster, S.W.1.)
268
NATURE
[DECEMBER 6, 1917
the passing of six resolutions, which were pub-
lished in the Press at the end of August. Of
these the most important are the following :—
(1) It is essential that any reorganisation of our
educational system should make adequate provision
for both humanistic and scientific studies,
(2) Premature specialisation. on any one particular
group of studies, whether humanistic or scientific, to
the exclusion of all others, is a serious danger, not only
to education generally, but to the studies concerned.
(3) Humanistic education implies the adequate study
of language and literature, geography and history,
which in each case should, at the appropriate stage of
education, go beyond the pupils’ own language and
country.
With these resolutions the Teaching Committee
of the Mathematical Association and the Com-
mittee of the Association of Public-School Science
Masters expressed concurrence.
The circular drawn up by the Five Associations —
spoke of the possible formation of ‘‘ some central
council which could assume a larger responsi-
bility and speak with a wider representative
authority.’’ No doubt the formation of such a
council is eminently desirable, but it has not so
far been brought into existence. The British
Academy has appointed a committee which has
developed ‘into the Council for Humanistic
Studies, the report of which is before us. But the
Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies initiated by
the Royal Society, with the president, wir J.-J;
Thomson, at the head, besides the ‘ ‘ Neglect of
‘Science’? Committee, which originated in the
meeting: of May 3, 1916, must not be forgotten.
There is also the Education Reform Council
inaugurated by the Teachers’ Guild, and the
report of which was reviewed in Nature of Sep-
tember 27 last. This body has so far not been
consulted by the other associations which have
been conferring together.
A step in advance was undoubtedly achieved
when a meeting on January 26 last was held
between the Education Committee of the Board
of Scientific Societies and the Council for
Humanistic Studies, with Sir E. Ray Lankester
in the chair. In the result it was agreed that
more time must be found for the teaching of
natural science, especially in the older and more
famous schools, and that this time should
generally be found at the expense of the classics.
All agree in deprecating early specialisation, and
it should be noted that this opinion applies to the
classics as well as to science and modern lan-
guages.
Fortunately, while the experts are trying to
make up their minds, some definite action has
already been taken by the authorities. The Regu-
lations for Secondary Schools, issued_on April 19
last, require the curriculum to provide for ‘satis-
factory instruction in the following subjects : (1)
English language and literature; (2) at least one
other language; (3) geography; (4) history; (5)
mathematics; (6) science; and (7) drawing. The
report of the ‘committee appointed by the Treasury
to produce a scheme of examination for admission
to the Civil Service, Class I., was issued on
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
June 20 last. It affords very interesting reading
and proposes new regulations of a very impor- —
tant character. The examination is to be divide
into two parts. Section A, which must be taken
by all candidates, includes the following forms of
test: (1) Essay; (2) English; (3) question on
contemporary subjects, social, economic, or —
political; (4) general principles, methods,
applications of science; (5) translation from we
foreign language; (6) a viva voce examina
To each of these subjects from (1) to (5) one hun-
dred marks are assigned, and to the viva voce,
to which the committee attaches great imp
tance, three hundred marks. This is follo ee
Section B, which includes a great variety oie
optional subjects generally marked at the same —
maximum, except mathematics and engineering, —
which receive twice the number of marks assigned —
to the other subjects. The report of the Civil
Service Committee concludes with a number of ‘
specimen examination questions, which are in-
tended to illustrate the views put forward by the —
committee. eal
Then there is the Education Bill now before
Parliament, according to which elementary educa- __
tion is to be compulsory up to the age of fourteen —
years. It provides for the establishment of con-
tinuation schools and for compulsory attendance _
at the same. Another clause introduces the —
interesting and novel proposal to give power ‘og
local authorities to afford aid to research. /.
Sir Frederic Kenyon’s report contains miele -
that deserves attention, and seems to invite com-
ment, and we cannot ‘do better: than ‘advise our
readers interested in educational questions fi eg
obtain a copy. But they should also read ca
fully the report of the ‘‘Neglect of Science”
Committee, which brings out more clearly the
claims of the advocates of natural science. =
NOTES.
A very remarkable statement was made to the Patis q
Academy of Sciences on October 1 by Prof. H. Vin-
cent, who is director of the great Army Laboratory at ~
Val- de-GrAce, one of the most beneficent institutions
of France. He was responsible, in the early months
of 1915 and afterwards, for the arrangements in the
French Army for the protective treatment against ~
typhoid. He gives the results in a short note. with
a graphic diagram. He contrasts the terrible havoc 7
wrought in previous wars with the almost negligible
death-rate from typhoid in the present war. A heavy a,
incidence of typhoid began in November, 1914; it be-
came much less during March-April, 1915. During
this period, November, 1914-April, 1915, the protective
treatment could not be effectively carried out at the —
front, because of the necessities of the war. From as
April, 1915, onward—except for one very small rise in
the summer of 1915, due mostly to paratyphoid fever —
—the death-rate has been kept almost at nil. The ~
line runs steadily along the bottom of the diagram,
as one loves to see it. From August, 1915, onward
the French Army has received protective treatment, ~
not only against typhoid fever, but also against those ‘:
two forms of paratyphoid fever which at present are i
called paratyphoid A and paratyphoid B. The results
are magnificent. As Prof. Vincent says:—‘‘For more
than. two years the French Army at the front has —
\*
' DecemsBer 6, 1917]
NATURE
269
_ enjoyed a very remarkable state of sanitation; typhoid
- and the paratyphoid fevers no longer show themselves,
save at a very low degree of frequency. And this,
though all the conditions at the front are united to
favour the outbreak, spread, and gravity of these
_ diseases. Immense masses of men crowded at close
_ quarters, in such number as one has never seen the like
of in any war; incessant renewal of effectives; a long
war, and almost ceaseless engagements; near contact
of troops, and constant risk of infection from man
to man, from patients or from germ-carriers; formid-
- able and continuous contamination of the surface soil
; 4 the excreta of germ-carriers; breeding of flies, etc.”
et, in spite of it all, ‘‘these diseases may be con-
sidered as practically conquered.” It is strange to
think that one of our “anti-vivisection”’ societies has
.been trying to prevent the protection of our own men.
Happily, it has failed; the latest returns show that
98 per cent. of them are protected.
é In its September issue the Little Journal, published
_ in Boston, U.S.A., by the firm of A. D. Little, Inc.,
indicates what steps have been taken during the past
three years to cope with the shortage of dyes in
America. Before the war there were only five con-
cerns producing synthetic dyes in the United States.
Now, in addition to the coke-oven plants and special
phenol makers, there are twenty-three firms produc-
ing direct coal-tar products or ‘‘crudes,” sixty-eight
makers of ‘‘ intermediates,” and ninety-eight factories
in which the finished dyes are manufactured. Ap-
roximately 75 per cent. of the dyes needed by Amer-
ican consumers are now being turned out in the United
States, and certain of these products are made in
sufficient excess to be available for export to friendly
countries, and especially to England. There is still
a shortage in such old-established dyes as magenta,
__methylene-blue, auramine, and methyl-violet. Amer-
ican synthetic indigo is being produced, but not in
sufficient amount for the needs of the U.S. Navy.
At the end of three years there are ‘‘crudes”’ and
“intermediates”’ 1n abundance. Two large under-
takings, the National Aniline and Chemical Company
and the Du Pont Chemical Company, which in chemical
research are the peers of the great German factories,
) are embarking on the manufacture of indigo and other
essential dyes. The Americans claim with confidence
) that their dye-producing firms have the talent, the
organisations, the capital, and the will.. With these
factors in operation the missing 25 per cent. of dyes
_ will soon be provided, and only the odds and ends will
- eventually be imported.
__ In a lecture delivered before the London School of
_Economics on November 16 Mr. Sydney J. Johnstone
gave ‘an account of the localities within the British
mpire where the chief key-metals, such as tungsten,
molybdenum, thorium and cerium, vanadium, etc.,
occur. © Tungsten is found chiefly in Burma and
Queensland, and the Empire now furnishes about
35 per cent. of the world’s production. The metal is
now extracted in the United Kingdom. Molyb-
-denum is also largely worked in this country, and
adequate supplies are available from British Colonies
and Dominions, especially Australia. Both these
metals are of great value for special armament steels,
and for the manufacture of high-speed tool steels, on
which they confer the property, of enabling the steel
' to retain its hardness when run red-hot.
ceria, the chief rare-earths in incandescent mantles,
are being extracted from the monazite deposits of
_ Travancore and Ceylon, which also contain lanthanum,
erbium, didymium, yttrium, and other rare-earths.
_ The monazite in these localities commonly contains
about to per cent. of thoria, being twice as rich as
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
horia and .
| the similar deposits in Brazil. _ Occasionally much
| richer minerals are found in limited quantities in
Ceylon—for example, thorianite, which contains as
much as 60-80 per cent. of thoria, and has been the’
subject of much study by the Scientific and Research
Department of the Imperial Institute. ~ Mesothorium
is a by-product of the working of monazite. Another
by-product, zircon, might, it is suggested, be applied
for the same purposes as zirconia, i.e. the lining of
furnaces and other vessels for which a highly infusible
material with a low coefficient of expansion is needed.
The chief key-metal which is absent, or found only in
small quantiti¢s in the Empire, is platinum, which is
derived mainly from Russia and Colombia. It is pos-
sible, however, that it might be obtained in fair quan-
tities, together with palladium, as a by-product in the
treatment of nickel-copper ores in Canada.
Pror. A. Ricui, foreign member of the Royal,
Society, has been elected an honorary member of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Dr. ArtHUR KeIrH, conservator of the museum of
the Royal College of Surgeons, has been appointed
Fullerian professor of physiology at the Royal Institu-
tion.
WE notice with regret the announcement of the death
on November 28, at Zomba, Nyasaland, of black-
water fever, of Mr. W. C. Mason, Imperial Entomo-
logist, at thirty-three years of age.
Pror. T. B. Woop, Drapers professor of agriculture
in the University of Cambridge, is to be appointed a
member of the Development Commission in succession
to Mr. A. D. Hall, now Secretary to the Boatd of
Agriculture.
Mr. T. F. Craxton, director of the Royal Ob-
servatory, Hong-Kong, informs us that, in view of
the world situation, it has been decided to discontinue
sending the publications of the observatory to the
United Kingdom, Europe, and India during the war.
Tue death is announced in the Engineer for Novem-
ber 30 of Mr. James Buchanan, who was a partner in
the well-known Liverpool firm of sugar machinery
makers. He was associated with the executive of the
Liverpool Munitions of War Committee, and undertook
important Government contracts for munitions. He
was a member of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers.
Tue Committee on Science and the Arts of the
Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, has recommended the
award of the Elliott Cresson medal to Col. I. N.
Lewis for his invention of the Lewis machine-gun,
and proposes to recommend the award of the Howard
N. Potts medal to Dr. A. E. Kennelly for his inven-
tion of the hot-wire anemometer and his application
of this device to the measurement of convection from
small heated wires; also that of the Howard N. Potts
medal to Prof. L. Vessot King for his improved
method and researches in hot-wire anemometry.
Mr. J. C. MERRYWEATHER, who died on November
24, at seventy-seven years of age, was the principal
member of the firm of fire-engine builders. Mr. Merry-
weather joined his father in the fire-engine business in
1864, and had a great deal to do with the introduction
of steam fire-engines. Under his direction, his firm
was the pioneer of the motor fire-engine. He was a
member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
and received the honour of Commander of the Imperial
Order of the Medjidieh in recognition of services ren-
dered in connection with the fire protection of the
Khedivial palaces.
'270
NATURE
[DECEMBER 6, 1917
WE referred in our issue of May 31 (p. 267) to a
proposal to present the portrait of the late Prof. R.
Meldola to the Royal Society and the Institute of
Chemistry. The total sum received in response to this
intimation, which was circulated only among Prof.
Meldola’s friends, was just above two hundred pounds,
which has been paid to the artist, Mr. Solomon, for
the portraits. -Prof. E. B. Poulton informs us that
the portrait presented to the Royal Society will be un-
veiled by Sir George Beilby on December 18, at 3 p.m. ;
and that presented to the Institute of ‘Chemistry of
Great Britain and Ireland, Russell Square, by the
president, Sir James Dobbie, at 4.30 on the same after-
noon. Prof. Poulton adds:—‘tI am sure that sub-
scribers will feel a deep debt of gratitude to Col. S. J.
Solomon, R.A., for the generous manner in which he
has carried out their wishes, and produced a lasting
memorial of a great man, and one that will co-operate
with and complete the memories of his friends.”’
WE regret to. announce the death of Mr. Charles
Hawksley, on November 27, at seventy-eight years of
age. An account of Mr. Hawksley’s career is given
in Engineering for November 30. He was born in
Nottingham in 1839, and completed his education at
University College, London, when he entered, as a
pupil, the offices of his father, the late Mr. Thomas
Hawksley, F.R.S. He was a partner with his father
from 1866, and continued the business after his father’s
death in 1893. The firm was associated with water-
works engineering in Great Britain, and also practised
in connection with gas undertakings and sewerage
works. Mr.. Hawksley was president of the Institu-
tion of Civil Engineers in 1901, and at the time of his
death was a member of council of the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers. His death will leave a gap
in these institutions not easily filled. In 1907 Mr.
Hawksley founded a lectureship of the Institution of
Mechanical. Engineers to commemorate the centenary
of the birth of his father, and by a melancholy coin-
cidence this year’s lecture was delivered last Friday .
evening.
“By the death in action on September 28 of Major.
Harry Clissold, D.S.O., R.E., the world of education
sustains a grievous loss. For more than twenty years
Major Clissold was on the science staff of Clifton
College, where he had himself been educated, and
to which until the end of his life he ungrudgingly
devoted his exceptional gifts. After taking a first class
in the Natural Science Tripos at Cambridge, he be-
came an-assistant-master at Marlborough, but very
soon returned to his old school. -He at. once threw
himself wholeheartedly into all the interests and activi-
ties of school ‘life, intellectual and athletic. This
devotion to the interests of the school undoubtedly pre-
vented him, as it has done so many others in similar
positions, from making those contributions to scientific
knowledge which were to be expected from his great
ability and energy. When called upon to take com-
mand of the school contingent of the Officers Training
Corps. he somewhat reluctantly. consented, and
devoted all his spare time, including many of his
holidays, to making himself as efficient as possible in
his military duties. Thus, when in 1914 he was
offered the cornmand of a new field company of the
South Midland Royal Engineers, he accepted it with
alacrity. He went to France in April, 1915, in command
of a field company, and served with such distinction
that he was awarded the D.S.O. in the summer of
1916. Major Clissold’s scientific knowledge and habit
of mind made him a most valuable officer on the
technical side, and his constant devotion to the welfare
of his men caused him to be one of the most popular
officers in the Army. The loss to Clifton is greater
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
' to save child-life.
No. 4).
than can be described, and to a wide circle of friends
in all parts of the globe the world is a darker and a ©
poorer place by his death. ee
THE supplement to the forty-sixth annual report of —
the Local Government Board, containing the report of —
the Medical Officer for 1916-17, has recently een
issued. In the general summary Sir Arthur News-
holme directs attention to the need for increased effort — é
In 1914 the excess of births over
deaths in England and Wales was 362,354, in 1915
it was 252,201. In1g16therateof infant mortality was
the lowest on record; there were 29,073 fewer births and __
54,099 fewer deaths than in 1915, with a result that
the excess of births over deaths for the year was
277,227. Sir Arthur Newsholme expresses the opinion
that there should be no insuperable difficulty in reduc.
ing the total deaths in childhood to one-half their
present number. Se
Ives
SEVERAL articles of topical interest appear in the —
October number of the Scientific Monthly (vol, Way
Dr. Burgess writes on the applications ‘of w
science to warfare in France. Prof. Graham Lusk.
discusses food in war-time. He points out that carbo- ~
hydrates are the great food-fuels of the human
machine. Based on their value in calories, proprietary
cereal foods are very costly, and it would be a great
_advance if the value in calories were placed on every
food package sold. Dr. Ida Pritchett describes specific
preventive and curative therapy by means of serums
with special reference to gas gangrene. She believes
that an antitoxic serum can be prepared for this
condition, and that there is every reason to hope that —
serum treatment will bring about a decrease in the
incidence of, and fatalities from, gas gangrene due to —
war wounds. Say ee
-In Man for November Mr. J. Reid Moir describes —
a piece of wood from the Cromer forest bed which is —
believed to show traces of human workmanship. The —
flat end of it appears to have been produced by saw- —
ing, and at one spot it seems that the line of cutting
has been corrected, as is often necessary when begin- —
ning to cut wood with a modern saw. Other examples —
of pieces of wood-pointed by early man are known, and
it is believed that Mr. Hazzledine Warren discovered —
a wooden stake or spear in the ancient implement-
iferous deposit at Clacton-on-Sea.
Mr. Net M. Jupp, of the United States National
Museum, has just returned to Washington after com-
pleting six months of archeological work in Arizona
and Utah. He has been engaged in repairing and
restoring Betatakin, or Hillside House, one of the
most interesting cliff houses in northern Arizona, con-
sisting of nearly one hundred rooms, built on the
sharply sloping floor of a crescent-shaped cave. The
presence of hidden springs, causing damage to the
structure and leading to the accumulation of silt, has
been dealt with, and the restoration has been con-
ducted in the most conservative way. The age of —
Betatakin cliff house is still uncertain, and no definite —
results can be obtained until the examination of this _
and other neighbouring ruins has been systematically _
undertaken. Hcane ‘4
ie
THE question of the character and origin of the local
gods of Egypt is still obscure; but a paper by Prof. —
Flinders Petrie, published in Ancient Egypt, part iii.,
1917, does much to clear it up. Prof. Petrie has col- |
lected the original records of these cults, and by if
marking the headquarters of each deity he arrives
at important results. Ra appears in only one southern ~ 4
city, and his cult seems to have come from the
north-east. The distribution of Mut, the mother-
goddess, is decidedly eastern, while that of Amen is er
rs
‘
life he emigrated to
- western.
oat
-. iso.
_ extensive collection here
: DECEMBER 6, 1917]
NATURE
271
Set was certainly brought into Egypt by
the desert road, as he had there two centres of the
_ first class, and he was introduced by the Red Sea way,
to the Eastern Delta. The distribution of the Osiride
triad indicates a settlement so early in the land that the
worship was generally diffused. Prof. Petrie sums up
his article thus : ‘‘ The geography of the worship of the
gods is thus seen to have a considerable value his-
torically, as bearing on their origin and connections.
When more complete research into the localities of
“various uncertain names may extend our. identifica-
_tions, it will be possible to get more. light on the
sources of Egyptian mythology.”
_ ORNrTHOLOGISTS will be grateful to Capt. Hugh Glad-
stone for his able summary of the life of John Hunt
& (1777-1842) which appears in British Birds for Novem-
ber. John Hunt’s “ British Ornithology” is a book of
great rarity and some merit, but it seems never to have
‘been completed, ene perhaps to the fact that late in
America. But Hunt’s claim to a
place of honour among British ornithologists does not
rest alone on this work, the principal theme of. the
present communication, which is to be completed in a
further instalment.
SrupDENTs of bionomics will find much interesting
matter in the Scottish Naturalist for November,
wherein Dr. Eagle Clarke gives the first instalment of
a study of the wild life in a West Highland deer
forest. These mountainous tracts, he remarks, may
be regarded as Nature reserves, retaining still much
of their primitive wildness owing to the fact that it is
beyond the power of man to effect any material change
_ in the barrenness imposed by their physical conditions.
The Corrour Forest, which he so sympathetically
interprets, is of great extent, and lies amid some of
the wildest mountain country in Great Britain. In
_ his survey he divides the forest into three zones—the
alpine, the sub-alpine, and the valley zone—giving an
analysis of the fauna, resident and migratory, of
each. Incidentally, of necessity, he describes the flora
also, but only in its relation to animal life. In the
same number the Misses Rintoul and Baxter record
some extremely interesting observations on the autumn
lays of some of our native birds. Records of
ted cases by E. Selous, J. E. Millais, and H. Eliot
Howard can now be compared with the much more
rought together, but their
precise significance seems as elusive as ever.
THe Journal of Agricultural Research” (vol. x.,
_ No. 4) contains a further important contribution by
E. B. Hart, E. V. McCollum, and other colleagues
to the question of the physiological effect on growth
and reproduction of rations balanced from restricted
sources. Previous work has indicated that a. ration
can be complete and efficient only. when it
contains protein of adequate quantity and quality,
adequate energy, mineral ingredients in’ proper
quantity and proportion, and two factors . (vita-
mines) of unknown constitution which have
been temporarily designated as ‘‘fat-soluble A"
and “water-soluble B.” Later’ work now indicates
that to these must be added the important factor of
direct toxicity. This can be wholly absent or so mild
in its effects as to be entirely obscured when the other
essentials of a ration are at an optimum adjustment;
or with fair adjustment it may only reveal its effects
when the ration is continued over a very long time
and the animal involved in the extra strains of repro-
duction and milk secretion. Rations composed ex-
clusively of wheat products (grain and straw) did not
sustain growth with Holstein heifers.. Such animals
also failed to show cestrus and could not. be bred.
Marked pathological conditions resulted, such -as
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
blindness, feeble and emaciated condition, and abnormal
excitability followed by collapse. The responsibility
was found to be due in part to the inadequate salt.
mixture provided by the ration, and in part to inherent
toxicity in the grain. By the use of maize stover or
alfalfa hay as roughage in place of the wheat straw
growth was sustained, but reproduction was only par-
tially successful, weakness commonly appearing ih the
second gestation. Maize grain plus wheat straw
allowed sustained growth, but at a slow rate. Addi-
tions of salts to this ration made it normal. Addition
of wheat embryo to,.a maize ration caused disturb-
ances, bringing about early abortions, thus indicating
a high content of the toxic material in the wheat
kernel.
THE report of the Government Cinchona Plantations
and Factory in Bengal for the year 1916-17, being the
fifty-fifth annual report, is, as usual, a very interesting
and instructive document and a remarkable record of
efficiency. From it we learn that the acreage under
Cinchona has been increased to 2405} acres, as against
the 2295 acres under cultivation the previous year.
Figures are given showing the profits of the under-
taking during the period 1900-17. For an outlay of
44,84,100 rupees the Government has _ received
51,24,900 rupees, and has acquired entirely within the
period 1905-17 additions to factory buildings, etc.,
which have quintupled the 1900 output, a large reserve
of quinine, 2738 acres afforested with timber and fuel
trees, the 24054 acres of Cinchona, and a large out-
put of other manufactured products, making a total
return in cash and readily realisable assets of
1,17,66,634 rupees. Among other medicinal plants
grown are Digitalis, Chenopodium ambrosioides, and
Ipecacuanha. é
WE welcome the first number of a new journal,
Psychobiology, to be published bi-monthly by the Wil-
liams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, U.S.A. (London
agents, Cambridge University Press; price per volume,
23s. net), devoted to the field common to psycho-
logy and the biological sciences. It will concentrate
attention on the interconnection of mental and physio-
logical functions, holding firm to the conception of the
organism as a unity. It is edited by Prof. Knight
Dunlap, in association with Profs. J. J. Abel, W. B.
Cannon, R. Dodge, S. I. Franz, H. S. Jennings, and
G. H. Parker—a streng editorial board. In the first
number S. I. Franz and K. S. Lashley show that in
the white rat removal of large parts of the frontal
portions of the brain does not greatly interfere with
a learned reaction; D. I. Macht and S. Isaacs discuss
the influence of some opium alkaloids on the psycho-
logical reaction time; R. Ogden and S. I. Franz deal
with recovery from experimentally produced hemi-
plegia; Prof. J. B. Watson relates experiments which
show that the delaying of the nutritive reward for
thirty seconds after rats solved a problem box did
not alter the learning process; and the editor suggests
the theory that the effect of pleasure in “fixing” a-
reaction may be due to the liberation of a_ specific
hormone, which need not necessarily come from a
gland. The whole number is interesting, and we wish
the new venture success.
Tue outlook of chemistry in the United States, with
special reference to the resources of this science in war
and peace, is discussed by Prof. Julius Stieglitz in his
presidential address to the American Chemical Society,
published in Science for October 5. Prof. Stieglitz
urges for the United States what has been advocated
for this country—a declaration of chemical. independ-
ence. From a chemist’s point of view the first con-
sideration necessary for this purpose is that the manu-
facturer should reckon the chemist ‘‘ worthy of his
hire.” The tendency hitherto has been to treat the
272
NATURE
\F
[DECEMBER 6, 1917
chemist merely as an employee instead of co-operating
with him as a partner, and this almost invariably
dampens his enthusiasm. Secondly, the adoption by
the legislatures of a definite national policy as regards.
the establishment of independence in chemical supplies
is advocated. This has already been inaugurated in the
question of the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. Thirdly,
wise patent legislation is necessary. Applied chemistry
is not wholly industrial : chemistry promises to be the
guide, not only of physiologists, but also of bac-
teriologists, pathologists, and laboratory clinicians.
Accordingly, it is essential that the chemistry depart-
ments of universities and colleges should keep up
their output of men, and maintain a high standard of
scientific quality. The great impetus which science has
received from the war involves certain dangers. The
chief of these is that superior research opportunities
and financial returns will attract all the best men away
from academic life. In the national interest profes-
sorial chairs must be occupied by the best men, and
to ensure this salaries must.be raised. The continued
need for pure research untroubled by any possible in-
dustrial application of its results must not be forgotten.
For chemistry in America a brilliant future is predicted
provided that the chemist is given a “square deal,”’
and that this science in the universities is placed on
the plane occupied by law and medicine.
In the week following November 20, the anniversary
of the Cripplegate Fire, the British Fire Prevention
Committee completed its first twenty years’ work,
which has been carried on entirely by voluntary effort.
Among the activities of the committee may be men-
tioned the promotion of technical research, the initia-
tion of legislation, by-laws, and regulations, the com-
pilation of evidence on the subject of fires, and the
preparation of literature and circulars of a pre-
cautionary character, more than 250 publications of
this nature having been issued. The committee’s re-
commendations have been endorsed by competent
authorities in the United States, France, and Russia.
. Instances of co-operation with other countries are
afforded by the organisation of the International Fire
Prevention Congress, which was attended by 800 visi-
tors, representing fifteen Governments and 200 muni-
cipalities and corporations from all parts of the world,
and the International Fire Exhibition, at which a
collection of historical and industrial exhibits was
shown, and the lessons of many of the great. con-
flagrations of the past decade were discussed. Apart
entirely from the propaganda work in fire prevention
and the extensive system of publishing trustworthy
data, the committee established twenty years ago a
complete testing station near Regent’s Parl for full-
sized fire tests, without any encouragement or assist-
ance from the Government whatever. With the advent
of the war, which has severely affected professional
men, it is unlikely that work of this kind can continue
to be dependent solely on the voluntary effort and con-
tributions of the technical professions concerned, and
being of great national importance, the committee
should be afforded the co-operation and assistance of
those public departments which are now concerned in
research work and have Treasury or special research
funds available for it. ,
Engineering for November 30 contains an illustrated
description of the standard propelling machinery for
British standard ships. The main engines are triple-
expansion, having cylinders -27 in., 44 in., and 73 in.
diameter by 48-in. stroke. -There are three boilers of
the multitubular return-tube type, 15 ft. 6 in. diameter
by 11° ft. 6 in. long, for 180 lb. per sq. in. working
pressure, and working under Howden’s system of
forced draught. The outstandin
engine design indicate that it is of Clyde origin.
NO. 2510, VOL. 100]
features of the
All
4 stances,’”’ Dr. H. Maclean; ‘‘The Ornamental Plant) .
the designs, excepting the auxiliary machinery, were —
| prepared by one firm, which had extensive experience in —
machinery for this size of cargo vessel, and were issued —
complete to various contractors. The advantages of ©
manufacture to.one common design were found of con=
venience in many ways. For example, one firm ;
covered defects in a soleplate casting; this was at once —
replaced by a similar casting from another firm, which
did not require it immediately, thus preventing several
weeks’ delay. Orders for the auxiliary machinery, and
for all small items, such as valves, branch pieces, ete.,
were placed with firms which specialise in such work, tu
and furnished all these details ready to fit in place.
The positions of the auxiliary machinery were so
selected that all erection could be completed before the
launch, thus simplifying greatly the amount of
fitting which usually has to be done.
Fapsiei
:
PIER EL ee,
F),
Y
-
4A
_ DEcEMBER 13, 1917]
NATURE
287
be made from ground nuts shelled in the country
of production and exported in the form of kernels,
_ the argument being that the oil in such kernels
_ must always contain too much free fatty acid.
It
is clear from the French bulletin, however, that
lack of tonnage, if nothing else, is now forcing
| social life should have suggested that they at least
French oil-seed crushers to reconsider this ques- —
tion and to find means of importing ground-nut
kernels in good condition.
In a recent number (No. 86 of 1917) of
L’Expansion Coloniale M. Emile Baillaud, to |
whose activity the Marseilles Colonial Institute |
owes much of its prestige in France, discusses the
problems which these French committees on
| Department of Reconstruction in view of the opening
| afforded for the utilisation of the labour of demobilised
cereals and oil-seeds will take into consideration.
From this it appears that the committees are faced
with much the same problems as those mentioned |
in the first paragraph of this article, viz. that |
French, like British, manufacturers have not been |
able to take up new oil-seeds, but have largely left —
the initiative in such matters to Germany, and that
they have not utilised and developed sources of
supply in their own colonies. It will be the chief
object of the committees to ascertain how this state
_ of things can be remedied. It is interesting in this
connection to note that M. Baillaud has a proper
appreciation of the necessity for technical investi-
gations, and suggests that the Committee on Oil-
_ seeds will require to initiate investigations similar
_ to those carried on for some years past on the
_oil-palm by the Imperial Institute in this country
in co-operation with the Departments of Agri-
culture in British West Africa.
NOTES.
_ As an outcome of the Departmental Committee on
the Welfare of the Blind, which recently issued an
excellent t, the President of the Local Govern-
ment Board (Mr. W. Hayes Fisher) has appointed a
Committee to advise the department on matters relat-
ing to the care and supervision of the blind. The
selection of members appears to have been made with
discretion, except that, as pointed out by ‘“‘ Ophthalmic
Surgeon” in a letter to the Times of December 8,
there is no medical man or ophthalmic surgeon upon
the Committee. The original Committee had an oph-
thalmic surgeon among its number, and applied to
the Royal Society of Medicine for assistance in its
deliberations. A Sub-Committee of the Ophthalmo-
logical Section was appointed, and devoted much time
and trouble to the subject. The report shows that it
afforded very material help. Mr. Hayes Fisher, writ-
ing to the Times of December 11, excuses himself for
the absence of any medical representation on the
Advisory Committee by saying that ‘‘ nine-tenths of the
Committee’s time will be taken up with the considera-
tion of administrative problems,’ and that ‘under
existing circumstances it would not be right to make
a further demand upon the time of any of our eminent
be Ogee specialists, who are already so fully occu-
The courteous terms in which this letter is
‘couched will doubtless be appreciated by the Royal
_ Society of Medicine and the medical profession gener-
ally, but they do not succeed in masking the char-
acteristic official
_ themselves are the best judges of the time which they
_ have at their disposal, and the ordinary amenities o
attitude. Ophthalmic surgeons
NO. 25II, VOL. 100] |
should be consulted and offered the opportunity of
giving their assistance when it is proposed to put their
recommendations into action.
THE project, which has been in abeyance for some
considerable time, for a ship canal across the Scottish
isthmus lying between the Firth of Forth and the
Firth of Clyde has lately been revived, partly in con-
sequence of the direction of military opinion towards
the strategical value of such a waterway in time of
war, and partly also on account of the substantial
commercial advantages which would accrue generally.
A question on the subject was recently put in the
House of Commons, and Dr. Addison, in reply, stated
that the matter was under the consideration of the
men for the execution of the undertaking. We ob-
serve, in the issue of The Engineer.of November 30,
an interesting account of the inception and develop-
ment of the underlying idea, which was promulgated,
in the first instance, so far back as the year 1724 by
Daniel Defoe. At present there are two schemes
which have been elaborated. The first consists in
linking up the rivers Forth and Clyde by the most
direct route through the Kelvin valley. The second
route, avoiding the congested district of the Upper
Clyde, lies along the Forth valley, leaving the river
channel near Alloa and ultimately reaching Loch
Lomond by means of Endrick Water. A short auxili-
ary connection between Loch Lomond and Loch Long
at Arrochar would then complete the passage to the
sea. The broad difference between the two routes is
that the Loch Lomond route would be at the loch level,
while the direct route would be at the level of high
water of spring tides. Exigencies of space forbid us
to attempt even a summary of the relative advantages
and difficulties of the rival schemes, each of which
has its convinced supporters.
WE regret to learn that Dr. A. M. W. Downing,
formerly superintendent of the ‘‘ Nautical Almanac,”
died suddently on Saturday, December 8, at sixty-seven
years of age.
Lapy Ropserts’s Field Glass Fund, which has now
issued 30,000 instruments to the Army, has no funds
beyond the sum necessary for returning the glasses
to their owners when this is desired. The main
expense is that of repairing the glasses which come
back for re-issue. An appeal is made for the sum of
toool. to meet the repairing bills, and the need justifies
the request. The address for sending contributions
(also any field-glasses and telescopes that can still be
spared) is the Manager, Lady Roberts’s Field Glass
Fund, 64 Victoria Street, S.W.r.
Tue Executive Committee of the Automobile Asso-
ciation has decided to offer a prize of 1oool. for the
best invention which will enable coal-gas to be used
with advantage as a propellant of motor-cars and
motor-cycles. Communications relating to this subject
should be addressed to the Secretary, Automobile Asso-
ciation and Motor Union, Fanum House, Whitcomb
Street, W.C.2, and marked ‘‘Coal Gas.”
It was announced at the Linnean Society of London
on November 29 that a new Linnean Society has been
established recently in Sweden as ‘‘Svenska Linné-
Sallskapet,” intended as a means for spreading in-
formation about Sweden’s greatest naturalist, Carl von
Linné (1707~78). The society purposes to do this by
publication of works by Linné and his pupils; to throw
tea
e
288
NATURE
- [DecemBeErR 13, 5 1917
new light from modern viewpoints on Linné’s per-
sonality; to draw up a catalogue of all known memo-
rials; and to found a complete Linnean library. The
president is Dr. Tycho Tullberg, a lineal descendant
of Linné.
Tue following are among the lecture arrangements
at the Royal ‘Institution before Easter :—Prof. J. A.
Fleming, a course of six experimentally illustrated lec-
tures, adapted to a juvenile auditory, on ‘tOur Useful
Servants: Magnetism and Electricity’’; Prof. W. M.
Flinders Petrie, three lectures on Palestine and Meso-
potamia—discovery, past, and future; Prof. Arthur
Keith, three lectures on the problems of: British anthro-
pology; Dr. Leonard Hill, two lectures on (1) the
stifling of children’s health, (2) the climatic adaptation
of black and white men; Sir R. T. Glazebrook, two
lectures on the National Physical Laboratory; Sir
Napier Shaw, two lectures on illusions of the atmo-
sphere; Prof. W. J. Pope, two lectures on the chemical
action of light; M. Paul H.,Loyson, two lectures on
the ethics of the war; Sir J. J. Thomson, six lectures
on problems in atomic structure. The Friday meetings
will commerce on January 18, when Sir James’ Dewar
will deliver a discourse on studies on liquid films. Sue-
ceeding discourses will probably be'given by Prof. J.
Townsend, Prof. A. S. Eddington, Principal E. H.
' Griffiths, Prof. A. G. Green, Prof. E..H. Barton, and
Sir J. J. Thomson,
In the October issue of the Agricultural Journal
of India (vol. xii., part iv.), Mr. Wynne Sayer discusses
the present position of sugar manufacture and the
measures required to place it upon a permanently
sound basis. Notwithstanding the present high price
of sugar, there is an actual decline in cane cultivation
in India, notably in Bengal. Various reasons are pro-
_pounded for the moribund state of the Indian white
sugar industry, such as the predominance of low-grade
varieties of cane, the popularity of unrefined sugar
or gur, minute subdivision of the land, and the com-
petition of crops, such as paddy, jute, and cotton ; but
‘it is urged that the greatest difficulties arise from
the grossly inefficient manufacturing methods used.
Where modern, well-managed factories exist, Indian
sugar can be produced at a sufficiently low cost to
compete with foreign sugar. Great improvements are
also required in the gur industry, where inefficient
methods commonly reduce the possible output by 35
to 50 per cent. Immediate action is urged with the view
of placing both the gur and the white sugar industries
on a satisfactory basis. The nomination of a strong
committee of experts is suggested for the purpose of
carrying out a survey of the sugar-producing ‘areas
and of considering the extent to which State assistance
to the pioneer factories may be needed.
In the September-October number of the Bulletin
de la Société d’Encouragement pour 1’Industrie
Nationale Prof. Marcel Brillouin discusses the question
of the desirability of establishing in Paris: a research
and test laboratory for the musical instrument trade.
He submits that any experiments carried. out by indi-
vidual firms have a value that is strictly limited to
the manufacturers concerned. Further,
- searches are not available to the majority. The
laboratory which he now proposes should be created,
at the common expense of all musical instrument
makers, would comprise three sections: (1) Raw
materials; (2) instrumental acoustics; and (3) testing
and verifying. The laboratory would be staffed by
a certain number of physicists qualified by their train-
ing to carry out the work satisfactorily. Section (1)
would deal with the physical and mechanical properties
of every raw material entering into the composition
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
such re-
sound as applied to instruments, utilising the thee
‘Hitherto German manufacturers—especially of pf
to direct most of his energies to the great comp
broad views and wide experience. A few years
publication: did not begin until 1913, little progress has
of pianos, and string, wood-wind, and wind instru-—
ments; section (2) would deal with researches in
of Helmholtz, Rayleigh, Stokes, Gouy, Hugoniot,
others; while section (3) would consider methods of
checking and testing instruments and their parts and
implies the close co-operation of manufactur
fortes—have made very extended use of the resu
Helmholtz and other authorities on sound, and
claimed that the suggested new institution wou
far, by utilising existing knowledge, to —
empirical data which, in combination with the
(as applied to, tone-quality) peculiarities of indix
firms, could not fail to improve the quality of mu
instruments in general. oe.
Tue death is announced, in the German .
Geological Service, of Prof. Fritz Daniel Frech,
fessor of geology and erp in the Univers
Breslau. Born in Berlin on March 17, 1861, —
Frech was educated in the University of that city,
graduated as Ph.D. in 1885. His thesis de
the coral-fauna of the Upper Devonian rocks «
many, and he devoted his life to the study of fo
invertebrata, with special reference to their —
stratigraphical geology. For a few years h
engaged on the geological survey of Prussi
among his early publications was an official
on the geology of Nassau (1888). ‘In 1893.
appointed successor of Prof. Ferdinand von, I
in the University of Breslau, and he i i
of stratigraphical geology which von Roemer
planned and just begun under the title ‘
Geognostica,’’ following a similar work of earli
by Bronn. Prof. Frech himself wrote the
‘part of the section relating to Paleozoic for
and the whole of the volume describing the Tri
sides editing some sections of later parts of the tr
by other authors. So far as completed, this is
most exhaustive and useful work of reference
stratigraphical geology that has hitherto appe
and is full of interesting generalisations based
Prof. Frech planned another important work of
ence, a ‘‘ Fossilium Catalogus,’’ intended to comprise a
systematic list of all known fossils, critically compiled
with full quotations of literature by.a series of special- ~
ists. He himself contributed the section on Devon
Ammonoidea and edited a few other-sections, but, hire
{
naturally been made. .In 1913 Prof. Frech also suc-~
ceeded Prof. Ernst Koken as one of the editors of the ©
Neues Jahrbuch fiir Mineralogie. His energy was
equalled by his ability, and. geological science is dis-
tinctly the poorer by his loss. ie
THE contrast between Oriental and Western thought
is well illustrated by a curious list, published in The
New East (vol. i., No. 5), entitled “‘190 Thi
Japanese do differently.’’ In Japan a man is f
woman carries the burdens; in the West “‘man ac
as the packhorse for his lady.’? ‘Japanese wear th
thimble between the first and second joints of th
middle finger of the right hand, Europeans on the ti
of the middle finger; a Japanese tacks the kimon
after, the European before, stitching. The Jz
mother-in-law is a terror to the bride; in Europe sh
is the husband’s bugbear. The Japanese blow thei
noses with both hands; Europeans usually with one. ~
The Japanese carpenter pulls at his saw; the Euro-
pean carpenter uses his triceps muscle rather than his
biceps. Japanese take off their shoes, Europeans their
headgear, on entering a house. Japanese say ‘four ~
q
‘
_ ‘DEcEMBER 13, 1917]
Pe ey ee ee
a,
NATURE
289
| _ or three ’’ where Westerns - say. ‘‘three: or four ’’; and
_ hibit the physical as well as the moral differences
If these facts were rearranged so as to ex-
between Japan and Europe, the result might be of
some scientific importance.
‘In a lecture delivered at the Calcutta Museum, re-
ported in the Pioneer Mail of tember 1, Mr. Percy
Brown discussed Indian artistic metal work. The
most valuable. imens were executed in the medieval
period of Indian history—that is, from the eighth to
the eighteenth centuries a.p. Mr. Brown directed special
attention to the copper colossus of Buddha found at
Sultanganj, in the Bhagalpur district, Bihar. This
figure is practically unique and almost unknown. It
has been traced with some difficulty to a provincial
museum in England. This statue of Buddha stands
alone, as several centuries separate it from the other
statues of the northern school, which are of the Vish-
nuvite Hindu , and belong to the eleventh century
A.D. Another irable piece of work is a little shrine
discovered at Dacca, and now in the Indian Museum.
It is only 9 in. in height, but for richness of design and
finish of workmanship it is the best specimen of this
school. It represents Vishnu with the goddesses Saras-
vati and shmi, and his symbols, the wheel, mace,
conch, and lotus. The figures of the goddesses with
their De gpa attitudes form an admirable foil to the
dignified conventional image of the god.
__ THE new part of the Proceedings of the Prehistoric
‘Society of East Anglia (vol. ii., part iii.) contains the
usual profusion of beautiful drawings of flint imple-
‘ments and several noteworthy papers. Grime’s Graves
again receive much attention, and there is still a
‘tendency to regard them as Paleolithic, but Mr.
'W. G. Clarke admits ‘that there is nothing in the
knowledge available which actually precludes a Neo-
. lithic date for the Graves, and that there is a con-
siderable amount of data concerning fauna and
implements which supports that view.”? Mr. Henry
Bury describes some interesting flat-faced palzeoliths
from Farnham, and discusses their possible relation-
ship to the rostro-carinate implements of earlier date
without any conclusive result. Mr. R. H.:Chandler
and Mr. J. Reid Moir contribute observations on the
flaking of flints, and the latter author proposes that
“flaking
s”’ of flint implements should be
prepared to facilitate compa
risons. Mr. R. A. Smith
touches geological problems in his elaborate paper on
plateau deposits and implements, showing the frequent
difficulty of distinguishing between deposits formed
by existing rivers and those due to an earlier distinct
system of drainage. For students of man in the Stone
age the number is indeed full of interest from all
points of view.
THE present condition of the Quichuas of southern
Bolivia is briefly, but ably, summarised by Mr. L. E.
‘Miller in the American Museum Journal for October.
‘These: people rs owes a part of the wreckage of the
ancient Incan Empire left by the Spanish invaders.
Of the physical characters of this tribe nothing, un-
fortunately, is said, but to the ethnologist this account
will ‘be most welcome. In the upper reaches of the
Pilcomayo the Quichuas are still to. be found in almost
their primitive simplicity, both in the matter of cus-
toms and of dress. In the latter particular, indeed,
they seem to have changed but little since. the days of
Atahualpa. No jewelry or ornaments of any kind
seem to be worn, save huge, spoon-shaped pins of
copper, used by the women to fasten their shawls.
The llama, once their chief source of food and cloth-
ing, is now being replaced by sheep and goats. But
the Ilama is still used as a beast of burden, and
blankets of superb quality are still made of its wool.
NO. 25II, VOL. 100]
Unfortunately, the yoke of the Spaniard: still presses
heavily on these wretched: people, and the author gives
instances of the treatment they have to bear with
what equanimity they may, for no redress is theirs.
Tue directors of the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia,
have initiated a bibliographic service which will prove
to be a great saving in time and trouble to-all bio-
logists. At the present time the leading biological
journals of the United States—the Journal of Morpho-
logy, Journal of Comparative Neurology, American
Journal of Anatomy, Anatomical Record, and Journal
of Experimental Zoology—are managed and issued by
the Wistar Institute. For the sum of three dollars
per annum the directors of that institute undertake to
supply index-cards, which, when filed, will serve as
ra subject index and an author index to all publica-
tions appearing in their journals. ‘An outstanding
featur@ of the scheme is the abstract of each paper,
which is printed on the back of the author index-
card.
THE first number of the new Journal of Urology
(Baltimore, Ind., U.S.A.; London: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press) has reached us. Its object is the pub-
lication of original papers on the physiology, pathology,
‘and surgery of the urinary tract. It is published in
the United States of America under the editorship of
Dr. Hugh Hampton Young. The contents of ‘the
number before us are of a high order of excellence,
and include such topics as the surgery of the ureters,
the cultivation of tumours in vitro, the physiology of
the ureter and vas deferens, the effect of the intravenous
injection of various substances on the composition of
the blood and urine, and on nitrogen metabolism.
There can be no question as to its. usefulness to those
engaged in the special branch of medical practice with
which it is concerned; but, at the same time, some
doubt may arise as to the wisdom of the publication
of papers on more general questions, such as nitrogen
metabolism, presumbly because certain products of
this chemical activity are excreted in the urine. It
would seem that such questions as these belong more
appropriately to theless special journals. A useful
addition to the Journal of Urology would be. a-section
devoted to the giving of the titles, and perhaps ab-
stracts, of papers which bear on the special: province
of that journal, although they appear in other
periodicals. There must be many such papers. The
new journal is of attractive appearance and well illus-
trated. ° ;
Tue Comptes rendus des travaux du Laboratoire de
Carlsberg (1917, vol. ii., part 6) contains an important
article by Prof. A. Klocker on the preservation of fer-
mentation organisms in nutrient media. : Hansen’s con-
clusion that a 10 per cent. solution of cane-sugar forms
an. excellent. medium is. confirmed, but beer wort is
also véry good. The Pasteur flask is undoubtedly the
best form of vessel for prolonged preservation. ‘The
present observations were made, during a period of
more than thirty years, on 820 cultures of yeasts and
moulds. These included Saccharomycetes, Schizo-
saccharomycetes, Torula, Mycoderma, Endomyces,
Monilia, Chalara, Oidium, and Mucor. For the most
part the nutrient medium employed was a to per cent.
solution of cane-sugar, in which 461 cultures were
grown, but 290 cultures were made on beer wort and
sixty-nine on other media. Of the 461 cultures on
cane-sugar solution (231 of these being Saccharomyces)
403 survived, whilst 58 perished. In the case of the
290 cultures grown on beer wort (190 Saccharomyces)
268 survived and 22 perished. Thus it must be con-
cluded that fermentation organisms can be kept alive
for upwards of thirty years. The exceptions to this
290
NATURE
[DECEMBER 13, I917
rule are :—(1) The asporogenic varieties of Saccharo- :
myces; (2) Saccharomycodes Ludwigii; (3) Schizo- |
saccharomyces; and (4) Aspergillus glaucus. Of the
first only 44 per cent. survived on cane-sugar and
21 per cent. on beer wort, of the second only one in
nine survived.on cane-sugar for more than 7-5 years,
but all five cultures on beer wort survived for twenty-
five years.
eleven of those on beer wort were living. Of six
cultures of A. glaucus only one survived, and two of |
the remaining five perished in less than two years.
Tue first annual report of the Zoological Survey of
India, a new and promising transformation of the |
Indian Museum Cinderella, contains a great deal of
interesting information. New ground was broken in
the Shan States, where the director of the survey, Dr.
Annandale, personally superintended a survey gf Lake ©
Inlé. The basin of this lake is stated to ha¥e been
formed by \solution, in limestone rock, and to be fill-_
ing up with silt and aquatic vegetation; the water is
shallow and of extraordinary limpidity ; floating islands
area notable feature; fishes of many new species were
discovered, for three of which new generic definitions
are necessary, among them a minute eel so peculiar
as to require seclusion in a new family; the molluscs
are scarcely less remarkable, and among them occurred
a group of pond-snails interesting not only for the
bizarre shape and bright colour of their shells, but
also because an almost complete series of forms transi-
tional between them and nearly normal forms was
found in other parts of the lake, in other neighbouring
waters, and fossil in the surrounding country. Mr.
Kemp, superintendent in the survey, investigated the
Mutlah channel of the Gangetic delta; this isa deep and
permanent channel, and its waters, which are never
very salt, are heavily charged with silt; a remarkable
feature of its fauna is said to be the extraordinary
resemblance of some of its fishes and crustacea to
deep-sea forms, in colouring, in gelatinous trans-
lucency, and in filamentous feeler-like appendages. Dr. |
Chaudhuri, an assistant-superintendent in the Survey,
paid a visit to certain large tanks in Seringapatam,
where a century ago Buchanan-Hamilton obtained
several species of fishes that have never since been
brought to light; Dr. Chaudhuri was successful in re-_
discovering some of them. A feature of the report, as
an official departmental publication, are the excellent
illustrations.
Mr. A. M. Heron (Mem. Geol. Surv. India, vol.
xlv., part i., 1917, price 4s.) describes the results of
a re-survey of north-eastern Rajputana, where the
Archean Alwar quartzites run south from Delhi and
form hills with remarkably level crests.
of the stratigraphical sequence ‘is proposed; an
‘““arkose”’ series is shown to be in reality a granite
intrusive in the Delhi system; and the planing of
the Alwar crests is interestingly ascribed to subaerial
action going back to the Jurassic period. The deepen-
ing of stream-beds among dissected sandhills seems
to point to a diminution of aridity in Rajputana.
An elaborate memoir on ‘‘ The Origin of Dolomite,”
by Francis M. van Tuyl, appears in the annual report
of the Iowa Geological Survey for 1914 (1916), and
would be important merely on account of its refer-
ences to previous work. The author concludes that
‘the great majority of the stratified dolomites have
had their inception in the alteration of limestones.”’
He is unable to accept Klement’s work at high tem-
peratures, or Pfaff’s at high pressures, as bearing on
the natural problem, but agrees with Steidtmann and
Wallace (see NATURE, vol. xciv., p. 459) that greater
concentration of salts in the sea-water has much to
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
Only two out of five cultures of: Schizo- |
saccharomyces on cane-sugar survived, but ten out of
| stances are to be dealt with and the results publish
Some revision ©
do with dolomitisation of limestone already laid down. — 4
Illustrations are given from North American geology.
Tue depredations of the boll weevil on the American ~
cotton crop in recent years have led to. the replacement —
of cotton-growing in large ‘areas by the cultivation x
groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea). According to Agri-
culture. of March last, the value of the groundn
crop in. the United States has increased in the eig
years from 1908 to 1916 from twelve million to fifty
six. million dollars. It has been found that by sligt
adjustments of. machinery cotton-seed mills can be used
for crushing groundnuts. An increasing proportion of —
the crop, however, is being utilised for food purposes —
in the uncrushed state. Efforts are being made by the ©
Government to discover the best use for the groundnut —
and to popularise it with American kitchens, and ex-
periments in progress under the auspices of the Ch
istry Bureau of the Department of Agriculture —
said to promise the production from groundnut mea
of a bread equal in nutritive value and palatability
wheaten bread. erent eo
Scientiric PaPer 301 of the Bureau of Standards
describes a calorimeter devised by Mr. N. S. Osborne.
of the Bureau, for the determination of the speci:
heats and latent heats of evaporation of material
used in refrigerating machines, e.g, ammonia, carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide, methyl and ethyl chlorides.
Ammonia has already been investigated over |
temperature range —40° C. to 40° C.; the other su
later. The calorimeter is of thin steel, about 4 c¢
in diameter’ and 10 cm. long, with a central electric-
heating coil. It is enclosed in a steel jacket capab
of withstanding a considerable pressure. The te!
perature of the calorimeter is measured by means
a platinum thermometer, and the jacket is maintain
at the same temperature as the calorimeter to diminish
heat losses. The measurements, already made show
that an accuracy of one part in a thousand can be
secured. eet
Tue difficulty of getting coloured lines in exact
juxtaposition and of sufficient fineness for the purposes —
of colour photography has, according to La Nature
for November 10, been completely overcome by M.
Louis Dufay, who is associated with the brothers: —
Lumiére. The method is to pass a thin celluloid film
between two rollers warmed sufficiently to render the
‘celluloid plastic. One of the rollers has very fine cir-
cumferential parallel grooves of square section cut
upon its surface, and thus the celluloid has similar ~
grooves formed upon it. The film is then coated with
a coloured transparent fatty mixture and wi off
after the manner of wiping an etched plate after ink-
ing and before taking an impression from it. The
film is next treated with an alcoholic solution Of —
another colour, and this penetrates the exposed surface
of the celluloid. Thus there are formed alternating —
‘coloured lines in perfect juxtaposition, which may be —
of a fineness as great as thirty lines to the millimetre.
‘If the film is thin enough to permit it without intro- ~
ducing the possibility of parallax, ‘the other side of it
may be similarly treated, either simultaneously or
afterwards, so that two other colours may be intro-
duced, or these may be added in the form of any
microscopic figures that may be preferred. Three
double pairs of colours are given: (1) yellow and blue,
red and green; (2) yellow and red, blue and orange;
(3) red and blue, yellow and violet. Lea
/
__ ATTENTION may be directed to a useful collection of
data respecting the absorption of atmospheric gases by —
water, given in a paper contributed by Mr. J. H.
Coste to the Journal of the Society: of Chemical In- —
dustry for August 15. As regards the significance of
=
x
DEcEMBER 13, 1917]
NATURE
291
_ the gases dissolved in natural waters, the conclusion is
_ that water freely exposed to the. air. should, and does,
-
a Se a fp |
_ Navajo Indians,” Stevenson; ‘‘Tusayan Flute and.
i
- brook.
_ contain the proportion of gasesof the air corresponding |
_ with the temperature and saline content of the water,
_ provided these have not been recently . changed.
_ respect of oxygen, all the ascertained facts show that
In
if water is found to contain very much less of this gas
than the saturation-value for the particular tempera-
ture in question, a strong presumption is raised that
the water contains matter undergoing oxidation. Since,
however, the water may have recently fallen in tem-
perature, the deficiency of oxygen may be only «an
apparent one, due to the fact that equilibrium between
the atmospheric gases and the dissolved gases has
not yet been established under the new conditions.
In such cases, therefore, the point can only be settled
definitely by determining the nitrogen—the constituent
which, so far as is known, isnot taken up chemically by
anything in the water. It appears that slow non-tidal
streams will give unpleasant signs of the presence of
decaying matter at much higher degrees of aeration
than deep streams with strong tidal currents. This is
probably due to a variety of causes, such as slowness
of downward diffusion in the less rapid streams, and
the accumulation of undisturbed mud which, ingfer-
menting, gives off gases that have but little oppor-
tunity of being absorbed in their passage upward
through the layer of relatively still and shallow water
of the slow non-tidal streams. No fewer than seventy-
six references are included in the bibliography of the
subject given by the author.
Tue Engineering Experiment Station of the Uni-
versity of Illinois has published a brief report upon
experiments on the utilisation of pyrites occurring in
Illinois bituminous coal, drawn up by Mr. E. A. Hol-
It appears that some of the Illinois coal seams
contain bands, nodules, or lenses of pyrites in con-
siderable quantity; these are for the most part thrown
out in the course of getting the coal, and thrown back
into the f, whilst others are picked: out at the
surface. The proportion of pyrites in the coal refuse
varies from 73 to more than 4o per cent., and whilst
it carries too much carbonaceous matter and too little
sulphur to be available for sulphuric acid manufacture
without treatment, it is shown by these experiments that
by simple crushing, screening, and dressing by means
of jigs and tables, it is easy to get a product with
40 to 45 per cent. of sulphur, with a recovery of 80 per
cent. of the pyrites present. Details are given of the
plant smpessd te this purpose and of its first cost,
whilst an estimate of the cost of operating a plant
capable of: treating 50 tons of crude pyrites in eight
hours shows a very reasonable working profit. It is
interesting to find that the possibility of recovering and
utilising this hitherto waste material is attracting
attention. | fe et
Tue latest catalogue of Mr. F. Edwards, 83 High
Street, Marylebone, W.1 (No: 379, ‘Drama and
Dramatic Art”), is not of very especial interest to
readers of NaTurg, but attention may be directed ‘to
the following volumes on North American’ Indian
tribal customs :—‘* The ‘ Hako,’ a Pawnee Ceremony,”
A. C. Fletcher ; ‘‘The Mountain Chant, a Navajo Cere-
mony,”’ Matthews; ‘‘ The Sioux Outbreak of 1890 and
Ghost Dance Religion,’? Mooney; ‘Ceremonial of
Haszelti Dailjis and Mythical Sand Painting of the
Snake Ceremonies’’ and ‘‘Tusayan Snake Cere-
monies,” Fewkes; “The Zuni Indians; their Mytho-
logy, Esoteric Societies, and Ceremonies,” M.: C.
_ Stevenson.
Str Witt1AM TILDEN has just completed his life of
. the late Sir William Ramsay, and placed it in the
hands of Messrs. .Macmillan and Co. for publication.
NO. 251I, VOL. 100] :
| OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
FALL OF A METEORITE IN PERTHSHIRE.—On December
| 3, at 1.15, what is stated to be a meteorite struck the
| lodge at Keithick House, Coupar Angus, which is about
twelve miles N.E, from Perth. In the Blairgowrie, -
| Coupar Angus, and Strathmore districts a noise was
heard resembling a peal.of thunder, and at places more
remote sounds as of a distant explosion were audible, The
meteorite has been taken to Perth for proper examina-
tion and analysis. It appears to have been. well seen
by an observer at Edinburgh during its flight. The
time was 1.10 p.m., and the object descended at an
inclination of about 12° from the vertical to the left,
and disappeared in about.azimuth 4°. W. of N., at an
estimated altitude of 30°. This agrees very nearly
with the required direction of a body falling at Coupar
Angus, which is in slightly W. azimuth from Edin-
burgh.
Further information shows that three fragments of
the meteorite have been found, weighing 221 Ib. (which
penetrated the ground to a depth of 20 in.), 23 Ib.
(which entered the roof at Keithick Lodge, Coupar
Angus), and 2} Ib. (found in a field at Carse Farm,
near Blairgowrie, 6 in. below the surface). These
pieces were distributed over a distance of six miles in
a_ S.E. to N.W. direction, and sufficiently prove the
direction of the meteor’s motion.
From the various observations, now about twelve
in number, of the luminous flight of the meteorite, it
appears probable that its radiant point was in about
302°+24°. This position would correspond in direction
with the line of the fallen fragments from Keithick to
Essendy. The meteor seems to have passed over the
Firth of Tay, about four miles S.W. of Dundee, and
at a height of twenty-five miles, and to have entered
over the Scotch coast from the North Sea near Fife
Ness, but it is hoped that further observations will
enable more certain and exact conclusions to be ob-
tained.
A large number of persons witnessed the luminous
flight of the object, and are sending to Mr. W. F.
Denning observations from which it is hoped to com-
| pute the real path. The meteor was strikingly bril-
liant, though the sun shone at the time.
OBSERVATIONS OF LONG-PERIOD VaRIABLES.—A valu-
able series of recent observations of twelve long-period
variable stars is recorded by M. Luizet, of the Lyons
Observatory, in the Journal des Observateurs, vol. ii.,
No. 2. Some of the results are collected in the follow-
ing table :—
Star ° bide ks? paring: _-Mags. at Mags. at Period
observed observed maxima minima in days
SS Draconis 9 10 8°6-9'1 9°3-9°5 48°2
V Urs. Min. 14 II 7°8-8'2 8°3-9°1 72°1
RR Bodtis 6 I. 8:2-9°5 12°6-12°8 194°0
AF Cygni 6 2 68 ‘O 96°8
‘UU Draconis 9 8 § 88 10°I Irregular
SV Cassiopeiz 1 I 7°3-8'4 Q‘I-IO°l 279°4
MEssIeR’s CaTALOGUE OF CLUSTERS AND NEBUL2.—In
L’Astronomie for November, M. Camille Flammarion
gives the first instalment of a systematic review of the
103 clusters and nebula which were included by Messier
in the earliest catalogue of such objects which was
compiled. M. Flammarion relates how he came into
possession of Messier’s manuscript, containing detailed
remarks on each observation, through good fortune at
a second-hand bookstall, and he is thereby enabled to
give the original account of each object. Observations
commenced by M. Flammarion forty years ago, and
afterwards continued with the collaboration of M.
292
NATURE
[DECEMBER 13, 1917
Trouvelot and others, are to be utilised for a descrip- |
tive account of the Messier objects in the proposed
series of articles. ‘Following an interesting biography
of Messier, a useful list of the objects is given, with
the original positions and numbers, and: positions for —
‘1900, together with the N.G.C. designations. M1 and
M2 are described in detail in the first article, and each
is illustrated by a photograph, and by a drawing show-
ing the appearance ina telescope of 0-24 m. aperture,
It is interesting to note that the present publication
coincides with the centenary of the death of Messier,
who died at Paris in 1817, at the age of eighty-seven.
SCIENCE IN INDIA.}
Bey report of the Indian Association for the Culti-
vation of Science for the year 1915 contains, as
well as the usual presidential addresses, a miscellany
of scientific papers, ranging from ancient. Hindu astro-
nomy and the metallurgy of the Rig Veda to modern
anthropological methods and problems of isomerism.
Physics and chemistry come in for more attention than
the biological sciences; in the former category the
more important contributions are those of C.
Raman and Ashutosh Dey on discontinuous wave
motion, of S. Banerji on experiments with the ballistic
phonometer,, and of J. C.. Ghosh on a new method of
preparing colloids; in the latter a careful and intelli- |
gent analysis of the vegetation of the mouth of th
Hugli by N. B. Dutt must be mentioned. :
The address of the president, Raja Peary Mohun
_ Mukherjee, is a reminder that the association, although
it has always held the advancement of science by
research and experiment to be its final purpose, started
in life with a mission, which it still upholds, for im-
parting instruction in the general principles of science;
though brief, the address abounds in wise reflections
and sage advice adjusted particularly to the educated
youth of Bengal.
Some of the special addresses allude to the recent
establishment of a University College of Science in
Calcutta, and to the opinions expressed in some. quar-
ters that thereby the association, on its educational and
investigative side, may now be considered superfluous.
It is to be hoped that such short-sighted views may not
meet with any encouragement; for of all the miscon-
ceptions that have attended science since it was taken in
hand by bland official personages that about ‘‘ over-
lapping ’’: makes the most unfortunate departure’ from
inceptive truth. “So far from being a stumbling-block,
overlapping in the domain of science brings manifold
strength and quintessential purification, for the more
widely a scientific theory is tested and criticised the
less likely is it to be a source of illusion.
ALKALI SOILS AND SOIL SOLUTIONS,
i he any attempt at agriculture in arid or semi-arid
regions, considerable trouble is likely to arise from
accumulations of soluble salts at the surface of the
soil. The trouble is often intensified by irrigation,
and it may become so serious as to counteract the
advantages. of a reclamation scheme that may be satis-
factory in other respects. In a recent issue of the
Journal of Agricultural Research, Dr. Breazeale esti-
mates that the losses from this cause have already
amounted to one hundred million dollars in the United
States alone, and the evil is by no means checked. The
soluble salts arise from two causes. Some come direct
from the weathering of soda feldspars, diorite, etc. ;
much, however, arises from the circumstance that the
area was once largely covered by marine lagoons. or
1 Report of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science for the
Year 1g15. Pp. iii+150. (Calcutta: Anglo-Sanskrit Press, 1917.)
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
‘microbial life.
-Morgan has in progress indicates that the method fur-
-hybrids, and he has succeeded in infecting the ol
landlocked seas, the water of which evaporated, leaving _
the salts behind. When the soils are first brought —
under irrigation, the water applied to the higher levels —
is usually excessive in amount, and drains through the —
lower ground, carrying with it in solution consider.
amounts of the chloride, sulphate, carbonate, a:
bicarbonate of sodium. Calcium: carbonate is almo:
invariably present in the soil, and both sod
chloride and sodium sulphate react with this to produ
sodium carbonate, which is :much more harmful ~
vegetation than the other salts. The action is, ho
ever, reversible, and the. addition of calcium sulp
to the soil has long been a recognised method o
ducing the amount of sodium carbonate. The
however, has not always succeeded, and Dr. Brez
is able to furnish an explanation from his curves sl
ing the amount of carbonate formed from the vat
sodium salts. If the carbonate is arising ‘from
interaction of sodium chloride or sodium nitrate
calcium carbonate, then calcium sulphate is effec
bringing about the reversal; if it arises from s
sulphate, then calcium sulphate is without effect. —
‘The study of the soil solution is of great impot
both in relation to soil formation and because it is 1
me@ium for plant growth and the substratum
The difficulty is to obtain sufficis
large amounts of the true soil solution. The dra
water does not faithfully represent the soil sol
soil extracts (using water as a solvent) only yield
washings of the soils which cannot be concentrated
reproduce the original solution, and the centrifuge
separates moisture froma soil which contains
than the optimum amount. A paraffin-oil displace
method under pressure has been devised by van Su
telen and Itano, which has’ been used by Mr. J.
Morgan. Some of the results obtained are ide
in the June number of Soil Science. The method
sists of forcing paraffin oil, by means of a high-
pump, through the soil tightly packed in a cylind
vessel, the pressure being raised so long as moistu
is expelled, until it reaches 500 Ib. per square inch. ‘Ii
the case of most soils ample solution for the necessary
analytical work is obtained—from sandy soils as much
as 74 per cent. of the moisture present—and a la
amount of solution is yielded without its coming
contact: with the oil. ‘From the results of his exper
ments the author concludes’ that the method furni
a fair representative of the solution as it exists in the
soil. Successive portions. of the same extraction vary
enly ‘slightly in physical properties, but to a consider-
able extent in the various forms of nitrogen (am-
monia, ‘nitrite, and nitrate). In the different soil solu-
tions phosphoric acid is fairly constant, but calcium,
magnesium, and potassium vary, as do the forms of
nitrogen. The obtaining of a soil solution by the
method is limited to the moisture content of the soil,
and depends upon the type of the latter, since all soils
are not entirely penetrated by the oil. Work Mr.
nishes a valuable index of the microbial changes in-
the soil. : \
LOCAL NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETIES. ~
a HE: report of the Winchester College Natural Hi
tory Society for 1915-17, edited by its presiden
the Rev. S. A. McDowall, shows that a considerabl
amount of active work is being done by the member.
Mr. McDowall himself is interested in natural orchid
members of the society year by year with his enthu
siasm; the present report contains valuable notes
H. McKechnie and.D. G. Lowndes, with five goo
half-tone: plates. The former also has an interest
| DECEMBER 13, 1917]
NATURE
293
account of plants introduced from camp fodder. There
are lists of additional plants, of Lepidoptera, and of
_ nesting birds, with locality and date of each observa-
tion. A golden oriole and a waxwing are among
the birds observed. Among papers read at the meet-
ings (which, by the way, are held on Sundays), those
‘R. F. Lowndes on trout and by J. Comber on
ditch plants bear witness to much first-hand know-
ledge, and are rightly printed at greater length than
the others. Although the war has introduced many
competing claims on the energy of the schcol, the
ip of this society has not diminished, and
all, from its president down to the smallest junior,
are to be congratulated on the excellent report that
their united efforts have produced. We hope that in
this time of stress other schools will do as well in
natural history as does this home of the ancient learn-
ing.
The Transactions of the’ Hertfordshire Natural His-
tory Society for 1917 contain much interesting matter.
Dr. A. H. Foster, a very sound ornithologist, con-
tributes a list of the birds of North Herts; he gives
records of 200 species, and, though stray wanderers
are included, the list is a remarkable one. Though the
county is becoming dotted with small towns and large
villages, the birds, being very conservative, still keep
to their old haunts and their old lines of migration.
Besides this there are a fair number of good observers,
-so that few rarities pass unnoticed. Among nesting
‘species may be noted especially the grasshopper
warbler (scarce and local), the stone curlew, the wood-
cock, and the quail. Among occasional birds of
assage is the common tern. A regular winter visitor
is the golden plover; in the south of the county these
birds frequently don the black breast before starting
for the north. Surely, then, Dr. Foster must be
-wrong when he says they never do so in the district
of which he writes. He has as yet no record of the
‘breeding of the redshank, which nests regularly in
‘Essex, and shows signs of extending its range over
the border into Herts. For the common snipe the
record is ‘“‘a few nesting pairs in summer and many
individuals in winter.” Do these winter and summer
birds belong to different sets which keep apart? A
paper on “The Response of Plants to Selective Screen-
” by Col. Rawson, records some valuable ex-
periments that show that variations may be induced
in some a aaNage 7 screening them from the sun when
it is at certain altitudes. There is also an interesting
ati on Rotifers by T. E. Lones, and a list of the
cro- a of North Herts by Dr. Foster.
The Vasculum is an illustrated quarterly magazine
devoted to the natural history of Northumberland
and Durham, and from the three parts of the. current
third volume before us it may be seen that. it is ful-
filling a useful function. The general editor is the
Rev. J. E. Hull, whose speciality is the Arachnida,
but who also contributes chatty papers on place-names.
The other editors are Mr. George Bolam, the author
of “Birds of Northumberland and the Eastern
‘Borders,’ who writes on the coming and going. of
the birds of the Upper Tyne Valley; Mr.'R. S. Bag-
nall, who records discoveries of spring-tails and their
allies new to science and new to the district; and Dr.
W. H. Harrison, whose recent work in hybridisa-
tion has brought him into prominence, who dis-
plays in the magazine a wide knowledge of animals and
plants and their associations. Other field naturalists
of the counties concerned contribute articles, and we
note that they represent the other natural history
activities of the district—the Natural History Society
of Newcastle and Armstrong College. The magazine
brings scattered workers in country districts into inti-
mate association, new discoveries are made known,
the older workers are stimulated to fresh endeavours,
and those who have received the call of natural history
NO. 2511, VOL. 100}
are ‘encouraged and guided as to literature and
methods. The work of the Northumberland and Dur-
ham naturalists is providing material for the presenta-
tion of the district from an ecological point of view;
and the gathering ofthe material is fostered by the
Vasculum,
The Proceedings and ‘Transactions of the Croydon
Natural History and Scientific Society for 1916 contain
a good deal of detailed information in regard to the
intermittent bournes of the district. The late Mr.
Baldwin Latham showed that the Croydon Bourne
flowed early in 1916, for the fifth year in succession,
with a maximum flow of 13,345,920 gallons per day,
thus equalling the great flow of 1 Bournes also
flowed at Carshalton, Cheam, ‘Nonsuch Park, Smitham
Bottom, and Wickham. With regard to the last-
mentioned, Mr. W. Whitaker contributes a paper °
showing that the Wickham Bourne had not flowed
since 1883. _On May 28, 1916, it was yielding 1,628,550
gallons per day, at a point where it flowed into and
filled up a gravel-pit by the side of the railway near
Hayes Station.. In Mr. N. F. Robarts’s presidential.
address reference is made to a valuable find of bronze
implements made in 1914 in Addington Park, when
the golf links were laid out and an enormous destruc-
tion of woodland took place. So large was the find
that the man who took them away staggered under
the weight. pe pri gy ¢ he disappeared, but it was
found afterwards that a man had called at the British
Museum in the same year and had-sold about. thirty
implements and fragments of bronze from Addington.
The find contained: six socketed celts, and is thought
to be of late Bronze age. The Proceedings contain
the usual rainfall returns from more than a hundred
stations, compiled monthly by Mr. F. Campbell-
Bayard, and these are of great value to water engineers
and others. The society may be congratulated on the
energy displayed in spite of pressing war vocation.
The 1917 issue of the South-Eastern Naturalist con-
stitutes the twenty-second volume of Transactions. of
the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, and
includes the proceedings at the annual congress held
in London last June. This meeting was reported in
our issue for June 28 (vol. xcix., p. 354), when sum-
maries were given of Dr. W. Martin’s presidential
address and the more important papers read at the
meeting. Among the contributions to which limita-
tions of space made any detailed reference impossible
on that occasion may be mentioned Dr. B. Daydon
Jackson’s well-informed directory to the notable trees
and old gardens of London, with its references to the
gardens of Gray’s Inn, planted by Sir Francis Bacon;
and those of Syon House, at one time under the
superintendence of Dr. W. Turner, physician to the
first Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector. Dr. Turner,
the ‘‘Father of English Botany,” published ‘‘ The
Names of Herbes’’ in 1548, and dedicated it to the
Protector. Prof. MacBride’s address on ‘‘ Are Acquired
Characters Inherited?” ; Dr. J. S. Haldane’s on ‘* Ab-
normal Atmospheres and the Means of Defence against
Them ”’; and Prof. Boulger’s on ‘‘ The Association of the
Chelsea Physic Garden with the History of Botany,”
are all printed in extenso.
PARASITIC BIRDS.
7 BOUGH the singular habits of the parasitic cow-
birds (Molobrus bonariensis and M. 'badius) are
well known to ornithologists, Mr. L. E. Miller has
been able to add still further to the records. of their
eccentricities in a valuable paper published in the Bulle-
tin of the American Museum of Natural History,
vol. xxxvii. His observations were made during a
recent expedition to Bolivia and north-western Argen-
204
NATURE
[ DEcEMBER i 3, 49017
tina, where he found these birds in considerable num-
bers foisting their eggs upon numerous species of small
birds, especially finches. But for choice they seem
‘always to prefer the mud nests of the oven-bird (Fur-
narius). These seem to have an irresistible and fatal
attraction for cow-birds, since all the eggs deposited
therein appear invariably to’ be destroyed by the deser-
tion of the intended dupes, which, whenever they dis-
cover the trick that has been played upon them, cover
up the eggs with a layer of nesting material, refusing
to incubate.. In some nests layer after layer of eggs
were thus found, but no young were ever met with.
The numbers of eggs found in such nests ranged from
six to as many as thirty-seven! While this stupidity
reduces the numbers of the parasites, it at the same
time reduces the number of oven-birds, which, in the
areas explored by Mr. Miller, failed to produce off-
spring. Judging from the coloration of the eggs, Mr.
Miller estimated that in some cases as many as thirteen
birds may use the same nests The eggs of a third
species (M. rufoaxillaris) were also occasionally found
- in these nests.
That the pin-tailed widow-bird has developed the
parasitic habits of the cuckoo seems to be established,
judging from the evidence of Mr. Austin Roberts in
the Annals of the Transvaal Museum, vol. v., part 4.
Mr. Roberts tells us that he has known this bird to
deposit its eggs in the nests of no fewer than four
different species of waxbill, as well as in those of its
relative, the red-collared widow-bird. It frequently de-
posits more than one egg in the nest of its host, and
sometimes it replaces the whole clutch. But in no case
does the foundling appear to dislodge the rightful occu-
pants of the nest; which is the invariable custom of the
cuckoo. Mr. Roberts believes that two other finches
are similarly parasitic. These are Rendall’s seed-eater
(Anomalospiza imberbis) and the red-billed weaver
(Quelea sanguinirostris). But we venture to think that
a mistake has been made, at least in the case of the
last-named species, which even in capitivity shows no
degeneration in the matter of its parental instincts.
SCIENCE AND ITS FUNCTIONS.!
S INCE the earliest times, man, like his poor relation
. the monkey, has always been of a curious disposi-
tion, and has wanted to know the why and wherefore,
-as well as the mechanism, of all the phenomena that
he sees about him. No doubt much early science,
especially in the fields of astronomy and alchemy,
was practised as a cult, with the view of impressing
and mystifying the common people, but at the back
of it all there can be little question that the great force
that impelled inquiry into Nature, both in ancient times
and in the modern world, was curiosity, which in itself
is probably of all human emotions the one that has
been most conducive both to intellectual and to material
progress.
With the appearance in history of that wonderful
people the Greeks, we come for the first time in per-
sonal contact with the scientific thoughts and the
scientific theories of individual philosophers. Prior to
that period there must have been scientific thinkers,
but we have no distinct record of what their scien-
tific ideas were. All that remains are portions of some
of their material constructions, and some accounts of
others that time and decay have destroyed. Thales of
Miletus, one of the seven wise men of the Grecian
golden age, though he lived some 600 years before our
area, is no mere name. He was the founder ¢f the
physical school of Greek philosophy, who first began
to consider the nature of things, and was the first
1 From an address delivered before the Royal Society of Arts on
November 2t by A. A. Campbell Swinton, F.R.S., Chairman of the
Council. :
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
-about matter, while to Hippocrates, another early
‘Ptolemy at Alexandria, then the intellectual and com-
served all the scientific writings and records tha
‘bine. Here worked Archimedes,
library, but this was finally extinguished by the latter’s
mechanics, and metallurgy. One of the most famous
theory of the universe, which gave to the earth and
to observe electrical action. To Democritus, a Greek
of the fourth century B.c., we owe the earliest ideas
Greek, are due the beginnings of medicine and biol
To him is ascribed the immortal and pregnant phrase
that while ‘Life is short, Art is long, Opportunity
fleeting, Experiment uncertain, Judgment difficult "—
an aphorism in which is summed up for all time the ©
difficulties with which the scientific investigator has
to contend. And so we pass on to that most famous
of classical philosophers, Aristotle, whose writing:
have done more than those of any other man to in
ence the progress of science, and whose authority 1
so great that it bound the scientific world in iron
fetters for centuries. In the great library and museum
which was founded in the third century B.c. by
mercial capital of the Grecian world, we find —
apotheosis of Greek scientific activity. Here were
world-wide search had enabled the founder to collect
Here were taught the philosophy of Aristotle and t
geometry of Euclid. Here Claudius Ptolemy expe
mented in optics, and wrote his great work on the
construction of the heavens.. Here Eratosthen
measured the earth. Here Ctesibius invented the fire
engine, and Hero the first steam-engine, which, it
interesting to note, was a simple form of steam 1
the most fame
mathematician and physicist of the ancient world, w
laid the foundation of hydrostatics, elucidated
theory of the lever, and invented the burning-g
and the screw-pump which still bears his name. A
aman of science the world produced no equal to him
for nearly two thousand years. But the days of th
great library were numbered, and within those marble
halls the drip of the water-clocks of Apollonius we
counting drop by drop, and second by second, the ap- —
proach of the catastrophe. During the siege of Alex-
andria by Julius Cesar the library and all its con
tents were burnt—a fitting funeral pyre to the glo
that was Greece. SR os kant f
The Romans made no contributions to pure science
at all to be compared with those of the Greeks. They
were a practical rather than a speculative people, and
were great builders, engineers, and road-makers. Size, —
solidity, and quantity rather than novelty were the
outstanding features of their scientific work. They
were not like the Greeks, ever seeking after some
new thing. =
When Rome fell into decay, and the gloom of the ~
Dark Ages settled down upon Europe, there was for
a time an almost complete halt in the progress of
science. True, some vestige of learning still struggled
to maintain itself in what was left of the Alexandrian
second destruction by order of the Arabian Khalif,
Omar. After this it is somewhat surprising that the
next revival in scientific investigation took place —
amongst the Arabians themselves, now become a
highly cultured people. To this revival we owe the
invention of algebra, the beginning of systematic chem-
istry, and much new work in astronomy, medicine,
of the Arabian experimental philosophers was Alhazan,
who lived shortly before the Norman Conquest of
England. : fae
When there began in Europe that great revival of
learning known as the Renaissance, it was the print- — iy
ing press that became its principal coadjutor, and ~
caused things to move at a rate much faster and on
a scale much larger than ever before. It was with
fundamental concepts that the new learning had first
of all to contend, particularly with the geocentric —
’ DECEMBER 13, 1917]
NATURE
295
- to human affairs quite an undue importance, and also
with the authority of Aristotle, which had become an
article of faith and defied all new ideas. By the end
of the sixteenth century experimental science, as op-
posed to the barrén speculations of the schoolmen, was
again being practised in Europe with noteworthy re-
sults, while, a little later, Francis Bacon published
his famous ** Novum Organon,” and thus became the
apostle of the revival of this experimental method of
attacking scientific problems. On this method, which
had been practically abandoned for some hundreds of
years, all modern science is based, and as soon as its
practice recommenced results of the highest importance
began rapidly to accumulate. How a dread of the
tentacles of ‘ authority” still lingered in scientific cir-
cles is, however, to be seen in the fact that when the
Royal Society was founded in 1662 the fellows took
for their motto the words, ‘ Nullius in Verba,” an
excerpt from a line in Horace which reads, ‘‘ Not
pledged to swear by the words of any master.”” To-day
it is difficult to realise what a hold authority had come
to have on even scientific ideas, and how, even as late
as the seventeenth century, antiquated and frequently
unsound scientific principles, as enunciated in the writ-
ings of Aristotle, were still regarded as something that
had to be faced when dealing with new problems.
And now we have arrived at a period when there
commenced those organised efforts in scientific inves-
tigation, and those widespread and continuous en-
deavours to apply the results thus obtained to practical
ends, that have produced during the last two centuries
such marked effects on civilisation. We have now, in
fact, a better opportunity than ever before of seeing
what are the functions of science.
To arrive at some measure of the vast changes that
have been brought about, let us consider how matters
stood about a hundred and sixty years ago, say in 1754,
the year in which our Society of Arts was founded.
“At that date the steam-engine had not yet assumed
a practical form, and apart from some small use of
water and wind power, when mechanical work had to
be done this was accomplished by the aid of the
muscular effort of men and animals. The question
of power supply was, in fact, in the same condition
that had existed for thousands of years, and, in conse-
uence, the employment of machinery of all descrip-
tions that required power to drive it was extremely
limited. Nor as regards travel for persons, or transit
for goods, were things very different. The steamship
was unthought of, and ocean journeying was no faster,
and but little more certain, than in the days of Colum-
bus. Railways in the modern sense were non-existent,
and even the coaching era had scarcely begun. Travel-
ling of all sorts was no more rapid or more convenient
than in the days of the Romans. Indeed, emperors
such as Hadrian and Severus, who visited this country
| unchecked.
- inoculation.
newspapers and the other derivatives of the press.
Nor were there any proper systems either for water
supply or for the disposal of sewage. Disease, born
of filth and neglect, stalked through the land practically
Medicine was still almost entirely empiric.
Little or nothing was known of the causes and nature
of illness, of infection by bacilli, or of treatment by
Anesthetics had not yet been applied,
and the marvels of modern surgery were undreamt of.
It would be easy to multiply instances, but in the
_ aggregate it is not inaccurate to state that at the time
this society was founded the general mode of life had
not much improved on what obtained in civilised
Europe in the days of the Antonines, while, in some
respects, it fell much short of this.
‘Lo-day we live altogether in a different world, in an
age of travel accelerated by steam, petrol, and elec-
tricity; of railways on the level, overhead, and in
| tubes; of trams and motor ominibuses, of bicycles and
motor-cars; of steel ships and steel bridges; of mills
and factories, with their products of every possible
| description; of telegraphs by wire and wireless; of
|
|
|
in late classical times, probably made the journey to ©
and from Rome quite as expeditiously, and very likely
even much more comfortably, than did any traveller
of the eighteenth century. Furthermore, at the time
of which I speak, the communication of intelligence
was limited to the speed at which postmen could travel,
for, of course, there were no electric telegraphs, such
_as have shortened the time of communication with the
ends of the earth to a few seconds, and have reduced
even ambassadors to the status of clerks at the hourly
beck and call of the Home Government. In the
eighteenth century, moreover, illuminating gas and
electric light had still to be invented, public lighting
was practically non-existent, and even in London and
other large cities linkmen with torches were required
to light the passenger to his home after dark. If
printing was in use it was slow and expensive, without
any of the modern mechanical, photographic, and other
adjuncts that have rendered possible our numerous
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
_ tion, with delicate experiments.
telephones; of hourly newspaper editions and tape
machines ; of electric light indoors and outside ; of electric
power for every purpose, from carrying us upstairs to
brushing our hair and our boots; ot gas tires and gas
cookers ; of electric bells and electroplate ; of automatic
machines and thermos flasks; of pianos, pianolas, con-
certinas, and gramophones; of kodaks, snapshots, and
kinematographs; ot fountain-pens, sewing-machines,
typewriters, lawn-mowers, knife-grinders, vacuum
cleaners, and barographs; of cigarettes and lucifer
matches, which are much newer than many people
think ; of innumerable new and cheap textile fabrics; of
plate-glass, aluminium, indiarubber, celluloid, vul-
canite, and all manner of new artificial materials; of
laughing-gas for having a tooth out, of chloroform and
ether for more serious operations; of X-rays for in-
specting our interiors; of dozens of new medi-
cines for every ailment, and ailments with new
names discovered every day; of balloons and aero-
planes, in which we may all soon be travelling ; besides
all the masses of diverse machinery used in manufac-
ture, in agriculture, and in the arts. All these things,
.as well as many more, are younger than our Royal
Society of Arts.
It has been the fashion to divide what we understand
by science into two portions, pure science and applied
science ; but these are only halves of one great whole.
Pure science, which is the domain of the research
worker and the discoverer, supplies the data, physical,
chemical, and mechanical, which it is the function of
applied science to turn to account for practical utili-
tarian purposes. For this latter operation are required
the services of the inventor and the engineer, and other
experts of a similar character.
Even great scientific discoveries have in some cases
been made by chance, but generally only by men of
marked intuition and acutely developed powers of ob-
servation. More often they have been the result of
prolonged thought and of laborious and patient investiga-
Many have been the
issue of elaborate mathematical reasoning. As sub-
jects become more complex, complete knowledge of
_ what has been done before in the same field is more
| and more necessary. One of the most fruitful sources
of new discovery in all branches of science in modern
| times has been the greater attention paid to quantitative
| as against merely qualitative research, very accurate
| measurements of every kind being one of the special
features of present-day research methods. A note-
worthy point is that the results of research are cumu-
lative, one discovery almost invariably leading to
others in course of time.
As a matter of experience all discoveries in pure
296
NATCRE
[DECEMBER 13, 1917
science, however recondite and however seemingly use-
less. at the moment, find their practical application
sooner or later. It may not be for years or even for
centuries, but in its own time the application comes.
Invention is a faculty of the imagination, the inventive
temperament being akin to the artistic temperament,
and real inventors, like true artists, being born and not
made. In order to be great both must have creative
powers in a high degree.
the. inventive afflatus, the ordinary man can no more
by taking thought make himself an inventor than he
can. add a cubit to his stature. At the same time, the
inventor, to be fully successful, must be suitably
educated. By study and the acquisition of knowledge
he widens his scope, and can apply his gifts in fields
of invention to which, without such knowledge, he
could not hope to aspire. This notwithstanding, it is a
noticeable and curious fact that many great inventions.
have been made by men whose ordinary vocations were.
quite outside the particular field in which their inven-
tions applied. This is no doubt a case of the fresh
mind of the outsider looking at things from a new.
aspect, whereas those who are daily working in any,
particular line are apt to get into a groove and to be
trammelled by usage and convention. Perseverance,
and a capacity for continuity in keeping to one subject,
are outstanding qualities to be observed in all success-
ful inventors. Many with brilliant ideas fail for lack
of these.
are never, and great inventions very seldom, the work
of a single individual.
At certain periods. the general state of progress,
both in pure and in applied science, renders particular.
inventions possible, with the result that a number. of:
persons gifted with the necessary imagination almost
simultaneously attack the problem. In such cases, if
one individual inventor had not succeeded, itis prob-
able that another would have done so, though perhaps
in some slightly different manner.
For these reasons in all these cases it is very difficult, —
if not impossible, justly to apportion the credit. The
public and the Press usually award it all to the indi-
vidual who makes the first practical and commercial
success, being entirely ignorant of all the previous
stages that have led up to the final result, and oblivious
of the fact that, without the vast amount of previous.
research by other workers, the final inventor would never
have had the data wherewith to achieve what he did.
On the other hand, a contrary and equally mistaken
view is- not seldom taken by the workers in pure
science, who, absorbed in the intricacies of their own
achievements, are prone to underrate what the actual
inventor accomplishes, usually by slow degrees, and
with infinite pains and patience. They, further, do not
understand what a long step there is between the mere
idea and the worked-out invention, and how much
labour, practical ingenuity, and perseverance, and also
how much money an invention usually requires to
make it successful and to get it taken up industrially.
Indeed, this last-mentioned commercial operation is
frequently the most difficult of all to bring about, par-
ticularly as it is not common for inventors to be good
men of business.
The history of particular inventions is frequently in-
structive, and a good instance is that of wireless tele-
graphy, which is comparatively recent, so that we
know all about it, and can follow accurately each single
step in its- development.
It, moreover, shows how pure and applied science
are indissolubly interwoven, and how the one is de-
pendent upon the other.
According to modern views, enunciated in the first
instance about the year 1807 by Thomas Young, light
consists of undulations or wave motions in a hypo-
thetical ultra-material substance, known as the zther,
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
Unless gifted at birth with
As has been justly said, great discoveries.
which is supposed to fill all space, permeating the solid
earth, the planets, the stars,.and all material objects, -
and reaching to the utmost limits of the universe, Just
as sound is known to be a wave motion in the air, so —
light is believed to be a wave motion in this hypo-
thetical zther. About the year 1870 James Clerk Max-
well, professor of physics at the Cavendish Laboratory
at Cambridge, chiefly by mathematical reasoning,
showed the close connection between electricity, mag-
netism, and light by demonstrating that all three could
be explained on the basis of motions. and stresses in
the zther. Thus, according to Maxwell, light was an
electro-magnetic phenomenon, and consisted of disturb-
ances in the zther of exceedingly, short wave-length, _
_ whereas longer waves and stresses in the same medium
explained the phenomena of electricity and magnetism.
As mentioned, Clerk Maxwell’s discovery lay purely
in the land of theory, discovered mathematically, and
he attempted no experimental. proof. Some twenty.
years later. Heinrich Hertz, by a series of most beau-.
tiful experiments, proved the truth of Maxwell’s theory.
By means of suitable apparatus he first of all created
electro-magnetic waves, and then with other apparatus
he detected them, showing that they could be reflected
and refracted, and, in faet, obeyed all the laws with
which light is known to comply. Indeed, so com-
pletely was this accomplished that, on hearing of it, ©
Lord Kelvin exclaimed that Hertz had annexed. the
whole science of optics to the domain of electricity.
Up to this stage nothing in these investigations had
hinted even in the slightest degree at any useful appli-
cation. Neither Young, nor Maxwell, nor Hertz was
moved by any other. ambition than a curiosity to ex-
plore the nature of things. On the other hand, had it
not been for their labours, what: was to follow could —
not possibly have occurred.
Hertz died young, almost immediately after making
the experiments to which allusion has been made,
his. work was taken up and largely extended in this
country by Sir Oliver Lodge. Hertz’s experiments had
been on an exceedingly small scale, while Lodge em-_
ployed, for creating his waves, methods which gave a.
much greater power; moreover, as a detector of these:
waves, Lodge used an exceedingly delicate instrument,
which he christened the coherer.. This was due to a
discovery by Branly, of Paris; who also was investi-.
gating Nature without any ulterior utilitarian aims.
Lodge, no doubt, was impelled by similar motives,
but having a practical mind he threw out the sugges-
tion that the Hertzian waves might possibly be em-
ployed for signalling. Indeed, he went so far, at a
lecture which he gave at the Royal Institution in 1894,
as actually to ring a bell by this means from one end
of the building to the other, through the thickness
of several partition walls. In the same year, at the
British Association meeting at Oxford, he transmitted
similar signals over yet greater distances.
These experiments of Lodge led several persons to
consider whether the method was not applicable to~
telegraphy, but nothing practical was done until Mr.
Marconi, who was acquainted with the work of both
Hertz and of Lodge, and was impressed with the
possible commercial value of the idea, came upon the
scene, and with great skill very soon showed that it
was feasible by Hertzian waves to telegraph across
the Channel, and even over much longer distances.
The rest of the history of wireless telegraphy, very
interesting though it is, does not concern us here, for
what I wish to impress upon you is how, in this’
instance, as in many others, researches and experi-
ments in pure science, which, so far as their authors
oar
oor
Pee ee
could see, showed not the faintest sign of any practical _
application, led in time to inventions of the greatest
possible public utility. Many years elapsed between the
researches and theories of Young and Maxwell, the
| DeEcEMBER 13, 1917 |
hig Oe
Braise
~
ee
NATURE
297
experiments of. Hertz, and the advent of prac-
tical wireless telegraphy, and when it came
all the three original investigators were dead;
yet, unless these three great men had evolved
their brilliant ideas and worked them out as
they did, wireless teiegraphy had never been. How
difficult it is for the uninitiated to realise the importance
and the practical potentialities of some discoveries in
physics at the moment of their birth may be made
plain by a few words about the remarkable develop-
ments that have taken place during the past few years
in that department of science known as molecular
physics. Up to comparatively recently the theory of
the atomic structure of matter, and the idea of the
indestructibility of the atom, that smallest material
particle that was thought possible to exist, still held
its own. First enunciated more than two thousand
years < by the Greek Democritus, developed later
by ano Greek philosopher, Epicurus, and popu-
larised by the Roman poet Lucretius in his celebrated
poem, “De Natura Rerum,” this theory of
matter was put on a proper scientific basis by
the English chemist Dalton rather more _ than
one hundred years ago. Quickly following the
discovery of the X-rays by Prof. Réntgen in 1895, and
of radio-activity by Prof. Becquerel a few months- later,
came a most surprising development—indeed, one of
the most remaikable in the whole history of science.
Mainly owing to the labours of Sir Joseph Thomson
and his Cambridge school of experimenters, starting
from the previous researches of Sir William Crookes,
we now know that the atoms, once called the ultimate
atoms, so far from being the indivisible entities as was
once thought, are, each individual one of them, some-
thing very like a complete solar system, comprising a
positively electrified sun. or nucleus and a number of
. negatively electrified electrons or planets. More than
astronomical -
s, the whole atom is so small that it is quite
invisible to the most powerful microscope, and that it
would take at least three million atoms, perhaps ten
or twenty times as many, set close together in a
straight line, to cover a single inch, the constituent
ms are so much smaller that, though contained
_ within the compass of the atom, they are as distant
from one another, relatively to their size, certainly as
are the earth and the moon, and possibly as the sun
and the planets. The imagination reels at such an
illustration of the microcosm of the infinitely small,
just as it reels at the macrocosm of infinitely large
ace and its population of innumerable
stars; but in Nature, as has been truly said, the adjec-
tives “large” and ‘‘ small” have no meaning. In Nature
there is nothing absolutely great, and there is nothing
absolutely little. Whether it be a matter of the dimen-
sions of space or of the lapse of time, all is relative.
To us humans ce is measured in terms relative to
the dimensions of our bodies, time in periods relative
to the duration of our lives. To us things appear
large or small, periods long or short, but these are
a nees only, and have no absolute reality.
on ‘
to those who have not.studied the question all
this must seem very remote from the practical politics
of applied science, such as we make use of in our daily
life. But it is not so, for itis to these almost infinitely
small negative electrons that we owe the Réntgen rays.
When propelled at the incredible velocity of something
like fifty thousand miles per «second, which they
attain under electrical stimulation inside a Crookes
vacuum tube, and caused to bombard a piece of metal,
they create these rays in much the same way as the
bullets from a machine-gun may rattle on a target and
thus create sound. The Réntgen rays themselves are
a description of light which, until artificially produced
by man in the manner described, had never been: ob-
served in Nature, and, indeed, had perhaps never pre-
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
viously existed in the whole history of the universe.
Their practical utility is, however, now universally
realised, and in surgery and medicine they are in every-
day demand.
Now, not only have these abstruse and seemingly
| quite academic discoveries about the electrical structure
| of the atom, and the properties of its constituent parts,
|
brought about great improvements during the last few
years in the design and use of Rontgen-ray tubes, but
they have also borne practical fruit in other directions,
as, for instance, in what is to-day much the most
sensitive and trustworthy apparatus for receiving wire-
less telegraph signals. ‘heir further utility, moreover,
is just now beginning to make itself apparent, and
quite recently they have been applied by Sir Joseph
Thomson to an entirely novel form of chemical
analysis, the possibilities of which it is as yet too
early to estimate. Anyway, .we see how in a space. of
only about twenty years discoveries of apparently
purely academic interest, in perhaps the most abstruse
of all lines of scientific investigation, are already be-
ginning to be usefully applied. We see how the func-
tion of science to be utilitarian obtains just as much
in the case of highly recondite investigations as in
those that are more simple and in which the practical
applications are more obvious.
It is impossible to study the history of. civilisation
without recognising that scientific research and inven-
tion, with their innumerable and incalculable actions
and reactions, constitute the soul of industrial pro-
gress. Consequently, if this progress is to be main-
tained, every inducement must be . provided to en-
courage those who are capable of carrying on the work.
Since the eS of the world it is not to the
masses, but to the few exceptional individuals that all
great advances have been due, and it is greatly to be
deprecated that politicians, who must, or, at any rate,
should, know better, continue to flatter the so-called
working-man by telling him that he alone is the creator
of wealth. To those who know the facts such a sug-
gestion is, of course, absurd. Still, it is highly neces-
sary that the masses should be educated to learn that
unless those who have the requisite capacity are
afforded the necessary leisure and facilities to work at
research and invention, industries can be neither de-
veloped nor even maintained in the face of the world’s
competition, and that the working-man himself will
be the principal sufferer from the resulting stagnation
and decay.
It is unfortunate that in this country of late years
it has become a fashion to consider the making of
large profits as almost a crime, for the working out
of many industrial scientific processes and inventions
can be accomplished only by great and prolonged
expenditure and the risking of vast sums of money,
such as only very rich persons or companies can afford.
The history of the fine chemical trade in Germany for
some years before the war is a good case in point.
Here very large sums were in some instances spent
on the development of special processes. In many
cases the money was lost, but the few speculations. of
this nature that succeeded recouped all that had been
spent on the others, a single product in some instances
bringing in an enormous net annual profit. © This,
again, enabled’ other-similar. problems to be attacked.
With our system of taxation—income tax and super-
tax, and now excess profits tax in addition, and the
jealousy and outcry that the making of large profits
efigenders—it is very difficult to: arrive at such results
in this country, and this undoubtedly is one of the
main reasons for our backwardness in diverse direc-
tions. A ’remedy-should be found in exempting from
| taxation all money spent in new scientific develop-
ments. Otherwise, with stinted resources, we cannot
expect to maintain our position.
298
NATURE
[| DEcEMBER 13, 1917
Another point in connection with invention is the
injustice and the inexpediency, from a public point of
view, of the present system whereby the Patent Office
makes a large annual profit out of the fees paid by
inventors. ‘There might possibly be some justification
for this were the money thus obtained spent on scien-
tific education, on provincial scientific libraries,
or on some other object that would further
invention and discovery. The money is, how-
ever, merged in the ordinary revenues of the
country, and thus becomes a_ veritable tax on
brains. It is, moreover, a tax on the cerebral
activity of a class of men who are usually by no means
overburdened with wealth. Though all inventors are
fortunately not driven by poverty to such expedients
as Palissy the potter, who actually had to burn his
household furniture in order to provide heat for his
furnace, still the majority of inventors are undoubtedly
poor, and find the cost of protecting their inventions
by patent, and still more of maintaining these patents
when granted, a considerable strain upon their finances.
The truth of this may be seen by the frequency with
which patents are dropped merely in order to save the
renewal fees, and the patentee in some cases deprived
of profits to which he is justly entitled.
We shall, however, never get justice done to science
by the Government and its departments until some
knowledge of science is made a compulsory part of the
curriculum for the training of the Civil Service and
an important item in the entrance examinations. Only
in this way shall we get the departments filled by men
who realise what science means, and how it lies at
the root of all material progress. There is an idea
afloat in the political world, as also in the bureau-
cratic mind, that-no man can at the same time be a
master of science and a good administrator or
organiser, either in public or commercial affairs. This
idea probably originated from observation of scientific
men of the scholastic and professorial types, whose
training has been mainly directed to the art of teach-
ing, and who have never had much opportunity of
developing their faculties in the administrative sphere.
To show, however, how false is the assumption, it is
only necessary to mention two such names as those
of Benjamin Franklin and Count Rumford, both of -
whom were consummate men of science and did very
valuable original scientific work, but were also both
prominent men of business and managed great political
undertakings with remarkable success. Or, if we come
to more modern times and turn to cxptains of indus-
try, there are, without going out of this country, and
to mention only one or two, such men as Joseph Whit-
worth, Henry Bessemer, William Armstrong, and
Andrew Noble, all of whom had high scientific gifts
and knowledge, and also were very successful in the
organisation and administration of large industrial
enterprises.
nical methods the ideal chief must necessarily be a
man of scientific attainments, as it is only such a one
who can properly weigh the pros and cons of the pro-
positions put before him by his technical staff, while,
what is even more important, it is only such a chief
who can command the real respect of his employees,
who will never have complete confidence in, or a proper
veneration for, a leader whose scientific and technical
knowledge and experience are in the aggregate less
than their own. These considerations, of course, apply
to Government departments which deal with scientific
questions equally with industrial undertakings carry-
ing on technical processes or manufacture.
In obtaining Government support for the promotion
of applied science, it is most necessary to beware of
political interference.
The dangers that arise from this may be seen from
the history of one or two typical industrial applica-
NO. 2511, VOL. 100] :
Indeed, for any business employing tech-_
tions of science during the last century. Take, for
instance, the application of mechanical power to road
locomotion. In the period covered by the years 1820
to 1836 this made rapid strides, and towards the close —
of the period many steam-coaches were maintaining —
regular services between various centres in different —
parts of the country. In this, England was many
years ahead of the rest of the world, and a new and
what promised to be a very profitable industry was AY
being developed. Parliament, however, at the instance
of rival interests, passed hostile legislation which abso-
lutely shut the whole movement down, and automobil-
ism in this country was completely crushed, not to be
heard of again for more than fifty years. When, more- —
over, a new beginning was made, the fresh start did
not take place in England, its original home, where
it was prohibited by law, but in France, where legisla-
tion was more enlightened. In this way, owing en-
tirely to the politicians, we, lost an opportunity of be-
coming pioneers throughout the world of a completely
new and what proved to be a gigantic industry, which
might have brought to our manufacturers much wealth 2
and to the working classes much lucrative employ-
ment. ;
Or, to turn to another case, take the history of elec- —
tric lighting and of the supply of electric power. Here,
again, the development of a new scientific industry —
was greatly impeded by Parliamentary action. In —
1882 this country was as far advanced in everything
ELLE AT
pertaining to the application of electricity as any other
country on the globe. Indeed, many of the develop-
ments in this branch of science were peculiarly British, —
having originated in this country. Again Parliament
intervened, and with a mistaken idea of protecting —
the consumer from the dangers of monopoly, so effec-
tually strangled the whole movement that for six years —
there were practically no consumers at all, as the —
conditions imposed on undertakers were so onerous
that no one would risk the money required to insti-
tute a supply. In 1888 the political powers that were,
realising their mistake, made some legislative amend-—
ments that enabled a start to be made; but it was
then too late, for other countries had got ahead, and
even then the electrical industry was still hampered
by artificial conditions, some of which endure to the
present day, with results that have been inimical to
proper development. ‘There are other similar instances,
such as the telephone, in regard to which the poli-
ticians have interfered to the detriment of progress.
To a society such as this, the object of which is the
encouragement of the arts, science is mainly interest-
ing from its pre-eminent value for purely materialistic
ends, and it is therefore from this point of view that I
have endeavoured to give some account of its functions.
It must not, however, be supposed that science has
not also a very high value from the ethical point of
view. As Adam Smith wrote in his ‘Wealth of
Nations” nearly a century and a half ago, ‘‘ Science is
the great antidote to the poison of superstition’ ; more-
over, science is, so far as the limitations of the human |
intellect will permit, a search for absolute truth. ©
|. Accuracy is its foundation-stone, acute observation and
strict logic are its most powerful agents. These have
all an educational value of the highest importance. The —
study of Nature and the pursuit of knowledge have,
in addition, an elevating influence, and produce a
breadth and a strength of mind that rise superior to~
This is well.seen in the blame- |
material environment.
less lives of the great masters of science, and in the
way that many of them sacrificed everything to their
work. Some encountered persecution and even martyr-_
dom for their ideas, and met their misfortunes with a
fortitude quite equal to that shown by other men for —
their faith. Among the functions of science we must
not therefore forget its moral power.
it Aik ie
oat
ee. a ee ee ee
es he £3
no great country can afford to be without.
tion of both; and, above all, with the
' DECEMBER 13, 1917 |
NATURE
299
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
. : INTELLIGENCE.
Tue geophysical discussions arranged by the Geophys-
- ical Commitiee of the British Association on November
7 and December 5 were well attended and very success-
ful. The meetings will begin again in February, and
will continue until June inclusive. At the February
meeting Dr. A. Strahan will be in the chair, and the
speakers will be Col. Close, on the effect of variation
of barometric pressure on mean sea-level, and Major
Henrici, on precise levelling. At the March meeting
Sir Napier Shaw will be in the chair, and Prof. H. H.
Turner will open a discussion on seismology, in which
_ it is expected that Mr. G. W. Walker and Mr. R. D.
Oldham will take part.
Mr. Bertrand RussE.w’s lectures on the ‘ Philo-
rit of Mathematics,’ at Dr. Williams’s Library,
Gordon Square, W.C.1, have been so successful that a
second course, to be given after Christmas, has now
been arranged. The new course willbe quite distinct,
and, like the present, will be designed to expound the
logical basis of mathematics. The lectures presuppose
no special mathematical training, and technical terms
and symbols are dispensed with. The present course,
which concludes on December 18, has dealt with the
more specially mathematical questions. The new
course will be devoted to philosophical problems, and
Mr. Russell will expound his theory of logical atomism.
The lectures are on Tuesday evenings at 5 o’clock;
they will begin on January 22.
Mr. AsouirH, in his address in the Town Hall,
Birmingham, on Tuesday, December 11, at a meeting
promoted by the National War Aims Committee, re-
ferred to problems of reconstruction, and is reported
by the Daily Telegraph to have said :—‘‘In regard to
- these matters, you will not be surprised if I put in
the forefront, as of paramount importance, a compre-
hensive rebuilding, and a far more adequate equip-
ment, from the very bottom to the very top, of our
system of national education, of which the Bill intro-
duced by Mr. Fisher gives the hope, and, indeed, the
promise. To put it from the lowest and most material
point of view, it is largely, indeed mainly, through our
educational deficiencies that we have either lost or
never established some of those basic industries which
The future
relations of employers and employed will have to be
readjusted, Starting from the proposals, which I believe
to be in spirit and principle almost universally accepted,
of the itley Report, with developments for securing
greater elasticity, more representative authority, and a
more vital contact with new conditions, in the organisa-
1 0! purpose of
achieving for men, women, and children opportunities,
which were never given them under the old factory
“re for a freer, a more self-developed, a humaner
ife.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
; Lonpon. /
Royal Society, December 6.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Prof. W. H. Young: The series of
Legendre.—L. Hartshorn : The discharge of gases under
high pressures. It is well known that when gas dis-
charges through an orifice from a vessel in which the
pressure is p, into one in which it is p,, the rate of
discharge is approximately constant from p,=o up-
wards to some critical value, but then, as , further
increases, the discharge falls off, slowly at first, after-
wards with greater rapidity. In the present investi-
gation, this phenomenon is examined with | greater
accuracy than has hitherto been obtained. In every
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
case it was found that the flow was constant to at
least one part in 10,000 for a considerable range of p,.
The critical value of p,, at which the flow began to
change, varied widely for different nozzles, being
about 0-2 p, for the convergent and parallel ones, but
as high as o-7 p, for certain divergent ones. Thus, the
theoretical value for convergent nozzles, viz., 0-527 py,
cannot be accepted as applying even approximately to
all nozzles.—Lt.-Col. A. G, Hadcock ; Internal ballistics.
This paper deals with the burning of the explosive in
the gun and the expansion of the gas, both before and
after the charge has been consumed. On firing the
gun the action is threefold :—(1) The driving band on
projectile is forced into the rifling grooves. (2) In
subsequent burning of charge, the gas from any frac-
tion of charge expands with consequent reduction
of temperature. ‘The still burning powder gives addi-
tional heat. The expansion is thus partly adiabatic
and partly isothermal. (3) After the charge is con-
sumed the gas expands adiabatically. From expres-
sions given in the paper, and knowing the rate of burn-
ing of cordite under various pressures, formule are
developed for finding velocity of projectile; position in
gun, and pressure of gas. The magnitude and position
of maximum pressure are found by a further develop-
ment of formule.—Dr. A. Russell: The electrostatic
problem of a conducting sphere in a spherical cavity.
The author gives formulee by means of which the
capacity, the electric force between the spheres, and
the maximum electric stress on the dielectric between
them can be readily computed in all cases to any
required degree of accuracy. The solutions of these
problems are required when determining the ratio of
the measure of the electrostatic to the _ electro-
magnetic unit of charge by means of a spherical
condenser for the calibration of a _ spherical
condenser of variable capacity, for the calibra-
tion of a high-tension voltmeter, and for the
determination of the electric strengths of insulating ~
materials.—Prof. G. N. Watson: The zeros of Bessel
functions. The paper contains a statement and discus-
sion of some general theorems concerning the zeros of
Bessel functions; the theorems are true for functions
of any order, and, unlike results previously known,
are of particular interest in the case of functions of
high order. It appears that comparatively general con-
siderations of,a non-arithmetical type yield fairly pre-
cise information concerning the position and numbers
of the zeros of the Bessel functions of the first kind.
It is doubtful whether results of this character could
be obtained without making use of the method of
steepest descents which has been prominent in various
recent investigations.
Aristotelian Society, December 3.—Dr. H. Wildon
Carr, president, in the chair.—F. C. Bartlett: The de-
velopment of criticism. An attempt to trace broadly
the development of criticism reveals four main stages—
the simply appreciative, the conventional, the rational,
and the intuitional. At the first, criticism is the imme-
diate outcome of the feeling accompanying ease or
hesitation of reaction; at the second, a situation or
object is criticised by virtue of its relation to a mass of
preceding experience, the latter remaining relatively
vague and unanalysed; at the third, definite rules of
criticism are developed; at the fourth, the verdict passed
is regarded as the outcome, on one hand, of the pecu-
liar nature of the object, and, on the other, of the
relation of the object to the critic. Affective factors
play a dominant part throughout in the production of
criticism, while the direction of development is deter-
mined by a persistent “effort after meaning.”
Mathematical Society, December 6.—Prof. H. Hilton,
vice-president, in the chair.—Col. R. L. Hippisley : A
new method of describing a three-bar curve.—O.
300
NATURE
[DECEMBER 13, 1917)
Hoppe: Proof of the primality of) N=$(10'*—1).—
Messrs. Hardy and Littlewood : New Tauberian theorems.
—C. V. H. Rao; The curves which lie on the quartic
surface in space of four dimensions, and the corre-
sponding curves:on the cubic surface and the quartic
with a double conic.—Prof. W. H. Young: (1) The
connection between Legendre series and Fourier series.
{2) Series of Bessel functions.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences; November 26.—M. Camille Jor-
The development of’
irrational quadratics in a Stephen Smith continued:
fraction.—H: Le Chatelier and B. Bogitch: Silica bricks.
dan in the chair.—G. Humbert:
were prepared with different proportions of large quartz
grains (4 mm.), and fine (0-1 mm.) or alternatively
impalpable (o-o1 mm.) quartz powder, The’ resistance
to. crushing of the silica bricks was determined at
1600° C., and cold. The substitution of ‘fine quartz for
impalpable reduced ‘the strength at 1600° C. in a very
marked manner; 75 per cent. of quartz grog to 25 per
cent. impalpable quartz powder,
lime as cement, gave the best results. The crushing
’ resistances of silica bricks, measured cold, do not neces-
sarily correspond with the resistances’ measured at
1600° C.—E. Perrier: The exchanges of fauna between
the sea and ‘fresh water and the consequences from the
point of view of sexuality.—E. L. Bouvier: The dis-
tribution of fresh-water crabs of’ the family of the
Potamonide.—C. Guichard: The C network's such that:
the Laplace equation which corresponds with them is in-
tegrable.—P. Humbert : Expression of the Legendre func-
tion of the second species.—F. Ventre:: Theorem on rolling
loads:—M lle. Y. Dehorne ; The microscopic:constitution of
the ‘skeleton of the Stromatoporide.—J. Feytaud: The
parthenogenetic reproduction of Otiorhynchus sulcatus.
—A. Vernes: ‘The precipitation. of colloidal ferric
hydroxide, by human serum, normal or syphilitic. If
human serum is added in gradually decreasing quanti-
ties-to the same amount of colloidal ferric hydroxide,
with subsequent digestion at 37° C., at first: there is
no flocculation, then for a certain concentration of the
serum there is ‘complete flocculation. The phenomenon
is periodic, decreasing amounts of serum: giving alter-
nately flocculation and no: flocculation: With syphili-
tic serum the results are different, and: it is possible to
prepare a fine suspension of’ a. determined: stability
which will flocculate with a certain amount of syphilitic
serum, but will not flocculate with the same
amount: of normal serum.—]. Ducuing : The publication:
of: MM. Heitz-Boyer and Scheikevitch: concerning: the
réle of bone in osteogenesis in the adult; the relations
of osteogenesis with infection, and the ‘corresponding
applications.
BOOKS RECEIVED..
My: Four Years. in Germany.. By J. W. Gerard.
.Pp.. xiv+320. (London: Hodder and Stoughton.)
7s. 6d. net.
Il nostro Soldato Saggi di Psicologia Militare.. By
A. Gemelli.’ Pp. xii+339. (Milano : Fratelli Treves.)
Report on Agricultural Damage by Vermin and Birds
in the Counties: of Norfolk and Oxfordshire. in 1916.
By R. T. Gunther.. Pp. 92. (London: Oxford Uni-
versity Press:) 2s..6d. net.
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13.
Rovat Society, at 4.30.—The Formation of Nitrites from Nitrates in
Aqueous Solution by, the Action.of Sunlight and the Assimilation of the
Nitrites by Green Leaves in Sunlight: Prof. B. Moore.—The Transition
from Rostro-carinate Flint Implements to the Tongue-shaped Implements
of River-terrace Gravels.: J. R. Moir,
Linnean Society, at 5.—Seeds with a Stony Fndocarp and their Ger-
mination: A. W. Hill. ee ve Experiments in Pheasant Crossing in
evidence of Mendel’s Law: . R. Haig Thomas.
Rovat Socrety or Arts, at a 20.—The Trade “of India with Russia,
France, and Italy: D.°T: Chadwick.
NO. 2511, VOL. 100]
with 2 per cent. of:
Optica Society, at 8.—Proposed Standard Optical. Notation and Sign
aetna J. W. French.—Optical Nomenclature -and ‘Syme
mith ;
INSTITOTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Discussion oe the Metric
System. Introductory Papers by L. B. Atkinson and A. J. Stubbs.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14. iy
Roya ASTRONOMICAL Sociery, at 5.—(1) The Determination of Photo- |
graphic Magnitudes. II. ; (2) Prof. Sampson’s Note on the Southern —
Magnitude Distribution : j. Halm.—The Classification of +Period —
Variable Stars: H. H. Turner. ~The Resonance Theory of the rigin of _
the Moon : H. Jeffreys.—Variations in the Fourteen Months’ Component
of the Polar Motion : Hisashi Kimura.—Further Notes on the Conall: y
Solution of Hall’s Equation: E. Lindsay Ince.—The Errors ina Sumof
Tabular Quantities : Plummer.—Pvobadble anes The. Short- Fe
Period Variable RZ Cephei: C. Martin‘and H. C. Plummer,
INsTiTUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—'The Use of Soap. Films —
in Solving Torsion Problems: A. A. Griffith and G. 1. Taylor.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 17.
ARISTOTELIAN Society, at 8.—lhe Conception’ of Reality: Dr. rey
RiivaL GrocrapuicaL Society, at 5.—The Drift of the Endurance:
and Lieut. J. M. Wordie.
Roya. Society or Arts, at 4.30.—Progress in the Metallurgy of Copper:
Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter.
VICTORIA: INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Mosaic Origin of the Pentateuch : Rey.
A. H. Finn. ae
Society or ENGINEERS, at 5.—High-speed Railways: E. W. C. Kearney. t
TUESDAY, DECEMBER. 18. ‘
INSTITUTION OF CIvIL ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—The yy: Aires Western.
Railway Tunnels. under the City of Buenos Aires: W. L: L. Brown, |
Roya. STATISTICAL SOCIETY, at 5.15- a
gee aTixe ENGINEERING SOCIETY, at 5.—Presidential Address: A. P.
rotter.
INSTITUTION OF PeTRoLEUM TECHNOLOGISTS, at 8.—The Prospective Oil
fields of Barbadoes: E. H.C. Craig. -
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19. 3
Rovat METEOROLOGICAL arcane at 5.—Computation of Wind Velading: ek
from Pilot-Balloon Observations: eo — rot ‘Use of Monthly ‘Mesa; es
Values in Climatological Analysis: E. G. B aes
Roya. Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Science ar the Cold Storage Indust ry
Prof. J. Wemyss. Anderson.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.
Roya. Microscoprica Society, at 8.—Cytology and Genetics: Prof. wo
Bateson;
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20.
INSTITUTION oF MINING AND METALLURGY, at ‘< 30.—A
Chemical Reaction and.an Available Source of Potash: E. ‘ina
—Syphoning Gravel: J. Jervis Garrard,
glected
CONTENTS. | :
Gold-bearing- sieast oan 2 of: South Africa. By: Sc
C. G, G., . ee ee ee ne a UN ae
Municipal Engineering . . . «90 iret em ee
A Manual on Explosives Pe sinae. < eri ugouatel exloee ene
Our Bookshelf tee «Asa a Sa a a
Letters to the Editor:— i
Resonance Radiation and. the Quantum. ‘Theoty— {i
T. K. Chinmayam . 284:
An Optical Phenomenon — Capt. C; "Ji P. Cave . 284
The Control of the Non-ferrous Metal Industries, Soe
By Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter’ . f . 284% 4
The Réle of Selection in Evolution, By Ji pAb Ty” 285)
The Future of the Trade-in Colonial Raw Materials.
Notes, ahr wee ee eet eae
Our Astronomical ‘Column :— /
Fall.of a Meteorite in Perthshire. . . ..... . ...-. 201
Observations of Long-period Variables....... . ... 291
Messier’s Catalogue of Clusters and Nebulz
Science in India ; AL
Alkali Soils and Soil Solutions : ae)
Local Natural History Societies
Parasitic Birds
Science and its Functions.
Swinton, F.R.S.
‘By A. A. "Campbell
sicpdaw epeaae 294
University and Educational Intelligence & lle nes eee
Societies and Academies . Marna sero ‘a tn 209
Rooks: Received’ 06 eee 4 ahaa oegOG
Diary of Societies.
Editorial and Publishing Offices : :
MACMILLAN. AND GO., Ltp., —o
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2, 0
Advertisements and business létters to be addressed; to- the
Publishers.
Editorial Cérisnuntextbons to the Editor.
Telegraphic. Address: Puusis; LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
—- ae ms
ROR oon, “
fo. a0 : NATURE
301
+= THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1917.
THE TUBERCULOSIS PROBLEM.
The Causes of Tuberculosis, together with Some
_ Account of the Prevalence.and Distribution of
_ the Disease. By Dr. Lotis Cobbett. (Cam-
- bridge Public Health Series.) Pp. xvi+707.
_ (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.)
~aRrice 21s.net. -
eee persion, the teacher, the administrator,
or the member of the Public Health and
_ Hygiene Committee, though he has had at his
disposal innumerable text-books, papers, pam-
phlets, reports of Commissions, Blue Books, and
the like, has up to the present had access to no
well-digested account of the cause, course, and
prevention of tuberculosis, a subject of vital im-
portance to the community. ©
In writing a logical and well-balancéd account of
the observations and opinions of others, vitalised
by an interweaving of the results of his own wide
reading and personal investigation, Dr. Cobbett
has done much to fill this gap.
_ After serving as one of the scientific investi-
gators to the Royal Commission on Tuber-
culosis, Dr. Cobbett evidently extended his experi-
ence of the pathology of tubercular phthisis in a
large industrial centre, Sheffield, where this occu-
_ pational disease is one of fhe main factors in the
- morbidity and mortality bill of the town. He had
thus an almost unique training, of which we now
reap the fruits. His experience of experimental
_ work and its pitfalls, and his acquaintance with the
difficulties that face the practical sanitarian and
those who, are engaged in the treatment of tuber-
culous patients, enable him to bring to bear a keen
critical faculty on the experience and experiments
of other investigators, with the result that the
work now before us may be looked upon as a
** classic,”’ and one that for years to come will,
probably, remain the reference-book for those in-
terested in tuberculosis. | ’
_ The first three chapters, dealing with the inci-
dence, the mean annual mortality, and the decline
in mortality from tuberculosis, have already been
dealt with by Dr. Cobbett in a series of lectures.
For the public health authority and the slum
reformer this section—forty-five pages only—will
be invaluable.
After brief notes on the etiology of tuberculosis
and on the discovery of the tubercle bacillus, the
investigations of the Royal Commission on Tuber-
culosis, of Weber and his colleagues at the Kaiser-
_ liche Gesundheitsamt in Germany, of the Bureau
_ of Animal Industry in the United States, and of
_ French, Belgian, and Dutch workers is subjected
t0 critical examination and most impartial
summarisation. The evidence of infection and of
the importance of ‘‘ massive ” infection in the
production of disease, the mass varying with
_ different species of animals and the type—human,
i.e. naturalised in the human subject; bovine,
naturalised in the bovine animal; and avian, the
form of bacillus naturalised in, and specially infec-
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
tive for, birds—are in turn dealt with, first in
relation to tuberculosis as it occurs in various
animals, and then in relation to the production
and spread of the disease from these animals: to
man. After a discussion of the portals of
entrance of the infective material, one of the
most closely reasoned sections of the book,
_ interesting observations as to the infectivity of
the different types of tubercle bacilli on the
various animals, (a) naturally, (b) as the result
of experiment; are recorded. From these it is
evident that many animals which, owing to their
conditions of life, appear to be exempt from
‘“ spontaneous ” tuberculosis are comparatively
easily infected ‘‘ experimentally.” Spontaneous
tuberculous infection of the guinea-pig is so rare
as to be almost non-existent, but to infection by
bacilli of both human and bovine type it is
extremely susceptible; whilst the cat, which
appears to be specially susceptible to infection by
the ‘‘ bovine” tubercle bacillus, appears to be
far more refractory to the ‘‘ human type” of
bacillus.
As the result of the combined experience of the
workers dealt with in this book, it is laid down
that the tubercle bacillus of bovine type is present
in, and the cause of, the lesions of the ox, pig,
goat, sheep, horse, camel, cat, dog, monkey, and
man, in whom, in addition to the ordinary type of
bovine bacillus, a modified form is found in cases
of lupus. The avian type of bacillus, found especi-
ally in domesticated birds, has also been demon-
strated in the rabbit and pig, and >in rats’ and
mice coming in contact with these birds.’ That
it plays little, and certainly no important, part in
the production of human tuberculosis is generally
accepted. The ‘‘ human type ” of tubercle bacil-
lus, in addition to occurring in man, where it is
found in the lung and in a modified form in cases
of lupus, occurs in the dog, giving rise to about
half the cases of tuberculosis in that animal, and
in the localised glandular tuberculosis of the pig.
It has also, been found in captive monkeys, in
caged parrots, and in certain mammals—ante-
lope, elephant, and lion—kept in captivity.
Dr. Cobbett, in his earlier chapters, maintains
that the human type of tubercle bacillus is respon-
sible for 94 per cent. of the fatal, mainly pulmo-
nary, cases of tuberculosis in man, the remaining
6 per cent. being caused by the bovine bacillus.
(In an appendix, as the result of the consideration
of more recent investigation on tuberculosis of
-bones and glands, there is evidence of modifi-
cation of this opinion.) Of the non-fatal cases of
tuberculosis, however, the bovine bacillus is
responsible for a much larger proportion—about
50 per cent. Infection with the bovine bacillus is
commonest in infancy, uncommon after five years
of age, and rare in adult life. It is associated
specially with tuberculosis of the alimentary
tract and the associated glands, but bovine
bacilli have undoubtedly been isolated from a
number of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. In
Scotland, and especially in Edinburgh, the
bovine bacillus. appears to play a more important
R
302
NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917
part than it does elsewhere in Great Britain or.
abroad, and the differences of opinion that from
the first existed between Koch and those Scottish |
investigators whose material was obtained in
Edinburgh are thus, in all probability, accounted
for. This is a matter of great importance and
continues to receive attention.
Dr. Cobbett, in summing up, contends that
_ the ‘‘ bovine bacillus ’’ is less virulent than the
‘* human bacillus ’’ for man, man in this respect
differing from all other animals, ‘‘ for, with the
exception of the apes and monkeys, which are
equally susceptible, and the dog, which is equally
resistant to either type, all other species, so far as
is known, are more severely affected with the
bovine than with the human bacillus.”’
Finally, Dr. Cobbett concludes (1) that the
importance of tuberculosis is not to be measured
only by the deaths caused—above 50,000 per
annum in England and Wales alone, mostly ‘* in
the prime of life or only a little earlier ’—but
that, ‘‘ in addition to these deaths, tuberculosis
produces a great number of cripples ”; (2) that
during the last fifty years ‘‘ the number of
deaths caused each year by tuberculosis has
diminished steadily and substantially, and the
ratio of deaths to population has fallen by more
than 50 per cent.,’’ that it is still declining rapidly
‘* and at an ever-increasing velocity.’’
In a series of appendices a number of interest-
ing details concerning recent investigations are
given. Of these one of the most important is the
persistence of tubercle bacilli of human type in
the tubules of the cow’s udder once it has made
its way, and gained a footing, there. This, with an
account of the general dissemination of tubercle
bacilli after subcutaneous injection, indicates the
danger involved in the attempt to immunise milch
cows against tuberculosis with living tubercle
bacilli. A brief account of the later studies of the
types of tubercle bacilli found in the lesions of
bone and joint tuberculosis, by which Dr. Cob-
bett has been led to the conclusion that the per-
centage of bovine infections is considerably
greater than set out earlier in the book, the per-
centage of bovine infections in England being
14°7 and in Scotland 29°6, is of considerable
interest in that here we have a key to the value of
the work before us—the extreme impartiality and
open-mindedness of the author..
All who are. interested in tuberculosis will be
well repaid by a careful study—not merely a per-
usal—of this interesting work, a study rendered.
far easier by the numerous excellent photographs
illustrating points to which the author wishes to
direct special attention.
MATHEMATICAL PUZZLES.
Amusements in Mathematics. By H. E. Dudeney.
Pp. vili+258. (London: T. Nelson and Sons,
Ltd.}., Price 3s. 6d. net. ; eS
R.. DUDENEY is famous as a com-
4 poser of puzzles of a semi-mathematical
character, and for some. years ° questions by
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
-European labyrinths: Mr. Dudeney says he does
‘In another scholium ‘the digital treatment of
him of this kind have appeared regularly
in several English periodicals. He has now ~
collected a large number of them, added a
few néw ones, and published the whole in book- —
form classified under various heads. The ques-
tions, more than four. hundred in number, range —
over so wide a field that it is difficult to deseribe
them succinctly, but usually they consist of brief —
statements, put ‘in a picturesque form, of problems _
that might conceivably occur. Of these conun- a
drums, some are variations of familiar puzzles, x
others are new, some are easy, others difficult, —
but, broadly speaking, all are interesting, and
none can be answered without care and thought.
In a few cases the point of the problem depends —
on the wording—a device open to criticism, though *
one which, in his preface, Mr. Dudeney explicitly
defends. The solutions are given. separately in
the latter part of the book, and no one acquainted z
with Mr. Dudeney’s reputation will need the assur-
ance that they are ingenious and suggestive.
The author—wisely for his purpose—generally
avoids lengthy discussions, but the permanent
value of the work would have been increased had
references to authorities who had treated ques- —
tions analogous to-those submitted been given —
more freely, For instance, the problem of arrang- Fi
ing the twelve members of a bridge club for eleven —
days so that no two members play together as q
partners more than once and each member meets ~
every other member as opponent twice is pro- —
pounded, and Mr. Dudeney gives the bare answer; ~
but there is no reference to Moore’s paper of 1896 —
where the question for 4m players is discussed and
the theory set out. Again, one “compass’”’ con- —
struction is proposed, and the solution of the par-
ticular question is given; but a reference to —
Mascheroni’s work of 1795 would have shown —
that there is a theory of the subject and put the ©
reader on the track of scores of similar problems.
Interspersed in the text are some scholia on
problems of particular types, with notes of —
methods for attacking them. These seem to us
the most valuable part of the book, for collections ~
of miscellaneous questions, once read, are not
often looked at again; but comments on methods ©
of solution and the past history of problems are —
of permanent interest. We should have liked to —
see further discussions of this kind, but with such
a feast spread before us it would be ungracious to
complain that more has not been given. In one —
of these scholia there are diagrams of some
not know of any instance of such a figure —
in an English church, so it may be pointed out ~
that there is one, outlined in marble, on the floor i
of Ely Cathedral—probably it had not been laid —
down in 1858, when Trollope wrote his standard
account of the subject. In the notes on magic —
squares there is mention of a transerial or doubly —
magic square of the eighth order, and it might well —
have been added that similar squares of higher —
orders are also known: the formation of such ©
squares is, however, a difficult problem and not —
to be recommended to non-mathematical readers. -
| DECEMBER 20, 1917]
NATURE
593
_ certain number-problems is discussed; we gather
that this application is original on Mr. Dudeney’s
part. Digital properties are but little known to
_™mathematicians, and we hope his example may
_ serve to direct attention to the method: it was
_ freely used by Bidder, the ealculating prodigy, and
- in a certain class of arithmetical problems is of
great assistance.
This notice will indicate Gveerally the lines on
which the book is written, and on the whole we
should say that it is the best miscellaneous col-
lection of the kind with which we are acquainted.
The book is profusely illustrated, a marvel of con-
densation and cheapness, and singularly free from
ambiguities and slips. It would be difficult to
find a more attractive present for a schoolboy who
is interested (as most schoolboys are) in such
problems, for wherever he opens it he will find
some amusing puzzle which will tax, and in many
cases overtax, his ingenuity.
FOSSIL BOTANY.
Fossil. Plants: a Text-book for Students of
Botany and Geology. Vol. ili., Pteridospermeae,
Cycadofilices, Cordaitales, Cycadophyta. By
Prof. A. C. Seward. Pp. xviii+656. (Cam-
bridge : At the University Press, 1917.) Price
18s, net.
be the present instalment of Prof. Seward’s
. well-known text-book on fossil plants the
interést of the subject may rightly be said to
culminate. For this volume deals exclusively
with the groups of fossil gymnospermous plants,
and here between its covers the reader will find
spread out for the first time in full and proper
perspective the significant discoveries and results
of the last fifteen years. The fossil Gymnosperms
include the great central groups of seed-plants,
and of these one-third of the book is devoted to a
consideration of the Pteridosperms and_ their
attendant Cycadofilices, another to the Cycado-
yphyta, whilst the rest is divided between the
Cordaitee and a long chapter on fossil seeds.
This last feature is a most useful digest of a
complicated mass of literature, and is a service
that will be generally appreciated.
_ Modern advance, particularly as to the status
of the Pteridosperms and the _ Bennettitales
(Cycadophyta), has depended primarily on the
study of petrifactions derived from Britain,
France, and North America, whilst the knowledge
thus obtained has been reinforced and extended
by a critical consideration of impressions from
which is gained a sort of twilight picture of these
ancient vegetations. Prof. Seward possesses the
indispensable qualification in the writer of a book
like the present of a practical familiarity in
handling both these sources of information—
petrifactions and impressions—and when, in addi-
| ‘tion, the task is performed with such evident
sobriety and good judgment, the result is a book
‘of the greatest permanent value. It should be
_ added that never before has the subject-matter of
' fossil botany received such full and connected
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
treatment, nor could the marshalling of the facts
be bettered.
In the treatment of his subject-matter the
author, in large degree, lets the facts tell their
own story. Whilst the theories of fossil botanists
are adequately displayed, the author resists all
temptations to speculate in the field of plant
phylogeny. Nevertheless, apart from his own rele-
vant researches, a good deal of unpublished matter
is brought into this book, especially minor points
collected from all quarters, each by itself, perhaps,
insufficient to justify separate publication, yet in
the aggregate’ appr oReately included in a book
like this.
Turning over the pages of this book, it is
remarkable how large a share in the establishment
of fossil botany has been taken by this country.
Following the older period of description under
Williamson came a newer epoch of critical re-
description, with correlations of members pre-
viously scattered. With the momentary exhaus-
tion of the English coal-balls of Paleozoic age,
the interest passed to the Bennettitales from the
American Jurassic rocks, once ‘more to cross
the Atlantic to Scotland, where new forms of.
great antiquity and interest are now coming to
light. It is-to be expected later on that a more
intensive and scientific exploitation of our own
and the world’s coal resources will continue to
produce a harvest of fossil plants rich enough
to give full occupation to palzobotanists, and at
the same time still further to elucidate the scheme
of evolution of the vegetable kingdom.
In conclusion it is fitting to mention that this
volume is dedicated by Prof. Seward to the
memory of the late Prof. C. R. Zeiller, who for
sO many years was attached to the Ecole des
Mines at Paris. Zeiller appealed to workers in
this country not only by reason of his lofty charac-
ter and eminence as a fossil botanist, but particu-
larly because he; more than any other, established
and promoted cordial solidarity between the ranks
of fossil botanists on either ‘side of the Channel. It
is largely on this account that the recent severe
and deplorable losses which the fraternity of
palzobotanists has suffered in France (including,
in addition to Zeiller himself, Lignier, Grand’Eury,
and the elder Bertrand) have evoked in this country
a wide and sympathetic response which only the
loss of personal friends can arouse.
OUR. BOOKSHELF.
With. the. French Flying Corps. By C. D.
Winslow. Pp. 190. (London: Constable and
Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 3s. 6d. net.
Tuis short volume contains the experiences of an
American volunteer who joined the French Flying
Service, and gives a brief accounf of the various
steps of his training. The book can in no sense
be called a scientific work; indeed, the use of
technical terms is very loose, as, for instance; the
definitions of angle of attack ‘and angle of in-
cidence given on p. 30. Statements such as that
on p. 26 to the effect that ‘‘ when two aeroplanes
304 | NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917 =
are too near each other the suction of their pro-
pellers pulls them together, and they become un-
controllable,’’ would certainly not command scien-
tific justification. ‘This technical inaccuracy does
not detract from the interest of the book as a
record of the actual experiences of an aviator
during training and in flying over the enemy’s
lines. The greater part of the volume consists of
such experiences and forms interesting reading. It
is well: that those who labour in the aeronautical
world at home should have some idea of the actual
fighting conditions at the Front, and the volume
before us gives a very good account of the im-
pressions of a pilot engaged in this thrilling phase
of modern warfare. A detailed knowledge of the
principles of flight is by no means necessary to
enable a man to become an.expert pilot, any. more
than a detailed knowledge of engineering is neces-
sary to enable a man to ride a bicycle or drive
a Car.
The volume is essentially descriptive and non-
technical, but it is, nevertheless, interesting to the
scientific worker who wishes to obtain a mental |
picture of the actual conditions under which our
airmen work, and of the wonderful part played.
by the aeroplane in modern warfare.
The Born Fool. By J. W. Byrd. Pp. 316.
(London: Chatto and Windus, 1917.) Price
6s. net. - Blais fed
Tuis is the record, in considerable detail, of the
childhood and adolescence of an engineer and
geologist who, born and moving in middle-class .
circles, convinces himself that it is his duty, on
purely altruistic grounds, to marry a woman not
only of lower social and intellectual status than
himself,. but also. appreciably older. In parts the
story is excellent (if this recalls the curate’s egg,
absit omen), and, despite some few naivetés and
trivialities—slight blemishes inseparable, perhaps,
from the maiden production of any author—it is
avery interesting study, abounding in natural.
touches and realistic. incidents. Rese.
The atmosphere of the tale is to a large extent
engineering and geological. The hero, at the age
of twenty-one or. thereabouts,; becomes a fellow
of the Geological ‘‘Institute,’’ in consequence of
a thesis of extraordinary merit and a discovery of
unique importance. He also acts as_ resident
engineer on water-supply undertakings of some
magnitude. Precocity of this kind is, of course,
not unusual in the realm of fiction. At the same
time, the book envisages certain sociological,
sexual, and religious problems in. a way which
will appeal to thoughtful minds, so that. there is
a wide and varied range of interest for many
readers. '
Quantitative Chemical Analysis. Adapted for Use
in the Laboratories of Colleges: and Technical
Institutes. By Dr. F. Clowes and J. B. Cole-
man. Eleventh edition. Pp. xxivt+580. (Lon-
don: J. and A. Churchill, 1918:) Price 12s. 6d.
‘net. . |
Tue eleventh edition of this well-known work of
reference has been carefully revised and new matter
NO, 2512, VOL. 100]
has been introduced in the Appendix. The resul
of typical analyses obtained in the laboratories of
the authors occupy eleven pages, and will prove
useful to analysts and others for reference —
guidance; the list of-important works of refere
provided will also be equally serviceable.
** LETTERS TO: THE EDITOR,
[The Editor does not hold himself responsib
opinions expressed by his correspondents, N
can he undertake to return, or to correspond
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intende:
this or any other part of Nature. No notice
taken of anonymous communications.]
Ramsay Memorial Fund.
WE are asking the hospitality of your columns
enable us to report the progress of the Ramsay
rial Fund, which was instituted just a year ago wi
the object of raising a sum of 100,000l, as a su
memorial to the late Prof. Sir William Ramsay.
fund has now reached a sum of just above 30,0
The latest and most important donation to the
has been a sum of 5000l., contributed by Mrs. Whi
It may be remembered that Messrs. Brunner, MW
and Co. have promised a similar sum of s5oool. TI
honorary treasurers have received a large number
other sums, ranging from 1oool. to one guinea.
this it will be seen that the Ramsay Memorial
has now passed its experimental stage, and is”
good progress towards the sum which the comn
aim at raising. The Executive Committee are
dent that with the assistance of the large number «
co-operating committees which have been formed
all parts of the British Empire and many foreig
countries they will be successful in completing th
of 100,000l., but in order that this may be the
they must appeal to the generosity of the puhk
further donations, large and small. They hop
the generous example of Mrs. Wharrie and of h
Brunner, Mond and Co. will be followed by others,
they will also greatly welcome gifts of any a
ranging from one guinea upwards. ©
The fund of 100,0001., when raised, will be devote
to two objects of great national importance: the e
lishment of Ramsay Memorial fellowships for resear
in chemical problems as applied to industry, and
foundation of a memorial laboratory of enginees
chemistry. Those who contribute to the Ram:
Memorial Fund are contributing in the most defin
and direct way to the national prosperity after the wa
in which the advancement, of science must play an”
increasingly important part. Donations should be sent
to the joint honorary treasurers, Ramsay Memorial
eee, University College, London, Gower Street,
* tORe ea 2 ae oe
ae
RAYLEIGH, Mahe
Chairman of the General Committee. ~
HucH Bet, ~~:
Chairman of the Executive. Committee.
GLENCONNER, = 5d.
J. N. CoLuig, :
_ Honorary Treasurers.
The Beginnings of Porcelain in China.
In the review of our publication by Dr. J. W. Mellor
(NaTuRE, October 4, p. 88) there is a misunderstandin,
which we’ feel should not be allowed to pass in
interest of your readers. Dr; Mellor states that -
regard the so-called Han pottery as porcelanous, ;
as the forerunner of true porcelain. Such a statem
has never been made; we always held, and still |
that Han pottery is nothing but a common stonewa
_ DECEMBER 20, 1917]
NATURE | 305
rc The pottery newly discovered in Shensi, and forming
_ the subject of our investigation, is a distinct group,
_ which, as maintained repeatedly, was not turned out
under the Han, but long afterwards, at the end of
the third century a.p.
proved by analysis, is porcelanous. For this reason
_ it has been styled ‘‘ Han porcelanous pottery.”
Dr. Mellor mentions only the analysis of the green-
glazed Han pottery, which has no connection whatever
with the porcelanous material’ analysed. The body of
this Han fragment is a coarse red earthenware, which
¢an in no sense be considered porcelanous. Certainly
the porcelanous body analysed does not appear porce-
lanous to casual inspection. The true character of the
. Ware appears only when 4 slide is prepared and
examined under a petrographic microscope, when the
porcelanous character becomes so strongly evident that
mistake is impossible. The frothiness of the body
which masks its porcelanous features from macro-
scopic observation is also plainly visible in the slide.
We are not at all interested in the philological inter-
pretations of the Chinese term ts‘e. Our identification
of this new pottery with the early ts‘e of Chinese
In its form and design it is a |
_ direct descendant of Han pottery, but its glaze, as |
MAGNETIC AND ELECTRICAL
OBSERVATIONS AT SEA#*
Be, handsome volume before us is principally
concerned with the magnetic and electrical
observations made at sea by the Galilee (1905-8)
and the Carnegie (1909-16). It also includes some
| observations made on shore in connection with the
cruises of the two vessels. Some of the contents
appeal only to a narrow circie, but much is of
general interest. Thus we have: the “ charter
party” by which Mr. Matthew Turner, managing
owner of the brigantine Galilee, of the net ton-
nage of 328, contracted to maintain the vessel
tight, staunch, sound, strong, and seaworthy with
a sailing master, two mates, six seamen, and two
cooks. Then we have the instructions issued by
the director of the Department of Terrestrial
_ Magnetism to the master before each cruise, the
records rests solely on archzological arguments, not |
on any philological considerations.
B. Laurer.
HH. W. NicHots.
Field Museum, Chicago, November 8.
_- | aGREE with most of what I have read in Messrs.
Laufer and Nichols’s work which made any impression
_ on my mind, and I also agree likewise with what is
- said in the above letter. I except ‘the impression con-
_ veyed by the title, and in some parts of the text of the
- excellent brochure, as well as in the present letter,
namely, that the Han pottery (body and glaze) referred
to can be called porcelanous or the froth of porcelain.
As they say, it is stoneware—and is not a particularly
good variety at that. If Messrs. Laufer and Nichols
will apply the petrological test to a good class of ‘‘ acid
brick,” such as is used in the Glover’s tower of a
sulphuric acid works, they will find just as much,
or even more, ground for stating that these bricks are
porcelainic. I have compared the two bodies and would
vote in favour of the bricks. Similar remarks would
also apply to-ancient and modern ware made from the
so-called vitreous clays when fired, for they, too, have
a similar character, and many have a similar chemical
composition. Ware like the so-called Béttcher, or Bétt-
ger, “porcelain” should not be called porcelainic—ex-
nas bs pede as a “registered trade mark” or in
metap Nor is it any real contribution. to history
to call it the precursor of porcelain in Europe when we
recall that numerous analogous cases must have been
in the alchemist’s hands centuries before Béttger’s
time. The analogy is surely valid also in China.
_In my comments I tried to convey the impression
that Messrs. Laufer and Nichols’s suggestion was not
in aceord with the technical ‘concept of porcelain in our
country, but I can quite understand that they may be
working with another concept of porcelain which
enables them to apply the term as an adjective to the
pottery in question. It would be better if these points
were threshed out before a technical society, since this
is scarcely the place to make an attempt to develop a
standard definition of porcelain uniformly acceptable.
_ The main discussion would, I take it, work round the
_ body—the glaze per se would give less trouble.
_ Nearly all beginnings are obscure, and Messrs.
Laufer and Nichols have made a meritorious contribu-
_ tion to the subject which in the past few months I have
strongly recommended to many students.
J. W. Mettor.
Stoke-on-Trent, December 6..
NO, 2512, VOL. 100]
!
_ practically in.three parts.
| Peters, J. A. Fleming, J. ]
| 25 plates and-35 figures in the text.
report of the master, the daily log, and particulars
of all the instruments on board. The parts of
most general interest are the descriptions of the
observational instruments copiously illustrated in
the plates, the reduction formule, the tables of
observational results, including the graphical
illustration on pp. 424-29 of the errors in current
magnetic charts, and the discussion of the electri-
cal observations. A certain amount of the mate-
rial has already appeared in a less complete form
in earlier publications, but the present volum
collects everything together and shows the gradua
development of ideas. ~
The portions of the volume relating to the Gali-
lee anid the Carnegie magnetic observations are
indexed separately, and there is a third index for
the electrical observations, so that the volume is
The Galilee seems to
have been an excellent sailing vessel, and as suit-
able a one for magnetic observations as could have
been hired in 1905. But, like any ordinary vessel,
she had a magnetic field of her own, the elimi-
nation of which required frequent ‘‘ swinging ”
of the ship and all the elaborate procedure which
renders magnetic work at sea so burdensome.
With the experience they gradually acquired, Dr.
Bauer and his coadjutors gradually saw their way
to the construction of a ship practically free from
iron. Plans were prepared in 1908 by Mr. Gielow,
of New York. The keel was laid in February,
1909. In June, ,1909, the Carnegie was duly
launched and christened, and on August 21 of the
same year she entered on her trial cruise. With
equipment she cost about 115,000 dollars. She is
primarily a sailing vessel, but with auxiliary pro-
pulsion. The motive power is derived from an
internal-combustion engine of 150 horse-power,
working with gas produced from anthracite coal.
The engine itself is essentially bronze, but steel
of a total weight under 600 Ib. had to be used for
certain parts. The Carnegie has been ‘‘ swung ”
On various occasions, but, to all intents and pur-
1 Researches of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Vol. iii.,
“Ocean Magnetic Observations, 1905-16. and Reports on Special Re-
searches.” By A. Bauer, Director, with the collaboration of W. J.
P. Ault, and W. F. G. Swann. Pp. v+-447, with
z (Washington, D.C. : The Carnegie
Institution of Washington, 1917.) :
306
NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917) —
poses, when proper care is exercised in stowing the
cargo, she is non-magnetic.
vations to be taken in less time and with higher
accuracy than on the Galilee.
Galilee and the Carnegie have traversed 224,000
miles of ocean, and declination observations have
been taken once for each 109 miles on the average,
but, owing to the improved facilities, the average
distance apart of the Carnegie’s stations has been
less than half that of the Galilee’s.
The experience of sea conditions has led to
~ modifications of the instruments available in 1905
and to the development of new ones. Much work
has been done with the Lloyd-Creak dip-circle, or,
; ‘Fis. 1.—The non-magnetic ship, the Carnegie,
as the present slime: calls it,. the “ sea a dip-circle.”
This was devised by Capt. Creak. as an improve-
ment of the Fox circle. When provided with deflec-
tion needles and weights, after the method devised
for land.circles by Humphry Lloyd, it supplies the
total force as well as the dip (I),.and.so indirectly
the horizontal force (H). By adding a.compass
needle and a simple contrivance which enables the
distance of the deflecting needle to be varied, the
Carnegie Institution has made the instrument also
give the declination (D), rendering it at the same
time more serviceable for its original purpose.
While the dip-circle can supply values for D and
NO. 2512, VOL. 100}
This enables obser-,
Between them the |
cruise are numbered and tabulated separatel
H, these are not quite so accurate as those gi er
by special D and H instruments. The primary
declination instrument as used on the Carnegi
is a somewhat elaborate modification of the Rit
liquid compass. For measuring H a new ins
ment termed a ‘‘sea-deflector ” has been inven’
It employs a deflection method analogous to
adopted with the ordinary land magnetot
The deflected needle is the magnet bis j
When the com
needle is dotted it is knOwn that it and the ¢
ing magnet are at right
. to one another, If when ~
occurs u is the inclination of fl
compass needle to the ma:
meridian,
H =mC/sin 4, :
where C may be regarded
constant, and m is the
netic moment of the defle
magnet... Allowance maj
made for the variation "
with temperature; and com
sons made, when opeorial i
offers, with page magnete
sary — information as
decay of m with time,
new departure, known as
“marine earth-inductor,” is
form of dip-inductor suitable for
use at sea. It has a movin
coil galvanometer, the sensibili
of which with a scale distan
of 1 metre is 1 mm. =10-8 ye
pere, the period being 2°4 seconds
An absolutely null method is 1
feasible, but this does not prov
serious drawback when care is”
taken to secure a nearly unifor
speed of rotation of the coil.
Under favourable conditions the
inductor appears an instrumen
of higher precision — than the dip-
circle, but it requires at least two
and preferably four, observers.
guiding principle seems to ha
been to have at least two independent ways of |
measuring D, I, and H, and to use the less exact —
instrument as a check on the more exact.
The’ magnetic sea observations taken ‘on eac
Each table gives the date, the geographical co
ordinates, and the values of D, H, and I. Excep’
in the case of the two last cruises of the Carnegie,
the results for which appear only to be preliminary, —
the tables also include particulars of the hours of
observation, the instruments used, the ‘shi
course, the angle of roll, the state of the sea ts (
the weather.
. servations on shore when the Car-
DECEMBER 20, 1917]
NATURE
397
the ship rolling through 30°, and even at times
40° or more.
The magnetic observations made on shore are
discussed in separate tables, and there are exact
descriptions of the stations occupied. Consider-
Fic, 2,—After observing-dome on the Carnegie with sea-deflector inside.
able local disturbance was encountered in Madeira,
the Bermudas, St. Helena, Mauritius, and
especially in Iceland near Reykjavik. In such
cases several adjacent sites were occupied.
’ The part dealing. with atmospheric electricity
possesses many features of interest. Several new
instruments are described, one
for measuring potential gradient
at-sea. This was standardised
by means of simultaneous. ob-
negie was in harbour. The elec-
trical elements observed included
the potential gradient, the con-
ductivities arising from positive
and negative ions, the number
and mobility of positive and nega-
tive ions, the air-earth current,
the number of pairs of ions pro-
duced per c.c. per second in a
closed copper vessel, and the
radio-active contents of the air
and of sea-water. Regular
meteorological observations are
also included. The results ‘ob-
tained are numerous and are
given in tables on pp. 403-5. The
discussion of the results is accom-
panied by much information as to
the corresponding data obtained
by previous observers on land and
sea, and is practically equivalent to a text-book
on atmospheric electricity.
The conclusions drawn are summarised. on
p. 422, the- following being perhaps the most
interesting. The potential gradient seems to be
T land e
NO. 2512, VOL. I00}
Fic.
much the same over the different oceans, the
mean daily value being about 113 volts per metre.
There is a distinct diurnal variation, of the same
general type as that for the year as a whole-at
Kew, t.e. having two maxima and two minima,
but the principal maximum occurs
we near midnight, i.e. two or three
hours later than at Kew.. The
average numbers of plus and
minus ions per c.c. were respec-
tively 804 and 677, numbers very
similar to those encountered on
land. The mean value found for
the mobility was 1°30 cm./sec. for
both plus and minus ions. The
mean value found for the air-earth
current was 95x10-?-E.S.U.
The number of pairs of ions pro-
duced -per c.c. per second in a
closed copper vessel shows little
variation over the ocean whether
with locality, season of the year,
or hour of the day. The mean
found was 38. ° The -average
radium emanation _ contents in
curies per cubic metre of air found
over the Pacific and sub-Antarctic
oceans were’ respectively 33 x
tro-!2 and o*4 x 10-}, the larger
of these values being only some 4 per cent. of the
average value over land.
We learn that two more volumes, iv. and v.
of the series, are to deal with later observational
results, secular change, and the reduction of all
3.—View of the bridge on the Carnegie and observing-domes.
the results, both for land and sea, to a common
epoch. . It is hoped that complete world charts
based on these observations may be constructed
| during 1918.
C. CHREE.
308
NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, I917_
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND
RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES.
ial the latest bulletin of the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaiching’*an elaborate
account is presented of the course of legislation
in America which led to the foundation and en- |
dowment of the agricultural colleges and experi-
ment stations. The former are known as the
‘land-grant ’’ colleges, and this publication ex-
plains how this name arose. The foundation of
these colleges, of which each of the States
in America possesses at least one,
from 1862, when the Morrill Act of that year ap-
propriated the proceeds of six and one-third million
acres of public lands for the purpose of founding
in each State of the Union a College of ‘‘ Agricul-
ture and the Mechanic Arts.’’ For many years
after their foundation the land-grant colleges did
not confine themselves to agriculture, and up to
the close of the nineteenth century the number of
students who graduated in agriculture was com-
paratively small. :
In 1890 further endowments were voted by
-Congress, which by annual increments _ finally
reached 500o0l. per annum for each State in the
Union. . Again, in 1907, the annual subvention to
each State was raised to 10,0001. per annum. In
the meantime a step of great consequence was
taken, one which has done much to stimulate
agricultural education and research in the United
States. This was the establishment of experiment
stations in connection with the land-grant colleges
as a result of the famous Hatch Act of 1887, which
appropriated 30001. per annum for each of these
stations. By 1906, when an Act was passed rais-
ing the appropriation for each station to 6oool.,
forty-eight of these stations had been established.
Again, in 1914, further appropriations were voted
for college ‘‘extension’’ work, beginning with
2oool. for each State, to be followed by annual in-
crements of indefinite amount until the aggregate
appropriations for this purpose in the whole
country should reach a sum of 800,0001. But still
Congress was not satisfied. By an Act passed this
’ year further appropriations were sanctioned for the
furtherance of agricultural education, which by
1926 will amount to 600,o00l. per annum. Ex-
cluding the appropriations in aid of extension
work, the aggregate Federal grants in aid of
higher agricultural education and research are now
1,175,000l. per annum. The individual States of the
Union have also increased their aid pari pass, so
that in 1915 the total income of the colleges and
experiment stations had reached the astonishing
figure of 7,200,000l. The expenditure on higher
agricultural education and research in England and
Wales has a sorry appearance if contrasted with
these remarkable figures. The normal State ex-
penditure per annum in England and Wales is
about 20,0001. for higher education and 35,000l.
1 Bulletin No. ro, ‘‘ Federal Aid for Vocational Education.” | By Dr.
I. L. Kandel. (New Vork City: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching.)
tol
~ ee
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
dates"
for research, not much more than what one State —
in America receives for similar purposes.
The author of the bulletin under notice expresses
some alarm at the rapidity of recent developments. _
He appears to think that there is still too much
fluidity of -opinion in regard to the scope and
methods of vocational education, and that the —
money available will be squandered on unfruitful —
educational experiments. However that may pe, it —
is surely a healthy sign that public opinion, as re-
flected by the Legislature, recognises the need for
better scientific and technical training. _ ieee
It is somewhat remarkable to find that attention
has been given to military training in the land-
grant colleges ever since their foundation. Special
officers are detailed to take charge of the instruc-
tion in military subjects. ee
A remarkable feature of the development of
agricultural education in America is the sudden
leap upwards which the’ number of students of 3
agriculture has taken since 1906. In that year
the total number of students was nearly 3000;
in 1914 the figure was nearly 15,000. The bulle- +
>.
es,
tin fails to give any satisfactory,reason for the
suddenness with which the change set in. We ~
venture to suggest that the demand for higher —
education in agriculture may have been stimulated
by the extensive programme of demonstration —
fields upon which many of the States have re-
cently embarked. These demonstration fields are
designed to provide object-lessons of improved
practice, and the exteht to which they have been —
scattered over the country far surpasses anything —
that has ever been attempted here. oe
What is the lesson for this country from this.
record of American experience and progress? ~
Surely, that we, too, should have faith and the —
courage to spend, especially on research. To-7f
begin with, some of the expenditure might be un-
fruitful, but one of the main obstacles to progress
in. the past has been the failure of agricultural ~
research to attract the best scientific talent, a
failure in large part due to the fact that the study
of the sciences bearing on agriculture offered no ~
career. Even as matters stand, the salaries of
the teaching and research posts are inadequate, ~
and in view of the rising demand for scientific —
work in the industries generally, the inadequacy
is becoming more acute. i
¢
DR. A. M. W. DOWNING, F-.R.S. |
D® ARTHUR MATTHEW WELD DOWN- —
ING,
whose death was announced in —
Nature of December 13, was born in Ireland on
April 13, 1850, being the youngest son of the late
Mr. A. M. Downing. He graduated at Trinity
College, Dublin, where he gained the gold medal
of his year in mathematics. He went soon after-—
wards to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,
where he was an assistant for twenty years. He
was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical —
Society in 1875, and of the Royal Society in 1896.
| DEcEMBER 20, 1917]:
NATURE
399
" He was secretary of the former society from 1889 |
to 1892, and afterwards vice-president. He con-
tributed seventy-five papers to it between 1877
and 1910, which show the keen interest that he
took in the improvement of the fundamental con-
stants of astronomy. He revised Taylor’s Madras
Catalogue and made systematic comparisons of
the Star Catalogues of Greenwich, the Cape,
Washington, Cordoba, Melbourne, Hong-Kong,
etc., with the object of deriving their systematic
errors. He discussed the measures of the planet-
ary diameters, and investigated the errors of the
tabular orbits of Juno and Flora.
This work formed an admirable preparation for
the post of superintendent of the Nautical
Almanac Office, to which Dr. Downing was ap-
pointed in 1892 on the retirement of Dr. Hind.
He retained this post for eighteen years, retiring
early in 1910. During his tenure of office the
solar and planetary tables of Newcomb and Hill
replaced those of Le Verrier, the list of ephemeris
stars was greatly enlarged, and Besselian co-
ordinates were introduced into the eclipse and
occultation sections, facilitating the accurate com-
putation of these phenomena. The “Lunar Dis-
tance ’’ tables were dropped, as practically obso-
lete in navigation, and their place was taken by
the physical ephemerides of the sun, moon, and
planets, the regular publication of which is a
great convenience to observers. They were pre-
viously contributed to the Monthly Notices by Mr.
Marth, and have led to an increase of our know-
ledge of the surface currents of Jupiter. Dr.
.Downing took part in the international confer-
ence of directors of ephemerides which met at
Paris in 1896 to endeavour to attain uniformity
in the adoption of astronomical constants: its
efforts were partly successful, agreement being
reached on the questions of precession, nutation,
aberration, and solar parallax. He was one of the
founders of the British Astronomical Association
in 1890, and was its second president (1892—94).
He took part in two of the eclipse expeditions
organised by it—to Vadso, Lapland, in 1896, and
to Plasencia, Spain, in 1goo.
Dr. Downing availed himself of the publication
of the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung in
1899 to investigate the distribution of stars south
of the equator, for which complete homogeneous
material had previously been lacking. He found
that the galactic condensation of the faint stars
was greater in the southern hemisphere than in
the northern. In conjunction with Dr. Johnstone
Stoney he calculated the perturbations of the
Leonid meteors between 1866 and 1899. Their
results were published too late to warn the public
of the probable non-appearance of the shower in
1899, so that considerable disappointment was
caused, though the result was really in accord
with calculation. ;
_ Dr. Downing spent the last few years in quiet
retirement, owing to failing health. His tragically
sudden death on December 8 resulted from angina
pectoris. He leaves a widow and daughter.
A. C. D. Cromme in.
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
NOTES.
Tue death of Mrs. Garrett Anderson on December
18, at eighty-one years of age, deprives the world of a
pioneer whose persistent efforts opened to women the
portals of institutions having the power to confer quali-
fications to undertake medical practice. She was the
first woman to secure a medical diploma in this coun-
try, and she lived to see a steady stream of capable
women enter the door which she was chiefly the means
of opening. Mrs. Garrett Anderson was born in Lon-
don in 1836, and in 1860 began her medical studies
with the view of obtaining an English qualification as
a practitioner. No medical scheol of the metropolis
would receive her as a student, and the Royal College
of Surgeons, as well as the Royal College of Physicians,
declined to allow her to sit for their examinations.
She obtained, however, private tuition in anatomy and
surgery, and studied at the London Hospital as a
nurse; and after completing her course, was able to
establish her claim to be examined by the Society of
Apothecaries, which was compelled by its charter to
admit to examination all persons, irrespective of sex,
who presented themselves after passing through an
approved course of study. She thus obtained the de-
sired qualification of licentiate of the society, and began
to practise medicine. In 1866 she opened a dispensary
near Lisson Grove, Marylebone, and out of this under-
taking grew the New Hospital for Women in’ the
Euston Road, of which she remained senior physician
until 1890. With Miss Jex-Blake, Mrs. Garrett Ander-
son endeavoured to induce the University of Edinburgh
to grant medical degrees to women, but unsuccessfully.
She went to France, however, and obtained the degree
of doctor of .medicine of the University of Paris in
1870. The refusal of the northern University to admit
women to its medical schools led to the establishment
of the London School of Medicine for Women, and the
alliance of this school with the Royal Free Hospital
completed the provision for teaching required by the
General Medical Council. From its foundation in 1876
until 1898 Mrs. Garrett Anderson lectured to the
students on medicine, and from 1883 to 1903 acted as
dean of the school. In 1896-97 she was president
of the East Anglian branch of the British Medical
Association, and gave an address on ‘* The Progress of
Medicine in the Victorian Era.’? At Aldeburgh, Suffolk,
which was her home for many years, she was elected
mavor in r908, and was the first woman to occupy such
a post in England. In August last the honour of
Commander of the Order of the British Empire was
bestowed upon her by the King. Medical women will!
long cherish the memory of the pioneer to whose
courage and strong character they largely owe the posi-
tion now occupied by them.
Tue student of natural science is continually sur-
prised by the inaccuracies which appear when writers
and artists in the general Press touch even the
most elementary conceptions of the natural world in
which we live. Mr. J. Reid Moir has just directed
our attention to a remarkable case in a large
advertisement published in various newspapers on
December 4. It purports to be a reply to
a question propounded in displayed type, ‘ How
did Man conquer the Dinosaurus?’”’ and is made
attractive by a sketch of a Diplodocus-like animal
being attacked by primeval man. The most elementary
acquaintance with geology would have assured the
author that his question could never arise, because all
the dinosaurs were extinct long before man appeared;
and even if, presuming on little knowledge, he had
mentally confused a dinosaur with a mammoth, he still
made a fundamental mistake (as Mr. Moir points out)
in providing the huntsman with a Neolithic implement.
ql
310
NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917.
It has been announced that a sum of money amount-
ing to about 250,000l. has been bequeathed by the late
Mr. G. F. Melville, advocate, Edinburgh, to be devoted
to ‘‘the care and cure of cancer’’; the benefits of the
bequest do not, however, accrue until the death of cer-
tain beneficiaries under the will. The trust is to be
administered by the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates,
the Deputy-Keeper of the Signet, and the Master of
the Merchant Company, and it is understood that the
trustees have considerable discretionary powers in the
choice of the methods by which the object of the
testator may be best attained. No doubt the questions
of provision, both for research work and for the care
of patients, will be. considered. In Edinburgh at pre-
sent the treatment of cancer patients is carried on in
the general hospitals, an arrangement which has the
obvious advantage .of not attaching a stigma to: the
sufferer from malignant disease, but as’ the hospital
accommodation in the city has not increased with the
population an addition to the available resources for
treatment would be advantageous. On the research
side, though isolated investigations, such as those of
Russell on cancer bodies, have been carried out in
Edinburgh, no organised attack has been made on the
problems of cancer. .In the summer of 1914, however,
a scheme was being prepared for the erection, under
the joint auspices of the University and. of the. Royal
College of Physicians. and the Royal College of Sur-
geons, of an.extensive research institute in medicine as
a memorial of Lister’s connection with the Edinburgh
School... This project the war has interfered with, but
the promoters are definitely committed. to carry it
through whenever. circumstances permit.. It was part
of the original. plan that special provision should be’
made for research.on cancer, so that the authorities
of the Medical School have been quite alive to the
necessity for initiating work on the subject.
Dr..G. P. Girpwoop, emeritus professor of chem-
istry, McGill: University, Montreal, died on October 2,
in his. eighty-fifth. year... We..are indebted. to the
British Medical Journal for-the following particulars of
his career... Dr. Girdwood was the son of Dr. G. F.
Girdwood, and- was born in London. on October 22,
1832; he was educated at a private school, and later
' at University College and St. George’s Hospital. He
settled in practice in Montreal in 1864, and in the
following year took. the degrees. of M.D., C.M. at
McGill. University. In .1869 Dr. ‘Girdwood. was ap-
pointed: lecturer- in -practical. chemistry in the faculty,
of medicine,: McGill University; in. 1872 he became
professor of practical- chemistry, and two years later
professor of chemistry.. When he. retired from this’
chair in 1902 he was named emeritus. professor of
chemistry. He occupied a number of other important
positions, among them the presidency of the Rontgen
Society of America and the vice-presidency of the
Canadian Branch of the Society of Chemical Industry.
He was also one of the original fellows of the Royal
Society of Canada. ‘“‘Dr. Girdwood will be remem-
bered as a conspicuous figure among. the scientific men
of Canada during the last quarter of the nineteenth
century—an example of the all-round man of science
that will become rarer in this age of specialisation ;
for, though fundamentally a chemist, he had ‘a. sound
knowledge of medicine, surgery, medical jurisprudence,.
botany, physics, and microscopical technique, includ-
ing photomicrography. The Rodgers and Girdwood
method of detecting strychnine was devised by. Dr.
Girdwood and Dr. Rodgers, of London, and it was Dr. |
Girdwood also who first applied reagents for the detec-
tion of forgeries, counterfeits, and the identification of |
handwriting.. He was one of the first to apply the |
stereoscopic principles to X-ray prints.”
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
WE regret. to learn from the Memorias do Instituto —
Oswaldo Cruz (vol. viii., fasc. ii.) of the death of the —
distinguished director of the institute, Dr. Oswaldo ~
Gongalves Cruz. After completing his course as a
student of medicine in Brazil, Dr. Cruz worked for —
some time in the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Soon —
after his return to Brazil the Government decided to —
take measures for the improvement of the health”
Rio de Janeiro, especially in regard to yellow fev
and in 1903 Dr. Cruz was appointed head of the public
health department, with full powers to take all nee .
sary measures. He prosecuted the campaign against
yellow fever with scientific method and with the
utmost vigour, instituting for this purpose ‘‘ mosqui
brigades”’ and. allied services, comprising about 20
men. The breeding places of Stegomyia calopus,
carrier of yellow fever, were abolished or screened, all
infected persons were isolated, and in about three years —
yellow fever was stamped out in Rio. Dr. Cruz also ©
devoted careful attention to measures for the suppres-
sion of smallpox and the plague with such success
by 1909 smallpox had almost disappeared in Rio,
there has been no case of plague for five or six yea:
In 1901 Dr. Cruz was appointed director of an it
tute for work on serum therapy; he soon enlarged -
scope of the work so as to include other branches
experimental medicine, together with pathology
parasitology, and about ten years ago the present insti-
tute was.built and named in his honour. He was a
man of, great activity and stimulating personality, a
brought together a band of workers who have made
his institute famous as a centre of researches of a
high order. Dr. Cruz will be held in honoured re-—
membrance for his powerful support of all phases of
medical research in Brazil, and for his inestima
services in the cause of public health in Rio. ~~
- At the annual meeting of the Yorkshire Geologi
Society: held at Leeds on December 12, Mr. T. Shi
pard read a paper on ‘‘ Martin Simpson and his Work.”
Simpson’ was born.in 1800 and died in 1892. He spent
most of his life.in the Whitby district, and for more
than half a century had charge of the valuable geo-
logical collections in the Whitby Museum, though fora
short period he was the curator of the Yorkshire Geo-
logical Society’s collection. He was one of the first
workers among the Liassic rocks of Yorkshire, and
considering the early date of his researches, the enor- ~
mous amount of information he accumulated is re- —
markable, and his methods of research had a surpris-
ingly modern air. He was the author of a number ——
of geological memoirs, most of which are now exceed-
ingly scarce. Mr. Sheppard exhibited a complete series —
of these works, which he had collected, the most im-
portant being a memoir on the ‘‘Ammonites of the
Yorkshire Lias,’? which was published in 1843, and
long ago was said to be so rare that only one copy
existed. Another work, published when Simpson was
eighty-four years of age, is ‘‘ The Fossils of the York-
shire Lias,”’ in which no fewer than 743 species were _
enumerated and described. Simpson measured with a _
foot-rule the thickness of the beds in the cliffs north ©
and south of Whitby, taking special note of the speci- —
mens peculiar to each bed—a very early example of
zonal collecting.
THE next meeting of the Faraday Society will beheld —
on January 14 in the rooms of the Royal Society of
Arts at 5.30 p.m., when a general discussion on the
| setting of cements and plasters will be opened by Dr.
C. H. Desch. a i nae
WE regret to note that Engineering for December 14
records the death on December 9 of Mr. Wm. M. Urie. —
| Mr. Urie was born in-1850, and after a varied engineer-
; ing career at home and on the Continent, became —
DECEMBER 20, 1917]
A
NATURE 311
x ks manager of the Caledonian Railway Company’s
Works at St. Rollox, Glasgow. He was elected a
member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in
1899. Fes .
WE learn from the Chemical Trade Journal that Mr.
W. J. E. Foakes, late Chief Government Inspector of
Explosives for Cape Colony, has died in London. For
eleven years Mr. Foakes was chief assistant and part-
ner with the late Dr. Dupré, chemical adviser to the
Home Office. He was appointed Chief Government
Inspector of Explosives for Cape Colony on the recom-
mendation of Sir Vivian Majendie in 1898.
Tue council of the Institution of Electrical Engineers
has passed the following resolution, which has been
transmitted to Sir Albert Stanley :—‘‘ That the council
of the Institution of Electrical Engineers welcomes
the Non-ferrous Metals Bill,. approves its principles,
and congratulates the President of the Board of Trade
on its introduction. The council, representing an in-
_stitution the members of which are interested so widely
in the supply of non-ferrous metals, unanimously sup-
ports this measure designed to keep the control of the
supply of these essential metals in British hands.”
Tue thirty-fifth annual meeting of the American
Ornithologists’ Union was held in Cambridge, Mass.,
on November 12-16. . The- following officers were
elected for the ensuing year :—President, J. H. Sage;
Vice-Presidents, H. W. Henshaw and Dr. Witmer
Stone; Secretary, Dr. T. $. Palmer; and Treasurer,
Dr. J. Dwight. Two additions were made to the list
of honorary fellows, Dr. A. H. Evans and: Mr, W. L.
Sclater, and Dr. F. E. Beddard was elected a correspond-
ing fellow. The next meeting, in 1918, will be held
in New: York:City. - = > -
_ Many who are acquainted with the works of Mr.
Ewing Matheson will. regret to hear of his’ death,
which is announced in Engineering for December 14.
Mr. Matheson was in his seventy-eighth year, and had
been a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
since May, 1876. His books deal with civil engineer-
ing subjects, and he was’a,partner in the firm of
Messrs. Andrew Handyside and Co., Derby, in which
connection he was actively associated in all the large
civil engineering undertakings successfully carried out
by his firm. He took an active part in the business
and municipal life of Leeds.
Ir is reported in Science that a special board of
chemists has been appointed in the United States to
investigate explosives and the uses of gases in warfare
and to act as advisers to the Bureau of Mines. The
board will study the problem of increasing the produc-
tion of materials used in the manufacture of explosives
and will advise the bureau in the operation of the
recently enacted law regulating the sale of explosives.
The members are :—Dr. W. H. Nichols, of the General
Chemical Company, New York (chairman); Prof. H. P.
Talbot, head of the chemical department of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology; Mr. W. Hoskins, of
Chicago, a consulting chemist; Prof. H. P. Venable,
of the University of North Carolina; Prof. E. C.
Franklin, of Stanford University; and Dr. C. L. Par-
sons, of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
THE natural history and possibilities of the Murray
River are graphically described in the Victorian
Naturalist for August by Mr. O. W. Rosenhain. A
system of irrigation canals and locks, he points out,
would convert many thousands of miles, now barren
‘waste, into fertile land. He deplores the destructive-
ness of the early settlers, who have destroyed’ millions
of pounds’ worth of trees, the bleached trunks of which
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
now extend along the banks on either side as far as the
eye can reach. A scheme of irrigation has actually
been proposed by which immense areas all along the
Murray, from Echuca to Lake Alexandria, will be
converted into fertile land capable of supporting more
than the whole present population of Australia. At a
rough estimate, it is contended, more than 3,000,000
acres could be transformed into corn and grass land
and flourishing orchards. It is to be hoped, therefore,
that this work of reclamation will not be long delayed.
In January, 1914, two young king penguins, still
in the nestling-down stage, were presented to the Scot-
tish Zoological Society. A very careful study of their
moulting has been made by Prof. J. Cossar Ewart and
Miss Dorothy Mackenzie, and they have placed the
results of their observations on record in the Trans-
actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. lii.,
part i. (1917). So good an opportunity of studying this
stage of the moulting of this species has never fallen
to the lot of any previous workers, and the authors
have made good use of their chance. Perhaps the
most interesting item in this communication is that
concerning the arrested moult, which showed signs of
pe aati in May, when it was four months over-
due, and was not resumed until August. It then
followed its normal course, but the resultant plumage
was scarcely different from that of the adult—that is
to say, the immature dress was skipped. A precisely
similar omission was induced by changing the condi-
tions of the environment in the case of bobolinks by
Mr. W. Beebe in the New York Zoological Gardens
about ten years ago. But here the change was from
nuptial to nuptial plumage, instead of from the nuptial
to the eclipse, er “winter,” plumage. The authors,
by the way, scarcely seem to have grasped the nature
of these plumages, to judge from their comments
thereon. Nor is their comparison between the king-
fisher and the king penguin likely to be regarded by
ornithologists as more happy. We cannot answer for:
the Neo-Lamarckians, but we find it difficult to believe
that such a one “might even assert that, notwith-:
standing the necessity to moult, birds have long been
endeavouring not only to obtain as brilliant a plumage
as rig ag but to wear fine feathers all the year
round.” ':
Wart disease of potatoes (Chrysophlyctis endio-
bioticum) has iong been known in this country,
but in recent years it has become much more
prevalent, owing partly to the popularity of certain
varieties of potatoes which are now known to be highly ©
susceptible to the disease. Fortunately for the potato-
growing industry in many parts of the country, it
has been found that certain varieties of potatoes are
absolutely immune. With the view of ascertaining
the character of each variety in this respect, the Board
of Agriculture has carried out in each of the last
three years extensive field trials of. varieties at Orms-
kirk, which is the centre of an important potato-
growing district that has suffered serious losses through
the ravages of the disease in recent years. A report
on the three years’ trials has now been published in
the November issue of the Journal of the Board
of Agriculture, and is issued separately as Food Pro-
duction Leaflet No. 21. The report gives a detailed
account of the trials, the results of which are of the
greatest practical value. Brief notes on the chief
immune varieties are appended.
Tue fourteenth annual report of the West of Scot.
land Agricultural College ¢omprises a series of reports
on experimental work and other matters which have
engaged the attention of the staff. These reports have
312.
NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917
been issued as separate bulletins during the past year,
and some have already received notice here. Special
interest attaches to the report by Prof. R. A. Berry on
the results of experiments with cows and dairy pro--
duce, of which it is only possible to mention the studies
of the variation in the character of milk throughout
the lactation period, and the separate study of the
changes in the composition of Cheddar cheese during
ripening.
Utilisation and Eradication of Braclken '* adds very
materially to previous knowledge on this important
subject. Special attention must also be directed to
the exhaustive report on medicinal plants by Mr. A.
Hosking, to which is appended a very comprehensive
_ list of hardy herbs, trees, and shrubs used in medicine.
The concluding report by Principal Paterson on experi-
ments in the manuring of oats is very illuminating as
to the possibility of raising the average yield of oats
in Scotland by the judicious use of manures. The
average yield on the fully manured plots in these ex-
periments was about 30 per cent. above that obtained
on the unmanured plots, and fully 33 per cent. in
advance of the average yield for Scotland.
Tue first number has reached us of the Journal of
Dairy Science. This publication, which is of American
origin (Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co.; Lon-
don : Cambridge University Press), is intended to serve
as the official organ of the American Dairy Science
Association, and to be the medium for scientific dis-
cussion of the problems connected with dairying. The
value of such a journal, if conducted on the right lines,
must be very great, for in it the higher chemical and
bacterial questions can be dealt with in a manner
which is scarcely possible in the publications which are
at present available.
the text of the address delivered at the opening of the
new dairy buildings of the University of Nebraska.
The subject-matter of the address is well chosen, and
the striking facts brought. forward by Prof. R.A.
Pearson are worthy, of close consideration, par-
‘ticularly at the present time. Messrs. R. S. Breed
and W. A. Stocking write on the results of a large
number of bacterial analyses of milk. Special atten-
tion is directed to the errors which arise in making
the counts, and the varying results obtained by the
direct and plate methods in the hands of different
workers. A very full report is made by the Committee
on Statistics of Millk and Cream Regulations regarding
the ordinances which obtain in the cities and towns
of the United States. This report is of special interest
as showing on what lines those responsible for the
local administration of dairy laws and regulations are
working. It is to be hoped that English dairy inves-
tigators will support and contribute to this publication,
for the questions they have to elucidate are largely
those which concern all nations. :
' Tue Department of Statistics of Calcutta has pub-
lished vol. ii. of the agricultural statistics of India
for 1914-15, which deals with the area under crops,
live stock, land revenue assessment, and transfers of
- land in the Native States. Unfortunately, this volume
is much less complete than vol. i., which dealt with
British India.
given as 777,000 square miles, but agricultural statis-
tics are available only for one-sixth of that area.
Detailed statistics are given, however, of the States
which furnish returns.
WE have received from the Brooklyn Institute of
Arts and Science a copy of a short illustrated guide
to the geographical models in the Children’s Museum
in Bedford Park, Brooklyn, New York. The models,
which seem to number eleven, are attempts to present
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
A further report by Prof. Berry on ‘*The
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, has co.
opinions of a number of engineers and others thi
‘tions should be referred. All agreed that mean
The first article in the journal is
The total area of the Native States is
scenes from different lands, so chosen as to illustr
simply and in a striking way the relation of m
his surroundings. The scenes represented are
Greenland, Lapland, Antarctica, the South Seas,
tral Australia, the Brazilian forests, the Sahara, |
Africa, Patagonia, and the hills of Afghanistan.
far as can be judged by the photographs of the me
they are well executed, but much of their value
necessarily depend on colouring and perspective.
indication of the scale is given, but we gathe
the models are life-size.
~Unper ‘the title of ‘‘The Use of Mean Sea-le\
the Datum. for Elevations,’ Mr. E. L. Jones, of
out the United States on the datum to which
level should, be chosen, and that it should be ado
without further delay. Great confusion arises in
places owing to the number of datum lines
Thus, in Salt Lake City the corporation, the
bureau, and the two railway companies all use
levels of reference. To facilitate the adoption
sea-level as the standard, Mr. Jones points ou
is essential that precise levelling should be
over the whole of the United States. At pre
entirely inadequate, being only 1-2 miles per too s
miles of territory. The extension of the net, as qu
as possible, would allow arbitrary data to
carded, and would result in increased useft
American maps. The paper is published as
the United States Coast and Geodetie Survey
As a seismic region, the Middle Mississi é
will always be of interest owing to the series of ¢
earthquakes which occurred at New Madrid in
years 1811 and 1812. Since then, few ye:
passed without one or more slight shocks i
trict, one of the strongest being that which oc
on April 9 last. This earthquake, which is
described by Mr. R. H. Finch in the current
of the Seismological Society of America (v
pp- 91-96), is chiefly remarkable for its extensive dis-
turbed area. Though the damage caused by the shock
was slight, the earthquake was felt over a distt
covering about 200,000 square miles. - The
infers in consequence that the origin was deeply :
In the same bulletin Dr. Otto Klotz makes
suggestions for the study of earthquakes in the -
States. He insists on the importance of promp:
lication of monthly bulletins by the numerous ol
tories in the country, and recommends the fou
of a‘central bureau in Washington. Mr. Ham
short paper (pp. 113-18) shows how frequently ear
quakes are now occurring in southern and easter
California. ;
fa
_ ATTENTION may be directed to a very fine geolo
and topographical atlas of the Gympie Goldfields ©
the Chief Government Geologist, recently issued by
Queensland Geological Survey. This atlas comp
thirty-six sheets, drawn to the somewhat inconve
scale of 1/4752, or six chains to the inch, beauti
executed, and apparently worked out in elaborate
with the utmost care. The district is one of the
important of the goldfields of Queensland, whic
one time produced a good deal of alluvial gold, t
more recently its output has been chie reef.
derived from veins of quartz connected genetical
would seem, with a group of altered diabasic 1
tuffs, etc. The geological relations of these rocks
the adjoining slates, etc., are well brought out by
series of maps. in)
fe DECEMBER 20, 1917]
NATURE
313;
Tue Geological Survey of Egypt has just issued the
third part of its catalogue of invertebrate fossils in the
_ Cairo Museum, by M. R. Fourtau.
It comprises the
Cretaceous bivalved shells, and is illustrated by seven
beautiful plates. -As in the previous parts, M. Fourtau
uses ific names in a rather wide sense, being con-
vinced that by this means it is easier to appreciate
the relationships of a fauna than by peering names
to denote minute differences. He is also inclined to
use familiar and generally adopted names, instead of |
_. adhering strictly to the law of priority. His final table,
illustrating the geological and geographical distribu-
tion of the fossils, includes r7o forms, of which not
more than forty-two are peculiar to: the Egyptian de-
posits. Four fresh-water shells are, curiously, found
among them. The variable shells of the oysters are
especially interesting, and good drawings of these
occupy most of the plates. There are parallel varia-
tions in the different species depending on the several
identical conditions ames which they lived. Both the
Survey and the author are to be congratulated on the
mass of new facts they have brought together, and on
the admirable manner in which these are published.
VoLw xxx. of the Compte rendu of the Société de
Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle of Geneva contains a
paper by Dr. A. Schidlof on a source of error which
may be present.in the determination of the electronic
charge by Millikan’s method. When fine drops of
mercury are produced by blowing a gas through the
liquid, they are found immediately after production to
have a density identical with that of the liquid, but
_. after a time their apparent density decreases consider-
ably owing to the formation of a layer of oxide or of
condensed gas on the surface. Dr. Schidlof points out
_that the same change may occur in the oil drops used
by Millikan, and considers that the numbers given by
Millikan show a progressive diminution of the elec-
tronic charge as the experiments continue, which
could be explained by the formation on the oil drops
of mean radius 5-10-* cm. of a layer of thickness .
Io~* cm., ity 0-3. He considers that the true
value of the electronic charge lies between 4-775 x 10-1”
—the value given by Millikan—and 4-8 x 10-'°.
Tue Manchester Steam Users’ Association has just
published its chief engineer’s memorandum for
1916-17. Among other subjects discussed by Mr. C. E.
Stromeyer is the action of caustic liquors on steel plates.
Some rings were cut out of a solid plate, and were
bored with a tapering hole; others had a tapering
outside, and were forced into the first set of rings
so that the external rings were under tension and the
internal gee under compression, After treatment in
a caustic-soda evaporator, the rings were cut up into
small segments, and of each ring one short piece was
bent inwards and the other outwards. The results
* were very consistent. All those which were in a com-
pressed condition when exposed to the caustic bent
double without the least sign of cracking; those under
tension, when to the caustic, cracked in in-
numerable places when bent. These cracks appeared
both on the outer surface, which was in direct contact
with the caustic, and on the inner surface, which was
not in contact with the caustic, but was pressing hard
inst the compressed inner ring. Evidently, there-
fore, the influence of the caustic had penetrated through
% in. of metal. Mr. Stromeyer suggests that the
action of caustic soda may have been the cause of the
cracking of boiler plates in certain instances, and has
also several suggestive remarks regarding the design
_ of autoclaves used for the production of certain coal-
tar dyes by treatment with strong caustic solutions.
A number of autoclaves have been made from drawings
found in Continental text-books, and these designs are
nearly all faulty.
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
THE APPROACHING SHOWER OF JANUARY METEORS
(QuaDRANTIDS).—This shower will probably reappear
on the nights following January 2 and 3. The best
time to observe it will probably be on the early evening
of January 3. Mr. T. W. Backhouse, of Sunderland,
who has devoted much attention to this meteoric sys-
tem during a long period of years, concludes that the
maximum will occur on the morning of January 3.
At that time, however, the gibbous moon will be shin-
ing and high in the sky. On the evening of the date
mentioned our ~ satellite will not rise until between
10 and 11 p.m., and in the dark sky between about
5-30 and 7 p.m. meteors should be abundant. The
radiant point at 232~+52° (8° S. of « Draconis) will
be due north at about 8.40 p.m., at an altitude of
only 14° seen from the latitude of Greenwich.
The Quadrantid shower is sometimes very rich,
though its principal activity is of very brief duration,
and it is seldom well observed owing to the generally
clouded English skies at this particular period of the
year.
OBSERVATIONS OF 8 Lyr#&.—A valuable series of ob-
servations of the well-known variable star, B Lyre,
has been made at Catania by A. Bemporad (Mem. Soc.
Spett. Ital., September—October, 1917). The principal
mean results of the observations during 1911-12 are
as follows :—
Bee: Interval
: eer Mag. Julian day in days
First principal minimum 4°39 2419,227°51 16-266
First maximum 3°54 230°575 os 5
Second minimum 3°87 233°65 ~<-3°075
Second maximum Sao Ae Ge 237°35 Sa
Second principal minimum... 4°39 240°43 <3
The total range of variation was thus 0-85 mag., and
there were indications that the second maximum was
brighter than the first by about o-oz2 mag. While the
light-curve about the principal minimum was practic-
ally symmetrical, the descent to the secondary mini-
mum was more rapid than the rise to the succeeding
maximum.
RapiaL VELocitigs oF StTaR CLusTERS.—At the
Albany meeting of the American Astronomical Society
Dr. Slipher announced some important results: which
he has obtained relating to the radial velocities of star
clusters (Journ. R.A.S., Canada, vol. xi., p. 335).
The instrumental equipment was that previously em-
ployed by him, with marked success, for spiral nebulz.
Ten clusters have been observed, and the velocities
range from -—410 to +225 km. per sec. The
mean velocity, taken without regard to sign, is
150 km. per sec. As in the case of spiral
nebulae, the high velocities observed suggest the possi-
bility that the clusters are distinct from our own
sidereal universe.
PARALLAX OF THE RING NEBULA IN Lyra.—An attempt
to determine the parallax of the central star of the ’
Lyra nebula has been made by Mr. A. van Maanen,
with the aid of photographs taken with the 6o0-in.
reflector at Mt. Wilson (Popular Astronomy, vol. xxv.,
p- 630). Nine comparison stars were utilised, and the
resulting relative parallax is given as +0002” +0-005".
The absolute parallax would be 0-004”, and as there is
practically no doubt as to the association of the star and
nebula, this indicates enormous dimensions for the
nebula itself, namely, 330 and 250 times the diameter
of the orbit of Neptune for the major and minor axes.
Taking 14:1 as the visual magnitude of the central star,
the above parallax leads to the low value of +7-1 for
the absolute magnitude.
314
NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917
AERONAUTICS AND INVENTION.
THE names of thé members of the Air Inventions
Committee appointed by Lord Cowdray, the late
President of the Air Board, were announced last week.
They are as follows:—Mr. Horace Darwin, F.R.S.
(chairman), Maj.-Gen. Luck, C.B., C.M.G. (vice-chair-
man), Sir Dugald Clerk, K.B.E., F.R.S., Sir Richard
Glazebrook, F.R.S., Prof. H. L. Callendar, F.R.S.,
Prof. C. H. Lees, F.R.S., Prof. J. E. Petavel, F.R.S.,
Mr. L. Bairstow, C.B.E., F.R.S., Lt.-Com. Wim-
peris, R.N.V.R., Major G. Taylor, R.F.C., Capt. B. M.
’ Jones, R.F.C., Capt. A. V. Hill, Munitions Inventions
Department, Mr. J. P. Millington, and Mr. F. W.
Lanchester. The main function of the Committee is
to investigate inventions submitted to it. It will de-
velop and put into operation as soon as possible any
invention which promises to add. to the efficiency of
aircraft. Communications regarding inventions or
ideas should be forwarded to the Air Inventions Com-
mittee, No. 2 Clement’s Inn, W.C.2. There is no
doubt that under such an expert Committee any new .
inventions that may be submitted will be adequately
considered and speedily put to practical use if they
are of value. ;
The Geographical Review for November, published
by the American Geographical Society of New York,
contains an excellent article on ‘‘ Aeronautical Maps
and Aerial Transportation,’ pointing out the great
necessity which has arisen for aeronautical maps.
Maps are of the utmost importance in naval and mili-
tary operations, and the recent progress of aviation has
made them equally important in aerial warfare. The
practicability of long flights was amply demonstrated
by the recent bombing expedition carried out by a
Handley-Page machine, which flew from England to
Constantinople in a series of eight flights, the total
distance covered being nearly 2000 miles. To carry
out such a flight with certainty the pilot must have
good maps of the country over which he is to fly, and
they should be special maps showing the country as
seen from above, and indicating those landmarks
which are most easily identified from a height. The
Geographical Review gives a brief account of the vari-
ous types of.map in current use for aeronautical work,
and prophesies that the work of making an aero-
nautical map of the world will have to be undertaken
in the very near future. The accuracy of aerial photo-
graphy is mentioned, and it is pointed out that such
photography gives an excellent method of mapping a
country—a method which is much more rapid than
the older surveying processes, and is quite accurate
enough for all practical purposes. The question of
air routes and their regulation is dealt with at some
length, and extensive quotations are given from Lord
Montagu’s recent lecture on this subject. The main
point of interest of the article, however, is that deal-
ing with the necessity of aeronautical maps, as there
seems little doubt that the coming of peace will in-
augurate a period in which flying will rank as one of
the primary means of rapid conveyance, both national
and international, and complete maps will then be
absolutely indispensable.
Further details of the 2000-mile flight from London
to Constantinople have now been made known as a
result of a meeting held to. celebrate this record flight.
Mr. Handley-Page said that the machine used was a
Handley-Page twin tractor biplane, fitted with two
275 h.p. Rolls-Royce engines. The weight of the
machine “light” was 8000 lb., and fully loaded for
flight 14,000 lb., so that the useful load carried—prob-
ably including fuel—was 6000 Ib. The machine carried
a crew of five: the pilot, second pilot, engineer, and
two mechanics, together with their luggage and bed-
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
ding. A very compréhensive set of spare parts
also carried to render the machine independent of local
supplies in the event of a breakdown. Amongst oth
things, three spare radiators, three spare wheels,
two spare propellers were included. This , flight
Constantinople is a world’s record for a long-distan
military flight, but there seems no reason why
should not be repeated, as no very great difficulties a
seem to have been experienced. The question of 4
vulnerability to attack from the enemy’s lighter —
machines will need careful attention if such flights are
to become common. Heavy machines are generally —
under-powered as compared with light fighters, and
have consequently much less climbing speed and flexi-
bility of control. There will probably be a greater need
for such machines after the war, and the present ~~
achievement leaves no doubt whatever that the em-
ployment of large machines for commercial purposes is —
already within the limits of possibility, — 0 ae a
A very interesting article under the title ‘‘La Liaison —
aérienne et la Télégraphie sans Fil en Avion chez les
Allemands ’ appears in La Nature for December 8.
The importance of an effective liaison between the
aeroplanes and their bases in connection with the ~
regulation of artillery fire and the control of infantry
attacks is discussed, and the early attempts to attain —
this end by visual signals is mentioned. Such signals —
necessitate that the aeroplane should fly practically over
its base, and are therefore much limited in application. —
The method of dropping messages in special tubes
suffers from the same disadvantage. For long-distance —
raids carrier-pigeons have been successfully employed.
Wireless telegraphy has: now solved the problem satis- —
factorily for reasonable distances. The reception of
messages on the aeroplane has yet to be ‘accomplished, —
the noise of the engine making the ordinary methods —
useless, and visual signals are still relied upon asa
means of communication from. the ground to the
machine. The wireless apparatus in use on ( an 7
machines is very compact and well designed. Current,
both continuous and alternating, is supplied by a small
generator, driven by an airscrew or “windmill,” this
method of driving being preferred to direct coupling to —
the engine, in spite of its lower efficiency, because it —
enables the set to be used while the machine is gliding
with the engine off. The total weight of the wireless
set is only 40 lb., and transmission is possible at two —
different intensities and three different wave-lengths. —
This provision is made in order that more than one —
aeroplane may operate in a given area. The sch
of the set is about twenty-five miles. ~It is impossible
.to give full details of the apparatus in this brief notice,
but the original article in La Nature should be read’ —
by all who are interested in the application of wireless’
telegraphy to fire-control from aircraft. :
4!
i
THE PEOPLING OF MELANESIA.
N'a new work on the anthropogeography of the —
Pacific,» Mr. Churchill returns to the problems: ~
which he essayed to solve in his former’ works on ~
‘*The Polynesian Wanderings ”’ and ‘‘ Easter Island ”’
(cf. NaTuRE, August 10 and September 21, 1911, and
August 14, 1913). In these he postulated a passage
of the Polynesians through the Pacific in two streams,
‘one passing to the north, the other to the south of —
New Guinea, and meeting in the Samoa-Tonga region,
‘whence they dispersed to the far-eastern Pacific. “The ~
present work discusses the migration within and
‘through: the Melanesian region. Cie
Sissano is a place on the north of New Guinea, a
: 1 “Sissano: Movements of Migration within and through Melanesia.’?)
; By William Churchill. Pp. 18x+xvii charts. (Washington: The Carnegie
{ Institution of Washington, 1916.) eae ‘<
ee.
fi
Br
ee _DEcEMBER 20, 1917]
Ave
=
NATURE
345
little to the east of the Dutch-German boundary. It
is regarded by the author as a place of exit for the
- northern migration from Indonesia, and he quotes in
full an account of the people by Neuhauss. A
vocabulary in the latier’s work, ‘‘Neu-Guinea ”’
(probably derived from the trader Schulz, described
by Neuhauss as a ‘‘drunkard ’’ and by Friederici as
*‘a man of no particular intelligence ’’), is, when cor-
rected by a shorter list of Friederici’s, the basis of
Mr. Churchill’s argument.
Although the words discussed are so few (about 34),
‘the author belittles the existing Melanesian vocabula-
ries, and icy ay (without authority) that others—
Codrington, Ray, and Friederici—have based their
conclusions on these scanty lists,
Mr, Churchill totally ignores the structure of the
languages, and does not distinguish between
Melanesian and non-Melanesian languages. His lists
of cognate words are designed to show their varia-
tion from simple stems which the author finds in the
Polynesian forms.. Thus makan, ‘‘eat,’’ is derived
from ani; tebu, ‘‘sugar-cane,’’ from to. Such deriva-
tions are impossibie in Indonesian philology. The
_ former presence of Polynesians throughout Indonesia
is regarded as established by the tables. The author
supposes them to have been expelled from the archi-
pelago by a more cultured people from the mainland
of Asia, who assumed some elements of the Polynesian
speech, ,
Mr. Churchill’s comparisons of Melanesian and
Polynesian words are open to the same objection as
those from Indonesia, for he wili not admit that
Polynesian is secondary to Melanesian. He traverses
Friederici’s suggestion of a Melanesian migration
round the eastern end of New Guinea through Vitiaz
Strait (cf. Nature, December 5, 1913). The whole
of the eastern part of the south coast of New
Guinea is regarded by the author-as belonging to
* Torres Straits, and the languages there are said to
be more Polynesian towards the west. For the
western part (i.e. the real Torres Straits region) he
says there are no records, and hence he supposes that
Polynesian survivals may be found there. This is to
support the contention of a Polynesian migration
through Torres Straits. But’ all the languages of
New Guinea from the narrows of the Straits to the
first Melanesian settlements at Cape Possession are
known, and show no Polynesian survivals.
As to the island region of-Melanesia, Mr. Churchill
quotes from Dr. Rivers’s ‘‘ Melanesian Society ’’ the
chapter on kava and betel, but wili not allow a
possible origin of the kava culture in Melanesia.
Mr. Churchill’s book is interesting, especially in its
descriptive parts, and his views as to the directions
of the migrations are clearly set forth in a series of
charts. He does not disguise the difficulties of his
thesis, but his desire to establish the pre-eminence of
Polynesian among the languages of the Pacific has
caused him to overlook many details which seriously
militate against the soundness of his argument.
Stpney H. Ray.
CANADIAN EXPLORATION.
OME information on the work of the Canadian
Arctic Expedition additional to that already pub-
lished appears in the Geographical Review for October
(vol. iv., No. 4). The whole of the coast-line from
Cape Bathurst to the eastern end of Coronation Gulf,
except Cape Parry peninsula, was surveyed on a scale
of ten miles to an inch. The surveys were extended
to include Croker River and Rae River. Other sur-
veys included much ofthe Mackenzie delta. The most
important geological research of the southern party,
with whose work this paper bv Mr. R. M. Anderson
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
| deals, was the investigation of the copper-bearing
rocks in the region of Bathurst Inlet. They occur on
Banks Peninsula and most of the islands to the north
of it. Though the ore so far discovered is of low
| grade, Dr. O'Neill, the geologist of the expedition,
| estimated the amount of ore at more than two billion
| tons, and believes that it can be profitably utilised.
| Water transport round Alaska would be long and un-
| certain, but a short railway to Great Bear Lake would
| probably solve the difficulty of export. The article is
illustrated with two sketch maps and a number of
valuable photographs,
The Geological Survey of Canada has published, as
Memoir 84, a volume by Mr. C. Camsell on an ex-
ploration of the Tazin and Taltson Rivers in the North-
West Territories. The exploration of this region be-
tween Lake Athabaska and the Great Slave Lake was
undertaken by the author in 1914 by a canoe traverse
from south to north. compass survey was made
and checked almost daily by sextant observations. The
report is mainly geological and is accompanied by a
| geological map on a scale of 8 in, to a mile, and by a
| number of good illustrations. Neither the Tazin nor
| the Taltson proves to be: navigable, except for short
_ stretches, on account of falls and strong rapids. The '
| country abounds in lakes. The lack of soil, apart
| from climatic difficulties, makes agriculture impos-
| sible. The inhabitants are a few nomadic Indians '
_ of the Chipewyan and Dogrib stocks.
| nee
| EFFECTS OF STORAGE UPON COAL,
FURTHER contribution to the study of the effect
of storage on the properties of bituminous coals
| has been issued from the Engineering Experimental
Station, University of Illinois (Bull. 97). Prof. S. W.
Parr, who has been associated with Wheeler, Barker,
and Kressman in a series of experiments started in
1g10, summarises the conclusions arrived at, and re-
cords further investigations; more particularly of in-
terest are those on the action of pyrites and the tests
of weathered coals under boilers. The general conclu-
sions that freshly mined coal has a large absorptive
capacity for oxygen, the degree being dependent on
the character of the coal; that the rate of absorption
depends upon fineness of division and temperature; that
such oxidation leads to slight increase of temperature,
and if not radiated more rapidly than generated the
action accelerates to a dangerous point (180° F. is
named), have for some time been recognised as the
main causes of spontaneous ignition. Parr concludes
that the well-recognised loss of thermal value on
storage is more apparent than real, being largely due
to increase of weight due to oxygen absorption.
Much difference of opinion exists as to the part
played by pyrites (FeS,) in promoting heating. Experi- _
ments are recorded showing the increase of soluble
sulphates in coal. of various grades of fineness on
storage. Fine grades! show marked increase, but
only in one case of coal passing a ten-mesh sieve was
any increase noted. It is concluded that to lead to
sulphur oxidation two conditions are necessary: fine-
ness of division and presence of moisture. It had
been previously shown that the oxidation of 0-5 per
cent. of sulphur produced. sufficient heat to raise the
coal, not allowing for radiation losses, about 125° F.
Finely divided pyrites, therefore, may well materially
assist in promoting heating by itself, raising the tem-
perature to such a point that oxygen absorption is
greatly accelerated. It is shown that whilst the heat-
ing value of stored coal is materially reduced, such
weathered coal gives over-all boiler efficiencies as high
as fresh coal, provided a higher draught is used and
the fire kept thin and clear of the water-back of the
grate, otherwise clinker trouble is experienced.
316
- NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917 _
THE NITROGEN PROBLEM AND THE
WORK OF THE NITROGEN PRODUCTS
COMMITTEE.}
The Nitrogen Problem.
“He war has served to bring into special promin-
ence the fundamental importance of nitrogen
compounds, not only for munitions, but also for agri-
culture. ?
Nitrogen is an essential constituent of practically all
modern explosives, both of the so-called high-explosives
and of propellants. The manufacture of the vast, quan-
tities that have been calied for by the present condi-
tions of warfare has led to an unprecedented demand
for various nitrogen compounds.
Nitrogen is also an essential constituent of all vege-
tation, and the world’s production of food is becoming
more and more dependent upon the utilisation of nitro-
genous fertilisers. The world’s consumption of such
materials appears practically to double every ten years,
and in 1913 had attained the large figure of
2,500,000 tons of Chile nitrate and about 1,400,000 tons
of ammonium sulphate. "
-. With the outbreak of war the demand for explosives
‘became of paramount importance, and the requirements
of agriculture for the time being took a secondary posi-
tion. The prospect of a world shortage of food, how-
ever, has served to bring the agricultural aspect of the
problem again into the forefront. In this connection it
is worthy of note that in 1898 Sir William Crookes, in
a carefully reasoned statement, directed attention to
the possibility of a shortage in the wheat supply of the
world and to the vital bearing upon this question of an
adequate supply of nitrogenous fertilisers. oe
_ The researches of Sir William Crookes and the ex-
perimental work of Lord Rayleigh upon the fixation
of atmospheric nitrogen by means of the electric arc
pointed the way to a method of utilising the unlimited
supply of nitrogen in the air, and thus providing against
the time when other natural sources of nitrogen com-
pounds should have become exhausted.
The establishment on a very large scale during the
past twenty years of processes for nitrogen fixation is
one of the most striking electro-chemical developments
of modern times. Special reference may be made to
the arc process as used in Norway, the Haber or
synthetic ammonia process developed in Germany, and
to the cyanamide process for the manufacture of nitro-
lim from calcium carbide as carried on in Norway,
Sweden, France, Italy, Germany, and the United
States.
In spite of the fact that the incentive to the com-
mercial establishment of nitrogen fixation maybe said
to have originated in this country, no steps were taken
in the United Kingdom to obtain nitrogen compounds
other than cyanides synthetically. The ammonia re-
covered at gasworks and coke-ovens has constituted
practically the only form of combined nitrogen pro-
duced in this country. During the war the command
of the seas has hitherto enabled Great Britain to rely
entirely upon importation for the whole of our sup-
plies of nitrate of soda, the most important raw mate-
rial of our explosives industry. The Central Powers,
on the contrary, having been cut off from external sup-
plies, were compelled to fall back upon their internal
resources, with the result that nitrogen fixation pro-
cesses, some of which were established commercially
before the war, have been developed upon an enormous ©
scale. -
Formation of the Nitrogen Products Committee,
Soon after the formation of the Munitions Inventions
Department in August, 1915, proposals for the fixation
1 Abridged from a Report. printed for the Munitions Inventions Depart-
ment by H.M. Stationery Office.
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
of nitrogen began to be received from inventors. T
schemes were referred to the Chemical Invention:
Committee of the Advisory Panel, but as they we
isolated applications of the general problem and’ w
of limited scope, they did not immediately lead to a
definite line of policy being taken upon the questi
The importance of the problem was recognised, ho
ever, and the attention of the Minister was direc
to it from time to time in the monthly departmen
reports. bik
The inauguration of the submarine campaign in —
February, 1916, and the grave menace to overseas —
supplies of nitrates emphasised the importance of —
taking action on the matter. At this opportune —
moment a memorandum on the nitrogen problem was —
submitted to the Department by the Faraday Society. —
Several conferences were held to discuss the steps that —
should be taken, and as a result the Nitrogen Pro- —
ducts Committee was constituted in the following June. —
Members of the Advisory Panel, representatives o
other Departments of the Ministry of Munitions and
of the Government, and delegates of the leading scien-—
tific societies were invited to serve. The terms of
reference to the Committee were as follows:—
(1) To consider the relative advantages for this cou
try and for the Empire of the various methods for the
fixation of atmospheric nitrogen from the point of view
of both war and peace purposes; to ascertain their
relative costs, and to advise on proposals relevan
thereto which may be submitted to the department.
(2) To examine into the supply of the raw material:
required, e.g. pure nitrogen and hydrogen, and into 1
utilisation of the by-products obtained. — est
(3) Since some of the processes employed depe
for their success on the provision of large supplies
cheap power, to ascertain where and how this can
be obtained. ae
(4) To consider what steps can with advantage be
taken to conserve and increase the national resources
in nitrogen-bearing compounds and to limit their
wastage. aE
(s) To carry out the experimental work necessary to —
arrive at definite conclusions as to the practicability —
and efficiency of such processes as may appear to the
Committee to be of value. Ae ie et
(6) As a result of the foregoing steps, to advise as _
_to starting operations on an industrial scale. 9°
Nitrogen Fixation Research, 3
The necessity for research was evident from the out-
set, and the department at once took steps for the —
organisation of a suitable research staff and the ~
acquisition of a laboratory. Fortunately, the co-opera- —
tion of the authorities of University College was —
secured, and a part of the new Ramsay Laboratory, —
at that time scarcely completed,’ was placed at the
disposal of the department. Se
he item placed first on the research programme —
was a complete investigation into the production of |
synthetic ammonia by the Haber process. This deci-'—
sion was influenced by the claims made for the process —
and by the commanding position it occupies in Ger- —
many, where the economic conditions as regards coal ©
supplies and the comparative absence of water-power
are similar to those in Great Britain. Moreover, the —
almost complete lack of precise information concern-
ing the commercial details of this process made it
apparent that the research would present many un-
known factors, and was therefore likely to occupy a
considerable time. sek aS
Towards the end of the year the Committee came to
the conclusion that the ammonia oxidation process was _
well adapted as an emergency measure for securing
quickly a considerable output of nitric acid or nitrates.
Although already working with more or less success —
“A
DECEMBER 20, 1917]
NATURE
317
. upon the Continent, the process had not at that time
been operated in this country. A systematic investiga-
_ tiori of the most recent developments of the -process
was therefore undertaken.
Many important problems have arisen in connection
with the two main researches indicated above. Refer-
--ence may be made to such questions as the most
efficient and commercially practicable catalysts for the
mthesis of ammonia and for ammonia oxidation, and
commercial preparation in bulk and at a suffi-
ciently low cost of hydrogen of the high degree of
purity required for the synthesis of ammonia.
_ Interim Report of the Committee.
“In view of the magnitude and complexity of the
- problem, the Committee was unable immediately to
raaiegg a complete report. Certain definite conclusions
ad been arrived at, however, and these, together
with recommendations thereon, were embodied in a
unanimous interim report, which was submitted to the
Minister of Munitions. in February, 1917. The sub-
oA
stance of the recommendations is given below.
(a) By-product Ammonia.—The importance of in-
creasing the output of by-product ammonia for muni-
tions and for agriculture was pointed out. Steps were
indicated whereby an increase could be obtained from
existing gasworks and coke-oven plants. It was also
recommended that action should be taken to avoid the
loss. of ammonia known to be occurring in certain
- districts.
_-{b) Ammonia Oxidation Process.—The erection at
the earliest possible moment of plant capable of pro-
ducing in the aggregate at least 10,000 tons of nitri¢
acid per annum from gasworks or coke-oven ammonia
was recommended. _
- (¢) Cyanamide Process.—The erection of a factory
having an annual output of the order of 50,000 tons of
cvanamide was recommended, the cyanamide to be
utilised as such for agriculture or for the production
of ammonia.
(d) Synthetic Ammonia Process.—The erection of a
full-sized trial unit plant for the synthetic ammonia
process was recommended. fever '
The Minister of Munitions invited members of the
Committee to meet him, and the recommendations of
the interim report were discussed in detail. At the
conclusion of this meeting the Minister appointed a
small Executive Committee to supervise the action in-
volved in giving effect to his decisions, and to report
- to him from time to time upon the progress made.
The Minister’s Decisions and the Action Taken
; Thereon.
~The Minister’s decisions were as follows :—
_ (a) By-product Ammonia.—The Committee was re-
_ quested to deal with the problem of conserving
of the r .
~ (b) Ammonia Ozidation Process.—The Ministry of
Munitions would undertake the installation of one
Government plant on the lines suggested, or, if the
Committee so advised, the Ministry would agree to the
erection of plants by suitable private firms. The in-
formation resulting from the research work was to be
placed freely at the disposal of bona-fide manufac-
ammonia and of augmenting the output on the lines
tions ¥
turers, but was not to become the exclusive property
of any firm or group of firms.
(c) Cyanamide Process.—The Committee was re-
. quested to investigate the relative merits of a Govern-
ment scheme and of other schemes that had been put
forward involving private enterprise, and to submit a
*report embodying definite proposals.
_ (d) Synthetic Ammonia -Process.—The erection.of the
full-sized trial unit was authorised. - f
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
In earrying out these decisions the Executive Com-
mittee dealt first with the problem of conserving and
increasing the output of by-product ammonia. The
next step taken was to summon a conference of manu-
facturers likely to be interested in the ammonia oxida-
tion process, as a good deal of useful information had
been collected regarding it and the research work had
already reached a semi-commercial stage. Encourag-
ing progress continued to be made with the research,
and arrangements and plans were made for the erec-
tion in London. of a trial plant consisting of a single
commercial unit designed to give an output of one ton
of strong nitric acid per day. At this stage the work
of establishing the process on a commercial scale for
the manufacture of nitric acid and ammonium nitrate
was handed over to the Explosives Department at its
request in August, 1917. The work of investigation
however, has been continued at the research laboratory
as several important aspects of the process still remain
to be explored.
With regard to the manufacture of cyanamide, the
Executive Committee came to the conclusion that the
schemes involving private enterprise did not adequately
fulfil the ends in view, and recommended the erection
of a factory by the Government. The committee pro-
ceeded to collect further information on cyanamide
processes in actual operation, and representatives pro-
ceeded overseas for this purpose. Complete details:
of a scheme involving a large-scale factory with elec-
tric power station are now in course of preparation
for submission to the Minister of Munitions.
Meanwhile a considerable amount of work had beer
carried out in connection with the synthesis of am-
monia, including a detailed investigation of the whole
of the conditions governing the process, and of the —
efficiency and life of numerous catalysts. These
studies led to the devising of a method of working
whereby the output of ammonia per unit of catalyst
space has been increased to a figure which, so far as
is known, exceeds anything hitherto attained. The
design and erection of a semi-technical unit apparatus
embodying a number of novel features, with the neces-
sary pumps, circulators, gas-holders, etc., were then
undertaken. It is expected that the operation of this
unit, which is now at work, will enable the remaining
problems as to the chemical engineering details in-
volved in the design of the full-sized trial unit
authorised by the Minister to be definitely settled.
Research upon the preparation of pure hydrogen in
bulk has been carried on conjointly with the above
investigations, and arrangements have already been
made for the trial on a semi-commercial scale of a
process that has siven very promising results in the
laboratory. f
Nitrogen in Sulphuric Acid Manufacture.
An important practical outcome of the conferences |
with manufacturers has been the introduction of
ammonia oxidation plant to take the place of the nitre-
pots used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid by the
leaden chamber process. In pre-war times the annual
consumption of Chile nitrate for this purpose amounted
to 18,000 tons. With the present increased output of
sulphuric acid the consumption is greater, so that the
possible saving of overseas freight is appreciable.
One of the small converters designed in, and made
for, the Departmental Research Laboratory has been
installed at the sulphuric acid works of Messrs.
Brunner, Mond, and Co., and has been working satis-
factorily for some months. The firm is now arranging
to adapt similar converters to the whole of their leaden
chambers. The United Alkali Co., the South Metro-
politan Gas Co., and others are making arrangements
to adopt the process, and are utilising two types
converter to the laboratory designs. Drawings have
318
NATURE
\
[| DECEMBER 20, 1917
also. been placed at the disposal of the Explosives De-
partment for the benefit of other controlled establish-
ments.
The apparatus is compact; the expense involved in
its installation, apart from ammonia purification plant,
is comparatively small, and its operation is simple.
Arrangements have therefore been made for the rapid
manufacture of the converters likely to be required,
since it is believed that these designs may become
standard types for the purpose in question. An ex-
planatory pamphlet, compiled by the research staff and
embodying detailed information concerning the con-
struction and operation of the converters, will be avail-
able shortly for the use of firms which have already
taken up the process or are desirous of doing so.
Further Research.
Up to the present date the research has practically
been confined to the two processes mentioned above
and to problems arising therefrom. The investigations
of the Committee have shown, however, that many
important and promising fields still remain to be ex-.
plored.
In present circumstances all activities have been
concentrated upon processes which have a_ possible
value as war measures, and no attempt has been made
to extend the programme of research beyond such.
limits. In view, however, of the national importance
of the nitrogen problem, both now and in the future,
it is hoped that definite arrangements will be made.
to preserve the continuity of the research after the war.
The Importance of Cheap Electric Power.
It was realised from the outset that the generation
of electric power at a cost decidedly lower than has
hitherto been attained in this country was a vital factor
if an attempt was to be made to establish certain of
the nitrogen fixation industries in Great Britain on a
sound economic basis from the point of view of post-
war competition. A thorough inquiry has therefore
‘been made as to the possibility of cheapening the
production of electric power from coal, not only by
its generation in bulk with the most modern plant,
but also by the use of methods involving carbonisation
and gasification, with recovery of the ammonia, fuel
oils, and other by-products hitherto wasted when raw
coal has been directly used. The sub-committees con-
cerned have had the advantage of obtaining the per-
sonal views of a number of experts who attended to
give evidence on different aspects of the problem. This
ny has been distinctly fruitful, and much detailed
information has been collected.
Schemes for the utilisation of various undeveloped
water-powers in the British Isles for nitrogen
fixation have also been submitted and carefully
examined. At least one of these schemes for hydro-
electric development on a considerable scale presents
prima facie prospects of becoming a valuable national
asset. The Power Sub-Committee recommended that a
survey should be made of the drainage area in question
with the view of confirming the details of the scheme
as submitted. The survey has recently been completed
and is expected to result in the formulation of a definite
development scheme for the utilisation of this water-
power. It is estimated that the engineering work
involved will take about two years to complete, and
the scheme is therefore to be regarded as a post-war
measure...
Costs of Operating Nitrogen Fixation Processes.
Since many of the nitrogen fixation processes have
not only a value for munitions, but also a post-war
importance, endeavours have been made to investigate
the probable requirements of this country for nitrogen
products. A detailed examination has been made of
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
; to the, question as to the relative order of the
| tion installations on the Continent outside Germany
the production, consuniption, imports, and exports |
such products, and special consideration has been git
involved in operating the synthetic and non-syn
processes.
Most of the information relating to synthetic
cesses has had to be obtained from foreign sour
and the Committee has been able to secure many figure
of an authoritative character. The information thus
collected has been subjected to critical examination ij
the light of manufacturing experience ‘in allied i
tries, and conclusions have been arrived at as to
costs likely to be incurred under British conditions.
The magnitude of this part of the inquiry may be
measured when it is stated that the Committee
possession of comprehensive data concerning the
of manufacture of :— 0 a
(a) Nitric acid and nitrates by the older metho
and by the arc and ammonia oxidation processes;
b) Calcium carbide and cyanamide; = a
8 Ammonia and ammonium sulphate by the Haber
and cyanamide processes ; Baits
(d) Hydrogen and nitrogen; ss
as well as concerning the costs involved in ope
the Chile nitrate and the by-product ammionia i
tries. ; :
Nitrogen Fixation in the United States. —
The action taken by the United States Governm
on the nitrogen question is worthy of notice. Uns
the National Defence Act of 1916 a sum of 4,000,¢
was set aside for the establishment in the United St
of nitrogen fixation on a large scale. Committees
the National Academy of Sciences, and afterwards
the Ordnance Department, were set up. Their advisers
visited England and the more important nitrogen fixa-
Upon the recommendation of their experts, the U.S.A.
War Department has decided to erect forthwith works
for the manufacture of synthetic ammonia by a modi-
fied Haber process. a eer ke i iY
UNIVERSITY AND. EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.) =a ee
Lreps.—At the meeting of the council of the Uni- —
versity, held on November 21, the following extract —
from Prof. Cobb’s annual report as Livesey professor —
and head of the Department of Coal-gas and Fuel In- —
dustries was read :—‘‘ A valuable donation of carbonis- —
ing, washing, and purifying plant has been promised, —
which, in the near future, should prove of very great —
service to the department and the gas industry; but |
the erection of the plant must await the conclusion of —
the war. When installed, this plant is intended to ©
serve as a connecting link between the apparatus of —
the laboratory and plant on the full working scale. —
It should allow of the production of any quality of —
coal-gas and water-gas required for experimental pur- —
poses, and will, moreover, from the possibility of exact —
control and. ready modification of its parts, allow studies
to be made on the influence of varying conditions —
of operation which it is hoped will be of a high order
of usefulness, both for training and research. For this
gift the University is indebted to the generosity of Mr.
Henry Woodall, jun., who expresses himself in a letter
of June 8, 1917, as happy to provide and erect the —
plant, ‘ free of cost, to the University in memory of my
late father and partner, whose interest in the Univer-
sity was very deep and sincere.’” The council accepted —
the offer with great pleasure, and expressed its most ~
sincere thanks to Mr. Woodall for his generous gift. — ‘ 4
ey
‘THE annual meetings of the Geographical Associa- 4
tion are to be held-on January 5 and 7 next at the =
‘a
in
Rie SVR S UT,
ERNE Bye eR, a
mE Ry
7 a
DECEMBER 20, 1917]
NATURE
319
London Day L hrasag 5 College, Southampton Row,
W.C.1, and at King’s College, Strand, W.C.2. At 11.30
a.m. on the first day Mr: Henry Wilson will lecture on
thé crafts of Britain, past and future, and at 3 p.m.
Mr. W. E. Whitehouse will read a paper on map study
in geography and military education. A discussion on
geography in advanced courses; will be held on January
at 10.30 a.m.; and at 5 p.m. on the same day Sir
/. M. Ramsay will deliver his. presidential address on
“The Great Goddess, Mother Earth,’’ at King’s Col-
lege.
THE annual meeting of the Mathematical Associa-
tion will be held at the London Day Training College,
Southampton Row, London, on January 9, at 5.30, and
January 10, at 2.30. On the first day, Dr. W. P.
Milne will deal with the graphical treatment of power
series. On the second day the following subjects will
be considered :—Dr. W. P. Milne, the uses and func-
tions of a school mathematical library; Dr. S. Brodet-
sky, nomography; and Mr. G. Goodwill, some sug-
gestions for a presentation of mathematics in closer
touch with reality. Prof. T. P. Nunn will give his
presidential address at 2.30, on mathematics and indi-
viduality, and this will be followed by a discussion on
the position of mathematics in the new scheme of the
Board of Education for secondary schools.
Tue Education Bill introduced by Mr. Fisher in the
House of Commons last August has been withdrawn,
but a revised Bill, in which certain amendments have
been included, is to be brought forward at an early date
during the present session of Parliament. ‘‘The new
Bill,” Mr. Bonar Law, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
announced on December 13, “ will be taken at the earliest
possible moment next session, and J have every reason
10 hope that it may be possible to pass it into law
without delay.” The educational clauses of the Bill
that has now been allowed to lapse have received the
‘approval of most of the associations concerned with the
professional work of education in England, as well as of
other representative bodies, and the country looks to the
Government to begin national reconstruction on the
lines laid down by them. The Bill was, however,
heavily weighted with certain administrative proposals
dealing with the relations between the Board of Educa-
tion and local education authorities, and it is these
which have met with cpposition. Mr. Fisher has intro-
duced substantial changes in the new Bill to meet the
objections raised to the administrative clauses of the
old one. This encourages us to believe that we are
within sight of the day when a long-deferred and much-
needed measure of reform of our educational system will
find a place in the Statute-book. The importance of
making provision for the future by strengthening and
extending our educational foundations is acknowledged
on all sides, and we are glad to be assured by Mr.
Bonar Law that the Government intends to facilitate
the progress of this measure of reform through the
House of Commons.
Tue Education (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the
House of Commons on December 17, and was read a
first time. The main object of the measure is to effect
a further improvement in the provision of education
for all classes of the population and to make. that
provision available to residents in remote and isolated
districts. It is proposed to raise the age for full-time
school attendance from fourteen to fifteen, and to make
attendance at continuation classes obligatory upon
pupils between the ages of fifteen and eighteen who
were not in full-time attendance in school; to restrict
employment both before and after school hours of chil-
dren attending school, and to regulate still further the
emplovment of children or young persons under the
age of fifteen in factories and in mines. The local
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
|
authorities are empowered to provide books not only
for children and young persons who are attending
school, but also for adult readers, and provision is
further made to ensure that so far as is practicable
no child or young person who has promise or ability
shall be debarred by reason of difficulty of access or
want of means from full opportunity for the develop-
ment of his faculties by attendance at secondary schools
or universities. As there is a large volume of opinion
in Scotland which favours the setting up of a body
representative of universities, local authorities, teachers,
and other classes of persons specially interested in edu- _
cation, as a forum for the discussion of educational
questions, provision is made for the constitution of an
advisory council, designed to assist the Minister of
Education and the Education Department in framing
educational proposals.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.
Linnean Society, November 29.—Sir David Prain,
president, in the chair—Dr. H. Wager: (1) Intensity
and direction of light as factors in phototropism. In
this communication an account is given of experiments
made to determine. the influence of the intensity and
the direction of light in effecting phototropic responses
in foliage leaves. The distribution of the physico-
chemical activities in the photo-sensitive tissues is de-
pendent upon both intensity and direction of light, and
since the direction of movement may be determined as
the resultant of the varying physico-chemical activities
the whole of the sensitive region, it must
in
be concluded that both intensity and _ direction
of light are necessary factors in the photo-
tropic response. (2) Spore-coloration in the Agari-
caceez. The use of spore-coloration as a_ basis
for the classification of the Agaricaceze is arti-
ficial and imperfect. There is no clear line of demarca-
tion between the various colours, and the designation
of the colours in the text-books is very indefinite and
unsatisfactory. A beginning has, however, been made
by members of the Mycological Committee of the York-
shire Naturalists’ Union to obtain more accurate re-
cords of spore-coloration in terms of a standard series
of tints. It has been found—and this may be a fact
of some considerable physiological interest—that, with
one or two doubtful exceptions, all the’ spore colours
so far standardised, whether pink, rusty, or purple, fall
within the region of the less refrangible half of the
spectrum, Spectroscopic examination also shows this.
It has been suggested by Buller that these colouring
matters may serve a useful purpose by screening off
certain of the sun’s rays from the living protoplasm.
Spore-coloration may, however, depend, partly at least,
upon the kind of substratum on which the fungi grow.
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, November 27.—Mr.
W. Thomson, president, in the chair.—Prof. W. Boyd
Dawkins: Examples of pre-Roman bronze-plated iron
from the Pilgrim’s Way. The examples were an iron
snaffle-bit, an iron harness-ring, and an iron hub of a
wheel, covered with a thin layer of bronze, discovered
in 1895, on the site of a village in Bigbury Wood, about
two miles due west of Canterbury. The village is of
prehistoric Iron age, and is traversed by the Pilgrim’s .
Way, and has yielded a considerable number of imple-
ments to be seen in the Manchester Museum. Of these
the three above mentioned are of peculiar interest, be-
cause they show that the art of plating iron with
bronze was known at that remote period, ranging in-
definitely backward from the Roman conquest. The
320
NATURE
[DECEMBER 20, 1917
implements. found along with the plated articles consist
of iron. spears, axes, adzes, hammers, ploughshares,
billhooks, and sickles, of the types found in settlements
elsewhere of the «same age, such as Hunsbury, near
Northampton, and the Lake Village at Glastonbury.
In addition to these there were also fetters and a chain
for a chain-gang of six, with six rings to put round
the neck. Similar bronze-plated iron articles have been
met with elsewhere.—R. L. Taylor: The effect of light
on solutions of bleaching powder. Experiments were
described in which solutions of bleaching powder, differ-
ing in concentration and prepared in different ways,
were exposed to diffused daylight and to intermittent
bright sunlight, while other similar solutions were kept
in the dark. Some of the experiments extended over
| fifteen months. It was found that solutions exposed
to sunlight decomposed quite rapidly, those exposed to
diffused daylight much moré slowly, while dilute solu-
tions (1 per cent.) kept in the dark remained quite
unaltered for the whole period of fifteen months. A
solution five times the strength of the latter, however,
did undergo some decomposition, losing about 20 per
cent. of its available chlorine, even when Ride in the
dark.
‘Dustin.
* Royal Dublin Society, November '27.—Prof. Hugh
Ryan in the chair.—Dr. F. E, Hackett and R. J.
Feeley : The polarisation of a Leclanché cell. The re-
covery of a Leclanché cell from polarisation can be
analysed into two parts, a rapid recovery and a slow
éreep towards the initials E.M.F. The period of rapid
recovery can be represented closely by an equation
similar to the equation for the decay of ionisation in a
gas. The recovery of a Weston cadmium cell from
short circuit for a brief interval seems also to obey the
same law. The disappearance of polarisation is there-
fore mainly a bimolecular reaction.—Miss E. J.
Leonard: The genus Tzenitis, with some notes on the
remaining Tzenitidine. The paper is an endeavour to
place Tzenitis in its true phyletic position, and to find ©
out what relationship, if any, it bears to the other
genera classed with it, under the heading Tzenitidine.
Tzenitis bears'a strong external resemblance to Blech-
num, and this resemblance is further supported by
many points in its anatomy, such as glandular dermal
appendages, the venation of the leaf, and the presence
of a commisural vein underlying the sorus. Tzenitis
is therefore classed’as a derivative form in the Blech-
noid series. Of the remaining genera, the only one
which shows definite relationship to Teenitis is Eschato-
gramme. The others examined—Drymoglossum, Pal-
tonium, Hymenolepis—are widely divergent, . probably
in accordance with their epiphytic habit.
-
BOOKS RECEIVED.-
A Supplementary Memoir on British Resources of «
Sands and Rocks used in Glass Manufacture, with
Notes on certain Refractory Materials: By Prof. G. H.
Boswell and others. Pp. 92. (London: perenne
and Co.) 3s. net.
Telegraph Practice. By J. Lee. Pp. ix+1o2.
(London: ‘Longmans and Co.) 2s. 6d. net. -
Studies in the History and Method of Science.
Edited by C. Singer. Pp. xiv+304.
Clarendon Press.) ‘21s. net.
Meteorological. Office. — British and i ccertic Year
Book, 1915.. Part iii., Section 2. (London : Meteoro-
logical Office.) . 10s. net.
National Physical Laboratory. Notes on: Screw
Gauges.” By the Staff of the Gauge-Testing Depart-
NO. 2512, VOL. 100]
ees At the |
ment. Enlarged issue ii. November.
W. F. Parrott.) 2s. 6d.
Cape Peninsula List of Serials. Being a Catalo
of the Publications available for Consultation in
Libraries of the British Medical Association,
Second edition. Pp. 5 tiv. (Cape Town:
African Public Library.)
(Teddington
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20. .- osreb
INSTITUTION oF MINING AND MEYTALLURGY, at 5.30—A >
Chemical Reaction ve! an Available Staten of Potash: E. A. pipet
: See
hyitiedens I IL:
derivatives: °S. C. A Chattert and B.
Dihydroxyphenanthrene ( Morphol) and of 3: 4° -Phenan
Barger.
oe THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27
Rovat _InstiTution, at 3.—Magnets. and the Magnetic Compass: Prof.
J.
leming.
SATURDAY, Dacemeite 29. \
Royat InsTITUTION, at 3. —Electricity and Electric Currents : ‘ Prof. eg AL
leming.
CONTENTS. peda
The ietertuiosie Problem apie.
Mathematical Puzzles (akan ete
OMB MAOLAN Yo) ory Sd se lees See vie tela mi
Our Bookshelf . ;
Letters to the Editor:—
Ramsay Memorial Fund.—Lord Rayleigh, 0. mM
F.R.S., Sir Pee Bell, Bart., Lord beac i
conner, Prof. J. N _ Collie, F.R. s. =
The Beginnings of Porcelain in China.— Dr.
Laufer, H. W. Nichols; Dr. J. W. Mellor
Magnetic and Electrical Observations at "Sea.
(Ziustrated.) By Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S.
Agricultural Education and Resenen in the United
States.
Dr. A. M. W. Downing; F.R.S, ‘By Dr. ri Cc. D.
Crommelin . 2.03. sou Meret ehce :
Notes . 4
Our Astronomical Column :—-
The Approaching Shower of Teas Meteors (Quad.
rantids)
Observations of B Lyre ieee
Radial Velocities of Star Clusters eed
Parallax of the Ring Nebula in Lyra ate ee
Aeronautics and Invention . 238
The Peopling of Melanesia. By Sidney H. Ray rai Be
Canadian Exploration : ; 315
Effects.of Storage upon Coal . 315,
The -Nitrogen. Problem and the Work of the
Nitrogen Products Committee
University and Educational Intelligence Sana ee me
Societies and Academies ....... ie ee a ee eee
Books Received .... Rr ar ed oe 320.
Diary of Societies 320
~ Editorial and Publishing ‘Offices:
MACMILLAN AND Co., dite
ST. MARTIN’S Si LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters to be didresved] to” the
Publishers.
Editorial Communications to the Editor, — -—
Telegraphic PEERED,
-“Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
Puusis, Lonpon. MAEM
| | NATURE
321
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 10917.
EDUCATION AND ORGANISED
THOUGHT.
(1) The Organisation of Thought, Educational
and Scientific. By Prof. A. N. Whitehead.
Pp. vii+228. (London: Williams and Norgate,
1917.) Price 6s. net.
(2) The Human Worth of Rigorous Thinking:
Essays and Addresses. By Prof. Cassius J.
Keyser. Pp. 314. (New York: Columbia
University Press; London: Oxford University
_ Press, 1916.) we
7 oes two collections of essays and addresses
by Prof. Whitehead and Prof: Keyser con-
tain much matter of considerable interest to the
large number of persons who are at present
occupying themselves with the consideration of
the many difficult questions connected with
educational reconstruction. Distinguished scienti-
fic, or literary, specialists are not always, perhaps
not often, trustworthy guides in educational
affairs.
_ thought is apt to produce in them a bias in regard
to the relative values of different branches of
study, destructive of that keen sense of propor-
tion which a sound educationist must. possess. The
specialist is apt to live in a sub-universe of his
own, without troubling himself much about the
social value of his study or its relations with other
parts of the world of thought and action. Even
in the teaching of his own subject the specialist
not infrequently finds it difficult sufficiently to dis-
tinguish between that instruction which is
directed to special training and that which is
ropriate for forming part of a scheme of libe-
ral education. However, when a specialist has
sufficient breadth of mind to enable him to over-
come the temptations incidental to his) own
_ occupation, he is frequently able to make contri-
_ butions to educational thought which exhibit an
insight greater than is possessed by many of those
who approach the problem of education without
those advantages which accrue from a profound
study of some one department of knowledge. |
_ Both Prof. Whitehead and Prof. Keyser have
_ the advantage of being mathematical specialists
_ with a deep interest in the philosophical aspect
_ of mathematics, and both of them very properly
select their illustrations in expressing their
_ educational views from the domain most familiar
_to them. But Prof. Whitehead, at least, has
attained to a certain catholicity of outlook in
educational matters which makes his detailed
expression of views such as will appeal to many
_ even of those who may not agree with some of his
- opinions. |
(1) Of the two authors Prof. Whitehead
remains nearer the solid earth; indeed, his whole
_ treatment of educational questions is permeated
_ by a profound conviction of the importance of
- education as the means of fitting human being's
_ for life itself in all its phases. He regards educa-
_ tion neither merely as the provision of a stimulant
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
Their absorption in a special line of
to the higher faculties which shall operate as a
more or less ornamental and detachable supple-
ment to ordinary life, nor simply as a scheme of
training of the kind which aims at producing
purely practical efficiency.
-One of the most crucial questions which. must)
receive a practical solution in the framework of
educational reconstruction is that of the proper
relation between liberal or general education and
that special or technical study which is necessary
in order to fit a student for some definite career.
That a failure to make due provision for both these
sides of education. would. be. disastrous in its
consequences is widely, but, unfortunately, not
universally, recognised.. Experience has amply
demonstrated that a special or technical training
is to a large extent a failure unless it is based upon
a sound and sufficient general education. The
insistence upon this truth has-been so frequent that
it may be thought to have become a_platitude;
nevertheless, the pressure of the purely practical
side of life is likely to become so urgent in, the
near future that the danger of education becoming
too purely utilitarian in the narrow sense of the
term cannot safely be neglected.
In the higher meaning of the expression, Prof.
Whitehead is decidedly utilitarian in his view of
the aims of education; indeed, the key-note to his
ideas about education is struck in his definition
of education as ‘* the acquisition of the art of the
utilisation of knowledge.” Like all statements of
a utilitarian flavour, this definition is capable of
being interpreted’ in a narrow or in a broad sense.
Its real or apparent defect, that it suggests a too
exclusive reference to externality, and lays no
stress upon the development of the inner life, may
perhaps be held to be removed by means of a
sufficiently liberal interpretation of the terms
“‘ utilisation” and ‘‘ knowledge.”
In regard to the méthods and subject-matter
of instruction, Prof. Whitehead emphasises most
strongly the importance of not allowing any one
branch of study to be treated in such a manner
that it is wholly isolated from other depart-
ments, and that of exhibiting clearly and con-
tinually the relations of all subjects and portions
of subjects to one another as parts of a connected
and coherent whole; in fact, he holds that ‘* there
is only one subject-matter for education, and that
is life in all its ramifications.” The great practical
difficulty in realising such high educational ideals
in the actual work of instruction arises from the
very insistent demands which modernist methods
make upon the skill and energy of the teacher.
Failure on the part of a teacher who attempts to
teach in accordance with the newer theories. is
apt to be more disastrous than when the older and
more mechanical methods are employed. It is
only fair to say that Prof. Whitehead does not
attempt to ignore the practical difficulties of this
kind which arise when his ideals are carried into
the practical domain.
(2) Prof. Keyser, in his essay on ‘‘ The Human
Worth of Rigorous Thinking,” and in various
other essays on the teaching and philosophy of
S
322
NATURE
[DECEMBER 27, I917
mathematics, has much to say which will interest
the considerable public whose attention has been
arrested by the modern logistic school. His style
of writing suffers from being too ornate, and his
somewhat overloaded sentences are often a_ hin-
drance to a clear comprehension of his meaning.
In their essays on the philosophy of mathe-
matics and on logic both the authors exhibit at
times a tendency, common in the school of
thought to which they. belong, to attach too
much relative importance to deductive logic, and
even to represent it as being almost the sole
form in which rigorous thinking is embodied.
Inductive logic, a subject of perhaps greater
importance, as lying nearer to the actual modes
in which living thought moves, than deductive
logic, is apt to be ignored in an estimate of what
constitutes rigorous thinking. The reduction of
the whole or of parts of mathematics to a purely
deductive scheme in which everything flows by
chains of syllogisms from a certain body of postu-
lations consisting of existential assumptions and
axioms is no doubt of distinct philosophical and
esthetic interest, but it is doubtful whether it
can do much to further the progress of mathe-
matics as a living and growing organism.
Mathematical knowledge could not possibly have
been: discovered by purely deductive processes.
The purely deductive form is one in which a mathe-
matical theory can be exhibited only after its
completion ; it operates as a gauge which tests the
exactitude and completeness of what has been
discovered by the operation of mental processes
of a higher and more subtle kind than those in-
volved in following a chain of syllogisms. Even
a purely. deductive scheme could not be constructed
- without the factor of purposiveness in the con-
structer; in default of a perception of aim, a set,
of given postulations, definitions, and axioms
would be useless. The possession of them would
not of itself enable anyone to move a single step
in construction, any more than a fount of type
would enable a compositor to set up a book if no
copy were given to him. It would be unfair to
imply that Prof. Whitehead and Prof. Keyser are
unaware of these considerations, but at least
amongst their disciples of the modern logistic
school they are by no means always adequately
recognised. E. W.H.
nent
THE FUNDUS OCULI OF BIRDS.
The Fundus Oculi of Birds, especially as viewed
by the Ophthalmoscope: 4 Study in Compara-
tive Anatomy and Physiology. By Casey A.
Wood. Pp. 180+plates Ixi. (Chicago: The
Lakeside Press, 1917.)
tL) CASEY WOOD is an ophthalmic surgeon
with a large practice in one of the busiest
cities in America. He is a voluminous writer on
subjects connected directly with the science and
art of his speciality, and he is the editor of an
Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology, of which several
volumes have already appeared. It would seem
NO. 2513, VOL. 100|
that in this there was enough to provide labour —
for more than the ordinary day of any man, yet
he has found time to devote himself to the ex-—
ploration of what may almost be described as an —
untrodden field of science. It is true that in this
country Dr. Lindsay Johnson has done work of a _
similar kind, but he mainly concerned himself wi
the ophthalmoscopic examination of the mam-~
malian eye. Dr. Wood is the first to make a sys-_
tematic examination of the fundus appearances in
the eyes of birds, and the present volume, with its —
beautiful series of illustrations by Mr. A. W. ©
Head, is a sufficient proof that it has been a4
labour of love. The present writer is not in a
position to judge whether the ophthalmose
will prove to be the valuable aid to the classifica-_ 4
tion of birds and the identification of species that &
Dr. Wood seems to think, but a strong case has
been made out for the use of the ophthalmoscope —
by the ornithologist. For his benefit two chapters
are devoted to a description of the ophthalmo-
scope and its use; but an hour or two with a
friendly oculist in the ophthalmic department of ax
large hospital would do far more than many pages
of description to enable those interested in birds) x
to gain a glimpse of this new field. =
The most interesting chapters in the book deal’ 4
with the relationship between the macular arrange-—
ments in the retina and the habits of the bird. —
In these we have a deseription of all the variations _
from the almost human-like owl family with simple _
binocular vision, through the classes which seem _
to be capable either of binocular or monocular —
vision, to the purely monocular type with its”
nasally placed macula. The author differentiates —
six types of macular arrangement: (1) The —
amacular fundus; (2) the nasal monomacular fun-
dus, the commonest type in birds; (3) the temporal |
monomacular fundus, 7.e. like the human eye and —
found almost exclusively in owls; (4) the. bi-—
macular fundus, with the nasal fovea usually more -
deeply marked than the temporal fovea, the latter Py
being used in binocular vision and becoming —
more deeply marked the more the power of i
binocular. stereoscopic single vision is called into —
play; (5) the infula-macular fundus, where the
area of clear vision takes a band-like form, with ©
a well-defined fovea placed nasally to the disc :
in some part of the band; (6) the infula-bimacular —
fundus, in which there is a similar band-like area”
with two fovez, of which the nasal is invariably a
in the band, while the temporal sometimes forms —
an extremity of the band, but sometimes Ties
above and apart from it. |
It would have added very greatly ‘to the. ar
scientific value of this work if Dr. Wood had con- :
firmed his description of the macroscopic appear-—
ances of these various types by microscopic
sections through the macular areas of the prin-
cipal types. It is obvious that he himself has |
grave doubts as to the amacular type, and a
description of the histological appearances of one a
specimen from each of the other types would have 4
more than’ compensated for the loss: of: several
} much of which is unavoidably technical,
DECEMBER 27, 1917]
NATURE
323
pages of description of macroscopic appear-
ances.
It is to be regretted that in a work of this
character there should appear several slips due to
lack of care in revision. On p. 21 it is stated
quite rightly that ‘‘in birds with more marked
binocular vision—hawks, for example—the tem-
poral fovea has the greater depth and the eye
becomes more asymmetrical”’; and further on,
on the same page: ‘‘ Stereoscopic, binocular,
single vision in birds with double fovee . . . is
probably accomplished by | the two temporal foveze
acting in cerebral unison.” Yet on p. 56, speak-
ing of the birds of prey in general and the
sparrowhawk in particular, the author states that
“‘the nasal fovea is invariably the deeper and
sharper of the two, and probably is used when
distinct sight and binocular vision are required.”
On pp. 12 and 44 the author uses the term
neurilemma where obviously he is referring to the
myelin sheath of the nerve-fibre, and on p. 22 he
uses the same term neurilemma for the pial sheath
of the optic nerve. We believe that some physio-
logical writers of past ages did call the peri-
neurium neurilemma, but from the time of
Schwann onwards the word has had a definite
restriction to the outer sheath of the nerve-fibre,
and to that alone.
It is only the interest with which we have read
Dr. Wood’s book that has led us to note these
_minor faults, and we must conclude with a note
of admiration for the beautifully coloured repro-
ductions of Mr. Head’s drawings of the fundi of
many different species of birds.
A NATURALIST IN COSTA RICA.
A Year of Costa Rican Natural History. By
Amelia S. Calvert and Prof. P. P. Calvert.
Pp. xix+577. (New York: The Macmillan
Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.)
Price 12s, 6d. net.
ROF. CALVERT, after several prolonged
journeys to Mexico and other countries, has
extended his entomological studies to Costa Rica,
in which State he has spent a whole year, from
_ May, 1909 to 1910, accompanied by Mrs. Calvert,
likewise a keen naturalist. Their chief purpose
was a study of the dragonflies with reference to
their seasonal disttibution, which necessitated
visits to the same localities at different times
throughout the year. These special investigations
| having not yet been completed (Appendix iii. con-
} tains a long list of papers based on the collec-
tions, written by the authors and other specialists),
their results are deferred, and the present book,
embellished with some 150 illustrations, mainly
of plants and insects, is devoted to the thousands
of observations of all kinds of animals and plants
_ as the travellers came across them. Here lies the
_ drawback of the book; although so full of in-
| formation, there are but few chapters to be enjoyed
by the general reader, who, taking the detail,
for
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
|
granted, would relish some more comprehensive
generalised descriptions as characteristic of the
country.
Most of their time, about nine months, was
spent, off and on, at Cartago, near the capital,
San José, situated in the centre of the State,
10° N., at an altitude of some 4700 ft. Cartago
is a very important place; there*was to have been
inaugurated in June, 1910, the ‘‘ Central American
Court of Justice,” i.e. Carnegie’s Peace Palace.
From the naturalist’s point of view the district was
eminently well selected to serve as headquarters,
situated as it is on the backbone of the country,
at an altitude delightful for.a country in the
tropics, well watered by numerous streams, well
wooded and very fertile, and last, not least, con-
nected by the railway with the Atlantic and the
Pacific. Thus they were enabled to make excur-
sions through and into the most diverse kinds of
country. '
Irazu, the highest volcano, 11,300 ft., now
extinct, or rather dormant, like so many Central
American volcanoes, is only some ten miles from
Cartago. It was visited several times, and on
one occasion our naturalists spent a night-in the
crater with a tent. This chapter, well illustrated
with photographs, contains a _ lively, graphic
description of the altitudinal and other charmingly
interesting changes.
The Costa Rican Government obliged them by
numerous acts of courteous assistance. On
several occasions Prof. Calvert was invited to
join some Government commission—for instance,
to the north-west province—so that he acquired a
very satisfactory general knowledge of the middle
belt of the country, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific.
Costa Rica is a well-to-do farming country;
the aboriginal natives give no trouble, and the
other mixed and white people have the good sense
to keep themselves and their country out of
politics. Greatly helped by not a few of the
scientific and other residents, everything went
smoothly, and there were no stirring incidents of
travel to relate until the halcyon year of the con-
joint authors was brought to a sudden, cata-
strophic end.
Earthquakes are endemic in Central America,
and more or less disagreeable shocks had been
not uncommon at Cartago. Within the last
250 years the town had been destroyed several
times. On April 13, 1910, there occurred a few
severe shocks, increasing to three dozen by the
next day and badly damaging the town; but the
disturbance was so local that Prof. Calvert, who
happened to be only thirty miles away, did not
think it worth while to return to his partner. who
was at Cartayo. They made the best of the
ensuing confusion until May 4, when some sudden,
terrific shocks laid the town in ruins, including
the Peace Palace. and two davs later our lucky
travellers, themselves unharmed and without anv
damage to their numerous collections, left for
home.
324
NATURE
| DECEMBER 27, 1917
OUR BOOKSHELF,
Elliptic Integrals. By Prof. Harris Hancock.
Pp. 104. (Mathematical Monographs, No. 18.)
(New York: John Wiley and Sons, Ine.;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1917.)
Price 6s. net.
INspIRED by Sir G. Greenhill, to whom he makes
due acknowledgment, Prof. Hancock has compiled
a very useful monograph, compact, well arranged,
and apparently accurate. Chap. i. is on elliptic
integrals, properly so called, and their reduction
to Legendre’s normal forms; it is illustrated by
-appropriate graphs. Chap. ii. is on the sn, cn, dn
functions, and gives the period-pavement for each.
Chap. ill. gives a well-arranged list of integrals
involving elliptic functions: Chap. iv. is on com-
putation, and follows Jacobi and Cayley in the
main. It begins with Jacobi’s two-circle proof of
the addition theorem, goes on to the Landen trans-
formation, and then gives worked-out examples,
using the descending scale of moduli (k, kj, kg,
-) as Jacobi does. The algorithm of the arith-
metico-geometric mean is explained and applied,
and there is a particularly neat discussion (p. 79)
of integrals of the second kind. There are three
tables, all to five places: (i) Complete integrals
K, E with k=sin.6°, and 1° step for @°; (ii) elliptic
integrals F(k,¢) with k as above, step 5° for 0°
and 1° for $°; (iii) elliptic integrals E(k,¢) with
k,¢ as for (ii).
they are well printed and properly spaced.
Its unfortunate that ‘restrictions of space pre-
vented’ Prof. Hancock from giving any formule
relating to the first-stage functions @, @’. It is
true that in numerical applications we have to use
a modulus k instead of two invariants, but in
many parts of theory Weierstrass’s functions are
the proper ones to use. 1B PS a See IN Se
Farm. Forestry. By Prof. J. A. Ferguson. .Pp.
vili+241. (New York: J. Wiley and. Sons,
Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.)
Price .6s. net. ps
SCATTERED -all over the United States, amidst:
the farm land, there are numerous ‘small
woods, which.are in-most cases_remnants of the
original virgin forest. These-wood-lots, as they
are Called, are said to cover in. the aggregate as
many as 200,000,000 acres. Though, as a rule,
poorly stocked with timber at present, the wood-
lots are of great value to the rural population, as
they provide cheaply the fuel, posts, fencing, and
timber required on the farm. Under proper care
and management their productive capacity . is
capable of great expansion, and it is estimated
that all the timber. necessary for the manifold
industries of the United States might be grown
on the. wood-lots alone. Great efforts are now
being made by the Department of Agriculture at
Washington and by the agricultural experiment
stations in each State to encourage the farmer to
take a greater interest in his wood-lot.
The importance of forestry as a subject of in-
struction in agricultural colleges and in high
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
All these tables were reproduced
from Levy’s “‘ Théorie des fonctions elliptiques ’’; | and the Rhodes»scholarships.
schools is now universally acknowledged. The
present volume is a suitable text-book for agri-
cultural students and for owners of small wood-
lands, as it covers in a simple way the whole
subject of farm forestry. It consists of a series
of readable chapters on the economic value of
the wood-lot and on the principles of sylviculture —
as applied to small woods. eo
The Yearbook of the Universities of the Empire,
1916 and 1917. Published for the Universities —
Bureau of the British Empire. Pp. xvi+412. —
(London: Herbert Jenkins, Ltd.) Price 7s. 6d.
net. ates
For reasons of economy the Yearbook was not —
published last year. Since the commencement of —
the war few changes have been made in the regu- —
lations of the universities, and the information —
regarding the conditions of admission, faculties, —
degrees, scholarships, and publications of the —
various universities contained in the 1915 issue —
continue to be substantially correct and are not —
repeated here. In view of the fact that there are |
certain matters to which it is forbidden to refer,
the part which the universities have taken in ~
national service of all kinds is not summarised im —
the Yearbook; this subject is postponed until the —
conclusion of hostilities. Three appendices added
to the present volume give full particulars of the
Beit fellowships, the scholarships awarded by the —
Royal Commissioners. for the Exhibition of 1851,
=
' The Yearbook provides a very useful summary _
of university activities throughout the Empire.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. a
[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.] oh 2a
Labyrinths in English Ghurches. 3
As the author of ‘‘Amusements in Mathematics,” —
reviewed in Nature of December 20, says that he does —
not know of any instance of a labyrinth in an English ~
church, it may be mentioned that one is represented —
in one of the bosses of the north aisle of the nave of —
St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. The style is Somerset
Perpendicular, the date probably about 1420. ea
C. ¢ TAYLOR.
Banwell Vicarage, December 21.
An Ontical Phenomenon.
In physiological laboratories several routine experi-
ments are in use for demonstrating phenomena of the
kind described by Capt. C. J. P. Cave (NATURE, De- —
cember 13, p. 284). These phenomena all support —
Hering’s theory of the reciprocal after-effects of. stimu-
lation (see W. H. R. Rivers in Schafer’s ‘* Text-book
of Physiology,” vol. ii., pp. 1146-47, especially fourth
paragraph, p. 1147). The seat of illusion begins at the
retina, but (as hinted in my letter on p. 165, Novem-_
ber 1) involves all the intricate labyrinth of nerve —
‘tissue from the retina to the highest sensory and motor
centres. eerie aa
The way in which the reciprocal after-effects operate
in the cases under consideration cannot be fully dis- ‘
o.
the mos-_
q best time to
' little platform.
_ at
piled about
with snow.
as far north
_ as he can by
$ _ DECEMBER 27, 1917]
NATURE 375
cussed here, but I would make one suggestion. When
the objects in a given visual field are moving in
different directions, or some of them not moving, the
eye usually fixes on one of the objects, regarding it as
stationary and treating the others as moving. This
requires both a muscular and a nervous effort, involv-
ing the co-ordinating mechanism of the higher nerve-
centres; and when the stimulus ceases or changes, the
reciprocal after-effects in these centres are apparently
interpreted as opposite motion; a change of nerve-
muscle co-ordination is necessary to accommodate the
eye to a changed stimulus. Even very simple sensa-
tions may involve complex nerve-muscle co-ordination.
F. J. ALLEN.
Cambridge, December 16.
A TRAVELLER IN LAPLAND.
M R. HEDGES BUTLER is a specialist in un-
a usual modes of travel, and may well be
proud of his pioneer work in systematic journeys
through the
air. Most
visitors. to
Lapland
would _ select
the long days
of summer,
-when the heat
may prove ex- |
cessive and
quitoes are —
out that the —
start is about
end of
March, and
he gives pic-
tures of Ki-
runa_ railway
station, and
the romantic
Polcirkel,
- When he gets
the steamer or |
the Narvik railway, he casts aside all British pre-
_ judices as to hours of meals and clothing ; he dines
and dresses like his Lapp companions, sleeps with
them in a skin tent when there is no rest-house,
_ and occasionally passes the night in a burrow in
the snow.
His friendliness with the people
smooths away the difficulties of journeys by the
_boat-like sledges or on skis, and he is always
ready to emphasise his happiness rather than his
‘discomfort. In reading his book, we seem ad-
mitted to the pleasure of his companionship.
1 **Through Lapland with Skis and Reindeer, with Some Account of
_ Ancient Lapland and the Murman Coast.” By Frank Hedges Butler.
Pp. xii+286. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 1917.) Price 12s. 6d: net.
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
Mr. Butler gives useful details of equipment,
which remind us of the delightful ‘* Provision to
catch the Whale fish in Russia,’’ published by
Hakluyt under the date 1575. He sketches the
history of the Lapps, and gives, in chap. vi., a
valuable description of the Murman coast and its
conditions down to the arrival of the railway at
Alexandrovsk. We might reasonably expect,
however, some reference to the political and com-
mercial importance of this line, and to the singular
revival for London, Hull, and Moscow of the six-
teenth-century trading routes. The bibliography
of Lapland in Appendix v. begins with Ste-
phanius in 1629; but Englishmen would like some
reminder of Willoughby’s last journals, and of
the tragedy of “the Speranza, which wintred in
Lappia ’’ .in*1553.- ‘* Kegor, Pechingo, and
Cola.’’ are, moreover, discussed by William Bur-
rough in 1576, and their names were then better
(Photo B. Mesch.
Fic. 1.—Bossekop on the Altenfjord, Norwegian Lapland. From ‘* Through Lapland.”
known to our merchants than they are at the pre-
sent day. Mr. Bufler will do much to introduce
this region again to general readers, and we can
only regret that they must turn elsewhere for the
romance of our early Russian trade. Burrough uses
the pleasant terms ‘‘ Lappians ’’ and ‘‘ Lappies ”’
for the people, and we commend these to Mr.
Butler, who in one place gives us the odd plural
‘* fjeldlappers ’’ as a Norwegian term.
A certain indifference to language, characteristic
alike of British travellers and of soldiers at the
Front, shows itself in Mr. Butler’s work. The
Finnish spellings in the vocabulary on p. 48 are
.
326
NATURE
[DECEMBER 27, 1917
not those usually accepted, nor will Fru Wiig of
Bossekop feel happy in appearing as ‘‘ Mrs.
Wiggs.’’ “Gastivare’’ (p. 125) is neither Finn-
ish nor Swedish, and ‘‘ kestikievari ’’ would
seem to be the word intended. Mr. Butler, how-
ever, can drive reindeer, just as he can follow
game in Africa, and the main thing is that he
accommodates himself so skilfully to his sur-.
roundings. Even if we cannot hope to follow him,
and may be content to view the wilds of Lapland
from Abisko or the top of Kiirunavaara, we feel
statistical mechanics and their applications to the
problems of stellar dynamics. Since the positions
and motions of individual stars are known only
in a few instances, it is impossible to treat the
motions of stars by the ordinary methods of
classical mechanics, so that statistical methods
have to be adopted. Important investigations in
stellar dynamics have been made recently on this
basis by several investigators, more particularly
by Eddington and Jeans. There are two funda-
(a) The
mentally different methods of treatment :
* Fic. 2.—Lapp tent and sledge at Jukasjarvi.
something, as we turn his pages, of the dry,
healthy air and the crispness of the arctic snow.
GRENVILLE A. J. COLE.
STELLAR DYNAMICS AND STATISTICAL
MECHANICS:.!
ae five papers referred to below do not form
a logical sequence of discussion, but are re-
lated to one another in that they are all more or
less directly concerned with the methods of
1 (x) ‘*Statistical Mechanics, based on the Law of Newton,” Zund
Meddelande, Ser. ii., No. 16. (2) ‘‘ Ueber den Satz von den Gleichen
Verteilung der Energie,” Lund Medd., Ser. i., No. 79; Arkiv for_ Mat.
Astr. och Frvsik, Bd. xii., No. 18. (3) "Ueber hydrodynamisches Gleich-
gewicht in Sternsystemen,” Lund Medd., Ser. i., No. 82; Arkiv for Mat.,
etc., Bd. xit., No. 21. (4) “ Conceptions Monistique et Dualistique de
l'Univers Stellaire,” Lund Medd., Ser. i., No. 813 Sctentia, vol. xxii.
p. 77_(1917). (5) ‘‘Eine Studie iiber die Analyse der Sternbewegungen,”
Lund Medd., Ser.i., No. 78; Arkiv for Mat., etc., Bd. xii., No. 10. All
by Prof. C. V.L. Charlier.
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
[Photo F. H. Butler.
From ‘‘ Through Lapland.” :
stars may be compared with the molecules of a
gas, and the effect of the various encounters con-
sidered, the discussion proceeding along the lines
of gas theory. (b) It may be supposed that the
encounters of stars have but small effect, so that
the stars may be regarded as describing orbits
under the general attraction of the stellar system
as a whole, the discussion then proceeding along,
Both methods may
the lines of hydrodynamics.
be expected to give results of value for the general
theory
Prof. Charlier has adopted the first of these two
methods in (1), and has worked out a kinetic
theory for the stars based upon Newton’s inverse
square law of attraction; in gas theory the treat-
ment has usually supposed either that the mole-
cules are elastic spheres or that they repel each
other inversely as the fifth power of the distance.
a a
SE oe
wie
et am
ae Ede Vd
FUELS.
' DECEMBER 27, 1917]
NATURE
327
The latter law is artificial, but was used by Max-
well because it introduced considerable simplifica- |
tion into the discussion.
|
cerned it is necessary to distinguish between real |
collisions and encounters. The latter occur when
two. stars approach one another sufficiently closely
to produce a relative change in path without
actually colliding. The number of collisions will
naturally be considerably less than that of the
encounters. The fundamental general equation
of statistical mechanics is formed, and the effect
of the collisions and encounters obtained. The dis-
cussion follows closely along normal lines. The
integration of the fundamental equation when the
solution is a frequency-function of type A is per-
formed, the solution being rather more compli-
cated than for Maxwell’s law of repulsion. The
time of relaxation, which is a measure of the time
taken by the system to reach a steady state, is
found to be about 1o! years. Jeans had pre-
viously obtained, by somewhat different reasoning,
a value of 1o!4 years, which is of the same order
of magnitude.
In (2) some of the results. pbisined | in (1) are
applied to prove the law of equipartition of energy —
The proof is elementary and applies
any ‘possible
for the stars.
only for translational velocities,
energy of rotation not being taken into account.
As regards translational , energy, recent results
indicate that the most massive stars have the
. slowest velocities on the average, and vice versa,
which is in the sense required by equipartition.
-But whether there is anything like real. equiparti-
tion, even for translational velocities, we do not
know; still less do we know to what extent the
energy of rotation shares in the equipartition. In
afy case, we should not expect equipartition to
hold unless the system had practically reached a
steady state, and other evidence must be adduced
to settle this point.
In (3) the hydrodynamical analogy is used, the
average motion of a small group of stars under the
general attraction of the stellar system being con- .
sidered, neglecting the effects of encounters and
collisions on the motion of individual stars. The
equation of motion for a steady state is derived
from (1) and integrated. The result is obtained
that in a star cluster, in which the stars are sym-
metrically distributed about an axis, in which
there is hydrodynamical equilibrium and elliv-
soidal velocity surfaces, these surfaces must be
spheroids with their axes of rotation perpendicular
to the radius vector from the centre of the cluster.
The same result had previously been obtained
otherwise by Jeans. It was proved by Schwarz-
schild that the velocity surfaces are approximately
spheroids with their rotation axes directed towards
the vertex. Jeans, through insufficient evidence,
had concluded that this direction was not perpen-
dicular to the radius vector. On the other hand,
Prof. Charlier, on the evidence afforded by recent
investigations at Lund, concludes that the two
directions are perpendicular. Jeans has_ since
accepted the evidence on which Prof. Charlier
bases this conclusion. The result supports, but
NO. 2513) VOL. 100}
does not prove, the supposition that our stellar
system is in such equilibrium, for there are other
Where stars are con- | factors to be taken into consideration.
In (4) Prof. Charlier discusses and compares
| what he calls the monistic and dualistic concep-
tions of the stellar universe. According to the
former, the universe can be considered as a single
system which, if it has not actually attained a
steady state, is on the way to doing so. By the
latter he means the hypothesis that there are two
intermingling star-streams, though it is doubtful
whether the originators of that hypothesis ever
conceived that there were two streams of stars
approaching and passing through one another.
Our knowledge of stellar motions is derived almost
entirely from the nearer stars, and it would be
dangerous to make so sweeping an assertion.
Reasons are advanced by Prof. Charlier for sup-
posing that the methods of statistical mechanics
as developed in (1) can be applied to the monistic
conception, and an endeavour is made to show that
the state of motion in our system is comparable
with the results given by the kinetic theory.. The
time of relaxation obtained in (1) was thought by
Jeans to be too long for our system to be con-
sidered as yet in a steady state. Prof. Charlier
brings forward evidence to show. that. the velocities
of the stars are in qualitative agreement with the
requirements of. the kinetic theory. [see (2)], and
that red stars.are more nearly in statistical equi-
librium than the younger blue stars.. The results
obtained in (3) also supported the idea of.a. steady
state. To Eddington’s difficulty of believing that
the evidence of scattered clusters. of stars. moving
with a common velocity, such as the Ursa Major
cluster, can be explained if the chance attractions
of stars passing in the vicinity have an appreciable
effect on stellar motions, Prof. Charlier replies that
it is possible that such clusters are but the rem-
nants of much larger clusters, most of the members
of which have succumbed to encounters with other
stars by the way. The sparseness of the stars in
these clusters may be held to support this view.
Furthermore, Jeans has shown that a compact
globular cluster moving through another mass of
stars will be spread out into a disc-like arrange-
ment, perpendicular to the direction of motion. The
conditions of Jeans’s discussion cannot be exactly
reproduced in the stellar universe, but it is
interesting to note that Turner has shown that the
Ursa Major system has approximately this shape.
The fifth paper is a valuable discussion of the
various methods which have been used for
analysing stellar motions, and forms a convenient
summary for purposes of reference. The analysis
on the simple hypothesis of a single star-stream,
on that of two star-streams developed by Kapteyn
and Eddington, on the ellipsoidal hypothesis of
Schwarzschild—all of which are based upon the
directions of the motions only—and that on the
correlation methods developed by Prof. Charlier
himself—in which both the magnitude and direc-
tion of the motions are taken into account—are
discussed and illustrated by application to one
particular region of the sky. H. S. Jones.
/
328
NATURE
[DECEMBER 27, I9I7 _
PROF, FRANKLIN P. MALL.
LL who are interested in the ‘progress of
biology will learn with deep regret of the
sudden death of Dr. Franklin P. Mall, of Johns
Hopkins University, at the age of fifty-five. It
was chiefly owing to his precepts and example
that, in little more than a score of years, a complete
revolution was wrought in the anatomical depart-
ments attached to medical schools throughout the
length and breadth of the United States. Dissect-
ing-rooms were changed from places in which
routine teaching and perfunctory investigation were
carried on to laboratories where exact methods
were applied to the elucidation of definite problems.
Prof, Mall. was thirty-one years of age when
he returned in 1893 from a long course of study
under the late Prof. His, of Leipzig, to become
the first professor of anatomy in Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore. He designed his own de-
partment, selecting a slimly built, cheap, brick
construction, and settled down with his students
to combine study with research. He devoted him-
self to embryological and microscopic investiga-
tions, reconstructing his results in the exact model
methods practised by Prof. His. His writings
cover the whole field of embryology, every contri-
bution representing a permanent addition to know-
ledge. His pupils left him to fill the various chairs
of anatomy as they fell vacant, and carried to their
new departments the methods and spirit they had
imbibed from Franklin Mall. He took a leading
part in the foundation of the excellent journals
which have been established in the United States
for the publication of anatomical investigations—
the American Journal of Anatomy, the Anatomical
Record, and the Journal of Morphology. He pur-
sued the study of human embryology in a more
systematic manner than has ever been accom-
plished by any other man. Sieg Re
Prof. Mall began to collect embryos in the
earlier months of development when he settled in
Baltimore, and continued year by year to preserve,
register, and photograph them; they were cut into
serial sections, examined, reconstructed, and
methodically stored, so that student after student
could use the same sections for researches of quite
different kinds. By 1913 his collection of embryos
numbered more than 1000, many of them showing
early stages of diseases and malformations. When
he succeeded in persuading the Carnegie Institu-
tion of Washington to establish a National De-
partment of Embryology, he handed over to it the
whole of his embryological collection and accepted
the post of director of the department. The names
of the workers he enlisted in the service of the
department, and the great scientific value of the
“Contributions to Embryology,” issued by the
Carnegie Institution, are ample evidence of ‘the
success of his last piece of statesmanship.
Prof. Mall was a quiet, kind, and charming man,
who had set himself a public-spirited but arduous
task, and he lived long enough to see it well begun
and to leave behind a band of pupils who are will-
ing and able to carry it on.
NO. 2513, VOL. 100|
‘and oppressive the feeling is generally explained as ~
NOTES. ‘
Pror.. A. G. Natuorst, of Stockholm, having on 5
November 7 last reached sixty-seven years of age, has, —
in accordance with Swedish laws, retired from his —
appointment as keeper of the palzeobotanical depart-
ment of the Swedish State Museum of Natural History
(Naturhistoriska Riksmuseum). His successor has n
yet been appointed. :
Tue efforts of Sir Harcourt Butler in developing t
mineral resources of Burma have been success:
There are prospects, says the Pioneer Mail of Nove
ber 3, that the production of wolfram in Tavoy will
soon be largely increased. One or two mines which
until recently were cut off from communications are no
being developed, and promise an outturn of 30 te
40 tons per month. Some rich new finds have |
made in old blocks, and with the new road to
Pe Valley belt, extensions of present roads,
rumours of the promotion of new companies in I
land, the prospects of the industry have much
proved. Piste.
Tue council of the National Museum of W
devoting special attention to the insect collecti
Six thousand specimens, of which a large proporti
are Welsh examples, have been classified.
ments as to the best methods of mounting and
serving small-winged insects and larve are being
ried out. There are still, however, several gro
almost unrepresented, and an appeal is made to «
lectors to add any specimens of interest, so that Wel
entomology may be adequately represented. ©
Two pamphlets on the Channel Tunnel have reach
us—one by Mr. Arthur Fell, chairman of the House
of Commons Committee on the question, the other
by Sir Francis Fox. Mr. Fell strongly criticises —
the Government for refusing to allow any preliminary
steps to be taken by the Channel Tunnel Company. —
He not only dwells on the ¢conomic and military
value of the tunnel, but also emphasises the political
aspect of the problem. Sir Francis Fox’s pamphlet is a ~
reprint from the Geographical Journal. It deals with
the engineering aspects of the tunnel. The tunnel is ~
designed to keep within the grey chalk, except near the ~
two coasts, where for a shart distance it passes through
the gault. The depth below the sea-bed is to be a ~
minimum of too ft. The tunnel will consist of two
tubes, each 18 ft. in diameter, with cross-tunnels every —
200 yards. It is proposed to form a: “water lock,”
a dip in the tubes, which could, in case of emergency, —
be filled. with water for the length of a mile. The water —
would not injure the tunnel works, and ‘it could be a
pumped out only by the machinery at the power station
in Kent. Trains could run between London and Paris —
via the Channel Tunnel in six hours. }
O
WHEN a person feels that the air of a room is dry
due to the relative humidity or fraction of saturation ~
of the air being low. The erroneous character of this —
explanation was pointed out two years ago by Drag
Leonard Hill and his colleagues of the Medical Re- —
search Committee in a communication to the Royal —
Society. They ascribe our sensation to the rate of Joss <4
of heat from the skin by evaporation, and have con- —
structed a thermometer with a large bulb covered with
moist fabric to measure this rate of loss under different
conditions as to temperature, saturation, and speed of ©
motion of the air, the bulb being kept at about thetempera
ture of the human body. The agreement between the in- —
strument and the “feel” of the air is found to be fairly ©
NT TIE Ty TE
‘minently in this group.
ey elas ean
. accommodati
authority, will be welcomed by ornithologists.
/ DECEMBER 27, 1917]
NATURE
329
close. The subject has been carried a stage further
by the work of Mr. G. T. Palmer, chief of the research
_-staff of the New York Commission on Ventilation.
He finds that our sensation is due, not to the rate of
evaporation from the surface of the body, but to the
difference between that rate and the rate of supply of
moisture from the interior of the body to the skin.
His paper will be found in the July number of the
Journal of the American Society of Heating and Ven-
tilating Engineers.
In the December issue of Man Mr. A. C. Breton
‘describes, with a photograph, a curious scene from a
painted pot found in a mound in British Honduras,
and now in the Liverpool Museum. It represents a
group of strange winged creatures which appear to be
- dancing and singing for joy at the coming of vegeta-
tion, represented by a seedling in the corner. The
humming-bird was the special messenger of the sun
to awake and encourage vegetation, and appears pro-
It would seem a natural
result of watching the migrating birds in spring that
, man should endeavour to imitate them in his cere-
-monial dances. Similar dances have been noticed in
“Queen Charlotte Islands, and the gestures of the
creatures on this pot may be compared with those on
British Columbian totem poles. —
CO-PARTNERSHIP in nests, and presumably in the
duties of incubation, is known to exist, at any rate
sporadically, among many birds.
Mr. J. Wiglesworth,
in British Birds for December, records several cases
of this kind among sheldrakes breeding on Steepholm,
an island in the Bristol Channel. In one nest which
he examined he found the eggs of no fewer than five
birds. The frequency of this occurrence on this small
island may Sig. be due to the limited nesting
: is record, by so competent an
Wuaters know well the excellent qualities of whale-
meat, but doubtless the general public would need
“some persuasion to adopt it as a substitute for beef.
A writer, however, in California Fish and Game for
October suggests that, in present circumstances,
a trial should be made. He proposes to begin with
the Californian grey-whale (Rhachianectes), the carcass
of which vields about twelve tons of most succulent
““beef.”” Some, both in a fresh state and canned, has
‘already been placed on the market, and it is to be
hoped that success will attend the venture, for in this
case it may lead to sane methods of conservation. At
present whaling is being carried on utterly regardless
of the future, so that unless something is done speedily
the whales will follow Steller’s sea-cow and many
another valuable species which ‘has fallen a prey
to commercial ‘ enterprise.”
Dr. EaGte CiarkE, in the Scottish Naturalist for
December, continues his most interesting analysis of
wild life in a West Highland deer forest. All students
of our native fauna will be grateful for this contribu-
tion, especially as very ‘little has yet been done
in regard to altitudinal distribution. Over the area
‘surveyed the fox is very numerous, at from goo ft. to
3500 ft., while the badger, which seems here almost
extinct, ascends no higher.than 1500 ft. A few pairs
of otters are to be found on Lochs Ossian (1269 ft.)
and Treig, and on the river Ghuilbin. Formerly it
frequented Loch na Lap (1930 ft.), but has not been
seen there for some years. Many will probably be
surprised to learn that the house-sparrow has but
recently penetrated to these fastnesses, having followed
the iron road into the Highlands. It is now resident
at Corrour Station, at the summit of the West High-
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
land Railway (1350 ft.). Thence it has established
further outposts, but it has not yet reached Loch
Treig.
An able history of the bats of Central Africa. is
given in an article in the Bulletin of the American
Museum of Natural History, vol. xxxvii., 1917. The
authors, Messrs. J. A. Allen, H. Lang, and J. P.
Chapin, therein describe the material obtained by the
American Museum Congo Expedition. Naturally, a
considerable number of new species are described, but
the value of the communication rests not so much
on this as on the light it throws uvon the life-histories
of these animals, and the many remarkable struc-
tural modifications and secondary sexual characters
which’ the authors have here brought together.
Some of these were already known, but the
range of these peculiarities has been enlarged by many
striking additions. One of the most important of
these concerns the air-sacs of that singular creature,
the hammer-head bat. But the authors offer no com-
ments on the function of the large cheek-pouch of this
animal, though they give an excellent figure indicat-
‘ing its great size.
Ir. has long been known that true bats.existed among
-the earliest Tertiary mammals, but remains are very
rare, and nothing has been discovered of the ancestry
of the group. An. imperfect.skull. of a new genus,
Zanycteris, -has now. been obtained from one .of the
oldest Tertiary formations (Wasatch) in Colorado,
U.S.A., and according to a description of the specimen
by Dr. W.'D. Matthew (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. xxxvii., pp. 569-71), it seems to represent a highly
specialised member of the family Phyllostomatide,
which is still peculiar to tropical America. The skull
is only unusual in the length of its slender snout and
the comparatively small size of its canine tooth.
Numerous comparatively modern fossil remains of bats
have also lately been received by the American
Museum from the caverns of Porto Rico. Among
them one skull is especially interesting as belonging
to the genus Phyllonycteris, of which only one species.
is known living in Cuba (H. E. Anthony, Bull. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xxxvii., pp. 565-68, pl. Ivi.).
Tue fishes of the fresh waters. of Panama are de-
scribed with great care and detail by Messrs. S. E.
Meek and S. F. Hildebrand in vol. x., No. 15, of the
zoological series of publications of the Field Museum
of Natural History, Chicago. Though small collec-
tions of the fish-fauna have from time to time been
made by tourists and others, no serious survey of the
waters of the canal zone had been made until that
organised co-operatively by the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, the Field Museum of, Natural History, and the
U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. The present memoir con-
tains the results of this ichthyological reconnaissance.
The need for such a survey was urgent, since it was
not begun until much work had been done on. the
canal and natural conditions had already been con-
siderably disturbed, but it was fortunately completed
before the species of the two slopes had been allowed
to intermingle. Before the survey began the Rio
Grande, on the Pacific slope of the canal zone, had
been thoroughly cut to pieces, and hence to measure
the probable effect of this disturbance it became neces-
sary to extend investigations to other streams east
and west of the Rio Grande. As a consequence, data
were collected which seem to show that several species
have disappeared owing to the unfavourable conditions
created by the construction of the canal. Five genera
and thirteen species new: to science are described in
these pages, which, further, are illustrated by
numerous excellent plates.
33°
[DecemBER 27, 1917
Tue Smithsonian Institution has issued an elaborate
monograph on ‘‘The Comparative Histology of the
'Femur,”’ by Dr. S. Foote, professor of patho-
logy in Creighton Medical College, Omaha, Nebraska
(Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, vol. xxxv.,
No. 3, 1916). Prof. Foote’s investigations commenced
in 1909, when he casually observed, in a section of a
turkey’s femur, ‘‘a type of bone structure quite unlike
that usually described.” He therefore began a sys-
tematic investigation of bone structure as revealed by
sections across the femoral shaft. In his mono-
graph he. gives descriptions of the sectional ‘ap-
pearance of 440 femora—amphibian, reptilian, avian,
and mammalian. Prof. Foote is of opinion that we
must recognise not one, but three types of architec-
ture in the minute structure of bone. In the type
with which most students are familiar the bone is
arranged in concentric systems—Haversian systems—
in the centre of each of which there is a vascular
channel. The Haversian is the commonest system in
higher mammals. The more usual system in birds
is quite different. In them the bone is arranged in
laminz, with vascular channels between the laminze.
A more primitive system than either the Haversian |
or “laminar” is what Prof. Foote describes as the
‘lamellar ’’—best seen in the femora of amphibians.
In this type the bone is arranged in a_ series of
lamellz surrounding the medullary cavity, but there
are no vascular channels either within or between the
lamella, as in the two more highly evolved types of
bone.
A ust of the Hemiptera-Heteroptera of New Eng-
land has been published by Mr. H. M. Parshley as an
“Occasional Paper’? (No. 7) of the Boston Society
of Natural History. The list is prefaced by some
suggestive distributional notes, in which the author
points out that most of the species common to Europe
and North America appear to be ‘‘massed”’ on or near
the eastern seaboard of the latter continent.
WHILE studying.the collection of fishes of the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Mr.
H. W. Fowler discovered many interesting specimens
from New England waters. These he describes in the
Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History
(vol. xxxv., No.'4). Three of these species are new
to science, and one of them represents a family and
genus hitherto. unknown in New England waters.
Some excellent text-figures add much to the value of
this contribution. ~~ ~~ abut ies :
AN interesting paper on recognition among insects is
published by Dr. N. E. McIndoo (Smithsonian Mis-
cell. Coll., vol. Ixviii., No. 2), in which he summarises
our knowledge -of scent-producing organs among in-
sects .of different orders, and the responses made by
various creatures .to.such chemical stimuli. A con-
siderable section of the paper is occupied by an account
of Dr. McIndoo’s own experiments on the character-
istic odours. emitted by different hive bees—queen,
drones, and workers of yarious occupations. The
economic importance of the study of the reactions of ,
insects is pointed out with many apt illustrations in
Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt’s recent address on insect be-
haviour as a factor in applied entomology (Journ.
Econ. Entom., vol. x., 1917, No. 1). Messrs.
McGregor and F. L. McDonough, in Bulletin 416 of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on the. red
‘spider’? of cotton (Tetranychus bimaculatus), give
much attention to the mite’s means. of dispersal and
its responses to seasonal and-environmental change.
In part 4 of vol. vii. and part 1 of vol. viii. of the
Bulletin of Entomological Research, Prof. R. New-
NO. 2513, VOL. 100|
NATURE
_statistical work, and it is'to be hoped that, as Dr. ‘
‘George Philip in the Geographical Journal for Decem-
In the most densely populated regions distinction is
stead continues his ‘‘ Observations on Scale-insects,”
describing several new species, and giving welcome —
figures of. the little-known male of the common Leca-
nium hesperidum. In the latter number the Rev. J.
Waterston has a noteworthy paper on a new species
of Paraphelinus, a genus.of small Hymenoptera, the
larve of which feed in the eggs of grasshoppers. Drs.
A. Ingram and G. W. Scott Macfie give structural
details of the pupz of West African mosquitoes. Mr.
Rupert W. Jack, of Southern Rhodesia, brings forward
evidence which has convinced him of the occasional —
transmission of trypanosomiasis by blood-sucking flies —
other than the tsetses (Glossina), such as tabanids and
Stomoxys. There appear, however, to be limits to
the spread of disease by such means, as they ‘have —
not resulted in establishing trypanosomiasis in any
area away from the fly-belts."”. The Review of Applied —
Entomology, with its invaluable summaries, is now in —
its seventh volume, and a highly useful subject-index —
of the agricultural entries in the first three volumes, —
compiled by Mr. S. A. Neave, has just been published
by the Imperial Bureau of Entomology. a
A papER of special interest, literally ‘breaking —
ground”’ in a direction hitherto little worked in these —
countries, is Dr. A. E..Cameron’s “‘ Insect Association —
of a. Local Environmental Complex in’ the District of
Holmes Chapel, Cheshire’? (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinb.,
vol. lii., part 1, No. 2). Several American naturalists
have lately given attention to the intensive faunistic
and associational study of small areas, and Dr.
Cameron has done the same kind of work for this
small corner of north-western England with great care
and thoroughness. The relations between the insects —
found and the ecological types of vegetation in the ©
two meadows specially examined are pointed out, —
A’ feature of agricultural interest was noted in
the dominance of crane-fly larve as root-feeders in one
meadow and of ‘‘ wire-worms” in the other. The
paper represents a vast amount of systematic and
Cameron has now transferred his activities to Canada, —
other of our entomologists may be incited to try —
similar lines of inquiry. .
SEVERAL improvements in. maps designed to ‘show |
economic distributions are suggested ina paper by Mr. +
ber (vol. 1., No. 6).. Mr. Philip has attempted, with
a considerable measure of success, to give chect to the
recommendations of the British Association’ com-
mittee’s report on maps for school use. He has
avoided peppering the map with symbols or names for
the distribution of natural products, commercial com-
modities, or industries, and has restricted their use
to coalfields and a few important natural products. 3
Names are further reduced by giving only the initials
of ports. The groundwork colouring is a combination
of density of population and the type of vegetation.
made, by two tints of red, between highly developed _
manufacturing enterprise and horticultural or planta-—
tion industries. The other productive regions are
shown in shades of green, and undeveloped regions in
brown. The map thus indicates the present state of
economic development. Only the most important trade
routes are shown by ljand and sea; on the sea by bands
the width of which varies with the volume of trade.-
Mr. Philip proposes a school atlas on these lines, with
the continents on a scale of one to forty millions,
Re
ee
= nor
except Europe, which would have a scale of one to ten ~~
millions. A specimen map of Eurasia accompanies the e
paper. Finer colour printing would improve this. 43
striking map.
DECEMBER 27, 1917]
NATURE
33!
AX’ PAMPHLET by the late Prof.. Henrik Mohn, ‘ Der
Luftdruck zu Framheim und ~seine ‘Tagliche
-Periode”? (Christiania: Jacob Dybwad), deals with
the pressure at Framheim,. lat. 78° . 38’ S.,
long. 163° 37 W., the most southerly meteorological
station on the earth, established.by. Amundsen as his
winter station during his Antarctie expedition. The
observations were taken daily: from April 1, 1911, to
January 29, 1912, at 8 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8 p.m. local
OE EOL eR
- of the Government-General of the peninsula.
mean time, from a Kew pattern station barometer
hung on a wall of the kitchen of the hut. A Richard
barograph was also installed close. to the barometer,
and a Wild-Fuess barometer was kept, but the read-
ings were not used for the computations, as they were
not so trustworthy as those of the Kew pattern baro-
meter. The height above sea-level of the barometers
Was I1-t metres. Hourly values for each hour of the
whole period are given, together with means and
deviations. The pressure appears to vary from be-
tween about 710 and 795 mm., and the monthly means
show a maximum of 753-23 mm. for December and
a minimum of 726-60 mm. for October. The figures
are also given for harmonic analysis, and the pressures
of the different seasons are compared. ©
Korea (Chosén) has developed a_ thoroughly
systematic series of meteorological stations, and re-
cently the results of observations for the lustrum 1911-15
have been compiled at the Meteorological Observatory
The shores
are washed by the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan,
and the geographical surroundings render it compar-
able in many ways with those of Italy. Observations
are published for nine stations, fairly well scattered over
Korea, and extending from Syeng-chin in the north to
Mokpo in the south. One-half of the stations com-
menced observing in 1904, so that results are avail-
able in these cases for fourteen years. Pressure re-
sults at the several stations agree remarkably well
inter se; which shows great care in the organisation,
and the corrected mean for all stations combined,. for
the lustrum, is about 30 in., which agrees admirably
with the mean value for the year given by the Meteoro-
logical Office on its mean pressure chart, given in a
recently published barometer manual. Practically all
meteorological elements are dealt with for the lustrum
.- and for each station. For the several stations the
monthly means are given deduced from four-hourly
observations, for which the values are also printed
for the several elements, so that most valuable details
are available. Five-day means are also given for the
various data. ; aye
Tue double compounds of the metallic halides with
ether hitherto known are those with glucinum and
titanium chlorides and with aluminium, mercuric and
stannous bromides. The Journal of the Chemical
Society for 2 ape contains a description by Messrs.
A. Forster, C. Cooper, and G. Varrow of the pre-
paration of double compounds of ferric chloride with
ether and with benzyl sulphide. The former com-
pound, C,H,,O,FeCl,, obtained by the interaction of
anhydrous ferric chloride and dry ether, is a dark red,
_ highly deliquescent solid soluble in benzene, but decom-
po by alcohol or water. When heated it evolves
pure ethyl chloride. The substance in ethereal solu-
_ tion reacts with dry ammonia, giving brick-red, amor-
phous compounds of varying composition.’ Benzyl
sulphide ferric chloride, (C,H;),S,FeCl,, obtained by
mixing ethereal solutions of its two components in
_ molecular proportions and allowing: to stand for some
hours, forms minute lemon-yellow crystals soluble in
chloroform and slightly so in alcohol, but insoluble in
_ ether or acetone. The crystals rapidly become brown
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
on exposure to moist air, this reaction distinguishing
them from tribenzylsulphinium chloride ferrichloride.
Benzyl sulphide ferric chloride is slowly decomposed
into. its two constituents by water; with alkalis the
products are benzyl sulphide and ferric hydroxide. If
a solution of equimolecular proportions | of ‘benzyl
sulphide and cyanide in dry ether is added to an
ethereal solution of ferric chloride, tribenzylsulphinium
cyanide ferrichloride, (C;H,),SCN,FeCl,, is formed.
‘This substance is obtained as lemon-yellow crystals
insoluble in ether, but soluble in alcohol and chloro-
form. When treated with excess of ammonia in
alcoholic solution the substance gives. tribenzyl-
sulphinium cyanide, (C,H,);,SCN, which forms large
white prisms, m.p. 41°, readily soluble in organic
solvents, but only slightly. so in water. In con-
tact with water the cyanide completely dissociates in
a few hours.
Tue solving of formulz involving more than two .
variables by means of curves, alignment charts, iso-
metric charts, etc., is now well known, and a good
deal has appeared recently on these methods. Special
slide rules have also been employed to a large extent,
and are designed to solve problems connected with
special trades. The first instalment of an article on the
design of special slide rules, by Mr. A. Lewis Jenkins,
appears in the Engineering Magazine for November,
and contains much that will be of interest to any who
may be called upon to produce a special. instrument
of this type.
Owinc to the failure of several reinforced concrete
floors in the United States within ten or a dozen years
of their construction, Prof. H. J. M. Creighton, of
Swarthmore College, has examined a large number of
reinforced concrete structures in which cracks were
developing, and gives the results of his investigations
in the Journal of the Franklin Institute for November.
He finds that in every case the cracks run along the
reinforcing rods, and are due to the deteriorating action
of salt and brine on the concrete. Solutions of the
chlorides react with the lime and the silicates in the
concrete, and penetrating to the iron of the rein-
forcement convert it into oxide and hydrate, which
occupy more space than the metal and force the con-
crete apart. It is therefore necessary to waterproof
reinforced concrete structures which will be in contact
with brine, to cease to use in the concrete beach gravel
which has not been thoroughly washed with fresh
water, and never to add salt to the concrete to prevent
it freezing during building operations in cold weather.
AN interesting article on gear planers appears in
Engineering for December 14. The most remarkable
advance which has been made in the formation of the
teeth of gear wheels is in the substitution of methods
of generation for those of form-cutting. The principle
is simple, and the results are precise. A master gear,
either a rack or a pinion, imparts the correct shapes
to the teeth of any gears of the same pitch. The basis
tooth is that of the rack, with flanks having a pre-
determined pressure angle. This may be embodied in
a worm-like hob; or a rack tooth can be used to
generate a master pinion; or the tooth may be employed
directly as a cutter; or several teeth can be included
in a length of rack, sufficient in number to make con-
tact with all the teeth that can be in mesh with the
largest wheel to be generated in the system. The
relative movements of the cutter and the blank are
identical with those that will occur in the actual rack
and its generated gear. Wheels produced thus will
engage correctly with the rack and with each other, and
require no corrections or easing. The cutter is fed
33?
NATURE
[DECEMBER 27, I917
tangentially to the gear blank in the intervals of the
reciprocations of the cutter across the face of the blank.
This is the principle adopted in the Sunderland generat-
ing spur-gear. planer, manufactured by Messrs. J.
Parkinson, of Shipley, and the article cited contains
a fully illustrated description of this machine.
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN,
Comets.—Popular Astronomy for November contains
particulars of the appearance of Wolf’s comet during
the autumn. On October 15 it was readily visible in
a 5-in. finder, with a small central non-stellar condensa-
tion of the 12th magnitude.
-Prof. V. M. Slipher photographed its spectrum at
Flagstaff on August 25 and 26. The spectrum was
chiefly continuous, even the strongest cometary emis-
sions being faint; traces were seen of the cyanogen
band at 3883, and of the hydrocarbon band at 4737.
The spectrum was too narrow and faint to show the
. solar lines, but it was evident that the comet was
shining almost entirely by reflected sunlight. This is
not surprising, considering its great distance from the
sun.
Mr. Viljev has made the unexpected discovery that
the object photographed in September, 1916, which was
announced as Encke’s comet near aphelion, was not
really that comet; there are thus at least three occa-
sions (January, 1908, September, 1916, September, 1917)
when a faint object was detected, nearly in the right
position for the comet, and with nearly the right
motion, and yet proving to have no connection with
it. It brings forcibly before us,what a large number
of unknown faint objects (comets or minor planets)
exist in the solar system. Mr. Viljev has taken over
the computations relating to this comet that were
formerly in Prof, Backlund’s hands.
‘The following ephemeris has been calculated from
Mr. Viljev’s approximate elements. Perihelion passage
will be 1918 March 24-313 G.M.T. E is the ‘eccentric
~ anomaly.
G.M.T. E. R.A. Decl. N. log x log A
1918 | A Re Mass. see ‘
Jan. 1-416 —70 23 054 3 24 1976 0:2223
6-086 68 23 5 8 341 01804 0:2221
10°574 66 23 944 4 1 01627 06-2210
14-880 64 23 14 36 4.23 01446 0:2188
19:008 62 2319 40 448 o1261 02156
22-961 60: 5:23.24 55> Sialh. -elO70- =. sO-2 ig
30°357 56 23 35 46 611 0:0676 :0:2003
Union OBSERVATORY, JOHANNESBURG. — Circular
No. 39 of the Union Observatory includes a series of
micrometric measures of Eros made between May 15
and May 28 of the present year, and a discussion of
the advantages of ruling star photographs with lines
of right ascension and declination, as compared with |
the rectangular rulings of the Carte du Ciel. Another
excellent example of the photographic maps now being
issued from this observatory is included with the cir-
cular, and it is shown that from these the places of stars
can be obtained with an accuracy which will suffice for
most purposes. A further list of nearly 200 proper
motions found and measured with the blink-microscope
is also given; about fifty of them exceed 20” per
century, and many of the displacements are towards
the solar antapex. Many of the centennial proper
motions deduced, and believed to be trustworthy, are
under 10”, and one is only 3-2".
New ZEALAND AsTRONOMICAL TaBLES.—For general
information, the Government Astronomer of New
Zealand has issued a series of astronomical tables
calculated for the meridian of the Hector Observatory
NO. 2513, VOL. 100|
‘plates was able greatly to increase the output.
‘machine that will give, at a moment’s notice, a con-—
‘not’ bear the high speed of rotation.
(New Zealand Gazette, No. 141). They give the sun’s —
apparent right ascension and declination, and the ~
Greenwich mean time at apparent noon, as interpolatec
from the Nautical Almanac, together with the Gree
wich date. With the aid of auxiliary tables previo
published, the G.M.T. at apparent noon may fr
be deduced for any other meridian in New Zee
and also the approximate times of sunrise and sunset.
DEVELOPMENT AND USES OF THE
STATIC ELECTRICAL MACHINE,
> VERY great advance was made in the earliest
& form of electricity generator by the late James
Wimshurst in the year 1882. At that time several —
forms of the Holtz and Voss machines were in use,
but their behaviour was most erratic, the slight
moisture in the. atmosphere rendered them useless,
under most favourable conditions the output of elec-
tricity was small indeed. :
Wimshurst succeeded in producing a machine ~
would ‘‘excite” with certainty under almost any atm
spheric condition, and by combining a oe
then many manufacturers of electrical apparatus -
attempted to improve upon it and to convert it into
practical and mechanically efficient generator of eé
tricity. The Medical Supply Association has :
placed upon the market what appears to be
thoroughly trustworthy and strong British-n
tinuous and powerful static discharge. a
The mechanical construction of the machine is: ~
simple and very sound. Special attention has been —
devoted to the plates, which are of vulcanite. By
ingenious method of construction each plate is for
of three sheets of different qualities; this
tirely stops any tendency to warp, and enables”
the ‘outer surface to be formed of a hey!
good quality brittle vulcanite that in itself would
_ The whole
machine is built upon a cast-iron table, and is run by ©
an attached motor or by any other convenient means; —
it is not covered in any way, as the perfection of con-—
struction is such that electricity is generated
immediately on rotating the plates even in the dampest —
weather. oy ike 4
The uses of the machine are very numerous. It
has been employed with success ‘in agricultural ~
experiments, where greatly increased plant growth —
under the influence of the static discharge has.been —
recorded. In electro-therapy its value is fully recog-—
nised, and the static discharge is now in constant use
in many hospitals. For the production of X-rays the
machine has advantages over the induction coil, the
current being unidirectional and continuous. For
fluoroscopy or screen work this is a great gain,
as the image is bright and absolutely free from flicker. —
Except where very short exposures are necessary, as
in the case of instantaneous radiography, it will do —
the work as well as, or even better than, a coil. The ~
twelve-plate machine is run at goo revolutions per
minute, and gives a good discharge between balls 8 to
10 in. apart; currents from 2 to 1 milliampere can be ~
passed through a suitable tube. a
One great convenience of the machine is the complete
absence of complicated resistance coils, meters, and ~
other accessories; no electrical. knowledge is demanded
in its use; it is always ready, and it only needs rotat- _
ing to produce the current. The cost of running with
an electro-motor works out at 3d. per hour. 3. ae
The machine can be seen at the rooms of the Medical
ia es Association, 228 Gray’s Inn Road, London,
Cur. : ; 4
ig ‘
™
_ DECEMBER 27, 1917]
philology, ethnography,
-humismatology, archeology, and history, each no
NATURE
333
- THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL.
“THE publications of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
are fully abreast of those of the learned societies
of the European world. To ths Indian they are remi-
niscent of a glorious past, and give a forecast of the —
Asiatic world that is advancing by leaps and bounds
into the domains of commerce, industry, art, and
science. They breathe to-day not only of the society’s
great founder, Sir William Jones, but of a new Asiatic
life. In the founder’s first presidential address : (de-
livered in Calcutta in 1784) we read: ‘‘ Whether you |
will enrol, as members, any number of learned natives,
you will hereafter decide.”
is not only very largely ‘learned natives,” but that
many of the recent articles of conspicuous merit are
from the pens of Asiatic writers. Indians are, in fact,
pressing forward in every department of thought and
2
research, and are practically clamouring to write the
too long neglected history of their country. There
are eighty-seven important articles in the Journals
(placed’ in our hands), and of these forty-seven
are written. by native gentlemen. In this con-
nection it may be mentioned that the ‘Centenary
Review” of the society (published in 1885) was written
in three separate chapters, the authors of which were
two native gentlemen and a German. But to revert
to the founder, Sir William was no lover of systematic
natural history. He lived in Sanskrit lore, and could
see no merit in, or necessity for, systematic studies.
The direction was thereby given for the future life of
the society, and to-day: were one to seek out themes
of adverse criticism the most obvious would be that
_ the volumes on our table denote a disproportionate
treatment of zoology and botany as compared with
mythology, anthropology,
doubt important, but not more so than either zoology
or botany, to the new life of India.
The first botanical paper published by the society
appeared in 1785, and was on the mahua tree (Bassia
latifolia). We are there not only given a botanical
description and an instructive plate, but a full account
of the economic uses of that most valuable tree, which
to-day is of exceptional interest as a source of food,
oil, and spirits. In vols. iii., iv., and v. of the
Memoirs, now before us, there is not a single
botanical article. The corresponding Journals contain
remarkably few botanical papers, and those that are
given are short and deal as a rule with structural
adaptations to environment or to fertilisation. ‘‘ Graft-
ing the Mango Inflorescence,” by Dr. W. Burns and
Mr. H. Prayag, is, however, interesting and sugges-
tive. To what may be called the general rule there
tions—‘‘ The Materials for a Flora of the.
are two )
Malayan Peninsula’? and a ‘Synopsis of the Dio-
scoreas of the Old World.’’ The former, started by
the late Sir George King, has now run into its fourth
volume, and is being ably continued by Mr. J. Sykes
Gamble, late of the Indian Forest Department. “The
title of that great work is far too humble, since it is
literally an exhaustive flora of the Malayan Peninsula, |
and it very possibly has suffered considerably by its
production intermittently as an appendage to the |
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The second
paper is by Sir David Prain and Mr. I. H. Burkill,
and deals with an exceedingly difficult genus of plants,
many of the species of which are of considerable
economic value.
Zoology has in India always taken a more favoured
position, a circumstance ‘possibly due to the closer
association of the Indian Museum, than the distant
Botanic Gardens, with the home of the Asiatic Society.
Dr. Annandale has communicated numerous papers
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
It is a somewhat curious |
paradox on these words that the present membership |
' (some written for him by experts) on the ‘ Biology of
the Lake of Tiberias,” as also ‘‘ The Distribution and
Origin of the Fauna of the Jordan System.” Lt.-
Col. J. Manners-Smith has furnished useful informa-
tion regarding the Shous, or big-horned deer of Tibet.
Mr. F, C. Gravely has contributed a paper on the
‘Evolution and Distribution of the Indian Spiders
belonging to the Sub-family Aviculariine.” Mr. }.
| Hornell gives an excellent account of the ‘ Pearl
| Fishery in Palk Bay.” This would appear to be a
new bed hitherto unsuspected, which, but for the
war, would have given greater results than have
bee attained. Mr. Hornell records it as his opinion
that, in the future, cultural operations directed to the
inducement of pearls in a comparatively limited num-
ber of oysters, kept in captivity, must supersede
production in natural beds. Capt. R. B. Seymour
Sewell, surgeon-naturalist of the Investigator, con-
tributes a valuable report on the results of his bio-
logical investigations. Dr N. Annandale, Mr. J.
Coggin Brown, and Mr. F. H. Gravely have furnished
the results of their joint investigations of ‘‘ The Lime-
stone Caves of Burma and the Malay.” Mr. Gravely
further contributes a paper on ‘“ The Evolution and
Distribution of certain Indo-Australian Passlid’ Coleo-
ptera.”’
Mr. R. D. Banerji, of the Indian Museum, under
the title of “The Palas of Bengal,” gives a history of.
Bengal and Bihar from a.p. 800 to 1200. Many ob-
| Scure points regarding the Pala kings have, through
Mr. Banerji’s researches, been cleared up, while the
photographs he furnishes of inscriptions and colophons
should facilitate verification. In another paper Mr.
Banerji analyses the evidence and conclusions of the
four inscriptions regarding the ‘‘ Laksmanasena Era’?
| and again discusses the ‘‘Edilpur Grant of Kesava-
9
sena,” originally translated by Prinsep in 1838; and
in still a further paper deals with the ‘‘ Four Forged
Grants from Faridpur.””. Rai Monmohan Chakravarti
Bahadur gives a learned and exhaustive ‘t Contribution
to the History of Smrti in Bengal and Mithila.” To
the historical student™ the works translated by Mr.
Chakravarti are of great importance. They furnish a
mass of information bearing on the social and re-
ligious life of the people of Bengal in former times.
In another contribution Mr. Chakravarti deals with.
“The History of Mithila,” during the pre-Mughal
period, and this versatile writer next discusses the
geography of Orissa in the sixteenth century, and in.
still another paper exhibits ‘‘The Genuineness of the
Eighth Canto of the Poem of Kumara-Sambhavam,”
by Kalidasa.
Mr. Nundolal Dey furnishes an account of the
ancient Anga, or district, of Bhagalpur, one of the
most ancient countries of northern India.
Dr. L. P. Tessitori gives ‘A Progress Report on the
Preliminary Work done during the Year 1915 in con-
_ nection with the Proposed Bardic and Historical Sur-
_vey of Rayputanam.’”’ In the Memoirs the Rev. H.
Hosten, S.J., narrates his discovery in Calcutta of the
original MS. of ‘‘ Father A. Monserrate’s ‘ Mongolice
Legationis Commentarius’”—in other words, Mon-
| serrate’s account of the first Jesuit mission to the
Emperor Akbar, in 1580-83. After an interesting dis-
| cussion of the history and movement of ‘the MS.,
Father Hosten reproduces tne Latin text and gives, in
an appendix, useful explanatory notes. He further
contributes to the Journals, among others, three
papers :—(1) “The Twelve Bhuiyas or Landlords of
Bengal’’; (2) ‘‘Fr. Jerome Xavier’s Persian ‘ Lives of
the Apostles’’’; and (3) ‘Notes on Father Monser-
rate’s ‘ Mongolicee Legationis Commentarius.’’’ There
are numerous papers on anthropology and ethnology:
one of special interest deals with the Abors and
334
NATURE
[DECEMBER 27,. 1917.
Galongs. This is written by Capt. Sir George Duff-
Sutherland-Dunbar and is beautifully illustrated.
To mention by name even all the more interesting
papers given in these Memoirs and Journals woula
occupy many pages; as already suggested, they give
abundant evidence of a new lite in our Eastern EKm-
pire. The suggestion might be offered, however, that
the division of these publications into at least three
sections, each with its own separate volume, would be
both an economy and a convenience.
NEW FRENCH MAGNETIC CHARTS.\
N France terrestrial magnetism is included in
meteorology, and the actual survey upon which
the present work is largely dependent was made by
M. Moureaux, director of Pare St. Maur Observatory,
then the central magnetic station for France. Prof.
Angot, who is director of the French meteorological
service, was responsible for the last magnetic charts
relating to the epoch January 1, 1901. Whether fresh
charts will continue to be published every ten years
appears as yet to be undecided. Two methods were
considered of obtaining the secular change data, neces-
sary to derive results for January 1, 1911, from those
for 1901. ‘The first consisted in taking fresh field
observations in a sufficient number of places, and some
observations having this end in view were taken by
M. Eblé in 1912 and 1913. These have served to
some extent as a control, but the second method was
that actually depended on.. It consists in utilising the
secular change data published by observatories in
France and adjacent countries, including Potsdam,
De Bilt, Valencia, Greenwich, Kew, Falmouth, Val
Joyeux, Munich, Pola, Naples, Coimbra, and San
Fernando. The ten-year secular changes at these
stations were plotted in a map, and curves of equal
secular change drawn; from which were deduced the
secular changes appropriate to each station. The
method is obviously more suitable for France than for
the British Isles. But even in the case of France, in the |
absence of positive knowledge thatesecular change is
unaffected by local disturbance, it is doubtful whether
it will be universally admitted that the method is alto-
gether satisfactory for the deduction of charts showing
the local anomalies. It is obviously simpler, however,
‘than the carrying out of observations at a large num-
ber of repeat stations. esata
The values deduced for the epoch January 1, 1911,
for declination, inclination, horizontal and_ vertical
force, north and west components, and total force are
given for from 500 to 600 stations, arranged alphabetic-
ally under the several departments. The declination,
inclination, horizontal force, and vertical force data
are also embodied in four charts. Omitting a few
incomplete or obviously disturbed stations, the remain-
ing 538 were arranged according to geographical posi-
tion in twenty groups or areas. Taking any one
group, the mean of the observed values of, say, declina-
tion was assigned to an imaginary station, the geo-
graphical co-ordinates of which were the mean of those
of the actual stations. In this way values were found,
practically free from accidental irregularities, for
twenty different points. It was then assumed that
these twenty values could be represented by an expres-
sion, a+b¢+cd+d¢?+eorA+fr*, where 9+47° and
A+2° represent the latitude and easterly longitude of
any station. The constants were determined both by
least squares and by Cauchy’s method, with very satis-
factory results, showing that a simple quadratic ex-
pression suffices to give normal magnetic values wit
high accuracy for the whole of France. ep
1 “Réseau magnétique de la France et de l'Afrique du Nord (Tunisie,
u
Algérie, Maroc) au ter janvier rotz.” By Prof. Alfred Angot. Ann.
Bureau central météorologique de rorz,' tome i., pp. 59-95-F4 charts. |
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco are treated by them-_
selves (pp. 86-95). The available data consisted of ob-
servations taken by Moureaux at thirty-three stations
in 1887, and of recent results obtained by the observers
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The latter
had observed at thirteen of Moureaux’s stations, thus
obtaining data for secular change which were supple- —
mented by results from the observatories of San Fer- ~
nando, Coimbra, Tortosa, Naples, and Helwan. A
six-constant formula of the type already described
seems to fit the observations reasonably well. Prof.
Angot would like, however, to have fresh observations
throughout North Africa, at a considerably larger num-
ber of stations. Declination, inclination, and hori-
zontal force charts, representing normal values for
North Africa as given by the interpolation formule,
appear in the text, but on a reduced scale as compared
with that adopted for the French charts, which show
the actual anomalies. CHREE.
RAINFALL IN NORWAY DURING 10916.'
[TBE director of the Norwegian Meteorological In- —
stitute has, with commendable promptitude, pub- __
lished the twenty-first annual volume of rainfall data,
viz. that dealing with last year’s returns. The daily
rainfall is given in extenso for about 200 stations,
additional information regarding the nature of the ~
precipitation, whether in the form of rain, snow, ory
sleet, being afforded by the international symbol
affixed to the reading when the downfall was other
than rain. A monthly summary shows, for each of —
476 stations, the actual precipitation, the maximum
daily fall, and date of occurrence, along with the
number of days with more than 0-1 mm. and more ©
than ro mm. of rain respectively; the mean depth of —
snow is also given and the greatest depth recorded. it
The monthly and annual rainfall expressed as a per- EF
centage of the average is shown for sixty-four
stations. ste 4,
No general summary of the results appears, but
there is an excellent large-scale map in two sections
showing the distribution of the annual rainfall for
1916 by isohyetal lines drawn for each 200 mm. The ~
maximum rainfall, shown by the isohyet of 3000 mm,
(118 in.), appears in three small patches close to the —
coast, between lat. 60° and 61° the highest _
rainfall, 3127 mm. (123 in.), being at Indre Matre —
(height 15 m.), in lat. 60° N., long. 6° E. The smallest
rainfall, about 200 mm. (8 in.), occursin several areas
of no great extent north of the Arctic Circle, the most
extensive being an oval patch about eighty miles long —
and fifteen miles broad, situated due south of Ham-
merfest. The isohyets in some districts near the coast _
are very crowded, especially in areas contiguous to he
be
the wettest spots. where the rainfall in rather less ¥
than forty miles falls off from about 120 in. to 32 in.
As compared with the average, the rainfall of 1916
on the mean of sixty-four stations was 5 per cent. in
excess, but individual stations varied from 51 per cent. —
above to 41 per cent. below the average. Rainfall —
was much above the average at most stations to the —
south of lat. 63°, but north of Trondhjem (lat. 63-4°
N.) there was a pronounced deficit, ranging in genéral
from 15 to 40 per cent. The only marked exceptions
were at Gjesvair and Vardo, stations to the north
of 70° and far to the east. In no month did the rain-
fall show a general excess or defect over the whole
country, although March and August were dry, and |
January wet nearly everywhere. In February, June,
and October to December there was a pronounced
tendency to rainy conditions in the south, while a
drought was experienced in the north of the country. —
1 Nedbé¢riagttagelser 1 Norge, utgit av Det Norske Meteorologiske
Institut.. Aargang xxi., 1916. a8
Pat
sea
a °
;
5)
‘
| DEcEMBER 27, 1917]
pase
_ From an examination of the detailed summaries it
would appear that the greatest daily rainfall, 140 mm.
(5-31 in.), occurred on April 1 at Livastol, a station in
lat. 59° N., long. 6° E. Only nine daily falls exceed-
ing 4 in. were reported in the year under notice, and,
with one exception, these all occurred in the south. A
very useful table is given showing the height above sea-
level and geographical co-ordinates of all the stations,
which can thus be readily identified on the ae Bs
PLANT DISEASES IN THE WEST INDIES.
y serous root diseases which cause serious loss in
crops of cacao, coffee, limes, and arrowroot in
the West Indies have been investigated by Mr. W.
Nowell, whose conclusions are published in the West
Indian Bulletin (vol. xvi., No. 1). In all cases the roots
are attacked by the mycelium of species of Rosellinia, a
cosmopolitan genus of fungi which has long been
known to include several parasitic species. In most
cases the source of infection has proved to be either
the forest stumps left to decay when the land was
originally cleared, or, in the case of cacao, the stumps
of shade trees, such as bread fruit and avocado pear.
The fungus establishes itself on the dead stumps as
a saprophyte, and from these the mycelium spreads
to the healthy roots of the crop. The general condi-
tions which favour the spread of the parasites and the
most suitable methods of isolating the infected area
and controlling the disease are carefully discussed.
In the West Indian Bulletin (vol. xvi., Nos. 2 and
3) Mr. W. Nowell gives a first report on an investiga-
tion of the internal disease of cotton bolls in the West
Indies. The young lint is badly stained, and in severe
cases more or less completely rotted, by the action of
bacteria or of certain specific fungi, which are de-
scribed in the first of the two papers. Four distinct
species of fungi have been isolated and studied in
culture. They appear to be all closely related, and are
probably to referred to the genus Nematospora.
Further investigation is needed, however, to determine
the systematic position of the genus. The results of
“the experiments recorded in the second bulletin show
that infection results from the attack of certain cotton-
_stainers, bugs. Nezara viridula and Dysdercus spp.,
which puncture the ovary walls in order to reach the
seeds. The damage caused by the bugs includes the
death of a certain proportion of the seeds, and possibly
a localised discoloration of lint in young bolls; they
are, however, the agents by which the fungi and
bacteria are introduced into the ovary, and there pro-
duce the characteristic boll disease.
MINERAL NOMENCLATURE AND COLOUR.
A PAPER by Mr. Edgar T. Wher
- lature and Classification of the Native Element
Minerals” (Journ. Washington Acad. Sci., vol. vii.,
p- 447, August, 1917) is remarkable for its advocacy
of the use of adjectival prefixes for varieties, rather
than special or compound names, which involve, as
may be remarked, an additional tax upon the memory.
This attitude is so very rare among scientific men that
the attention of all naturalists may be directed to it.
Mr. Wherry thus gives us ‘‘mercuriferous silver” for
one end of the amalgam series and ‘argentiferous
mercury” for the other, while the former name
swallows up arquerite, bordosite, and kongsbergite.
“Rhodiferous gold” replaces rhodite and ‘“ ferriferous
nickel”? awaruite, josephinite, occtibehite, and soues-
ite. The realisation that time is very often lost and
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
on ‘‘ The Nomen- .
NATURE 335
- Ih September, on the other hand, the opposite distri- | not gained by _ the use of technical names in-
bution prevailed. stead of descriptive word-groupings will. make
mineralogists regard Mr. Wherry’s work with favour.
His paper, however, is much more than a revision of
nomenclature, since the element minerals are critically ~
reviewed, with a number of valuable references to
recent work.
Messrs. T. L. Watson and R. E. Beard have made
a careful study of ‘‘The Colour of Amethyst, Rose,
and Blue Varieties of Quartz” (Proc. U.S. Nat.
Museum, vol. liii., p. 553, 1917), and they conclude that
amethyst is coloured by manganese, probably distri-
buted as submicroscopic colloidal particles of an oxide ;
that the colouring matter in rose quartz is organic;
and that the blueness of quartz, as seen in many
igneous rocks, is due to the behaviour of light on
minute hair-like inclusions of rutile, as previous writers
have suggested. No explanation is proposed for the
absence of a purple colour in certain examples of rose
quartz which show on analysis quantities of man-
ganese in excess of those in ordinary amethyst; the
point seems worth raising, since the authors reject
the idea that the colour in amethyst depends on the
state of oxidation.
,
A VILLAGE COMMUNITY IN PAPUA.
1% the thirty-ninth volume of the Transactions of the
Royal Society of South Australia Dr. B. Malinow-
ski, Robert Mond travelling student in the Univer-
sity of London, gives a valuable account of the people
living on the seaboard of south-eastern Papua between
Cape Rodney and Orangerie Bay.*
The most important native village is Mailu, on a
small island near the coast, the inhabitants of which
take a prominent place in the trade. of southern
Papua, and in certain industries, such as pottery and
canoe-building, are more advanced than the mainland
people. Dr. Malinowski’s descriptions refer princi-
pally to Mailu itself. but the people of the mainland
district, who call themselves Magi, are occasionally
noticed,
~ Following Dr. Seligman in his account of the
‘*Melanesians of British New Guinea,’’ Dr. Malinow-
ski regards the Mailu as the most eastern branch of
the western Papuo-Melanesian population, the Bona-
bona division of the southern Massim being in contact
with their eastern border. The sociology and culture of |
the Mailu are of the same type as those of the Koita, so
fully described by Seligman. Like the Koita, too,
they speak a non-Melanesian language, though. this
is not explicitly stated by Dr. Malinowski, whose in-
formation was obtained by means of the Motu lan-
guage, which is understood by most Mailu men, —
The unit of social life is the village community. The
village is a compact group of houses regularly built
on land. The houses, on piles, face each other on
each side of the village street, with their backs to the
sea and the gardens. The men’s club-houses, or
| dubus, have now almost died out. The community
was the joint owner of the land and fishing rights, and
within certain limits of hunting rights. In legal
arrangements, institutions, and warfare the community
acted together. It is divided into clans, and the wife
comes from outside and moves to the home of her
husband. Children belong to their father’s clan.
Dr.. Malinowski gives details of the household, with
diagrams of the building. A genealogical census of
Mailu village was made to obtain the kinship system
and names. Personal. names of elders were found to
1 ‘The Natives of Mailu: Preliminary Results of the Robert Mond
Research Work in British New Guinea.” By Dr. B. Malinowski, Cracow,
Robert Mond Travelling Student in the University of London. Transactions
and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia, vol. XXxix.,
Adelaide, December, 1915, pp. 494-706, plates xxvi-xliii.
336
NATURE
[| DECEMBER 27, 1917
be taboo. The daily life of the natives is described,
first as to the individual (toilet, dress, ornaments, and
food), and then with regard to the community
(seasonal occupations, courtship and marriage, chil-
dren and their play, public law and the restrictions of
taboo, warfare, economics). The sections on agricul-
ture and hunting are illustrated by plans and diagrams.
Fishing, trade, and industries are similarly illustrated,
In magic and religion a very prominent feature is
belief in the Bara’u, a living man who can make
himself invisible and prowls about in the night work-
ing evil magic. Some suppose him to be invisible in
front, though he can be seen from behind. He can be
heard, travels like the wind, and injures his
victim in various ways. The ghosts, or Bo’%, who
dwell in the preserved skulls of the dead, are not so
feared. Their spirits go to a distant place.
The author deals fully with maleficent and beneficent
magic and with feasting and ceremonial, both in joy
and sorrow. He concludes with an account of burial
customs, art, and knowledge.
Dr. Malinowski’s long paper is a fine piece of work,
and an extremely valuable and interesting contribution
to the ethnography of New Guinea. It is abundantly
illustrated. by diagrams in the text, by thirty-four
pictures from the author’s photographs, and by a map.
The paper is a credit to the society which has found
such ample space for it in its Transactions.
SrpnEy H. Ray.
OIL. PROSPECTS IN THE BRITISH ISLES.
R. W. H. DALTON read a paper upon the above
subject before the Institution of Petroleum Tech-
nologists on November 20, He deals in the paper with
actual liquid petroleum only, and not with the poten-
tialities of distillation from so-called oil shale, from
coal, peat, or any other carbonaceous solids. He re-
gards the widespread conception of a store of petroleum
of commercial value lying intact within the limits of
the British Isles as wholly untenable. Nature seems
at all times since the initiation of organic life to have_
evolved hydrocarbons, in very variable quantity, some-
times for prolonged storage, often for rapid dissipation.
In a rapid summary, in geological order, of all re-
corded appearances of oil or tar within the kingdom,
the Carboniferous series receives most attention, chiefly
from the extensive mining operations,- which have
revealed pockets of oil where none is seen at the sur-
face. Those occurring in the Scotch oil shales are
presumably due to natural distillation by the heat of
intruded igneous rock. Others, in the .Yorkshire and
associated coalfields, are assigned to the alternations of
terrestrial with marine conditions.
It must be borne in mind that the roof of a coal
seam ipso facto implies a change of conditions, from
terrestrial vegetation to subaqueous deposit of sedi-
ment, and this was in not a few cases brought about
by subsidence, the sea often invading an area pre-
viously supporting terrestrial growth. In the Stafford-
shire coalfield many such marine invasions have been
detected, and several in Derbyshire and Nottingham-
shire. The coeval deposits of Yorkshire and Lan-
cashire would doubtless furnish similar evidence if
fully studied in this respect.
If petroleum is principally due to marine organisms,
whether vegetal, animal, or of the neutral. character at
the bottom of either scale, such invasion furnishes at
once a wider area for occupation, and. abundance of
dead vegetation as nutriment. Consequently, the roof
of a coal seam is a waterv paradise for the develop-
ment of oil-making organisms, and if the deposited
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
‘exploitation.
sands or clays are of suitable character for storage and _
cover, there is a chance for the formation of oil, but —
in no case has there been found a store of high com.
mercial value. a
Besides abundant exposure at the surface, ¢he
British geological series has for centuries been sub- —
jected to penetration by mines and borings practically
throughout its thickness, and no extensive area has
escaped the test of drill or pick. oe
It is much to be doubted whether in any part of —
the Secondary rocks or of the subjacent Paleozoic
series there exists any deposit of petroleum of a com- _
mercial value commensurate with the cost of wild-cat
search (for such it must needs be) and subsequent
Yet the Kelham and Norton instances,
in the Millstone Grit and Yoredale beds respectively,
demonstrate the possible occurrence of oil in deep-
seated portions of series of which the wide areas of
outcrop yield no similar indications. In view of our
ignorance of the tectonic structure obtaining in these —
older rocks to the eastward’of proved points, the term —
wild-cat is not too strong; for, although the overlying —
rocks indicate various tectonic moyvements—presum- _
ably influenced in depth by pre-existing structure—we —
do not know the degree of that influence, still less the _
extent to which the older rocks have been brought
within reach of denuding agencies to form the floor on —
which rest the newer rocks; an anticline in the
Secondaries may be ‘“‘posthumously” along one of
older date—it may be oblique or directly transverse to
flexures that would control the accumulation of
Paleozoic oil, if such exists. Set Sah
It is demonstrated, then, that in the British Isles—
as in other parts of the world—oil-forming conditions
have frequently recurred, but to a very limited extent; —_
and although conditions favouring its accumulation,
and tectonic structures capable of conserving it from __
escape, are also of frequent occurrence, the conjunction
of the latter essentials with original formation has —
generally failed. Our reservoir rocks are full of water,
demonstrating the absence of liquid hydrocarbons. The _
curves of our anticlines and synclines serve to enhance -
the beauty of our landscapes, and their formation has,
under favourable conditions, resulted in ore-bearing
veins, but to reduce that ore, as generally for heat, .
illumination, and motive-power, we must continue to.
depend upon solid minerals of native source, and fluid
combustibles imported from abroad. Sienna
The feeble and short-lived flows which our rocks —
exhibit necessarily conform to the same hydrostatic —
laws as the vast bulks. of other regions, but whether
from defect of original formation, of space accessible
for accumulation, or of adequate seal from escape, —
the total result is, from a practical commercial point —
of view, valueless, except possibly in, the one or two
cases mentioned above. To geologists, negative evi-
dence in respect of petroleum would be accompanied
by so much of interest and value in other directions —
that their trivial share in the cost would be gladly borne, _
but owners who looked for royalties would be less _
complacent under their disappointment. Hope-is more
easily. excited than regrets are consoled. It is scarcely
necessary to say that the drill and pump constitute the —_
final court of appeal,. but the charge of hoarding
petroleum is not one at all likely to be substantiated.
EXPERIMENTS ON TRIBO-ELECTRICITY.
T is strange that tribo-electricity—that is, the subject
] which deals with the ade Epo oft ceeaen ene
rubbing together unlike materials—has been so greatly —
neglected’ by experimentalists during the last
century. A dozen branches of electricity have, during
LOI SI LEE ALLL IOI ON, I BIT BE RS ea
that period, been developed to the dignity of voluminous _
, DECEMBER 27, 1917 |
NATURE
ba/
quantitative sciences, whilst this section of the subject,
which is of great antiquity, can be dealt with on a page
or two ofa text-book, and consists of incoherent quali-—
tative facts.
A recent paper by Dr. P. E. Shaw (Proc. Roy. Soc.,
November, 1917) discloses interesting results, and in-
dicates that this neglected field of research is being
developed. Throughout the experiments described the
conditions of the surfaces used were varied systematic-
ally—by rise of temperature before and during friction ;
thesis of a number of substances’ related to the
parent compound, and comparison of their physiological
action. . ;
The wideness of the term ‘physiological action,”
_ covering as it does any action on the living organism,
_renders its discussion difficult.
It is impossible, for
instance, to compare the bactericidal action of phenol
with the hypnotic effect of diethylbarbituric acid, or
with the anesthetic action of cocaine, for the same
_ superficial signs of physiological action may be-due to
by treatment when flexed; and by previously grinding |
or polishing, andsoon. It is well known that there are |
condensed films on the surfaces of many solid mate-
rials. Little is understood as to the nature or depth
¥
‘raised to 245° C.
of these adsorbed layers, but they have proved a verit-
able stumbling-block to the investigator of certain
henomena—e.g. surface-tension and photo-electricity.
But these films have little influence on tribo-electric
effects, for here there is always a rough impact of
solid on solid, the films are penetrated, and the true
solid surfaces bear on one another. |
The tribo-electric series consists of thirty-six places
in order from the extreme + at top to the extreme — at
bottom. The outstanding feature of the present results
is the readiness with which a solid changes its place
in the series when its surface condition is changed by
heat, abrasion, flexure, and the like. Thus ordinary
soda-glass drops from place 5 to place 21 when made
matt, and to place 26 when its temperature has been
C. Mica, which normally occupies
place 6, drops to place 18 when matt, and to place 26
when heated to 270°. On the other hand, ebonite rises
from place 28 to place 27 when matt, and to place 21
when to 100°. The remarkable character of
these is that they are not erratic, but follow a
simple law, as follows: All materials in the series above
place 14 fall when rendered matt or after heating; but
all materials in the series below 14 have the contrary
tendency, and rise when heated or made matt. Thus
the tendency is for the two ends of the series to come
together as a result of these changes of condition. The
temperature at which the change by heat occurs is
quite definite for each material, and has been found
for some sixteen metals and non-metals. It ranges
from 70° C. to 300° C.
Dr. Shaw considers that this diametrically opposite
behaviour in the + and — groups of the series indi-
cates the existence of two kinds of atom or atomic
group, one kind for each group, the difference between
the two kinds being fundamental. But whatever form
the theory of these effects may take, these new facts
ean scarcely fail to be of great importance. The re-
search provides an explanation of the well-known
readiness with which materials change their tribo-elec-
tric character. It should now be possible to avoid, in
great measure. the confusion and irregularity which
have hitherto characterised the subject.
THE RELATION BETWEEN CHEMICAL
CONSTITUTION AND PHYSIOLOGICAL
ACTION?» =. ;
THE relation between chemical constitution and
physiological action occupies a definite and im-
portant place in the study of drugs. Chemical. investi-
gation of a drug begins with the attempt to isolate the
principle to which its activity is due. Then follow
the determination of its constitution and the syn-
1 Summary of a lecture delivered before the Chemical Society 0”
December 6 by Dr. F. L. Pyman.
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
widely different causes. Examples of physiological
action are not wanting. Compounds of similar con-
stitution generally possess a characteristic group-
_ smell, whilst each member may have a specific odour.
_ Sense of taste also provides an occasional means of dis-
‘fies the physiological action.
-serve the effect of slight chemical alterations.
crimination not only between side-chains of different
length, but also in certain cases between stereo-
isomerides.
Stereochemical influences often exercise profound
effects, particularly on nerve-endings. Thus I-hyos-
cyamine has about a hundred times the mydriatic action
of d-hyoscyamine, and /-adrenine many times the pressor
effect of the dextro-compound. Asymmetry of a nitrogen
atom may also condition a difference, as in the case
of the a- and f#-methochlorides of l-canadine. The
cause of this variation still remains in doubt.
The influence of physical properties, such as solu-
bility in different media, may be of importance, and
it has been shown that for a particular series of
aliphatic compounds their narcotic effect on tadpoles
was proportional to the partition-coefficients of their
. solubilities in oil and water.
As an indication of the effect of chemical properties,
it has been shown that whilst certain basic dyes stain
the grey nerve substance, -their sulphonic acids do not.
This difference suggested that bases, liberated .in the
blood-stream by alkalis, are extracted by the nerve sub-
stance, whilst their sulphonic acids remain in solution
as alkali salts.
In the case of alkaloids it is a general rule that the
introduction of a free carboxyl group. profoundly modi-
Benzoyl ecgonine, of
which cocaine is the methyl ester, has no local an-
esthetic action; whilst quitenine, obtained from
quinine by oxidation of the vinyl group, is non-toxic.
Formation of quaternary salts has also a considerable
effect. For instance, papaverine has a_strychnine-
like action which is missing in its methochloride,
and reappears in its reduction product laudano-
sine.
In the many cases in which members of a group of
compounds of similar constitution resemble one
another in physiological action it is of interest to ob-
The
following four pieces of work were then outlined :—
(1) Tropeines (acyl derivatives of the amino-alcohol
tropine) ; (2) aminoalkyl esters (formed by the esterifi-
cation of an acid with an alcohol, containing an
amino-group) ; (3) adrenine and the amines (adrenine is
the active principle of the suprarenal gland); (4) pro-
tozoacidal drugs. The results of experiments that have
been made on the relative toxicity to infusoria of a
number of cinchona derivatives, with a view to their
employment in the treatment in malaria, indicate that
ethylhydrocupreine was the most active, but they do
not admit of any certain conclusions as to the relation
between their chemical constitution and protozoacidal
action.
Experiments have also been made on the relative
toxicity of the ipecacuanha alkaloids to amoeba, and
they indicate that the full amoebacidal action char-
acteristic of emetine is exhibited only when the nucleus
is intact.
.
33
NATURE
| DECEMBER 27, IQI7 *
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
CampripGe.—The University has gratefully accepted
an offer received from Mrs. King, of Worthing, to
give 1000l. 5 per cent. War Stock for the establishment
of a scholarship for research work on fevers, in memory
of her daughter, Nita King, a member of a Voluntary
Aid Detachment, who died of cerebro-spinal fever in
France.
Lonpon.—Prof. Bernard Pares, professor of Rus-
sian history, language, and literature in the University
of Liverpool, has been appointed the first incumbent
of the chair of Russian which has been established by
endowment from the London County Council, and will
be tenable at King’s College.
The. degree of D.Sc. (Economics) has been con-
ferred on Mr. A. D. Smith, an internal student, of the
London School of Economics, for a thesis entitled
“The Development of Rates of Postage.”
Dr. ARNOLD Eroart has been appointed assistant
lecturer in chemistry, and Mr. J. T. Westwood assistant
lecturer in mechanical engineering, at the Technical
College, Huddersfield.
Miss E. C. Tatzot, of Margam, has presented to the
council of University College, Cardiff, a benefaction
amounting to about 30,000l., which will produce a
salary of 150ol. per annum for the purposes of a chair’
in preventive medicine. The first occupant of the
chair is to be nominated for election by the council
by an expert board, e@ which Sir Wm. Osler is to be
chairman.
ParticuLars of a novel form of technical instruction
have reached us from America.
the training of librarians is to be held at the Riverside
Public Library, Riverside, California, from January 7
to March 2 of next year, and the services of numerous
experts in library administration have been secured as
lecturers and demonstrators. ;
lectures included in the attractive programme offered
to intending students are :—The library as a museum,
high-school libraries, library mechanics and handicraft,
cataloguing and classification, office filing and index-
ing, and binding and repair work.
THERE is evidence that
technical education in France is engaging the atten-
tion of the authorities. The question was first raised
a year ago by a paper by M Léon Guillet in the
Bulletin of the French Society of Civil Engineers for
October-November, 1916. The meeting at which the
paper was read was presided over by the Minister of
Commerce and Industry, and out of the discussion
which arose a committee was formed for the purpose
of submitting recommendations to the Minister men-
tioned.
members of the society, and the results are published in
the Bulletin of the society, January-April, 1917, and
the Revue de Métallurgie, May-June, 1917. sum-
mary of the committee’s recommendations also appears -
in the September-October number of the Bulletin de la
Société d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale.
Tue Committee on the Neglect of Science, has pub-
lished an article by Sir Ray Lankester on the new
scheme of examination for Class I. of the Civil Service.
This is of considerable interest to those concerned with
the position to be occupied by science in secondary-
school and university education in the future. An ad-
mirable summary of the report of the Government Com-
mittee under the chairmanship of Mr. Stanley Leathes
is embodied in this statement, and Sir Ray Lankester
frankly admits that the new proposals are a great
advance in the direction desired by the Neglect of
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
together to starve, torture, and discredit her, and re-
-by green leaves in sunlight.
A winter school for.
Among the subjects of.
| pounds are carried out in the green leaf and aided by _ :
the need far improved.
Discussion was invited from persons not °
Science Committee. The Government Committee, in
its report, has, however, contented itself with attempt-
ing to secure equality of opportunity to all branches of
learning, and considers that the schools and universities
should do the rest. Whether the theoretical advance —
will prove of practical value remains to be seen, for the
older universities and great public schools are, without
exception, dominated by the ‘‘classics.’”” In the con- —
cluding sentence of Sir Ray Lankester’s article the posi-
tion is summed up as follows :—"‘ Mr. Stanley Leathes’s
Committee, instead of rescuing education from the pro-
fessional vested interests of the classical schoolmasters,
hands back the victim, after many professions of good
will, to the tender mercies of those who are banded
morselessly to maintain the domination and the
niary allurements of the ‘ classical system.’”
pecu-
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON. ee
Royal Society, December 13.—Sir J. J. Thomson,
president, in the chair.—Prof. B. Moore: The forma-
tion of nitrites from nitrates in aqueous solution by the ae
action of sunlight and the assimilation of the nitrites
Dilute solutions of
nitrates exposed either to sunlight or to a source of
light rich’ in light-energy of short wave-length (such
as light from mercury vapour are enclosed in silica)
undergo conversion of nitrate into nitrite. There isan
uptake of chemical energy in this reaction transformed __
from light-energy, as in the formation of organic carbon __
compounds in foliage leaves; it is.to be added to the
relatively small number of endothermic reactions in-
duced by light. When green leaves are immersed in
nitrate solution comparatively little nitrite accunjulates,
indicating that nitrites are rapidly absorbed by the
green leaf. Nitrates-taken up by plants from soil would,
in presence of sunlight, be changed to nitrites, which —
are much more reactive than nitrates. This indicates, —
that the early stages of synthesis of nitrogenous com- —
sunlight. Rain-water collected for a considerable time __
contains no nitrites, all having been oxidised to nitrates, —__
but if exposed to bright sunlight or ultra-violet light
for a few hours a strong reaction for nitrites ‘is always’
obtained. There is no hydrogen peroxide or ozone in
air at surface level. The fresh odour in open air,
commonly referred to as “‘ozone,”’ is probably nitrogen
trioxide, which at high dilutions has the odour ofozone.
The oxides of nitrogen are probably formed by the —
action of sunlight, rich in ultra-violet rays, in upper
regions of the atmosphere upon air and aqueous
vapour.—]. R. Moir: The transition from rostro-
carinate flint implements to the tongued-shaped imple-
ments of river-terrace gravels. Seven flint implements,
exhibiting a beak-like profile, have been found, asso-
ciated with early paleoliths, in certain ancient valley
gravels. The implements described exhibit certain
characteristics of form only before seen in the rostro-
carinates discovered beneath the Pliocene Red Crag and
in other pre-Palzolithic deposits in East Anglia. They
show also by the nature of their flaking and proven-
ance that thev are of early Paleolithic age. The dual
character of these specimens is verv marked and points
to the conclusion that the knowledge of the manner in
which to make a palzolith was acquired by long ex-
perience in producing rostro-carinates. This view finds
support in the experiments in flint-flaking which have ~
been carried out. The specimens have been recovered
from a wide area in southern England, and it seems
reasonable to regard them as presenting transitional
types linking the rostro-carinates' with the earliest
palzoliths. ;
¥
DECEMBER 27, 1917}
NATURE per ga
" Physical Society, November 23.—Mr. W. R. Cooper,
vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. J: W. Nicholson ;
compose his ‘‘ Tableau
Some problems of stability of atoms and molecules.
The paper is mainly concerned with the possible exist-
ence and stability of atoms, and of molecules formed
atter the manner suggested by Stark, the link between
the atoms in a molecule being provided by a stationary
electron on the molecular axis. Atoms on the Ruther-
ford model, though dynamically unstable, are stable for
the simple vibrations ordinarily excited ; but it is shown
in the paper that atoms with such a stationary electron
have a much more limited degree of stability. More-
over, they cannot exist even in an undisturbed state
unless they are endowed with a negative charge, for no
steady motion is possible, and this conclusion extends
even to atoms regulated according to a dynamics such
as that of Bohr. Stark’s conclusions do not, therefore,
survive a quantitative treatment, and molecules cannot
be formed in the manner he supposes. The paper also
discusses the more symmetrical problem, in which there
are two such stationary electrons in an undisturbed
atom, and it is shown that systems with a transitory
existence, which are known by their spectra to occur
in the solar corona, are apparently unaccompanied by
the still more transitory systems which would be formed
by the attachment of an electron after. the manner of
Stark. This is a further argument against the possi-
bility that two atoms in a molecule can be linked by a
single electron, or by two electrons, which attract both
atoms.—T. H. Blakesley: Uses of certain methods of
classification in optics. This consisted of an account of
the additions which, in the course of the intervening Gof iition of terms and other standards._T. Smith:
vears, the author had been enabled to make in the
general diagram of optical properties, first communi-
cated by him to the Physical Society in the year 1903
(Proceedings, vol. xviii., p. 591).
Geological Society, December 5.—Dr. Alfred Harker,
resident, in the chair.—E. Heron-Allen and J. E.
arnard ; Application of X-rays to the determination of
the interior structure of microscopic fossils, particu-
larly with reference to the dimorphism of the Nummu-
lites. Mr. Heron-Allen said that in the year 1826
d’Orbigny published among the nomina nuda _ that
éthodique de la Classe
Céphalopodes”’ the name Rotalia dubia. G. Berthelin
was the first investigator to make use of the ‘t Planches
inédites’”’ which had been partly completed by
d’Orbigny for the illustration of his unpublished work
upon the Foraminifera. Berthelin made for his own
use- careful tracings of 246 of A. d’Orbigny’s un-
finished outline-sketches; among them was the sketch
of R. dubia. On the death of Berthelin the tracings
iia into the possession of Prof. Carlo Fornasini, of
ologna, who reproduced them all between the years
1898 and 1908. Fornasini’s opinion was that the
organism depicted by d’Orbigny was probably referable
to the Ostracoda. Messrs. A. Earland and E. Heron-
Allen, while examining the material brought by Dr.
J. J. Simpson from the Kerimba Archipelago in 10915,
discovered undoubted Foraminifera of an unknown
type, which resembled Berthelin’s tracing. Prof.
Boule sent the d’Orbigny type-specimen to London,
and the Rhizopodal nature of R. dubia was estab-
lished. It is not a Rotalia, and it must await deter-
mination until more specimens are obtained. It has
been named provisionally Pegidia papillata. Mr.
Barnard experimented with the object of ascertaining
the interior structure of the shell by means of the
X-rays. A skiagraph of the dense test of Biloculina
bulloides, d’Orb., shows the arrangement of the earlier
chambers as clearly as it is indicated in Schlum-
berger’s sections. The application of X-rays to the
dense imperforate shells, Cornuspira foliacea (Philippi),
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
| produced skiagraphs showing the dimorphism of the
shells. The skiagraph of Astrorhiza arenaria, Nor-
man, shows the internal cavities that contained the
protoplasmic body. Two arenaceous forms, Botellina
labyrinthica, Brady, and Jaculel!a obtusa, Brady, are
distinguished at once by skiagraphs.. Mr. Barnard
afterwards experimented on still more difficult mate-
rial. Operculina complanata, Defrance, the umbilical
portion of which is obscured by secondary shell-sub-
stance, furnished a skiagraph that showed curious dis-
tortions of the internal septa. The determination of
the Nummulites, depending on a knowledge of the
internal structure, is facilitated by the application of
X-rays.
Optical Society, December 13.—Prof. F. J. Cheshire,
president, in the chair.—J. W. French: Proposed
standard system of optical notation and sign conven-
tion. The author pointed out that owing to ‘the non-
existence of standards, confusion often arises in the .
interpretation and use of optical formulz, due to in-
definiteness as to the sign convention employed in
their construction. The suggested scheme, which con-
tained about one hundred clauses, dealt with the nota-,
tion for points, lengths, and angles and the sign con-
vention for lengths and angles. Certain of the quan-
tities were dealt with historically, as, for example,
the substitution of the Greek letter ‘“‘” for ‘‘n,” to
represent a refractive index. It was suggested that
the more controversial clauses might be discussed by
a committee which would issue supplementary lists
that would ultimately cover all points, including the
Optical nomenclature and symbolism. The author
dealt with the definitions of fundamental quantities,
and conventions for positive directions, angles, curva-
tures, and powers. The necessity for a number of
new symbols was shown; a special symbolism was
required for oblique pencils. The new symbols pro-.
posed for frequently recurring quantities were ex-
plained.
Linnean Society, December 13.—Sir David Prain,
president, in the chair.—Capt. A. W. Hill: Seeds en-
closed in a stony endocarp and their germination. In
certain genera the seed or seeds aré protected by inclu-
sion within a stony endocarp. In such cases it is
found that definite provision is made during the de-
velopment of the fruit for the liberation of the seeds on
germination from their stony envelope. In the case of
Prunus and similar normally one-seeded fruits splitting
apart of the two halves of the endocarp takes place, but
in such three- to five-seeded fruits as Canarium, Sclero-
carya, Dracontomelon, Saccoglottis, Aubrya, etc., special
fenestre or opercula are provided which are pushed
away by the germinating embryo. In Davidia not only
are special fenestrae removed, but also portions of the
intervening skeletal structure of the endocarp. The
remarkable fruit of Pleiogynium encloses several seeds
which germinate without any disintegration of the
endocarp.—Mrs. Haig Thomas: Skins illustrating re-
sults obtained in crossing species of pheasants. The
cross between silver pheasant (Gennaeus nycthemerus)
and Swinhoe’s pheasant (G. swinhoei) gave a remark- |
able series of segregating forms in the F, generation.
Amongst these were birds scarcely distinguishable from
swinhoei. The ‘F, form was a combination very dis-
tinct from the parental types; and, judging from the
frequency with which some of the new forms occurred
in F,. it was evident that they behaved as dominants
and likely that they could have been bred true. The
cross Phasianus versicolor xP. formosanus had been
made reciprocally. Crosses involving several pairs
showed that there were consistent differences according
to the way in which the cross was made.
340
NATURE
[DrecEMBER 27, 1917
Royal Meteorological Society, December 19.—Major
H. G. Lyons, president, in the chair.—P. Bolton: The
computation ‘of wind velocity from pilot balloon ob-
servations. In this problem the required' wind veloci-
ties occur as the bases of a succession of triangles in
which two sides, a, b, and the included angle C are
obtained by simple calculations from theodolite ob-
servations. To solve such triangles directly by the
ordinary slide-rule method, the two numbers a, b on
the logarithmic scale must be brought into coincidence
on the logarithmic sine scale. with two angles differ-
ing by the magnitude of the angle C. When this has
been done the other elements of the triangle can be
read off directly. The paper suggests a means of re-
ducing the labour of setting the scales. A prepared
chart of logarithmic sine curves is used, which in
effect takes the place of the logarithmic sine scale of
the slide rule. The other scales are rearranged with
the view of reducing*the arithmetical work involved
in the complete solution of the problem.—E. G.
Bilham: The use of monthly mean values in climato-
logical analysis. The objects of the paper are :—(1)
To determine to what extent computations based on
calendar monthly mean values are vitiated by the fact
that the latter are of unequal length; and. (2) to pro-
vide means of applying numerical corrections on
account of errors arising from this cause.
standard to which the results derived from the actual
months are reduced. The matter is of snecial interest.
in connection with. the computation of Fourier. co-
efficients to represent the seasonal variation of a
meteorological element such as temperature. Regard-
ing the year as a cycle of 360°, errors arise from the
fact that. the monthly mean values will in general
differ by small amounts from the ordinates of the curve
corresponding with 15°, 45°, etc. The corrections to be
-avplied to the original monthly: means and to the
Fourier amplitudes have been determined. The use
of these corrections is suggested as an alternative to
the employment of. five-day means in cases where
special accuracy. is required.
CALCUTTA.
Asiatic Society of Bengal, November 7.—Sir Charles:
Eliot : Zoological results of a tour in the Far East.
Mollusca nudibranchiata (ascoglossa). The author
describes a new species of Stiliger remarkable in the
possession of pointed oral tentacles and tentacular
prolongations of the foot. The species was found in
pools of brackish water at the edge of the Talé Sap,
or inland sea of Singgora, in Peninsular Siam.—S.
Kemp: Zoological results of a tour in the Far East.
Decapoda and Stomatopoda. In the course of his tour
in Japan, China, and the Malay Peninsula. Dr.
Annandale obtained eighty-five species of Decapoda
and Stomatopoda. Considered as a whole, the main
interest of this large collection lies in the fact that all
the species were’ obtained in fresh or brackish water.
Little attention has hitherto been paid’ to the habitat
of Decapoda, and, as a rule, no indication is to be
found in the literature as to whether a species inhabits
fresh, brackish,:or salt’ water. Dr: Annandale’s col-
lection supplies precise information on this point, and
shows that a surprisingly large number of forms have
been able to establish themselves in water that is fresh
or of greatly reduced salinity—Karm Chand Mehta:
Some observations and experiments on the rust on’
Launea asplenifolia, D.C. The cause of rust on this
plant is Puccinia butteri. The author has had diseased
plants under his observation for a year. He’ describes
the habit and behaviour of the parasite and host, and
discusses some microscopic details of the parasite.
NO. 2513, VOL. 100]
(Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd; London:
The mean
month is defined as an exact one-twelfth division of |
the year, Or 30-437 days, and that period is used as the '|. Rova INSTITUTION, at 2.—Electric Dynamos, Motors, Transformers, and es
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
Ta ud ac kare
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29. a
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Prof. J. A. Fleming. : x
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CONTENTS. PA AGE. +
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The Fundus Oculi of Birds . . ce Re
A Naturalist in Costa Rica Mera Ani ihc
Our Bookshelf .
Letters to the Editor:—
Labyrinths in English Churches. —Rev. C. S. Taylor
An Optical Phenomenon.—Dr. F. J. Allen . i234. are
A Traveller in Lapland. .(///ustrated,) By: Profi. oon
Grenville A. J. Cole, F.R.S. 3
Stellar Dynamics and Statistical "Mechanics, ‘By
H. S. Jones. SN ety
Prof. Franklin P. Mall ia Soe
Notes ‘
Our Astronomical Column ‘—
Comets Shure
Union Observatory, Johannesburg. . . . . pe mek
New Zealand Astronomical Tables
Development and Uses of the Static Electrical
Machine
The Asiatic Society of Bengal ........
New French Magnetic Charts By “Dr. C. Chree,
athena. cosa er 6-23 bev ee 334
Rainfall in Norway during 1916. By R. cM. 334,
Plant Diseases inthe West Indies ........ 3355 ie
Mineral Nomenclature and Colour . 335°
A Village Community in Papua. By Sidney Be 8 Ray 335.
Oil Prospects in'the British Isles ...... . 336
Experiments on Tribo-electricity . 336
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NATURE
341
" THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 1018.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING.
{1) A Treatise on the Elements of Electrical
_. Engineering.
A Text-book for Colleges and
_ Technical Schools. By William S. Franklin.
. Vol. i., Direct- and Alternating-current Machines
_-and Systems. Pp. x+465. (New York: The
- Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd., 1917.) Price 24s. net.
(2) Continuous-current Motors and Control Appa-
vatus. A Practical Book for all Classes of
. Technical Reader. By W. Perren Maycock.
Pp. xvi+331. (London: Whittaker and Co.,
- 1917.) Price 6s. net.
(3) Power Wiring Diagrams... A Handbook of
Connection Diagrams of Control and Protective
Systems for Industrial Plants. By A. T. Dover.
Pp. xv+208. (London: Whittaker and Co.,
1917.) Price 6s. net.
(1) a is usual for writers of books on electrical
engineering to confine themselves to the
theory either of direct-current or of alternating-
current practice. In an elementary treatise, how-
ever, it is best to include both, and this the author
has done. A most satisfactory feature is the intro-
_ duction of the concepts of the modern theory of
electrons, and this greatly stimulates the interest
of the reader in many of the phenomena and appa-
tatus described. Other excellent features are a
free use of the calculus—we were impressed by the
paing taken to make the mathematics simple—and
the introduction of many easy problems.. :
After the table of contents, Prof. Franklin gives
- a list of the national organisations and societies in
Sil alti
a
of magnetism and electrodynamics.
America relating to engineering, and describes the
field in which each society -is specially interested.
The student is encouraged to obtain further infor-
mation .directly from the secretaries of these
societies. In particular, he is advised to write to
the Bureau of Standards at Washington to obtain
a list of its publications and full information about
its activities. This is very properly regarded as
an essential part of the education of an American
engineer. ies
In the first few chapters a résumé is given
In several
places the author has abbreviated his explanations
until they are obscure. We read, for example,
on p. 73 that when a circuit has a certain induct-
ance “‘ one volt will cause the current in the cir-
cuit to increase at the rate of one ampere per
second.’’ The uninitiated reader would naturally
think that the current goes on continually increas-
ing so long as the volt is applied in the same way
_ as the velocity of a mass of one gram goes on Con-
_ tinually increasing when a dyne is applied to it.
The author is hampered by his loyal adherence
» to the nomenclature list published by the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers.
; For instance,
he calls the unit of the flux of magnetic induction
_ the maxwell, and the unit of magnetic induction
7
density the gauss. We deduce also that a gauss
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
is both a gilbert per centimetre and a maxwell per
square centimetre. It seems to us that there is a
quite unnecessary dragging in of the names of
great men of science, especially as the definitions
are framed on the assumption that permeability is
a simple numeric. Clerk Maxwell would not have
admitted this assumption. The American gauss
is the unit both of magnetic induction and of
magnetic force. Many physicists consider that
magnetic induction is caused by magnetic force
just as strain is caused by stress. The assumption
that cause and effect are measured in the same unit
,is unjustifiable. ah
In our opinion the practice of christening units
after the names of men of science should be adopted
only very sparingly. The watt and the joule are
well named, but we deprecate the growing use of
the kelvin for the unit in which electrical energy
is bought and sold. Those evil-sounding words,
also, the abohm, the abampere, and the abfarad,
used by Americans are almost libellous to the great
men whose memory they are supposed to keep
green. 7 fe .
On p. 96 a table of sparking distances is given
between spherical electrodes the diameters of which
are 0°5, I, 2, and 5 cm. respectively. The room
temperature at which the experiments were made
was 18° C., and the reading of the barometer
745 mm. Analysing the figures given, we find
that for a given pair of electrodes the spark occurs
very approximately when the maximum potential
gradient between them attains a certain definite
value. Surely the author should have pointed this
out. It is a physical fact of great interest and
may well prove to be the starting point of new
advances in our knowledge. It is at least. of
practical value to be able to.calculate the sparking
distances between spheres and the voltages at
which the brush discharges begin, to appear on
them.
The chapter on the electron theory is clearly
written, and much knowledge is given in little
compass. We are sorry that Peek’s formula for
the voltage at which the corona appears on
cylindrical wires is not given, as it is wonderfully
accurate and most useful to power engineers.
Descriptions are given of Cottrell’s apparatus for
precipitating dust and smoke particles from the
atmosphere, and of ozonisers for converting
oxygen into ozone. But the most interesting
devices described are the vacuum-tube current
valves the action of which depends on the emis-
sion of electrons by hot bodies. | These. current
valves are now much used as. receivers and
detectors in radiotelegraphy, and also as ‘‘ ampli-
fiers’? either for exciting or for maintaining
electric oscillations.
In those parts of the book devoted more parti-
cularly to engineering the author describes the
latest types of electrical machines, and it*is satis-
factory to notice how well they illustrate funda-
mental principles, and how amenable their theory
is to elementary mathematical treatment. The
series parallel controller, the rotary converter, the
frequency transformer, and all the various types
a
342
NATURE
[JANUARY 3, 1918
of polyphase motor are cases in point. Some of
the proofs given are worthy of high commen-
dation and will be much appreciated by students.
(2) A simple description is given of the various
kinds of direct-current motors which are in every-
day use, and the elementary theory of their action
is explained. The problems which interest the
designer are barely mentioned, but the practical
methods of testing and the requisite calculations
are fully described. The wiring connections are
given in far greater detail than in ordinary
treatises, and this will be of value to working.
engineers, enabling them to get a thorough grasp
of the requisite connections for the. electrical
devices which they have to use constantly.
numerical examples are given. We can recom-
mend this book to the beginner and to all who
wish to understand the working of electric
‘starters,
etc. The book is well printed, the diagrams are
clear, and the machinery and devices described
are of the latest types.
(3) The author clearly indicates the scope of his
book by describing it as a handbook of connection
diagrams of control and protective systems for
industrial plants. - Considering the limited space
at his disposal and the very complicated direct-
and alternating-current systems that have to be
described, the author has, on the whole, been
successful. The reviewer would have liked fuller
explanations in places, and some of the diagrams
fatigue the eyes. As a book for occasional refer-
ence it will prove useful. We notice. that in
accordance with the practice of many engineers a
zigzag line is used to denote an inductive coil.
A helical line, however, is more self-explanatory
and practically as easy to draw, and we have good
hopes that it will soon be universally used. Recom-
mendations to this effect have frequently been made
by ‘‘ symbols ’’ committees in many countries.
A. RUSSELL.
GEODETIC BASE MEASUREMENTS.
La Mesure Rapide des Bases Géodésiques.
Par J.-René Benoit et Ch.-Ed. Guillaume. Cin-
quiéme édition. Pp. 285. (Paris: Gauthier-
Villars et Cie, 1917.)
*HE use of invar wires in the measurement of
bases in geodetic triangulation, as well as in
topographical surveys, has become.so well estab-
lished that a new edition of MM. Benoit and Guil-
laume’s handbook on their employment will be
welcomed.
The fifth edition does not for the most. part differ
greatly from the previous edition, which. appeared
in 1908, but an additional chapter has been added,
in which the results of later experience have been’
added. . The control of the wires, both by fixed
marks laid down in a building with which the
length of each wire may be compared, and by a
short base on which the wires can.be used under
field conditions, is discussed. The former is in
use in England, France, Egypt, India, and else-
where, while at Potsdam a 240-metre base i is used,
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
Many |
controllers, contactors, automatic lifts,
The permanence of mural control-marks is con=
sidered, and the experience of the Bureau at —
Bréteuil shows that the distance between such
points of reference should be verified over a con- :
siderable period of time. ;
The results of base measurements at the Simplont %
tunnel in 1906, in Uganda in 1907, in Portuguese —
East Africa, the Argentine, Russia, Mexico, and
Rumania are given in some detail, as being opera-
tions for which the wires were verified at the —
Bureau; but these by no means exhaust the list of
countries in which the method of measurement by
means of wires, initiated by Prof. Jaderin, of —
Stockholm, in 1890, has been employed. In 1913 ~
a base eight and a half kilometres long was mea- —
sured near Lyon by the Geographical Service of
the Army both with invar wires and with aninvar —
4-m. bar, in which the mean values obtained by —
to-and-fro measurements with the bar and those —
of two wires differed only by 8°3 mm.
The need for comparison between the re bases :
murales ’’ or the control-marks which now exist —
in several countries is insisted on, and such a com- t
parison between Bréteuil and Teddington had been —
taken in hand recently, but has been interrupted. | 7
by the war. The results of investigations, which —
were undertaken on the proposal of Sir David Gill, —
to ascertain the changes caused in a wire by cong
stant use at normal tension are set out; and the
results of the comparison made with twelve wires —
from four to six times yearly over the. period 1908
to 1916 in continuation of an earlier series, 1904 to ©
1907, show well the stability of these wires when
carefully handled under favourable conditions.. E:
Three notes on the expansion of invar and thee
effect of mechanical and thermal treatment upon —
it: conclude this very useful handbook on the use —
of these wires in field measurement, and the pre-
cision which may be attained with them. 2. aN E
More can be said regarding the practical use
of these wires in the field and the various diffi- —
culties that have from time to time been ens
countered; but as these lie outside the personal —
experience of the authors they have not been speci-— e
ally dealt with in this volume. Bb eas
PHILOSOPHY.
A Defence of Idealism: Some Questions onda
Conclusions. By May Sinclair. Pp. xxi+ 396.
(London: Macmillan. and Co., Ltd.,— 1917.)
Price 12s. net.
ISS MAY SINCLAIR? S -“Defence of
Idealism” is written with a most refresh-
ing ease and freedom from technicality. It is the -
work of an amateur, but of an amateur who has —
read much and sees how arguments that are
usually thought to be abstruse bear closely upon
problems. which should command the interest of
every thinking person. Professional students
cannot fail to regard such a book as a gratifying —
proof.of the vitality of philosophy in this country. z
The: idealism which Miss Sinclair sets out to —
defend is not idealism in general, but idealistic 4
monism. It would have been well if Miss: Sinclaig A
. Pragmatism and hy the New Realism.
_An Ethical System Based on the Laws of Nature.
| January 3, 1918]
NATURE
343
had said plainly what she understands by this
doctrine, and how precisely it differs from other
“isms ” to which Miss Sinclair is opposed. Some-
times she speaks as though the enemy were the
New Realism, sometimes Pluralism, sometimes
Pragmatism, sometimes something else. To be
definite is not to be dull, necessarily; it would not
have detracted from the readableness of Miss
Sinclair’s book if she had made plainer just why
she disagrees with William James, M. Bergson,
and Mr. Bertrand Russell, to mention three of the
contemporary names which figure most frequently
in her pages. However, let us take the book as
we find it. To a vague and there-or-thereabouts
doctrine one can offer nothing but a criticism
correspondingly inexact.
It is manifest that Miss Sinclair is, above all,
anxious to safeguard the higher elements of our
world, the reality of moral experience, the reality
of religious experience, and our hope of existence
in a future state. Miss Sinclair holds that these
valuable elements are gravely threatened ah he
n Or
quarrel with the New Realists the present reviewer
would not wish to intervene. Frankly, he has
never been able to understand the logical basis of
the New Realism, nor what bearing (if any) that
doctrine has upon the vital problems which
thoughtful people expect philosophy to illuminate.
But in regard to Pragmatism Miss Sinclair seems
to have gone gravely astray. The basis of the
Pragmatist’s belief is a kind of optimism, or, to
speak more accurately, a kind of meliorism—-that
is, a belief that the constitution of the world is
good upon the whole; and this implies that the
world is such that the higher needs: of man’s
nature are sure to receive satisfaction. If the
analysis of human nature goes to show that man
needs assurance of the reality of moral and
religious experience, and needs belief in a life
after death, then that is pro tanto a reason for
holding that the universe will satisfy those needs.
Is this illogical, as Miss Sinclair seems to think?
If so, where is the flaw in it? It is quite a mis-
take for Miss Sinclair to think that ‘ Pragmatism
has no logic,” and that “it is spineless.” On the
contrary, it has all the logic that is worth having.
OUR BOOKSHELF.
By M. Deshumbert. ‘Translated from the
_ French by Dr. L. Giles. With a preface by Dr.
~C. W. Saleeby. Pp. ix+231. (Chicago and
_ London: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1917.)
Price 2s. 6d. net. |
Hux.ey maintained that ethical progress depends,
not on imitating the cosmic process, but on com-
bating it. M. Deshumbert proclaims a not less
exaggerated theory that the. whole duty of Man
is to bring his conduct into harmony with Nature.
Oreanisms are rich in adaptations which secure
self-preservation and the perpetuation of the
species; and if man is to continue to survive, he
must become increasingly fit in these directions.
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
Organic Nature, historically regarded, shows, on
the whole, a progressive differentiation and inte-
gration of the nervous system; and man must
follow this trend. But among animals it is often
clear that success has rewarded not merely
strength or cunning, but’ sociality and care for
the offspring as well; and Man must vie with
Nature in parental care and mutual aid. :
This is familiar good sense, well worth restat-
ing in the author’s picturesque way, with a pleas-
ant note personnel; but we cannot pretend to see
any stability in the thesis that ‘‘the Good is every-
thing that contributes to the harmonious expan-
sion of the individual and of the groups of which
he is a member.’’ For the “harmonious expan-
sion’’ includes, for man, goodness; and one of
the evidences of an evolutionary process being
progressive or integrative is just that it leads on
to the good. The author seems to wander round
in a circle; but it is not a dull circle: His book
contains an interesting collection of examples (not
always quite accurate) of self-preservative adapta-
tions and parental care; and quite a feature is
made of what the Rev. J. G. Wood once gathered
together in a suggestive volume—anticipations of
man’s devices by animals.
_ Much salutary counsel, sometimes a bit prosaic,
is given, by attending to which the sum of human
happiness and effectiveness would be greatly in-
creased. It is obvious that man may strengthen
his hands and avoid many gratuitous hindrances
by regulating his life biologically or physio-
logically, but we should not call this an ethical
system. The book has appeared in at least seven
languages—and it cannot but be useful practically.
But it does not rise to its title. }
The Munition Workers’ Handbook. By Ernest
Pull. Second edition. Pp. 158. © (London:
Crosby Lockwood and Son, rg17.) Price 2s. 6d.
net.
Turis little book opens with a brief treatment of
workshop arithmetic, mensuration, and geometry,
presented in a simple manner suitable for those
who have taken up munition work temporarily,
and probably forgotten, through disuse, most of
the mathematics acquired at school. The composi-
tion, mode of manufacture, and strength of iron,
steel, and other common. materials are then ex-
plained. This section of the book should certainly
encourage the worker to take a more intelligent
interest in workshop processes. Illustrated
descriptions of workshop tools are then given,
including a good account of the use of micro-
meters. This section of the book should prove
very useful. The following chapters are devoted to
workshop operations, such as lathe work, drill-
ing, tapping, screwing, bench work, planing,
shaping, milling, and gear-cutting. The
author clearly has intimate knowledge both of the
subjects dealt, with and of the requirements and
limitations of the class of worker addressed, and
has been successful in producing a book well
adapted for the purpose in view. Its merits are
such as to lead us to believe that the book will
| outlast the special conditions created by the war.
344
NATURE
[January 3, 1918
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.]
' Magnetic Storm and Aurora, December 16-17.
Tue. following details of a noteworthy magnetic
storm and aurora, which occurred on December 16-17,
are communicated by permission of the Director of the
Meteorological Office. C. CHREE.
Kew Observatory, Richmond.
Ow the magnetic traces at Kew Observatory, Rich-
mond, Surrey, there were indications of disturbance
shortly after 8h. on December 16, but no striking
movements until after 14h. (2 p.m.). Activity was
greatest between 16h. and midnight of December 16,
but some considerable movements appeared after mid-
night, and the disturbance did not die down until
after 4h..on December 17. The range of declination
(D) was about 34’, the ranges of horizontal force (H)
and vertical force (V) being respectively about 400 y and
2507. The needle reached its extreme westerly posi-
tion about 14h. 4om., and its extreme easterly position
just after 2th. Its largest continuous movement was
a swing of 23’ to the west, occupying about thirty-five
minutes, and ending just after 22h. The highest and
lowest values of H occurred about 17h. and 21h. 15m.
respectively ; between these hours there was a general
tendency to fall. A very rapid movement in H ended
just before 2th. 15m., the element falling 215 y in
less than ten minutes. Between the end of this move-
ment and 2h. 25m. on December 17, H rose almost
350 Y:
From 14h. 30m. until after 2th. on December 16
' the D trace showed, superposed on a gradual drift to
the east, a series of oscillations with a mean period of
about twenty-two minutes. The H trace also showed
a series of oscillations between 15h. and 18h., and the
oscillations in the two elements were roughly in phase,
increase in H going with westerly movement of the
needle. The changes in V were of a normal kind, the
value of the element being raised between 15h. and
22h. on December 16, and depressed in the early hours
of December 17. The V trace was almost free from
short-period oscillations, and these were also less con-
spicuous in the D and H traces than is usual with so
large a disturbance. :
The following particulars are reported from Eskdale-
muir Observatory, Dumfriesshire, where the magneto-
graphs record the north (N), west (W), and vertical (V)
components of magnetic force :—
Time of commencement 8h. 17m. G.M.T. on
December 16.
h. - m. Range
Maximum of N at 17 23} 628
Minimum ,, » 20 27 3° 7
Maximum of W i
‘17 16
2I + 587 y
Minimum _., Se
Maximum of V between 17 20 ?
“a and 17 35;>579 y
Minimum ,, at 21 18
These ranges, it will be noticed, especially that in
V, are much larger than those recorded at Kew Ob-
servatory.
After the occurrence of the minimum values about
2th. 20m., the Eskdalemuir curves showed a recovery
to about their normal positions; but just before 2h. on
December 17 another disturbance was recorded, caus-
ing an increase in W and fall in N and V, the changes
NO. 2514, VOL. 100] :
| this time that the streamers radiated to a point about —
‘| point had an elevation ‘of about 80°, an azimuth of
of force being approximately in N—150 y, in W+80 y,
in V—26qy. ie
Observations of aurora on December 16 have ‘i
reported from many stations in Scotland and Ireland, —
At Eskdalemuir aurora was first noticed at 203h., when ~
it appeared as a glow to W.N.W. At 2th. an are
extended from about N.W. to about N.E., with green
streamers extending towards the zenith. At 21h. rom, —
the arc had disappeared, but the whole northern half —
of the sky up to the zenith was glowing brightly. At
21zh. the glow was less extensive. It was noticed at —
10° from the zenith towards the south (i.e. the radiant —
about 180°). -The streamers were not thin and sharply
defined, as is usually the case, but vaguely defined
patches of light which glowed brightly. At 21$h. the
principal glow was to the W. and W.S.W., but it was
also plain to the N.W., N., and N.E. The natural —
inference was that the centre of the are of the horizon
from which the disturbance proceeded had chan ed
azimuth from N (nearly) to W (nearly) between 213h. —
and 21$h., but the radiant, point of the streamers did
not change appreciably in position. A slight glow was —
still visible in the N.E. at 23h. Bei: ©
At Aberdeen Observatory, Mr. Clarke, the observer,
reported a fine auroral display on December 16. From —
16h. 45m. to 2th. it was of a comparatively stable —
character. Until 18h. there was a single curtain-arc, —
with crimson, yellow, and green colouring. Between
18h. and 2th. there were several similar arcs, coloured —
from yellowish-green to bluish-white. After 21h. the type
altered, streamers appearing all over the sky, accom- —
panied by a corona. This second auroral would —
seem to have synchronised with the very rapid fall of —
magnetic horizontal force at Richmond. aS a
At Rothesay, according. to the observer, Mr. J.
Davidson, the aurora was very fine indeed. Along —
with extra long streamers were waves of red and white le
light, the whole centring overhead and forming an
immense ‘‘dome”’ (corona), where both streamers and
waves of light centred. The red waves came mostly —
from N.W. and N.E. = oat
At Fort Augustus the “dome” was in the zenith at
2th. 15m. The most southerly station from which ~
observations have been received at present is Seskin,
near Waterford, where the aurora was “moderately —
bright” at 2th., and’ faint” at 22h. The observer, —
Mr. Ernest Grubb, writes :—‘‘The aurora on Sunday —
was much brighter at Mount Mellick, fifty-seven miles
north of here, and very much brighter at Belfast, —
174 miles north of ‘here.” ~ Tye Rees ne ge
At Southport ‘‘a very fine display of streamers” was _
seen early on December 17, between 23h. and 23h., —
and therefore corresponded with the second magnetic —
disturbance at Eskdalemuir. in eam :
io
SOURCES OF POTASH. i
S is well known, the world’s supply of potash —
‘during the last three years has been greatly
curtailed owing to the present isolation of Ger- —
many, and compounds of potassium have, con-
sequently, greatly increased in price. This,
of course, has acted adversely on the interests of
agriculture, of medicine, and of numberless pre §
cesses in the arts which are more or less dependent —
upon the use of potash compounds. Up to within
comparatively recent times such potash as th
world needed was obtained from sea-water, eithe
directly, or indirectly through the medium of sea-_
&
TS NT a ST Ba
-JANvARY 3, 1918]
NATURE
345
plants (kelp or varec); by the incineration of land-
plants (wood-ashes) ; from vinasse, or the residue.
left on distilling fermented beetroot molasses ; from
suint, or the ‘‘ yolk ’’ of sheep’s wool, etc. These
still continue to be sources of potash, but they are
of comparatively subordinate importance when
compared with the relatively enormous output of
the Stassfurt deposits. All these sources, includ-
ing those of the Stassfurt beds, are ultimately
dependent on the primitive rocks of the earth—
that is, to the decomposition of such minerals as
potash felspar, potash mica, and the vast number
of zeolites and other silicates which make up much
of the rock-forming material.
- Felspars are, in fact, the most abundant mine-
rals in the earth’s crust, constituting, according to
Dr. Hatch, about 48 per cent. of the whole, the
potash felspars forming the predominant propor-
_ tion. Orthoclase, when pure, should contain 16'9
per cent. of potash (K,O), but such a theoretical
figure is never reached, owing to a greater or less
admixture of soda. About 12 per cent. of potash
is the usual amount, which is rather more than the
average percentage in the Stassfurt deposits.
Many suggestions have been made from time to
time to extract the potash from the two chief varie-
ties of potash-felspar, viz. orthoclase and micro-
cline, and from the intrusive igneous rock known
as pegmatite, which is a mixture of quartz and
felspar; and a large number of patented processes
- for this purpose are on record. It is-said that up-
wards of one hundred patents on this subject have
been taken out in the United States alone. One
of the most promising of these was that of E. Bas-
sett, who, in 1913, patented in the United States
- and Canada a process based on the discovery that
powdered potash-felspar, when fritted with com-
mon salt, was decomposed, with the formation of
potassium chloride, which could be leached out
from the sintered material, and obtained suffi-
ciently pure for technical purposes by fractional
crystallisation.
_ This process was independently discovered, and
has been carefully studied, by Mr. E. A. Ashcroft,
who has brought it to the notice of the Institution
of Mining and Metallurgy in a paper which has
just been published (Bulletin No. 159, December
13, 1917). The reaction is a reversible one, and
for its success in affording the maximum yield of
potash certain conditions of fineness, temperature,
duration of heating, and absence of air and mois-
ture must be observed, which, however, would
seem to be easily reached in practice. Large de-
posits of suitable material are to be met with in
Great Britain, notably in Cornwall and in various
parts of Scotland and Wales, Other localities
occur in Ireland. Some of these are already
worked for pottery purposes, but others, as in
_ Sutherlandshire, on the extreme north-west coast
| of Scotland, are untouched, and would be emin-
ently suitable sources of supply, and capable of
yielding some 20,000,000 tons of material without
- going below visible outcrops.
Considerations of space prevent any fuller ana-
_ lysis of Mr. Ashcroft’s proposals, but we are in-
|| clined to concur in his general conclusion that from
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
a purely commercial point of view the attempt to
work these Scottish deposits seems fully justified as
likely to prove remunerative, and we further agree
with his contention that, given the raw material of
the potash trade (the chloride), manures and all
other potash products can be produced at least as
favourably in this country as in Germany, and that
an important section of German trade may thus be
wrested from her, whilst our own urgent needs for
munitions of war, for the soil, and for the chemical
industries may be supplied.
The Stassfurt deposits occupy an extensive basin
in the North German Plain, in Prussian Saxony,
close to the borders of Anhalt. The brine-springs
which they furnish have been known and inter-
mittently worked since the early part of the thir-
teenth century, but they ceased to be remunera-
tive, as sources of common salt, in the first years
of the nineteenth century, and their working was
abandoned. In 1839 the Prussian Mining Office
commenced a systematic examination of these
deposits, and put down a number of borings in
different parts of the area, with the result that the
potash formations were found to occur in. practi-
cally only one locality, near the River Bode, not
far from Magdeburg. During the last third of the
preceding century a new industry sprang up and
the villages of Stassfurt and Leopoldshall, from
being wholly insignificant places, became,’ the
centres of a numerous population. ReneS.
The conditions under which the Stassfurt
deposits have been formed were the subject o
elaborate inquiry by van’t Hoff and his coadjutors
so long as the eminent Dutch chemist lived.
Although his interpretation cannot be said to be
wholly satisfactory, the investigation greatly eluci-
dated the mode in which the beds are supposed
to occur, and rendered it very probable that similar
deposits will be found in other parts of the world.
Indeed, their existence has already been proved.
In 1909 large deposits of sylvine, or potassium
chloride, were discovered in Upper Alsace, in an
area of about 200 sq. km., near Mulhouse. Two
strata were found, the upper 3 ft. thick, the lower
more than 16 ft. thick at a depth of from 1600 ft.
to 2100 ft. This field, unlike that of North
Germany, seems to be continuous, without faults,
and is of more recent geological origin.?
The issue of La Nature for November 24 con-
tains an interesting account of what has been
allowed to transpire concerning these Alsatian
beds, from which the following particulars
are taken. The deposits, although continu-
ous, are far from being horizontal or uniform.
On the contrary, they are folded and irregu-
lar. The lower layer of sylvine is surrounded
and covered, throughout the whole of its
extent, by the upper layer, arranged somewhat in
the form ofan ellipse, in plan not unlike, indeed,
a painter’s palette. At the edges the saline layers
gradually thin out and disappear. From their
great depth they are naturally at a high tempera-
‘ture, not less than 48°C. From statements made
in 1912 it was calculated that the upper layer of
1 Cf. Prof. Lunge in Thorpe s “‘ Dictionary of Applied Chemistry.”
* 346
NATURE
[ JANUARY 3, 1918
sylvine contained about 98,000,000 cubic metres,
distributed over 84,000,000 square metres, whereas
the lower layer amounted to 603,000,000 cubic
metres, spread over an area of 172,000,000
square metres, equivalent in round numbers to
I,500,000,000 tons of potassium salts, or
300,000,000 tons of pure potash. The first
borings were made at Wittelsheim (originally in
1904, in searching for coal), and some fourteen
others have been made over different parts of the
area. The salt began to be won in 1910, and in
1912, from the Amelia mine, with 200 men, the |’
daily output reached 300 tons. The mineral,
brought to bank, was crushed and powdered and
either treated directly for the manufacture of
** muriate ’’ or exported.
The potash layers are composed of bands, alter-
nately red and grey, consisting principally of a
mixture of sylvine and rock-salt. ‘The red bands,
coloured with ferric oxide, contain the principal
amount of the potash salt, whereas the grey con-
sist mainly of common salt. In addition there are
found thin layers of argillaceous schist and
anhydrite. The content of potassium chloride
varies from 20 to 68 per cent., and rarely falls as
low as 10 per cent. The raw products contain only
insignificant quantities of magnesium salts and
may, therefore, be used directly in agriculture after
grinding. In this respect they are more advan-
tageous than the Stassfurt salts, which need
separation from the large quantities of associated
magnesium salts. The Reichweiler factory is
_ capable of treating daily about 260 tons of the raw
mineral, producing from 40 to 50 tons of pure
potassium chloride. The content of bromine is
so small as not to be worth extraction.
The production of Alsatian potash is carefully
regulated by the German Government, and by the
law of May 25, 1910, the Amelia mine, the only
one actually at work in Alsace, was allowed to pro-
duce no more than 1°46 per cent. of the total yield
of the Empire, i.e. 9000 tons of pure potash, or
45,000 tons of raw salt, corresponding with an ex-
traction of fifteen wagons per diem, far below what
it was capable of affording. At the beginning of
the war, in spite of some improvement in the situa-
tion, the fifteen Alsatian mines, capable of yielding
in the aggregate about 800,000 tons per annum,
were allowed to sell only 80,000 tons, and the total
amount reserved to Alsace was permitted to be
only about one-tenth of the. German production.
This action is, of course, due to the attempts
of the German authorities to control and
strengthen the monopoly they practically possess—
a condition which would be altogether modified by
the return of Alsace to France, and by the réle
which the State mines of Stassfurt. might be made
to play in the case of a war indemnity by Germany.
Of the other considerable natural deposits which
are known to occur, the most important are those
of Spain and Abyssinia. The Spanish beds occur
at Suria, in Catalonia, and to-day belong to the
Solvay Company. They have been’ found at
depths of from 40 m. to 60 m., but certainly extend
much deeper. They date probably from the end of
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
the Eocene or the beginning of the Oligocene
period and are widely distributed, the potash salts —
occurring irregularly mixed with rock-salt..
potash compounds consist of carnallite and sylvine
in layers of an intense red colour, with altersaae
reddish layers of common salt, The richest zones ~
appear to follow anticlinal folds running from south — if
to north to Cardona, Suria, and Callus, The 2
explored i 1S only some 230,000 square metres, but i it :
is said to contain about two and a half million tons ~
of carnallite and nearly a million and a quarter tons
of sylvine in local thicknesses of 17 m. of car~ ~
nallite and 3°75 m. of sylvine. At present these”
Spanish deposits are not utilised, owing to ;
influence of Germany on Spanish affairs. ”
Cortes was offered a Bill in order to promote »
working of the mines, but it was opposed by @
faction in the interests of Germany, and no r
followed. A Royal decree in June, 1915, m
the conditions, but these were still so réstrictive
that the Solvay Company was prevented from ex-
ploiting the mines. On the other hand, ce
Spanish corporations, working in concert with : the:%.
German syndicate‘at Stassfurt, have obtained con
cessions in the vicinity of Cardona, and St
reservations have been created in the provinces
Barcelona and Lerida; but no further action h
been taken, ostensibly on the ground that
Spanish Geological Institute has not yet comple
its explorations. aa
The Abyssinian deposits belong to Italy: They
occur in Erythrea, at 90 km. from the coast to the ~
south-east of Massaoua, and at 10 km. to the north
of Atel Bad in long. 40°, close to the Italian frontier.
Their exploitation has hitherto been very” difficult,
owing to the hostility of the Abyssinians. These
conditions are now notably improved, partly by a
more effective possession by the Italians, if
partly by recent changes in the Government fo
Abyssinia, which is more favourably dispos ed
towards the Allies. The deposits already y
furnish about 20,000 tons per annum. Not
much is known concerning their physical char-
acteristics or the conditions of their formation,
but they are certainly much more recent than those
of Alsace and Spain, which are Tertiary ; they hav
probably been formed by the comparatively recen
evaporation of an ancient arm of the sea running
north and south, due to one of the great lines o:
rupture extending from Palestine and traversing
the whole of the east of Africa along a region stil
of volcanic activity.
Conditions such as probably have produced the
Stassfurt deposits are still at work and may be
observed in several parts of the world operating —
over large areas, as, for example, in the Adji- pS
Darja Bay, in the east of the Caspian Sea—a bay —
2000 to 3000 square miles in extent, and almost
entirely shut off from the Caspian by’a._bar. Ther
is here a continuous separation of salt, cstininteae
by Schleiden to be about 400,000 tons per diem
with an outflow of dense mother-liquor back to the
Caspian, except where it sinks in the deeper part
of the bay, when the mother-liquor salts 2
gradually deposited. None of these areas h
Se ne
_ 1878.
JANUARY 3, 1918]
NATURE 347
‘been investigated with such care as that of the
‘North German Plain, but the general conditions
which have led to their production are seen to be
similar, although local circumstances, especially
the extent to which they were subjected to an
intermittent influx of sea-water, have modified the
nature, relative amounts, and distribution of their
various saline constituents. T. E. THorpe.
NATIONAL POWER SUPPLY.!
MA in interim report issued by the Coal Con-
servation Sub-committee presided over by
Lord Haldane will be read with great interest, as
it crystallises the considered opinions of eminent
engineers. The committee has little difficulty in
proving that the present system of electrical power
distribution in this country is most uneconomical.
If it had all to be done de novo the Committee
would divide the country into some sixteen dis-
tricts. In each district there would be several
large inter-connected super-stations for generating
electric power, and these would be controlled by
a single authority. The sites of these stations
would not be chosen, as they too often are at
present, mainly to secure that the “rates’’ pay-
able on the electric works may come to the local
authority working the undertaking, but they would
be chosen on the lines laid down by Kelvin in
They would therefore be either near the
pit’s mouth, where coal dross could be used for
working engines of the most ecOnomical type, or
in places where plenty of condensing water is
available, where coal transport is cheap, and where
they would be near the centre of gravity of the
probable demand. If this were done it is calcu-
lated that as many as 55,000,000 tons of coal would
be saved per annum, a saving that would far more
than counterbalance the interest payable on the
new capital necessary.
We agree with the Committee that it is in the
national interest that the change should be made as
soon as possible, and we think that the probable
saving that would be effected has been somewhat
under-estimated. Both Mr. C. H. Merz and Mr.
C. P. Sparks, who are members of the Committee,
have shown by the stations they have designed the
great commercial possibilities of “supply in bulk,’’
and what a boon it is in industrial areas. They
are not inviting the country to take any speculative
tisks—the pioneer work has all been done. Dr.
Ferranti, Lord Crawford, and Mr. Ince thoroughly
appreciated the main facts of the problems in
1888, when the Deptford power station was first
designed.
The Committee is right in saying that the diffi-
culties which stand in the way are “political”
rather than “engineering.” There are too many
vested interests at stake—those of engineers as
well as capitalists—to make the course of any
national power supply scheme a smooth one. The
suggestion of a Board of Electricity Commissioners
is a good one, but the powers of the Board will
1 Reconstruction Committee : Coal Conservation Sub-committee. Interim
Report on Electric Power Supply in Great Britain. Cd. 8880. (L don:
Imperial House, Kingsway, W.C.2.) Price 37. net. Sh
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
| have to be very carefully defined. Everyone will
agree that the Board should be empowered to stop
the extension or multiplication of uneconomical
stations for public supply, and that it should aim at
ultimately securing the adoption of a bulk supply
scheme somewhat similar to that outlined in the
report under notice.
It will be interesting to see how far the conclu-—
sions of the report will be endorsed by the Board
of Trade Electric Supply Committee, which is at
present sitting, and on which municipal engineers
are represented. In any event the Sub-committee
is to be congratulated on having made excellent
and timely suggestions.
ECONOMISING SUGAR.
Caee- contemporary, La Nature, devotes an
article in a recent number (December 1) to a
ccnsideration of the use of substitutes for sugar,
in view of the present shortage of that commodity.
Sugar is a foodstuff; but as a nutrient it can be
replaced by other carbohydrates, such as those
contained in farinaceous foods and vegetables.
The essential thing as regards sugar is to find a’
substitute with sweetening properties. Glucose,
obtained by hydrolysing starch with sulphuric acid,
is the only sugar other than the ordinary supplies
producible in large quantities; but it has a low
sweetening power, is not economical, and has
reached an almost prohibitive price in France.
There remain the sweet chemical products, of
which the two chief are dulcin and saccharin.
Dulcin, para-ethoxyphenyl urea, is obtained from
phenetidine and urea, and has about two hundred
times the sweetness of .cane-sugar. It has not,
however, been much used as a sweetener, since
saccharin is cheaper and much more effective.
This compound, it may be recalled, has for its parent
substance toluene—the coar-tar product which
serves also to provide the explosive trinitrotoluene.
In making saccharin, toluene is converted first
into its sulphochloride and then into the sulphon-
amide, which is oxidised with potassium. perman-
ganate to produce orthosulphamidobenzoic acid.
Saccharin is the anhydride, or imido-derivative, of
this acid ; it is claimed to be about five hundred and
fifty times as sweet as cane-sugar. It is not very
soluble in water, and is generally employed in the
form of its sodium or ammonium salt (sucramine),
both of which are readily soluble. ;
Before the outbreak of war saccharin was
chiefly made in Germany, but had been produced
in this country to a small extent, and the manufac-
ture has again been taken up here quite recently. -
In France four factories have lately been equipped
to produce it. As regards the raw materials, ordin-
arily these would be accessible enough and cheap
enough, but at present there is, of course, a great
demand for toluene, and potassium salts are
scarce. Nevertheless, a certain quantity of toluene
can presumably be spared for urgent wants, and
there is no absolute necessity to use potassium per-
manganate as oxidising agent. In any case the
French factories are proceeding with the manu-
facture, and, as our contemporary observes, “ la pro-
._ which has no nutritive value at all.
348 : NATURE
: ¥
ia asi
i: in
[JANUARY 3, 1918 ”
chaine apparition de la saccharine sera la bien-
venue.”
The writer of the French article suggests that
it might be well, perhaps, to utilise the saccharin
solely for mixing with sugar, as is done in Italy.
This economises sugar, since a smaller “ration ”
wil! suffice, and is better than selling a substance
Moreover, it
would diminish the rather unpleasant after-taste
of saccharin used alone, and would also facilitate
the employment of certain nourishing foodstuffs,
such as cocoa, rice, and farinaceous foods, which
require sweetening to make them palatable to most
people. A suggestion that saccharin might be
therapeutically objectionable is dismissed as of no
serious weight, in view of the experience obtained
with it in the past.
. In this country saccharin has already been em-
ployed to a small extent in a somewhat similar
manner, namely, to sweeten milk-sugar for sale
as a sugar substitute. The supply of milk-sugar,
however, is restricted. If our own authorities
have not already done so, they might perhaps find
it worth while to consider the plan suggested by.
the French writer. Five hundred pounds of sugar
plus 1 lb. of saccharin would have about the same
sweetening value as 1000 lb. of sugar used alone.
‘ NOTES.
THE trustees of the British Museum have been given
notice by the Government that the museum is to be
requisitioned as the headquarters of the Air Board.
This decision will be received with dismay by everyone
who possesses intellectual interests or understands the
value of the collections in the galleries of the great
building at Bloomsbury. To pack up and store away
the many fragile objects in the museum in order to
prepare the galleries for occupation means ruin to the
specimens, and the ruthless undoing of careful
organising work of many years. Sir Arthur Evans,
president of the British Association, and one of the
trustees of the museum, writes to the Times of January
2 to protest against the wanton sacrifice of national
treasures involved in the hurried removal of specimens
from their cases, or the alternative of letting them
remain while the building is used as the headquarters
of a combatant department. ‘‘ Even the bare statement
of this proposal,’’ he remarks, ‘‘ will cause a shudder
to run through all civilised countries. Were it carried
out it would cover the British nation with lasting
obloquy. I write this with the hope that even at the
eleventh hour the Government may recoil from a step
which could not but provoke a deep and widespread
indignation.” If the British Museum represented the
last extremity in housing the Air Board, the occupation —
of the building would have to be accepted as an inevit-
able consequence of conditions of war. We have not,
however, reached a degree of national stress which
would justify the outrage now contemplated; and we
trust that immediate steps will be taken to induce the
Government to finda domicile for the Air Board without
dismantling our national museum and ruining many
of the priceless treasures collected within its walls.
A LONG list of New Year honours was published on
Tuesday. Among the names included the following
will be familiar to scientific workers :—K.C.B. (Civil
Division): Mr. A. D. Hall, F.R.S., Secretary to the
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
| University, Montreal.
Board of Agriculture; Sir George Newman, Principal
Medical Officer to the Board of Education. C.B. |
(Civil Division): Mr. F. L. C. Floud, Assistant Secre-
tary to the Board of Agriculture. Baronet: Prof. James —
Ritchie, Irvine professor of bacteriology, University of —
Edinburgh. C.J.E.: Mr. P. H. Clutterbuck, Indian —
Forest Service, Chief Conservator of Forests, United
Provinces. Knighthoods: Mr. W. N. Atkinson, who —
has contributed largely to a knowledge of the dangers —
of coal-dust in mines; Dr. J. Scott Keltie, editor of —
“The Statesman’s Year-Book,” and for many years
secretary of the Royal Geographical Society; Dr. A.
Macphail, professor of the history of medicine, McGill
In addition a large number of
medical men have received honours for services ren-
dered in connection with military operations in the
field.
4 : } JANUARY 3, 1918]
SET SAS Ea
yy x
NATURE : '
_ THE PRODUCTION OF SCIENTIFIC
KNOWLEDGE.
THE increase of scientific knowledge can be divided
into three steps: first, the production of new
knowledge by means of laboratory research; secondly,
the publication of this knowledge in the form of
papers and abstracts of papers; thirdly, the digestion
of the new knowledge and its absorption into the
general mass of information by critical comparison
with other experiments on the same or similar sub-
jects. The whole process, in fact, may be likened to
the process of thought. We have first the perception
by means of the senses. The percept is then stored
in the memory, and in the mind is compared with
other previously stored percepts, and finally forms with
them a conception, . ‘
I desire in this paper to consider the methods by
which these three sections of the production of know-
ledge may be carried on, to suggest an arrangement
of laboratories to produce experimental results dealing
with any branch of science, then to consider how the
knowledge so obtained may best be stored and classi-
fied, and, finally, the methods to be employed to make
the results of scientific research available for applica-
tion, |
(1) Research Work.
The agencies engaged in scientific research are of
several kinds. The traditional home of research work
is in the university, and the bulk of the scientific
production of the world comes from institutions con-
nected with teaching. The industries are more and
more supporting research laboratories, a large number
of which contribute to the general fund of scientific
knowledge by publishing the results which they obtain,
and some of which are engenes upon purely scientific
work of no mean order. Consulting and _ technical
laboratories engaged in industrial work make frequent
contributions to science, and there are some very
important laboratories engaged in pure research work
which are supported by philanthropic foundations.
The classification of research laboratories is not alto-
gether an easy task. They may obviously be classified
accordin
them—that is, we may classify them as university
laboratories, industrial laboratories, Government
laboratories, institution laboratories, and so on—but if
we look at them simply in the light of the research
undertaken, this does not seem to be altogether a
logical classification, since there is little distinction
between the work done in some university laboratories
and some industrial laboratories, and the work of the
Government and institution laboratories again overlaps
that of the two former classes.
The University of Pittsburg, for instance, has an
industrial laboratory, where definitely technical
problems are dealt with. The research work on photo-
metry done at Nela Park and at Cornell University
would seem to be similar in kind, and work on physical
chemistry or on the structure of chemical compounds
is of the same type, requires the same class of workers,
and produces the same results, whether it be done in
a university, in a laboratory of the Carnegie Institu-
tion, or in such an industrial laboratory as that of
the General Electric Co. It is equally difficult to
classify laboratories according to the purpose for which
researches are avowedly carried on. Most university
laboratories are willing to undertake work of industrial
value, and, indeed, some specialise in such problems,
while many industrial laboratories are quite willing
to carry out a research of purely academic and theo-
retical interest provided the problems involved bear
a relation to the general work of the laboratory.
1 From a paper read before the Rochester Section of th tical iet
of America on October 23, by Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mean ah ate snd
NO. 2514, VOL. Ico]
to the source of the funds which support
355
| A useful classification of laboratories can, however,
| be obtained if we consider whether the problems in-
| vestigated in a laboratory are all connected with one
common subject or whether the problems are of many
kinds, having no connecting bond of interest. I would
suggest that the first type of laboratory might be
called ‘‘convergent’’ laboratories, and the second
“divergent.”
In the “divergent” group of laboratories are in-
cluded all those institutions where research is carried
on’ which are interested in science in general or in
science.as applied to,industry, and will attack any
problem that may seem to promise’ progress in
knowledge or, in the case of an industrial laboratory,
financial return. Most university laboratories are of
this type. When they devote themselves to special
problems it is usually because of the predilection of
some professor, and as a general rule a student or
instructor may choose any problem in the whole field
of the science in which he is working and may carry
out an investigation on that problem if he be interested
in it without regard to the relation of his work to
the other work which is carried on in the same labora-
tory.
Correspondingly, in most industrial laboratories the
problems investigated are those which present them- -
selves as a result of factory experiences or of sugges-
tions from the men working in the laboratory, and
promise financial return, and the different problems
carried on in the same laboratory are not necessarily
related in any way whatever.
The greater number of university and industrial
laboratories are necessarily of this type. It would be
a disadvantage for a university laboratory, the primary
business of which is training students, to be too nar-
rowly specialised. Specialised university laboratories
are desirable only in the case of post-graduate students, ~
and it would be very inadvisable to allow the labora-
tories responsible for the general training of scientific
men to specialise in one branch of science, since as a
result the students would acquire a proper acquaint-
ance with only a limited portion of their subject.
Industrial laboratories, on the other hand, must
necessarily be prepared to deal with any problems pre-
sented by the works, and as these will be of all kinds,
covering generally the whole field of physics, chem-
istry, and engineering, it is impossible for the usual
works laboratory to specialise except in so far as it
deals with the works processes themselves.
In the ‘‘ convergent ’’ laboratories, however, although
the actual investigations may cover as great a range
of science as those undertaken in a “divergent”
laboratory, yet all those investigations are directed.
towards a common end—that is, towards the elucidation
of dssociated problems related to one subject. Thus,
the staff of the Geophysical Laboratory, which includes
physicists, geologists, crystallographers, mineralogists,
and chemists, works on the structure of the rocks, and
although the field of the actual investigations ranges
from high-temperature photometry to the physical
chemistry of the phase rule, yet the results of all the
work carried out are converged on the problem of the
structure of the earth’s crust.
The Nela Park Laboratory, in the same way, is
studying the production, distribution, and measurement
of illumination, and all its work, which may involve
physiology, physics, and chemistry, is related to that
one subject. Such convergent laboratories sometimes
develop in universities owing to the intense interest of
a professor in a single subject and to the enthusiasm
which inspires students and assistants to collaborate
with him and to concentrate all their energies on the
same group of problems. There are many examples of
such laboratories, such as the laboratories dealing with
radio-activity, and those which are concerned chiefly
356
NATURE
[JANUARY 3, 1918
with spectroscopy. Among others may be mentioned
the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge and several of
the larger university laboratories: which deal with the
physical chemistry of solutions.
But these university laboratories are rarely able to
S : CHEPUSTRY ;
cipitation and nature of the sensitive silver salts for
manufacture of the sensitive material itself, which
modern photographic plates, films, and paper is ¢
the emulsion, is a province of colloid and -phy
chemistry, colloid chemistry dealing with the
in their gelatine layer, while phy
chemistry informs us as to the nat
GCEOUTIUAL OPTICS aus
AMES, LENSES
‘3 va HESUSTAY
of the reactions which go on,
in the formation of the sensitive
stance and in its subsequent devel
ment after exposure.
The organic chemist prepar
-reducing agents required —
velopment and the dyes by
colour sensitiveness ‘is gi
photographic materials and by
the art of colour ae
carried on, and while the
ORGANIC CHEPUSTRY\
LLVELOING AGENTS |
ee
eo TN
therefore deals with
and the theory of are, the —
chemist must deal at the same time
with the theory of developr a
with the conditions relating
development of photographic
A laboratory, therefore,
PYHCTOGKAPHY
oe
study of photographic pro
‘must be arranged with a
| CTE CETS PORTRAITURE CINEPRTOGRAPHY APPUED be SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Fic. 1.
concentrate on to the group of problems which they
are studying specialists from such different branches of —
science as are available for similar laboratories outside
the universities owing to the fact that it is very diffi- |
cult to obtain interdepartmental co-operation in re-
search in a university. In a_ specialised laboratory,
on the other hand, workers in all
branches of science may well col-
CAP PHOTOGRAPHY FYUOTO SN
‘ ¥ ‘
of sections, such as are
Fig. 2. In physics we
partments dealing with s
and with illumination, reflectic
absorption, colorimetry, spectroscopy, ar
optics. We need a department of colloid chemistry.
of physical chemistry, one of organic chemistry,
photo-chemistry to deal with the action of light t
plate, and, finally, a number of ph ic
ments dealing with photographic chemistry,
laborate in the investigation of
problems representing different points
of view of one general subject.
In addition to the examples of in-
dustrial and institutional laboratories
mentioned above I should like to
illustrate the structure of a conver-
gent laboratory, if I may be for-
given for doing so, by referring to
the organisation of the research
laboratory with which I am_ con-
nected—that of the Eastman Kodak
Co.
COLLOID.
CHEMSTRY
The purpose of this laboratory is
the investigation of the scientific
foundations of photography and its
applications, everything relating to
photography in all its branches and
applications being of interest. The
branches of science which are of
chief importance in photographic
problems are those of optics in
physics:and of the colloidal, physical,
and organic branches of. chemistry,
and the relations of these sciences to
photographic oe, are shown in
graphic form in Fig. 1
Optics deals on its geometrical
side with the materials used in
photography—cameras, lenses, shut-
ters, etc.—and on its physical "side with such materials
as colour filters and illuminants, but especially with the
study of the relation of the photographic image to the
light by means of which it was produced—a study
which is known by the name of sensitometry. The
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
Fic. 2.
traiture, colour photography, Chistes motion
picture work. and X-ray work, and all
ments are converged together ‘first upon the theory,
and then upon the practice, of photography.
Each research specialist in the epost is ak:
OSS amet ee
should have his own special
January 3, 1918]
NATURE.
357
work corresponding with a limited field of science, so
that while his special attention is devoted to that one
department his ‘held of activity just overlaps that of the
departments on each side of him, while his general
. e of the subject should, of course, cover a
much wider range. It is important that each man
eld of work, and that
overlapping should not be complete, since such com-
plete overlapping will inevitably produce friction de-
structive of co-operation and harmony. The way in
which such a subdivision is arranged may perhaps be
best illustrated by Fig. 3, which shows the range of
the specific investigations of those who in our labora-
tory cover the range of research work between sensito-
metry and pure physical chemistry. There are five
workers in this range; the first, A, being a pure
physicist, B a physicist with a considerable experience
of chemistry, C a physical chemist. who is specialised
in art y, D a physical chemist who is
li in photographic theory, and E a pure
ysical chemist. The interest of each of these workers
overlaps the field of the other workers, but nevertheless
each of them has his own specific problem, his own
equipment and apparatus. Thus, A and B use sensito-
metric apparatus chiefly, C both sensitometric appa-
ratus and the thermostatic and electrical equipment of
Ihysical chemistry, D microscopic apparatus and chem-
ical apparatus dealing with the precipitation of silver
salts, and E the analytical and solubility apparatus of
chemistry.
tif YY YY, HY
YY Ly
\ EFFECT OF DEVELOPMENT PHvsica. CHEMISTRY THE SILVER HALIDE
: ON DENSITY OF DEVELOPMENT SENSITIVE GRAIN
PHYSICS.
FIG. -3.° «
The whole of this range is also connected with colloid
chemistry,.and especially the overlap of the different
sections involves colloid problems, so that we can consider
colloid chemistry as dealing with the interrelations of
the different sections of photographic chemistry, and
can represent ifs province in the diagram by shading
the overlapping areas. The colloid division of the
laboratory will therefore be interested in the work of
each of the ot a investigators, and will be of assist-
ance to all of them.
These charts, prepared for a photographic labora-
tory, are equally applicable in form for almost any
other convergent laboratory, so that if we have to
work out the organisation of a research laboratory
which is to study any interrelated group of problems,
we can do it by the construction of charts similar
to these. Thus, considering Fig. 1, we place first at
the bottom of the chart the general subject considered
and its various branches, and then above these the
scientific problems involved, separating out on opposite
sides of chart those problems which would involve-
different branches of pure science. Thus, we can
place on one side biological problems, then physical
problems, then.chemical problems, and so on, so recon-
structing a chart similar to Fig. 1 from the bottom
up, until at the top we have the various branches of
pure science involved, subdividing these branches until
each subdivision represents the work capable of being
handled by one man in the laboratory.
It will now be possible to draw Fig. 2, showing on
the circumference tthe different sections of the labora-
NO. 2514, VOL. 100}
THE PHYSWHAL CHEMISTRY
OF SLVER WALIOES
tory for which accommodation, apparatus, and men
must be provided, and showing the relation of these
sections to the problem as a whole, and having worked
this out, it is easy to find the amount of space and
the number of men which will be required or which.
the funds available will allow for each part of the ©
work. :
Specialised laboratories may originate in various
ways, but it seems clear that with an increasing total
amount of research and with an increasing realisation
of the importance of research more laboratories will
be developed, and no doubt laboratories which origin-
ally were of the divergent type will with their growth
tend to split into a linked group of corivergent labora-
tories. Consider, for instance, a very large industrial
research laboratory covering a wide field of research
and dealing with many different types of problems.
There are two types of organisation possible to such
a laboratory. It might be divided according to the
branches of science in which the workers were pro-
ficient. It might have, for instance, chemical divi-
sions, physical divisions, and so on, but if the groups
of problems dealt with were reasonably permanent in
their character it would more probably develop into
a group of convergent laboratories in which men from
different branches of science—chemists, physicists, and —
so on—worked together (and probably even had their
working places in proximity) because they were work-
ing on the same general problem. Any national labora-
tory which is developed for industrial research, for
instance, should almost certainly be
organised as a group of convergent
laboratories rather than as a group
of separate physical, chemical, en-
gineering, etc., laboratories.
We may expect, then, that the
general organisation of scientific re-
search will tend towards the produc-
tion of numbers of _ specialised
laboratories, each of which will be
working on an interrelated group of
problems, and attacking it from
various points of view.
Some of the questions relating to the internal organ-
isation suitable for these convergent laboratories have
already been discussed in a former paper,? and I need
only add here that the “‘ conference’”’ system described
there as a method of actually carrying on the scientific
work of the research laboratory has continued to prove
quite satisfactory. :
(2) The Classification of Scientific Knowledge.
The work of the research laboratories is published
by various methods in the form of scientific papers,
and with the increasing amount of research done the
number of technical journals is increasing steadily, so
that the workers in most branches of science find it
difficult to keep up adequately with the current litera-
ture, and especially those who become interested in ‘the
light thrown upon their own problem by other branches
of science find it a task of great magnitude to acquaint
themselves adequately with the literature. In order to
meet this difficulty the various scientific societies pub-
lish journals giving abstracts in a conveniently indexed
form of all the important papers published, and these
abstract journals are of great value in searching for
information on special subjects.
In spite of these abstract journals the task of obtain-
ing all the references to the literature on a given
subject is still a formidable one; and might be very
much simplified by the adoption of some _ radical
changes in the organisation of the abstraction and
classification of scientific knowledge. In the first
2 “The Organisation of Industrial Scientific Research,’ Science, 1916
p- 763 NATURE, 1916 pp. 411 and 431.
CHEMIST AY
358
-NATURE
[ JANUARY 3, 1918
place, there seems to. be no reason why abstracts of
scientific papers: should be prepared by the national
societies. At present, for instance, there are at least
four complete sets of abstracts of chemical papers pre-
pared in different countries, together with a number
of less complete sets, and this represents a great over-
lapping and duplication of effort. Secondly, sciences
which have not so many or such wealthy workers
as chemistry cannot afford to produce any complete
abstract journals, so that in these sciences reference to
the literature is much more difficult. There seems to
be no reason why an interchange of abstracts between
different countries could not be arranged, and, indeed,
it might be the best method of obtaining abstracts to
have the author of a paper supply an abstract suitable
in form and length for the abstract journal at the
same time that he sends his paper to the journal which
publishes it.
(3) The Utilisation of Scientific Knowledge.
The actual application of science ito industry is so
vast a subject that it cannot be considered here, but
it is not satisfactory to leave the results of research
at the point where ithey are published in papérs. and
filed in the abstract journals. In order to make them
available as a part of scientific knowledge the new
information as it is obtained must be incorporated in
books. é
There are three classes of books dealing with scien-
tific work, which require separate consideration. The
first class comprises the dictionaries, in which almost
all the progress in some branches of science can con--
veniently be summarised. Beilstein’s ‘‘ Dictionary of
Organic Chemistry”? is a good example of the way
in which almost all the facts of a science can be absorbed
_ ina classified form and made available for ready refer-
ence. These dictionaries, in fact, represent the critical
and discriminating summary of the scientific publica-
tions on the subjects with which they deal, and the
preparation of such dictionaries should be ensured by
international co-operation of the national societies.
Other sciences, however, do not by their nature
lend themselves to the convenient preparation of dic-
tionaries, and what is wanted in this case are critical
and well-arranged handbooks covering the whole
science, and resuming impartially, but critically, the
various additions which are made from time to time
in the different branches of the subject. These hand-
books, as well as the dictionaries, would, of course,
_require the addition of supplementary volumes irom
time to time, and occasional complete revision.
The preparation of both dictionaries and handbooks
would, of course, be greatly facilitated by the existence
of a numerically classified card index to the literature
concerned, and the preparation and revision of such’
books might well be undertaken in connection with the
large libraries having fin their possession the complete
classified card indexes.
On the other hand, for the assistance of advanced
students of science, what is required is a steady supply
of monographs correlating critically and comprehen-
sively all the- literature in a special field, and these
must be brought up to date from time to time. Such
monographs are especially required in connection with
rapidly developing new branches of science; it is diffi-
cult to over-estimate the importance and value for pro-
gress in research of such a book as Bragg’s ‘* X-rays
and Crystal Structure,’’ for instance, and while nothing
should be done to hinder individual initiative in pub-
lishing such books, it would seem that when it was
apparent that some branch of science required such
a monograph a national society might very well ap-
proach well-known workers in the field and request
them to write such a book, offering its assistance in
the matter of bibliography, and also offering to arrange
for the publication of the manuscript.
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
_ Empire. :
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE. :
THE Science Museum,. South Kensington, was
opened to the public on Tuesday, January 1. Th
museum has been closed to the public for nearly ty
years; it has, however, been open -without interruption —
for students. As compared with 1914 conditions, the —
extent and the hours of opening for 1918 are somewhat —
reduced, but the greater part of the museum will be —
open free on every weekday from Io a.m. to 5 p.m., —
and on Sundays from 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. The collec. —
tions contain many unique objects of great interest as
representing discoveries, inventions, and appliances that ~__
have been of first-rate importance in the advancement —
of science and of industry. Such objects as Watt’s —
engines, early locomotives, steamships, flying machines, —
reaping machines, and textile machinery are records of —
British contributions to the progress of the world; and —
it is gratifying that these can again be made available —
for inspection by visitors to London from all parts of
the United Kingdom and from distant parts of the
_ A copy of the calendar for the session BS Ma of —
the University of Sheffield has been received. In addi- —
tion to the courses of study arranged for students —
preparing for graduation in the ordinary university
faculties, many other departments, designed to =
the more special needs of the area served by the Univer-
sity, have been inaugurated. Among these may be
mentioned the two years’ course of work in the Univer- __
sity and the Sheffield Training College of Domestic ©
Science ; lectures on welfare work for men and women; ~
and an extensive svstem of University extension work.
The departments of applied science are intimately asso- _
ciated with local industries. The faculty of engineer- —
ing, for instance, includes departments of mechanical, __
electrical, civil, mining, and chemical engineering, ap-
plied chemistry, building, and glass technology. The
faculty of metallurgy is concerned with ferrous and
non-ferrous metallurgy. The diplomas and certificates
of the University are recognised as exempting from
examinations for admission to many professional insti-
tutions; and the University has, also, been eaisioniaall
by the Home Office as an approved institution for the
examination of mine surveyors. A research delegacy
in glass technology, consisting partly of members of
the University and partly of representatives of the glass
industry, has been instituted. The aims of the dele-
gacy are to promote research in glass technology, and
to provide for the teaching and training of students in
this subject. Paths a fiaae Sy
* f,
nN i
ie
AN interesting account was published in the Times —
of December 29 of ‘‘ Khaki College,” a school of civil
learning which has been inaugurated in a division of
the Canadian Army stationed at Witley Camp in ~
Surrey. Khaki College is the expression of the spirit
and ideal of a young and vigorous Oversea nation; ~~
and its most important aim is to help young soldiers, —
whose studies may have been interrupted by the war,
still to equip themselves for the return to civil life.
At a camp there-is little for the. men to do in the |
evenings, and those responsible for providing healthy
recreation for the Canadian soldiers organised regular
meetings of men under a tree in the ‘‘ Pine Grove” to
discuss questions of academic interest, and to listen to |
lectures by officers in command. Soon a demand —
arose for regular classes, and the would-be students
were so many that the authorities of the Canadian ~
Army decided to organise Khaki College. The teach- —
ing staffs are recruited from within the Canadian ~
Army, and consist of university professors and others.
The courses of lectures cover classics, history, modern
languages and literatures, mathematics and engineer- |
N
| mee January 3, 1918 |
NATURE
$99
ing, business and agriculture; and the Senate is pre-
ared to establish classes, in any subject whatever,
or which there is sufficient demand. Students from
_the Canadian universities serving in the Army will
have their Khaki College work “credited” on the
return. When demobilisation sets in, some time must
elapse before the Canadian soldiers then in England
can be atriated; Khaki College, while equipping
men for ir return to civil life, will prevent them
from degenerating into vicious habits of idleness apt
to ensue from a prolonged life in the base camps. It
is this aspect of the movement which first appealed
to the High Canadian Command, and it is to anticipate
the problems of the period of demobilisation that the
High Command has encouraged the establishment at
the front of the University of Vimy Ridge. That
institution is, indeed, established on a basis quite as
elaborate as the institution at Witley. Some idea of
the scope of its work is afforded by the long list of
lectures on history and economics, applied science,
languages and literature, agriculture, and business. At
Witley there are 200 studying scientific agriculture,
and 200 taking the business course. There are 150
students of history, 125 of English, 75 of the classics,
too of French, 50 of mathematics, and smaller num-
bers in other courses.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
f Lonbon.
Royal Microscopical Society, December 12, 1917.—Mr.
E. Heron-Allen, president, in the chair.—W. bateson :
Cytology and genetics. Attempts to tind regularity in
the distribution of chromosome numbers haa generally
been unsuccessful, but attention was directea to the
_ recent work of Winge, who, by preparing a graph ot
“these numbers in plants, had shown ‘that simple
multiples of 2 and 3 occur with special frequency, while
prime numbers are rare and exceptional. A survey
was given of the phenomena of linkage between genetic
factors as demonstrated in breeding experiments, with
a discussion of Morgan’s suggestion that this linkage is
due to a linear arrangement of the linked factors
in the same chi me. Whether the proposition in
its entirety was established or not might be doubtful,
but the factors certainly behaved as if arranged in
lines, and, as represented by the theory, a great diversity
of genetic and cytological observations relating to the
heredity of sex and other characters assumed an orderly
form.—G. S. West: A new species of Gongrosira. A
lime-encrusted alga, forming somewhat nodular masses
4-9 mm. thick, of a vivid green colour, was found at
Westen Mouth, Devon, growing in such a position that
it received the full force of a stream of water falling
about 2 ft. It proved to be new, and is described
as G. scourfieldit.
Aristotelian Society, December 17, 1917.—Dr. H. Wil-
don Carr, president, in the chair.—Dr. G. E. Moore:
The conception of reality. Bradley asserts both (i)
“Time is not real,’’ and (ii) ‘‘ Time exists, is a fact,
and is”’; and he evidently thinks that these two asser-
tions are compatible. In truth, however, (i) ought to
include, as part of its meaning, ‘‘There are no tem-
poral facts,” while (ii) ought to include, as part of its
meaning, ‘‘There are some temporal facts”; so that
the two assertions are not compatible. It is suggested
that the reason why Bradley supposes them to be com-
patible is because he sees (a), what is true, that ‘‘ Tem
poral facts are unreal” is compatible with ‘‘ We think
of temporal facts,” and supposes also (b), what is
false, that *‘There are no temporal facts” is com-
patible with ‘‘ We think of temporal facts.’ If (a) and
(b) are both true, it would follow that ‘‘ Temporal facts
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
are unreal’’ could not include as part of its meaning
‘* There are no temporal facts’’; and that hence (i) must
be compatible with ‘‘ There are some temporal facts.”
In truth, however, there is no difficulty in supposing
that (b) is false.
: EDINBURGH.
Royal Society, December 3, 1917.—Dr. Horne, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Principal A. P. Laurie and A, King ;
Note on the hydrolysis of acid sodium sulphate. These
experiments were carried out with the view of throw-
ing light on a practical problem arising in the manu-
facture of explosives, and are an investigation of the
effects of cooling solutions of acid sodium sulphate of
various strengths, showing the laws governing the
separation of the normal salt.—Dr. W. Wright. Wilson :
The absence of a nucleus in crystals of uric acid. It
was suggested that the lack of a’ nucleus might be
hereditarily connected with abnormal conditions.—
A. M. Williams: The thermodynamics of adsorption.
This thermodynamic investigation into heat effects
accompanying adsorption led to expressions for three
isothermal heats of adsorption of a gas and for the
heat of immersion of a powder in a liquid, The effect
of the variation of the surface of an adsorbent when
adsorbing was examined, and it was shown from
Titoff’s observations that the divergence between cal-
culated and observed values of the heat of adsorption
could be explained on the assumption of a change of
surface area. The fractional change of surface per c.c-.
adsorbed could be calculated, and also the surface
energy per gram adsorbent in vacuo.—R. K. S. Lim:
Experiments on the respiratory organs of the shore-
crab (Carcinus maenas). The following facts were
established. The direction of the respiratory current
in the shore-crab is from behind forwards, whether the
animal is lying above sand or buried in it. Occasion-
ally this direction is reversed. Sea-water is sucked in
beneath the carapace through four separate spaces
which communicate with corresponding spaces between
the gill origins. The direction of these inlets is suck
that the current in the gill chambers tends to travel
forwards and inwards. The gills -being radially
arranged, and being placed across the path of the cur-
rent, forces it to pass through the individual gill
lamellz, thus thoroughly bathing their surfaces.
Rees: Paris.
Academy of Sciences, December 3, 1917.—M. Paul
Painlevé in the chair.—E. Picard: A functional equa-
tion occurring in the theory of the distribution of elec-
tricity according to Neumann’s law.—M. Vito. Volterra
was elected foreign associate in the place of the late
M. Hittorf.—W. de Tannenberg : A question of indeter- —
minate analysis.—J. Bosler: Meteorites and terrestrial
eccentricity.—C. Matignon and F,. Meyer: Monovariant
equilibria in the ternary system, water, sodium
sulphate, ammonium sulphate. An account of experi-
ments undertaken to supply a rational solution of the
problem of the preparation of ammonium sulphate from
sodium bisulohate.—E. Hildt: New fractionating
apparatus for petrol and other volatile products. The
vapours are passed through a series of six Vigreux
columns heated externally by the vapour of a petrol
boiling between two well-defined temperatures. The
vapour uncondensed by the first column passes on to |
a second column similarly vapour-jacketed with a lower
boiling liquid. The apparatus figured shows six such
columns in use, giving fractions >150°, 130°-150°,
110°-130°, 9g0°-110°,.70°—go0°, 50°-70°, <50° C. Among
the advantages claimed is the elimination of errors
due to currents of air and to changes in the barometric
pressure.—J. Laborde: A new method for the separa-
tion and estimation of lactic, succinic, and malic acids
in wine. The method is based on the differences in
P
’ and in fused metaphosphoric acid have been
360 : 7 me
NATURE
[JANUARY e 1918
solubility of the calcium salts: of. ithe three acids in
alcohol of varying concentration. —F* L, Navarro: The
non-existence of the Cretacean. inthe island of Hierro.
(Canaries). The author, .after visits to the island of
Hierro in. 1911 and 1917, has definitely proved the
absence of Cretaceous. deposits. The fossil, Discoidea
pulvinata, described by J. Cottreau and P. Lemoine in
1910, was probably brought to the island by a ship as
ballast.—F, Georgévitch ; The evolutive cycle of Myxi-
dium gadii—A. Lécaillon: Aptitude for natural par-
thenogenesis considered in various races or varieties of
the silkworm.—L, Boutan ; The réle of the fins in teleo-
stean fishes with swimming bladder.—W. Kopaczewski :
The mechanism of the toxic action of ii serum of the
mureena.
Care Town.
Royal Society of South Africa, October 17, 1917.—Dr.
A. Jasper Anderson, vice-president, in the chair.—J.
Moir: Spectrum phenomena in the chromium com-
pounds, being part iv. of the spectrum of the ruby and
emerald. It has been. found that although aqueous
solutions of the chromium salts do not show any
marrow characteristic bands in the spectrum, yet when
anhydrous (or nearly anhydrous) solutions are used the
_ spectrum is crossed by narrow bands-in the red similar
to what are seen in the ruby or emerald spectrurh. The
solutions of chromium oxide in concentrated sulphuric
investi-
gated, and the bands measured; they are very similar
to those seen in the emerald, but not absolutely iden-
tical; while the bands of the ruby, although similar
in arrangement, are displaced into a region of lower
frequency. Both gem colours are due to chromium,
but the vibrations are differently loaded (silica and
beryllia against alumina). —J. Moir: Colour and chem-
ical constitution Part iii.: Derivatives of the un-
known ortho-para-phenolphthalein. Phthaleins in
which one of the hydroxyl groups is ortho- and the
other para- to the central carbon have been prepared
from para-substituted phenols with oxybenzoylbenzoic
acid. They are like the common phthaleins, but their
absorption bands are broad, although in much the
same position.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
The University of Sheffield. Calendar for the Session
1917-18. Pp. 767. (Sheffield: The University.)
Medicinsk—Historiske Smaaskrifter. 18. Om Lage-
kunst Hos Perserne. By A. Christensen. (Kobenhavn :
Vilhelm Trydes Fotlag.)
The Education of Engineers. By. H. G.
Pp. viit+64. (London: G. Bell and Sons,
2s. net.
Chemistry for Beginners.
Second edition. Pp. viii+ 150.
Tindall; and Cox.) 2s. 6d. net.
Les Universités et. la Vie Scientifique aux Etats-
Unis. — By Prof. M. Caullery. (Paris: A. Colin.)
3-50 francs.
Taylor.
Ltd.)
By C.- T. Kingzett.
(Lendogy: Bailliére,
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY. TANowie 2.
Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—Electricity as an Illuminator and Doctor:
Prof. J. A. Fleming.
Cuitp Stupy AssoctaTION, at 5.30.—Discussion : ‘The be crag of the
Clever Child: Openets: G. F. Daniell and Miss M. Berryma
ASSOCIATION OF ScrENCE TEACHERS (University College, anes Street),
at 11:30.—Some Applications of Physics: Prof. Dovidge.—At 2.30.—
Discussion : The Teaching of Physics § in Girls’ Schools: Opener: Prof. F.
Womack.
SATURDA y, JANUARY 5.
Roya INstitTuTION, at 3.—Electric Dynamos, Motors, Transformers, and
Railways: Prof. J. A. Fleming.
GEOGRAPHICAL ASSOCIATION, at 11.30. —The Crafts of Britain, Past and
Future: H. Wilson.—At 3.—Map Study in Geography and Military
Education: W. E. Whitehouse.
NO. 2514, VOL. 100]
- Societies and Academies... ...... «+ 359
MONDAY, iby dap
Soctery or Cuemicar Inpustry, at 8.—The oxicity of Methyl Alcok
in Relation to its Industrial Uses. A Review of the Published D
T. D. Morson.—The Rapid Estimation of Pyridine in’ Ammoni:
-T. F, Harvey and C. F. Sparks.—(1) Corrosion of Léad Roofing ;
“The Action of Rainwater on a Portland Stone: Prof. J..S. S. Brame. —
GrocrapnicaL Associarion (London Day Training College), at to. oS ae
ber a eag Senarapby in Advanced Courses: Openers: Miss feet
Brooks, and W. H. Barker.—At 5 (Rings College).—Presidenti :
aes The Great Goddess Mother Earth: Sir W. M. Ramsay.
ARISTOTELIAN SocieTy, at 8.—Is there a Mathematics of Intensity
Prof. J. A. Smith. :
Roya GEOGRAPHICAL Socumry (Kensington Town Hall), at 3. oe
Yukon since the Trail of ’98: Mrs. George Black.
TUESDAY, January 8
ASSOCIATION OF PusLic SCHOOL SclENCE MASTERS (City of London‘
at 12.15.—President’s address :-The Needs of our Education at the! ;
Day, with Spécial Reference to Science Teaching.—At, a.
Compulsory Science.in University _Entrance Examinations :. Openers
6. i. Latter.—At 3.45.—Discussion : Examination or Inspection as a
Tear of Science Teaching: Opener : G. F. Daniell.—At 5-15.—Discussion 2 z
Sig ug ae ig in’ University Scholarship Examinations; Opener, B
e, Havillan
Rovat Insriturion, at 3.—Electric Telegraphs and Telephones: ‘Prof.
J. A. Fleming... ce
ineetetee or Civit ENGINEERS, at 5.30.--A Statement in. Commemoration “3
of the Founding fof the Institution on January 2, 1818.—Rail-Creep:
F. Reeves.—Creep of Rails: H. P. Miles, ij AES NE :
WEDNESDAY,-JANUARY 9. ~
ASSOCIATION OF Pusiic- SCHOOL SCIENCE MASTERS Gv, of London
chool), at 11.—Discussion ; ** Pesci per si ne “Science _
for All” Course: Openers: Rev. A Cortie, S.J., E. 0. Teens
At 12.—Discussion : ‘‘ Map Work” in Schools. . eX ‘3
MATHEMATICAL AssoctaTION (London Day Bea oy at 530—
The Graphical Treatment of Power Series :
GroLocicaL Sociery, at 5.30.—The Highest Silurian pare of the Chun
_ Forest District (Shropshire): L. D. Stamp. :
THURSDAY, January 10
Inawnromien OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6. Rlectetea Signalling and
Control on Railways : C. M. Jacobs.
MATHEMATICAL AssociATION (London Day Training, College), a ere 11. —
The Uses and Functions of a-School Mathematical Library:
Milne.—Nomography: Dr. S. Brodetsky.—Some Suggestions. os
Presentmént of Mathematics in Closer Touch with Reality: :
At 2.30.—President’s address ; Mathematics and Individuali ee Prof. T.
Nunn.—Discussion : The Position of Mathematics in the
“D. Lies
‘the-Board of Education for Secondary Schools: Mi cenics
P. Abbott, Miss J. Dow. . 4
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11.
Royat Grocrarnicat Sociery (Kensington Town Hall), at sana The old
Life in Egypt :: Miss Mary Brodrick.
Royat ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.
CONTENTS. :
Electrical Engineering. By Dr. A. Russell .. .
Geodetic Base Measurements, Oy ss Gaia ae
mmmaeonhy 9. is Cae vse See ai ae
Our Bookshelf wee te el ba ee
Letters to the Editor:—
Magnetic Storm and Aurora, Decsedlae 16-17. Be pO
C, Chree, F.R.S. 1344 °R
Sources of Potash, By Sir T. &. “Thorpe, c. B:s: iy
F.R.S. . . > o's pa aed ead ee ee Se
National Power Sane oe Sp dor peat al 347. =
Economising Sugar... . . |. 1°. ia eee ee
Notes .. oo gk RDI Ra sea catia
Our Astronomical Column :— a o iswtte Beater
New Stars in Spiral Nebule .. . eee 1. Se
‘*Companion to the Observatory for 1918” . Pitre poh ee
Hyderabad Observatory Report. . = 351
Prize Awards ofthe Paris Academy of Sciences, 1907 352
Committee on the Chemical Trade ..... ©. . 353
The Physiology of Learning . . 5 ie S¥s.s aye) © OSS)
International Fishery Statistics. ByJ.J. . : 354°.
The Production of Scientific Knowledge. "(With 5
Diagrams.) By Dr. C, E. Kenneth Mees.-. . .
University and Educational meni olde wg eee! ee
e
nr
Books Received Ln oe og Saath eae
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Telegraphic Address: Puusits, LONDON. ~
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
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NATURE
“36.1
THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1918.
_ GERMAN COMMERCIALISM AND THE
: : WAR.
My Four Years in Germany. By J. W. Gerard.
_ Pp. xiv+ 320. (London: Hodder and Stough-
_ ton, 1917.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
TT has been an invariable characteristic of all the
wars upon which Germany has embarked
‘since the attack on Denmark in 1864 that the real
motives of her rulers have been sedulously con-
cealed from the mass of the people. She’ has in all
cases sought to fix the cause upon, her opponents
and to throw upon them the obloquy of breaking
the ce. This, of course, is an. obvious trick,
and no doubt has its advantages in the case of a
-nation which is not allowed to think for itself, and
for whom opinion is manufactured through the
agency of a controlled Press. But the rest of the
-world has never been deceived, and the true nature
. and motives of the quarrel have been understood
and appreciated at their real merit. In every in-
stance, as in the present case, Germany has been
the actual aggressor, and in all her motive has
simply been self-aggrandisement, Her action has
been primarily directed by an autocracy which
rests upon two powers—the one an aristocracy
- that regards war as a virtue and a necessity; the
other capitalism, which speculates on war as a
means to gain wealth and commercial- influence.
..Each power is complementary to the other, and
their combination is, of course, necessary to the
-successful prosecution of such a war as that upon
‘which Germany has deliberately engaged. In
time of peace the two powers have little or
‘nothing in common; they are, indeed, anti-
‘pathetic and distrustful of each other. In time of
war they agree to work together for a common
aim.
In Mr. Gerard’s remarkable book there is an
enlightening chapter which reveals, to some ex-
tent, how organised capital in Germany, aided by
the State, is still seeking to dominate the world,
in spite of the many setbacks caused by the unex-
pected prolongation of the war. It is always well
to learn from your enemy if you can. But even if
you do not choose to follow his example, it is at
least desirable to know what he is up to, for, says
rudence, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
he American ex-Ambassador’s chapter is prim-
‘arily addressed, of course, to the American public,
and is more immediately applicable to American
Jaws and conditions, but there is much in it that
bears directly upon our own circumstances, both
| ‘at the moment and when peace is restored. For it
is absolutely certain that no matter what the purely
military result of the war may be, capital in Ger-
many is organising itself in such a manner that it
means to start an economic war against the world
with the view of preserving, and, if possible,
strengthening, such monopolies as it has hitherto
possessed. The most valuable of these monopo-
lies depend upon the application of physical science
to industry. Such is the character of her educa-
_ tional equipment that she thinks she is secure in
(
&:
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
the continued development of her means of turning
science to practieal account; and she has probably
good grounds for her faith. It is rather to the
economic side—the purely business aspect of the
problem—that she is bending all her energies and
the financial ability and astuteness of her commer-
cial magnates,
Some time before the outbreak
probably in view of it, the six reat come
each employing hundreds of chemists jn redaaneln
work, which practically control the dyestuff indus-
try of Germany made an alliance not only for the
distribution of their products, but also for the
exchange of their ideas and trade secrets. They
work together as one organisation, are exceed-
ingly wealthy, and have hitherto been well served
by agents all the world over. These. concerns
manufacture not only dyestuffs, but also a large
proportion of the synthetic drugs which are so
characteristic a feature of modern therapeutics, and
in very many cases are manufactured from
what otherwise would be useless by-products of
the dyestuff industry.. The blockade of Germany
has, of course, prevented any considerable export
of these dyes and drugs, and most of the countries
at war with Germany have sought to develop their
manufacture at home. The commercial sub-
marines Deutschland and Bremen were to a great
extent built with money provided by the dyestuff
manufacturers, who shipped their products over
to America before her entrance into the war in
order to check, if possible, the development of the
colour industry in the States, the German Depart-
ment of the Interior meanwhile stipulating that
Germany should receive in exchange cotton, of
which she was in urgent need. This traffic has,
of course, now wholly ceased. To meet the com-
petition which it recognises to be inevitable, the
great combine has very largely increased its capi-
| tal and is prepared to spend enormous sums to.
undersell its rivals and force them out of business,
and it rests with the several Governments to take
such measures as will effectually protect these
menaced industries. An _ enlightened public
opinion, which will refuse to be hoodwinked by the
propaganda and “peaceful penetration” of the
Germans, may do much to counteract their insidi-
ous efforts. Dyes and drugs of the synthetic kind’
are largely affairs of fashion, and both appeal
more to women than to men. Owing to the im-
perious dictates of fashion, which loves change,
there is a constant demand for new colours or
shades of colour for which there is no absolute
necessity. If women would only be content with
a more limited range of dyes, of which there are
many possessing every essential attribute of a
satisfactory dvestuff—at all events, until our own
dyestuff industries” are consolidated—half the
battle would be won. As for the drug's, nine-tenths
of them are worthless, and many of them are posi-
tively noxious. Many hundreds of them, the names
of which are now forgotten, have been put upon
the market by manufacturers solely in the attempt
to exploit the by-products of the colour industry,
and so long as fashionable practitioners can be
induced to prescribe them and people induced to
U
362
NATURE
ee
[JANUARY I0, 1918
i
diug themselves with them, novelties of the kind
will continue to be supplied, But here, again,
there is no necessity why one should succumb to
the blandishments| of the pushful “Kaufmann.” —
Combines or trusts of the kind we have indi-
cated are looked askance at in this country and
America as acting in restraint of competition. But
in Germany, where they are known as cartels,
they are positively encouraged and upheld by the
courts as a justifiable means of self-preservation.
Under the post-war conditions which Germany
intends to force upon us, this question needs very
careful consideration, and it cannot be solved by
economic formule which are supposed by doc-
trinaires to be as fixed and immutable as the law
of gravitation.
One noteworthy outcome of the war in Germany
has been the establishment by the State of a great
institution known as the Central Einkauf Gesell-
schaft, whereby every importation of raw mate-
rial into the country falls into the hands of this
central buying corporation, which disposes of it
under regulations to manufacturers, According to
Mr. Gerard, this institution, which was created
solely as a war measure, has come to stay. It is
defended on the ground that it husbands the gold
supply of Germany, prevents useless expenditure
abroad, and benefits home industry. The Cen-
“tral Einkauf Gesellschaft will make its own
purchases abroad, and as it will be a buyer on an
enormous scale it will force the sellers to. compete
against each other in their anxiety to sell. In this
way it is believed that the aggregate purchase will
be effected at a lower rate than individual buyers
would secure. The material will then be divided
among the manufacturers at less eventual cost
than if they had purchased it separately abroad.
This is an example of socialised buying and sell-
ing which, if successful, is bound to have an enor-
mous influence upon German commerce. Its very
magnitude may, however, render it unworkable in
practice. Should it prosper it will give a tremen-
dous impetus to the cause of State Socialism.
Although there is much in Mr. Gerard’s account
of the manner in which Germany has grappled
with the economic difficulties she has brought upon
herself, which serves to illustrate her extraordinary
powers of organisation and her well-drilled faculty
of combination towards a common end, there are
many instances of economic blunders on the part
of departmental authorities, as, for example, Del-
briick’s treatment of the cyanide industry and the
exportation of potash. In both these cases, and
in others that might be mentioned, the anticipated
result was altogether falsified by the event, and
irreparable injury has probably been done to these
industries in Germany. In the attempt to play
off the United States against England, Germany
was hoist with her own petard.
' This fact is beginning to be perceived by the great
mass of the commercial community in Germany
and Austria-Hungary. Many industries are com-
pletely ruined already, and as the war continues to
drag along others will share their fate. There
are, however, some—powerful organisations like
Krupp’s and the great body of the Prussian Junkers |
NO. 2515, VOL, 100]
and the landowners, who as growers of food are —
making money by the aid of the cheap labour of —
Russian and other prisoners—which will clamour —
for the continuance of the war solong as the dumb-
driven common herd, who have no real leaders, —
are inarticulate, and have only a sham _polli-
tical representation, can be induced to tolerate
their long-drawn-out agony. To Mr. Gerard it is —
a matter of surprise that the German manufac-
turers, who were enriching themselves so rapidly at —
the expense of the whole world by the aid of low”
wages and long hours, and with no laws against —
combination, should have allowed their military
autocracy to drive theminto war. They would pro-—
bably have protested, with all the political power
they possessed, had they foreseen that they
would be up against four-fifths of the civilised —
world, and that, to use Dr. Helfferich’s phrase, they —
would be doomed to drag about the leaden weight
of the billions which this world calamity will have
cost the country that really instigated it. No
Pyrrhic victories can prevent the social and moral ©
bankruptcy which will assuredly overtake Ger-
many in the long run, and there are signs that —
this truth is being realised. Germany to-day
suffers from the lack of a sane Liberalism, from ~
the want of a strong party of moderate, clear-
thinking men with sound political ideals and a
larger measure of humanism than characterises
the average Prussian. Politically she is torn
asunder by two forces—a brutal and unscrupulous”
autocracy supported by a cunningly devised system
of caste, and a Socialism the creed of which, in
many of its moral aspects, is repugnant and hateful —
to all right-thinking men. Germany, like every —
other nation, has the Government she deserves, —
and she has brought her deserts upon her own
head by her flagrant disregard of the nobler in-~
stincts of our common humanity. eS: a
T. E. THORPE. a
“THREE AMERICAN BOOKS FOR
- GARDENERS. |
(1) Greenhouses: Their Construction and Equip-
ment. By W. J. Wright. Pp. xvi+269.
(New York: Orange Judd Company; London:
Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 1.60
dollars net. : i”
(2) Vegetable Forcing. By Ralph L. Watts. Pp.
-xiv+431. (New York: Orange Judd Com:
pany, 1917.) Price 2 dollars net. - vo
(3) Modern Propagation of Tree Fruits. of.
B. S. Brown... Pp. xi+174. .
(r) BY the skilful use of glass and artificia
; heat, gardeners have succeeded in the
cultivation of tropical plants in temperate
countries. Greenhouse gardening is compara
tively modern, for although the Romans, befor
the time of Christ, knew how to force fruit ant
vegetables, they applied only hot manure for th
purpose, and it was not until the early part o
the eighteenth century that glass structures arth
“¥
.
__ January 10, 1918]
A |
i il ai
weather conditions.
England have in the last fifty years made great
NATURE 363
ficially heated were used for the cultivation of | without this it becomes “sick ’’ and infested with
tender plants. Since then, however, the evolution | fungi and other causes of disease in plants.
of the greenhouse has been rapid. There are now
glass structures, acres in extent, so cleverly made
that the cultivation of plants in them is as suc-
cessful as in the open with the most favourable
The market gardeners of
Progress in the art of glasshouse gardening, and
in the United States, where the sun affords in
winter more heat and light than it does here,
huge structures are erected for the forcing of
flowers and vegetables.
v
_ Mr. Wright, director of the New York State
School of Agriculture and formerly a professor of
horticulture, has collected in his book a large
amount of helpful information concerning the loca-
tion, adaptation, erection, and equipment of
greenhouses to suit American weather conditions
and requirements, which both builders and gar-
deners will be certain to appreciate.
_ The conditions in England are somewhat dif-
ferent; still, a great deal of Mr. Wright’s teaching
‘may be applied in the making of houses, frames,
etc., in this country, and in methods of heating
them. Our old greenhouses are too heavy and
obstruct the light too much. A good plant-house
must be strong, yet light, and it must cast very
little shade. The angle of the roof, quality of
glass, methods of ventilation, and the internal
arrangements with respect to benches and floors
are all questions of great importance, as Mr.
Wright clearly shows in his well-illustrated
chapters. | ,
(2) Vegetable forcing as- practised in the United
States is the subject of an excellent treatise by Mr.
Watts, Dean and Director of the School of Agri-
culture and Experiment Station at Pennsylvania
State College. Forcing as practised in horticulture
is the application of artificial heat to the growth
of plants out of season. It is now very largely re-
sorted to for the production of food vegetables in
winter, enormous quantities of fresh, wholesome
vegetables being grown in this and other coun-
tries where, without it, they would be difficult to
obtain: It is also largely practised for the pro-
duction of certain flowers, especially roses, carna-
tions, daffodils, and violets. Where sunshine in
winter is fairly constant successful forcing is easy,
as, for instance, in the United States, where there
is far more winter sunshine than in England. In
greenhouses and frames specially constructed for
the purpose perfect crops are produced in mid-
winter of such vegetables as cabbage, cauliflower,
dettuce, radish, tomato, cucumber, rhubarb,
asparagus, French bean, and mushroom, A know-
ledge of the treatment of soils, suitable manures,
right temperatures and ventilation is necessary,
and is best obtained by actual experience. Useful
guidance can also be obtained from books, such as
that by Mr. Watts, which sets forth the best
methods of the American practitioners. They believe
in soil sterilisation by means of steam or formalin. It
is found that the soil continues to be productive year
_. after year when it is annually sterilised, whereas
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
inadequate as they would be for agriculture.
Stable manure is preferred to all other fertilisers,
but nitrate of soda is sometimes used as a growth
stimulator. Greenhouse construction, heating,
insect enemies and diseases, and marketing are
carefully treated. The statement that plants
are rendered susceptible to disease by high tem-
peratures, excess of water, and over-manuring will
be endorsed by practical cultivators in this
country.
(3) The propagation of fruit trees by means
of grafting, budding, layering, and cuttings is
essentially the same in all countries. The methods
vary, as does the skill with which the operations
are performed. In America, where fruit-growing
is done on a very large scale, labour-saving
methods are practised. Orchards miles in area
have to be planted and worked, for which men
with spades and pruning-knives would be as
The
alert Americans have therefore sought the assist-
ance of the machine-maker for their digging and
planting operations, and even for binding in the
operation of grafting.
Prof. Brown’s book enables us to realise what a
big industry fruit-growing has become in America.
There are nurserymen there who each dispose of
young trees by the million annually. ‘‘ The
growing of all the twenty to forty millions of
American-grown apple seedlings that are used in
this country every year is undertaken by less than
a dozen firms.’’ In addition, large quantities of
young trees, both stocks .and ‘‘ maidens,’’ are
imported from Europe. At this rate America will
soon be covered with fruit trees unless they are
used up quickly, as roses are in that country.
Some of our own fruit authorities advocate
this intensive system on the ground that young
trees properly managed give their best in the first
few years, after which they should be scrapped.
Apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, and a few
other fruits are invariably grafted or budded on
stocks known to influence growth and fruitfulness.
Too little care, however, is exercised in the selec-
tion of stocks. Prof. Brown discusses the influence
of scion on stock in regard to commercial fruit
trees. His book is written for students, a number
of what he calls “review questions ’’ being set out
at the end of each chapter, such as ‘‘ What is
meant by influence of stock over scion?’’ It
contains numerous helpful illustrations.
W. W.
ANALYTICAL DYNAMICS.
A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Par-
ticles and Rigid Bodies: with an introduction to
the Problem of Three Bedies. By Prof. E. T.
Whittaker. Second edition. Pp. xii+ 432.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.)
Price 15s. net.
THE first edition of this book was reviewed in
Nature of April 27, 1905. At that time
what we now call aeroplanes only existed in
NATURE
[JANUARY 10; 1918 ©
ople’s imagination and in reports of successes
by the Wright brothers, and it was scarcely to be
wondered at if applications to aerial navigation
found no suitable place in a treatise on analytical
dynamics. In the twelve years that have elapsed
there has been plenty of time for pure and applied
mathematicians to provide material that would not
occupy merely a single chapter on ‘‘ The Aero-
plane” in a second edition of such a book as this,
but might even form a predominating feature
of the whole work. Yet on referring to the index
we do not even find the word “aeroplane,” while
the references under “stability ” and “resistance
of the air” do not lead to any matter suggestive,
even vaguely, of the existence of aerial naviga-
tion. It may well be a matter of surprise that
such an omission should be possible at the present
day.
We cannot lay the blame on Prof. Whittaker,
because a book of this kind is necessarily largely
an exposition and collation of. the work of other
writers. But it will be found on closer examina-
tion that, outside the problem of small oscillations
about a state of steady motion, very little work
has been done in advancing what is really out-
and-out the most important development of
theoretical dynamics, and for the most recent of
the developments which have taken place physicists
and engineers rather than mathematicians are
mainly responsible, much of their work being the
property of the Government at present.
It is, however, rather a pity that Prof. Whit-
taker has omitted to introduce the subject under
the heading of ‘‘ stability of steady motion,” as this
would, at least, afford his readers some stimulus to
turn their studies in the right direction. Possibly
the author considered it scarcely desirable to make
any change until further developments had taken
place, and in this second edition he has rather
confined his attention to elaborating references to
original work on old ground. It is not usual in
reviews to repeat what has been said in a previous
notice about a first edition. For this reascn a
detailed account of the actual contents would be
scarcely necessary or desirable. The present work
will be found of much use by such students of a
future generation as are able to find time to extend
their study of particle and rigid dynamics outside
the requirements of aerial navigation, and it will
also afford a valuable source of information for
those who are in search of new material of
a theoretical character which they can take over
and apply to any particular class of investi-
gation. :
Seat) eee sed,
OUR BOOKSHELF.
Origenes y Tendencias de la Eugenia Moderna.
By Joaquin Bonilla. Pp. 96. (Liverpool: Daily
Mail (printers), 1916.) Price 3s, 6d. net.
Tus introduction to eugenics is intended primarily
for Latin America. The author explains the aims
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
of eugenics, and gives a sketch of the history of the
idea of. trying to control the agencies which im-—
prove or impair racial qualities in mankind. Simple ~
expositions are given of Lamarckism, Darwinism, —
Mendelism, and Weismannism. There is a pleas-—
ant appreciation of the work of Sir Francis Galton, —
and the book pays due regard to experimenters
and biometricians alike. The endeavours of the ©
Eugenics Education Society are recognised, as well —
as the work of Prof. Karl Pearson’s Eugenics —
Laboratory. So up-to-date is the book that men-
tion is made of England’s ‘‘ Baby Week ” and of
the withdrawal of the veto on the representation —
of certain plays by Ibsen and Brieux. A chapter —
is devoted to eugenic activities in the United
States. ,
The author has the wise and kindly intention —
of familiarising Spanish-speaking young people —
with the aims and methods of eugenics, and he ©
seems to us to have written a clear and terse intro-
duction to the subject. We should like to have ©
seen some recognition of what is practicable in the —
way of ameliorating environment and function,
and improving nurture generally. For the eu- —
genic ideal does not, and cannot, stand alone. In —
a short book like this it should have been readily —
pessible to avoid disfiguring verbal errors, such as _
Seleeby, Burcke, Havelock Elliott, and Weisner; —
but these are very small flies indeed in the care- —
fully prepared ointment. We wish the book suc- —
cess.
The Human Body: An Account of its Structure
and Activities and the Conditions of its Healthy —
Working. By Prof. H. Newell Martin. Tenth ~
edition, thoroughly revised by Prof. E. G. |
Martin. Pp. xviiit649. (New York: H. Holt ©
and Co., 1917.) a
A Book which has reached a tenth edition
needs but litthke recommendation. The late —
Prof. Newell Martin’s work, like all that he did, ©
is excellent. It is rather more bulky than
the majority of books of an elementary nature; —
but, like these, it is a compendium of anatomy and ~
physiology designed, not for the student of medi-—
cine, but for the general reader who desires to
become acquainted with the mechanism of his own ~
body and the reasons for the laws of health. It
is naturally the physiological side which is mainly —
dwelt upon, only so much of structure being
described as is necessary for the understanding ©
of function. The present edition has been brought
well up to date, and, like the only other book
with which we may compare it, Huxley’s
“‘Elementary Physiology,’’ has doubtless still
before it a long and useful life. a
A welcome feature of the book is the appendix,
in which instructions for practical work are given
in detail. Much of this will need a laboratory,
but it is astonishing how much useful practical”
work can be performed without elaborate appara-
tus, and with the resources which are available
to nearly every teacher. ae
JANUARY 10, 1918]
NATURE
395
&
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
ini: 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 January Meteors of 1918.
I watcHED the northern sky during most of the in-
terval between 6h. and 1oh. on January 3, and recorded
eleven Quadrantids. The conditions were not good;
there was a slight fog, through which the stars of
Ursa, Draco, etc., shone dimly, and the air was frosty,
the temperature being about 26°.
The Quadrantids observed were, in the majority of
cases, near their radiant at 233°+593°, and moved
slowly. This position is near « Draconis, and about
6° north of that usually determined in past years. I
am at a loss to explain the cause of the discordance,
the data of the present year being considered quite
satisfactory. In the circumstances the results recently
obtained by other observers will be awaited with special
interest. W. F. Dennine.
44 Egerton Road, Bristol.
Tuts evening, between 6 p.m. and g p.m., looking
north, twenty-two meteors were observed at Sidmouth,
South Devon. The most brilliant one appeared about
8.15 p.m. G.M.T., and was travelling in a south-
easterly direction at a moderate speed. The meteor
“was of a reddish colour, and was followed by a long
trail of white light. It was frosty and beautifully
clear, excepting a slight haze for a short interval.
WinirreD L. Lockyer.
Salcombe Regis, Sidmouth, January 3.
NATIONAL MUSEUMS IN PERIL.
BE report that the Government proposed to
requisition the British Museum as the head-
quarters of the new Air Board has resulted in
a storm of protest from many men of light and
leading throughout the country, and from cor-
rate bodies concerned with the promotion of
the intellectual welfare of the nation. The corre-
spondence published in the Times and other
journals represents only a small fraction of the
budgets received, anditis evident that the Govern-
ment will bring upon itself nothing but obloquy
if it persists in the action contemplated. Since we
referred last week to the projected dismantling of
the galleries at Bloomsbury, it has been made
known that the Office of Works has surveyed the
Natural History Museum at South Kensington
with the view of using the building for the pur-
poses of other Government departments, and has
reported in favour of doing so. The very existence
of our two greatest national institutions is thus
threatened, unless a united effort is made at once
to convince the Cabinet of the unnecessary and
ruinous proceeding to which certain administrative
officials, with the usual indifference to scientific
interests and inability to understand scientific
values, desire to commit it.
The high-handed method adopted in the pro-
posal to commandeer the two museums cannot be
justified even by the provisions of the Defence of
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
the Realm Act. Sir Arthur Evans states that the
trustees of the British Museum were not consulted
upon the matter, though they are responsible for
the collections, not as Government nominees, but
under an Act of Parliament. They were astounded:
upon receiving from the Air Board a requisition
for the building to house the Board’s establish-
ment, and at once sent a Strong protest to the
Government against the scheme’ Even an enemy
invader could not adopt a more arrogant attitude
towards the trustees than that shown by the
representatives of the Government. The col-
lections were regarded as so much furniture which
could be packed up in a few days by workmen
and conveyed in pantechnicons to convenient
places of storage until after the war. As “A Lon-
doner’’ writes in the Times of January 4 in an
attempt to justify the official attitude : “It is pretty
widely understood that the Air Board is willing
and anxious to put its large resources in trans-
port and labour at the service of the nation for
the removal of the contents of the British Museum
to places of safety which the Board has already
inspected and approved.’’
_ This semi-official pronouncement reveals entire
incapacity to appreciate the difficulty of the
problem of dealing with the contents of the ©
museum. The whole of the objects are considered
as goods which may be removed in a few days and
returned without detriment at a later period of re-
construction. Because a selected number of objects
have been carefully transferred to places of security
by museum officials during the past two years, as
a precaution against air-raids, it is assumed that
the whole may be dealt with summarily by ener-
getic workmen under the supervision of experts. :
The absurdity of this view will be manifest to any-
one acquainted with museum work. To make a
selection of fragile objects and other national
treasures, and to take measures to preserve them
from damage, are very different matters from
that of clearing space without reference to what
it occupies. It is certain that if the indiscriminate
and hurried dismantling of the museum is pro-
ceeded with, many of the objects taken away will
never be worth bringing back, and it would be
just as well to make a bonfire of them at once.
Only a small proportion of the contents of the
museum could be removed in time for the space
they occupy to be of any use to the Air Board.
The library must remain, and the larger sculp-
tures, including the more important pieces of the
Elgin marbles, the Assyrian bas-reliefs, and the
Egyptian statuary. The ethnographical collec-
tions cannot be disturbed without certain destruc-
tion of many objects. The glass, pottery, porce-
lain, and faience collections, the ancient and
medieval gems, rings, and jewelry, the Greek
vases, the Babylonian clay tablets, the Egyptian
pottery.and images, the terra-cottas, the bronzes
—all these can be moved only with an infinitude of
skilled handling and packing, and in a period of
time which might well run into years rather than
months. No, it must be clearly understood that
if the museum is to be taken for the Air Board—
306
NATURE
[JANUARY 10, 1918
which needs. offices quickly—the Board will have
to be encamped in the middle of the collections,
with all the increase of risk which such an en-
campment involves.
Our concern for the museum is not prompted
by opposition to interference with the existence
and work of the threatened institution, but by the
desire to preserve national prestige and to prevent
the ruin of possessions which can never be re-
placed. Only if reduced to the last extremity—
and we are far from that condition—should a
scheme be adopted which would give the enemy
occasion to scoff at our willing sacrifice of the
glorious heritage represented by the collections in
the national museum. :
“We profess to feel shame and anger,’’ says
Sir Henry H. Howorth, “and also terror for the
future of our race, when we find the champions of
German culture destroying Reims and Padua and
Ypres. We call them Huns for their pains, and at
the same time in another way, and for no urgent
military purpose, ourselves put in jeopardy the
noblest collections in the world of art and natural
science, which neither money nor skill can replace,
and which form the most valuable asset of the
country if its mental and moral training are to
count. in this Armageddon of materialism.”
The gravamen of the case against the proposed
action is, indeed, that it shows a total lack of
imagination and of perception of the value of in-
tellectual studies on the part of responsible
Ministers. They accept lightly, and without in-
vestigation, a proposal which, on the face of it,
imperils the inestimable treasures of the British |
Museum.. They do not consult the trustees as to the
effect of their proposed action. They do not give
heed to their own Minister of Education. They
simply accept a scheme put forward by the First
Commissioner of Works, who avowedly has not
visited the museum to investigate its practicability,
and whose expert advisers had on two previous
occasions reported that the museum. was not suit-
able for a public office. All this shows an indiffer- .
ence to things of the mind ahd a materialistic spirit
which are of evil omen in statesmen whose business
it is to maintain the ideals of the country at a
high level, and thereby to hearten it to bear the
strain of war. Who is to believe them in future
when in their speeches they make play with
Germany’s crimes against civilisation, or exalt our
ideals in comparison with German Kultur? They
are lowering the pitch of England’s endeavour,
and the misfortune is that they do not realise that
they are doing any harm in this action. If the
members of the Government could be brought to
face these facts, it is difficult to believe that they
would continue to insist on a policy which is bad
_ for the Air Board, bad for the museum, and a
discredit to the country, ae
Though the spontaneous outbursts of indignation
from all parts of the country may yet induce the
Government to withhold the impious hand which -
the Office of Works laid upon the collections and
buildings of the British Museum .at Bloomsbury, |
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
the fate of ‘the Natural History Departments at —
South Kensington also trembles in the balance. —
Yet the arguments drawn from unsuitability of |
structure and fragility of irreplaceable specimens —
are here no less strong, and they are reinforced —
by two others. The work in all the Natural History ~
Departments bears directly on the material as well”
as on the intellectual life of the nation—indeed, on
its very existence. Those who say that prosecution 4
of the war must come first should be the first ta —
insist on the continuance of the great help rendered
by the museum to all branches of our fighting
forces: we may refer them to an article in the
Times for January 5. To stop this work for the ~
convenience of the Registry of Friendly Societies —
would be a fine stroke for our enemies. Secondly, —
the. objects in the Natural History Museum form —
the historical basis on which a great partof natural —
science rests; they are the standards to which
present and future generations must continually —
refer. To destroy or damage them is to cut away
the ladder on which we climb. The distinguished
men responsible to the nation for the safety of its ©
unique possessions—trustees, indeed, for the whole ©
world now and to come—have already taken steps —
against possible attack by the enemy, while leaving —
the specimens available for accredited investi-
gators. But they cannot prevent the certain de- ©
struction and widespread confusion that would —
result from a sudden clearance of more than half
the building as though it were just a mammoth —
hotel. The removal from Bloomsbury took more
than three years, yet, for all the care with which ©
it was accomplished, it left damage which is not
yet, and can never be entirely, repaired. When ~
we think of the subsequent growth of the collec-
tions and the present depletion of an always in-
sufficient staff, our imagination fails to grasp the
threatened ruin. Generations could not restore it.
I’or many a year the science of our country would ©
be hampered. a
In the early days of the war we had to fight for —
our national museum, and well was it that we won
a partial victory. Since then the members of the —
staff unfit for military service have carried on,
with what good results a few bald statistics will
show. During the past year the Natural History
Museum has been consulted by at least fourteen
Government departments, as well as by numerous —
individuals engaged in war-work. The number of
visitors, which in 1916 was more than 402,000,
was increased in 1917 by 20,000; among these are
soldiers receiving class-instruction in sanitary,
veterinary, and other subjects. The annual number
of acquisitions has decreased, because all purchases
are stopped, but donations continue to flow in with
a volume that seems to grow rather than diminish.
Among these accessions have been thousands of
specimens of the highest scientific importance. The
dismantling of the museum would make the receipt
of donations impossible, and the stream would be
diverted elsewhere. In some cases it would never
return. : Be
“We are blamed,” .says the Government in
sod
: January 10, 1918]
NATURE “67
o
effect, “for commandeering hotels; we must leave
_ places for our young officers to dine; do you ex-
pect us to oust another political club? We preach
_ economy ; do let us practise it for once. We can
get the museum rent-free.’’ Rent-free, indeed! Is
the cost of structural alterations, of packing, of
removal, and of restoration not to be paid for?
Does the scientific help for our food-producers, our
industrialists, and our fighting or wounded men
weigh as nothing in the balance? Are the gifts
which you reject devoid even of pecuniary value?
“What should ye do, then? Should ye suppress
_all this flowery crop of knowledge and new light
sprung up and yet springing daily in this city?
Should ye set an oligarchy of twenty engrossers
Over it, to bring a famine upon our minds again,
when we shall know nothing but what is measured
to us by their bushel?”1 “Milton!” we cry with
Wordsworth :
Milton! thou should’st be living at this hour :
England hath need of thee.
- The following are a few of the resolutions which
have been passed by important public bodies protest-
ing against the proposed employment of the museums
for purposes other than those for which they are in-
tended ;—
At a special meeting of the British Academy on
January 3 it was resolved to represent to his Majesty’s
Government the irreparable injury that would be done
to the interests of learning and humane studies by any
serious damage to the priceless collections in the
British Museum, and the slur which would be cast on
.the good name of the country by action which will be
taken as implying indifference to those collections and
to the civilisation they represent. To remove any con-
siderable portion of the collections, except with the
utmost care and the expenditure of many months of
skilled labour, is impossible without the certainty of
injury; and to house a large combatant department in
the midst of the collections themselves involves a great
increase in the risk of accident and fire, quite apart
from the danger of air attack from hostile aircraft,
which would obviously be much increased. The
Academy earnestly appeals to his Majesty’s Govern-
ment not to sanction action which would discredit this
country in the eyes of the civilised world.
_-The fellows of the Linnean Society of London in
extraordinary general meeting assembled on January
_ 7 placed upon record their profound astonishment and
-- alarm at the reported intention to dismantle the British
Museum, including the Natural History Museum, in
order to use it for Government offices; their emphatic
protest at a procedure which must erdanger priceless
and irreplaceable possessions acquired at great cost and
infinite labour during the last two hundred years, con-
stituting the most splendid museum in existence, and
the recognised centre of systematic scientific research ;
their dismay at a resolution which must paralyse scien-
tific activities that during the past three years have
been devoted to work intimately connected with the
prosecution of the war; and at the expenditure of a
large sum in. adapting unsuitable buildings, whilst
other and more suitable accommodation might be pro-
vided at much less cost; and, finally, to emphasise
the disgrace which must accrue to the nation in the
eyes of the whole world by ‘the evidence thus afforded
1 Milton’s ‘‘ Areopagitica.”’
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
we = in pep ee =
of the inability of the Government to appreciate the
essential value to the nation of scientific assistance,
such as the British Museum has rendered and is
capable of rendering —
The Entomological Society of London has resolved :
This society, founded for the advancement and
practical application of entomological science, know-
ing that this science, especially at the present moment,
plays a most important part in many questions, often
of extreme urgency, affecting the health of the nation
and its forces at home and abroad, its food supplies, its
timber, and the raw material of its manufactures,
views with the gravest concern any action that would
impede work essential to the national welfare. Towards
the solution of these problems the collections at the
museum have in the past largely contributed, and
many of them are at present under investigation. The
proposed action of his Majesty’s Government in refer-
ence to the Natural History Museum would have a
disastrous effect upon work which demands continued
reference to its enormous collections. It is obvious
that to be of any practical value these must alwavs be
readily available, and, moreover, their removal would
not only be a very lengthy undertaking, but could not
be carried out without irreparable damage. The Ento-
mological Society of London feels bound, therefore,
to enter the strongest possible protest against such
proposed action, the full consequences of which can
scarcely have been realised, and in the interests of the
Empire urges that the suggested interference with
these important collections should be abandoned.
At a meeting of the council of the Minera-
logical Society of Great Britain and Ireland,
held on January 7, it was resolved: That
the First Commissioner of Works and the War
Cabinet be most earnestly requested to reconsider the
proposal to utilise a portion or the whole of the Natural
History Museum for other than its present purpose.
In particular, as regards the Mineral Department,
the Mineralogical Society views with alarm any pro-
posal to render inaccessible, both to the general public
and students, and also to inquirers respecting economic
questions, the national collection of minerals, which
has been accumulated during the past century and a
half, and is now the largest and most complete in the
world. This collection contains, for reference and
comparison, examples of all minerals (and ores) that
have been put to economic uses, representing numerous
localities that have not yet been worked commercially.
Direct reference to those parts of the collection not
exhibited to the general public would supply a large
amount of information, not available elsewhere, even
in published works, respecting mineral occurrences in
all parts of the world. Such information has already
been utilised by the Advisory Council on Scientific and
Industrial Research, by the War Office, and by the
Department for the Development of Mineral Resources
attached to the Ministry of Munitions of War, and
could also be of use to the proposed Imperial Mineral
Resources Bureau. The proposal to render such in-
formation inaccessible would seriously hamper the
work of all Government departments concerned with
the development of the mineral resources of the
Empire.
At a special meeting of the council of the Essex
Field Club. held on January 7, it was unanimously
resolved: That the council of the Essex Field Club
learns with amazement that the Government contem-
plates occupying the British Museum, including the
Natural History Museum. for departmental offices, and
hereby expresses an indignant protest against such
action, which is certain to result in irreparable injury
368
NATURE
[JANUARY 10, 1918
1 eeiacianeranseserer
to the invaluable collections in the museums and in
the cessation of much scientific work which is de-
endent upon such collections. That such action, in
the opinion of this council, could not fail to bring dis-
credit upon our nation in the eyes of all civilised
les. es
On January 7 it was resolved: That the Classical
Association appeals to the Government against the
proposed conversion of the buildings of the British
Museum into a seat of combatant activity, both be-
cause of the inevitable injury that would be caused
by removal to a multitude of objects of unique his-
torical value, and because the change would legitimate
and incite attacks from the air upon a library contain-
ing many thousands of irreplaceable books and MSS.
which constitute a great part of the inheritance of the
civilised world. Their safe-keeping is a trust for
humanity imposed by history upon this country, and
the association regards the present proposal as a
declension from the high ideals with which the country
and the Empire entered on the war. op
Similar resolutions have béen passed by the British
Archeological Association, the annual Conference of
Educational Associations, the Royal Society of Anti-
quaries of Ireland, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal
Numismatic Society, the Cambridge Antiquarian
Society, and many other representative bodies.
SANDS FOR GLASS MANUFACTURE.}
we preface to this memoir refers to the great
advantage which the glass industry of this
country is deriving from the prescient policy of
the Department of Optical Munitions and Glass-
ware Supply of the Ministry of Munitions; and the
memoir itself is an example of the department’s
efforts to place the industry in a sound position.
A knowledge of the home resources of raw mate-
rials is of prime importance to the glass industry,
and the exhaustive survey made by the author has
enabled him to place on record for. the first time
valuable information as to the resources of suitable
sands on which the glass manufacturer can rely.
Ia pre-war days large quantities of excellent sand
were imported from Belgium and France, and
their cheapness was mainly due to their transport
as ballast in coal-boats. Economic conditions may
prevent the utilisation of many of the occurrences
of sands and rocks to which the memoir refers, but
much will depend on the provision of cheap trans-
port by the adequate development of our canal
systems. This is well shown by the sketch-map
marking the locations of the chief resources of
glass sands in relation to the glass-making areas.
-A glass sand should be of uniform grain sizé,
and the most desirable sands are those containing
a high proportion of grains from 0°25 to o'5 mm. ©
in diameter. The presence of grains smaller than
o'I mm. causes the formation of “seed,” which is
difficult to remove in the “fining ” process. An
even grade is also an important factor in securing
homogeneity, and it is doubtful if stirring can com-
pletely eliminate heterogeneity caused. by the use
of badly graded, unevenly melting sands. An im-
portant conclusion to be drawn from the author’s
investigations is that although we have not in this
1 “A Supplementary Memoir on British Resources of Sands and Rocks
used in Glass Manufacture, with Notes on certain Refractory Materials.”
By Prof. G. H. Boswell and others. Pp. 92. (London: Longmans and
Co., 1917.) Price 3s. net.
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
country any deposit equal in quality, uniformity, —
and extent to that at Fontainebleau, we have
ample supplies of sands suitable for all ordinary”
glass-making purposes. Carefully selected sands ~
from the soft white quartzites of Muckish Moun- —
tain contain under o’o1 per cent. of iron oxide, and i
this source is of great importance, as, despite its —
inaccessibility, it is likely to provide a home supply
of the small quantities of sand required for the
manufacture of optical glass, Generally speaking, —
although crushed rocks are largely used in the ~
American glass industry, they cannot for econo-
mic reasons be regarded as an immediate source
of supply of glass sands in this country.
Sand-pit owners are now giving greater atten-
tion to the cleansing and grading of sand by wash-
ing, and the improvement which can be effected in
the quality of a sand is indicated in the tables given —_
on p. 64 of the memoir. It would have been of
interest if quantitative information as to the yieldof
washed sand could have been added to these tables.
The washers at present in useare satisfactory for
comparatively coarse sands of the Leighton Buz- —
zard type, but are much less efficient for finer-
grained sands, such as those of Lynn and Ayles- —
bury. Provided that a plentiful supply of water —
is available, there should be no great difficulty in —
designing an efficient washer for fine-grained —
sands, and co-operation between the glass manu-—
facturer and the sand-pit owner is desirable if ade- —
quate washing plant is to be installed. Sands low
in iron will be preferably graded by drying and
sieving, instead of .washing, so as to retain the —
alumina-rich coating which is adherent to the ©
quartz grains. Alumina is valuable in a glass, as
not only does it reduce the tendency of the molten —
glass to devitrify, but it also increases the tough-
ness of the glass and enables the batch to be ~
cheapened by increasing the proportions of sand ~
and lime at the expense of the alkali. Felspar is
being increasingly used as a source of alumina in ~
a glass batch, and the author’s survey of the re-
sources of suitable rocks of low iron content is of
value as an indication of the possibility, of sub- ©
stituting the home for the imported material. ;
The uses of sand for its refractory properties —
are referred to only briefly, and the further memoir ~
on our home resources of refractory sands will be
awaited with interest. oa
Prof. Boswell has rendered a distinct service to —
the glass industry by this rapid completion of his —
survey. ‘
/
ORGANISATION FOR INDUSTRIAL
EXPANSION IN SOUTH AFRICA.
an article on “The Co-ordination of Re-~
search ” which appeared in NaTuRE of Decem- ~
ber 6 mention was made incidentally of the issue —
of the South African Journal of Industries. Copies —
of the first number of this journal have now —
reached this country. Before alluding to the ©
scope of the new journal it should be explained ©
that the Scientific and Technical Committee ap-—
pointed by the Department of Mines ‘and Indus-—
tries of the Union of South Africa has for its prin- —
ee
Ly PAA ee IEE PIR FH rcheaOH'e
aw
_ January 10, 1918]
NATURE. .- :
369
cipal functions the conduct of an economic survey
_ of the natural resources of South Africa, the exten-
sion of provision for industrial research, co-ordina-
tion of industrial investigation, the elimination of
_ overlapping in such work, and the provision of
means for taking advantage of facilities for investi-
gation not available in South Africa by co-opera-
_ tion with similar organisations in the United King-
dom and the other British dominions. The com-
mittee has so far made two chief recommendations,
viz. (1) the appointment of various authorities in
South Africa to report on the natural resources of
the country, and (2) the publication of an industrial
journal to give publicity to the reports and data
collected under the committee’s auspices. The first
of these recommendations is being carried out, and
the second has been given effect to in the issue of
the South African Journal of Industries.
In common with most of the overseas British
dominions South Africa, largely as a result of the
war, is in the throes of new industrial develop-
ments with the view of providing the necessaries it
formerly imported, but which it can no longer
“procure from the manufacturing countries in
Europe. The first number of the journal is natur-
ally largely occupied with articles surveying the
present situation. Among these may be mentioned
Mr. Warington Smyth’s article on ‘The Begin-
nings of Organisation for Industrial Expansion ’’;
that on the “Census of Manufacturing Industries,
1917,” by Mr. C. W. Cousins, Acting Director of
the Census; and Dr. Lehfeldt’s report on ‘The
Economics of Agricultural Production in South
-Africa.” Among the new South African industries
to which attention is directed is the manufacture
of industrial alcohol, for use as a motor fuel, from
the molasses produced on sugar estates in Natal.
A report by the Imperial Institute on the results of
examination of the fruits of Ximenia americana is
printed, and Dr. Philips contributes a_ useful
résumé of the information available regarding
“buchu,” a drug the production of which is a
monopoly of South Africa. —
The article in Nature already mentioned directs
attention to the difficulties of co-ordinating indus-
trial research in the United Kingdom, and shows
that there is no evidence that such co-ordination
has yet been effected or is in process of being
arranged. The appearance of the South African
Journal of Industries is a reminder of the exist-
ence of the larger and still more difficult problem
of devising means for the utilisation of the re-
scurces of the Empire within the Empire itself,
and the solution of which is of first-rate importance
to both British and Colonial industries.
NOTES.
Amonc the promotions in and appointments to the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for ser-
vices in connection with the war announced
on Tuesday, we notice the following :—Knights
Commanders (K.B.E.): Mr. James Cantlie, member of
Council and of Executive Committee, British Red Cross
Society; Col. C. F. Close, Director-General of the
Ordnance Survey of the United Kingdom; Dr. W.
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
Morley Fletcher, secretary of the Medical Research
Committee; Dr. J. Galloway, Chief Commissioner for
Medical Services, Ministry of National Service ; Dr.
R. Robertson, superintending chemist, Research De
partment, Woolwich Arsenal; Prof, W. H. Thompale
scientific adviser to the Ministry of Food. Come
manders (C.B.E.): Prof. F. J. Cheshire, adviser on
scientific side of Optical Munitions Branch, Ministry
of Munitions; Dr. G. H. Fowler, Hydrographic De-
partment, Admiralty; Prof. W. R. Hodgkinson, pro-
fessor of chemistry and metallurgy, Ordnance College
Woolwich; Mr. R. G. K. Lempfert, Superintendent of
the Forecast Division, Meteorological Office; Prof.
W. J. Pope, professor of chemistry, University of
Cambridge, member of panel of Board of Invention
and Research, Admiralty; Prof. T. B. Wood, Drapers
professor of agriculture in the University of Cam-.
bridge, adviser on meat production to the President of
the Board of Agriculture, and chief executive officer,
Army Cattle Purchase Scheme; Mr. G. Udny Yule,
Director of Requirements, Ministry of Food. in addi-
tion, about two thousand names are included in lists
of new officers and members of the Order (O.B.E. and
M.B.E.).—Prof. James Ritchie, Irvine professor of bac-
teriology, University of Edinburgh, asks us to correct
the mistake made in last week’s issue of Natire
announcing that a baronetcy had been conferred upon
him. The recipient ot the distinction was not Prof.
Ritchie, but Sir James W. Ritchie, son of a former
Lord Mayor of London. We regret the error, but the
Press announcement that it was Prof. Ritchie who had
received the honour was perhaps a natural one for a
scientific journal to accept.
Is the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scot-
land doing its duty in strengthening and developing
scientific study and research? That is the question
suggested by the report of a special committee pub-
lished‘ in the December number of the Journal of the
British Science Guild. The question was first raised
in an incisive manner by Prof. Soddy in an article
communicated to Science Progress (January, 1917), and
further inquiry seems to show that his contention is
well founded. There may be some difference of opinion
as to the exact interpretation of Clause A of the Trust
Constitution ; but there can be no doubt that the main
object of the trust is to foster science, pure and applied,
in all its branches, and to strengthen that side of uni-
versity education which is of direct technical or com-
mercial value. In the light of that general principle
the following facts are well worthy of careful considera-
tion:—(1) Only 14 per cent. of the available funds
have been expended on scientific research; (2) by en-
dowment out of Carnegie Funds of certain scientific:
departments, money formerly spent in their mainten-
ance has been diverted into other channels, so that.
the university on its scientific side has not really been
strengthened; (3) among the twenty-two members of
the Board of Trustees, there have never been more,
and have usually been fewer, than four who could be
regarded as representing science, the majority being
practically ignorant of the methods, and even the
meaning, of research.
Sreps are being taken to incorporate the Selborne
Societv and to widen its objects, so that it may not in
any way be. hampered in its efforts to bring home to _
the public, especially through its lecturers, the great
value of science to the community. 2
Tne death is announced, on January 5, in his
sixty-seventh year, of Mr. R. C. Woodcock, fellow of the
Institute of Chemistry and of the Chemical Society,
and author of a number of papers upon analytical
chemistry.
NATURE
37°
[JANUARY 10, 1918
Tye death is announced, in his seventy-sixth year,
of Dr. W. L. Purves, consulting aural surgeon, Guy’s
Hospital, consulting ophthalmic and aural surgeon,
Hospital for Diseases of the Nervous System, and aural
surgeon to the Royal Normal College and Academy |
of Music for the Blind.
Ar the scientific meeting of the Royal Dublin
Society held on December 19 last, Lord Rathdonnell,
president, in the chair, the Boyle medal of the society
was presented to Prof. J. A. McClelland, F.R.S., in
recognition of his distinguished work in many branches -
of science, especially with those dealing with ionisa-
tion, and the more recently discovered forms of radia-
tion associated pre-eminently with radio-activity,
Tue death occurred on December 30, at the age of
sixty-four years, of Sir William H. Lindley. To those
who knew of the service Sir William rendered to the
Royal Commission on Canals and Inland Navigation by
the compilation-of an exhaustive report on the waterways
of France, Belgium, Germany, and Holland, published
in vol. vi. of the Commission Bluebooks, the announce-
ment of the knighthood, conferred upon him in 1911,
cameasno surprise. But to the general public his repu-
tation was not so familiar, and this is scarcely sur-
prising, seeing that the sphere of his professional
activities lay almost entirely on the Continent, particu-
larly in Germany and Austria-Hungary, where he suc-
ceeded to his father’s position and influence. Sir William
began his career in 1870, as resident engineer on the
Budapest waterworks, and, three years later, took up
the post of engineer to the city of Frankfort-on-Main,
where, for more than twenty years, he administered
the works of the municipality and* port. During his
lifetime he had associations with the towns of Elber-
feld, Homburg, Mannheim, Wurzburg, Cracow,
Prague, Warsaw, Bukharest, and Baku, in connection
with various electricity, waterworks, and sewerage
undertakings. But for certain adverse circumstances
Petrograd would have been added to the list, for, as
recently as 1912, he was appointed engineer-in-chief of
a new municipal water-supply and drainage scheme
for the Russian capital; the project, however, did not
mature.
deservedly high, and he discharged presidential func-
tions on several Commissions. He had been a mem-
ber of the Institution of Civil Engineers since 1878.
Tue following minute, adopted by the board of trus-
tees of the New York Memorial Hospital, is published
in Science :—Dr. Richard Weil, Major in the Medical
Reserve Corps, U.S.A., died while on active duty at
Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga., November 19, 1917. By
his death the Memorial Hospital loses one of the most
highly trained and successful workers of its medical
staff, and American cancer research one of its recog-
nised leaders. Since 1906 Dr. Weil had been an active
member of the staff of the Huntington Fund,
and throughout this period of eleven years he was con-
stantly engaged in the problems of cancer research. His
contributions in the field of the serology of cancer and
in the general problems of immunity gained for him an
international reputation. He was one of the founders
of the American Association for Cancer Research, and
largely through his efforts was founded the Journal
of Cancer Research, of which he was editor-in-chief.
At the reorganisation of the Memorial Hospital in 1913,
Dr. Weil assumed the position of assistant director of
cancer research and attending physician to the hospital,
and in this capacity he laboured energetically to estab-
lish an efficient organisation of the routine and re-
search work of the hospital. In 1915 he resigned the
position of assistant director upon his appointment as
professor of experimental medicine in Cornell Univer-
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
His reputation among German engineers was"
sity, but he continued without interruption his experi-
mental work in cancer. Upon the declaration of war —
he was among the first to offer. his services to the
Government, and spent the summer at Fort Benjamin
Harrison in the Medical Officers Training Corps.
Quite recently he was detailed to take charge of a large —
military hospital at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga., and
here in the performance of strenuous military service
he fell a victim to pneumonia. During his brief but
brilliant career he attained eminence as a devoted
laboratory worker, a skilful experimenter, a broadly
trained clinician, and a forceful writer, while his un- —
timely death places his name among the first on his
country’s honour roll in the great war.
A REPORT containing the results of Dr. Benjamin
Moore’s researches on ‘‘ The Causation and Prevention
of Trinitrotoluene Poisoning ’’ has just been issued by
the Medical Research Committee (Special Report
Series No. 11). It is shown that the only important ~~
avenue of entrance into the body is through the skin.
The amount taken in as vapour or as dust is innocu-
ous. The first noticeable indications of poisoning are —
those due to deficient oxygen supply, especially blueness
of the skin and lips. This results from the action of
the poison in decreasing the capacity of haemoglobin —
to take up oxygen. a well-known effect on the respira-
tory process produced by nitro- and amino-benzene ~
derivatives in general. Trinitrotoluene is said to con-
vert hemoglobin into its NO derivative, together with
met-hemoglobin. Various results follow from the de-
ficiency of oxygen supply to the organs, but whether
the degeneration of the liver and the consequent —
jaundice are secondary, as Dr. Moore holds, or whether
the poison acts directly on the liver cells, is at presenta
matter of dispute. The same may be said forthe anemia. _
But the practical point is that the cyanosis is the sign
to be looked for. Individuals differ in the property of ©
their skins to absorb the poison, and it is recommended
that all those showing susceptibility should be rigor-—
ously excluded from the work. A further preventive
is covering the arms and hands with a casein varnish,
Gloves are useless. The poison is reduced in the
body, probably by the liver, to the hydroxylamino-deriva-
tive, and eliminated in the urine, conjugated with
glucuronic acid. It is important, therefore, that the
diet should include substances which afford a supply
of this acid—namely, fresh vegetables and fruit. —
Engineering, in its leading article for January 4,
deals with standard aero-engine production, which in _
this country is in a state of chaos. More than forty —
different types of aero-engines are now being manu-
factured in Britain, and about as many firms are
engaged in their manufacture. The labour absorbed
in the extravagant multiplication of tools, jigs, gauges,
drawings, and patterns, regrettable though it is, does
not end the burden on the Air Service through this
variety of designs. The effect, for instance, on the —
stocks of spares may easily be imagined; the éngines
are so different in construction that aerodromes at the
front not only require separate spares for the several
types that are used there, but also have to keep, for —
purposes of overhaul, separate gangs of mechanics ~
versed in their individual peculiarities. The Produc. —
tion Department that now serves the Air Council in the —
Ministry of Munitions is well placed for obtaining im-
provement in the rate of manufacture, but the particu- —
lars that have been published of its constitution do not —
satisfy engineers that it is in a position to use its
advantage. So far as is known, the department does ~~
not include men on its staff who would be accepted —
by engineers generally as able to speak with the neces-) —
sarv first-hand knowledge and authority on either the ~~
design of internal-combustion engines or the methods
a ~ January 10, 1918]
NATURE
3710
of Goresive manufacture. While the Production De-
_ partment lacks specialised knowledge and authority,
_ eyen the great abilities of the Director-General will be
insufficient to produce the desired results. The duty
of manufacturing engineers is to produce the engines,
and while the machinery for controlling manufacture
remains as it appears to be, it is preventing them from
discharging that duty.
_ From the point of view of a statistician and avowedly
in the spirit of an iconoclast, Mr. F. J. Brodie con-
siders, in the December issue of Symons’s Meteoro-
logical Magazine, the evidence in respect of the theory
as to connection between gunfire and rainfall that can
be gathered from the published figures in the weather
reports of the Meteorological Office for the three years
of the war ended September, 1917. From a series of
maps showing the quarterly variation of rainfall with
respect to the average for each of the twelve districts
into which the British Isles are divided for meteoro-
logical purposes, the following conclusions are
reached :—(a) That over a large portion of the United
Kingdom an excess of rain was reported in nine
quarters out of twelve; (b) that in seven out of the
nine wet quarters the excess of rain was greatest in
districts situated in the eastern or southern half of the
country; further, that in two of the three dry quarters
the only districts which failed to report any deficiency
were again situated either in the eastern or in the
southern section. For the whole period the excess
Was as much as 26 per cent. in England S.E., 20 in
England E., 14 in the Midlands, 10 in England N.E.,
and g in England S.W.; while in Scotland N. and
W. there were deficiencies of 5 and to per cent. re-
_spectively—a suggestive enough distribution. Unfor-
tunately, the figures for northern France and Belgium
are not available—the more so since M. Angot, writing
in May, 1917, observed that no distribution of exces-
‘sive rainfall having reference to a centre in the war
area had been found in France. It is also worthy of
remark that there was, prior to the outbreak of war,
every reason for anticipating a continuance of the spell
of wet years that had set in, in compensation for the
long dry period that marked the nineties of last
century and the opening decade of the present century
(in London, 1903 was the only wet year between 1894
and 1909); furthermore, that one of the three dry
quarters was that of July-September, 1916—the period
of a great offensive in Flanders—and that the spring
offensive of 1917 also was favoured with fine weather.
So long is the arm of coincidence and so infinite are
the resources of our climate that, in the absence of
valid physical proof, it is doubtful whether, even in
the event of similar conditions continuing for another
three years (or the duration of the war), meteorologists |
would be convinced that the “ frightfulness’’ of man
can influence the course of the elements.
Tue Société d’Anthropologie de Paris bravely con-
tinues its work in spite of the war. In part ii. of the
Bulletins et Mémoires for 1916, which has just reached
us, M. R. Anthony contributes a graceful obituary of
one of its most Rrostrious foreign associates, Sir W.
Turner. This is accompanied by a full catalogue,
extending to nine pages octavo, of the works ‘and
papers on anatomy, physiology, and anthropology con-
tributed by him.
Miss M. A. Murray supplements her paper in Folk-
lore (vol. xxviii., No. 3, September, 1917) by an article
in the Journal of the Manchester Egyptian and Orien-
tal Society for 1916-17 on ‘The God of the Witches.”
She discusses the theory of an Eastern origin of the
witchcraft observances, but the evidence is not quite
satisfactory. Converts.from Islam to the witch cult
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
renounced their old religion, as did the converts from.
Christianity; Arab witches, like curs, used to rid
about on sticks; the name of the great assemblies of
the witches, Sabbath, suggests an Eastern origin, but.
cannot be connected with the sacred day of the Jews.
“It seems certain then that in this religion, as in
others, there was interchange between the East and
the West. But having regard to the antiquity of the
witch cult in Europe, it seems to me that the balance
of evidence is in favour of its originating in the West,
and being carried thence to the East.”
In the South African Journal.of Science (vol. xiii., —
No. 11, July, 1917) the Rev. Noel Roberts describes a_
series of Bushman rock paintings discovered at the’
Zoutpansberg range, in the northern Transvaal, during
the construction of the railway to Messina. The ochre
used is believed to be derived from a deposit in the
neighbourhood of the caves, and natives assert that the
white paint was obtained from the milky kernel of the
Stamvruchte (Chrysophyllum magalismontanum). Much
controversy has arisen regarding the meaning and pur-
pose of the paintings. Some believe that they represent
historical incidents, or depict occurrences in hunting.
Others trace a connection with the art of northern
Africa. But Stow’s conclusion that they are purely
historical still holds the field. At the same time, as
Sir James Frazer has advocated, there may be a
magical object, and Mr. Roberts advances some argu-
ments in support of this‘view. The excavation of the.
detritus of the caves containing the paintings should
bring to light some objects which would help to fix
the date and intention of these representations. Mean-
while, the article provides a series of photographs of
considerable interest.
Mr. C. W. Matty describes, in the South African
Journal of Science (vol. xiii., No. 11, July, 1917), a
method of destroying that noxious pest, the Argentine
ant. The plan is to surround the opening of the nest
with a cordon of finely ‘powdered corrosive sublimate
about half an inch wide. Under some conditions the
ants become excited before they actually touch the
powder, the result being probably due to the fact that’
fine particles of the sublimate are floating in the air.
When the drug has been sprinkled on the soil at any -
point,-it remains sufficiently virulent to affect the ants for
a long time ; some spots thus treated after eight or nine
months still react on the ants when they wander over
them. Heavy rain disperses the sublimate, but light
rain simply carries it into the soil, and then, as the
moisture evaporates, there is a tendency for the corro-
sive sublimate to be re-deposited on the surface. This
suggests that the foundations of buildingS may be
treated, either during or after construction, with a
solution which will protect them from ant invasion,
Mr. H. H. Haypen, Director of the Geological Sur-
vey of India, in his report on the earthquake which
occurred at Dharmsala on May to last, states that the
situation of the station, in an area of pronounced tec-
‘tonic disturbance, renders the occurrence of periodical
earth shocks probable. With this possibility in view
there are, Mr. Hayden suggests, the alternatives to
be considered; either to abandon Dharmsala alto-
gether, or to adopt precautions which may render
earthquakes in future, so far as possible, innocuous.
The first course he does not recommend, and he be-
lieves that precautions such as have been adopted in
other parts of the world may render the retention of
Dharmsala as a station a matter of comparatively
slight risk. He advocates the erection of a new type
of building, the houses being either of wood or of
reinforced concrete, and he thinks that it would not
be difficult to select. methods of construction which
37?
NATURE
Pe
[January 10, 1918 q
would render Dharmsala safe against any earthquake
that is likely to occur.
Tue problem of mining thin coal-seams has recently
been the subject of considerable discussion in Great
Britain, and it is interesting to note that it has at the
same time been attracting attention in Canada, as is
shown by a recent publication of the Canadian De-
partment of Mines, Bulletin No. 15, on the mining
of thin coal-seams as applied to the eastern coalfields
of Canada, written by Mr. J. F. Kellock Brown. The
author discusses the technical aspects of the question,
but lays most stress upon its economics. He points
out that the present coal industry of eastern Canada
is in a weak position, having reached its period of best
productivity, but beset with outside competition and
rising costs, and operated by over-capitalised con-
cerns, the earning capacity of which is only 3 or 4 per
cent. of their capital. He estimates that the coals
now being worked may well be exhausted in about a
century, and therefore proposes that the industry should
be reorganised, worked by. powerful corporations or
combinations, and that legislation should compel the
working of a certain proportion of coal from the thin
seams along with that of the more easily wrought
thicker seams. He considers that ‘‘ when properly
operated, and properly financed under reasonably
favourable conditions, 12-in. seams of coal can be
worked economically in eastern Canada _ to-day,”
though it is doubtful whether many colliery engineers
in this country would fully concur in this conclusion.
In any event, the bulletin is an important contribution
to the great problem of the proper and effective utilisa-
tion of the mineral resources of the British Empire,
and deserves careful study from this point of view, as
well as for the technical considerations involved. Under
the latter head numerous details of machine mining
and underground conveyer systems are given, together
with the actual operating costs in a few selected
examples. The author appears to have reached the
definite conclusion that in mining thin seams machine
work—not only machine mining, but ‘the application
of power to the whole operation of getting the coal,
from the commencement of the undercutting to the
placing of the coal into the mine cars "—is essential to
success.
Part 3 of vol. vi. of the Science Reports of the
University of Sendai, Japan, contains the sixth,
seventh, eighth, and ninth reports of the Alloys Re-
search Institute of Japan, which all have reference to
the magnetic or other properties of iron and its alloys.
The eighth report, by Prof. Honda, deals with the
magnetisaté/n of iron powders as the simplest form
of the problem presented by the magnetisation of
alloys. The powders used were of reduced iron mixed
with fine sand to obtain small amounts of iron per
c.c., and compressed to get densities approaching that
of solid iron. Rods of 0-5 cm. diameter 15 cm. long
were magnetised in a coil, providing fields up to 1000,
and the magnetisation measured ballistically. The
curve showing the relation between the specific mag-
netisation (the quotient of the intensity of magnetisa-
tion by the mass of iron per c.c. of the specimen) of
the solid iron is of the usual type, the bend or shoulder
occurring between fields 50 and 200, and the saturation
value of the specific magnetisation being 210. For a
powder containing three-fourths the iron per c.c. the
curve shows no shoulder, though it is convex upwards. ©
At a field of 1000 its specific magnetisation is only
140, and shows no sign of saturation. For smaller
quantities of iron per c.c. the curves become nearly
straight lines—that is, the specific magnetic suscepti-
bility becomes constant for each mixture, but decreases
as the mixture contains less iron.
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
' now overwhelming evidence in favour of the existen
THE latest list of Mr. F. Edwards, 83 High Street, —
Marylebone, W.1 (No. 380), contains 1066 items, and —
is devoted to biography. It is not very strong in
science, but among the books offered for sale we
notice the memoir of ‘Sir Samuel Baker,’? by T. ~
Douglas Murray and A. Silva White; “Sir Joseph
Banks’s Journal during Capt. Cook’s First Voyage,” —
edited by Sir J. D. Hooker; ‘Life of Sir Joseph —
Banks,” by E. Smith; the first edition of Washington
Irving’s ‘‘Christopher Columbus: History of his Life -
and, Voyages’’; ‘‘Charles Darwin: Life and Letters,” —
edited by Sir F. Darwin; ‘‘ Memoirs of the Life, Writ-
ings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton,” by Sir —
D. Brewster, and several lives of men of science which
have been published during the past few weeks. The
catalogue will be sent upon written application,
Mr. W. HEINEMANN will shortly publish vol. ii. of ~
Dr. Montessori’s ‘‘ The Advanced Method.” The work —
will deal with the Montessori material, and the use of ~
it, for children up to the age of eleven years, and will —
be illustrated. It is announced in connection with the
volume that an authorised Montessori Training Insti- —
tute is to be established in this country, presided over
by Dr. Montessori. gat Pa
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN,
ENCKE’s Comet.—Encke’s comet, which has been ~
observed at every perihelion passage since 1819, has —
once more been detected, the discoverer being Prof. —
Schorr, at Bergedorf, Hamburg. The position on —
December 30 at 5h. 27m. G.M.T. was R.A. 22h. 59m. ~
4:938., N. declination 3° 17’ 35”. The comet was of
the 15th magnitude, but should brighten considerably
in- the next few weeks. The observed R.A. was ©
smaller than the tabular by 4s., the declination smaller —
by 40". These small residuals indicate that Mr. Viljev’s —
calculated time of perihelion passage 1918 March 24-3
G.M.T. is not much in error, perhaps about o-2d. too
late. This adds certainty to Mr. Viljev’s conclusion that
the object observed in September and November, 1916,
was not the comet. An ephemeris was given in ~
NaturE of December 27.
THe Nearest Stark Known.—In Circular No. 40 of
the Union Observatory, Mr. Innes gives the results of —
observations made for the determination of the parallax
of the interesting faint star near q@ Centauri to which ~
he first directed attention about two years ago. The ~
observations extended from May 26, 1916, to August —
23, 1917, and were made with a micrometer attached —
to the 9-in. equatorial at Johannesburg. The setae fe
value for the parallax is 0-88", as compared with —
0-755" recently determined at the Cape Observatory
by Mr. Voite. The mean of the two values is 0-82”. —
The largest parallax previously known is that of a@ —
Centauri, which Kapteyn gives as 0-759", and it would ~
thus appear that the Innes star’is the nearest known —
star to the solar system. The proper motion of the —
faint star is closely similar, in both magnitude and —
direction, to that of q@ Centauri, notwithstanding the’ ~
separation of 2° 13’. Mr. Innes suggests Proxima ~
Centaurus as a convenient name for this small star. —
The visual and photographic magnitudes of the star
are 11 and 13 respectively. ;
THE INTERIOR OF A StaR.—An interesting popular
account of his mathematical investigations relating to —
the physical conditions in the interior of a star is given —
under this title by Prof. A. S. Eddington in Scientia —
for January. Prof. Eddington considers that there
a &: _ January 10, 1918]
NATURE
373
of stars of increasing, as well as stars of decreasing,
temperature, as has so long been advocated by Sir
Norman Lockyer. Chiefly through the work of Hertz-
sprung-and Russell, it has, in fee, been found that
many well-known stars are in a highly diffuse state,
and when such stars contract under the influence of
- their own gravitation, they must rise in temperature
until they cease to approximate to perfectly gaseous con-
ditions (density 0-2 to 0-4 compared with water). Prof.
Eddington has made an important modification of
Lane’s theory by taking account of radiation-pressure,
and he shows that as a star contracts the diminishing
surface is compensated by increasing radiation, so that
* the total radiation remains nearly constant, until the
density becomes too great for the theory to apply.
Afterwards the star passes to the descending branch
of the temperature curve, and the total radiation falls
off very rapidly. Radiation-pressure has further been
found to provide a reasonable explanation of the ap-
proximate uniformity of stellar masses.
THE VISCOSITY OF SLAG AT HIGH
| TEMPERATURES.
Ocha dati the data which have in recent years
been accumulated on the behaviour of silicates at
high temperatures possess a great interest and value
from the points of view of the mineralogist and the
geophysictt, a knowledge of the melting points and
elds of stability of the silicates is not the most impor-
tant factor for consideration in so far as applica-
tion to the metallurgy of iron is concerned. In a study
of the blast-furnace process what is of particular in-
terest is the behaviour of the slag from the time it
enters the zone of fusion until it is flushed from the
slag-notch. In passing through this region where the
smelting process occurs the most important physical
property of the slag is its viscosity, while its most
important chemical property is its desulphurising
power. .
It has long been known to furnacemen that molten
blast-furnace slag is much more viscous than molten
iron and most fused salts, and that the slag undergoes
a gradual softening on heating rather than a sudden
change to a mobile liquid. This particular character-
istic was from the first rightly attributed to the silica
content of the slag, and it appears to be due to the
mature of the molecule, SiO,, rather than to the
element silicon itself. X-ray analysis in the hands of
Prof. W. H. and Mr. W. L. Bragg has furnished an im-
portant confirmation of this hypothesis. Instead of find-
ing, as is the case with the crystals of most chemical
compounds, that ‘he atoms are arranged separately at
definite points of a space-lattice, they concluded that
three silica molecules are associated with each point
of the space-lattice. It is a matter of common know-
ledge that highly associated or polymerised liquids
sess unusually high viscosity, and hence it seems
plausible to argue that, since silica appears to be un-
usually complex in the solid state, this association or
polymerisation tendency must be the fundamental cause
of the extreme viscosity of silica itself and the high
viscosity of the silicates in the liquid state. When a
silicate gradually softens with rising temperature and
passes entirely over into the liquid state it is probable
that the increased fluidity is due to a weakening of the
“residual-valence’’ attraction between the group-mole-'
cules, while the relatively high viscosity of the melt, as
compared with that of molten metals and’ ordinary
salts, is due to the preponderance of the group-mole-
cules silica, alumina, and lime, and possibly in a par-
ticularly large degree to a highly polymerised condition
of the silica group-molecule.
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
constant speed.
Considerations of this kind are set out in a valuab
paper by Mr. A. L. Feild, assistant metallurgist at the
United States Bureau of Mines, in a recent paper pre-
sented to the Faraday Society... Mr. Feild points out
that while it is theoretically possible to render any sili- |
cate mixture whatever sufficiently fluid to flow from the
slag-notch of a blast-furnace it is necessary in practice
that the slag should attain this necessary fluidity at a
temperature which is not beyond the working limit of —
the blast-furnace lining, and does not demand
an unusually high fuel consumption. It is obvious -
that if, for instance, a slag requires a minimum tem-
perature of 1400° C. in order to attain a working
fluidity, no iron will be produced in a furnace using
this slag, regardless of the number of B.Th. units
developed within the furnace, unless the temperature
distribution is such that the slag acquires the neces-
sary temperature at 1400° C. Thus the fuel economy
of the blast-furnace is to a great extent dependent upon
the temperature-viscosity relations of the slag. Apart
from the question of mining cost and freightage, the
value of an iron ore sufficiently rich in iron to be
considered marketable largely depends on whether it
can be made to yield economically a slag of desirable
viscosity and desulphurising power.
Mr. Feild has worked out a method of determining
the viscosities of slags up to 1600° C., this limit. being
imposed by the furnace refractories and not by inherent
limitations of the apparatus. He has used a modifica-
tion of the method originated by Margules in 1881, in
which the liquid is confined between two concentric
cylinders. The outer cylinder is rotated at a constant
speed, and the torque exerted upon the inner cylinder
measured. The method is applicable to liquids of a
wide range of viscosity, and has been applied in this
case to measurements on slags over a range of viscosity
from 200 to 3000 (water at 20° C.=1). Acheson
graphite was used in the construction of all parts sub-
jected to'high temperatures, and the suspended system
was damped so as to ive it the stability and aperiodicity
of the familiar damped D’Arsonval galvanometer. The
outer cylinder was rotated about a vertical axis at a
The inner cylinder was suspended
coaxially within the outer one by means of a steel or
phosphor-bronze ribbon. Experimental data derived by
this method are capable of an easy direct mathematical
interpretation. A cylinder of radius b, rotating with a
constant angular velocity #, will exert upon an inner
fixed concentric cylinder of radius a—the space between
them being filled with the liquid—a couple T given by
the relation
ae
T=4mL js A”
where 7 is the coefficient of viscosity and L the common:
fength of the two cylinders. With cylinders of fixed
dimensions the viscosity is proportional to the torsion
couple and inversely proportional to the speed of rota-
tion in revolutions per second. Conversely the torsion
couple is proportional to the speed of rotation and to
the viscosity.
Viscosity values are given for eight commercial slags,
two synthetic slags, and an artificial diopside. The
temperature-viscosity curve approximates in form to
that of the rectangular hyperbola, while the tempera-'
ture-fluidity curve approaches a straight line in form.
The average viscosity at 1500° C. of eight commercial
slags was found to be 301 (water at 20° C.=1). Re-
fractory slags have been found to be not necessarily
more viscous at high temperature than more fusible
ones. H.C. H.C.
1 “The Viscosity of Blast-furnace Slag and its Relation to Tron Metal-
lurgy, including a Description of a New Me’ of Measuring Slag Viscosity
at High Temperatures.” Proceedings, December, 1917.
374
NATURE
[JANUARY I0, 1918 3
THE LEARNING PROCESS IN A SNAIL
N his well-known experiments’ (1904), the Russian
I physiologist Pavlov showed that salivary secre-
tion in a dog, primarily induced by the odour or sight
of food, could eventually be induced by a sound or
colour which had been for a. time synchronised with
the primary stimulus. The dog, according to the
experiments, was soon able to establish an organic
association between the primary and the secondary
stimulus. When Pavlov slightly changed the secondary
stimulus there was a change in the dog’s salivary
reaction, and this was taken as evidence of the
animal’s power to discriminate between stimuli.
With noteworthy clear-headedness, Miss Elizabeth
Lockwood Thompson has seen how to apply Pavlov’s
method to a water-snail, Physa gyrina, which glides
about in ponds, with foot and mouth upwards, sus-
pended from the surface-film. When a part of the
body within a millimetre or two of the mouth is
touched with a bit of food, a chewing motion of the
mouth-parts is started. With the application of food
to near the mouth there was synchronously associated
a pressure with a clean glass rod at a fixed distance
from the mouth. The next step in the ingenious ex-
periment was to apply tue associated or auxiliary
stimulus alone in the absence of food, in order to
determine from the presence or absence of reactions
whether or not an association had been formed be-
tween the two sets of stimuli. Miss Thompson de-
serves to be congratulated, we think, on this extension
of Pavlov’s method, which he himself did not regard
as applicable except to a limited number of mammals.
It is now possible, along this line of investigation, to
test a snail’s power of ‘‘ learning,”
When food was applied to the mouth and at once
withdrawn, response followed in 61 per cent. of the
tests, the mouth being opened and closed on an
average 3:93 times. By means of an apparatus a
simultaneous application of pressure to the foot and
food to the mouth was secured. In the first 60-110
trials of simultaneous stimuli no response followed;
in the remaining trials, out of 250 in all, a response
was always given. The snails were thus “trained.”
After forty-eight hours a response followed the pressure
by itself,.i.e. in the absence of any food-stimulus,
but only for a limited. period. Cessation of re-
sponse to pressure after training is sudden and final.
The limit of the effect of training (which simulates
memory) is about ninety-six hours. . An interesting
waning of response (marked by a reduction in the
number of mouth movements) was observed. in, some
series of trials;>it showed that the snails became
adapted to a stimulus which was not followed by its
wonted reward. The relation between length of train-
ing and training effect (as measured by response to
pressure only) requires further investigation.
Miss Thompson also devoted many experiments to
inquiring whether the snail could learn to solve a
simple U-shaped or Y-shaned labyrinth with a picket
fence of wires, one arm leading from near the foot
of the tank to the air (the reward), the other not (the
punishment). In some ‘cases error was punished bv
an electric shock. and roughness of the path was used
as a warning stimulus. The result was interesting.
The snails showed no ability to learn that the one path
was to be preferred to the other. But in 15 per cent.
of a total of 030 trials in one ‘series, the snails changed
their course from the wrong to the right path after
contact with a warning stimulus (in this case, slight
irritation of the tentacles and ‘the back of the head
with a hair) before the shock (punishment) was. re-
1 “ An Analysis of the Learning Process in the Snail, Physa gvrina; Say.”
(Behav‘our Monographs, vol. iii., No. 3, 1917, pp. 1-89+8 plates+r2 tables.)
(Cambridge, Mass.) ;
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
local bumps and hollows can be detected readily by —
ceived. There was formed a weak association between —
two stimuli, the hair and the shock, the former sery:
ing as a warning of the punishment to follow if the
course be not changed. But the capacity to form —
associations, already proved by the method of using ~
simultaneous stimuli, does not suffice for the solution
of the simplest labyrinth. There was no evidence of
“selective ’’ ability. . ae
Miss Thompson has made a yery interesting con-
tribution to the study of animal behaviour; the details —
of the experiments show the punctilious carefulness of —
her work,
SCREW GAUGES,
8 aca: production of a satisfactory screw gauge
is a matter of considerable difficulty as regards
both manufacture and testing, and the pamphlet
on this subject just issued by the National Physical —
Laboratory! will be found to contain much useful —
information, ett
In the case of a plug screw gauge, it is essential
that it should enter a standard check ring gauge, but
this test is insufficient, since it may be complied with
by a plug gauge having such 1a combination of errors
as to enable it to enter the check and yet be useless
for the purpose of gauging screws. “Not go” tests
are also essential, and certain errors can be detected ~
only by carrying out measurements on the gauge of
either a mechanical or an optical character. The full
(or major) diameter is measured by use of a micro-
meter in conjunction with a set of Hoffmann roller ~
gauges. The core (or minor) diameter and the effec-
tive diameter are also measured by means of a micro-
meter, together with a pair of Vee-pieces and a pair
of small cylinders respectively. The lathe in which
the gauge is machined should be furnished with an
attachment for holding the micrometer so that its
axis intersects the axis of the gauge at right angles,
and arranged so that the instrument can be readily re-
moved. This permits of the gauge being measured as
the work proceeds, without the necessity for removing it
from the machine — In instruments used for measuring —
these diameters in the inspection room, the micro- —
meter should be held mechanically so as to comply —
with the same condition. ; a
The machine described in the pamphlet for measur-
ing the pitch of the screw appears to be both simple
and effective. The actual measurement is made by
means of a micrometer having a large dial reading to —
o-ooo1 in. An ingenious arrangement, partly mechan- —
ical and partly optical, ensures that the axial move- —
ment of thé micrometer point shall’ be exactly equal —
to the pitch of the screw under test. Both periodic
and progressive errors in the pitch can be detected
from the readings obtained in this machine. ms ‘a
As a general rule, optical measurements of screw —
gauges cannot be made to the same accuracy as —
mechanical measurements, but optical methods are of —
great service from the consideration that the whole of —
the screwed ‘surface of a gauge can be examined in ©
detail. Errors in angle, want of straightness of the —
threads, eccentricity between different diameters, and —
ee ee
optical means. Until recently, microscopes having —
cross wires in the eyepiece were alone emploved for —
measurements, and a machine embodving this prin-. —
ciple is made by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument ©
Co., and is described in the pamphlet. Such methods ~
have now been displaced to a great extent by a pro- —
1 “Notes on Screw Gauges.’” By the Staff of the Gauge-testing Devart-_
ment, National Physical Laboratory. Enlarged issue IT. (Teddington : |
W. E, Parrott, The Causeway, 1917.) Price 2s. 6d. ; : a
;
’
_ tions will be much
__ January 10, 1918]
NATURE
375
jection ‘machine, which throws on a screen a shadow-
_ like image of the screw thread, magnified a definite
humber of times. This image is then superposed on a
diagram: of the correct thread form, drawn to the same
_ magnification. Thus variations from the true form
can be seen and measured with a scale.
1 A simple pro-
jection apparatus and another having a large field of
view are described, together with some convenient
accessories.
With the exception of core diameter and pitch, the
elements of a screw ring gauge cannot be measured
readily. The method of taking plaster casts has ‘been
tried, but such casts cannot at present be relied upon
to nearer than +0-0005 to +ooo1r in. In general,
screw ring gauges are not measured, but tested
between limits by ‘‘go’’ and ‘not go” check plugs,
made so as to test each diameter independently.
The pamphlet is written in a very practical manner,
and sufficient information and drawings are given to
enable anyone interested to set up the various appli-
ances for himself. We are also glad to note that
manufacturers who contemplate the installation of
measuring instruments, or have experienced difficulties
in measurement, are invited to visit the laboratory by
appointment to discuss their particular problems with
the members of the staff.
MARINE BIOLOGY.
op HE twenty-fourth report (1916) of the Danish Bio-
logical Station contains two papers of much in-
terest to marine biologists. Dr. C. G. J. Petersen
gives a useful account of the development of the ex-
ternal characters in three of the common species of
Gobius. The great difficulty there is in discriminating
between the young stages of these fishes is well known
to those who have handled general collections made in
European waters, and Dr. Petersen’s careful descrip-
a. The second paper in
the report is by Dr. H. Blegvad, on the food of fishes
in Danish waters within the Skaw. The new feature
in this work is that, in addition to an account of the
kind of food upon which each species was found to be
feeding, the weight of each kind of food found in the
fish and the weight of the fish itself were recorded.
In this way a more accurate idea of the relative im-
portance of the different kinds of food can be obtained.
In the Marine Biological Report, No. iii., 1916, for
the province of the Cape of Good Hope, Dr. J. D. F.
Gilchrist, in the first paper, describes the eggs and
larve of a number of Cape fishes. Unfortunately the
figures which accompany this paper appear to have lost
a great deal in the reproduction, and many of them can
scarcely be considered adequate for recognising these
very delicate forms, the identification of which often
depends on a correct representation of their minute
details. The remainder of the report contains an
account of some observations on marine invertebrates,
made on animals living in the tanks of the Marine
Station at St. James, the description of four new South
African fishes, which are well figured, and a continua-
tion of Mr. W. Wardlaw Thompson’s ‘ Catalogue of
Fishes of the Cave Province,”’ with a very full biblio-
graphy of each species.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH AGRI-
CULTURE AND FISHERIES.
HE advances recommended during the year
amounted to 334,903]. Since the commencement
of the war advances from the Development Fund have
been mainly confined to schemes already established
with the expectation of continued help from the fund,
1 Ahstracted from the seventh report of the Development Commissioners
on their proceedings during the year ended March 31, 1917.
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
for which just sufficient advances have been recomi-
mended to secure continuity, F
As regards new schemes, the Commissioners have
continued to recommend expenditure upon the prepara=
tion, by way of preliminary surveys and reports, of
projects of development for commencement after the
war when the employment of labour upon a large scale
may be desirable. They have also recommended ex=
penditure on certain new schemes in order to meet
war conditions, particularly in connecton with food
supply and natural products. The two most important
new advances recommended by them during the year,
namely, 125,000l. for purchase of an estate for sugar-
beet growing, and 50,0001. for improving the fish food
supply by installing motors in fishing-boats in England
and Wales, fall under this heading. These two ad-
vances amount to one-half of the whole sum recom.
mended for the year. A largely increased supply of
plants for afforestation purposes, and increased grow-
ings of flax for aeroplane cloth, are other instances
where war conditions have called for extra expendi-
ture from the Development Fund.
a
AGRICULTURE AND RurAL INDUSTRIES.
Agricultural Research and Education, etc.—For the
continuance of the research scheme in England and
Wales during 1917-18 the following grants from the
Development Fund to the Board of Agriculture and
Fisheries have been sanctioned :—
Grants to colleges and institutions in aid of— £
(a) Scientific research and experiments 19,600
(b) The extension of advisory and local in-
vestigation work ain bed és. . 8,000
(c) Special investigations and research, and
scholarships ... g! ie ale noes: 2,400
(d) Inquiries and experiments, etc., by or on
behalf of the Board at ne 600
Expenses of administration 880
31,480
Less amount not payable from the Development
Fund ... aig fe ey ee a’ oe
29,730
Research in animal pathology to be undertaken
at the Board’s veterinary laboratory,
1917-18 asi + ap se «« 2,000
Research Institute in Plant Pathology at Kew 1,358
The proposed expenditure in respect of the grants
for research institutes and advisory centres contem-
plates only the carrying on of existing work, and no
new work of any importance was started last year
with the exception of investigations bearing directly
on the war, with which some of the workers are
engaged, particularly at Cambridge University. ;
A grant to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
of 16,4451. was made in aid of agricultural and dairy
education during the year 1917-18, i
A grant of 37001. was sanctioned to enable the Board
in consultation with the Commissioners to assist new
emergency schemes of an educational or quasi-educa-
tional character. A grant of 13301. was made to the
Imperial College of Science and Technology for an
investigation during 1917 into the effect of electrical
discharge on the growth of crops.
The Commissioners have recommended an advance of
4ool. to the North of Scotland College of Agriculture
for the continuation during 1916-17 of research work
which is being carried out under the supervision of a
joint committee of the University of Aberdeen and of
the college; an advance of 31sI. to the University of
Edinburgh for the continuation during the period
376
NATURE
[JANUARY 10, 1918
ember, 1915, to November, 1917, of research in
ae, ep breeds and advances of 7ool. and 395l. to
the Board of Agriculture for Scotland for the purpose
of aiding the University of St. Andrews and the three
agricultural colleges of Scotland in carrying out during
the academic years 1915-16 and 1916-17 schemes of
special research in agricultural science. — The Com-
missioners also recommended the renewal in respect of
1916-17 of the annual advance of soool. in aid of
“extension” work at the three Scottish agricultural
colleges—i.e. instruction to agriculturists in the col-
leges’ provinces.
For the year 1917-18 a grant of 4oool. was made to
the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instrue-
tion for Ireland in aid of its scheme of technical and .
advisory work in connection with agriculture, and a
grant of 1961. in aid of the maintenance of property
acquired for a new veterinary research laboratory. 3
Eggs and Poultry.—A grant to the Board of Agri-
culture and Fisheries of 32001. was recommended for
a scheme for augmenting thé production of eggs and
poultry during the season 1916-17 by the establishment
of 300 centres in England and Wales for the distribu-
tion of trustworthy eggs for hatching, twenty stations
for the distribution of day-old chicks, and the pro-
vision of five incubating stations; and a grant of 358.
to the Utility Poultry Club in aid of the continuance
of the Burbage breeding experiments during the year
to September 30, 1916.
Cultivation and Preparation of Flax, Hemp, and
Tobacco.—Two grants to the British Flax and Hemp
Growers’ Society were recommended: one of 4575]. to
meet the expenses of the society during the six months
to September 30, 1916, and the other of 6275]. to meet
the expenses of the society during the year to Sep-
tember 30, 1917. The object of the society is to
ascertain whether flax can be grown in this country
with profit to the growers. The society’s scheme in-
volves the cultivation of flax in selected districts, the
establishment of experimental retteries, experiments
on the growth of flax as a crop for seed independent
of fibre, and experiments in the breeding and selection
of better strains of flax. Owing to the war and the conse-
quent rise in the price of flax, the acreage has been
increased, and it is expected that the enhanced prices
will cause a considerable reduction in the cost to the
Development Fund of these experiments and at the
. same time stimulate the revival of the industry in this
country. Shortly after the close of the year to which
this report relates the Commissioners recommended
a supplementary grant for a considerable extension of
the society’s work in 1917, undertaken partly in order
to ensure a future supply of material for the production
of aeroplane cloth and partly to increase the growth
of linseed as a feeding stuff for stock.
A grant of 1200l. to the British Tobacco Growers’
Society was recommended for the continuance of the
work of the society during the year 1916-17. The
society is conducting experiments in the cultivation
and preparation for market of tobacco and nicotine
products in order to ascertain whether tobacco can be -
grown in this country with profit to the grower, Con-
fidence in the possibilities of the tobacco crop was so
far established as to enable the society for the first
time in’ 1915-16 to make contracts with growers to
grow the tobacco at their own risk and at a fixed
price, with the stipulation that only sound saleable
leaves would be accepted. The arrangements proposed
for 1916-17 are an advance in the experimental stage.
The Commissioners considered the question of the sus-
pension of the society’s work until the end of the war,
but the society claimed that the experiments had
reached a stage at which their abandonment or sus-
pension would involve a serious loss of the value of
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
all past expenditure, and a largely decreased grant —
was applied for to carry on the work. The Commis. —
sioners came to the conclusion that a case had bee
made out for the limited operations proposed. i
Encouragement of a Beet Sugar Industry.—
Commissioners are of opinion that a trial on a ce
siderable scale of a sugar beet experiment should be
made, and that the present time affords particular
reasons for initiating such a trial. The Kelham Estate, —
Nottinghamshire, is exceptionally suitable for such an_
experiment, and the Commissioners recommended a
loan of 125,o0ol. for its purchase with a view to the ©
establishment of the beet sugar industry in this —
country. Poe a
Horse and, Live Stock Breeding.—The following ~
grants were recommended :— .
35,1001. to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to —
meet the cost during the year 1917-18 of the scheme ~
for the improvement of heavy horses, cattle, and swine, —
the extension of milk recording, and the employment —
of live stock officers at agricultural institutions in —
England and Wales; 10,2501. to the Board of Agri- —
culture for Scotland in aid of the scheme for the im-
provement of heavy horses and cattle, and the extension _
of milk recording in Scotland during the year 19g ‘4
and 2000l. to the Department of Agriculture and Tech- —
nical Instruction for Ireland in aid of the Department’s
scheme for the improvemént of Irish draught horses —
during the year 1917-18. a
Organisation of Co-operation among Agriculturists, —
—A grant to the Agricultural Organisation Society of ©
England and Wales for its work during the year
1916-17 was recommended; also a grant to the Scot- |
tish Agricultural Organisation Society in aid of its
work during 1916-17, consisting of an advance equal —
to the amount spent from the society’s own funds —
during the year, but not exceeding toool.; and a grant —
of 53201. to the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society —
in aid of its work during the year 1916-17. a
FORESTRY. if
During the year the Commissioners reviewed their —
policy with regard to new forestry schemes to be
| financed from the Development Fund, especially in —
relation to the alternatives of purchase and long lease —
of land, and to their proposals for afforesting privately —
owned land on the basis of a division of the proceeds —
when they accrue. The experience of the war has ~
shown that the nation must in prudence be prepared to
incur substantial expenditure in increasing the home-
grown supplies of timber. Much of the waste land ~
of the country can be turned to account only by putting
it under timber; and there are other areas of unim- —
proved land which can be rescued from their present —
unproductive condition by composite schemes of affores-
tatién and reclamation. A forest will afford seasonal —
employment for men occupying or employed on small —
farms, and will itself be economically worked by tne —
labour so employed. a
A grant of 4300l. to the Board of Agriculture and —
Fisheries was recommended for the continuation in —
the year 1917-18 of the scheme for research, forestry —
instruction and advisory work at four centres in |
England and Wales, minor forestry experiments and
surveys. It was represented to the Commissioners by ~
the Board of Agriculture that in view of the large —
amount of timber which was-being cut down in this —
country, the difficulties in which nurs en were —
involved owing to the shortage of labour, andthe fact —
that seed and seedlings of enemy origin, largely pur- —
chased in normal times by nurserymen, were no lon a
available, it was desirable to raise a supply of forest —
; tree seedlings in case there might be a shortage for —
| replanting after the war A grant of 2001. was mad
_ January 10, 1918]
NATURE
cry 71
(0 the Commissioners of Woods towards the cost of
the maintenance of the Forest of Dean Demonstration
Area during 1916-17, on the condition that the land
revenues of the Crown should continue as hitherto to
bear the cost of general improvements and mainten-
ance of Dean Forest and adjoining woodlands.
A grant of toool, for 1917-18 was recommended for
the salaries and expenses of three forestry officers for
: , survey, and research work, one at each of
the three Scottish agricultural colleges.
During the year the Commissioners have reviewed
the terms on which advances from the Development
* Fund have been made or promised for the purchase of
land in Ireland and its afforestation. A provisional
agreement was reached between the Commissioners
and the Department of Agriculture, and in March last
the revised terms were submitted for the approval of
the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury.
DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF FISHERIES.
The development of sea fisheries and the increase of
the fish food supply have been among the most im-
portant of the matters for which advances have been
made during the year. The following advances for
these purposes have been sanctioned, viz. : In January,
I917, an advance not exceeding 50,0001. to the Board
of hawt and Fisheries for the provision of motor-
power in fishing-vessels in England and Wales. The
administration of this advance is in the hands of a
small central executive committee appointed by the
Board in consultation with the Development Com-
mission. Not the least part of the Committee’s work
has been that of arranging for the necessary fuel,
boxes, and other fishing supplies. During the time
that this scheme has been in, operation the results
obtained have been satisfactory, and they promise to
prove still more fruitful in the future. In January,
-Ig17, an advance not exceeding 2000l. to the Cornwall
Sea Fisheries Committee to enable fishermen at the
Mount’s Bay Ports and St. Ives to instal mechanical
power in their boats. In March, 1917, authority was
given for the unexpended balance of the grant of 2o00l.
to the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee for the purpose
of experiments with motor-power in trawlers, etc., to
be used in making loans to fishermen to enable them
to instal motors in their boats. The unexpended
balance in question was about 1gool.
An advance of
science on the other, and pivoting upon geography as
‘essentially the regional study of human experience.
The association is glad to be authoritatively assured
that a course planned on these lines would receive sym-
pathetic consideration from the Board of Education
whatever the wording of the present ‘regulations.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LonpDon.
Faraday Society, December 12, 1917.—Mr. W. R.
Bousfield, vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. A. W.
Porter: The thermal properties of sulphuric acid and
oleum. The object of this paper is to supply data at
various temperatures for the heats of solution and
dilution and evaporation, both of sulphuric acid and
oleum. Pre-existing data apply only to atmospheric
temperatures; but technical processes take place at
various temperatures up to 200° C. or above. These
additional data are obtained by indirect methods either
from vapour pressures (of-H,O or SO,) by means of
Clapeyron’s formula or from thermal capacities.—
W. R. Bousfield: Isopiestic solutions. Solutions of
KCI, LiCl, NaCl, and KNO, of equal vapour preSsure
are placed together in an exhausted vessel, so that
interchange of aqueous vapour may take place. Hence
is indicated an accurate method of determining the
vapour pressure of an aqueous solution, by comparison
with the equal vapour pressure of a solution of LiCl.
The observations lead to the conclusion that for a
pure salt without water of crystallisation there is, at
‘a given temperature, a certain vapour pressure of
water below which the dry salt surrounded by aqueous
vapour will not take up water, and will, if it is not
dry, become dried. This pressure may be called the
critical hydration,pressure of the salt at the given tem-
perature.—Dr. J McBain: Notes on the system
of recording rate of chemical reaction. The usual
equation representing rate of reaction may be written
in the form kt=(remainder of expression). The author
proposes so to choose the unit of time that k is always
unity. A single number will then completely record the
rate of reaction.—A. L. Feild: The viscosity of blast-
furnace slag and its relation to iron metallurgy (seep. 373).
—G. Le Bas: The refractivities of saturated and un-
saturated compounds. The refractivities of unsaturated
compounds, together with unsaturated systems con-
taining conjugated unsaturated groups, have been con-
sidered. Benzene has been shown to be possessed of
no anomaly. Cross-linking has been assumed in some
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
!
cases. The effects of conjugation of ethenoid and
carbonyl groups have been shown, whilst nitrates,
nitrites, and nitro-compounds have been studied. The
oximino-group especially has been taken into con-
sideration. ‘The cyclo-parafiins, substituted and un-
substituted, have been considered, together with a
number of p-terpenes and derivatives. Anomalies have
been connected with the side-chains or substituents
and the appropriate numbers ascertained. The larger
anomalies are connected with the trimethylene ring
Those for benzene derivatives have been ascertained.
The unsubstituted hydrocarbons show no anomalies.—
Dr. E. B. Ludlam; The effect of hydrogen chloride on
the nitrogen-hydrogen equilibrium. The paper records
an experimental attempt to simplify the difficult condi-
tions of high temperature at high pressure under which
the Haber synthesis takes place. It was thought that
the presence of hydrochloric acid during the synthesis
would displace the equilibrium in the direction of the
formation of ammonia. The result of the experiments
was negative-—Dr. H. B. Maxted: The influence of
carbon monoxide on the velocity of catalytic hydro-
genation. The inhibitive effect of small percentages of
carbon monoxide on the velocity of hydrogenation of
olive oil in presence of nickel has been studied quan-
titatively.
Geological Society, December 19, 1917.—Dr. Alfred
Harker, president, in the chair.—B. Smith; The Chel-
laston gypsum-breccia considered in its relation to the
gypsum-anhydrite deposits of Britain. (1) At Chellas-
ton the gypsum was laid down as such, and has
suffered no appreciable alteration or addition since the
time of its original deposition and brecciation. There
is no evidence that the rock was ever anhydrous. (2)
By comparison with this deposit, and also by indepen-
dent evidence, it seems probable that most of the im-
portant beds of gypsum in the country were laid down
as gypsum, and have behaved throughout as stratified
deposits. (3) When anhydrite is present, the evidence
favours the view that it is original, and was deposited
in a stratiform manner in sequence with gypsum. (4)
Microscopic evidence shows that there has been, in
some cases, an alteration of anhydrite into gypsum
where the two minerals were in original juxtaposition ;
this alteration, however, is considered to have occurred
at, or immediately after, the time of deposition, and
to be confined to the existing plane of contact of the
two minerals. :
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, December 17, 1917.—M. Ed.
Perrier in the chair.—L. Guignard: The development
of the structure of the ovule in the Apocynacez and
the Asclepiadaceze. After a summary of contradictory
conclusions arrived at by previous workers on this
subject, the author gives the summarised results of his
researches on twenty species.—G. A, Boulenger: The
conformation of the phalangettes in certain African
frogs.—M. Balland; The alterations in war-bread: an
investigation into the cause of war-bread going mouldy.
The moisture ought to be from ro to 12 per cent., but
it generally amounts to more, 13 to 15 per cent., and in
some of the mouldy bread up to 18 per cent. An
alteration in the shape of the loaf is suggested as a pro-
visional measure.—P. Fatou ; Rational substitutions.—E.
Baticle: The determination of the most advantageous
dimensions of the princival elements of a hydraulic
power installation.—M. Mesnager : A rigorous demon-
stration’ of the formulae of beams and plates.—J.
Guillaume : Observations of the sun made at the Lyons
Observatory during the second quarter of 1917. Ob-
- servations were made on eighty-six days, and the re-
eT) Oe ee
+380
NATURE
[January 10, 1918
sults are tabulated m three groups showing the num-
per of. spots, their distribution in latitude, and the
distribution of the faculz in latitude.—M. ’Philippon :
The manufacture of silica bricks. A summary of the
conclusions resulting from researches made at the
Dunes factory during 1916 and 1917. Full details will
be given in a lat€r communication. The bricks now
being made melt at about 1780° C., and have up to
the present supported 200 melts in the Martin furnace,
Ph, Glangeaud ; The geology of the neighbourhood of
Bort (Corréze).—Ph. Flajolet: Disturbances of the
magnetic meridian at Lyons (Saint-Genis-Laval) dur-
ing the second quarter of 1917.—P. Guérin; The
stamen and the development of the pollen of the sages.
—L. Daniel: Heredity of the abbreviation of develop-—
ment in the cultivated carrot and beet.—R. Souéges :-
The embryogeny of the Alismaceze.—J. Laborde ; The
constitution of the fixed acidity of healthy and diseased
wines.—E. Kayser: Contribution to the study of
alcoholic ferments.—L. Menciére: Physiological pro-
perties and medico-surgical applications of guaiacol
and benzoic acid. These’ two substances, associated
with other substances of the aromatic series, have
powerful antiseptic properties, and the advantage
of not being toxic to the cell. eaaree lt: of their ap-
plication in practice are given.—G. A. Le Roy: The
photographic analysis of fresh and eucal eggs.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
French Scientific Reader. Edited, with Introduc-
tion, Notes, and Vocabulary, by Dr. F. Daniels. Pp.
xvi+748. (New York and London : Oxford University
Press.) . 10s. 6d. net.
Tommy Smith at the Zoo. By E. Selous. Pp. vii+
183+8 illustrations. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd.)
Is. gd. net.
How to Enlighten our Children.
lieb. Pp. 202. (London: Williams and Norgate.)
3s. 6d. net.
_ A Course of Pure Geometry, containing a Complete
Geometrical Treatment of the Properties of the Conic
Sections. By Dr. E. H. Askwith. New edition. Pp.
xi+284. (Cambridge: At the University Press.)
7s. 6d. net.
The Historical Register of the University of Cam-
bridge. Edited by Dr. J. R. Tanner. Pp. xii+ 1186.
(Cambridge: At the University Press.) 12s. 6d. net.
Cambridge Essays on Education. Edited by Dr.
A. C. Benson. Pp. xix+232. (Cambridge: At the
University Press.) 7s. 6d. net.
Elements of Constructive Philosophy. By Dr. J. S.
Mackenzie. Pp. 487. (London: G. Allen and Unwin,
Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net.
The Principles of Audosis and Clinical Methods for
its Study. By A. W. Sellards. Pp. vi+117. (Cam-
bridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press.) 4s.-net.
The Fishing Village and other Writings. By W.
ie a Pp. 184. (Bournemouth: H. G? Com-
min. . .
By Dr.*M. Schar-
FRIDAY, Fadoder II.
Roya. GEOGRAPHICAL Society (Kensington Town Hall), at 3.30
Life in Egypt: Miss Mary Brodrick.
RoyaL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. :
MONDAY, JANUARY 14.
Farapay Society, at 5.30.—Discussion: The Setting of Cements all
Plasters.—The Mechanism of the Setting Process in Plaster and Cement.;
Dr. C. H. Desch:—Crystalloids v. Colloids in the ae of Cements : Prof. -
H. Le Chatelier.—The Theory of Setting: Prof. Yee Onn, —The Con»
stitution and Hydration of Portland Cement: A. "A, Klein.—The Setting —
and Hardening of Portland Cement: George A. Rankin.—The —— of
Cement in its Relation to Engineering Sar eg Byers: Blount.—
Note on the Colloidal Theory of Setting: John Rhodin.—The Effect
of the -Addition of Suitable Slag on the Setting Prometien of Portland, —
Cement: E. H. Lewis and E. Deny.—Ancient and Modern Mortar :
W. J. Dibdin.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 15.
mares INSTITUTION, at 3.—Palestine and Mesopotamia : Prof. Flinders
etrie.
ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SOCIETY, at 5.—Ten Years of Illuminating
Engineering ; its Lessons and Future Prospects : L. Gaster.
INSTITUTION OF PETROLEUM. TECHNOLOGISTS, at 8.—The Petroleum
Industry of Rumania: Capt. T. S. Masterson. a
MINERALOGICAL SocIETY, at 5.30.—Rock Diagrams: Dr. ob Gea w. Evans.— q
The Useof the Gnomonic Projection in the Calculation 3 Drei
G. F. Herbert Smith. :
Royat STATISTICAL Society, at 5.15.—Urban Housing Problems : “ie
Calvert Shensley.
WEDNESDAY, JANvany 16.
Royvat METEOROLOGICAL SocIETY, at 5.—Annual General Meeting,
Roya Microscoricat Socirty, at 8.—Presidential Bers The, Royal
Microscopical Society during the Great War—and _E, Heron-
.—The Old
ENTOMOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Annual Meeting. —
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17
LINNEAN Society, at 5.—(1) Restoration of the read of of Oxtenepiag (2
Femur of Pterodactyl from the Stonesfield Slate: E. S. Good: —Some
Early Cape Botanists: J. Britten.—A Hybrid Stachys: C, E. poeta
Inevinadion OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 5.30. —The Ls ay ra,
Taxation upon Metalliferous Mining in the Britisn Isles: H. Louis—
Molybdenum in Norway: E. R. Woakes.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18.
Roya. INsTITUTION, at 5,30. —Studies on Liquid Films : Sir James Dewar.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Traction on Bad Roads
* Land: L. A. Legros.—Utility of Motor Tractors for Tillage iene acces
Amos.
SATURDAY, January 19
bag > INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Chemical Action. ‘of Light : Prof. W. J
‘ope. q
CONTENTS. PAGE
German Commercialism and the War. By Sir T. E. \
Thorpe, C.B.; F.R.S. 361
Three American Books for Gardeners, By w. W. 362
Analytical Dynamics. ByG.H.B......... 363
Our Bookshelf . ar a ee Se
Letters to the Editor:—
The January Meteors of 1918.—W. F. Denning ;
Winifred L. Lockyer Aerie. phe gs iho iu gee
National Museums in Peril. .....
Sands for Glass Manufacture ee
Organisation for Industrial Expansion. in South
Africa oS nie as oe tegen
Notes ...
Our Astronomical Column :—
- © ©
8. 8 O58 © 8. Ol ee
Encke’s Comet ; ep hatte se oe Pbiyage ete
The Nearest Star Known . ay ey Cs
The Interior of a Star . . ‘
The Viscosity of Slag at High Temperatures. By
H.C Hse : .2 aoa
The Learning Process i ina Snail 1a Se
Screw Gauges ree +: ge ia eae dhe eae
Marine Biology .
The Development of British Agriculture and
Fisheries. aie eee ee
University and Educational Intelligence Pee he tes
Societies and Acadeeniee aire ess Ce ae
Books Received 6a teh ee
. 8 ee
Diary of Societies ;
ee dae
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, JANvuARY 10.
InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Electrical Signalling and
Control on Railways: C. M. Jacobs.
MATHEMATICAL AssociaTION (London Day Training College), at _rz.—
The Uses and Functions of a School Mathematical Library: Dr. W. P.
Milne.—Nomography: Dr. S. Brodetsky.—Some Suggestions for a
Presentment of Mathematics i in Closer Touch with Reality : G. Goodwill.—
At 2.30.—President’s address : Mathematics and Tndividuality: Prof. T. P.
Nunn.—Discussion : The Position of Mathematics in the New Scheme of
the Board of Education for Sec d Sch
P. Abbott, Mics Pon, econdary Schools: Openers: W. D. Eggar,
NO. 2515, VOL. 100]
Editorial. and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, w.c. 2:
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to
Publishers.
Editorial Communications to the Editor,
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, Lonpon.
Telephone Number: GERRarRD 8830.
(1) Standard Methods
“methods of solving such problems.
MANUALS FOR THE CHEMICAL
ee LABORATORY.
of Chemical Analysis.
Edited by Wilfred W. Scott and others. Pp.
Xxxi+864: (New York: D. Van Nostrand
Company; London: Crosby Lockwood and
Son, 1917.) Price 30s. net.
(2) The Theory and Use of Indicators: An
Account of the Chemical Equilibria of Acids,
Alkalies, and Indicators in Aqueous Solution,
_ with Applications. By Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux.
Pp. vii+375. (London: Constable and Co.,
Ltd., 1917.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
(3) Technical Handbook of Oils, Fats, and
Waxes. By P. J. Fryer and F. E. Weston.
Vol. i.,. Chemical and General, Pp. viii+ 279.
(Cambridge Technical Series.) (Cambridge:
At the University Press, 1917.) Price gs. net.
(1) For the analyst whose work embraces a
wide range of problems. it is comforting
to have at hand a book which can be trusted to
indicate forthwith the best, or at least the usual,
It obviates an
undue expenditure of time on the searching of
files: and indexes, and facilitates the comparing of
one process with another, which is usually a neces-
sary preliminary to attacking the task in hand, if
that task is a new one.
To a large extent the volume under notice is a
work which would be classed as a “laboratory
comfort’’ of the kind indicated. It is a very good
selection of ‘‘ standard methods.’’ The ‘‘ chemical
analysis,’ however, for which these standard
methods are given is largely confined’ to inorganic
substances. True, there is a part devoted to
special subjects, which includes sections on the
analysis of some organic products, such’ as oils,
fats, waxes, and coals; but in the main the work
is concerned with inorganic analysis.
Beginning with “aluminium ’’ and ending with
““zirconium,’’ the elements are taken in order, and
under each heading are given, first, the chief
physical data, namely, the atomic weight, specific
gravity, melting point, boiling point, and the
oxides formed by the element. Next, the charac-
teristic chemical reactions for identifying the sub-
stance are given, and then follows a selection of
methods for its quantitative determination. These
include gravimetric, volumetric, and electrolytic
processes, of which a judicious choice has been
made. Any preliminary treatment required by the
substance is described under directions for the
“preparation and’ solution ’’ of the sample and its
separation from interfering substances. ,
Many of the newer processes are included, such
as the. estimation of nickel by means of alpha-
benzildioxime and by dimethylglyoxime, and the
determination of sulphates with benzidine hydro-
chloride. A method for the determination of car-
bon in steel by direct combustion is given, by
which, it is claimed, accurate results can. be ob-
tained in ten minutes: the improvement lies in
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
NATURE ye
_ THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 10918.
| supplying a rapid current of oxygen, instead of a _
| slow one as formerly. es
‘work is the inclusion of the principal ‘“‘ rare’?
A welcome feature ‘of the —
elements amongst those dealt with. In.the special 3
| part the analysis ef alloys, cements, coal, gas,
paint, and-water, and the assaying of gold and
silver are described, as well as the examination of ©
oils, ete., already mentioned.
_ In general, the treatment of the subject-matter
is-lucid and concise; ‘* lengthy exposition, theo-
retical disseftation, and experimental data,’’ the
authors say, have been purposely avoided. Only
a few press errors'Jhave been noticed, but two
distinguished names in chemistry have lost their
final ‘‘ e,’? and appear as ‘* Scheel ”’ (p. 30) and
‘Thorp ”’ (p. 458). The book will be found very
useful as a convenient summary of modern ana-
lytical methods within the limits indicated.
(2) Dr. Prideaux’s book is mainly one for the
advanced student and the investigator. Its pur-
pose is to present a connected survey of the sub-
ject of chemical ‘‘ indicators,’’ i.e. the substances
used for showing by their changes of colour the
occurrence or progress of certain chemical re-
actions. | Much has happened in this region of
chemical inquiry since the time when the Romans.
used red wine as an indicator in testing the ‘‘ hard-
ness ’’ of drinking water. Even down to a rela-
tively short time ago the number of indicators in
general use was but small,.e.g. litmus, logwood,
cochineal, and a few other substances. With the
development of synthetic organic chemistry, how-
ever, many. more indicators have been brought
into use—nitro-derivatives, phthalein compounds,
aminophenol-methane products, and so on. More
important still, the mechanism of the changes
whereby the colours of these compounds are pro-
duced or altered has been carefully investigated,
both chemically, from the point of view of mole-
cular structure, and physically, from that of elec-
trolytic equilibrium in the solution. The author
gives an account of the results, and of present
views on the subject, including the allied matters
of light absorption and theories of colour. Many
references are supplied, and workers in this field’
of research will find the book of considerable
utility. For general use its value would be en-
hanced by the inclusion of an elementary intro-
ductory chapter. :
(3) Messrs. Fryer and Weston’s. work is in-
tended to be a conspectus of the chemistry and
general scientific principles involved in the manu-
facture of oils, fats, and waxes. This industry is
essentially a chemical one, and a knowledge of the
fundamental principles of chemistry, beth theo-
retical and practical, is indispensable for a really
intelligent conception of the nature of the pro-
cesses involved. The authors’ experience is that,
whilst technical men in the industry generally have
a wide knowledge of the practical issues.of the sub-
ject, this knowledge exists side by side with much
ignorance of the basic principles underlying such
issues. They, therefore, endeavour to explain, as
simply as the theme permits, the. theoretical basis
on which the technical processes rest. No doubt
>
382
NATURE
[JANvARY 17, 1918
it is true, as they remark, that compared with that
of many other industries ‘the chemistry of the oils,
fats, and waxes is remarkable for its simplicity ; _
but unless the. reader has, already had some
grounding in organic chemistry he will probably
conclude, from the pages of formule put before
him in the earlier part of the work, that it is not
such a very simple matter after all.
This apart, the book is a serviceable one for the
purpose in view. Practical analytical work is left
to be expounded in a companion treatise : the pre-
sent volume explains the chemical processes and
terms used in connection with the fixed oils and
their congeners, and gives the physical and chemi-
cal data characterising the various products; but
it is not intended to be a guide and counsellor for
the experimenter. For example, the meaning of
** viscosity ’’ is shown, and the values of this con-
stant are given, but detailed directions for actu-
ally determining the viscosity are not included;
presumably these are reserved for the companion
volume.
The interpretation of analytical data, not the
way to obtain them, is the key-note of the book.
A large amount of information is given in a sys-
tematic manner and in a very handy form. The
diagrammatic’ representations of chemical and
physical constants are a special feature, which
should prove convenient for speedily identifying an
unknown oil or fat—in fact, the present writer has
already found them useful.
INCREASE OF AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT.
(1) British Grasses and their Employment in Agri-
culture, By S. F. Armstrong. Pp. vii+ 199.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.)
Price 6s, net.
(2) Manuring for Higher Crop Production. - By
Dr, E. J. Russell. Second edition. Pp. vi+94.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.)
Price 3s. 6d. net.
(*) ie task of increasing home-grown food-
supplies has steadily forced itself to the
front as one of the key-problems upon the solu-
tion of which the issue of. the war primarily de-
pends. The essential features of the problem are
by this time familiar even to the lay public, in so
far, at any rate, as they involve the ploughing up
of grassland and the planting of corn or potatoes.
It is not sufficiently realised, however, even by the
farmer himself, that this represents only one part
of the contribution which can be effectively made to
the desired increase of food production. The total
agricultural area of the United Kingdom is roughly
forty- -seven million acres, of which some twenty-
seven million acres are under permanent grass,
whilst of the remaining area about six and a half
million acres rank temporarily as grassland, being
occupied. at the moment by rotation grasses and
clovers, forming a transition crop in the arable
rotation. It is obvious that the utmost efforts in
bringing land under the plough can make only
relatively small inroads upon this immense acreage
of grassland, so that we must continue to depend
upon grassland for a very substantial contribution
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
to national food supplies.
as the area of arable land increases and that of
grassland shrinks, the greater becomes the neces-
sity for devoting attention to the improvement of
the latter, in order that adequate grazing for liver:
stock may be provided by the reduced area. |
It requires little acquaintance with farming to
realise that a great deal of the existing grassland
is of very inferior quality, and it is common know-
ledge amongst agriculturists that a large propor-
tion of it could be considerably improved. Mr.
Armstrong estimates that fully 20 per cent., or not
fewer than 5,000,000 acres, of so-called grassland
is so infested with weeds and inferior grasses as
to represent comparatively worthless herbage.
What this means in terms of food production is
illustrated by estimates submitted to the British:
Association in 1915 by Mr. T. H. Middleton,
which showed that poor grazing land as it exists
to-day produces less than one-fifth of the meat
obtainable from the same area of average pasture
and little more than one-tenth of the produce of
the best grassland.
The improvement of poor grassland must pro-
ceed along two broad lines. The first requirement
‘is the establishment of healthy soil conditions ee
means of drainage, liming, and manuring, an
only when these have been secured can the other’ —
half of the problem, the establishment of a herbage
of the more nutritious grasses and forage plants,
be successfully dealt with. A knowledge of the
characteristics of the different forage plants and
their relation to varying soil conditions i is obviously
an essential part of the improver’s equipment. -
The subject, for which Mr. Armstrong uses the _
nattractive name of “Agricultural Agrostology,”
has received a considerable share of the attention
of the agricultural botanist, and Mr. Armstrong —
has now endeavoured to present it in a form
adapted primarily for the agricultural student, but
not too technical to be of use to the practical
farmer, the seed merchant, and the rutal school-
master.
cerned with the botanical characteristics of the
various species of grasses, special attention being
devoted to those species which are most abundant - ‘
or of greatest economic importance in the British
Isles. The treatment of this part of the subject in
the main follows conventional lines, but promin-
ence is given to points that have a special interest -
for the student of agriculture.
The latter portion of the book deals with the
practical problems presented’ by the grasses in —
farm economy. The agricultural value of grasses, —
the valuation of grass-seeds, and the compounding
of seed-mixtures receive adequate treatment, whilst
a final chapter on the general treatment of grass-
land gives a brief summary of existing informa-
tion on a subject which demands much further
investigation.
(2) In the improvement of grassland, as in the :
increase of production on arable land, manuring
plays a part of. vital importance, and it is in the
highest degree desirable that the farmer at this \
juncture should receive trustworthy. guidance in
the effective use of manures for all his crops.
+h
Moreover, in proportiom, —
The major portion of the book is con- —
4
coo
For ©
EA TTT LT 7 #
i JANUARY 17, 1918]
ineer paar el
- infatuation.
NATURE
383
“such guidance one looks to Rothamsted, and the
ty with which a second edition of Dr. Rus-
’s. little treatise on manuring has been called
for is the best evidence of the success with which
he has discharged his obligation. In the briefest
“compass he gives the clearest possible guidance
to the practice of manuring, illustrated throughout
by what is probably the most complete summary
ried out in this country. The previous edition has
-extant of the results of manurial experiments car- |
been considerably amplified and a very brief chap- |
ter added on the breaking up of grassland.
SIR CLEMENTS MARKHAM.
The Life of Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B.,
F.R.S. By Admiral Sir A. H. Markham. Pp.
~xi+ 384. (London: John Murray, 1917.) Price
I5s. net.
ae is not often that the story of a notable life is
told by a biographer who is at once sympa-
thetic and impartial. Admiral Sir Albert Markham,
the author of the work under review, is not merely
closely related to the subject of the memoir, but
was his warm and constant friend. Yet he tells
his story with the straight simplicity which seems
specially to distinguish naval writers, and he leaves
his readers to form their own conclusions. Therein
lies the greatest charm of the book, for we can
well construct for ourselves from the incidents of
a life overflowing with energy and achievement
the character of a man who enriched the world by
many of those “footprints on the sands of time”
which serve as indications and guides in the path
of generations to come.
The opening chapters of the book are devoted to
the career of young Clements whilst he served as
cadet and midshipman in the Royal Navy. _Inci-
‘dentally, there is much interesting history of the
gradual extension of our geographical knowledge
o: the Pacific towards the end of last century, and
a very clear conception is given of life in a
wooden-sided sailing-ship of the latest and
‘smartest class which preceded the introduction of
steam, just about the time when steam was begin-
ning to assert a preponderating influence on naval
construction. All this is told with the loving in-
terest of a blue-water sailor, and it is easy to
gather from the story how the foundations were
then laid of that deep admiration and reverence
for the Royal Navy which towards the end of Sir
‘Clements Markham’s career amounted almost to
In the sailor boy, too, we can mark
the germs of the mature character of the man.
Full of generous impulse, which landed him now
_and then in serious difficulty (as when he rushed
headlong, without even the preliminary knock at
the door, into the sacred precincts of his captain’s
cabin to protest against the flogging of a man who
had been twice convicted of drunkenness), he
finally decided to forsake a career of adventure
which he really loved for the prosaic prospects of
a life on land, because of a mistaken notion that
discipline and fair play could not be reconciled.
His persistent adherence to that decision, from
which no persuasions of his family and many
friends could shake him, was quite characteristic
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
, hands of a more feeble advocate.
of his subsequent attitude in circumstances which
occurred not infrequently when his opinions on
more important matters were questioned by those
who worked with him in the interests of scientific
gcography. The word “obstinate ” has occasion-
aliy been whispered of him; but it is not always
easy to say where the line is to be drawn between
the firmness which may be essential to the suc-
cessful issue of an important scheme and the un-
yielding attitude of the autocrat.
Undoubtedly Sir Clements was able, by reason
of his determination and his forceful character, to
carry through schemes for exploration in regions
of the world where no economic gain could be
expected in return for great expenditure, and
the whole object of research was_ purely
scientific, which would never have matured in the
There are some
thrilling accogints of Arctic adventure in the book,
which is, perhaps, most interesting in these earlier
chapters devoted to the moulding of the Markham
character,
The author succeeds in carrying our sympathies
with his subject from his earliest years of adven-
ture in the fields of exploration and literature (the
young Clements wrote a book on astronomy and
physical geography at the age of thirteen!) until
the pitiful tragedy of his death occurred, without
ever drawing on any idealistic resources of his
own. Full justice is done to the noble qualities of
the man. His warm-hearted enthusiasm for the
supremacy of his country in the wide field of
exploration, and his devotion to historical and geo-
graphical literature which resulted in the publica-
tion of much valuable information which might
otherwise have been lost to the world, are easily
to be gathered from the pages of this biography.
His kindly nature (which won him hosts of
friends), his ready assistance to those who wanted
it; his. life-long interest in all that might benefit
humanity, which included the acquisition for Eng-
land of that life-giving remedy for tropical fevers,
cinchona, after a difficult and perhaps dangerous
quest for the seeds and plants in Peru—all these
things combined to illustrate a character which is
perhaps unique in these days, and fully deserves
the permanent record which has been so ably ren-
dered by Admiral Sir Albert Markham.
As a rule, biographies written by relatives are
accepted with a certain amount of justifiable sus-
picion. There need be no such suspicion in this
case. Noone who had the privilege of friendship
with the subject of these memoirs will say that
| there is a word too much of uncalled-for adulation.
| It is a fair record all through and a most interest-
| ing story.
To Hee
OUR BOOKSHELF. |
Food Poisoning. : By Edwin O. Jordan. Pp. —
viiit115. (Chicago, Ill.: University of
Chicago Press; London: Cambridge University
Press, 1917.) Price 1 dollar or 4s. net.
'Tuis little book gives an excellent summary of the
subject of food poisoning. It is not within’ its
scope to consider those cases in which definite
poisonous substances are added to food with
|
; Adolescence.
384
NATURE |
_ [JANUARY 17, 1918
criminal intent. The term “food poisoning” is
here limited to the. occasional cases of poisoning
from organic poisons present in normal animal or
plant tissues, the more or less injurious conse-
quences following the consumption of food into
which formed mineral or organic poisons have
been introduced by accident or with intent to im-
prove appearances or keeping quality, the cases of
infection due to the swallowing of bacteria and
other parasites which infest or contaminate certain
feods, and the poisoning due to deleterious sub-
stances produced in food by the growth of bac-
teria, moulds, and similar organisms, We have no
certain statistics of the frequency of food poison-
ing, but Mr. Jordan has collected data of :more
than 1000 cases occurring in the United States in
the two years October, 1913, to October, 1915.
In the chapter dealing with poisonous plants
the poisonous fungi claim most attention. ‘Some
reference might have been: made to the nutmeg,
which is distinctly toxic in large doses, and in
smaller doses to some individuals. In the section
dealing with food-borne, disease-producing ‘bac-
teria, the sub-heading: is “‘ Paratyphoid Infection,”
and this term is used many times. What is really
meant is Gartner (B.. enteritidis) infection, and this
organism is distinct from the paratyphoid bacilli,
though belonging to the same group. Ptomaine
_ poisoning is too briefly referred to, and -we note
the omission of all allusion to tyrotoxicon, which
is somewhat surprising. One of the best sections
is that dealing with food preservatives, to which
several pages are devoted. In conclusion, :refer-
ence is made to such conditions as _ beri-beri, |
pellagra, lathyrism, scurvy, etc. The book ‘is
well produced, very readable, and illustrated with
several figures. ° Rot
By Stephen Paget. Pp. 59. (Lon-
don: ;Constable and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price
7d. net.
‘In the adolescent mind, ideas of sex and religious
ideas often grow up together, and they~ should
be correlated. While there is a wide range of
individual peculiarity within the limits of the
normal, there is no virtue in a child’s being in-
curious. .Careful preparation should be made by
parents and teachers so.as to give well-considered
and honest answers to embarrassing questions.
Perhaps there. should be a home-ceremony or
an initiation, ‘‘ the whole thing well thought. out,
the exhortation written down beforehand, every
word of it.’’ ‘‘First-rate school teachers are more
likely than second-rate parents to .say the right
thing to children.’’ ‘‘ The reasonable soul and
flesh is one man,’’ and there must be disciplining
of both sides. ‘‘ If I could be a young man again,
I would get on without, alcohol and cigarettes. . ..
Let me,.as a doctor, add a good tonic to steady the
nerves of adolescence. I prescribe a full dose of
the natural sciences.’’ ‘‘ What does harm the
minds of children is not our plain speaking; it is
their own secret reading, gossiping, and imagin-
ing.’’ ‘*And—so far as adolescence is concerned
—if ever there was a time when we ought to speak
plainly, it is now.”? ~
NO. 2516, VOL. 100|
| shortage of potash by availing themselves of a subsidiary a
LETTERS TO THE :EDITOR. * (3
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible Rm? 3
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.] i
Sources of Potash. CN
Sir Epwarp Tuorpe’s lucid review of the known —
geological sources of potash (NATURE, January 3) is of
absorbing interest to agriculturists, whose industry
must be seriously affected by any permanent stinting in
the supply of this indispensable fertiliser, entailing a
corresponding diminution in the production of root
crops. They might, however, tide over a temporary
source, Rae i
The Boards of Agriculture for England and Seotland
having recently issued leaflets directing attention to the
high percentage of potash contained in bracken fern,
Prof. H. G. Greenish, director. of the Pharmacy Re-
search Laboratory in Bloomsbury Square, very k
undertook at my request to make analysis of the
of incinerated bracken. As it had been stated that”
yport :— Ree Shes
‘“*T find that the fern, when dried in a warm room and
completely burnt to a nearly white ash, yields 4-82 per _
cent. ofash. This ash contains 41-5 per cent. of potash, —
K,O. ‘The ‘dried fern itself would therefore yield —
2 per cent. of potash, or 50 tons of fern would vyield —
about 2-41 tons of ash, in which there would be about —
one ton of potash. . . . In addition to the potash the ~~
ash contains small quantities of soda, phosphates, ~
sulphates, and chlorides.” a
It is clear from this that, although bracken can
never compete with geological deposits as a source of —
potash, a considerable amount might be recovered by
harvesting and burning the fern under a proper system.
At the same time, it would tend to rid the land of a
pest which has destroyed much of the best hill pasture
in the North, and is spreading year by year.
Bracken will grow only on good land; it cannot thrive
‘on marsh. The destruction of pasture is far fronr
being the only evil; animals feeding among bracken
get their heads and necks covered with ti¢ks—in fact,
the death of a considerable number of sheep in this
county seems to be justly attributed to this cause alone.
If, therefore, land can be cleared of a most pernicious —
weed, and, at the same time, a valuable manure ob- —
‘tained for tillage, there are many farms where the work
‘might be profitably undertaken. dhe oR ae
The analogy of kelp presents itself. I understand that ~
it takes from twenty to twenty-two tons of good wet ~
seaweed to produce a ton of kelp, which yields between
30 and 4o per cent. of potassium salts, more than —
double the return from an equal weight of dried fern, —
besides the iodine which is recovered from kelp: But, —
on the other hand, it is far easier to cut bracken than —
to gather deep-sea tangle, and the ash can be used as @
fertiliser on the farm where it is burnt. eta Se
Driving lately from Dorchester to Abbotsbury, I saw ~
hundreds of acres of downland rendered absolutely —
valueless by bracken, whereof the luxuriant growth —
betokened a soil well adapted either for tillage .or
forestry. : HERBERT MAXWELL.
Monreith, Whauphill, Wigtownshire, ‘N.B.
3
| ee eR 9 Emer Ne
oy) January 17, 1918]
NATURE | 385
; The Supposed ‘‘ Fascination’’ of Birds by Snakes.
' I wave been making further inquiries from my
_ mWaturalist friends, and find Capt. G. Lb. H. Carpenter's
observation recorded in Nature of November 29 last
(p- 244) is confirmed, together with the interpretation
there suggested.
Dr. G. A. K. Marshall writes:—‘* The mobbing of
snakes by small birds, and even by fowls, was fre-
re : Siac: Africa. |
quently mentioned to me by residents in South Africa, . folkoereds Wisk ks paren ielamentes snasher,
and my general impression is that I have observed it on
various occasions without specially noting it, and |
cannot now recall the details of'any particular case.”’
Mr. S. A. Neave, with a wide African experience,
felt that the facts recorded by Capt. Carpenter were
familiar to him; and associated in his mind ** with par-
ties of small finches and weaver birds in open, grassy
places,” but he was unable to remember any particular
instance. .
Mr. J.
Macao, China, and a traveller in the Malay Archi-
pelago, Australia, and the West Indies, writes :—‘l
_ have often seen snakes pursued and annoyed by birds,
just as cuckoos and hawks are by small birds, but
never saw any sign of ‘ fascination’ by the snake to
_ obtain prey.”
Mr. Kershaw has observed the mobbing of all kinds
of snakes, and in many countries. ‘In China Lanius
schach and Dryouastes perspicillatus especially raised an
outery over snakes. I remember one day hearing somie
shrikes (L. schach) making a great hubbub in a tall,
thick bush; investigating, I found a snake (some
6 ft. or 8 ft. in length) in the upper part, and threw a
clod of turf at it, striking it (by a fluke) about the
middle of the body. The shrikes flew off, but the snake
remained motionless for nearly half a minute, and
then suddenly darted off. The light clod could not
- have really hurt it.’
Mr. J. Williams Hockin, with a very long experience
of South India, writes :—‘‘ The only case of birds v.
snake I can remember is seeing a cobra attacking the
_ nest of a ground thrush in a coffee tree at 3 ft. from
the ground, and being clamorously assailed by the
parents.” A little later my friend kindly supplied fur-
ther details of his observation :—‘‘ The cobra attack on
ground thrushes (Geocichla, the slate and buff, not
Pitta, the ruddy and kingfisher blue one) occurred in
the Ellembelary Coffee Estate, three miles from Mep-
padi Village, in Malabar Wynaad, at an elevation of
3500 ft. So faras I can remember, it was eggs and not
young birds the snake was after, but I cannot be sure.
It was between 1894 and 1899. As you suppose, I was
more humanitarian than scientific in those days, and
got off my horse and went into the coffee to drive the
snake off. The nest was on the top of a tree about
3 ft. high, the top forming, with those around it, a flat
sheet of coffee. The snake was round the stem with
its head over the edge of the nest, and the parent
birds on each side, shrieking for all they were worth
and fluttering round about on top of. the boughs. On
my approach the snake glided away, and the coffee was
too thick for me to get at it. I do not think it took
anything. The coffee in Wynaad was topped at 3 ft.
or so, and all suckers removed when they appeared, so
as to keep an even sheet of cover on the ground.”
Not one of the above-named naturalists had seen
anything like the traditional ‘‘ fascination” of birds by
snakes. Mr. F. Muir, however, told me that he had
seen a bird—TI believe in East Africa—sitting on a
branch with its bill open and unable to move, while
a snake approached and swallowed it. This may be an
instance of “fascination.” Weak-minded birds may
sometimes act in this suicidal manner, just as some
human beings may be paralysed by fear and unable to
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
C. Kershaw, for a long time resident in
|
}
defend themselves or to escape from danger. But
another interpretation is. suggested by the following
extremely interesting observation recorded by Dr.
G. A. K. Marshait :—‘tWhen happening to look over
a low stone wall near Estcourt,. Natal, in 1897, 1
chanced’ to observe a small snake in the very act of
striking a frog. After being bitten the latter hopped
off at a great pace, and I was rather surprised to see
that the snake made no attempt at pursuit, but merely
Seeing that the
frog had come to a standstill at a considerable distance
off, I crept along under the wall, so as not to disturb
the snake, and on getting near the frog I looked
cautiously over the wall to see the end of the tragedy.
The snake was still some way behind, approaching
steadily, and on reaching its victim stood watching it
for some: moments with its head raised, the frog mean-
while sitting trembling in front of it. At last the
snake seized its prey, ard succeeded in swallowing it
after but feeble resistance. It seemed clear that the
trembling and inability to escape on the part of the
frog were simply due to the action of the poison in-
jected at the snake’s first bite. It immediately occurred):
to me that these observations might supply a simple.
explanation of many of the stories of ‘ fascination’ by
snakes.” Epwarp B. PouLton.
Oxford, January 2.
THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF RATIONING.
AS ideal ration is one which provides the adult
with sufficient potential energy to meet all
the demands made by the organs’ of his body for
transformation into the kinetic form, and enough
building material to make good the wear-and-tear
of essential cells; a complete ration for children
and adolescents must also make provision for the
requirements of growth. Three methods,of deter-
mining the quantities needed to fulfil these con-
ditions are available. The first is to follow as
closely as possible the system of an engineer, viz.
to study the efficiency of the human machine as
a transformer of energy when measurable amounts
of work are performed under determinate con-
ditions. The second is to measure the total energy
transformed by the body under various con-
ditions, also determinate, although not necessarily
permitting of an exact evaluation of the amount
of mechanical work done. Lastly, when it is
neither possible to measure directly the energy
transformed nor to evaluate the work done, the
composition of‘ diets consumed by samples of men
engaged in different occupations throws light upon
the probable needs of different classes.
These methods have been enumerated in a de-
scending order of importance so far as the
accuracy of the information which, under favour-
able conditions, they might yield is concerned ; so
far as practicability is involved, under normal -con-
ditions of life, the order is reversed. We shall refer
briefly to the data available under each heading.
(1) The only type of work respecting which.
numerous and exact measurements both of energy
transformed and of external work done are avail-
able has been that carried out with a stationary
bieycle, the wheels of which are rotated against
a known resistance. The best series of experi-
ments is due to Benedict and Cathcart,! whose
2 “Muscular Work: a Metabolic Study.” (Washington, 1913.)
336
NATURE
[JANUARY 17, 1918
results are concordant with those of Macdonald*
andothers. From these experiments it appears that,
for any one person, the relation between H, the total
energy transformed (measured in thermal units),
and W, the external work done (also measured in
thermal units), is adequately expressed by the
equation H=aW +b, where a is a constant and
b a variable parameter, varying with the speed of
work performance. In the case of a professional
cyclist, upon whom Benedict and Cathcart per-
formed a large number of experiments, a@ was
approximately equal to 3°3, while b increased from
2'4 to 52 as the rate at which the pedals were
rotated increased from 68-72 to 108-112 revs.
per min, When unpractised persons used the
‘ergometer the value of a increased, but the avail-
able data were not sufficient to permit of the para-
meters being determined with any accuracy.
From these results we may infer that (i) the
incremental efficiency of muscular work may be
as high as 30 per cent. in favourable circum-
stances, and (ii) the total cost of work perform-
ance depends upon its rate. We can scarcely,
however, venture to generalise the arithmetical
results by using them to calculate the needs of
those doing other kinds of work.
(2) This method was largely used by Zuntz and
Schumburg? in their well-known study of the
requirements of marching soldiers, and has also
been employed by Amar‘ in investigating the
energy transformations of industrial workers.
Many physiologists, including Atwater and
Benedict, Voit, Rubner, and Tigerstedt, have
carefully determined the heat output of persons
at rest, obtaining reasonably concordant results,
so that the energy transformations of workers
can be contrasted with those of sedentary persons.
From Amar’s experiments it appears that a
metal filer plying his tool at the rate of 70 strokes
per minute (a skilled operative, aged thirty-eight
years, weighing 74 kilograms) would transform
or liberate 3656 Calories daily if he worked at the
rate mentioned for eight hours, slept for eight
hours, and “rested ’’ the remaining eight hours.
The figure just given is reached on the assumption
that the heat output during sleep is 1 Calorie per
kilogram of body-weight an hour; during non-
working but waking hours, 1°25 Calories—assump-
tions in accord with the means of other experi-
ments. Allowing a margin of 12 per cent. to
cover unavoidable waste in the preparation of food
and non-assimilation of portions of the ingredients
consumed, this daily transformation is covered
by a diet having an energy value of 4155 Calories
as purchased. Little significance attaches to an
isolated series of observations, and it is to be
hoped that the method will be more widely em-
ployed in that organised physiological research
into industrial conditions which is an urgent need
of the time.
(3) This process has been widely adopted, the
largest individual collections of statistics being
2 Proc, Roy. Soc., B, 1917, vol. Ixxxix
: + Roy. Soc., B, 1917, vol. +» P. 394.
oy Studien zu einer Physiologie des Marsches.” (Berlin, 1901.)
Le moteur humain” (Paris, 1914), pp. 527 ef seg.
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
Welfare and Health Section of the Ministry of
| (a) those recently compiled and analysed by the
Munitions, and relating to more than 18,000 — 9
munition workers 5; (b) the studies issued from
the Nutrition Laboratory of the United States
Department of Agriculture, which cover more ~
than 13,000 persons, of whom, however, only a —
small minority were industrial workers®; (c) the —
Solvay Institute’s analysis of the food consump-
industrial |
families’; (d) English urban working-class and. —
agricultural budgets analysed. by the Board of
tion in more than 1000 Belgian
Trade some years ago.®
In the following table mean values computed = _
from the above-mentioned material (omitting the
American data, which may not be strictly com- ~~
parable with those describing European conditions) =
are collected :—
ty
cal 2 Med P
| 33 | 32) Seen
Source of data Ppa Sse Ee ES Eee ee or
| 63 | 62 |G
a . oO * , me ae
English agricultural | More | ; ; i ae
"families than1oo) 99) 9?°4| 5703) (357%
Urban industrial ; é
- families, earnings 289 91'°8| 70°6 | 5646 3348 oe
255.—-305. ty) oa
Urban industrial oP Sy Bae
families, earnings 416 g9'0| 82°4| 5876 3581 oat a
305.-355. | en Se ee
Belgian industrials, | : Se
‘moderate and hard 687. (83°4) (98°3)'(524°3) (3495) 3972
work | : Baath. Cig ty el a
Belgian industrials, | yeas ; vid 5 a
very hard work 372 (84 3) (113°1) (568 8) (3772) 4286, f
English munition | ‘ :
workers (1917) 18,000 | 115°7 | 141°3 | 4084 | 3463
25s. to more than 4os.) is :—
Protein Carbohydrate
98°8 593°2
* The average for the whole 1944 families (wages ranging from less than. is :
Fat
Calories
83°7
3615
The figures in this table, excepting those for
Belgium, refer to food as purchased. The Belgian ~
investigators have expressed their results in terms
of food absorbed by the digestive organs; the.
deduced averages are accordingly enclosed in
brackets, not being directly comparable with the
others. The unbracketed figure for Calories is that
obtained on the assumption that a discount of
12 per cent. should be allowed between purchased |
and assimilated values, and is (if the assumption ~
be admitted) comparable with the remaining
average energy values.
These statistics must be
nearly all averages of the kind, and a third is
often involved also. The assumptions in question —
are (a) that published analytical results showing —
the composition of foodstuffs are generally ap-
plicable to the qualities used by the persons whose _
5 Summarised in Dr. Leonard Hill's ‘‘ Memorandum on Workers’ Food *” :
(Health of Munition Workers Committee, No.
f 1 ] Cd. 8798
6 Contained in successive Bulletins of the
culture, : ;
7 Slosse and Waxweiler, ‘‘ Enquéte sur le Régime alimentaire de robs. By
ouvr ers belges.” (Brussels, 1910.) 5 Bas Sm
8 Board of Trade, 1903, Cd. 1761, p. 210; 1913, Cd. 6955, P» 300.
}
I
[pus
He
~
interpreted with —
caution. Two assumptions are made in computing ~
‘ ;
USA, Department of Agri-
a January 17, 1918]
NATURE
387
diets are under investigation; (b) that in families
composed of persons of different sexes and ages
the individual distribution of food among the
}
members of the families can be expressed by the |
e and sex coefficients proposed by Atwater;
re} that published coefficients of wastage and pro-
portional absorption are trustworthy. In addition | : act he urge
necessity of carefully organising the distribution
to these special difficulties there are, of course,
the usual pitfalls of statistics (errors of sam-
pling, randomness or otherwise of sampiing, etc.).
From the evidence furnished by a short series
of control experiments carried out by the Belgian
inquirers, Slosse and Waxweiler, it seems likely
that the American coefficient of reduction for sex,
i.e. putting the consumption of an adult woman
as 80 per cent. of that of an adult man, is not far
from the truth; but, on the other hand, the
American coefficients of consumption by children
may be appreciably too small. The result is that,
so far as reduction to “man values ’’ is concerned,
the English munition workers’ mean is accurate,
while the means of the other collections of data
(which are reduced from family budgets compris-
ing the nourishment of children as well as that of
adults) may over-estimate the per caput “man”’
consumption, perhaps even as much as 20 per cent.
Regarding the discount to’ be allowed for waste in
preparation and non-assimilation, much depends
upon the constituents of the diet, and the figure
of 12 per cent. cannot be regarded as more than
a very rough approximation.
Notwithstanding these limitations, the value of
the data is considerable, and a study of them might
. induce some popular journalists and amateur food
economists to moderate their strictures upon the
_ extravagance of the English working classes
which is alleged to have been fostered by the war-
time rise in wages. The data do not suggest that
the energy value of the diet consumed by so
important a group of operatives as the munition
workers is substantially greater than that received
by persons of the same social and industrial class
before the outbreak of hostilities. The distribution
of energy between the three classes of foodstuffs
has been different, an inevitable result of the potato
famine and the appeals to eat less bread which
characterised the period (spring and summer of
1917) during which the data were collected.
The general conclusion to be drawn from the
statistics and the relatively few experiments avail-
able is that 3500-3800 Calories in food as pur-
chased are by no means an over-estimate of the
nutritive requirements of an adult man engaged in
moderately strenuous work. Recent work, indeed,
confirms the vicw that Atwater’s standard, so far
as energy value is involved (3500 Calories), is not
an extravagant one.
The British Medical Journal in’ its issue of
December 1 directed attention to the fact that the
Food Controller’s voluntary ration for men on
ing a deficit of 1400 Calories from the total of 3500,
which the evidence just set out shows to be a
minimum requirement of workers in this class.
Our contemporary concluded that a weekly con- |
<
NO. 2516, VOL. roo]
| sumption of 94 oz. of fish and a daily consumption
of one pint of milk were as much as could be
hoped for from these so far unrationed articles,
which leaves (cheese being notoriously scarce) a
balance of nearly 950 Calories to be obtained from
potatoes, involving a daily consumption of more
than two pounds. These facts show the urgent
of potatoes within the country and the obligation
imposed upon persons living near the centres of
supply (for instance, in suburbs with available.
_allotments) to make free use of potatoes, thus
helping to increase the quantities of cereals avail-
_ able in the industrial districts to which bulky vege-
_ tables are not easily transported.
The gravity
of the situation imposes a further duty upon the
readers of a scientific journal, who must inculcate
upon their friends the elementary principles of
bioenergetics. That the relation between mus--
cular work and food is as close as that between
the mileage of an automobile and its consumption
of petrol is a truth still hidden from nine out of
ten educated persons; ignorance of the facts has
been the parent of many untrue charges.
SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE MEDICAL
RESEARCH COMMITTEE.
Lae third annual report of the Medical Re-
search Committee, which has recently been
published (Cd. 8825: H.M. Stationery Office,
price 6d. net.), testifies to a very large amount of
work of a varied nature, A notable proportion of
this has necessarily been devoted to problems
atising, directly or indirectly, from the war. But
the introductory remarks rightly point out that it
is meaningless to try to separate the practical
from the scientific aspects of any set of investiga-
tions. There are many problems, moreover, which
the state of war brings into urgency for solution
and, at the same time, offers unique opportunities
for inquiry. :
Limits of space forbid the reference in detail to
all the questions dealt with in this very interesting
and important report, and a mere list would be of
little value or interest in itself. The report should
be read carefully by all who have at heart the
health and efficiency, not only of our sailors and
soldiers, but also of the nation as a whole. It is
proposed here rather to direct attention to a few
results of general scientific importance.
It cannot escape notice how prominent have
become the methods and results of the physiologi-
cal laboratory. Two cases may be mentioned in
illustration: the regulation of industrial work iv
relation to fatigue, and the supply of oxygen to
men flying at high altitudes. In other instances
our ignorance of fundamental physiological pro-
_cesses has been vividly brought home to us.
One
_of these may be referred to in the next place.
medium work provided about 2100 Calories, leav- |
Many diseases are caused, as is well known, by
the invasion and presence in the blood of minute
organisms of animal or plant nature, protozoa or
bacteria. This is now, indeed, a matter of com-
mon knowledge. For a long time efforts have been
388
NATURE
[JANUARY 17, 1918
made to discover some .chemical agent which shall
be able to kill these organisms, without injury to
the tissues in which they flourish; but with little
success. It is somewhat remarkable that most
success has been obtained, not, as might have been
expected, with the, destruction’ of plant organisms,
but with certain protozoa which have shown
themselves to be readily susceptible to the toxic
action of metals in organic combination. The
present report gives an account of some steps
towards the solution of the general problem. The
hypochlorites introduced by Dakin have been
found, .in the hands of Lorrain Smith and Ritchie,
to be comparatively non-toxic when injected into
the veins in the form of ‘“ Eusol,” while having an
unmistakably beneficial effect in certain infec-
tions. But, as Dakin has shown, hypochlorites
enter at once into combination with the proteins
of the blood and cannot be supposed to.exert a direct
bactericidal action therein. The effect is apparently
produced by some change in the blood itself, and
it is interesting to note that Dale and Dobell have
been led to the conclusion that the action of alka-
Icids on the amoeba of dysentery outside the. body
is not an index to their therapeutic efficiency, and
that their influence on the tissues of the patient is
of equal importance. On the other hand, the
work of Dr. Carl Browning and his colleagues has
brought forward a compound, related to the
acidine series of dyes, which is apparently much
more toxic to bacteria than it is to animal cells.
On account of its colour, this antiseptic was ori-
ginally called “flavine.” It kills bacteria in con-
centrations in which it has but little effect on the
activity of leucocytes, and is non-toxic in intra-
venous injection. Since the report was issued
Dr. Browning has described experiments in which
rabbits received intravenous injections of flavine
without harm, but the serum of which was found
in vitro to destroy bacteria. Opinions are, as yet,
divided as to the value of flavine as a treatment for
wounds. ‘Some surgeons find that it prevents the
normal growth of new tissue; but it is possible
that the correct conditions have not yet been dis-
covered.
In connection with the practical use of these
various antiseptics, the law of distribution between
phases, according to solubility, receives applica-
tion in the value of the solutions.of dichloroamine,
acriflavine, and iodoform in fatty solvents, such as
eucalyptol, paraffin, and soap.
The physiological importance of the presence in
the organism of minute quantities of certain
chemical substances, the constitution of which js,
for the most part, unknown, becomes every day
more evident. In two respects the report adds
further valuable information. The ‘accessory
factors ”
sible and various diseases develop, appear to be of
some variety and number. The growth factor in
milk is shown by Winfield, in the laboratory of
Hopkins, to be preserved in the drying process, a
fact of practical bearing at the present time. The
necessity of such factors for the growth of uni-
cellular organisms themselves has been known for
some time, but Miss Jordan Lloyd adds an impor- |
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
in food, without which growth is impos-:
tant further contribution in her investigation of
culture media for bacteria. She is.of opinion that _
these growth factors act as catalysts. The chemi- ne ei
cal reactions, or some of them, necessary for |
growth proceed naturally at too slow a rate to be
effective; but they can be accelerated by the pres-
ence of the factors in question, This hypothesis is
in agreement with the fact that, although the sub-
stances are present in very small amount, they do
not disappear from the organism for some days
after the food has been deprived of them. They
appear to exercise their function without them~-
selves suffering chemical change. The second im-
pertant addition to our knowledge concerns the —
internal secretion of the parathyroid glands. Noel —
Paton and his coadjutors show that the muscular
tremors, which make their appearance when these —
glands are removed, are due to a disturbance of —
the metabolism of euanidine, which becomes Pres a
ent in excess under these conditions. a
A brief reference should be made to the results a
of the laborious statistical work undertaken by the
Committee, especially to that which shows the ~
occurrence of two distinct types of micro-organ-
isms producing phthisis. The comparative inci-—
dence of kidney disease in the ordinary population ~
and in the.men in the trenches also deserves men-
tion. The value of the statistical method, under
appropriate control, is well demonstrated. ‘
A final reference may be made to the latest de-
velopment of the Committee’s work (see p. 78: of |
the report). The present writer, when visiting —
scme casualty clearing stations in France and —
Flanders in August last, found so great a diverg- |
ence of views as to the cause and treatment of —
the “shock ” following injury that, on his return, a
a special investigation committee was formed, con-
sisting of surgeons at the front and laboratory E
workers in England’ Results of much physiologi- —
cal importance may be expected, especially AS to 3
the cause of the low blood-pressure and its indirect a
effects. Several memoranda are already in course ~
of publication. W. M. Bay.iss.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA.
ae Executive Committee of the Advisory
Council of Science and Industry for the
Commonwealth of Australia has recently pub-
lished a report covering the period from its
appointment to June 30, 1917.1 The Advisory
Council was originally appointed on March 16,
1916, and was intended to be a temporary body sy
designed to prepare the way for a permanent
Institute of Science and Industry, and to exer-
cise in a preliminary way the functions that will ©
in future belong to the institute. a
The council as a whole has met only twice, —
but a vast amount of work has been done through —
committees. The Executive Committee has pre-
viously made two reports, but the document
recently issued is a survey of the work done, and
represents to a large extent the completion of the
task of the temporary organisation in Pr
the way for the permanent institute.
1 C. 7963.
See > Ae > i‘ =< F zi "t
: A ai AE ie Rca Sa al at ra ee
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(Melbourne: Government Printer.)
workers.
‘apy SORT PRAMLE WR TINS ETE OS We
Janvary 17, 1918] —
NATURE
389
; ‘The activities of the committee have been far-
reaching. Attention has .been given to ithe en-
couragement of researches already in progress,
__andiit has initiated many fresh inquiries. It has
_ got into touch with colleges and technical insti-
tutes, and collected information as to the facili-
ties for research and the supply of research
But the main work of the .com-
mittee has consisted in a most exhaustive
survey of the problems retarding the develop-
|
the result will be fatal if we take too great care
to avoid:a:few mistakes and thus set. up a system
with a ‘tendency to damp the enthusiast.
There.is one respect in which the present report
is rather peculiar, As we have stated, it is in the
main a-survey of:the field for future work, ‘but in
describing the | proceedings of several of the: sub-
committees ‘there is included an account -of ‘the
experimental results .obtained in ‘some of the
ment-of existing industries, and of the research , ely sa :
| _ are only in their initial stages, and.it is not pos-
work necessary for the establishment of new
industries. It would be almost tedious to enu-
-merate the subjects which have. received attention;
no industry has been neglected, but perhaps
special attention has been :devoted to the agri-
cultural and .pastoral industries.
_ Some very sound principles are again and again
emphasised ‘in ‘the course of the report. The
necessity of securing a greater supply of skilled
research workers is frequently referred to, and
the committee has made a beginning in the way
of encouraging promising students to take up
such work by finding remunerative employment
for some of the men at present available.
‘A second point which is regarded as of great
importance is the improved training of artisans
in technical schools. If research methods are to
be more generally applied to industries, it is clear
that greater skill and accuracy will be required
from the general body of workers, so that it is
not merely the duty of the universities and col-
leges to supply highly trained research workers,
but the technical schools have also the important
* duty of educating the artisan for the new type
of work required under the new conditions.
We detect here and there in the report a ten-
dency on the part of the committee not to wait
for an industry to come to’them, and, indeed, not
even to delay in order to secure the co-operation
of the industry, but to get research work going
when convinced of the necessity for it. For
example, the Executive Committee decided to
appoint a special committee to investigate the
s of extraction of tannin from wattle bark,
and feeling that negotiations with the tanners in
all the States would take too long, the investiga-
tions have been commenced without waiting for
financial assistance from the industry. This
method of procedure is interesting, and one would
like to get further information as to whether the
committee intends to publish freely the results of
such investigations, or whether it is going to
communicate them'to firms on certain conditions.
The present report is in the main confined to
a survey of the promising’ fields for research work,
and does not deal with questions connected with
the administration of public funds. Most people
will probably regard it as of good omen for the
success of the scheme in Australia that research,
and not administration, is being given the premier
place, although no doubt ‘the authorities of the
institute will find it very necessary to formulate
some guiding principles. In the attempt to apply
science to industry it is, however, quite clear that
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
researches that ‘have been started. The effect
produced is scarcély satisfactory, as the researches
sible to .give definite conclusions. The , public
_ Should not be encouraged ‘to. expect results of im-
| portance to industry too soon, and when given
}
they should be-stated as definitely as possible.
The ‘Executive Committee has evidently carried
out its duties with great thoroughness, and has
made a very complete survey of Australian indus-
tries. In matters relating to agriculture and
stock breeding the work of the Australian Insti-
tute promises ‘to be of special interest to the
mother -country if we are really determined to
apply science to agriculture in a systematic way
in the future.
NOTES.
WE are very glad that the Government has been
induced to abandon the intention to use the British
Museum at Bloomsbury for the, purposes of the Air
Board and the Natural History Museum at South
Kensington for other Government departments. Lord
Sudeley directed attention to the proposed appropriation
of these buildings in a.question asked in the House
of Lords on January 9, and, in reply, Earl Curzon .
_ said that, as regards the British Museum,'he was glad
_ to state that for the accommodation of the Air Minis-
try it was no longer necessary to appropriate that
building. As to the Natural History Museum, it had
been found, after detailed examination, that any
attempt to convert the galleries into public offices would
involve the closing of the building to the public, exten-
sive internal rearrangements, and the consumption of
an enormous amount of labour and material and very
considerable delay. In these circumstances it’ had been
decided that there was:no: necessity sufficiently urgent
to warrant the use of the museum as had been con-
templated.—This decision has given much satisfaction
to all who cherish regard for national prestige and
understand the intellectual stimulus or practical value
of the collections in .our national museums. What
astonishes us, however, is that Sir Alfred Mond, the
First Commissioner of Works, and a son of the late’ Dr.
Ludwig Mond, should have placed himself in such an in-
defensible position by putting the scheme before the
Government. It is difficult to comprehend also why,
before deciding to requisition the building, the Govern-
ment did not inquire as to whether such action was im-
peratively needed, and consult the trustees and other re-
sponsible authorities as to what its consequences would
be. ‘If that had been done, a storm of protest would
have ‘been. saved, and Earl Curzon would not ‘have
‘ had to: confess in the House of Lords that there was
| no real necessity for the proposed occupation, which
'would, indeed, have been more like the act of an
invader than of a Government entrusted with the care
of national interests in every direction. The’ trustees
of the museum, at their meeting on January 12, ex-
390
NATURE
[JANUARY 17, 1918
pressed their gratitude, on behalf of the nation whose
treasures they hold in trust, to the newspapers which
‘so unanimously gave voice to the public disapproval
of a proposal which threatened the safety of the
museum and its collections.
Reports and opinions relating to the ‘ capture” of
257 recipes for manufacturing dyes produced by the
Badische Company appeared in the Daily Mail of
January 1o and following days, and the subject has
been much commented on by other journals. It has been
rightly pointed out that the view that the knowledge
thus gained will enable us after the war to compete
with Germany in every line of dyed goods is too
sanguine, and that, although the possession of these
recipes may undoubtedly be of considerable assistance,
it is a comparatively small item in the general scheme
that it is necessary should be organised for the satis-
factory establishment of the dye industry in this coun-
try. The provision of buildings, plant, and labour is
not easy under war conditions, and, of course, more
chemists and engineers are required. Were all these
readily available, however, it is doubtful whether the
inexpert organisations controlling most of the under-
takings in England could hope to establish one of the
most scientific of industries. In the extensive litera-
ture on this subject that has appeared during the last
three years the necessity for chemists, engineers, and
plant has been repeatedly urged, but the outstanding
feature of the great German organisations, namely, that
the boards of directors can, and do, direct their busi-
nesses, seems to have been overlooked. If, as is sug-
gested, the Government can be induced to acquire these
257 recipes for the benefit of the nation an admirable
opportunity will arise of organising the industry as a
whole.’ More than twenty firms are now advertising
the sale of dyes manufactured by themselves, but it
is evident that each has started independently, with
the result that the majority are making ‘sulphide ”
dyes. Unless some mutual arrangement can be made
according to which the whole field of manufacture is
divided out in order to prevent undue overlapping and
to provide a wide range of products, many of these
praiseworthy beginnings will inevitably come to an
early end.»
- Tue following official announcement was made on
Monday :—It is with great regret that the Secretary
of State for-War has decided that the time has come
when Surgeon-General Sir Alfred Keogh, G.C.B.,
Director-General of Army Medical Services, must be
permitted to resume his duties as General Executive
Officer to the Imperial College of Science and Tech-
nology, and he will be replaced at the War Office from
March 1 next by Col. T. H. J. C. Goodwin, Royal
Army Medical Corps, until recently the Assistant Direc-
tor of Medical Services tothe British Recruiting Mis-
sion in America, who will be appointed Acting Direc-
tor-General of Army Medical Services. Sir Alfred
Keogh’s services were placed by the governors of the
Imperial College of Scierice and Technology at the
disposal of the War Office at the beginning of the war,
and, although during the last three years they have
on several occasions requested that he should return
to his former duties owing to the development of
matters of great national urgency which are delayed
by his absence, it has not hitherto been possible to
spare him. It is very largely due to Sir A. Keogh’s
intimate knowledge and grasp of all matters connected
with the Army Medical Services and the medical pro-
fession generally that the medical needs of the Army
have been met to the fullest extent during the war,
and he has been able to secure the assistance and advice
of various committees of eminent consultants, which
NO. 2516, VOL. 100|
is justly proud. :
it is hoped will continue to’ be at the disposal of his —
successor.—We understand that Sir Alfred Keogh has ~
for some time desired to return to his work at the —
Imperial College. ‘The Royal Army Medical Corps as —
it now exists is essentially his creation, and his organ-
isation of it to the present state of efficiency and ~
strength is a high testimony to his great administra-~ —
1
tive powers and an achievement of which the nation —
Tue National Museum of Wales has received an im-
portant addition to its collections through the gift by —
Lord Rhondda of the ‘‘ Rippon”? collection of insects, —
shells, and minerals. The late Mr. Robert H. F.
Rippon was an enthusiastic and careful collector, and —
is well known to entomologists as the author and illus- —
trator of ‘“Icones Ornithopterorum.” By dint of —
assiduous labour during more than forty years he —
accumulated very extensive collections, which are espe- —
cially rich in Lepidoptera; there are more than 3000 —
specimens of Papilionide and more than 5000 of
Nymphalidz, the whole insect collection consisting of
above 100,000 specimens. In addition to the more
showy forms, such as the cones, cowries, Olives, —
volutes, and the like, the shells include a long series i
of land shells from the tropics and the islands of the
Pacific Ocean. As these collections are mainly exotic, ~
they will supplement, and not duplicate, those already —
in the museum, which are for the most part British.
It remains to be added that the specimens are in excel- —
lent condition, and the localities have in almost all —
cases been recorded. Another welcome gift recently
received by the museum has been the British Hemi- —
ptera, Neuroptera, and allied groups from the
‘Briggs’ collection, which were presented by Mr. —
Ernest Heath. ee ane ve
Wuat has been done to make use of waste stores in
the Army is described in a reply given by Mr. Bonar
Law to a question asked by Mr. Herbert Samuel, —
chairman of the Select Committee on National Expen-
diture. A Salvage Board has been formed, with the —
Quartermaster-General as chairman, to deal with the
use and disposal of all waste stores. The following are
amongst the results achieved :—{1) From waste fats —
collected from Army camps alone have been produced;
(i) Tallow sufficient to provide soap for the entire needs
of the Army, Navy, and Government Departments, —
with a surplus for public use, producing an actual re- —
venue of about 960,oool. per annum, in addition” |
to saving valuable tonnage; (ii) 1800 tons of glycerine
for ammunition—sufficient to provide the propellant for _
18,000,000 18-pr. shells. The glycerine costs the —
Government 59l. 1os. per ton as compared with 300]. |
per ton, the price of imported glycerine. (2) Well —
above 1,000,000l1. worth of military rags have been —
recovered and used in the manufacture of new —
cloth and blankets for the Army. (3) Many thousands ~
of pounds’ worth of cuttings from cotton textiles have —
also been recovered and. utilised in connection with —
munition and aeroplane requirements. (4) Some hun-
dreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of condemned —
boots have, after the expenditure of some labour in —
sorting and minor repairs at very small cost, been sold —
for distribution among the labouring classes, agricul- —
tural and industrial. ; a
AmonG the changes recently announced as having ~
been made at the Admiralty one has reference to the A
organisation: of the Admiralty Board of Invention and /
Research. The object of the. change is to secure ~
greater concentration of effort in connection with scien- —
tific research, and to ensure that the men of science —
who are giving their assistance to the Admiralty are —
- to the
_ warfare; but the scientific experts at present giving
K
_ Janvary 17, 1918]
NATURE
391
re constantly in. touch with the problems upon
ch they are advising. Mr. C. H. Merz, the elec-
trical consulting engineer, who has been associated
with the Board of Invention and Research since its
meeption, has consented to serve as Director of Experi-
ments and Research (unpaid) at the Admiralty to direct
and supervise all the executive arrangements in con-
ection with the organisation of scientific research.
r. Merz will also be a member of the Central Com-
mittee of the Board of Invention and Research under
le presidency of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher.
e functions of the Central Committee will, we learn
Times, as hitherto, be to initiate, investigate,
, and advise | pairs upon proposals in respect
application of science and engineering to naval
eir services will in future work much more closely
with the technical departments of the Admiralty imme-
diately concerned with the production and use of appa-
tus required for specific purposes. The general ar-
_ tangements in regard to the organisation of scientific
:
f
b
4
a
4
4
will in future come under the direct super-
b: mig the First Lord of the Admiralty.
Tue Times. of January 8 contained a letter from
_ Profs. J. Stanley Gardiner and G. H. F. Nuttall on
the applicability of the method of preserving herrings
by freezing in brine, and on January ro Mr. J. M.
Tabor had a letter dealing with the process
from the commercial point of view; a further letter
in the Times of January 14 appeared from Profs.
Gardiner and Nuttall. The method suggested
by the last-named is evidently the Otteson
method developed and worked in Norway, Sweden,
and Holland. It was investigated by Mr. H.
Bull, of the aia pe Fisheries Bureau, and later
by a commission of three experts appointed by the
German Government. There is a very good account
.of the process and its effect on the tissues of fish in
the Fish Trades Gazette of October 20 last. The fish
are frozen rapidly in solutions of salt in water of such
stren that the temperature can be reduced to
_ 68° F. if necessary. “ Glazing’? by the formation of
an ice film occurs and prevents osmotic interchange,
and the rapjdity of the freezing produces very small
ice-crystals between the muscle-fibres, instead of the
large crystals which are mainly responsible for the
deterioration of the flesh. Experiments on a commer-
cial scale were made at Fleetwood and elsewhere in
this country in 1917, and successful results were ob-
tained, so much so that it was claimed by the writer
of the article in the Fish Trades Gazette that the very
difficult problem of refrigeration of sea fishes had been
completely solved, and strong recommendations were
made for its commercial adoption. It is suitable for
most species of fish, but herrings and some others
require rather careful handling, and gutting is probably
necessary. Mr. Tabor’s letter in the Times directs
attention to the practical side of the matter, suggesting
difficulties that are, just now, very formidable. A
further, very useful contribution to this important dis-
cussion is contained in the leading article of the Fish
Trades Gazette of January 12.
AccoRDING to a note in L’Economista d’Italia for
January 1, an eminent Brazilian geologist has been
commissioned by his Government to investigate the
deposits of oxide of zirconium in the Caldas region
(Minas Geraes), as well as to carry out further work
to ascertain the extent of the coal formations in the
State of Sao Paulo.
THE presentation of the Thomson Foundation gold
medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland
his thesis on ‘The Settlement of Tropical Australia,”
which deals specially with the control of crops and —
health in relation to temperature and rainfall. The
progress made in the settlement of this part of Aus-
tralia is also compared with that of other tropical
areas.
Mr. R. BuLten Newton, F.G:S., of the Geological
Department, British Museum, has just completed fifty
years of Government service. Shortly after entering |
on his official career, which commenced on January 6, |
1868, Mr. Newton became one of the assistant natural- /
ists of the Geological Survey under Prof. Huxley. He/
was transferred to the British Museum in August, 1880. |
His numerous published researches on various branches!
of palzontology, especially the Mollusca and Foramin-
ifera, have had a direct bearing on the geology, both
theoretical and economic, of widely scattered regions.
Mr. Newton has been president of the Malacological’
Society of London and of the Conchological Society of
Great Britain and Ireland. ;
THE buildings of Dalhousie University suffered
severely in the recent explosion on the munitions ship
which wrecked the northern part of the city of Halifax,
N.S., on December 6 last. Nearly all the windows in
the medical school were blown in, and much material in
the laboratories was destroyed. The new science build-
ings and library suffered almost worse damage. On the
day following the disaster there was a blizzard, during
which much snow was driven into the buildings before
the windows could be boarded up. The damage is
being rapidly repaired, and arrangements are ‘being
made to continue the session this month. No members
of the staff were injured. Prof. Fraser Harris has
been asked by the military authorities to undertake the
duties of historian of the medical aspect of the recent
disaster. |
THE death is announced, at sixty-seven years of age,
of Mr. J. E. Culium, late superintendent of the Valen-
cia Observatory, Ireland.
THE Morning Post announces the death, at thirty-
nine years of age, of Mr. H. L. Burgess, medical
secretary to the Advisory Medical and Sanitary Com-
mittee for Tropical Africa and to the Yellow Fever
(West Africa) Commission,
THE annual meetings of the Institution of Naval
Architects will be held on March 20-21, in the hall of
the Royal Society of Arts. The Right Hon. the Earl
of Durham, president, will occupy the chair. A gold
medal will be awarded by the council to any person, not
being a member or associate member of council, who
shall at the forthcoming wmenetcg read a paper which,
in the judgment of the council, is deemed to be of
exceptional merit.
WE learn’from the January issue of the Observatory
the announcements of the deaths of M. S. Javelle,
astronomer at the Nice Observatory, and Dr. E. Kron,
junior observer at the Potsdam Observatory. The
following particulars of their careers are extracted from
obituary notices in our contemporary :—M.. Javelle was
born at Lyons in 1864, and joined the staff of the Nice
Observatory in 1884. He assisted Thollon in his solar
researches and Perrotin in his double-star observations.
In 1889 the great equatorial was placed in his charge,
and remained so until his death. He made many ob-
servations of comets and minor planets, but his prin-
cipal work was the discovery of more than two
thousand faint nebula.—Dr. Kron was killed on Octo-
ber 24 last in Flanders, where he was serving as ober-
leutnant and battery commander. Born in 1881,
was made to Dr. Griffith Taylor on November 8 last for ; after graduating at the Berlin University he was ap-
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
Pe oS Nae
[January 17, 1918
pointed assistant at Potsdam in 1906, and at first was |
engaged upon the measurement of the plates in the
Potsdam zone of the Astrographic'Catalogue. In 1910
he accompanied Prof. Miiller on the Potsdam eclipse
expedition to Teneriffe. His most important work was
also carried out in conjunction with Prof. Miller—
the photometric Durchmusterung of the polar zone
+80° to +90°. On the outbreak of war Dr. ‘Kron
was engaged upon this work, and also upon an impor-
tant investigation of the absorption of rays of .short
wave-length in the earth’s atmosphere, using a quartz
. spectrograph.
News of the death of Dr. Jean Clunet, a victim to
typhus in Rumania, has recently reached ‘us. The
greater part of Dr. Clunet’s scientific work was. de-
voted to the subject of malignant disease. 'He was the ©
author of ‘‘Tumeurs Malignes,” a volume filled with
new experimental data, mostly original, upon the
forms and varieties of tumours, the evolution of neo-
plastic growths, and the action of X-rays upon malig-
nant tumours, human and animal. Dr. :Clunet de-
voted a great amount of labour to these latter investi-
gations, and he was able to show the various stages of
degeneration’ threugh which malignant cells pass after
adequate exposure to X-rays. Perhaps his most im-
portant work was the production of malignant tumours
in rats by exposing them to repeated doses of X-rays.
On two occasions ne produced tumours in rats which
satisfied two of the criteria of malignancy, viz. histo-
logical conformation to malignant type of cell and
successful propagation with other normal rats.
the outbreak of war Dr. Clunet had served in a medical
capacity, at first with his regiment, and afterwards
in some special capacity. at the Dardanelles, with the
Serbian Army at Corfu, and finally upon a mission of
hygiene to the Rumanian Army. His scientific pub-
lications during the war include ‘“‘La jaunisse des
camps et l’épidémie de paratyphoide des Dardanelles”
and ‘‘La relation des accidents nerveux émotionnels,
observés, chez les naufrages-de'la 'Provence.”” Dr.
Clunet was made.an honorary corresponding member
of the Réntgen Society in 1913. Those who had the
privilege of knowing him deplore the loss of a life so
full of promise of deeds to come.
Kew Bulletin, Nos. 7 and 8, published together, are
occupied entirely with a list of economic plants, native
or suitable for cultivation in the British Empire. The
list is prefaced by some introductory remarks by
Dr. A..B. Rendle, keeper of the Department of Botany,
British Museum, South Kensington, explaining the
origin and object of the list. The saggestion of the
publication of the list arose at the British Association
meeting, 1916, of which Dr. Rendle was president of
Section K, and as Kew contained so much economic in-
formation in its museums, its preparation there was
most fitting. In the list many well-known and already
cultivated plants are mentioned, and references are
given to the more important papers dealing with par-
ticular products, but there are many little-known. plants
to which reference is made which may be of value for
future developments. Under every plant the country
of origin is given and some particulars of its use.
The plants are arranged under the products they yield,
such as fatty oils, gums, etc. ; rubber, gitta-percha, and
balata; drugs, dyeing and tanning materials; paper-
making.materials and timbers.
THE botany and physical geography of the Holy
Land are of considerable interest at the present time in
connection with the campaign in Palestine, and the
article on the subject from the pen of the veteran
botanist, Mr. J. G. Baker, published in the Gardeners’
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
by Sir Joseph Hooker and Sir.Daniel Hanbury. 7
_above 4000 ft., rising on Lebanon to 10,000 _
1916, a special committee to consider the problem
Since |
| direct nutritive effect.
Chronicle. for December 22 and 29, 1917, is most oppor
tune. Several good illustrations add to the interes
of the text. Though so small a tract of country
the flora, owing to the diverse, physical features, is re
markably rich, comprising some .4000 species, exclus
of the lower plants, such as. mosses.and fungi. —E
sier’s ‘“‘ Flora Orientalis’’ is, of course, the classic
on this region, and additions. to.the list have been.
subtropical region of the Jordan Valley and sout
deserts contains. many .forms-unknown further to
west. Then there is the flora of the rich loam
plains, with the limestone promontory of Mount
mel; the mountain region of Lebanon. and Antileba
here,.as.\in N. Africa, the familiar Arctic-Alpine
found so far south as the Caucasus, are not rept
sented, though they extend through to the mountains
of Central Asia and the. Himalayas. Lists ¢
more interesting plants are given for the diff
regions. Palestine in its botany combines
markable manner the characters ofthe East
West, but the abnormal. feature of the Jordan
and the Dead Sea, deeply excavated below sea-
constitutes, both florally and geologically, its most in.
teresting feature. #
Tue Advisory Council of Science and
the Commonwealth of Australia appointed in
worm nodule disease in cattle, which is a-sour
serious loss to the Australian ‘meat industry.
report of this committee has now been publisk
Bulletin No. 2 of the Advisory Council. The
includes a report on the occurrence of onchocer:
in cattle and associated animals in countries ot
Australia, and also a translation of an article”
Piettre on bovine onchocerciasis in “South America
Further sections deal with ‘Australian inves
some of which have been recently dealt with hi Th
committee makes recommendations for a generous’ pr
vision of assistance for further investigations. _
In the Journal of Agricultural Research (vol. xi.
No. 7) Messrs. W. Moore and J. J. Willaman give an
account of studies in greenhouse fumigation with
hydrocyanic acid. Evidence ~was obtained that the
fumigated plants absorbed more or less of the gas,
which led to a reduction in the activity of the oxydases
and catalase, and, hence, in respiratory activity.
resulted further in an inhibition of photosynthesis an
translocation of carbohydrate, and a closing of the
stomata. Another result was an increase in the perme.
ability of the leaf septa, with consequent less ra
intake of water from the stems ‘and more rapid cu
cular transpiration. In cases of mild’ fumigation t
resulted’in merely a temporary wilting, and the-subse
quent recovery was followed in many cases by ar.
of growth and of fruit production (in the tomato)
excess of the normal. Within a few: hours after fumi.
gation oxydase activity had returned ‘to normal, wh
the catalase and the respiratory ‘activities exceeded.
normal. By this time the recovery of photosynthe
action was first apparent; complete recovery, howev
of this and of translocation of food material was n
attained until after an interval of from two to thr
days. Respiration remained above normal for sev
days. The stimulation of growth may be due to:
least two factors—namely, to the increased activity
the catalase and to the increased permeability of
cell-walls, allowing readier exchange of food mate
and of gases. It is very improbable | that the :
nitrogen contributed by the cyanide exercises §
~,
January 17, 1918}
NATURE
393
ve 8)
oe Si which has appeared in the Proceedings
the Tokyo Mathematico-Physical Society (1916,
$13, and 1917, p. 208) Prof. H. Nagaoka has taken
ie theory of the concave .grating in order to deter-
the errors introduced when a wide grating is
He finds that the ‘resolving power of concave
; is far less than that of flat gratings of the
sar dth. As, however, the utilisation of the whole
sower of a plane grating necessitates the use of a
‘ing telescope of large size, the best plan-seems
construct concave gratings of very small curva-
The results of investigations of the structure of
lines with the concave gratings hitherto avail-
re been inferior to those obtained by interfer-
‘methods giving the same resolving power. But
tter methods are in turn subject to the drawback
the order of the spectrum ‘for a particular con-
_ stituent observed may not ‘be identical with that -of
j principal line of the group under investigation.
_ Ar the meeting of the Scottish Meteorological Society
pond Jecember 20 last, a paper was read on ground-ice
Ws ing point, any radiation effect from the
bottom of rivers could never start the freezing there.
An experiment -was described in which ice was formed
_ in running water by ‘the action of radiation and cold
air. The ice so produced was in small crystals, or
frazil-ice, and was found attached to the bottom and
_ to obstructions in the stream, the same as observed
_ in rivers. This ice, when massed, was of a soft,
- spongy nature, like -ground-ice. Observations made
_ where there is ground-ice show that the very slight
heating of the sun’s rays soon causes it to loose its
- attachment to the bottom and rise to the surface. It
is shown that this is due to the ice crystals slipping
when the temperature is just above freezing point, and
adhering when it is just under it. The difference
measured on the thermometric scale is_ infinitesimal,
ee the physical results are enormous. While
frazil-ice gives great trouble by adhering to the hecks
of inlets at power stations, none has. been experienced
from it adhering to the guide-blades in the turbines.
This difference, it is pointed out, is due to the water
at the inlets being on the cold side of the freezing
point, while in the turbines it is just above it, owing
to its being under greater pressure and-the ice melting.
-Pror. M. Tirrenzau informs us that the first volume
of the correspondence of Charles Gerhardt, the cen-
tenary of whose birth was celebrated by the Chemical
gag stapler pe in December last, will be published
in a few weeks’ time. This volume will contain fifty-
eight letters from Auguste Laurent and twenty from
‘Gerhardt, between the dates 1844 and 1852. It is
hoped that two other volumes of Gerhardt’s correspond-
ence will appear during this year. The complete work
will contain five hundred letters exchanged, for the
ease al with the chief chemists in Europe during a
_period—1837 to 1856—which, from the point of view
of chemical science, was of the highest historical signi-
ficance. The publisher of the three volumes will be
M. P. Masson, 120 boul. Saint-Germain, Paris, and
the price will be about fifteen francs per volume, or
thirty-two francs for the set if this sum is subscribed
before the end of the present year.
One of the difficulties with which railway mainten-
ance engineers have to contend is creeping of the
rails in a longitudinal direction, which necessitates
periodic rectification of the position of the rails after
the creep has taken place. Two papers were read on
_ this subject at the Institution of Civil Engineers on
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
ESRD INR ay ig SESE RAAT PCS AT AE ODD OS SOE RE coll SP = DEL Te
oe
January 8. In one of these papers Mr. H. P. Miles | «
describes investigations of this phenomenon made by
him ‘for a period of five years in this country on a line
consisting of 850 track miles of main and branch lines,
over which various ‘kinds of traffic passed. In the
other paper Mr. F. Reeves describes some simple
experiments he has carried out on pine, iron, and ~
rubber laths by causing loaded wheels to roll along
them. He concludes that creep is due primarily to
deformation of;the railas the wheel passes over it, and
that the more violent the deformation, the greater will
be the creep; thus creep is increased by increasing the
wheel load, and also by diminishing the rigidity of the
rail, either by reducing its section or by using a weaker
material. The weight of the wheel appears to be the
most powerful factor affecting the amount of creep.
Creep is accentuated by braking, and is greater down-
hill than up-hill, but is by no means absent on the
latter. Creep is always with the traffic. Creep car
be resisted more or less completely by putting in
enough anchorage or resistance, and Mr. Reeves de-
scribes several such devices, including one of his own
design which is in use on the Buenos Ayres and Pacific
Railway. Many railway structures are affected by
creep, and their design should take it into considera-
— This requires special emphasis in the drawing
office.
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
Tue Masses oF THE Stars.—The masses of all the
double stars for which sufficient data are available
have recently been calculated by Prof. H. N. Russell
(Popular Astronomy, vol. xxv., p. 666). The results
for the mean mass of a:pair of stars, grouped .accord-
ing to the spectral classes of the bright components,
are summarised’in the following ‘table, the unit being
the mass of the sun :—
Spectroscopic Visual Physical From paral-
Spectrum binaries binaries pairs lactic motions
No. Mass No. Mass No. Mass No. Mass
Bo-B5 Facil open keene 10°4 eee os
BS-AS 3. ue TE Oe See. ee aS ig ae
F-G ‘*‘ giant” ... 34 3°99: 37 81
K- oe ae 38 98
F-Fs5 ‘‘ dwarf”... 17 3°5 Org 60 2°5
BS8-Ko: .,, . a. ps Ree iy SMD > Me Sr 07
Ks-M Sa hench 4 0'7 8°. 1°0
The first three groups present quite independent
data, but the fourth, though for the most part inde-
pendent, includes stars of the second and third groups.
The giant stars of all spectral classes are thus shown
to be nearly equal in mass, as they are in brightness.
Among the dwarf stars, however, where the luminosity
falls off rapidly with increasing redness, the mean mass
also falls off, but much more slowly. The masses of
the stars thus seem to be more closely related to abso-
lute magnitudes than to spectral types; that is, the
brighter stars are the more massive. This result is in
accordance with Prof. Russell’s view that only the
more massive stars can attain great luminosity in the
course of their evolution.
THE SPECTRUM OF a CANUM VENATICORUM.—It was
discovered by Belopolsky a few years ago that certain
lines in the spectrum of a Canum Venaticorum were
alternately visible and invisible, and the same observer
found later that such lines could be arranged in two
roups. In a brief report in Popular Astronomy
vol. XXv., p. 656) it is stated that the spectrum has
been’ further investigated at the Detroit Observatory
by Mr. C. C. Kiess, who has obtained sixty-seven
photographs, and has determined the wave-lengths of
more than two hundred faint lines. The star is classed
394
NATURE
[January 17, 1918
as Ap. Belopolsky’s groups have been verified and
added to, and the lines have been respectively identified
with those of europium and terbium. Many- of the
lines not definitely recognised as being of variable
intensity have further been found to agree with the
stronger lines of yttrium, lanthanum, gadolinium, and
dysprosium. The peculiarities of the spectrum thus
appear to arise from the exceptional development of
lines belonging to rare earths. lt may be added that
the presence of europium lines in this spectrum was
first detected by Mr. Baxandall, of the Solar Physics
Observatory, Cambridge.
Tue Society FOR Practica. AsTRONOMy.—The
annual report of the president of this society for 1916-17
is included in the Monthly Register, vol. ix., No. 2
(1338 Madison Park, Chicago, Ill.). The chief purpose
of the society is to promote the practical study of astro-
«nomical phenomena, end to encourage co-operation
among its members through the various observing sec-
tions which have been organised. A section for the
teaching of astronomy, under the direction of Dr, Mary
E. Bird, appears to have been especially successful.
There is also a section for the construction of astro-
nomical instruments, which is directed by Prof. M. F.
Fullan, who is contributing a valuable series of articles
on the construction of a Newtonian reflector, from the
grinding and figuring of the mirror to the actual
mounting of the telescope.
BUTTER SUBSTITUTES,
HE present shortage of fats, especially butter, gives
a particular interest to two papers published by the ©
Society of Chemical Industry. The first, printed in the
Journal for October 31 last, is by Dr. A. Lauder and
Mr. T. W. Fagan, who experimented on the utilisa-
tion of fatty acids for feeding purposes. The large in-
crease in glycerol manufacture for explosives has re-
sulted in the production of a quantity of fatty acids
much in excess of what can ordinarily be utilised.
According to the view now held of the digestion of fat
in the animal organism, there does not seem to be
any physiological reason why it should not assimilate
free fatty acids. In the authors’ experiments ten
young pigs (about seven weeks old) were fed, the first
five on a mixture of maize meal and sharps, the re-
maining five on a smaller ration of the meal and sharps
mixture, together with a small quantity of the fatty
acids from coconut oil. About 5 oz. of the fatty
acids replaced 1 Ib. of the meals. In addition to the
above rations, a certain quantity of cabbage was given
to the pigs. The results showed that the increases in
the live weights of the two lots of pigs when the
experiment had lasted for seven weeks were practic-
ally identical. The conclusion is drawn that the fatty
acids were assimilated, and that they replaced about
two and a half times their weight of carbohydrate.
The second paper, published in the issue of Decem-
ber 15, by Mr. W. Clayton, deals with ‘‘ Modern Mar-
garine Technology.” The first butter substitute was
prepared at the time of the Franco-Prussian War by
Mége-Mouriés, who digested animal fat with sodium
carbonate solution in the presence of pepsin (from pig
or sheep stomach), the product being afterwards
churned with 10 per cent. of cow’s milk and water
containing macerated cow’s udder. In modern mar-
garine manufacture the fat is no longer artificially
digested with pepsin, whilst animal fat is more and
more being replaced by vegetable oils (coconut, palm-
kernel, cotton-seed, arachis, soja-bean, sesame, kapok,
maize, and wheat), and by hardened or hydrogenated
oil. It has been established that the very small quan-
tity of nickel which remains in the hydrogenated oil
No. 2516, VOL. 100]
new generic names should not be introduced without —
is quite harmless. In the preparation of margarin
milk is used for two primary reasons; first for flavour.
ing purposes, and secondly as an emulsifying agent
The milk is pasteurised by heating at 82° C. for a fev
minutes (a possible improvement would’ be to steri
it by means of ultra-violet light or ‘a high-ten
alternating current), cooled to 10° C., and deli
into souring tanks. In the latter it is inoculated
lactic acid bacilli and the temperature then raisé
=
the point favourable to lactic fermentation. WI
the fermentation has proceeded so far that the acidity
causes a rapid precipitation of curd the milk is again”
cooled to a safe inhibiting temperature. The mixture
of vegetable and animal fats and oils is melted,
strained, and brought to a suitable temperature (best
25° C.-35° C.). It is then run into a churn containing ©
the prepared mill (the milk is sometimes added to the
slanting shoot, where it meets a spray of
water. This causes immediate solidification
breaking up of the mass into yellow granules. Th
granules, after draining, are kept at a constant tem-
perature in a maturing room, where the bacteria
duced by the milk can develop. Maturing
longest in the case of the best animal mar,
When mature the product is kneaded to form
coherent butter-like mass and to expel the excess
moisture, and then passes to the gh epartme
where it is prepared for sale. Boric acid (not exce
ing o-5 per cent.) is generally added as a preserva’
Lactic fermentation imparts to the milk a pleasant a
taste, but does not give it the true butter flavo
Much research will be necessary before margarine can
be made with a taste like that of butter, =
SEA-PENS OF THE “SIBOGA™ —~\)
EXPEDITION.’ eat iabes tt
THE Pennatulacea of the Siboga expedition—the
richest collection of sea-pens made by a single
expedition—comprise about -550 specimens, which —
Prof. Hickson has referred to seventeen genera and
forty-five species (seventeen new). Having at his dis- —
posal this, wealth of material, and other Be eee
his own collection and in that of the University of —
Manchester, Prof. Hickson has taken the opportunity ~
of making a thorough survey and revision of t
order.. He regards the order as consisting of only a
few well-marked generic groups, and considers that
very strong reason. No new generic name is proposed
in this memoir, and several recently described genera
have been merged in older ones. Prof. Hickson care-
fully defines the descriptive terms employed in
memoir in the hope that henceforward there may
a greater measure of uniformity in the terminology;
certainly he has set a high standard of precision in
the systematic descriptions. : estes ae
In the course of interesting speculations on the
hypothetical ancestor and the evolution of sea-pens, —
Prof. Hickson says he is inclined to believe that —
Cavernularia is nearer the ancestral form—which he —
suggests was:a dimorphic Alcyonacean similar in build
to Sarcophytum trochiforme—than Lituaria, which —
Prof. Kiikenthal considered to be the most primitive ©
sea-pen. eet,
Pennatulacea were obtained by the expedition from
sixty-five of the 322 collecting stations, and the nam
1 “The. Pennatulacea of the Sioga Expedition, witha General Survey
the Order.” By Prof. S. J. Hickson. Pp. x+265+p'ates x+2 ch
(Leyden: E. J. Brill, 1916.) Price 13.50 francs,
January 17, 1918]
NATURE
395
cipal canals;
_ species; and (iv) the gonads—all the species examined
_ proved to be dicecious and oviparous.
_- Useful keys are given to the families, genera, and
_ species, and the memoir is illustrated by ten plates
_ of the species are printed on a large chart adjacent to
_ the stations at which they were collected. Prof. Hick-
' son directs attention to the rich harvest of sea-pens
gathered around Amboyna, the Banda and Kei Islands,
“and off the
_ concludes that the Malayan region is the headquarters
south coast of Timor and Flores, and
irgularia. He remarks
of the gh Pteroeides and
‘that, although there is not sufficient information in
regard to o
ard r genera to justify a similar conclusion,
e facts as they stand are in accordance with the
Of special interest from the point of view of geo- |
graphical distribution is the occurrence of the fol-
lowing, all deep-sea forms: Chunella gracillima,
_ previously known from the east coast of Africa; the
- genus Gyrophyllum, hitherto recorded only from the
North Atlantic; and five species of Umbellula.
Anatomical and histological investigations have been
_ made on a number of interesting points, e.g. (i) the
_ ciliated radial canals, found throughout the rachis of
_ Virgularia, which Prof. Hickson suggests are con-
_ cerned with the flow of water into and distension of
the colony; (ii) the large mesozooids of Pennatula
_murrayi, the structure of which indicates that they
_ bring about A expulsion of water from the prin-
iii) the brown ciliated tubes of this
and forty-five text-figures.
Prof. Hickson is to be warmly congratulated on the
_ completion of this important memoir, which is charac-
terised throughout by great care and sound judgment.
_ EXPERIMENTAL HYDRAULICS.
ast small amount of evidence, which many
engineers are willing to accept as satisfactory
proof of some principle or empiricism used in con-
_ nection with their designing, is sometimes surprising
scientific inquiry.
to those who combine, with engineering experience,
knowledge of the more refined and rigid methods of
Perhaps there is no more striking
evidence of this than in connection with the formule
used by engineers, in perfect faith, to determine the
flow of water over weirs and through orifices and
nozzles.
Very frequently in experimental work there is a
want of precision in the results, owing to lack of
appreciation of what might be called the persistence
of hydraulic disturbance. In our technical colleges
apparatus which is supposed to compare the loss of
head in certain lengths of pipes of different form, and
certainly measures something, but not that which the
designer intended, is not infrequently used by students.
It is to be regretted that so little attention has been
paid in this country to precise experimental hydraulics ;
‘but because of that we are so much the more indebted to
those workers who, in France and the United States,
have added to our experimental knowledge of this
’ important subject. :
The modern universities of the United States are
issuing from their experimental stations many interest-
ing Bulletins describing the results of special re-
searches, and Bulletin 96 of the University of Illi-
nois, though not by any means ambitious, is yet of
sufficient importance to receive a passing notice in the
columns of Nature. It describes experiments on the
effect of fixing mouthpieces of different shapes on a dis-
1 “The Effect of Mouthpieces on the Flow of Water through a Sub-
merged Short Pipe.” By F. B. Seely. Bulletin No. 96. (University of
Il'inois.)
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
charge through a short drowned pipe. The apparatus
is described, and the coefficients of discharge for a six-
inch short pipe) without mouthpieces at either end, and
with the inlet projecting and not projecting inwards
respectively, as well as for different combinations of
mouthpieces at inlet and outlet, are given. A biblio-
graphy of the subject is attached to the paper.
laiatikt the Malay Archipelago is; or has been, a | ASTRONOMICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE
distributing centre of the Pennatulacea of the world. |
ELECTRICAL THEORY OF MATTER.'
ERTAIN complications have recently been intro--
duced into theoretical physics or physical philo--
sophy which, though not of immediate application to
engineering, should have an interest for all educated
people.
The doctrine of relativity is based essentially on two.
negative experiments. One of these was conducted by
me at Liverpool, and is fully recorded in the Philo--
sophical Transactions of the Royal Society for 1893 and.
1894. The outcome of the experiment is to show that
the velocity of light is not atfected in the neighbour-.
hood of rapidly moving matter; thus, in language
appropriate to ether, implying that the zther is sta-.
tionary in space and cannot be carried along by moving.
matter; that there is no viscous or frictional drag
between matter and zther. The other and more
famous experiment is that of Michelson and Morley,
which proves that the time of a light-journey to and
fro between points fixed to the earth is not affected by
azimuth; which therefore appears to imply that the
earth is not moving freely through the zther, as the
first experiment requires, but that the adjacent zther is
stagnant with respect to the earth’s surface, as if a
layer of some thickness were fully carried along with
the earth in its motion through space.
(I must here say that this is a conclusion which,
if admitted, would involve many difficulties, and would
complicate the relation between ether and niatter
amazingly.)
The two experiments are thus contradictory, sug-
gesting that the wording of the conclusion in terms.
of zther may be wrong; and inasmuch as all experi-.
ments on the zther have so far given negative results:
except when there was some movement of matter rela-
tive to matter, a doctrine of relativity has arisen which
begins by postulating that such experiments always:
will give negative results, that the properties of an:
gether can never be ascertained, that things go on as
if space were empty, that movement of matter has no
meaning except with reference to other matter, and’
hence that in all probability the zther does not exist.
I ought perhaps to make it clear that I myself do not
hold this doctrine ; but on that subject I have expressed’
my own position in my British Association address,
published by Messrs. Dent and Sons under the title
‘“* Continuity.”
How the velocity of light, which is an undeniable-
and metrical fact, can thus be understood or sys-
tematised, without a medium possessed of definite
physical properties, seems to conservative physicists a
substantial difficulty at the outset. Nevertheless, they
are willing to admit that questions directly addressed
to the zther have always received negative replies: ~
always except once—the measurement of the finite and’
definite velocity of light, both in free space and in
transparent matter. Beyond this, the three salient
optical phenomena—viz. the Bradley aberration, the
Fizeau convection, and the Doppler change of fre.
quency—all involve motion of matter relative to matter.
1 Abridgment of a lecture delivered to the student-members of the Institu- -
Le : Electrical Engineers on November 23, 1917, by Sir Oliver Lodge, .
396
NATURE
[January 17, 1918.
To get either aberration or Doppler effect the receiver
must move relatively to the source; to get the Fizeau
drift there must be a'‘material medium transmitting the
light, and that medium must be in’motion with respect
to both source and receiver.
We must admit, however, that if the aether is to be
sustained as a reality, some way out of the contradic-
tion of the two experiments first cited must be found.
Such a way out was suggested by G. F. FitzGerald, and
shortly afterwards independently by Prof. H. A. Lorentz.
It consists in supposing that the shape of. bodies is
slightly dependent on their motion, so that a sphere
moving through the zther in the direction of its polar
axis becomes an oblate spheroid with a contracted axis,
or a slightly swollen equator, or both. Such a change
of shape, if applicable to all matter without exception,
would be, ordinarily speaking, undiscoverable,
would account for the negative result of the Michelson
experiment without any appeal to the principle of
relativity or any abandonment of the zther of space;
for the to-and-fro journey along the line of motion
“could then be considered shortened by the requisite
amount, so that the time taken by light’ to travel in
what for brevity we may call the axial direction
(nothing to do with the axis of the earth) need be no
longer than that taken to travel equatorially, in spite
of its having to go in one case against and with the
stream, and in the other case across it.
Thus with this special hypothesis the Michelson-
Morley observation would be justified, even though the
zther were streaming at full speed past the earth, no
part of it being carried along with that body, entirely
in accordance with the first experiment above cited.
This would have the incidental advantage of rendering
the theory of Bradleyan aberration quite simple and
straightforward, and it would help us to begin to-
understand the relationship between zther and matter.
The amount of longitudinal contraction necessary is
very small; the two-hundred-millionth part of the
relevant dimension would suffice, a fraction correspond-
ing with only 23 inches in the diameter of the earth; and
Lorentz showed that on the electrical theory of matter
such a contraction was quantitatively to be expected,”
2 i
, v
viz. an amount meee
oy c
The Electrical Theory of Matter.
The electrical theory of matter took its rise about
1881 in some brilliant work of Sir J. J. Thomson, who
showed that an electrical charge conferred on the body
possessing it. a slight. extra inertia in excess of its
ordinary mass. :
The electric inertia thus -gained by a sphere of radius
a'charged with quantity e was
2Be2 5
3a .
though this, when interpreted in. micrograms, seemed
hopelessly too small for any possibility of observation.
The extra, or electrical, inertia was due to the mag-
netic field excited by the motion of the charge, and was
of the nature of. self-induction; it reacted against
acceleration or any change of velocity quite in accord-
-ance with Lenz’s law. The magnitude of this inertia
depends on the concentration of the lines of force, or,
as we may express it, on the potential of the charge,
2 In my British Association address “‘ Continui'y” I indicate a preference -
for a slightly modified change of this kind (see pp. 58 and 111), whereby the
volume of a moving spherical unit remains unchanged, the polar axis shortening
rye ? ; 5
(:-2,) , while the ‘two equatorial axes,.7.e. those. perpendicular to the
motion, lengthen (aso)? This does all that is necessary, and evades
c
some difficulties. It is, on the whole, sustained by: some~experiments of
Bucherer.
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
but:
- and an electrical inertia, or extra mass due to its charge, of z
and is proportional to its potential energy. The po
tial is e/xa; the energy is half the charge x the poten
so the expression for the inertia may be written
the static energy of the charge multiplied by 4/
where c is the velocity of light: Hence the ob
smallness of the result.* 1
“Some time later, viz. in 1887; Mr. Oliver Heavi-—
side calculated that this electric inertia was not’ pre-
cisely constant, but must be a function of speed, and
gave an expression for it at any velocity, incidentally
showing that it tended asymptotically to an infinite
value at the velocity of light. ‘
Then Sir Joseph Larmor showed that the Fit
Lorentz contraction corresponds with this extr
by an increased concentration of the electric
force to the equator of a moving sphere, ~
reason of motion it becomes deformed into a
spheroid. Dee
All this, however interesting, seemed rather
and without probable realisation in practice, u
1899 Sir J. J. Thomson isolated the unit electric
and discovered that it’ could exist apart from n
and was of excessively minute bulk even when
pared with a single atom. 2 eames
The apparently insignificant expression, 2pe?/
came. into prominence, for the small size of a
tron’ would mean excessive concentration -
close to the centre of force, and therefore a
amount of inertia,;even though the Mas
small. The inertia of electrons was actually
by ingenious vacuum experiments. _ a
The inertia of light-emitting particles
measurable, by aid of the Zeeman effect, and
to be the same; and many other. measu
electric mass were made and found consistent
Later, as we know, the speed of extra quick-movi
electrons was measured, and their predicted extt
inertia at high speed was verified and found to
correctly accounted for by electrical theory, on
assumption that their whole mass was electrical.
Hence the speculation became reasonable tha
sibly there was no inertia in existence other
electric inertia, and that the electromagnetic.
menon with which we had been familiar ever
Faradav and Maxwell, and had known for a long
as -self-induction, was truly the basis of all inertia
might be held to account for, and partly to explain, th
most fundamental property of matter. ree
Thereupon arose. various semi-astronomical specula :
tions as to the nature or structure of an atom, the 1
probable of which at the present day assumes a centre
positively charged nucleus, of possibly complica
structure, surrounded by an equal opposite group
negative electrons revolving with intense ra idi
regular orbits and subject to various known kinds
perturbation, the number of electrons per atom in 2
given instance being determined by the numerical posi-
tion of the substance in the chemical series of elements.
Assuming, then, that the familiar mechanical inertia’
of all matter is wholly electrical, we may summaris
results by saying that when stationary in the zthe
its mass is the sum of terms like cS
Mo 2e" 130, ~~ <
but that when moving with velocity v, bearing a ¢
3 For example, a sphere 40 centimetres in diameter, charged to a pote:
of, say; 300,000 volts, would have an‘electrostatic energy of ten’milli
3 107 _
_ 9X10 7
gram, or the seventy-thousand-millionth part of a milligram. :
‘See Sir J. J. Thomson’s interpretation of Kaufmann’s results, as,
for instance, in ‘‘ Conduction of Electricity through Gases,” p: 535;
book on ‘‘ Electrons,” p. 134.
_ for by any known gravitative perturbation.
{ _ tions the »
rte
n
- movement that we can cause on earth. Moreover, the
_ gravitation fails to explain.
>
a January 17, 1918]
NATURE | 397
tain ratio to the velocity of light c, each of these terms
Feehan’.
*. - OL»
aA
, 2\—-h E
. Uv
ee m=m,( 1-2) =m, sec B,
Ct
: where sin B represents 5 the ratio v/c.
_ Astronomical Applications.
Since inertia is a function of speed, it becomes a
n whether some astronomical perturbations may
7 ‘not thus be produced and accounted tor. This problem
attacked in the Philosophical Magazine for August,
j17. It is true that the motion of planets is slow
pared with the speed of light, but it is immensely
er than that of cannon-balls or of any artificial
i
; effects, if any, may perhaps turn out to be cumulative,
and it is well known that the position of planets has
now been observed for some centuries with prodigious
_ The _ siucyeae moving planet is Mercury, and since it
makes four journeys round the sun every year, there
is some reasonable chance of perceptible accumulation
of small effects in a moderate time. Now there is
known to be an damped Manesiadaiae outstanding dis-
crepancy in the motion of Mercury which the theory of
The orbit of any planet or satellite subject to a per-
turbing cause, such as the attraction of a third body,
was on n by Newton to rotate in its own plane, the
position of its perihelion changing slightly at each revo-
lution. In most cases gravitation can account for the
whole of this progress of perihelion ; but the orbit of Mer-
_ eury had been by careful measurement proved to revolve
some forty or, more carefully estimated, forty-three
seconds of arc per century more than could be accounted
It is not
much, but it is reckoned unmistakable—no one ques-
fi ct—and many attempts have been made to
eX in es wi y d "
verrier invented an intra-mercurial planet, Vulcan, |
to account for this progress of the perihelion of Mer-
cury’s orbit; but no such imaginary planet has ever
been seen. Other astronomers have surmised that the
law of gravitation might be slightly inaccurate; or,
again, that the force of gravity travelled at a finite
l. Recently Einstein has applied the theory of
relativity to the problem, and by extremely complex
reasoning has arrived at the required: result.
It remains to see whether without any of those
of matter cannot account for the observed progression.
Hitherto the attempt has been made to tamper with
the force acting on the planet ; we now leave the force
alone and tamper with the planet’s inertia, as in-
creased by its motion through the zther, and varied
by any variations in that motion.
The whole solar system is known to be travelling
among the stars; and sometimes the motion of a planet
-as it revolves round the sun will agree in direction
"5 When velocitvis constant. asit is during purely transverse or centripstal ac-
_celeration, the effective or transverse inertia is simply 79 sec B, being greater
than the slow speed or rest inertia in the inverse ratio. 1 )»as stated
above ; but when velocity is increasing or decreasing by reason of.a longi-
tudinal force, we can write the conditions thus :
ov=c sin
=m sec? pa
so that high-speed Jongitudinal inertia is' #7 sec g, and is greater than the
slow or rest inertia in the ratio sec* 8, or, what is the same thing,
(0-2) 7;
and is also, curiously, greater than the transverse inertia at the same speed,
in the ratio sec? £,
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
with a component of the solar drift, while at other -
times—t.é. in the other half of its orbit—the planet’s
orbital motion and a component of the solar drift will
be in opposite directions. Thus the absolute or re-
sultant speed of the planet through the ether will
vary, and hence, on the electrical theory of matter,
its effective inertia will vary too.
It remains only to caleulate what the effect of this
varying inertia will be, given any reasonable value for
the sun’s true motion through the zether of space.
The resultant speed of\the planet is to be reckoned as
/(v? + V24+2vV cos o),
where @ is the angle made by its motion v, at any
instant, with V, the solar drift. This last has a com-
ponent @ in the plane of |the- orbit, such that cos¢=
cos Acos 6, 6 being the longitude and A the latitude
of the sun’s true way referred to the direction of the
orbital motion v. So, expressing mass as a function
of velocity in the ordinary equation of particle dy-
namics for any central force, ;
ae?
where u is written for 1/r in ordinary polar co-ordin-
ates, the mass-will depend on\ phase, and will be found
to contain a factor 1+cos @. |
Introducing this factor. due to varying inertia into
the above differential equation, I found it to take a
form familiar: to electricians, viz. :
X+xi+n2x=E cos fi,
or, rather, a special case of this, with k=o and n=.
In other words, it represents the case when free and
forced vibrations are of exactly the same period, and
undamped; it is the equation of perfect resonance.
The solution accordingly shows \a steadily increasing
amplitude, without limit, as time goes on,
s E ‘ |
HS ESS we
2n
In the same way the astronomical problem exhibits
accumulation or resonance as regatds progress of peri-
helion, the perturbation being essentially synchronous
with the phases of orbital revolution; and accordingly
after the lapse of, say, a century, the minute perturba-
tion due to fluctuating inertia, even though so small
as one-tenth of a second per revolution, may have
accumulated in the course of a century to the still small,
_ but very perceptible, value of forty-three seconds of arc.
efforts the straightforward and simple electrical theory — Moreover, the kind of perturbation caused by fluctuat-
ing inertia, as expressed by the equation worked out in
the August, 1917, Phil. Mag., turns out \to be exactly the
kind of perturbation required, viz. a revolution of the
orbit in its own plane; and it will be of the right value
provided the true or real solar drift has a component
equal to twice the earth’s orbital, velocity in a direction
parallel to the minor axis of the planet's orbit.
The progress of perihelion of a planet’s orbit, after
n revolutions, comes out, according to this simple
theory,
day = SEUN COD
’
ec?
| where v is the average speed of the planet, and e
the small eccentricity of its orbit; the unknown solar
drift is V, in a direction making an angle @ with the
minor axis of the orbit; and c is the velocity of light.
Assuming a drift of the above value, such as is re-
quired for Mercury, I proceeded to try its effect on
Mars, and, as is shown in the August Phil. Mag., found
that it caused Mars’s perihelion to revolve seven
seconds of arc per centurv; which, I learn, is con-
sidered by astronomers to be ‘the outstanding dis-
crepancy for Mars. 1:
398
Prof. Eddington, however, in succeeding issues of
the Phil. Mag. (September and Qctober, 1917), has now
applied my theory to the Earth’and Venus, and shown
that according to it either their orbits must revolve, or
their eccentricities must be affected, to an extent small
indeed, but greater than is, astronomically allowable.
Also that there will be unpermissible variations of |
eccentricity for Mercury and Mars. Hence the whole
matter is sub judice, and the last word has not been
spoken. ieee
Conclusion.
Finally, it is necessary to say that this astronomical
application of the electrical theory of matter—at any
rate as given here—assumes that the extra or spurious
inertia due to motion is not subject to gravity. If it
is a portion of the true mass, and as much subject to
gravitational pull as all the rest of the inertia, then
it would seem that there should be no perturbation at
all, for weight and mass will be still accurately pro-
portional.
But certain analogies suggest to me that in all prob-
ability the part of inertia dependent on motion is due
to athereal reaction and is not likely to add to the
‘body’s weight. © {
Until we have some theory as to the nature of
gravity we cannot definitely pronounce on such a point,
though meanwhile the success or otherwise of the
above astronomical application may tend to bear some
testimony on this very point. If the calculated perturba-
tion does not exist, it may mean either that the inertia
of matter does not vary with speed as electrical theory
predicts, or else that every kind of inertia, however
caused, is fully subject to gravity, which in itself would
be a momentous conclusion. In that case (I may say
incidentally) the deflection of a ray of starlight grazing
the sun or other large body is decidedly to be expected,
the deflection being probably 2gR/c?; where the g and
R are solar. j :
We must, however, anticipate that if the ultimate
‘conclusion does turn out negative, and if, taking all the
planets into consideration, no such set of perturbations
as is here foreshadowed can be really allowed, it will be
claimed as one more negative answer returned by the
zther. And we must regretfully admit that every
negative answer tends (at least temporarily) to
‘strengthen the apparently growing faith in that com-
_ plex and perturbing view of the relation between space
and time and matter which is known as the Principle
of Relativity.
Rig nist nae
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
Two Theresa Seessel research fellowships, to pro-
‘mote original research in biological studies, are offered
in competition by Yale University. The fellowships
are open to men or women, and each is of the value
of 2001. Applications, accompanied by letters of recom-
mendation, reprints of scientific publications, and a
statement of the particular problem which the candi-
date is prepared to investigate, should reach the Dean
of the Graduate School, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A.,
‘before April 1 next. .
Tue City Council of Rome has nominated a com-
mittee for the formation in Rome of an “ Elementary
School of Industrial Chemistry,” with the view of
“improving existing education on the subject and to
arrange for new courses of instruction in this modern
industry, which may have a great future in our city.”
The committee, according to L’Economista d’Italia
5 I have since seen reason to modify this at first sight obvious opinion, and
have more) to say on this subject ; probably in the Philosophical Magazine
for February, 1918. :
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]'
“NATURE
their natural impulses towards knowledge,
for January 1, has already commenced work, and h
to be able to conclude its deliberations during Janu
so that at the end of _ the present school y
the school can begin its courses and take part at Cc
in the professional culture of the Rome working classes
and preparations for the after-war campaign in th
city. ny Bi
THE annual, meeting of the Mathematical A
ciation was held on January g and ro. In his
dential address on ‘‘ Mathematics and Individi
Prof. T. P. Nunn maintained that the develo
individuality is the only natural and reasonabk
in education. He pleaded for much greater fre n
for boys and girls in choosing both the distribution of
their time and the lines along which their energies
should be directed. The function of the teacher
be to ‘stand by,” giving help in the form of gui aL
and advice, and, where necessary, teaching.
teaching should be partly collective as now, but |
large extent it should be given to individuals, «
least to small groups of pupils. In this way t
girls, free to follow their own bent and to give
only find much greater vividness and reality
school work, but each of them wo
be prepared to make later that unique c
bution which he alone can make to the
gated whole of human life. Such fr
each to make the best of his life in his
is the source of all higher goods; education
no lower, and can find no higher, aim.
constituted “‘advanced section”? Dr. W. P.
a paper on ‘‘The Graphical Treatment
Series.” He urged, in teaching higher algebr.
the use of graphical and intuitional methods and th
application of the calculus. Principal Hatton raised
question of the omission of mathematics from Se
A of the new scheme for Class I. of the Civil
Examination. After some discussion it was
to ask the Commissioners to add the words
mathematics” to the title of subject 4 (“The gen
principles, methods, and applications of science ’’)
to double the number of marks assigned to that st
ject. vee
A RECENT issue of the Educational Supplement
the Times included a translation of an article p
lished in the Berlin Lokalanzeiger describing.
the German working classes in particular would
reduced to a wretched condition if Germany were
lose this war, or even if it were to be obliged to
clude a peace of renunciation. That, the article urges,
is not only applicable to the economic position of the
German working classes, it may also be said to the
same extent of the intellectual development of the
masses of the people. That they will be the most
severely affected if Germany is obliged to bear alon
the burdens of war will clearly appear from a retro-
spect of what Germany has achieved until now in
regard to popular education. The total financial n
of the German States amounted in 1910, apart
the expenses on behalf of the Imperial Army and th
Navy, to about 150,000,000l. ; 13:8 per cent. of this
expended for science and instruction, 8-9 per cen
schools alone, and 7-1 per cent. on the people’s sc
In 1911 the German States and municipalities rai
together nearly 44,000,000l. for the schools, of w
33,500,0001. was for the benefit of the people’s s
alone. ‘That means, the article states, that in Ge
per head of the povulation 13s. was expendec
England 8s., and in France 7s. ‘‘If in Germany
now more than §0,000,000l1. was spent yearly
sively for educational purposes, the question a:
the German writer continues, if these achiev
Py eds ie A all
rE Feet, Sera wn
i January 17, 1918]
first time.
_ said:—‘‘The Bill which I now introduce is substan-
- continuation classes for adolescents.
_ the children committed to. their charge.
}.
NATURE
399
% in future will be possible in the event of a peace of
renunciation. ‘ !
_ must answer promptly in the negative. Certainly even
Anyone able to make a cool calculation
in that case we should not collapse if we had to bear
our war burdens alone; but as to this one should be
under no illusion—we should then have to economise
everywhere for these purposes, whether we liked it or
not, in order at least to maintain our present rate of
development.”
Epvucation (No. 2) Bill was introduced by Mr. Fisher
in the House of Commons on January 14, and read a
In explaining the new measure, Mr. Fisher
tially identical with the measure familiar to the House.
It imposes upon the councils of counties and county
. boroughs the duty of providing for all forms of educa-
tion. It abolishes exemptions from school attendance
between five and fourteen years of age. It provides
for further restrictions upon the industrial employment
of children during the elementary-school age, and for
the gradual introduction of a system of compulsory day
In the new Bill,
as in the old one, local education authorities are em-
powered to give assistance to nursery schools, and in
other ways to help the physical and social welfare of
Indeed, atten-
tion to physical welfare is a special and distinctive
note of both Bills. On the other hand, I have either
omitted or amended certain of the administrative
clauses.’ Clause 5, which provided for provincial asso-
ciations, is omitted, and provisions are embodied in
| Clase’ G Which will. facilitate the federation of local
education authorities for certain purposes, which was
the governing principle of Clause 5. Some alterations
have been made in the clauses dealing with the attend-
ance at continuation classes and at nursery schools, and
also in the clause dealing with the abolition of fees.
Mr. Fisher added :—‘‘A White Paper will be circu-
lated so that hon. members may be able to see clearly
the changes of substance introduced. I hope it will be
recognised that the adoption of this course will facili-
tate the expeditious discussion of the Bill in Com-
mittee. I hope that as the result of the consultations
and discussions which I have held with the local educa-
tion authorities during the last few months, a large
portion of the measure which might otherwise give rise
to acrid debate may be taken as substantially agreed
upon.”
SOCIETIES AND ACA DEMIES.
Lonpon.
Réntgen Society, January 1.—Capt. G. W. C. Kaye,
president, in the chair.—Dr. W. D. Coolidge: A
“‘ radiator ”’ type of X-ray tube. The anticathode con-
sists of a block of copper faced with a small button of
tungsten. This is fixed to a thick stem of copper
which passes out through the glass neck of the tube
and terminates in a fin radiator. The anticathode is
thus kept cool and does not in consequence emit elec-
trons, as in the case of the earlier type of Coolidge
tube in which the whole of the anode speedily be-
comes red-hot. The new tube, therefore, so completely
rectifies current that when an alternating potential is
applied the current will only pass in one direction.—
Dr. W. D. Coolidge and C. N. Moore: The field X-ray
outfit of the United States Army. A petrol-electric
~ unit supplies alternating current at 110 volts to a
transformer arranged to give both high-tension and
heating currents for the new radiator type of Coolidge
tube. For simplicity of control the tube is worked at
a constant potential of 5 in. equivalent spark-gap, and
the current is adjusted to 5 milliamperes for continuous
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
running of the tube or to 10 milliamperes for short:
periods. An electrically actuated control on the throttle
of the engine maintains constant output... The small
size of the bulb, 3} in. in diameter, enables a close-
fitting lead-glass shield to be employed. This is made
in two parts, and completely surrounds the tube, a
suitable aperture permitting egress of the useful rays.
Optical Society, January 10.—Prof. F. Cheshire, presi-
dent, in the chair—F, E, Lamplough and Miss J. M.
Mathews: Relative dispersion and achromatism. The
paper contained an account of an inquiry into the
extent of the relation between the irrationality of dis-
persion in glasses and the mean dispersion and dis-
persive power. The work consisted chiefly in the re-
duction of observations made by Lt.-Col. J. W. Gifford
on the refractive indices of thirteen spectral lines
for thirty glasses. The results showed the absence
of any accurate relations. It was found that in
general the type of dispersion of a glass is determined
by its dispersive power, but with a few special glasses
mostly requiring protection an improvement could be
effected on the achromatism secured by ordinary glasses
of similar dispersive power. The problem of the triple
objective was referred to.—J. Guild: A spherometer of
precision. The chief feature of this instrument is the
method employed for detecting the exact contact be-
tween the micrometer screw and the surface under test.
The micrometer terminates in a small sphere of about
I'5 mm.. diameter. A microscope with a_ suitable
illuminating apparatus is mounted above, and_ the
Newton’s rings surrounding the point of contact are
observed. By watching the behaviour of the rings
when the screw is brought up, the exact point of con-
tact is determined. The sensitivity is about one ten-
thousandth of a millimetre.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, December 24, 1917.—M.
Paul Appell in the chair.—A. Lacroix: The forms
of the leucitic magma of the-~ Lazial volcano.
Fourteen complete chemical afalyses of the
various minerals are given, and the results are
compared with those obtained from the rocks of the
Somma,—Y. Delage: The mesorheometer, an instru-
ment for measuring the velocity of water currents inter- |
mediate between the surface and the sea-floor. The
special point of the apparatus described is a contrivance
for damping the effects due to the oscillation of the
boat.—G. A. Boulenger: The marine origin of the
genus Salmo. A reply to some objections of Louis
Roule.—M. G. Friedel was elected a correspondant for
the section of mineralogy in the place of the late M.
Vasseur.—G. H. Hardy and J. E. Littlewood : The con-
vergence of Fourier’s series and Taylor’s series.—M.
Guillet: Measurement of the intensity of the field of
gravity. Galileo’s pendulum and Newton’s tube.
Some advantages are claimed for Newton’s tube over
the pendulum, and details are given of the best
construction of the former apparatus.—Mme. E.
Chandon; A determination with the prism astrolabe
of the latitude of Paris Observatory. The mean of
the determinations is 48° 50’ 11-21". This compares
ta
with 48° 50’ 11-07", the mean furnished by several in- |
struments between 1851 and 1892, and 48° 50’ 11-3", a.
with the’
more recent determination (1899 to Igor)
meridian circle—A. Veronnet: The law of densities
inside a gaseous mass. A study of the density curve
of a star considered as wholly gaseous.—V. Schaffers :
The sound of cannon at a great distance.—H. Hubert :
The use of the stereoscope for the examination of super-
posed projections.—E. Chéneveau: A relation between
the refractive properties and chemical constitution of
‘fatty substances.—G. Fouqué: The separation of the
secondary amines arising from the catalytic hydro-
;
400
NATURE
[JANUARY 17, 1918
:genation of aniline. The crude mixture to be separated
contains cyclohexylamine, dicyclohexylamine, cyclo-
hexylaniline, diphenylamine, and some secondary pro-
ducts, benzene, cyclohexane, and tar. A scheme is
given for the separation and isolation of the above
amines.—G. F, Dollfus-; Geological observations made
in the neighbourhood of Honfleur (Calvados).—L.
Dunayer and G. Reboul: The diurnal variations of the
wind in altitude.—C. Gessard : An erythrogenic variety
of the pyocyanic bacillus.—M. Belin; A new method
of general chemicotherapy :
tion of results obtained by the injection of solutions
of potassium permanganate in tetanus, typhoid fever,
acute rheumatism, and other diseases.
PETROGRAD.
Academy, of Sciences, September 13, 1917.—E. E.
Kostyleva: The forms of corrosion of topaz crystals
from Sajtanka (Oural).—N. N. Adelung ; Contributions
to our knowledge of the Palzearctic Blattoidea. I1.:
Supplementary notes on Ectobiella duskei, Adel.—A. P.
Semenov-Tian-Sanskij: . Preliminary’ synopsis of the
Mydaidz of the Russian fauna (Diptera).—V. K.
Soldatov: New genus of Zoarcide—Gymnelopsis,
n.gen., and’ G. ocellatus, G. brashnikovi, Lycenchelis
armatus, nn.spp., from the Okhotsk Sea.—N. M.
Krylov and Ja. D. Tamarkin: The method of W. Ritz
for the approximate solution of problems of mathe-
matical physics.—P. P. Lazarev: The laws of transi-
tory illumination of the retina in peripheral vision.—
A. Baéinskij: Molecular fields and their extent.—M.
Kasterin; The inconsistency of Einstein’s principle of
relativity. —N. V. Nasonov': The fauna of the Turbellaria
of Finland.—lI. N. Filipiev: Instructions for collecting
free-living nematodes.—V. N. Ipatiev and V. Verchov-
skij: The solution of zinc in hydrochloric acid under
high “Sepang
BOOKS RECEIVED.
A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus.
J. H. Maiden:. Vol. iv., part 2. (Sydney: W.
Gullick.) 2s. 6d.
Australasian Antarctic Expedition, r911-14. Scien-
tific Reports, Series C. Zoology and Botany. Vol. iv.,
By
A.
part 2. Cephalopoda. - By. S. S. Berry. Vol v.,
part 1.. Arachnida from Macquarie Island. By W. J.
gor ot (Adelaide: R. E. E: Rogers.) 1s. and
6d. respectively.
sr Short’ Course. in Elementary Mathematics and
their Application to Wireless Telegraphy. By S. J.
oe illis. . Pp.. 182. . (London: Wireless Press, Ltd.)
s. 6d. net.
Britains Pacitaee of Science. By A. Schuster and
A. E. Shipley. Pp. xv+334+ illustrations. (London :
Constable and Co., Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net:
The Linacre Lecture on the Law of the Heart. By
Prof. E. H. Starling. Pp. .27. (London: Longmans
and Co.) 1s. 6d. net. .
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, JANvARY 17.
LINNEAN SecieTy, at’ s5.—(z) Restoration of the Héad of Osteolepis; (2)
Femur of Pterodactyt from the Stonesfield Slate : E. S. Goodrich.—Some
Early Cape Botanists: J, Britten.—A Hybrid Stachys: ©, E. Salmon.
INSTITUTION OF MINING AND’ METAL LURGY, at. 5.30. .—-The Incidence of |
Taxation upon Metalliferons Mining in the British Isles: H:
Molybdenum in Norwav: E. R. Woakes.
MATHEMATICAL Society, at 5.—A Method or Studying any Convergent
Series: Major P. A, MacMahon.—Additional Note on: Dirichlet’s Divisor
Problenr: G. H. Hardy,—Note on a Diophantine Inequality :
Grace. —Supernormal Curves : C. H. Forsyth.—A Note ona Theorem of
Mr. Hardy's : K. Amanda Ran.—Plane Quartic Curves with a Tacnode :
Prof. H. Hilton and Miss D. S> Tuck.
. CHEMICAL SoctETy, at 8.—The Synthesis of Ammonia at High Tempera-
tures: E. B. Maxted.—Interactions of Formaldehyde with Urea: A. E.
Dixon:—The> Colouring Matters: of ‘Camwood). Barwood, and Sanders-
wood : P. O'Neill and A. G. Perkin.—Studies on the ‘Walden Inversion.
VII. The Influence of the Solvent on the Sign’of the Product in the Con-
NO. 2516, VOL. 100]
Louis. —
oxidotherapy.. A. descrip-.
-Rovat InstrruTion, at. 3,—The Chemical Action of Light: Prot
Societies and Academies .
‘Books’Received ....
version of B-Phenyl-a i ae to g-Phenyl-acamingpropionic 3
Acid (Phenglslarine wis abe H. D. K. Drew, and G. H. Martin—
Pure Piperidine: Nitrate: A. K. Macbeth.—The Chemistry of i
Soluble Compounds of Thorium, as Investigated by Radio-active Met! a
W. T. Spizine. Hy
‘Rovat Society or ARTS, at 4.30.—The Tata Iron and Steel Works : LM, a
Surtees ‘l uckwell. ‘
FRIDAY, January 18. a
RoyAt INstTITUTION, at 5,30. —Studies on Liquid Films : Sir James Dewar. 4
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Traction on i
or Land: L.A. Legros.—Utility of Motor Tractors for Tillage’ Posposes: a
A. Amos, a
SATUR DAY, JANUARY 19 a
Rovay INSTITUTION, at 3-—The Chemical ‘Rotors ‘of Light; Prof. w. J.
‘ope.
MONDAY, JANUARY 21 .
ARISTOTELIAN Society, at. 8. —The Categor aa Action in indie Philo- a
sophy and its Value for Modern Thinking: Dr. F. W. Thomas. — em
Roya GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5. Dinas Fs Study of a Dune Belt: "
W. J. Harding King. e
Roya. SocirtTy or ArTS, at 4.30.—High-temperature Processes and Pros a
ducts: C. R. Darling. ( _
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22. | ‘i
bh sien INSTITUTION, at 3.—Palestine and | Meso oleae Prof) Flinders ;
etrie.
INSTITUTION oF Civit. ENGINEERS, at 5-30 eee Discussion : Rail
creep: F. Reeves.—Creep of ‘Rails: H. P. Miles
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY oe
GEOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 5:30. .
Royat Society or Arts, at 4.30.—Water. Power in Great Bri
Special Reference to Scotland); Its Amount and | ar
Alexander Newlands: ues
THURSDAY, JANUARY: 24+ ; ,
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Prvbable Papers: Graphical Solution fr Li
angle Fire: Prof: A. N. Whitehead.—Flocculation : ‘Spencer: P. :
—Revolving: Fluid im the Atmosphere: Dr. J. Ai -Ul
Transparency of. the Lower. Atmosphere and its Relative Po
Ozone: Hon. R. J. Strutt.—The Pressure in the Solar Spectrum
Water-vapour Band A 3064: Prof. A, Fowler.—The Ultr bf on
Ammonia and its Occurrence in theSolar Spectrum: Prof. A. Fou
C. C. L. Gregory, oF a
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at erg us" Ex
Transfers and their Organisation: F. G. C. Baldwin:
FRIDAY, -JANUARY 25 peat
Roya INsTITUTION, at 5.30.— ‘The Motion of Electrons i ine Gases
J. S. Townsend. y x
SATURDAY, January 26.
Pope.
CONTENTS. :
Manuals for the Chemical Laboratory. By es <.
Increase of Agricultural Output. ....
Sir Clements Markham, By T. H. H. =
Our Bookshelf’. o's, 2.5
Letters to the Editor:— r
Sources of Potash.—Right Hon. Sir Herbert: A
Maxwell, Bart., F.R.S. . “3844
The: Supposed: “ Fascination” of Birds by Snakes — i
Prof. Edward B; Poulton; F.R.S: ..... .
The Scientific Basis of Rationing. By, M, Gi... ..-
Scientific Work of the Medical Reeemell Com- |
mittee. By Prof. W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S, .. .
Science and Industry in Australia. ........ |
PUORGB 6 5 EFA «4 it eee
Our Astronomical ‘Column: i
The Masses of the Stars. aayene
The Spectrum of a Canum Venaticorum . .
The Society for Practical Astronomy ... +. .--
Butter Substitutes. soe Vek wane
Sea-pens of.the ‘‘ Siboga ” Expedition = ote » + 394"
Experimental Hydraulics. .. . : 395.
Astronomical Consequences of the Biectricst’
Theory of Matter. By Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R:S. 305°
University and Educational Intelligence ... ... 3
oe ee eu ey ek ce Fve Ss tee
Cet es © Je oS ern Ts
Diary of Societies
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN’ AND CO., Lrp.,
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.,
Advertisements ciel Ulasieniees s letters to be oddtessea’ to
Publishers.
Editorial) Communications: to the: Editor:
Telegraphic Addvess: Pnusis, Lonpon.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830-
by
b
4
‘
i
&
By
detailed methods.
401
z NATURE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1918.
THE ELEMENTS, OF REFRIGERATION.
The Elements of Refrigeration. A Text-book for
Students, Engineers, and Warehousemen. By
Prof. A. M. Greene, jun. Pp. vi+472. (New
York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London:
_ Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 18s. 6d.
- net.
THis book is another striking example of the
thoroughness of American (U.S.) technical
educational methods, as shown by many excellent
- text-books—the scientific, the applied scientific,
and the practical (including cost) being combined
in a manner quite refreshing to British engineer-
ing students.
The .table of contents discloses an excellent
arrangement of matter, viz.: (1) Physical pheno-
mena; (2) methods of refrigeration; (3) thermo-
dynamics of refrigerating apparatus; (4) types of
machines and apparatus; (5) heat transfer, insula-
tion, and amount of heat; (6) cold storage ;. (7) ice-
making; (8) other applications of refrigeration;
e costs of insulation and operating costs;
10) problems.
Ve think, however, this arrangement would
have been further improved by placing the thermo-
dynamic section just before the problems, particu-
larly as the author is a little disconcerting in his
Thus, on p. 55, we have the
end of a number of formule dealing with the air
‘machine. The last formula is numbered (62), and
is given as follows :—
W,=Mo,(T>— Ty) + (92 +2972 - 91-71")
=Me,(T.—T,) +2(2,~%),
where W,= work done in compressor.
The author then gives an example :—‘“ To apply
these formulz, it is desired to cool a room to 0°,
with cooling water at 60° F., and the data for
1 ton of refrigeration is [sic] to be found. With a
‘10° rise in the water, a 10° difference between air
i
and cooler and a counter-current air-cooler, the
temperature of the air will be reduced to 70° F.
‘The air in the refrigerator will be —10° F.”’
In this problem the temperature differences are
pure assumptions, but of the order generally em-
ployed by the practical man in his approximations.
It would have been much better if the author had
either kept such a problem for the last chapter,
or taken a set of actually observed temperatures
‘and then applied them in the formula, showing—
and accounting for—the difference in the work
‘done, as given by the formula, and the actual ex-
penditure of energy as registered by the ordinary
practical methods. If this had been done, the
student would not get so hopelessly mixed between
the refinements of a thermodynamic equation and
the everyday approximations and‘ assumptions of
the engineer. It would further have shown the
value of comparing the ideal with the actual.
_ It is interesting to note that the author in his |
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
tables has used the excellent material on the pro-
perties of NHs, CO,, and SO, provided by the Re-
frigeration Research Committee of the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers (Sir Alfred Ewing, chair-
man). It is to be regretted, however, that he has
not mentioned the recommendations of that com-
mittee respecting the unit of refrigeration.
The author states: ‘Refrigeration ts usually
measured in tons of ice-melting capacity per
twenty-four hours. . Since the latent heat of fusion
of ice is 1434 B.Th.U. per pound, according to
the latest experiments, this unit means the removal
of 286,800 B.Th.U. per twenty-four hours, or
199°2 B.Th.U. per minute.”
The first of five specific recommendations of Sir
Alfred Ewing’s committee surmounts this diffi-
culty of the “latest” value by suggesting “that
the refrigeration produced by a refrigerating
machine be expressed in calories per second.”’
Standard conditions of temperature are then laid
down in the report, and the term “rated capacity ”’
is proposed, the following explanation being
given: “Thus, a machine may be classed as hav-
ing a rated capacity of one unit if it produces a.
refrigeration of one calory per second (say 342,860
B.Th.U. per day) in steady working under the
standard conditions specified.’’
At the present moment each country takes its °
own unit, and as this country differs from the
United States in the value of the ton (2240 Ib. and
2000 Ib.), initial troubles begin. Added to this is
the fact that “ice-making capacity” (in addition
to “ice-melting”’) is often used, while no two
makers of refrigerating machines assume the same
temperature differences. .
The author should have informed his readers of
these differences and put them on their guard,
incidentally mentioning the British recommenda-
tions. In any case, we express the hope that this
unit—one calorie per second—will become a uni-
versal standard. It is absurd for. any standard
or unit to be changing with the “latest ” research
results. esis A ae
The most disappointing point. in an unusually
good book is t& be found in the opening words
of chap. vi., on “cold storage”: “The purpose
of cold storage is to prevent the development of
life which would cause decay of living’ tissue;
it is also used to prevent the development of
living organisms.” This statement is calculated
to make our men of pure science see that it is
time they took some interest in low-temperature
effects and their practical application in the cold-
storage industry. It further indicates the spade-
work necessary to link up science with the pre-
servation of foodstuffs ; but, the gulf once bridged,
the field of research opened out will be boundless,
while the merchant and the engineer will be able
to get correct fundamental ideas that will be
of the greatest value in the development of an in-
dustry that is scientifically sound.
Despite the fact that the book is based on
American practice, it should prove of great value
to students of refrigeration in this country.
; J. Wemyss ANDERSON.
Y
‘
402
NATURE
[JANUARY 24, 1918
NEW GUINEA AS A CENTRE FOR
PLANT: DISTRIBUTION.
Dutch N.W. New Guinea. A Contribution to the
Phytogeography and Flora of the Arfak Moun-
tains, etc. By L. S. Gibbs. Pp. iv+226.
(London: Taylor and Francis, 1917.) Price
12s. 6d,
‘THE north-western portion of New Guinea is
still a very little known region, owing to the
great difficulty of penetrating into the interior
- mountains, which rise fairly abruptly from the
coast to a height of 5000 ft. to 7000 ft.
The first collection of plants from this region
was made by Lesson in 1824; Beccari collected
there in 1872 and 1875; Gijellerup in 1912 made
extensive botanical collections; and the most re-
cent contribution to our knowledge of the botany
of this interesting country comes from Miss L. S.
Gibbs, who is well known for the important work
she has done in investigating the flora of Mount
Kinabalu, Borneo, in particular. The object of
her travels in New Guinea was to study the flora
of the Arfak Mountains and to compare it with
that of Kinabalu and the mountains of Malaya
on one hand, and with the Australian flora on
the other. The account of her hazardous journey
and her conclusions as to the affinities of the flora
are of great scientific interest. Owing to New
Guinea being so little known, its importance as a
centre for plant distribution has never been pro-
perly realised. Interest has always been concen-
trated either on Malaya or on Australia, whereas
the results obtained by Miss Gibbs and by the
Wollaston expedition in Dutch New Guinea go far
to prove that New Guinea is really the focus of
distribution for many types hitherto considered
Polynesian or Australian. This applies to some
extent also to Malayan types, of which the Papuan
species appear to be not only older in type, but
also very highly differentiated. ©
The endemic mountain types of New Guinea are
found to have a wide distribution, and the low moun-
tain forest flora shows marked affinity with that of
the ridge formation-of Kinabalu and the Philippines.
In the forest region such interesting coniferous
trees as Araucaria Beccarii, Liibocedrus arfakensis
—the genus being new to Dutch New Guinea—
several species of Podocarpus and Phyllocladus,
and a Dacrydium are commonly met with. Some
good photographs of the Araucaria are reproduced.
Six Rhododendrons, two being new species, and
seven species of Vaccinium serve to indicate the
northern affinities of the high mountain flora and
its connection with that of Kinabalu.
During her short stay on the island’ Miss Gibbs
collected 330 plants, 100 of which have proved to
be new to science. Among genera not previously
known from New Guinea may be cited Hibbertia,
hitherto considered Australian and New Caledo-
nian; Centrolepis, which connects the country
with Borneo, the Philippines, and southern
China on one hand, and with Australia and
New Zealand on the other; and Patersonia, which,
with the exception of southern China, shows a
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
| similar distribution, but was formerly considered
the histology of medicinal plants, or perhaps more
hand, he would be well advised to submit many ~
to be a purely Australian genus. :
Many of the new species are figured, but it isto.
be regretted that there are no proper references
to the plates, and that the map and plan are so
inadequate. A. W, aie
HISTOLOGY OF VEGETABLE DRUGS.
Histology of Medicinal Plants. By Prof. W.
Mansfield. Pp. xi+305. (New York: Johm —
Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and ~
Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 13s. 6d. net.
1B pacts the last few years a considerable
amount of attention has been given to
correctly to the histology of organised vegetable
drugs, and the importance of the subject is be-
coming more adequately recognised. Prof. Mans-
field’s work is the latest addition to the text-books
on this section of vegetable histology, and on that
account demands careful attention. * ees
The author divides his work into three parts-
Part i. deals with the simple and compound —
microscope, part ii. with tissues, cells, and cell-
contents, and part iii. with the histology of roots, :
rhizomes, etc. ‘
In part i. the usual details and illustrations of
simple and compound microscopes are to be found,
together with brief details on the mounting and —
preservation of slides. In part ii. various tissues,
cells, and cell-contents are enumerated, and brief |
allusion is made to the differences between similar
cells in certain drugs. This part is very fully —
illustrated with original drawings that have been
carefully executed and that certainly do not err
on the side of insufficient magnification. Part iii.
deals in a similar way with the sections and
powders of a very limited number of drugs.
There is nothing in the arrangement or general
treatment of the details in these three parts that
calls for special remark; it remains to be seen to
what extent the author has been successful in
attaining the object with which the book was
written, and whether it can be recommended as
a “practical scientific course . . . for the use of
teachers and scholars in schools and colleges.’’
Now the essence of a practical course is in-
struction in the best methods of carrying out
certain systematically arranged operations. It is ©
much to be regretted that such instruction is not —
to be found in the book, and that there is no —
systematic course, progressing from simple to ~
more difficult operations, outlined for the student. —
Meagre details occur here and there. The index ~
affords little or no assistance, and it is to be —
doubted whether the object the author has in ~
view will be attained until the work has beer ~
entirely remodelled. Should he take this task im —
ee ae mT TT Oe Se
of his statements to searching revision, to correct ~
inaccuracies, to introduce greater precision, and —
to make himself further acquainted’ with relevant —
literature. As an example, the statements om —
p. 85, lines 1 to 20, may be critically considered =
A een
January 24, 1918]
NATURE
403
“The presence of cork enables one to distinguish
Spanish from Russian licorice.’’ It really only
enables one to distinguish unpeeled from peeled
root, and there are several varieties of each. ‘In
Canella alba the periderm is replaced by stone ,
cell-cork.’’. This “cell-cork ’’
but phelloderm. “The cells... are of a typical
is not cork at all, .
cork shape, but the walls are lignified, unequally |
thickened. . . .’’ The walls of typical cork cells
are very frequently lignified and often unequally |
thickened. ‘The
strongly porous.”’
appear that the outer walls are the thicker. ‘‘ The
cork periderm which fissures and scales off as the
root increases in diameter.’’ Canella alba bark
is obtained from the stem and not from the root;
the cork periderm does not scale off, but has to
be loosened by beating.
It is to be regretted that in its present form the
book cannot be recommended for either teacher
or student. It possesses, however, some elements
of a useful work, notably the carefully executed
illustrations.
OUR BOOKSHELF.
Bedfordshire. By C. Gore Chambers. Pp. x +195.
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.)
Price 1s. 6d. net.
THOuGH one of the smallest English counties and
inner or thicker walls are |
From the illustration it would |
country places, steam cultivators into the grass-
lands, sawmills into the woods. A new era has
begun, and it is all to the good that the book gives
us a faithful picture of the county at the close of
an era which has passed away. Te Si Be
The Pupil’s Class-book of Geography: Scotland;
Asia, with special reference to India. Each
by Ed. J. S. Lay. Pp. 96 and pp. 128.
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.)
Price 7d. and 8d. respectively.
It is no easy matter to present geographical prin-
ciples in a way that can readily be grasped by
the average child of nine or ten years of age, but
Mr. Lay has been fairly successful in his attempt,
apart from a few lapses into the old-time
memorising of place-names. The volumes are
_ intended for study by the children themselves.
— land.
With this end in view, they contain numerous
questions, all of which can be answered from the
text and the maps, and simple exercises in map-
and diagram-drawing. Each book contains
many diagrams and black-and-white maps, most
of which are excellent, so that it is complete in
itself and does not entail the use of an atlas.
In the two volumes named above the author has
been more successful in that dealing with Scot-
Asia is a more difficult task, and as half
_ the volume is devoted to the Indian Empire the
with nearly nine-tenths of its area lying in one |
river basin, Bedfordshire possesses considerable |
geographical interest.
Travellers by the Midland
Railway, which traverses its length from Luton to
near Wellingborough, cross five geological belts
and can recognise each in passing by characteristic
features of contour, tree flora, agriculture, and |
| The Historical Register of the University of Cam-
building material. In the churches, manor houses,
and “motte and baileys’’ there is a wealth of |
archeological interest. . Moreover, it was in this
county that James Wyatt and, later, Worthington
Smith obtained their evidence of the existence of
Paleolithic man in Britain.
This and much more finds adequate description
in Mr, Gore Chambers’s book... It follows the lines
of the Cambridge County Geographies, and well
maintains the standard of that series. The best
sections are those dealing with ecclesiastical archi-
tecture, history, and antiquities, though, under the
last-named, one looks in vain for any reference to
the “lynches ” of the northern escarpment of the
Chilterns. Considering the varied flora and fauna,
the natural history section is rather disappointing
and needs revision. Under “Industries’’ a good
historical account is given of the straw-hat manu-
facture.
Though the author did not live to see its publi-
cation, the book has been well edited and illus-
trated. “Father’’ for “fat-hen,’’ as a local name
for goosefoot, is the only misprint noticed. As a
record it brings us down to 1914. Sinte then
geographical change has been rapid. The gale
of March, 1916, swept away the great walnut
orchard noted on p. 55. The war is bringing
changes far more profound: new industries into
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
sense of proportion is lost—a serious defect in all
geographical study. Climate is treated simply in
_ accordance with the general plan: in Scotland the _
author has successfully evaded most pitfalls in
his simplification, but in the case of Asia the treat-
ment is less happy. The low price of the books
is noteworthy. RAN: RB:
bridge. Edited by Dr. J. R. Tanner. Pp. xiit+
1186. (Cambridge: At the University Press,
1917.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
| Tuts volume forms a supplement to the “‘Cam-
bridge University Calendar,’’ and provides a
record of University offices, honours, and distinc-
tions to the year 1910. Up to 1913, when it had
grown to 1547 pages, the ‘‘ Calendar ’’ itself con-
tained historical information; but in that year the
Syndics of the Press decided to transfer the his-
torical particulars to a separate ‘‘ Historical
Register,’’ to be published less frequently. This
rearrangement has made it possible to publish
additional historical data, and among the added
matter in the present volume may be mentioned
lists of holders of University offices, professorships,
and so on, from the earliest date of which there
is any record; sections on the historical jurisdic-
tion and procedure of the University courts, cere-
monies, costume and discipline, as well as on the
history of the Mathematical Tripos; and enlarged
indexes. The Tripos lists in the old ‘Calendar,”’
moreover, have been collated with the original
sources, aegrotats and honorary optimes have
also been included, and the footnotes have been -
rewritten.
404
NATURE
[January 24, 1918
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.
taken of anonymous communications.]|
Ice Thistles.
|
No. notice. is
paper; and if we may take these signs as an
_ earnest of thing's to come, they give us condone:
'in a progressive future based upon a just
In Narure for January 11, 1917, Dr. R. T. Gunther |
directed attention to the beautiful form assumed by —
the air bubbles which separate from water which is
allowed to freeze in a small jar.
issue of February 15. last to describe some larger
examples of the same phenomenon.
On December 26 last the ice on the Legs of Mutton
Pond in Bushey Park and on the Cardinal’s River,
which flows through it, was. very clear, and the
‘bubbles, separated in the course of freezing, were very
obviously arranged along lines of flow. In the pond
they converged towards the outflow sill communicating
with the river, and in the river they were in lines
parallel to the banks. In one or two cases where the
stem of a weed was frozen into the ice the course of
the water as diverted on either side of it was made
clear by curves of bubbles.
On the following day I managed to melt some of the
ice over its own water, by the heat of the hand, in a
bottle with the bottom cut off and a graduated tube
inserted in the.neck. Knowing the capacity of the
bottle, and measuring the volume of water required
to fill it when packed with ice, I got a fairly accurate
measurement of the ice. The bottle was then put in a
tin can with water, and the gas as it was liberated
from the ice passed into the graduated tube.
From 104 c.c. of ice I obtained 1-86 c.c. of gas, of
which 0-76 c.c. was absorbed by alkaline pyrogallate.
A litre of this ice would therefore yield 7-18 c.c. of
oxygen and 10-30 c.c. of nitrogen and argon, apart
from any gases which might still be dissolved in the
ice. The pond water under the ice yielded 31-2 parts
of solid residue on evaporation and 2-35 parts ‘of
chlorine, and the melted ice (after settlement of sus-.
pended matter) 10:0 varts and 0-39 part respectively.
That the salts yielded by melting ice are no real part
of it, but are derived from watery inclusions only, can
be ' shown very beautifully by carrying out Dr.
Gunther’s ‘‘ice-thistle” experiment with water tinted
with methylene-blue, or, better, potassium perman-
ganate. A characteristic “thistle” with white silvery
rays of air bubbles in a clear hyaline, and a central
blue or crimson “egg” of solution much deeper in
colour than the original solution, is obtained. This
becomes smaller as freezing proceeds. | Sometimes
coloured veins are seen in the colourless ice, and some
of the air bubbles are associated at their inner ends
with coloured liquid. This experiment, as showing
the separation of dissolved matters, both gases and
solids, when a portion of a liquid freezes, seems to be
worth noting, especially as it also illustrates the course
of the freezing. J. H. Coste.
Teddington, January 11.
SCIENCE IN INDUSTRIAL RECON-
STRUCTION.
We the past year or two, frequent refer-
ence has been made in these columns to
measures of national reconstruction recommended
by various committees. There is now a Ministry
of Reconstruction, and its advisory committees
NO. 2517, VOL. 100|
I was able in the’
_nised in scientific fields, where fine manipulation, —
to associate themselves with the Labour Party. a
are so many that we have almost lost count ce
them; whilst scarcely a week passes without a
report appearing in which promising schemes of
industrial organisation and development are pro-
jected. The material value of scientific research
is usually given due recognition, at any rate on
intimate co-ordination of brain and, hand. .
Though manual and mental workers are often,
considered to belong to different classes, and an
indefensible social distinction is ‘usually made
between them, no such separation can be recog=
and skill in the use of instruments, are frequently
as valuable as fertility in idea and ingenuity in
design. Industrial advance seems, indeed, to.
depend upon three main factors, in all of which
brain and hand are related, though in different
degrees. First there is the creative investigator
whose work reveals new properties and relation-
ships; then comes the inventor or industrial re-—
searcher who seeks to apply knowledge to useful
ends; and when a practical process or machine —
has been devised, the artisan is needed to make ©
it fulfil its technical purpose. Each of these three
classes has an essential place in national Si
and the correlation of their interests and activities —
must be the chief aim of all schemes of Bison
struction.
Several recent reports and manifestoes are con-
cerned with the combination of these different
groups. The Interim Report on Joint Standing |
Industrial Councils (Cd. 8606, price 1d. net), sub- |
mitted to the Prime Minister by a sub-committee |
of the Reconstruction Committee, and referred to
as the ‘Whitley’ report, suggests the establish-
ment of district and national councils which
should deal, among other matters, with technical
education and training and with industrial re- —
search and the full utilisation of its results. There
has lately been established, under the presidency
of Sir Wilfrid Stokes and the chairmanship of —
Mr. Ernest J. P. Benn, an Industrial Reconstruc-
tion Council to encourage the formation o
national industrial councils in thé several trades, i
and to offer guidance when necessary. Moreover, —
the draft constitution of the new Labour Party, —
which has just been submitted to the Nottingham
Conference, has in the forefront of the party
objects, “to secure for the producers by hand or —
by brain the full fruits of their industry’’; and the | 3
secretary of the party, the Right Hon: Arthur :
Henderson, informs us that “‘the term ‘pro- ~
ducers by hand or by brain’ would include secien- q
tific workers if they are prepared to accept Our —
constitution and programme. The object in widen- —
ing the basis of the party is to obtain the assist-_
ance of all who depend upon their own exertions
for the means of livelihood.’’ -
Scientific workers are thus. offered facilities far
representation in Parliament if. they are prepared
oe
Much can be said in favour of such co-operation, — a
Janvary 24, 1918]
NATURE
405
for the influence of direct representatives of labour
upon national affairs is likely to increase, and it
would be unwise to stand altogether apart from
the organisation which will control it. It was
stated in the British Medical Jowrnal a few weeks
ago that the Labour candidates to be adopted
_.for the next general election may include ‘some
members of the medical profession pledged to
support the scheme for a State Medical Service.
We suggest that the British Science Guild, which
exists to promote the adoption of scientific
methods in all national affairs, should consider
at an early date whether steps should be taken
to secure similar representation of scientific
workers. The efficiency and progress of the
modern State depend upon scientific knowledge.
The Representation of the People Bill makes it
possible to give that knowledge power in Parlia-
ment, and scientific workers should take. active
measures to attain that end, by association with
other groups concerned with problems of national
reconstruction.
What is to be the principal feature of the indus-
trial reconstruction contemplated? Those who
have thought much on thé subject will probably
reply in one word, “‘self-management.’’
implies, in the first instance, that each trade or
group of trades has an aspect in which it is to
be regarded as a corporate whole. We have been
familiar with this kind of unity in the Church,
the medical and legal professions, and, to a
certain extent, in the combination which is: known
_par excellence as “The Trade.’’ The Bar com-
prises a great number of individuals each of whom
has his private interests and competes with many
others in the humbler or the higher ranks of the
profession; but to the outer world the Bar is a
corporate unity prepared to defend its privileges
against all comers, and possessing its own
machinery for self-management and even for dis-
cipline. A trade, on the other hand, consists of
the several companies, firms, or individuals whose
names are to be found in the trade directory, to-
gether with their employees, and, as a rule, there
is no connecting link whatever between these
scattered units, while in each firm the interests
of capital, brains, and labour are regarded as dis-
tinct. The war has introduced many new phases.
We have seen whole industries placed under
Government control. Each firm has retained its
integrity, but it has been required to work in
eration with other firms, so as to secure, on
the whole, the maximum output of the goods
required at the time to meet the exigencies of
war. When this demand ceases Government con-
trol will also cease, but great efforts will be made
to secure that the advantages of a central guid-
ance of each industry shall not be lost.
This guidance must come from the industry
itself, and from the industry as a whole. Labour
and capital are to meet at the same board on equal
terms. The Whitley report recommends that these
councils shall be ‘‘ composed of representatives of
This
various sections of the industry and the various
classes of labour engaged.’’ The various classes
of labour must include those who work mainly
with their brains, as well as those who work
mainly with their hands. It is true that the
Food Controller, in specifying voluntary rations,
makes a broad distinction between these two
classes, and does not admit that hard think-
ing produces as much metabolism as an expendi-
ture of energy which can be more readily measured
in foot-pounds, but the new Labour Party, in its
draft constitution, makes no such distinction. The
modern psychologist recognises not only that the
brain controls the hand, but also that the use of
the hand develops the brain, and that sometimes
in an unexpected direction, as when the power
of speech is developed by manual training. The
Labour Party recognises the unity between hand
and brain, and is prepared to admit the brain- .
worker to all the advantages which it hopes to
derive from reorganised industry.
The suggested industrial councils should each
form an Upper Chamber in the interest of its in-
dustry. They should consist of representatives, not
of particular firms or individuals, but of associa-
tions of employers and employed wherever such .
exist, and care must be taken to secure the fair
representation of all such associations. At the
meetings of the councils the representatives of
labour will unite with employers. in the con-
sideration of the most difficult problems which
the trade has to face. If it be true that
the industrial unrest of the past has _ been
largely due to a feeling on the part of labour
that it has been kept in ignorance of trade
politics, the remedy is here provided, for labour
will be given seats in the industrial House of
Lords. The national industrial councils will be
in touch with district councils, and these with
works committees. Through this machinery the
industrial councils will exert their influence in par-
ticular works.
The Whitley report indicates under eleven heads
some of the questions with which the industrial
councils should deal. Reference may here be made
to the better utilisation of the knowledge and ex-
perience of the workpeople, securing to them
more responsibility for the conditions under which
their work is carried on, technical education and
training, industrial research and the utilisation of
its results and of inventions and improvements
designed by workpeople. Besides these and the
other points for consideration indicated in the
report, a number of very important problems will
arise immediately on the cessation of the war, and ~
these make it imperative that the councils should
be formed at once, or the opportunity of organ-
ising British industry on a basis on which it can
meet foreign competition without a handicap may
be postponed indefinitely. The council will be the
parliament of the trade. At its meetings all ques-
tions affecting the trade will be discussed, and
the results of the discussion will be public to the
employers and employed, regard being paid to the , whole trade, so that the smallest manufacturers
NO. 2517, VOL, 100]
406
NATURE
_ [January 24, 1918 |
will have the advantage of the knowledge and
experience of the largest, while the latter will
benefit by the combined knowledge, experience,
and advice of all the rest of the trade. In many
cases new sources of raw materials will have to
be found and new methods of finance devised.
The problem of the best way to ‘secure
adequate representation of British industry in
foreign markets will have to be solved, and
the best way of utilising the new part-time con-
tinuation schools considered. In all these ques-
tions labour will be consulted, and the employed
will take an equal part with employers. The
watchword of reorganisation is “Unity of indus-
trial interest.’’ ?
The general principles voiced by the Whitley
report have received recognition on all hands, but
some organising force is necessary to give them
- practical effect. This is the purpose of the Indus-
trial Reconstruction Council. It is desirable that
some obviously. disinterested body should take
the first step towards establishing a council in a
particular trade. The I.R.C. is prepared to send
representatives to a meeting, large or small, of
any association of employers or employed in order
fully to explain the mode of formation and func-
tions of an industrial council. The Ministry of Re-
construction can be approached at a later stage
when the scheme has been drafted by the industry.
An industrial council consisting of equal numbers
of employers and employed has already been
formed for the pottery industry. This council
will establish committees for dealing with special
branches, and may co-opt outside experts upon
them. Among its special duties will be that of
making the manufacture of pottery as hygienic as
possible.
The aims of the Labour Party, of course, go
far beyond the organisation of particular trades.
The chief appears to be to form the dominant
party in the House of Commons. Unfortunately,
the promoters look forward to a perpetuation of
the system of party government; but if all the
workers by brain, as well as by hand, combine
into one party for the government of the State
on democratic lines, party government will prac-
tically cease, because one party is equivalent to
no party. Scientific men will certainly not be
disposed to support any system of party politics,
and they would be more likely to take part in
the new programme if it were made clear that
the Labour Party signified a federation or organ-
isation in which brain‘and hand were united for
common welfare rather than the narrow interests
of one particular section of the country’s life.
The question has been asked, “Will the
brain-worker secure adequate representation in
the councils of the Labour Party?’’ Provided
that the community of interest between hand and
brain is fully recognised, the hand may be trusted
to make use of the brain, and the brain will not
suffer from failure to take part in the work of
the world. May we not hope that government
by dialectics will belong to History?
NO. 2517; VOL. 100]
THE FERTILISER SITUATION IN THE
UNITED STATES. |
OR some time after the war had opened, and —
. in particular when the unrestricted submarine
campaign began to assume important dimensions,
the United States found that its supplies of the —
three most important fertilisers were seriously _
compromised: instead of being, as many had
imagined, wholly a producing country, it was
found to be dependent on other countries for these
vital raw materials. Chile supplied nitrate of soda,
the most potent nitrogenous fertiliser; Spain sent
the pyrites necessary for the manufacture of sul- |
phuric acid, which in turn forms the basis of the —
superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia indus- —
tries; while Germany sent potassium salts, without —
which many mixed fertilisers are incomplete. —
With characteristic promptitude the situation was
carefully reviewed, and a statement has been
issued by the Smithsonian Institution! showing in
as much detail as is judicious how the United —
States now stands in the matter. _ i ;
The situation in regard to phosphatic fertilisers —
is rather peculiar. The United States claims to —
possess within its borders the largest known ~
deposits of rock phosphate in the world. The —
annual output is three million tons. Most of this —
(about 75 per cent.) comes from Florida, where —
there are three types of deposits: rock phos- —
phate, pebble phosphate, and soft phosphate, —
all superficial horizontal beds of solid rock ~
or loose pebbles representing a residue of phos- —
phate left after the associated rock had been ~
dissolved and washed away. These deposits can —
be worked by large open pits, and being situated —
near the coast, the material can be readily trans- ~
ported to other parts of the country or to Europe. ~
Other deposits occur in South Carolina, Ten-—
nessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas, but by reason
of their smaller output and less favourable situa- —
tion for transport they are less important than
those in Florida. ag
In course of time these supplies must become ~
exhausted, and rather gloomy pictures have been
drawn of the days when lack of phosphates would
jeopardise, and finally terminate, man’s existence —
on this globe. Great interest, therefore, attaches
to the discovery made in 1906, and since con-
firmed, that a belt of country stretching from Salt
Lake City, in Utah, to Helena, in Montana, con-
tains a number of beds of phosphatic rock. The
amount is said to be larger than in any other
known deposits. =
So far, therefore, as the rock phosphate is con-
cerned, the United States is in a very strong posi-
tion. But, unfortunately, rock phosphate alone
is not wholly suitable as a fertiliser. In some in-
stances, especially where the soil is rather acid,
it acts very well, and Dr. Cyril Hopkins and
other well-known agricultural experimenters have
studied these cases in some detail, thus accumu-
lating very valuable information. ae
In many other cases, however, better result:
™1 “The Mineral Industries of the United States.” By J. E. Pe cue
Smithsonian Institution Bulletin No. 102, 1917. Be
set ae
:
fh
4
January 24, 1918]
NATURE
407
are obtained when the phosphates are treated with
sulphuric acid. But this requires pyrites from
‘Spain, which is no longer easy to get, and in
vany case the resulting sulphuric acid is also
needed for making explosives. Other sources
of sulphur are, therefore, being exploited, in par-
ticular the pyrites and the pyrrhotic deposits of the
_ Eastern States and the sulphur deposits of Louisi-
ana and Texas.
The nitrogen problem is extremely urgent.
Chilean nitrates are largely used for making ex-
_ plosives, and are practically unobtainable for
‘agricultural purposes. Prior to the war the
largest source of fertiliser nitrogen in the
United States had been the various organic
products, such as tankage, fish scrap, and cotton-
seed meal, produced in the country. With the
coming of the war, however, other demands have
been put upon most of these, and their prices have
risen ; thus cotton-seed meal is now used as animal
food.
Coal is a satisfactory source of nitrogen, one
ton of American coal containing on an average
20 lb. of nitrogen. The proportion actually re-
covered, however, is only small, corresponding in
1913 with 3 per cent. of the total quantity of coal
mined, but a higher recovery is said to be obtained
to-day. In 1913 about 12 per cent. of the coal (or
69,000,000 tons) was made into coke, but three-
quarters of this was done in the old bee-hive
oven, and only a quarter in the more modern
ovens from which recovery of the nitrogen is pos-
sible. This proportion, however, is steadily in-
_ creasing. . ‘
All these methods are essentially transitory;
they come to an end in that indefinite time when
coal and nitrate of soda are both exhausted. The
permanent, never-failing supply is the atmosphere.
Already calcium nitrate, cyanamide, and ammonia
are produced synthetically, but of these only
cyanamide is as yet made in North America, and
that only on the Canadian side of Niagara. The
need, however, is fully recognised, and the work
is being vigorously pushed forward. The sum of
twenty million dollars was appropriated in 1916
for the construction of the plant, and although the
scheme is not yet in working order, we may be
sure that it will materialise. The peculiar and pro-
found importance of these synthetic processes as
the central feature of the war is fully recognised,
and, as the author of the Bulletin justly remarks :
“Tt is significant that war was declared directly
after the successful development of the Haber and
‘cyanamide processes in Germany.”
The dependence of the civilised world on
Stassfurt for its necessary potash was accepted
as a natural and fundamental fact prior to the
war, and very little was done to obviate it. Potass-
ium is extremely common; only seven other
elements are more abundant, and it is calculated
that there is more potash in the earth’s crust than
water. But, unfortunately, workable deposits are
rare, and only the one at Stassfurt is actually
worked to any notable extent. For some time
before the war the United States Government
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
recognised the drawbacks of the position, and
caused a systematic search to be made for potash
within its own borders.
potash can be obtained from the wood-ashes of
the lumber industry in Michigan and Wiscon-
sin. Another source is the mineral alunite, a
potassium aluminium sulphate occurring in
moderate-sized deposits in Utah. Another, again,
is kelp produced from the giant seaweed of the
Pacific coast from Lower California to Alaska.
A more important source is the flue-dust obtained
from Portland cement. works and from. blast-
furnaces. Still more important from the point of
view of immediate production are the alkali lakes
of the West, which at present yield most of the
American supply: Jesse Lake, in western
Nebraska, supposed to derive its potash from the
forests burnt on the adjacent plains; Searles Lake,
in California, reputed to contain great quantities
of potash, though there are so many other salts
as well that the extraction is by no means simple;
| Owen’s Lake, also in California, several lakes in
Oregon and elsewhere. _In addition, there are salt
beds in Texas, Oklahoma, and other places where
some of the underlying strata were formed in arid
climates.
There are still other possibilities which have .
not yet come to anything, though they are not
without promise for the future: felspar, which
occurs in scattered and rather small deposits;
leucite, forming a conspicuous component in a
rock mass of considerable size in Wyoming; seri-
cite, which forms extensive beds in Georgia; and
greensand, found widespread in the Atlantic
coastal plain, especially in New Jersey. All these
are open to exploitation.
But what will be the future of these new fer-
tiliser industries, assuming they mature? Will
they disappear after the war, choked by the com-
petition of German products, or will they be kept
alive by artificial support? This is a political
question scarcely less important than the chemical
and engineering problems involved, and one which
we may be sure will receive serious and systematic
consideration. E. J. Russet.
WHAT DETERMINES STATURE? 1
R. C. B. DAVENPORT has collected data
in regard to human stature, and analysed
them by modern methods of studying heredity.
Some of the data refer to 2354 children of
parents whose height is recorded, but the pre-
cision of this recording was very unequal. The
other data refer to the inheritance of stature in
‘families, and these, while less numerous, are more
uniformly precise.
For the class of people dealt with, it appears
that nutrition is not of much importance in deter-
mining stature. It is improbable that insufficient
or improper food counts for much in determining
eventual height; “temporary starvation has little
or no effect on the end result. So, likewise,
1 Bulletin No. 18, ‘‘ Inheritance of Stature.” Pp. 313589433 tables and
19 figs. (Eugenics Record Office, Cold Spring Harbour, N.Y., 1917.) Price
40 cents.
A limited amount of ~
*
408
NATURE
4
[January 24, 1918
overfeeding, however much it may affect weight,
has probably little effect on adult stature, though
it may hasten growth and thus enable a man to
reach precociously his predestined stature.’’ Of
great importance, however, are the internal secre-
tions of the gonads, the thyroid, the pituitary
body, and other endocrine glands. The degree
of activity exhibited by these glands is a variable
and heritable constitutional character, but it is
also modifiable by severe diseases and accidental
extrinsic influences. In two ways, therefore,
stature is affected by the degree of activity of the
ductless glands, and ‘‘ experience points strongly
to the conclusion that internal constitutional
factors are more important than the ordinary en-
vironmental differences. ’’
The following are among the most important
conclusions which Dr. Davenport has reached.
One of the factors determining variation in
stature is variation in the age of the onset
of puberty. Parents deviating from the mean
in the same direction have on the average
less variable offspring than those of one short
and one tall parent. The offspring of two
tall parents are less variable in stature than
those of two short parents. When the stature
of both parents is very much above or below the
average, the children tend to repeat it, especially
in the direction of tallness. When the parents
are much below the average the offspring regress
towards mediocrity, but there is no (or little) filial
regression when the parents are much above the
average. It seems that parents of all statures are
somewhat heterozygous (or ‘‘impure’’) as regards
their peculiarity, but there is evidence in favour of
the theory that in tall parents the gametes are
more nearly homogeneous (in lacking most of the
shortening factors) than are those of ‘‘short”’
parents. Shortness seems to be due to certain
positive factors which inhibit the growth of vari-
ous parts. It appears that ‘‘ growth-as-a-whole ”’
factors are present, but there is a large degree of
independence in the variability of the four seg-
ments of stature (head and neck, torso, thigh,
and lower leg); and this makes impossible any
simple ‘‘ Mendelian’’ laws of the inheritance of
stature as a whole.
There is evidence that peculiarities in the sepa-
rate segments of stature are independently
heritable, and the combinations of types with dif-
ferent proportions (though similar in total
stature) may give curious, but readily intelligible,
results. The. proportional shortness of any seg-
ment depends on more than one shortening factor
—just how many cannot be said. It is probable
that in all forms of dwarfing there are multiple
dominant inhibiting factors. In the case of
gigantism in both parents all the children are
tall; ‘‘this indicates that the factors for tallness
are mostly recessive—probably due to the absence
of inhibitions. to prolonged growth.’’ ‘* Persons
of similar stature tend to marry each other; and
extremes are more particular in this respect than
those of medium statures.”’
These are the most important conclusions of
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
this interesting piece of work, but it is evident
that ‘‘the classic topic of the heredity of human
stature’’ must be subjected to further analysis
with even larger bodies of data. In admitting the —
provisional character of his investigation, Dr.
Davenport says: ‘‘If the work has done nothing
more than prove, what might have been antici- —
pated, that the apparent blending inheritance of
stature is due merely to the presence of multiple
factors, it may be justified.”
NOTES.
In various parts of the country camouflaged houses
and hangars and vessels are to be seen by those wha
have eyes to see, and it was stated officially on
January 14 that the Admiralty (had tested many
methods of disguising mercantile shipping. One of
these methods is to paint the ship with various quaint
combinations of different colours. But this does not.
appear to have proved much of a success, though we
know in Nature of conspicuously patterned creatures,
such as the hoopoe, which are, in certain situations -
and poses, endowed with what amounts to a garment
of invisibility. Another method, well illustrated by a
model in.the British Museum (Natural History), de-
pends on what is sometimes cailed Thayer’s law, the
announcement of which was first made in NarurE of
April 24, 1902, by Prof. E. B. Poulton. A further
illustrated description of the principle was given in an
article in our issue of October 27, 1910.. Mr. AbbottH.
a
Thayer, an American artist, was one of the
first to recognise that a high degree of invisibility is
conferred on certain birds by the simple adaptation
of being dark above and whitish below. He took two »
wooden decoy ducks, and placed them against a sand-
bank. One was coloured like the sand, or coated with
sand; the other was coloured on its upper parts darker
than the surrounding sand, and graded below to pure—
white. At a short distance the first was still clearly
visible, but the second was quite lost against: its back-
ground. The first bird was revealed by the darkshadow =
below it ; the second was made invisible because the light _
lower parts were neutralised by the shadow, while the ~
dark upper parts were toned down by the strong direct
light. The result is technically described as oblitera-
tion by counter-shading. Some modification of this
experiment has been tried on ships by differential
painting, but this device has not proved so successful
as had: been hoped by those who knew how obliterative
it was in some birds and fishes. On some other quite —
different line, it is said, the Admiralty has discovered —
a system of camouflage which will go far to baffle the
eyes of submarines.
Ir would appear from some recent statements by the —
Ministry of Munitions that the production of mineral _
oil from native sources is engaging the close attention —
of the Department of Mineral Oil Production, It may —
be inferred that boring for petroleum in Great Britain _
has not yet been attended with any success, and so
far the opinions of the large body of British geologists
who were opposed to these boring operations appear —
to have been justified. Oil has, of course, continued
to be produced in Scotland by the distillation of the —
so-called og] shales of the Carboniferous Measures, and
it appears that the output of this oil is being pressed —
to the utmost. It has been known for many years —
that the Kimmeridge shales of Liassic age in the south —
of England are in places quite rich in oil, and a ~
succession of companies has attempted in the past to —
create there a shale-oil industry on the same lines as —
P
~ ore
January 24, 1918]
9 NATURE
409
in Scotland; all these attempts proved, however, to be
commercial failures, and it would seem that no better
ate has attended the more recent efforts of the Minis-
try of Munitions. The latter has accordingly turned
its attention to the production of oil by “he !ow-
temperature distillation of coal by practically the same
process as that patented by Dr. James Young in 1850,
a process that was worked on a commercial scale for
a good many years until it was displaced by the far
cheaper production of natural petroleum in the United
States. ay, however, when commercial results
are in a sense less important than technical ones, this
process may well be revived in this country, and it
would seem that this is being done, coals that are
a anmca gf suited to it, such as cannel coal, being
sel for the purpose. No doubt experiments are
being tried in many other directions, but there are
obvious reasons why the nature of these, or the results
obtained by them, should not be made public at
present.
Wires the continuance of the war the production of
zinc fram ores mined in the Empire has undergone
a satisfactory deve nt. For a time much of the
could not be absorbed in the reduction works until
the necessary plant had been erected’ and was in run-
ning order, the labour mobilised and trained, and the
transport ei toa During this period some of the
Australian Broken Hill concentrates were shipped to
the United States of America and smelted there. Great
Britain raised her smelting capacity, but rather slowly.
Canada has made a notable contribution of metallic
zine in the last two years, and is now producing sub-
stantial amounts. Some of this is obtained by the
electrolytic process. Considerable sources of elec-
trie power are available in Tasmania, and it is not
surprising to learn that Broken Hill concentrates are
shipped for treatment there. Satisfactory results have
. recently been reported from the electrolytic plant
erected at Risden. This plant has a daily capacity of
fifteen tons, which, it is said, can be increased tenfold,
corresponding to a potential production of more than
0,000 tons per annum. The power is obtained from
eh States Great Bear hydroelectric installation. That
electrolytic zinc is now being produced in considerable
quantities in various parts of the world is likely to
prove of much importance to industry.
AN i nt scheme for the reorganisation of the
Board of Trade is summarised in a memorandum
(Cd. 8912) issued on January 17. The memorandum
embodies the results of consultation with an informal
committee cg Sir Clarendon Hyde, Sir Alger-
non Firth, Mr. Mackinder, M.P., and Mr. C. T. Need-
ham, M.P., and its recommendations are supplemen-
tary to the action already taken in the formation of
the Joint Department of Overseas Trade, recently set
up by the Board of Trade and the Foreign Office. It
is proposed that the work of the Board of Trade should
be organised in two main divisions : (i) the Department
of Commerce and Industry, and (ii) the Depart-
ment of Public Services Administration. The Depart-
ment of Commerce and Industry will comprise sections
dealing with (a) commercial relations and treaties; (b)
Overseas trade; (c) home industries and manufactures ;
(d) industrial property (including the Patent Office) ;
e) industrial power and transport; (f) statistics; and
( general economics. ‘There will be a strong Advi-
sory Council attached to this department, and it is
proposed to constitute representative trade committees
for each important group of trades. Certain changes
and rearrangements will apply to the work of the
branches of the Board of Trade falling within the
Department of Public Services Administration. The
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
work will, as before, involve the administration of a
number of statutes, such as the Railway Regulation
Acts, Merchant Shipping Acts, General Harbour - Acts,
Electric Lighting Acts, Weights and Measures Acts,
Companies Acts, and Bankruptcy Acts. The depart-
ment will also deal generally with the services con-
cerned (railways, shipping, electric lighting, etc.).’ The
two joint permanent secretaries are Sir Llewellyn
Smith, K.C.B., and Sir W. F. Marwood, K.C.B.
In an article on modern methods for the storage of
coal in Engineering for January 18, Mr. G, F. Zimmer
states that storing coal under water is probably the
most expensive method, but undoubtedly the most
economical in the long run. About the year 1905
the first experiments made in this country on this
method proved to be perfectly successful, as the coal
thus stored suffered no deterioration. There was a
| prevailing idea at the time that only sea-water would
preserve coal thus, but it was found afterwards that
the coal would keep equally as well in fresh-water.
Underwater storage prevents loss of heating value, and
is not accompanied by deterioration in physical pro-
perties, such as slacking.” The water retained by the
coal upon removal is substantially only that held by
adhesion or capillarity. The first large plant of this
kind was installed at Chicago, where 14,000 tons of
coal are stored under water. The largest installation
has recently been erected by the Duquesne Light Com-
pany at Pittsburg, and consists of a pit 800 ft. long,
150 ft. wide, and 25 ft. 6 in. deep, with the sides
sloping at 45°. The capacity is 100,000 tons of coal.
| It is interesting to note that the coal recovered from
the battleship Maine, which had been submerged for
fourteen years, showed on analysis a heating value (a
moisture, ash, and sulphur-free basis) of 8588 calories.
It is believed that this was coal from the New River
District, West Virginia, and if this be the case the
deterioration in fourteen years was about 160 calories,
or I-g per cent.
Smr AntHony A. Bowtpy has_ been appointed
Hunterian orator of the Royal College of Surgeons
of England for the year 1919.
Pror. V. Giurrripa-RuGGERI, professor of anthro-
pology in the University of Naples, has been elected an
honorary member of the Royal Anthropological Insti-
tute of Great Britain and Ireland.
We learn with much regret. that Miss. Ethel Sar-
gant, F.L.S., hon. fellow of Girton College, and presi-
dent of the Section of Botany of the British Associa-
tion for the Birmingham meeting, 1913, died at Sid-
mouth on January 16, at fifty-four years of age.
THE annual general meeting of the Institute of
Metals will be held on Wednesday, March 13, and
Thursday, March 14. The presidential address will be
delivered and several papers read and. discussed on
March 13, whilst further papers, including the fourth
corrosion report, will be read on the following day.
At the annual general meeting of the Royal Meteoro-
logical Society held on January 16 the Symons Memo-
rial medal, which is awarded biennially for distin-
guished work in connection with meteorological
science, was presented to Dr. H. R. Mill, director of
the British Rainfall Organisation. The council for
1g18 was duly elected, with Sir Napier Shaw as the
new president.
Mr. J. S. Setton, whose death in London on
January 18, at the age of eighty-one, we regret to
record, was the fifth son of Capt. W. B. Sellon, R.N.
410
NATURE §
| [January 24, 1918
At an early age Mr. Sellon joined the well-known busi-
ness house of Messrs. Johnson, Matthey, and Co.,
assayers and refiners to the Bank of England and Royal
Mint, metallurgists, etc., founded by his uncle, Percival
Norton Johnson, in 1822. He played a prominent part
in the researches and industrial developments con-
nected with the platinum and other groups of rarer
metals, with which the name of his firm is closely
associated; indeed, the now numerous and important.
commercial applications of platinum and its allied
metals may be said to be chiefly due to the initiative
and efforts of himself and his co-workers, George and
Edward Matthey. During the concluding quarter of
last century he also took an active share, both in the
fields of technical discovery and industrial develop-
mént, in the then new sphere of electrical engineering,
and was associated with Faure, Brush, Swan, Lane-
Fox, Volckmar, and others in their early work on:
electric lighting and storage.
WE regret to note that the death of Mr. Frederic
Eliot Duckham is recorded in Engineering for January
18. Mr: Duckham was born at Falmouth in 1841,
and his early engineering experience was obtained in
the construction of docks. He was appointed engineer-
in-chief of the Millwall Dock in 1868, and _ steadily
advanced in the service of the dock authorities, becom-
ing general manager in 1899. He held the dual ap-
pointment until his retirement in 1905, when he was)
elected a director, a position he held until the property:
was taken over by the Port of London’ Authority.
His name is best known on account. of .his successful.
inventions, of which the most important was his pneu-
matic grain elevator, which saved: the Millwall Com-:
pany 8oool. per anrum. Mr. Duckham became-an
associate of the Institution ‘of Civil. Engineers in 1875,:
and was -elected a ‘full member ‘in 1878; he’ was
awarded the Telford: gold-medal and two premiums’
for papers read before the institution. ces
At the meeting of the Illuminating Engineering
Society on January 15 an address was delivered .by
Mr. L. Gaster on ‘Ten Years of Illuminating En-. |
gineering: its Lessons and Future Prospects.’”” Mr.
Gaster recalled that it was just ten years since the
proposal to form an. Illuminating Engineering Society
was made. . A feature of its work had been ‘the oppor-.
tunities afforded. for co-operation with other -societies;
for example, in dealing with such matters as school,
library, and street lighting. While the war had natur-
ally restricted their activities in some fields, in others
they had found new channels of usefulness; he might
mention their special work on the illuminating value
of star-shells and parachute lights, and researches
on the brightness of radium paint for gun-sights, to
which allusion had been made in the _ presidential
address. It was desirable that better facilities should
be provided for co-operation between scientific and
technical societies and the State. Much useful in-
formation might be obtained in the present excep-
tional circumstances; fuller data were needed on the
effect of inadequate lighting in causing street accidents
and the influence of various conditions of lighting in
Government factories on the quality and output of
work. In order to illustrate how such data might be
obtained, several tables were presented relating to
accidents in streets and factories enabling information
to be acquired: on a uniform and systematic plan so as
to trace the relation between such accidents and _ in-
adequate illumination.
WEATHER conditions in 1917. were at many times ex-
ceptional, although the mean results for the several ©
elements for the whole year were not very different
from the normal. At Greenwich the mean temperature
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
average for previous years. The highest monthly mean
day temperatures occurred in ‘June, when the mean
The
a mean minimum reading of 54-3°.
February.
There were 127 days with ground frost during the
year; the greatest number in any month was twenty-
seven in December. Rainfall at the national observa-
tory totalled to 25-3 in., which is 1-5 in. more than the
average, and 45 in. less than the total in 1916.
There was an excess of rain in the spring and summer
months, and a deficiency in the autumn and winter.
The heaviest monthly fall was 4-3 in. in August, and in
July the fall was 4-2 in. February was the driest month
with 08 in. There was precipitation on 163 days,
which is thirty days fewer than in 1916. August had
twenty-three days with rain, whilst June had only
seven, and December eight. \
quent, falling at Greenwich on fifty-one days. January
had as many as sixteen days with snow, and the open-
ing month of 1918 bids fair almost to equal it. Dura-
tion of bright sunshine for the year amounted to 4-14
hours per day, which is in excess of the normal, and
is.nearly forty minutes per day greater than in 1916.
June was the brightest month, with an average of
7-5 hours per day of sunshine. January was the least
sunny, with a daily average of 0-5 hour of sunshine.
In Science Progress for January Mr. J. Reid Moir
discusses pre-Palzolithic man in England. He points
recovering evidence of this period. He bases the exist-
ence, of pre-Palzolithic. man on the following con-
siderations :—‘‘(1) The discovery in various parts of
England of. different kinds of. flint implements in
taining the earliest palzeoliths.
type of human being. in intimate association with cer-
tain definite Pliocene mammalian forms, and the
Palzolithic periods await examination. These periods
are fully represented in England, and the flint imple-
these epochs must be collected and investigated.”
Ir is an indication of improvement in the political
situation of Mexico that, according to the Mexican
Review, vol. ii.,
ruins of San Juan Teotihuacan, which had been sus-
pended during the revolutionary period, has now been
resumed under the direction of the Secretary of
Fomento, and it is believed that some very interesting
and important discoveries: will be made. Prescott de-
scribes these ruins, with the possible exception of
Cholula, as the most ancient remains on Mexican soil.
They were found, it is said, by the Aztecs on their
arrival in the country, when Teotihuacan, ‘the
habitation of the gods,” now a petty village, was a
flourishing city, the rival of Tula, the great Toltec
capital. The two principal pyramids were dedicated to
of the kindred monuments in Egypt. There is at pre-
‘accompanying the article shows what seem to |
_ processional roads used for some ceremonial purpose.
Snow was unusually fre-
out that in East Anglia the greatest facilities exist for
deposits which are of greater antiquity than those con-
6) The discovery at.
Piltdown, in Sussex, of the remains of a very primitive
ments, etc., contained in the deposits laid down during
No. 2, the exploration of the famous ©
was 49°, which is 0-5° deficient in comparison with the
temperature was 63-3° in June and July. The warmest
oy
was 74-9”, but the warmest nights were in August with |
lowest —
monthly mean temperature was 35:3° in January and —
In April the deficiency of the mean tem-
perature was 4°5°, whilst in May the excess was 4-5°. —
Tonatiuh, the sun, and Mezlli, the moon. ‘The former, — ;
which has recently been restored, is 652 ft. in length _
at the base, and 182 ft. in height, thus rivalling some ~
sent no building on the summit, but the photograph
ao eT Ce IT ee, gee
Ey ae i ae
earliest kind of flint implements known to science.”
He adds that ‘‘the Neolithic and Palzolithic stages in
this country are fairly well known,-but the vast pre-~
;
f
a:
impor
_ varying
_ Janvary 24, 1918]
NATURE
411
We have received copies of the official tide-tables
q Pot the Pacific and Eastern Coasts of Canada for 1918,
_ issued free by the Dominion Department of Naval
The eastern tables are based on records
from’ seven to twenty years. The Pacific
tables are naturally based on shorter series of records,
- Service.
but it is claimed that. in accuracy they are superior to
the tide-tables for any ports-in the Pacific Ocean in
America, Asia, or Australia. Next to these. Canadian
ports is San Francisco, which is based on the longest
‘record | at any harbour on the Pacific coast of the
United S States.
A sTuDY of the nationalities of Hungary is of great
po naga in relation to the Slav claims on that
country. In the poe th (1917) number of the Geo-
repre Review (vol. iv., No. 6) Mr. B. C. Wallis
s a detailed paper on “the subject, accompanied by
_ several small but admirably clear maps, two of which
deal with density of population and distribution of
nationalities respectively. Mr. Wallis’s analysis of the
population gives little support to the claim of the
northern Slavs, Slovaks, Czechs, and Poles, for union
with the southern Slavs by a corridor of territory
along the border-lands between Austria and Hungary.
population of the Austrian part of that corridor is
entirely German. and of the Hungarian part chiefly
German. The Jugo-Slav claims to the Batka have
more foundation, but cannot be admitted as a whole
on a basis of nationality.
| Capt. J. K. Davis contributes to the Geographical
3 Journal for January (vol. li., No. 1) a short account
missing men.
of the Aurora Relief Expedition to the Ross Sea in
December, 1916, and January, 1917. The Aurora left
Port Chalmers with Sir Ernest Shackleton on board
on December 20, 1916. After entering the Ross Sea
Capt. Davis skilfully avoided heavy ice by keeping to
the west, and did not enter the pack until he reached
70° 20! Ss. -, 175° 20' E. Then followed five difficult days
spent in traversing a: belt of pack, 104 miles wide,
after which the Aurora emerged into the open sea, and
reached McMurdo Sound. Off Cape Barne fast ice
extended across the sound on January 10. After the
seven survivors of the expedition had been embarked,
the ship crossed to Butter Point, where Sir Ernest
Shackleton searched the coast fruitlessly for the two
A further search at Cape Barne and
lacier Tongue resulted in no clue, and it was decided
to return to New Zealand. Off Cape Adare heavy ice
was encountered, to avoid which Capt. Davis returned
southward and bore northward further to the east,
thus passing through the pack and out of the Ross
Sea. The Aurora returned to Wellington on February
9, 1917, and in June left New Zealand, homeward
bound Cape Horn. We regret to hear that no
definite news has been received of her since her depar-
her arriving in port. On her homeward voyage the
Aurora was in command of Capt. Reeves.
' Tue thirty-first annual report of the Marine Bio-
logical Station at Port Erin shows that twenty-one
workers have occupied tables in the laboratory during
the past year, twelve of these being students who
attended the course of instruction during the Easter
vacation. The usual operations were carried on in the
plaice and the lobster hatcheries. Nineteen plaice,
hatched and reared during the season of 1914, and
afterwards kept in the pond, spawned this season.
These fish had attained an average length of 10} in.
It was noticed that their eggs were smaller than the
average egg of the plaice, the proportions being as
5 to 6-5; but otherwise were normal. Appended to the
_report is an interesting address (30 pp.) by Prof. Herd-
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
|
| man on ‘‘Sir John Murray, the Pioneer of Modern
Oceanography.”’
THE annual report of the Scottish Marine Biological
| Association for 1916 gives an account of the work of
of Messrs. J.
the marine laboratory at Millport. During the year
nine workers, in addition to students attending courses
of instruction, occupied tables in the laboratory, and
the report contains notes. on some of the results of
their investigations, especially noteworthy being those
H. Paul and J. S. Sharpe on the de-
position of lime salts in the integument of decapod
crustacea, and the observations of Dr. J. F. Gemmill
on the development of certain starfishes and ‘sea
anemones. The eggs of three species of anemones
were obtained in the-aquarium, and the larve reared
either to the stage of fixation or to the final form in
separate hatching vessels under aeration. In Adamsia
palliata and Actinoloba dianthus it was found that the
formation of the endoderm takes place by invagina-
tion, and that in the formation of the blastula of Tealia
a much-folded stage occurs which does not appear to
have been noticed previously.
THE .courtship and subsequent events. in the life-
history of the moorhen. during the breeding season are
briefly and skilfully summarised by Miss. Frances Pitt
in British Birds for January. The aggressiveness of —
this species in asserting its territorial rights is well
known. After observations extending’ over three
seasons, Miss Pitt is confident that these rights -are
challenged, for the most part; by the young of the
previous year. This is what one would have expected.
Incubation appears to begin long before the clutch is
complete, and during the whole ‘period of sitting new
material is constantly added to the nest, so that it
has reached a considerable size by the time the last
chick has hatched. The young remain for some days
in the nest, where they are assiduously fed on insects
by both parents. But they will drop out of the nest
into the water on the slightest alarm; this leads to
considerable and hitherto unsuspected mortality, for
frequently. the nursery is placed on the bough of a
tree at some distance above the water. In such cases
the nestlings are unable to return when danger is
past, and speedily die of starvation. A second, supple-
mentary, nest appears generally to be built for the
use of the young, presumably after they have left the
first to acquire the art of feeding themselves. Finally,
some interesting observations are made on the loss of
the brilliant coloration of the head» which charac-
terises the nestling of this species, in common with
that of its ally, the coot.
WE have received vol. xiv., part ii., of the Proceed-
ings of the Birmingham Natural History and Philo-
sophical Society, which contains several interesting
ture from New Zealand, and that there is little hope of | P@P&T andin: particular " A Survey, of the Flora of
East Worcestershire,” by Mr. John Humphreys, to
| which we would direct the attention of botanists and
geologists in particular. A great number of. different
geological formations are represented in this district
| from Archzan rocks to the Lias, with several lime-
stones of different ages, and the effect on the flora is
| very marked. This is especially noticeable on the cal-
| careous rocks of the Lias, where a great collection of
new forms crop up. At Droitwich, Hartlebury Com-
mon, and the Salwarpe valley an interesting set of
maritime plants occurs, and though the theory that in
_ late Pleistocene times the sea penetrated to the present
| too-ft. level.is not now generally accepted, the presence
of such plants is difficult to explain. Birds and insects
afford similar evidence, and certainly lend support to
the view that estuarine conditions prevailed in the
Severn Valley in recent geological times. Hartlebury
f=.
412 NATURE [January 24, 1918
Common is a remarkable spot for the botanist, and is
still fortunately an untouched and unspoilt piece of
country. For this and other interesting places care-
ful lists of the more uncommon plants are given.
Capt. T. S. Masterson read a paper on “The
Petroleum Industry of Rumania” before the meeting
of the Institution of Petroleum Technologists on
January 15, in which he presented a very useful
summary of the position of this industry up to the
time of the entry of Rumania into the European war.
He gives a brief account of the geography and geology
of the Rumanian oilfields, and discusses at some length
the methods of exploitation employed. He shows why
the American method of drilling has proved a com-
parative failure, whilst the Canadian method has
proved very successful, and is preferred by most Ruma-
nian operators. The percussive water-flush method
has not fared much better than the American
method, but, on the other hand, the modern rotary
system has been highly successful in the loose sandy
marls met with in certain areas. The author con-
cludes that no one system can be advocated for general.
‘use in Rumania, but that in each case the system
best adapted to the conditions must be selected, wher-
ever these conditions are known; in unexplored. fields
he recommends the use of the percussion system. He
states that Rumania possessed sixty-one refineries with
a total capacity of 43 million tons, whereas the
highest output of crude oil obtained in any year was
only rg millions. He further directs attention to the
fact that practically the whole of the plant for these
refineries was supplied from Germany, together with
most of the raw materials employed in the: construc-
tion of drilling rigs. In November, 1916, when the
retreat of the Rumanian Army became inevitable, the
wells and refineries were destroyed as completely as
possible, and the paper concludes with an expression
of the hope that when the times comes for reconstruc-.
tion Great Britain will take steps to see that she shall’
be in the position to furnish the requisite materials.
A new type of differential dilatometer for thermal.
investigations on steels is described in. the September-
October Revue de Métallurgie. The author, M. Pierre
Chevenard, claims that the instrument is well adapted
for use in a steel works laboratory on account of trust-
worthiness and simplicity of. design. Only small quan-
tities. of metal are necessary; the instrument is easy
to set up, and the readings are unaffected by vibrations.
An instrument of the type he describes has been used’
for some time for routine tests in a large steel works
in France. It provides a useful complement to the
chemical and micrographic éxamination of certain
steels and their constituents, such as cementite, etc.
Finally, it has proved of value in the qualitative exam-
ination of slight modifications in the dilatability of
metals due to thermal or mechanical influences. The
author remarks, in conclusion, that the examination of
these and certain other phenomena rightly comes within
the scope of precise metrology. ;
Tue following volunmies are announced for early ap-
pearance in the ‘‘ Collection Horizon” of Messrs. Mas-
son. et Cie., Paris :—‘‘ Les premiéres heures du Blessé
de Guerre,’ P. Bertein and A. Nimier; ‘‘ L’Evolution
de la. Plaie de Guerre,” Prof. -A. Policard;. ‘‘ Commo-
tions et Emotions de Guerre,” Prof. A. Léri and Th.
Beck; ‘“‘ Traitement des Psychonévroses de Guerre,”
G. Roussy, J. Boisseau, and M. d’CEIsnitz; ‘‘ Blessures
du Crane,” T. de Martel (revised edition); ‘‘ Blessures
du Cerveau,” C. Chatelin (revised edition); ‘* Prothése
fonctionnelle en. Chirurgie de Guerre,’’? Ducroquet ; and
‘‘Blessures. de la Moelle et de la Queue de Cheval,”
Prof. G. Roussy and J. Lhermitte.
NO. 2517, VOL. I100|
»
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
Encke’s Comet.—The following continuation of the —
ephemeris of Encke’s comet is from Mr. Viljev’s
elements, and is for Greenwich midnight :— ists
R.A. N. Deel, |
hii SB sss ‘s se
Jan. 31 se 23) ob 38 ees 6 21 ag
Feb. 4 ce 23: 44, 6 nA 6 Sa Ee
8 we 23 57 4 i
12 ig 23 58 27
16 6 ic OO ae
20 oe O 14 30°
24 ye 0 23 I2
28 sh © 32 21
Mar. 4 oo; OO
1918 includes the detailed results derived from
photographs of the sun, observations of solar promii
ences, and spectroheliograms of the sun’s dise taken i
calcium light. The sun-spot record is for 1916, and
gives the heliographic latitude and longitude of each
spot, together with its duration, area, and: classification.
The prominence catalogue is also for 1916, and includes
position, extent of base, height, and brightness of each —
prominence observed. A similar catalogue of calcium
floceuli covers the period from October 1, 1916, to”
September 30, r917. In addition, there are valuable
discussions of the distribution of each group of pheno-
mena in regard to time and position on the sun. h
the case of calcium flocculi, the discussion covers the
whole period of observation at Madrid, and is of par-—
ticular interest because so few data have hitherto been
published. The unit of time adopted is that of the
sun’s rotation, and the following mean daily numbers
of flocculi for approximate years have i
from the table given :—
Period Rotations. Daysof gg at oc
ary:
observation. number
1912, Apr. 4-1912, Dec. 5 I-9 131 247
1912, Dec. 5-1914, Jan. 18 10-24 169 704
1914, Jan. 18-1914, Dec. 12 25- 128 1-499
1914, Dec. 12-1915, Nov..4 37-48 134 4-782"
1915, Nov. 4-1916, Dec. 17 49-63. «149 7*506
- SPECTRA OF JUPITER AND SaTURN.—A photographie in-—
vestigation of the spectra of the planets Jupiter and
Saturn has been made at Glasgow mf Dr. L. Becker
(Monthly Notices R.A‘S., Ixxviii., 77). The spectra
extended from B in the red to K in the extreme viole
band discernible in the spectra of the two planets
the well-known band in the red, which Dr. Becke
finds to extend from A 6174 to A 6214. The supposition
that water vapour is. present in the atmospheres of
these planets is not supported by the eho in
question, as the water-vapour hnes near D do
differ in appearance in the spectra. of the moon
‘planets. :
; - January 24, 1918]
NATURE
413
| -~—~S'THE SETTING OF CEMENTS.
cA GENERAL discussion on the setting of cements
_ ++ and plasters was held by the Faraday Society on
3 Monday, January 14, when several interesting papers
_ Were contributed. The subject is one of great tech-
]
nical importance, in view of the large and continually
increasing application of calcareous cements, especially
_ of the Portland class, in engineering and building work.
_ Although this country leads in the manufacture of
_ Portland cement, very little attention has been given
__ to its chemical study by British chemists, and it is not
_ Surprising that the most important papers in the dis-
cussion came from France and the United States.
_ Whilst the setting of plaster of Paris is now agreed
_ to be brought about by the crystallisation of a super-
_ Saturated solution, there still exists a difference of
_ opinion as to the mechanism of the process in the case
_ of Portland cement. The recent work of the U.S.
_ Bureau of Standards, as deseribed in a paper by Mr.
A. A. Klein, supports the view, originally due to
Michaélis, that the products of hydrolysis are colloidal
in nature, and that the desiccation and induration of
gelatinous aluminates and silicates, and even of free
alumina and silica, are responsible for the mechanical
strength of the cement when set. On the other hand,
the veteran cement chemist, Prof. Le Chatelier, to
whom the first explanation of setting is due, reiterated
his opinion that the process is essentially identical with
the setting of plaster, the hardness being caused by
crystallisation. Incidentally Prof. Le Chatelier
offered some criticisms of the tendency, observable in
much of the literature dealing with colloids, to use new
technical terms as if they afforded an explanation in
pyle whereas they only express known facts in
new .
. C. H. Desch, who opened the discussion, and
Mr. Hatschek pointed out that the difference between
the two schools is in great part one of terminology.
It is agreed that the particles of the hydration products
are usually too small to be distinguished, so that they
fall within the region of ultramicroscopic dimensions,
and surface forces become comparable with those
which bring about the crystalline arrangement. Under
such conditions it is almost immaterial whether the
particles be described as crystalline or colloidal, espe-
cially in view of the work of von Weimarn, who has
done much to show the continuity of the passage from
one condition to the other with diminishing size of
particles. .
The contributions of Prof. Donnan, Dr. Lowry, and
Mr. Hemmi
integration of simple salts, and it was shown that
these phenomena have a close connection with those
of setting. In both cases the greater solubility of un-
stable as compared with stable solid phases plays a
art. Dr. Rosenhain carried the discussion a step
urther by comparing the hardening of plasters and
salts with the process of solidification of a metal. The
solid formed in each case is a crystalline aggregate,
which breaks more readily, under ordinary conditions,
across the individual crystals than between their boun-
daries. This has been attributed to the formation of
an amorphous intercrystalline layer, and it is possible
that the strength of hydrated plaster may be due, not
merely to friction between the interlocking radiating
needles of adjacent spherulites, or to*their simple adhe-
_ sion, but to the presence of such amorphous material.
Portland cement would presumably contain a much
higher proportion of the amorphous products.
Another group of papers dealt with questions more
closely allied to engineering practice, and the discus-
sion rendered evident the fact, well known to those
who have studied the somewhat complex subject of the
NO. 2517, VOL. 100|
§ dealt with the agglomeration and dis- |
chemistry of cement, that there are numerous un-
solved problems in connection .with the setting and
hardening processes, some of which bear in the most
direct manner on the utility of cement and concrete
as structural materials. Mr. Blount spoke of these
difficulties from the point of view of the technical
chemist, and Mr. Carée from that of the architect.
For the physical chemist some of the most interesting
of these problems concern the spontaneous changes of
setting time and their aeceleration or inhibition in the
presence of catalysts. The chemical constitution of
Portland cement clinker is now established, thanks to
the splendid work of the Geophysical Laboratory in
Washington, a summary of which was given by Mr.
Rankin, who was responsible for the investigation.
The exact part played by impurities, such as mag-
nesia, iron, and alkalis, still remains .to be deter-
mined. :
The addition of puzzolanie materials, containing
soluble silica, has been practised since ancient times
as a means of improving the qualities of lime mortar,
and similar additions to Portland cement have been
recommended. The work of the Bureau of Standards
indicates that the strength after setting should be im-
proved by such additions, and the practical. question
was directly raised in a paper by Messrs. Lewis and
Deny, who showed a marked improvement in the
strength of good brands of Portland cement, due to the
addition of finely ground blast-furnace slag of suitable
composition. The discussion brought out the fact that
a difference of opinion exists on this question, although
the evidence for improvement is very strong. Blast-
furnace slag as a raw material for Portland cement
manufacture has received little attention from chemists.
in this country, although the industry is now becoming
an important one, and the utilisation of such a trouble-
some waste product deserves much closer study.
Discussions of this kind do a great service in review-
ing the field for investigation in the branch of science
or industry discussed, and also in bringing together
work undertaken from quite independent viewpoints,
the relations between which may have been quite un-
suspected by the original investigators. Portland
cement was an English invention, and this country
has always led in its manufacture; it would be of ad-
vantage to the industry and to engineering if it were
to receive more attention from British chemists than
it has hitherto obtained. C..H. Du
SECONDARY-SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS
AND ADVANCED COURSES,
eet Consultative Committee of the Board of Edu-
cation some years ago prepared a report on exam-
inations in secondary schools, and this was published by
the Board in 1911. Following the Committee’s recom-
mendation, the Board of Education invited the English
universities to confer with representatives of the Board
on the whole subject. These conferences took place
during 1913, and in the same year the Board explained
the general nature of the proposals it was about to
make to representatives of local education authorities
and of associations of secondary-school teachers. In
July, 1914, the Board issued the now well-known Cir-
cular 849, on ‘‘ Examinations in Secondary Schools,”
and invited criticisms ‘from responsible authorities
upon the scheme proposed in it. The scheme provides.
for the annual examination of grant-earning schools
in connection with the Board. Two examinations are -
proposed, and they are to be conducted by one of the
recognised, university examining bodies. The first ex-
amination is to be suitable for forms in which the
average age of the pupils ranges from about sixteen
414
NATURE
[JANUARY 24, 1918 s
a
years to sixteen years eight months. The second
examination will be designed for those who have con-
tinued their studies for about two years after the stage
of the first examination. The first examination is in-
tended to test the pupil’s. general education before he
begins his school specialisation. It should, under cer-
tain conditions, serve the purposes of a matriculation
examination, and it is hoped that eventually it will
replace the numerous entrance and preliminary exam-
inations to which pupils leaving the secondary school
have had to submit themselves. The second examina-
tion will be based on the view that older pupils should
have enjoyed a more concentrated study of a connected
group of subjects, and the courses suggested in the
Circular are (a) classics and modern history, (b) modern
‘humanistic’ studies, and (c) science and mathematics.
The Board’s ‘scheme naturally involves increased ex-
penditure by the schools, and in Circular 849 the Board
promised further financial aid, but in a later circular
of December, 1915, it was announced that proposals
involving increased financial aid were to be considered
in abeyance. Circular 996, issued on May 25, 1917,
however, announced the Board’s ability to take up its
examination scheme again, and the appointment of the
‘*Secondary-School Examinations Council’? to assist
the Board to undertake its functions as the co-ordinat-
ing authority for secondary-school examinations. .This
council is at work, and the schools are awaiting its first
report.
Closely connected with the two examinations which
are being instituted by the Board of Education for
pupils in grant-earning secondary schools is the scheme
for the provision of advanced courses in such schools
outlined in the ‘“‘ Regulations for Secondary Schools”
issued by the Board last year. The Board states that
the secondary schools are not sending forward to insti-
tutions of higher education and research a number of
properly qualified, students adequate to the national
need. The Board regards this deficiency as due partly
to an insufficient provision for advanced work in
secondary schools, and to meet this need the new ad-
vanced courses have been planned. They are intended
for pupils of about sixteen who have reached the
standard of the Board’s first school examination, and
are to last for two years. The advanced course must
be in one or other of three groups of subjects, the
Regulations state :—(i) Science and mathematics, in
which: preponderance may be. given to either; (ii)
classics, i.e. the Latin and Greek languages, together
with the literature, history, and civilisation of Rome
and -Greece; (iii) modern studies, which must include
the study of (a) two languages other than English,
with their literature, (b) modern history on broad lines,
and including the history of England and of Greater
Britain, but also bearing special relation to the two
languages chosen. Two, or even three, of these ad-
vanced courses may be organised in a large school,
where pupils enough normally remain until about
eighteen, but probably the number of advanced pupils
in the school will not allow of more than one course.
An additional grant for each of these courses is pro-
mised; it will not be calculated on the number of pupils
and will in no case exceed 4ool.
November last between 270 and 280 applications for
recognition of advanced courses were received by the
Board. About half of the applications were in respect
of courses in science and mathematics; of the remain-
ing half, those for courses in classics were little more
than one-third of those for courses in modern studies.
Up to the same date sixty-three courses in science,
thirteen in classics, and nineteen in modern studies
have been recognised. Nearly fifty were still undeter-
mined. In the remainder (about 130) recognition was
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
Up to the middle of —
withheld, because the syllabus of instruction submitted ©
was unsatisfactory, or because it was not shown that
it could be satisfactorily carried out, or because
reasonable number of pupils qualified to enter on the
course was not forthcoming. Brey,
aya!
GERMAN ECONOMICS AND
TECHNOLOGY,
“THE first meeting was recently held of the German —
Union of Technical Scientific Societies, formed
by a combination of thirteen associations and unions, ~
when problems involving economics and technology ~
during and after the war were discussed. Prof. Dr. —
Wiedenfeld, of Halle, spoke on the subject, and showed —
that whilst, during recent pre-war years, Germany had
become more and more dependent upon foreign coun-—
tries for many articles of prime necessity, the blockade
had thrown her back upon her own resources, and
technical science had been called upon to furnish her
requirements out of these, under conditions which were —
so far novel in that the question of cost of produc- —
tion became one of secondary importance. The 4
problem had been met in three different ways :— q
(1) By re-establishing industries that had been ren-
dered unremunerative by foreign competition, such as —
the production of manganese, the increased production
of iron, the production of sulphur, and the intensifica-—
tion of agriculture. on ss
(2) By the increased utilisation of what had been —
waste products so much. that the term “non-utilisable
substance’’ had been eliminated by the war, examples —
being the production of lubricants from coal-tar and
of clothing materials from various waste products. __
(3) By the production of substitutes and of various ~
substances by synthetic processes, as of nitro-com-
pounds from atmospheric nitrogen, and of cattle feed —
from straw. ae z
It is interesting to note that this speaker objected to
the multiplicity of Government authorities controlling
production, and holds that the production of materials —
in large quantities can be assured after the war only —
by means of monopolies, though not necessarily State
monopolies. Finally, he insisted upon the immense
importance of close co-operation between technical
science and industry, neither of which can exist with- —
out the other. It need scarcely be added that many of —
these observations apply quite as forcibly to conditions
in this country as to those in Germany. :
a
aq
$e
THE NEW INTEGRAL CALCULUS,
THE ancient Greeks determined various areas and ~
volumes by a method known as that of exhaus- ~
tion; but they had no integral calculus properly so-
called, any more than (pace Prof. Burnet) they had a ~
differential calculus, although they were familiar enough ©
with the idea of a locus described by the motion (or —
flow) of a point. Even Fermat missed the analytical —
method devised by Barrow, Newton, and Leibniz. This —
was so rapidly developed as to assume a form which
(except in notation) remained practically unaltered for
a century and a half. The reason of this quiescence— ~
a sort of dormant vitality—was the neglect of function- —
theory, or, rather, its non-existence. The appearance —
of Fourier’s work on the theory of heat compelled —
mathematicians to study the properties of trigono-
metrical series, and the conditions under which they
could be used for the representation of so-called arbi- i)
trary functions. Dirichlet and Riemann shed a flood of ©
light upon the matter; and Riemann gave a definition
of a definite integral which could be applied to func-
tions more general than those that could be integrated
Se
. ee
Fr ee 5 . *
_ aceording to the older (say Newtonian) definition.- In
(Sos appeal the function ‘to be integrated might have a
teenies Secs
1 on Tian ley
i
>
integral
5
2 January 24, 1918]
NATURE
405
finite number of isolated discontinuities in the range of
_ integration; isolated, that is, in the sense of being
_ separated by finite intervals.
_ tegrals, the Riemann integrals, had come under ob-
_ servation.
Thus a new type of in-
Quite recently the whole theory of integration has
entered upon a new phase, mainly through the develop-
ment of the theory of sets of points, and the enlarged
notion of “function’’ now established. To Lebesgue
is due a definition of a definite integral which is applic-
ble in certain cases even when Riemann’s is not. The
integral agrees in value with the Riemann
when the latter exists; just as the Riemann
integral agrees in value with the ordinary integral when
the latter exists. The very latest contributions to the
theory are mainly due to Vallée Poussin and Baire,
z . and apparently a kind of finality has been reached in the
mathematical notion of an integral, at least in the light
of our present mathematical knowledge. Students will
find an excellent summary in Prof. G. A. Bliss’s lec-
ture, “Integrals of Lebesgue,” published in the Bulle-
tin of the American Mathematical Society for October,
1917. The reader must have a fair acquaintance with
the theory of sets (including the notions of measure and
content) ; otherwise the lecture is self-contained. Refer-
ences to recent works on the subject are also given.
Few things are more remarkable than the mathe-
matical discoveries of the present generation, dis-
- eoveries which have profoundly affected the very rudi-
_ments and foundations of logic, analysis, and geometry.
They cannot be ignored even by the elementary teacher,
* and the problem of making them familiar to students is
one that must be resolutely faced. G. B. M.
METEOROLOGY IN THE ARGENTINE
f REPUBLIC. taht
- COPY has reached us of the Boletin Mensual
- of the Argentine Meteorological Office—a new
monthly weather review that has now been running
for more than a year. The data summarised refer to
the year 1916, and are given in. useful form. The
tri-daily meteorological observations for twenty-five’
stations are printed in extenso, and an abstract of these,
along with returns from other fifty-two stations, are
given in an extended table. The elements summarised
are pressure, temperature, relative and _ absolute
humidity, direction of the wind, rainfall, cloud, and
the number of frosts experienced.
The stations range in latitude from 55° S. to 22° S.,
and in height from 4 to 3447 metres, so that all
_ given for more than 1400 stations.
climates are represented. Tables of daily rainfall are
The distribution,
as is to be expected in a country like Argentina, where
the meteorological posts are in general also railway
stations, is very irregular. In the province of Buenos
Aires, which embraces an area equal to that of the
United Kingdom without Wales, there are 556 rain-
gauge stations, but in the equally large territory of
Santa Cruz there are only eleven stations. The results
are shown in six coloured maps, giving the rainfall,
the departure of the rainfall from the average, the
accumulated rainfall since the beginning of the agri-
cultural year, viz. July 1, with departures from the
average, the mean temperature, pressure, and prevail-
ing winds, and the extremes of temperature. Detailed
hourly values of declination, horizontal force, and ver-
tical force as recorded at the Central Magnetic Ob-
servatory at Pilar (lat. 31° 40’ S., long. 63° 53’ W.) also
appear, along with a summary of the seismic pheno-
mena recorde1 at several points with the Milne or
Bosch-Omori seismographs.
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
The hydrometric branch of the service gives in each
number of the Boletin the daily height of the principal
rivers and lakes of the Republic as observed at fifty-
eight places, with the departure from the average, also
a special study month by month of the conditions at an
individual station. So far the discussions refer to gauges
at various points on the River Parana, where there are
more than thirty years’ observations available. Vari-
ous interesting articles by members of the staff appear
from time to time, and it is to be hoped that the prompt
issue of meteorological data initiated by Mr. Wiggin,
director of the Argentine service, will extend to other
South American weather bureaux.
THE NEEDS OF OUR EDUCATION AT
THE. PRESENT DAY, .WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO SCIENCE TEACHING.)
ARLY in the past year a work was published
by a_ recently retired Ambassador which was
understood in a special way to reflect the opinion of
the Foreign Office.. In this book he set forth the
“necessary qualifications’? for the diplomatic career,
which in his opinion were “ good birth, good breeding,
good looks, and good health,’ and went on to say :—
“Science is not necessary. Geography beyond elemen-
tary notions is not of great value. The diplomatist
will acquire what geographical knowledge he needs of
the country to which he is appointed while residing
at the post. Few men can know it in sufficient detail
beforehand.”
We drifted into this war through sheer lack of expert
knowledge of foreign countries and foreign languages.
We have muddled and misconducted our war opera-
tions on sea and land through lack of expert know-
ledge, of science, on the part of those commanding at
home, and sometimes—happily not always—of those
commanding abroad. If by the proverbial good luck
which saves Great Britain ever and again; if, still more,
by the unparalleled bravery of our men in all branches
of the combatant Services, by their innate common
sense and coolness, and by the occasional streak of
genius among their leaders, which not even a War
Office or an Admiralty can occlude, we are sufficiently
victorious. to make peace on satisfactory terms, we
shall need more than ever to reform our system of
education and the general curriculum to be applied in
all schools to the children and youth of both sexes.
We shall not, I believe, conquer the Germans suffi-
ciently in this round to be sure they will remain in the
sphere allotted to them. We shall at best be able with
the help of our Allies to turn them out of France,
Belgium, and Italy, Serbia and Rumania, and leave
them temporarily_exhausted behind a frontier they only
intend to respect until they regain strength. The one
sure way to beat the Germans and keep them in their
place is to become better educated than they are, and
apply our new education to developing the resources of
our own land and of the four or five million square miles
in the tropics dependent on the London Government
for direction.
Prior to the war, because of our contempt of a
scientific education, we offered little or no inducement
to our young men_and women to serve the Home Coun-
try and the Empire in the application of science to
industry, commerce, and the enlargement of the
national intelligence. Therefore, we had to recruit
our science teachers frequently from Germany. A
great influx of clever men came to Britain from Ger-
many under the gis of the Prince Consort and from
1 From the presidential address delivered hefore the Association of Public-
i Science Masters on January 8 by Sir H. H. Johnston, G.C:M.G.,
416
NATURE
[JANUARY 24, 1918
the awakened interest in art and science he left behind
him. They became scientific pioneers in African ex-
ploration, professors of philology, of Sanskrit, of Celtic
languages, of forestry, botany, zoology, chemistry, and
history. They excelled in Oriental studies, in botany,
and in chemistry, and rendered yeoman service to
British industrial and mental development. Most of
them are dead—happily dead before this horrible war
revealed the dreadful, the unforgivably cruel side of -
A few are pensioned off, but their.
Imperial Germany.
names are indelibly inscribed in the history of the
British Empire, if that history be truly written. A
few have returned to Germany. But never again,
within the lifetime of the youngest man present, shall
we send to Germany for instructors in any branch of
learning.
Consequently, it is more than ever vitally necessary
that we should reorganise our education, and produce
as home-bred articles all the botanists, philologists,
foresters, zoologists, entomologists, chemists, astro-
nomers, translators of Oriental manuscripts, and musi-
cians we require for our home needs and for the Empire
dependent on our initiative. We shall not do this
efficiently with our existing ideals of education at the
great and small schools.
But we require not only to train British biologists,
astronomers, ethnologists, philologists, historians,
chemists, and a hundred other diverse. types of special-
ists, but equally we need to give a glimmer, a general
idea of these branches of science to all the people of
the realm. Geography must bulk largely in popular
education; some idea should be given of the earth’s
age and structure; elementary notions of astronomy,
zoology, and botany are highly necessary to the mental
equipment of the masses; and ethnology is of equal
importance with geography. The history of Great
Britain and Ireland should be taught intelligibly and
truly, not in the Mrs. Markham style, nor with the
prejudices of Macaulay or Father Benson. Something
of human anatomy and much about the laws of health
should be in the curriculum of even the humblest.
An elementary knowledge of arithmetic and |
school.
a thorough knowledge of the English language—its
origins, its right conventional pronunciation, and its
weird and wicked orthography; an introduction to the
masterpieces of English literature; smatterings of
Latin, Greek, and French—sufficient to understand the
part these languages have played in the formation of
our vocabulary; a generalised explanation of electricity
and the simplest and most important facts of chem-
istry: these, it seems to me, with the teaching of a
good handwriting and the clear expression of thoughts
on paper and a little freehand drawing, are the
essential subjects of the basic education which should
be given to every child in the kingdom between the
ages of six and fourteen.
Building on such a base, we can then branch out
along the lines of specialist education : Shorthand, after
longhand; the phonetic writing of English, after the
preposterous artificiality of conventional spelling;
foreign languages after our own; drawing and paint-
ing for those who incline to the pictile arts; music for
all who are musical; anthropology and ethnology in
their diverse ramifications for the future traveller,
clergyman, administrator, or police-court magistrate;
geometry, geodesy, mechanics, hydrostatics, and
physics, and the higher mathematics for the pre-
destined surveyor, builder, engineer, or astronomer ;
chemistry and agriculture, animal pathology for the
farmer-in-grain; chemistry, again, and all the out-
growths of that mighty chapter in the New Bible for
the intended manufacturer and tradesman; ballistics
for the cadet; botany, entomology, sociology, modern
history, law, and languages for the future statesman ;
NO. 2517, VOL. 100|
patriots, and law-abiding citizens, obeying, however,
and the differential calculus for those who crave an
opportunity of applying it to some more practical pure
pose than merely passing as Senior Wrangler,
Education, it seems tome, comes under three heads:
(1) That which deals with the necessities of man’s body —
—gymnastics, training of the eye and ear, the develop-_
ment of the muscles, skill with weapons or utensils, —
the strengthening of the nerves, the making of each —
girl and boy into as healthy and fit a member of the —
community as is possible; the teaching of all the
mechanical and constructive arts that go to feeding
our bodies and minds, sheltering us, transporting us
from place to place, and clothing us. (2) That which —
supplies the requirements of man’s mind, all useful —
learning regarding the past, the place of our planet
in the Cosmos, the other forms of life that share the —
earth with man, the interpretation of the great New
Bible—in short, the Book of the Earth—itself, which —
we are just learning to read, and those other lesser _
books, the products of the human mind; not only the —
documents left to us from the pre-Christian Mediter-
ranean world, but also the great literatures of India, of —
Scandinavia, of China and Japan, of Renascent Italy, —
England, France, of the Aztecs in Mexico, and of the —
Semitic and Hamitic peoples. (3) That of the educa-
tion of the soul. > Shia Oya
This last is a much-abused word, the precise mean- —
ing of which no one can define to the liking of his —
neighbour. It is the imponderable, “insaisissable,” —
imperishable spirit of the race which we also call
“character ’’ and “‘ disposition’; which is referred to
poetically as ‘‘heart’’ in. contradistinction to “head.?
It is almost universally agreed that the education of the
impressionable young cannot be confined to the cultiva- —
tion of muscles and the steadying of nerves, to the care of —
the teeth and the removal of adenoids, to the initiation
into the mechanical arts and the decorative arts; nor |
to the filling of the mind with an encyclopaedia of use-
ful information. You have, in addition to caring for
mind and body, to impart such education as may— _
here with great, there with only partial, success—turn _
the raw material of your pupils into good men and —
women, honest servants of the State, enthusiastic
wise and humane laws which they are competent to
frame or to understand. } oh
Into this third great branch of education science, —
founded on demonstrable truth, alone must enter; —
superstition must be banned. The scientific basis and ~
authority for temperance and chastity must be ex- —
plained; children must be shown that wrongdoing —
against one’s self or the community does not pay in
the long run—that against one’s own body ant mind
it is rapidly punished; that against the community not
only are there unpleasant consequences through the —
enforcement of laws which we have made for the pro- —
tection of the community, but also that the wrongdoer —
himself would suffer in security and happiness were —
there no such laws. (om
Om
ig
THE METEOROLOGICAL RESOURCES OF —
; THE EMPIRE. : 3
ae many directions steps are being taken to sur- —
vey the resources of the Empire and to plan ©
how these may best be utilised in the general recon- —
struction which must undoubtedly be taken in hand —
on the cessation of hostilities. In meteorology the —
same should be done, for within the Empire we may ©
meet every type of climate. The great Overseas —
Dominions, India, the Colonies, and especially the ~
oceanic islands, not only afford the means for extend-—
1 Abstract of the presidential address delivered before the Royal Meteoro- a
logical Society on January 16 by Ma‘or H. G. Lyons, F.R.S. E
- or individual initiative, not
5 January 24, 1918]
NATURE
417
ing our knowledge of the direction and velocity of the
‘urrents of the upper air, to meet the demands of avia-
cu
tion, which will become greater in the near future, but
With a very moderate increase in the resources of their
existing institutions, and more active co-operation, they
may powerfully aid in the solution of many meteoro-
logical problems of theoretical and practical import-
ance.
_ But the organisation of the Empire’s meteorology at
the present time is very far from being adequate, for
the provision of stations has grown out of local needs
rom a considered plan.
_ When we examine the meteorological organisations of
2
the Empire we may well be astonished at their .extent
_ and their development, but as we look further into the
epg
_ matter we shall see that we are still far from utilising
them to the best advantage, for reasons which will
. E all countries where there is a meteorological ser-
vice the network of climatological stations is controlled
#y one or more first-order stations, or meteorological
servatories, at which continuous records or hourly
readings of pressure, temperature, wind, sunshine,
_ rain, etc., are taken, but none as yet exist in the great
Colonial regions of East Africa, West Africa, or in the
West Indian Islands, though there are eighteen insti-
_ tutions of this class in other parts of the Empire.
The work of the meteorologist does not end with
recording the pressure, or the temperature, or the
monthly amount of the rainfall, but meteorological
observations, after being taken, must be worked up
into the various forms in which they will be most
useful for shipping, agriculture, water-supply, engineer-
_ ing, sanitation and health, and now, also, aerial trans-
The same form. will not suffice for all, and
_ meteorology itself has its own especial needs, but the
_ important thing is that this information, however accu-
- rate and detailed it may be, will not be available in
exactly the forms that answer to different requirements
unless there is a sufficient staff of trained meteoro-
logists to handle it and to supervise its preparation.
Nor is the study of a single region sufficient in itself.
_ India, in preparing the monsoon forecast, draws upon
data from , St. Helena, Brazil, etc.; Egypt, in
forming each year an estimate of the coming Nile flood,
utilises information from India, Uganda, the South
Atlantic, and so on. The East Indian Islands need
warnings of their hurricanes from the more eastward
islands of their archipelago, and: must utilise all that
Asia and Africa can tell them about the development
and movement of tropical storms before their pre-
_ cautions can be considered to have exhausted all the
- means available. All lands which lie near the sub-
tropical zones of scanty rainfall are vitally interested
in the problems of forecasting the probable sufficiency
_ or failure of their rainy season. The droughts of the
pastoral regions of Australia and South Africa are well
known, and the same occur in the Sudan, though
, from its retarded development less has been heard of
them up to the present time, but in the future, as the
_ population increases and becomes more settled, the
, same considerations will demand attention.
: 1. Similarly,
the countries in temperate zones find some of their
most urgent problems in the adequacy or inadequacy
of the summer heat for the ripening of cereal crops.
We are far from having solved these problems, but
we know enough to say definitely that they cannot be
- solved from the study of a single region, but that they
_ are world-problems in which the meteorological condi-
_ tions of the whole world must be considered, and for
| studies of such vast importance the British Empire
_ offers unequalled opportunities, which must be seized
and fully utilised. It is in the development of our
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
science within the Empire that there are opportunities
by which we have hitherto profited inadequately.
In East and West Africa we have two large groups
of Colonial possessions having closely related climates
and being already in possession of a number of
meteorological stations with records extending over a.
considerable number of years. It should» not be be-
yond the wit of man to devise a workable system of
co-operation for these stations so as to form for each
a service which should have a meteorological observa-
tory as its technical centre, with one or more trained
meteorologists to direct its energies and to utilise the
collected information for the use of the Colonies them-.
selves and of the Empire as a whole.
Already a secular decrease in the annual rainfall of
Nigeria has been not merely suggested as being indi-
cated, but also announced by some as a fact, so that
the confirmation or confutation of this contention is a
matter of very urgent importance to the Colony. Such,
questions as these are best investigated on the spot by a
trained meteorologist in the first instance, even though
the final stages in the inquiry may require reference
to the meteorological authorities of other regions for
the results of their investigation into similar or related
questions.
After considering in detail our meteorological organ-
isation we find that within the Empire there . are.
already upwards of 1000 climatological stations distri-
buted all over the world, from lat. 60° N. to lat. 54° S.,
near the equator, within the tropics, and in the tem-
perate zone. They are on coast-lines, in the heart of
continents, and on oceanic islands, Some few, especially
in India, are at high altitudes above sea-level. They
therefore furnish us with opportunities for investigat-
ing almost any problem that may arise in meteorology
if competent meteorologists make full and proper use
of them. :
We come, then, to the conclusion that, in order to
provide trustworthy and adequate information regard-
ing the climate of the Empire, and the meteorological
phenomena which play so important a part in the lives
of all the inhabitants of the earth, a more efficient
organisation of our meteorological resources is neces-
sary. In the first place, men will be required who
have received a good training in modern meteorology,
and have such a knowledge of physics and mathe-
matics as will enable them to deal with the problems
which they meet. Hitherto there have been very few
of these men in this country, but the present needs
have brought a number into direct contact with the
subject, and if the meteorological services of the Em-
pire are going to offer a career to an able meteoro-
logist, some of them may elect to adopt it. Co-opera-
tion and intercommunication will be all the more essen-
tial and valuable when the meteorological work is
entrusted to specially trained men who have seriously
studied the subject, and this society should be able by.
means of its meetings, and especially by its Journal,
to aid powerfully in the attainment of this desirable
object.
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
LeEps.—The Department of Physiology is about to
undergo extension. The work of the teachers of
physiology has been divided. Dr. H. S. Raper has
been appointed professor of physiology and biochem-
istry, and Dr. C. L. Evans has been appointed to a
new chair as professor of experimental! physiology, or,
as it will probably be called, ‘experimental physiology
and experimental pharmacology.’’ This change illus+
418
NATURE
[JANUARY 24, 1918 —
trates the trend of modern medicine and surgery. It is
becoming evident that an- increasing contribution to
their progress is rendered possible by a detailed study
of the chemical processes met with in -health and
disease, and the influence upon them of substances
of known chemical composition. Recent investigations
furnish an example. Antiseptic action of substances
containing active chlorine was undertaken early in the
war by the University in conjunction with Dr. H. D.
Dakin. These researches led to the introduction of
two antiseptics, chloramine-T and dichloramine-T,
which have been widely used in the treatment of war
wounds. To carry out efficiently the new schemes in-
volved in the above changes, increased laboratory ac-
commodation for research will be necessary, and addi-
tions to the apparatus in the Department of Physiology
must also be provided. Prof. Raper was appointed, in
1gto, lecturer in pathological chemistry at the Univer-
sity of Toronto, and held ihat post until his appoint-
ment in 1913 as lecturer in physiological chemistry at
Leeds University. He is now on military service.
Prof. Evans is also on military service. His pub-
lished works comprise a number of valuable papers
on subjects of physiology and chemical physiology. In
the important branch of the medical school—that which
relates to pathology and bacteriology—there are also
likely to be interesting developments in the near future.
A coursE of four advanced lectures on ‘** The Elec-
trical Examination and Treatment of Affections of the
Nervous System” will be given by Dr. A. D. Waller
and Miss M. D. Waller in the Physiological Labora-
tory of the University of London, South Kensington,
on February 5, 12, 19, and 26, the admission to which
will be free, without tickets.
A course of nine public lectures on ‘‘ Animal -Life
and Human Progress,” arranged in conjunction with
the Imperial Studies Committee of the University of
London, to be given on Wednesdays at 5.30, will open
at King’s College on January 30 with a lecture on
““Man’s Account with the Lower Animals,” by Prof.
Arthur Dendy. The other lectures to the end of February
will be:—Some educational and moral aspects of
zoology, Prof. G. C. Bourne; Museums and research,
C. Tate Regan; Man and the web of life, Prof. J.
Arthur Thomson; The origin of man, Prof. F. Wood
Jones. Admission to the lectures is free. Cards for
the course may be obtained from the Publications
Secretary, King’s College, Strand, W.C.2.
In connection with the work of the Imperial Studies
Committee of the University of London, a course of
public lectures on ‘“‘Some Biological Problems of To-
day”’ is being delivered at University College on Mon-
days at 4 p.m. The course began on January: 21, and
the first five lectures’are :—(1)The problem of food, Prof.
W. M. Bayliss; (2) War bread and its constituents,
Prof. F. G. Hopkins; (3) Accessory food factors
(vitamines) in war-time diets, Miss E. Margaret Hume;
(4) Alcoholic and other beverages, Prof. A. R. Cushny;
(5) The possibilities of increased crop production, Dr.
E. J. Russell...The’ lectures are open to the public
without fee or ticket.
THE early introduction by Mr. Fisher of an amended
Education Bill, referred to last week, shorn of the
more objectionable administrative features of_ the
original Bill, has given general satisfaction. It says
much for the credit and courage, no less than for the
sincerity, of Mr. Fisher and his educational ideals that
he has not failed to take note of the strong feeling
evinced, throughout the country during his educational
campaign, against any further increase of. bureau-
cratic control with respect to the Board of Education.
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
Parliament is’ justified in declaring a policy, but
must be left to the local authorities to give it full effe
The Act of 1902, whilst it made the county and borou;
councils responsible for all forms of education within
their areas, failed to make the obligation mandatory. —
In the present Bill this is remedied, and now they
must submit schemes for the approval of the Board to —
give effect to its requirements, and since the Board
commands under the proposed system of consolidated —
grants large financial control up to 50 per cent. of the
total local expenditure, it can readily call upon recal-
citrant authorities to fulfil the conditions laid down.
Probably the most difficult will be, having regard to —
industrial conditions, to the requirements of agricul-—
ture, and to the scattered and remote character of cer-—
tain rural areas, to make satisfactory. arrangements in
respect of the clauses of the Bill which are designed
to secure’ the continued education of young people be-_
tween fourteen and eighteen. Many different solutions
will be required according to the special circumstances”
of industries and localities. Wide and far-reaching
as are the provisions of the Bill, it is, after all, a
tentative measure, leading, it is to be hoped, to further
developments, in the near future, alike in the provision —
of maintenance for children declared fit for fuller edu-
cational opportunities, in ensuring more complete
measures for the care of child-life from the earliest
age, and in the raising’ of the compulsory school age.
to fifteen, as in the Scottish Bill. The educational”
features of Mr. Fisher’s Bill have met with general | .
approval, and it may be now anticipated with confi-
dence that early in the new session Parliament w
give the Bill legal effect. ;
Tue Principal, Dr. R. Mullineux Walmsley, in his —
report at the prize distribution. of the Northampton
Polytechnic Institute on January 19, said the manu-
facture of high-class munitions upon a commercial
scale, commenced on July 1, 1915, had been contin
uninterruptedly to the present time. In the Techni
Optics Department the work of training wom
students in full-time classes in lens- and prism-grind-
ing was vigorously prosecuted. This department has
been highly successful, and the value of its work with ©
reference to the prosecution of the war cannot be exa
gerated. Attendances at other classes followed much ~
the same course as in the preceding session, the chief
feature being the continual draining off of the senior
men both for actual service in the forces and for muni-”
tions work. ‘As usual, the work has continued to re-
ceive the cordial support of the trades affected. What
was described in the last report as ‘‘ looking forward ”
work, namely, the training of disabled sailors and
soldiers to take their places in the life of the country,
not only now, but also after the conclusion of the war,
was continued. To the end of July, 1917, eleven com-
plete courses for training suitable men as electric power
sub-station attendants were given, and the whole of
the men trained were placed out. In the session now
running further courses have been given, and the six-
teenth course of the series has been started. Fifty-
eight members of the staff, 542 members and students,
and 802 students have joined the colours, ané
there are 104 V.A.D.’s serving in military hospitals
abroad and at home. Of those joining the forces 16¢
have obtained commissions. Another line of work i;
the placing of the equipment and staff of the poly-
technic at the disposal of the Government. From time
to time various members of the senior staff in differem
departments have been requisitioned for experimenta
and scientific work intended to aid the prosecution
the war, and as the equipment of the laboratories 3
in many directions, very complete, a considerab
amount of work has been done. a
S
.
>
t-
w
Pe
oe
ets
_ January 24, 1918]
NATURE
419
= Tue eighteenth annual general meeting of the Asso-
ciation of Public School Science Masters, held on
January 8 and 9 at the City of London School, was
remarkable for the unanimity shown by members on
certain important points. The main aim of the asso-
ciation at the present moment is to make it certain
that every boy in the public schools should receive
in natural science. This training should be
younger 5
_ part of the general education of the boys, and should
_ therefore be on lines suitable for those who will not
afterwards make science their special study.
Such
lines were laid down by the association twelve months
age in a pamphlet known as “Science for All,” in
ch prominence was given to the human and bio-
logical aspects of the subject. Since this is non-special-
_ ist training, it must be taken in the schools before the
_ average boy reaches the age of sixteen and a half,
_ when a certain degree of specialisation usually begins.
_ These points were referred to by Mr. O. H. Latter,
who explained to the members the far-reaching effects
of university entrance examinations on curricula. The
committee, he said, had been met very sympathetically
by Oxford University in this matter, and negotiations
were still going on with Cambridge. During the dis-
cussion which followed, the Board of Education. policy
of grouping science with mathematics in these exam-
inations was severely criticised. No enthusiasm was
_ shown for the introduction of ‘‘ compulsory science” in
such examinations, if the main aim can be attained
in any other way; on the other hand, the general feel-
ing of the meeting was in favour of removing compul-
sion (so far as this means that failure to pass in one
subject alone necessarily prevents a boy from passing
to the university) from all subjects, with the sole ex-
_ ception-of English. The moderateness of the associa-
_ tion was shown again later, when the following reso-
lution was passed unanimously :—‘‘ That it is desirable
t opportunities be given to candidates for science
scholarships: to offer a historical or other literary sub-
ject as subsidiary to their main one.’’ Extracts from
Sir H. H. Johnston’s presidential address are given
elsewhere in the present issue. -
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
Lonpon.
Geological Society, January 9.—Dr. Alfred Harker,
president, in the chair—L. D. Stamp: The highest
Silurian rocks of the Clun Forest District (Shrop-
shire). Clun Forest is a district in which Upper Silu-
rian rocks crop out over a wide area, interrupted by
outliers of Old Red Sandstone. The district is separ-
ated from the typical Silurian area of Ludlow by
the great line of disturbance that passes through
Church Stretton and Old Radnor. The succession of
beds compares closely with that in the Ludlow district.
The main differences are:—(1) That the Aymestry
Limestone is represented by mudstones west of the
great fault-line, and (2) that all other divisions show
increased thicknesses. There is no evidence of any strati-
graphical break. The sequence is complete from the
Lower Ludlow rocks up into the Old Red Sandstone,
and the changes in lithology are gradual. The extent
_ of Old Red Sandstone, as indicated on present maps,
must be restricted, since most of the supposed Old
Red Sandstone has been found to belong to the Teme-
side group, which here attains a great development.
The Silurian age of the beds is shown by the occur-
-. rence of Lingula minima and of characteristic lamelli-
branchs. A comparison with other districts in which
Upper Silurian rocks are developed shows that deposi-
tion attained its maximum along the Welsh Border,
the thickness of the formations decreasing rapidly
NO. 2517, VOL. 100]
southwards and eastwards. “On the east of the dis-
trict—in the neighbourhood of the fault-line—the
strata are folded along axes ranging north-north-east-
wards parallel to the main fault. Away from the
major faults the folding is gentler, and folds ranging
nearly due east and west make their appearance.
Farther west the north-north-eastward folding and
fracturing reappear.
Mineralogical Society, January 15.—Mr. W. Barlow,
president, in the chair.—Dr. J. W. Evans: Diagrams
expressing the composition of a rock. These diagrams
are intended, like those of Michel Lévy and Miigge, to
indicate at a glance the significance of the analysis of
a tock or complex mineral silicate. The molecular
proportions of the constituents are determined in the
usual manner, those of the ferrous and magnesium
oxides, however, being doubled. The silica is repre-
sented by two rectangles placed side by side, the length
of each being half the molecular proportion of silica.
In one of these rectangles lengths equal to the mole-
cular proportions of potash, soda, and lime are
measured off in succession, and in the other those of
alumina, iron oxide, and magnesia. Thus the
same space represents both metallic oxide and silica,
and so far as felspars, felspathoids, or egirine are
actually or potentially present, the monoxide and _ses-
quioxide they contain are, with two molecules of silica,
represented by contiguous portions of the two rect-
angles. The excess, if any, of lime over available
alumina has the silica necessary to form wollastonite,
and the excess, if any, of iron oxide over available soda
and the magnesia have the silica required to form
orthosilicates. The remaining silica space is then
divided up to show the additional silica required or
available for the felspars, felspathoids, and egirine,
and that available to convert the orthosilicates of iron
and magnesium into metasilicates. |The remainder
represents free silica or quartz.—Dr. G. F. H. Smith :
The use of the gnomonic projection in the calculation
of crystals. If projected on to a plane at right angles
to the edge of the zone containing the poles from which
bi-angular measurements were made, the diagram
takes the form of a net, the nodes of which represent
the principal poles. The unit lengths of the net are
easily calculated from the data, and once the rect-
angular co-ordinates of any node with respect to axes
on the diagram have been determined those of _ the
remainder follow by simple addition or subtraction ;
the corresponding spherical angles are deduced by a
simple calculation. The accuracy of the calculations
may be checked from the diagram at every step. To
keep the projection corresponding with any crystal
within reasonable dimensions it is sometimes convenient
to project on to the faces of a cube. The direction of a
zone when crossing from one face to another is very
simply found from the diagram.
Mathematical Society, January 17.—Major P. A.
MacMahon: A method for studying any convergent
series —G. H. Hardy: Additional note on Dirichlet’s
divisor problem.—J. H. Grace : Note on a Diophantine
approximation.—K. Amanda Rau :A note on a theorem
of Mr. Hardy’s.—C. H. Forsyth : Super-normal curves.
—Prof. H. Hilton and Miss D. S. Tuck: Plane quartic
curves with a tac-node.
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, December 31, 1917.—M. Ed.
Perrier in the chair.—A. Lacroix : The eruption of the
Quetzaltepec volcano and the earthquake that destroyed
San Salvador (June-July, 1917). A detailed account
of the eruption, gathered from the statements of eye-
witnesses and from photographs, is given. The great
loss of life and damage were mainly due to the earth-
\
420
NATURE
[ JANUARY 24, 1918 ; q
v
quakes.—M. Hamy: A particular case of diffraction of
the images of circular stars.—E. Ariés: The necessity
of improving the Clausius equation of state. In the
Clausius equation
LE oc Ty:
Ciookes trusts for increased corn production.
tion may be averted through the laboratory.’’
The argument is briefly as follows :—
A large and progressively increasing proportion ~
inhabitants feed upon wheat, bes
of the world’s
the world’s demand for wheat continuously i
creases.
approaching finality.
famine must necessarily follow.
increased use of nitrogenous manures.
But the world’s requirements for nitrogenous _ &
manures for this purpose would rapidly exhaust —
all possible existing supplies—sulphate of am-—
monia, nitrate of soda, and guano. It is claimed
that the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by a-
chemical process provides the only practical safe-_
guard against a rapidly approaching world’s weet ¥
shortage.
It is further stated that the fixation of atmonl i
spheric nitrogen on a commercial scale is a prac-
ticable proposition, for its development has prom
liam Crookes discussed the world’s wheat —
¥.
His
hope—to quote his own words—is that “ starva-
The possibility of increasing wheat thot .
duction by extension of area is shown to be
The time must, therefore, |
arrive in the near future when the world’s wheat
production will not meet the world’s demand, and —
This can be |
averted only by increasing the yield of wheat per —
acre, which can be most readily achieved by the ©
—
There ‘are also tables, by re-
By Sir William Crookes. —
i
as z January 31, 1918] .
i
NATURE
423
vided combined nitrogen for manure and explo-
' sives in sufficient amounts to enable Germany to
continue the war.
_A last chapter, written for this edition by Sir
Henry Rew, gives a somewhat more optimistic
forecast, based on more recent and detailed statis-
tics, of the possibility of extending the world’s
wheat supply without the introduction of any new
_ factor, such as cheap nitrogenous manure made
from the atmosphere.
Of the vital interest and importance of the
problem at the present time there can be no two
opinions. The book should be read by everyone.
For some years the world’s wheat crop has barely
sufficed for the world’s consumption. With the
restriction of labour, manures, etc., by the war,
a world’s wheat shortage may confidently be ex-
pected. What this would mean to us is shown by
the fact that wheat provides more than 30 per
cent. of the energy of the national food budget,
and as much as 60 per cent. in certain classes.
Every possible effort should, therefore, be made to
increase wheat production.
The Corn Production Act will no doubt in-
crease the area. To increase the crop per acre is,
as Sir William Crookes suggests, a problem for
_the laboratory. But there are many possibilities
beyond the synthesis of cheap _ nitrogenous
manures. In the first place, the amount of farm-
yard manure produced annually in the United
Kingdom is probably not far from 50 million tons,
containing about 250,000 tons of nitrogen. Half
of this is certainly lost, through the imperfect
“methods of making and storing in common use.
If the loss could be reduced -by only 10 per cent.
the saving of nitrogen would be equivalent to a
normal dressing of sulphate of ammonia over the
whole wheat area of the United Kingdom.
‘But manurial nitrogen is by no means the only
factor which limits wheat production. It has. been
estimated that fungoid diseases on the average
depress the world’s wheat crop by about 30 per
‘cent. Biffen’s work on the inheritance of im-
munity to rust has opened the door. for improve-
ment in this direction. Experiencé gained with the
first rust-immune variety to get into general cul-
tivation—“ Little Joss ’—suggests that immunity
to rust in this country is able to increase the yield
by about 10 per cent. In, other countries im-
munity to other diseases would probably be still
more effective.
Beaven has shown, too, that even when the
total crop is limited it is possible to select varieties
which give an abnormally high proportion of grain
to straw. This method of selection, which has so
far been applied only to barley, appears likely to
increase grain production by at least 10 per cent.
without increasing the drain upon the soil.
Notwithstanding these and possibly other fac-
tors which may increase yield per acre, there is
no doubt that in the main a cheap and plentiful
supply of nitrogenous manure, combined with the
spread of knowledge as to its proper use, would
do more than anything else to increase the world’s
wheat production, With this in mind perhaps it is
not too much to hope that Lord Rhondda will use’
NO. 2518,, VOL. 100]
his power as capitalist and organiser to ensure
that the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen shall
have a fair chance of succeeding both commer-
cially and scientifically. De. Be Nj
THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN INSTINCT.
(1) The Psychology of War. By Dr. John T.
MacCurdy. Pp. xi+68. (London: William
Heinemann, 1917.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
(2) Instinct rn Man: A Contribution to the Psy-
chology of Education. By Dr. J. Drever.
Pp. x+281. (Cambridge: At the University
Press, 1917.) Price gs. net.
pee study of instinct as a factor in human
nature is a modern, even a contemporary,
development. The philosophers of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries wrote much about the
passions and the inclinations and the appetites, by
which they meant the irrational impulses which
form the baser animal nature, upon which, as they
thought, the rational ‘nature is superposed as a
spiritual endowment. The modern treatment of
the problem, however, is the outcome of the enor-
mous advance of the biological sciences in the
latter half of the nineteenth century in the work
of Darwin and his successors. Particular atten-
tion is being focussed on the study to-day. The
great world-war, with the deliberate destruction of
accumulated wealth on a gigantic scale, and the
devotion to death and mutilation of a whole gene-
ration, is so manifestly irrational that we are -
driven, perforce, to seek the meaning and cause of -
war in instinct as opposed to reason, in a primi-
tive nature consisting of impulses and cravings im-
perfectly controlled by intellect.
(1) The two books before us deal with this
problem of instinct in man from very different
points of view. The small book of Dr. MacCurdy
is of the nature of an exhortation called forth by
the special circumstances of the day. The idea
that underlies it is that there is a striking analogy
between abnormal psychology, which reveals the
havoc wrought in the individual mind by the loss
of control over repressed complexes, and the psy-
chology of nations at war. The suggestion is
that there may be a psychiatry for social, as there
is for individual, disintegration of personality.
(2) Dr. Drever’s main interest is the applica-
tion of the theory of human instinct to educa-
tional theory and practice. The modern problem
of instinct is threefold—philosophical, psycho-
logical, and biological. The philosophical problem
concerns the cognitive aspect of instinct, and
centres round the theory of Bergson. Instinct,
in Bergson’s view, is a mode of knowing, intuitive
in character, different in kind, and divergent in
orientation from the mode of knowing which we
name intelligence. Dr. Drever, without definitely
rejecting this view, thinks that the problem can be
solved by the adoption of a very simple formula.
This is that instinct is knowledge at the percep-
tual level, intelligence being conceptual. But,
useful as such a distinction may be for provisional
424
NATURE
[JANUARY 31, 1918
description, it will carry us only a very little way
towards a solution of the problem. No one,
indeed, who has learnt’ the lesson of Kant can
imagine that percepts devoid of concepts satisfy
the conditions which make experience possible.
The psychological problem of human instinct
emphasises the affective rather than the cognitive
aspect. Its inception was McDougall’s theory in
‘* Social Psychology.’’
this view are innate dispositions to act under defi-
nite stimulation. They are distinct, and may be
enumerated, but each primary instinct is correlated
with a specific emotion. This relation of the
instinct to a specific emotion was challenged by
Shand in ‘‘ The Foundations of Character.’’ Dr.
Drever puts forward an interesting theory of emo-
tion, which deserves particular notice. Emotion he
holds to be the ‘‘ tension ’’ due to the checking of
an impulse.
The biological problem of instinct lays stress on
the conative aspect, and is mainly a genetic, as
opposed to an analytic, study. It is the genetic
problem which is emphasised in the experimental
work of Lloyd Morgan. Dr. Drever expounds
the view that the essential phenomenon i in instinc-
tive behaviour is “‘ primary meaning, ? which in
experience acquires “significance.” This at
once indicates the practical relation of theory of
instinct to education. H. W. €.
OUR BOOKSHELF.
The Fishing Village and Other Writings, (Literary
and Scientific). By W. Omer-Cooper. Intro-
duction by George A. B. Dewar. (Bourne-
mouth: Horace G. Commin, 1917.) Price
3s. 6d. net.
Tuis little volume, from the patriotic point of
view, records the ready and eager devotion of
a young life, the self-sacrifice so nobly shared
with thousands of other men, including even
actual boys. To a scientific journal its appeal is
different. Though falling in battle before he was
twenty-two, Wilfrid Omer-Cooper had- already
made his mark as a naturalist by ardour in re-
search, acuteness in observing, and a highly useful
facility of expression. Evidence of this zeal and
capacity led to his becoming a fellow of the Lin-
nean Society at the earliest possible date, as was
the case with Sir William Hooker and his son,
Sir Joseph Hooker, though with how different a
tenure, one of fewer weeks than they had years.
The general reader can scarcely fail to be moved
by the quaintness of Mr. Omer-Cooper’s almost
lover-like letters to his mother, who in earlier
years may well have felt no little anxiety from her
son’s George-Borrow-like fondness for visiting |
gipsy encampments.
The chapters on lizards and serpents are of
popular interest without giving scope for any
special originality. It is among marine inverte-
brates and _ terrestrial isopods that the young
naturalist found an opening for advancing re-
search and encouraging scientific pursuits. In
NO. 2518, VOL. 100]
The human instincts in
‘regard to the latter group the name of Alexander .
Patience should have been included in the list of —
been made, and the book has been carefully re-
touch in the notice of ‘The British Woodlice,””
_are referred to as insects (p.
recent authorities. There is rather too sharp a —
by Webb and Sillem, since scarcely any com-
pendious work on any subject is free from “in-
accuracies.’’ Even in this small volume slugs
118); the generic
name Metoponorthus is used instead of Porcel-
lionides (p. 141), and the genus Paragnathia, in-
stituted in the Zoologist for January, 1916, by the
author and his brother Joseph, is referred in con-
secutive lines to two different families (p. 153).
The strange differences in the sexes of the —
Gnathiide are well described, and altogether —
“The Fishing Village,’’ with its youthful poetry, —
solemn philosophy, well-considered science, and
other features, makes a very readable book.
Cape Peninsula List of Serials: Second edition.
Pp. 95+iv. (Cape Town: Printed for the Trus-
tees of the South African Public Library, 1917.)
Tus is a list of about 1300 scientific periodicals —
which are available for reference to readers in the
Cape of Good Hope, the special feature being the ~
indication of the library or libraries in which each
periodical may be found.
The compilation has been made by Mr. A. c. gk
Lloyd, who has had the advice and assistance of
Sir Thomas Muir and Mr. Pilling.
A notice of the first edition of this ‘usehee siiaiex
appeared in NATURE in 19I2 (vol. xc., p. 434). The 4
work was then printed in seven columns, the first
column giving the name of the periodical, the re-
maining columns being allotted to the | libraries
indexed.
In the new edition great care has been fuse 5 in
dealing with incomplete sets, not only to state that —
the set or volume is incomplete, but to give de- ©
tailed lists of the missing parts. The space re-
quired for these details has been obtained by
giving up the arrangement in parallel columns. —
These exact details as to missing parts and —
volumes will no doubt induce the authorities of the —
libraries in which they occur to take steps to fill —
the gaps wherever that is possible. Indeed, it is
stated that since the publication of the first edition
of this list of serials gaps in thirty-one sets have —
been wholly or partially filled up. =~ | |
Lists of serials which enable the scientific worker . |
to ascertain where a particular volume can be con- —
sulted are always welcome, In the present case —
consultation is made very easy by the assent 5
arrangement of the material. 5 .
BP gp me
Chemistry for Beginners and Schoolboys. By 4
C. T. Kingzett. Second edition. Pp. viiit150. ~
. (London: Bailli¢re, Tindall, and Cox, Jeet
Price 2s. 6d. net.
Tue first edition of Mr. Kingzett’s little book was.
reviewed in our issue of July 26 last (vol. xcix.y
p- 422). It is sufficient to say of the present
edition that some rearrangement of matter has ~
vised and considerably enlarged by the incorpona
tion of some additional information:
aa Fic:
aia taken of anonymous communications. |
The: East and West Asymmetry of Solar Prominences.
RE ead 3 has attracted the attention of astronomers for | with laeee. Gredortionm of valuel uiacral: ‘neal
_ some time that solar prominences appear to be more | a shy siete Ae oe
numerous on the east, or advancing, side of the sun
_ the eastern side.
2 January 31, 1918]
NATURE
425
___- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
_ {The Editor does not hold himself responsible for
expressed by his correspondents, Neither
_ this or any other part of Nature. No notice is
than on the west, or receding, side, and systematic
observations have been instituted to test this unexpected
result. The current Kodaikanal Bulletin (Ivii., August,
‘ 1917) seems to establish it definitely by a very com-
plete analysis of the observations for the first half of
1917. Of prominences projected on the solar disc as
a tion markings, 52-9 per cent. as regards area, and
53°4 per cent. as regards number, were on the eastern
side of the central meridian. Of reversals and dis-
placements (largely preponderant towards the red) of
drogen lines on the disc, there was a like excess on
But of the bright prominences
I y observed on the limb there was no excess as
_. regards number, and only a slight excess as regards
"The solar disturbances must presumably be uniformly
_ distributed all round the sun’s equator; it would seem
to be extremely unlikely, as is generally recognised,
that the side which happens to be presented to the earth
or any other planet should exhibit special features. But
it has doubtless not been overlooked that a more prob-
able mode of explanation is open. Although the char-
acter of the prominences can scarcely be affected by
any influence of the earth, yet their appearance may
be considerably affected by their own configuration
with sct to the line of sight of the observer. The
outer regions of the solar atmosphere are rotating more
rapi than the parts below; if then a prominence
pushed up from below into the atmosphere sloped for-
wards in the direction of the sun’s rotation instead of
being on the average perpendicular to the surface, it
would present a different aspect and different depth
in the line of sight to the observer, according as it is
on the advancing or receding side of the sun. The
darkness of the absorption markings on the disc would
depend on the depth of material through which the light
_ had to penetrate to the observer, and perhaps also in
consequence the number of shadings that would be
counted as markings would be affected. The amount
and direction of this influence it may be hazardous to
guess at, but it might just be possible to detect some |
‘slight difference in the general appearance of the mark-
ings east and west. To the bright prominences om the
limb these considerations would apply in a smaller | papers of Dr. C. L.
degree, if at all.
ambridge, January 26.
iL:
Carnotite Ores and the Supply of Radium.
In Nature for October 25, 1917, there appeared a
review of Dr.
to the Rarer Elements.’’ 4; at 7.30 p.m.
‘ Tue death has occurred, in his sixty-seventh year,
of Mr. Louis P. Gratacap, curator in mineralogy in
the American Museum of Natural History since 1900.
- _ assistant curator. His publications included a standard
““Guide to Mineral Collections,” ‘“‘ Popular Mineralogy,”
and *‘ Geology of the City of New York.”
Tue death is announced, at the early age of forty-
five, of Dr. T. C. Janeway, who occupied, at Johns
Hopkins University, the chair of medicine formerly
filled by Sir William Osler. He was a member of the
Board of Scientific Directors of the Rockefeller Institute
for Medical Research, and secretary of the Russell Sage
NO. 2518, VOL. 100]
she pos- |
to a most re- |
f j
Bere Peeviome mne’ years he tad held the: post of | on December 18 last, from wounds received early in
| the month, the Indian Agricultural Service has lost a
| Institute of Pathology. Prof. Janeway was the author
of ‘The Clinical Study of Blood Pressure.”’
Tne Research Defence Society and the Association
for the Advancement of Medicine by Research have
been united into ‘one society, which will retain the
name. and official address of the Research -Defence
Society. All such communications as used to be made
to the association should, therefore, now be made to
the honorary secretary of the Research Defence
Society, 21 Ladbroke Square, London, W.11.
IN consequence of a statement from F. I. Faltz-Fein
directing attention to the dangers which, in the present
circumstances, threaten the existence of the famous
zoological park and horse-breeding station on his estate
at Ascania Nova, the council of the All-Russian Horse-
breeders’ Congress brought the matter to the notice of
_the Petrograd Academy of Sciences, with the earnest
request that immediate and energetic measures be
taken for the protection of an establishment which is
of very great scientific value, and justly considered the
pride of Russia. It is announced in the December
Bulletin of the Academy that, in response to this
appeal, the Government has instructed Maj.-Gen. P. K.
Kozlov to take the necessary measures.
ACCORDING to reports in the French Press, a
‘General Congress of Civil Engineering ” will be held
in Paris on March 18-23 next. The objects of the con-
ference, as recently explained to the French Minister
of Commerce and Industry, are to awaken the French
nation to the need for increased industrial enterprise
and the attainment of industrial agreement. The
Minister expressed the hope that the conference would
give very close attention to such questions as the
saving of fuel and the thorough utilisation of intellec-
tual and mechanical effort; wage war on waste of all
kinds; and advocate the systematic utilisation of by-
products, and the adoption of improved scientific
mechanical methods of production—in short, give that
place to applied knowledge that it. now merits.
THE Minister of Reconstruction has appointed the
following committee of manufacturers and business
men to consider the provision of new industries for the
engineering trades:—The Hon. H. D. McLaren
(chairman), Mr. C. Bennion, Sir George Bul-
lough,..; Bart.,.) “Mi. 7: ) A> Crittatl, Mri Re
Dumas, Mr. W. B. Lang, Mr. C. .A. Lister,
Mr. P. J. Pybus, Mr. G. H. Sankey, Sir Percy .
Stothert,, Mr. J. Taylor, Mr. W. Taylor, Mr. W.
Thom, and Sir W. Rowan Thomson: The duties of
the new committee will be to compile a list of the .
articles suitable for manufacture by British engineers ©
which were either not made in the United Kingdom or
made in insufficient quantities, and for which
there is likely to be a demand after the war. The
need for such a list of articles and for some organised
effort to make them at home has been amply shown
by the war, which has revealed our dependence on
many—even the enemy—countries for articles vital to
| our industries, and even to our war equipment,
By the death of Lieut. E. J. Woodhouse in France
capable organiser and adviser. Educated at Marl-
borough, Lieut. Woodhouse entered Trinity College,
Cambridge, in 1903. In ae he graduated with honours |
in the Natural Sciences Tripos, and the following year
obtained the University diploma in agriculture. He
then proceeded to India to take up the post of economic
botanist to the Government of Bengal. Three years
later he was appointed principal of the Agricuitural
430
NATURE
[JANUARY 31, 1918
College of Bihar and Orissa, but still retained his post
as economic botanist. His chief work was on
problems connected with economic botany, but he also
undertook some work on economic entomology, and
successfully demonstrated a method of reducing the
attacks of surface caterpillars on a very large scale
and of’ reducing the attacks of potato moths in
Bengal. At the outbreak of the war he was a captain
in the Bihar Light Horse, and in February, 1915,
joined the Indian Army Reserve of Officers. In July
of that year he went to France, where he carried on
with his usual energy. Lieut. Woodhouse was a
capable worker, and won the good opinion of all who
came in contact with him.
Ir is with regret that we have to record the passing
of another veteran from the ranks of the great
engineers of the Victorian era. Sir Alexander Meadows
Rendel has just died at the ripe-age of eighty-eight. His
death recalls the construction, rather more than sixty
years ago, of the Royal Victoria Dock and of the Shad-
well Basin, London Docks, when he acted as engineer
to the London Dock Company. Sir Alexander had
then just succeeded to the practice of his father, Mr.
James M. Rendel,’F.R.S. The family was, in fact,
devoted to engineering work, both by tradition and
natural inclination.
attained distinction and repute, three of them, includ-
ing Lord Rendel, in connection with the great firm at
Elswick, of which Lord Armstrong was the head. It
was fitting, therefore, and almost inevitable, that, on
the completion of his academic training at Cambridge,
where he was a scholar of Trinity, the eldest son
should pass into the office of his father. In dddition
to the docks mentioned above, Sir Alexander was re-
sponsible for the Albert and Edinburgh Docks at Leith.
But it is principally in connection with India that his
name will be remembered. He was consulting engineer
to the India Office and to many of the Indian railway
companies. He designed and constructed a very large
number of bridges, of which the. most important were
the Lansdowne Bridge over the Indus at Sukkur,
opened in 1889, and the Hardinge Bridge, over the
Ganges at Sara, completed in 1915. He paid a number
of visits: to India, and so close was his association with
Indian affairs that it is not too much to say that over a
period dating from days before the Indian Mutiny he
exercised a very considerable influence, not only in
strictly engineering matters, but on the general policy
and administration of the Indian railway system.
TuE death, about three months ago, of Dr. Maryan
Smoluchowski de Smolan, professor of physics at the
University of Cracow, Poland, at forty-five years of
age, deprives the scientific world of a pioneer in the
field of modern thermodynamics and the kinetic theory
of matter. Smoluchowski’s chief investigations, already
crowned with notable success and full of promise for
the future, centred round the problems of the so-called
fluctuations about the average, normal state. of statis-
tical equilibrium. , The most prominent example of his
researches of this kind is his famous explanation of
the opalescence of gases at or near the critical state.
Most of Smoluchowski’s papers were published in the
Transactions and the Bulletin of the Academy of
Sciences of Cracow. A good summary of his own
work and of the problems. that most interested him
will be found in his report in the Physikalische Zeit-
schrift, vol. xiii. (1912), p. 1069. The non-specialist
will find an easily accessible description of some of his
researches in Perrin’s attractive book ‘‘ Les Atomes.”’
Smoluchowski’s scientific attitude and tendencies,
however, are best characterised in his address given
at the University of Gottingen, ‘‘On the Limits of :
Validity of the Second Law of Heat Theory” (cf.
NO. 2518, VOL. 100]
All four of Mr. Rendel’s sons
‘ Vortrage iib. d. kinet. Theorie d. Materie u. d. Elek-
trizitat von Planck, Debye, Nernst, Smoluchowski,
Sommerfeld u. Lorentz’’; Leipzig: Teubner, 1914,
pp. 89-121).
contain not only a clear explanation of the famous
difficulties connected with Boltzmann’s H-theorem, but
also a fascinating description of the réle of fluctuations
as restrictors of the validity of the second law of
thermodynamics, increasing at the same time the true
value of that law, and presenting it in an interesting
light. Fi
VeERY soon after the commencement of the war the
Government of this country was made to realise that
the services of chemists, as distinguished from phar-
macists, are really of essential national importance.
The special position as regards recruiting for the
Army, into which chemists of high qualification were
placed, is evidence of this recognition. Even yet, how-
ever, a large proportion of the general public is un-
aware of the importance of the chemist in industry,
one of the causes of this being the fact that, unlike
the French and the Germans, we do not in general —
distinguish between ‘‘ chemists’? and “ pharmacists ’’;
in fact, the term ‘‘ chemist’’ is legally confined to com-
pounders and vendors of medicine. Recognition by |
public opinion of the importance of the chemist is —
necessary in order to secure his adequate remuneration,
and until this is secured there will be an insufficiency ~
of chemists, and therefore no chemical industry worthy
of the name. Recently, however, signs have not been
wanting that the condition of the chemical industry
and the position of the chemist are beginning, and
likely to continue, to improve. The latest sign is the
alteration in character of the Journal of the Society
of Chemical Industry, upon which we venture to con-
gratulate both the society and the review editor. The
Journal has always been an exceedingly valuable one,
but until recently it was rather machine-like, and the
human element was chiefly conspicuous by its absence.
In it one sought the abstracts. under the heading of
particular interest to oneself, and glanced at the titles
of the papers to discover one of interest—and that was
Now, however, that there is a review section, in-
all.
cluding articles of general interest, trade reports, Par-
liamentary and legal news, signed reviews of chemical
books, reports of meetings of the different sections,
and of those of other societies, almost every chemist
will be able to pick up the Journal with the practical
certainty of finding something of interest. Further,
the Journal now has a better chance of appealing to
those who are not chemists, and so helping to educate
the public as to what a chemist really is.
We regret to see the announcement of the death,
on January 23, of the veteran alienist, Dr. Henry
Maudsley. He was born near Settle, in Yorkshire, in
1835, and he graduated from University College Hos-
pital as M.D. of London in 1857. eehes 3 a busy
professional life as superintendent of Mé
fessor of medical jurisprudence at University College,
and so on, he kept up a strong interest in psychological —
and philosophical problems, and he was for many —
years editor of the Journal of Mental Science.
A keen intellectual combatant, absolutely sincere and
fearless, he played a notable part among notable men
at a time of great scientific activity—the last quarter _
It was apparently under —
of the nineteenth century.
the influence of Herbert Spencer that Dr. Maudsley
was early in the field in applying evolutionist concep-
tions to edb sion: th
Disease ’’ appeare
anchester |
Asylum, physician at the West London Hospital, pro- —
His ‘‘ Responsibility in Mental —
in 1874, and was the first of many —
works, such as ‘“ Physiology of Mind,’ ‘‘ Pathology of —
Mind,” ‘‘ Body and Will,’’ which did useful service to —
This admirable lecture will be found to ~
-
ee erat ee
aor!
Ce Ee) FEN NT gan ty, Red geen
position,
_ JANUARY 31, 1918]
NATURE
431
perthologice! science in emphasising the intimate way
which physiological factors are bound up with
_ psychical factors in the unified life of the creature.
Central to his whole thinking was the idea of the unity
of the organism in which mental and motor activities
are closely correlated, and he never wavered from this
ich was vigorously expounded in_ his
* Organic to Human,” published less than a couple of
_ years ago. Dr. Maudsley was essentially ‘‘ tough-
minded,” and his pre-occupation with mental diseases
probably exaggerated his distrust of ‘‘ over-strained
alism of any sort.” Deepest in his life, perhaps,
was the desire to further by his investigations and
_* thinking a scientific systematisation which would make
for the relief of man’s estate. Towards that end, ten
a se ago, he generously contributed 30,0001. to the
n
don County Council for developing the treatment
of mental diseases. What we venture to call his mood
of scientific meliorism, sometimes shadowed, was ex-
_ pressed-in the fine sentence: ‘‘ By large and close and
faithful converse with Nature and human nature in all
their moods, aspects, and relations is the solid basis
of fruitful ideals and the soundest mental development
”
In a recent number of West Africa (January 19) Mr.
R. E. Dennett suggests the formation of a Union for
the study of the British West African Colonies and the
advancement of their interests in this country. Mr.
Dennett begins by pointing out how necessary it is
that British West Africa should have a showroom in
one of the principal London thoroughfares, where pro-
duce and pictures of typical West African scenes could
be displayed. The foundation of such a showroom
might, he suggests, be the first step towards the
formation of a union to co-ordinate work for British
West Africa. There would be scope for talent of every
kind in this union, since the activities of its sections
would range over such diverse subjects as superstitions
and mythology, sanitation, forms of government,
banking, utilisation of produce, transport, hospitality
to distinguished West Africans, and the care of West
African students. Much: work for West Africa is
_ already being done, as Mr. Dennett admits, by the
Imperial. Institute, the Royal Colonial Institute, Kew
Gardens, and various learned and other societies, and
though he disclaims any intention of competing with
existing institutions, the details of his scheme include
suggestions for some work which is already being
done. What is really needed at present is a union the
main business of which would be to stimulate the
organisations already at work for West Africa, includ-
ing the Government, instead of trying to do any part
of the work itself. It is well known, for example,
that the quality of much West African produce needs
improvement, that the agricultural and forest depart-
ments in these territories need larger staffs and more
funds, and that further means of transport are re-
quired. A union competent to speak for West Africa
would be usefully employed in directing public atten-
tion to these and other equally important matters, and
in taking action through the proper channels to get
them remedied. If such a union had existed it could
scarcely have remained quiet when last month a great
part of the exhibition galleries of the Imperial Insti-
tute, including the only exhibit of West African produce
in London, was closed to the public by the Office of
Works to accommodate a branch of the Ministry of
Food.
Lorpd LEVERHULME discusses, in Science Progress
for January, the question of the abolition of slums.
The slum problem is, he observes, merely a casé of
NO. 2518, VOL. 100]
bad *‘ packing,”’ because, while most towns have slums,
the majority of them possess within their boundaries
a sufficient area of land to accommodate three times
their present population. Lord Leverhulme’s sugges-
tion is that each municipality should acquire, as occa-
sion offers, the fringe of land on its suburbs, and that
the municipality could afford to give this land to per-
sons ready to build houses thereon. With the general
adoption of the Town Planning Act the present scan-
dalous condition of things might be removed.
Sir C. H. Reap describes, in Man for January, two
bronzes acquired from a Parsi in Bombay, who stated
that his family had possessed them from time imme-
morial, and that they had been brought by one of his
ancestors from Persia, where they had been attached
to the gate of the city whence the Parsi family had
come. They are castings by the wax process, known
as cire perdue, and represent animals which at once
recall the bull-like monsters of Assyria; but, at the
same time, there are differences that may be of some
significance. The Assyrian bulls are human-headed,
and these also have human heads, but while the model-
ling of the bodies suggests a bull, the horns are un-
questionably those of a sheep. This sheep has been
identified by Lord Rothschild as Ovis orientalis
gmelini, the wild sheep of Asia Minor and Armenia.
It is possible that these bronzes were ultimately derived |
from Assyria, and as the relations between Assyria, '
Persia, and Armenia were intimate, the story of the
Parsi may be correct. But many questions regarding
the style and use of these bronzes, which will ultimately
pass to the British Museum, await further investiga-
tion.
It was stated in one of the morning papers a few*
days ago that “there have recently arrived in England
evidences of the most important zoological discovery
that has come to light since the finding of that strange
beast, the okapi. . . . This discovery proves very com-
pletely the existence of a new and hitherto unknown
species of elephant, a real dwarf elephant.” All that.
has really happened is that two skeletons have just
arrived in this country of a “dwarf” race of elephant
described in the Revue Zoologique Africaine in 1913.
Thus the announcement of this “discovery”? is some-
what belated. The specimens just received are stated
to be fully adult examples, but this is not yet certain,
and will be determined by Dr. C. W. Andrews, of
the British Museum of, Natural History, to whom
they have been submitted. But we have known of
the existence of dwarf elephants in Africa since 1906,
when the first of its kind was discovered. This came
into the possession of Hagenbeck, the German dealer
in live animals, who sold it to the Zoological Society
of New York, in the gardens of which it is still living.
This animal forms the type of the species Elephas
africanus pumilio. The species referred to in 1913 was
described under the name Elephas africanus frennseni.
The specimen obtained by Hagenbeck now stands about
5 ft. high, but whether this is its maximum height is
épen to question, since its growth may have been
checked by a troublesome skin disease from which
it has long suffered. The specimens described in 1913,
from Lake Leopold II., measured some 6 ft. in height,
which is stated to be the height of the taller of the
two animals the skeletons of which have just been
received. These may not prove to be adult, so that
the precise amount of dwarfness of these ‘‘ dwarf”
elephants has still to be determined, but it seems certain
that they are far smaller than the typical African
_ elephant, though they are giants compared with’ the
| extinct dwarf elephant of Malta.
432
NATURE
rat he
[January 37} 1918 |
In the Australian Zoologist (vol.
October 8, 1917) there is an interesting article by Mr.
Charles Hedley, director of the Australian Museum,
on the economics, of Trochus niloticus. This hand-
some shell was mistaken for a product of the Nile by
Aldrovandus, who, in 1606, was the first writer in
Europe to describe it. Mr. Hedley tells us that it is
found on coral-reefs from Ceylon to Samoa, and as
far north as Japan. The natives of various’ islands
make use of the animal as food, and the periphery of
the shell has been cut out and worn as a bracelet by
the Papuans. But among civilised people it was only
known to shell fanciers until a few years ago. ‘ Ex-
haustion of former supplies of pearl shell and the
increasing demand of recent years have promoted search
for new sources of mother-of-pearl. Thus Trochus
niloticus, or trocas, as it is sometimes called, having
dense firm nacre, which proved good material for
buttons, came to be exploited by manufacturers. Dur-
ing the past six years an active request for Trochus
by button-makers has sprung up, advancing from
2ol. to 301. a ton.” The Great Barrier Reef
is being fished for Trochus, from Torres Straits
southwards to Port Mackay. The export of Trochus —
from Queensland in 1915 was 544 tons, worth 12,o000l.,
and in 1916 was 950 tons, worth 23,0001. The Philip-
pine Islands export about 320 tons annually. From
Western Australia the exports of Trochus were :—For
1912, 52 tons; for 1913, 66 tons; for 1914, 19 tons;
for 1915, 73 tons; for 1916, 26 tons. There are also
large fisheries in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands,
and Fiji. Some Japanese fishermen carefully save
both meat and shell. From ten tons of shell a ton
of meat is obtainable, worth, in China, 20]. a ton.
*Mr. Hedley considers that the annual Australian crop
of .Trochus is likely soon to deteriorate under the
present active fishery.
THE annual report of the Department of Agriculture,
Nyasaland, for the year ending March 31, 1917, con-
tains much interesting matter. The ‘exports of tobacco,
‘tea, and cotton constitute a record for the Protectorate,
and the past year has been particularly favourable for
agriculture generally, despite the difficulties arising
out of the war and the absence of many planters on
military service.
a direct result of the privileged admission of British-
grown tobacco into the United Kingdom, and, despite
high prices for freight, the industry is very prosperous,
and has now established itself in the home market.
Nearly tooo more bales (400 Ib.) of cotton were exported
than in the prévious year, and the acreage under
European cultivation is now 29,580. Tobacco
first appeared as an article of export in 1899, and,
despite freight charges, has managed to establish itself
against American competition. Tea to the extent of
420,685 lb. was exported, whilst in the previous year
the amount was 288,341 Ib. The great difficulty with
regard to Nyasaland products is that of freight and
transport, and much damage to cotton and tobacco
results during the difficult journey to the coast. There is
also the drawback that owing to delays the planter can
seldom realise on his crops within one year of the date
of shipment, thus necessitating double capital, or plant-
ing on advance rates, which eat deeply into profits.
Until direct railw ay communication with the coast can
be established this promising land will remain very
severely handicapped.
THE Scientific American, in its issue of December 22
last, directs attention to the low efficiency of massed
rifle fire at ranges less than 500 yards. It appears that
the best results ever obtained were by the Boers at
Colenso, when in full daylight and from a sheltered
position they succeeded in making one hit in 600 shots
NO. 2518, VOL. 100]
i., part 4, Sydney, |
‘interest, and gives an account of tests of oxyacet yiene .
hot increases the strength. The impact tests show
The increased demand for tobacco is.
fired against an enemy thoroughly exposed in ae
open. This lack of success of the rifle at close rang
leads to its being regarded rather as a handle fora
bayonet than as an effective weapon itself. It seems.
that no amount of preliminary training or of adjust
ment of sights can eradicate the tendency of the rifle-
man to shoot too high when under mental stress. To —
overcome this difficulty Col. Ely, of the American
Army, has invented an 3ttachment weighing only | 2 02.
which, when adjusted, prevents the rifle being dis- —
charged when its angle of elevation exceeds a given
value. The records obtained with the device are about
twenty-four times as good as the Colenso results, but
it does not appear to have been adopted by the Ameri
military authorities.
THE importance of modern methods of weldin
es go repairs to be executed quickly has | be j
brought out by a recent account in Engineering (Janu-
ary 11) of the methods adopted for making good ‘the |
damage done by the Germans: on vessels interned in y
U.S. ports. The principle of electric weldi pee ce
applied to fifteen ships in the port of New 4
all these are now in. commission and pelauly
ready for service. Bulletin No. 98 of the University
of Illinois Engineering Experiment Station is also of _
welded joints:in steel plates: The plates ¢ nyed
varied in thickness from No. to gauge to 1 in., and a
were subjected to various heat treatments. ‘The’ tests 4
include: static loads, repeated loads, and impact. “The .
welds were made by skilled workmen. For. joints with
no further treatment after welding, the pa efficiency
for static tension was found to be about 100 per cent. —
for plates up to 3 in. thick, and to decrease for thicker
plates; these joints show an efficiency not greater than — :
75 per cent. for the material in the joints, but were q
strengthened by working the metal after welding and —
weakened by annealing at 800° C. Repeated —
stress tests followed in a general way the results of the .
static tests. Hammering or drawing the weld while |
that oxyacetylene: welded joints are decidedly weaker
under shock than is the original material; for joints ~
welded with no subsequent treatment, the strength —
under impact seems to be about half that of the a.
rial. If the welded joint is worked while hot, the
impact-resisting qualities .are _ slightly improved.
Annealing from 800° C. seems to have very pies: re
on the impact-resisting qualities. j
Messrs. H. K. Lewis anp Co., Lrp., hen ibs ii
lish in the course of the next few weeks vol. i. of
‘Regional Surgery,” a work by American and British
authors, in three volumes, edited by Dr. J. F. Binnie, —
Gould’s ‘* Pocket Medical Dictionary, ” Stitt’s * Ti
Diseases,” and Stitt’s “‘ Practical Bacteriology.” The —
first i ea aati of these books was lost sai sea by
a gale.
Tuer twentieth pee of * ‘The Scientwtte Bahiouesk :
Book and Diary ’’—that for 1918—has now been pub- |
lished by Messrs. Jas. Woolley, Sons, and Co., Ltd., ~
of Manchester, at the price of 2s. 6d. As usual, it
consists of two parts: the first is a storehouse of
physical and chemical constants, definitions, and im-
portant scientific facts ; and the second is a conveniently — 4
arranged diary and memorandum book. The two are) |
bound together in a leather case suitable for cartying
in the pocket.
Tue following books are announced for publication q
during February by Messrs. Chapman and -~ 7
Ltd. :—‘*The Chemistry of Colloids,” by Prof.
Zsigmondy, translated by Prof. E. B. Spear, part
NATURE
433
strial Colloidal Chemistry, by Prof. E. B. Spear,
_a chapter on Colloidal Chemistry and Sanitation
rof. J. F. Norton; ‘‘ An Introduction to Theoretical
plied Colloid Chemistry,’? by Dr. W. Ostwald,
ted by Prof. M. H. Fischer; ‘‘ Biochemical
ts in Life and Industry : Proteolytic Enzymes,”
f. J. Effront, translated by Prof. S. C. Prescott
. S. Venable; ‘‘ Practical Pyrometry,”’ by E. S.
, G. A. Shook, and J. R. Collins; ‘‘ Hand
,” by Lt.-Col. W. H. Tschappat; ‘* Hydro-
-Power-Stations,” by E. A. Lof and D. B.
we; “A Practice Bool in Elementary Metal-
by Prof. E. E. Thum; ‘‘ Testing for the Flotation
,” by A. W. Fahrenwald; an enlarged edition
ictical Instructions in the Search for, and the
ination of, the Useful Minerals, including the
Ores,” by A. McLeod; “The Development of
t Law in America,” by J. P. Kinney; and re-
of “Scientific and Applied Pharmacognosy,” by
H. Kraemer, and ‘Applied and Economic
y,” by Prof. H. Kraemer.
mt as Se
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
Tue Praner Saturn.—This beautiful telescopic ob-
ject will be in opposition to the sun on January 31,
hag aa. be very favourably glaced for telescopic
serutiny during the ensuing few months. There is
__ eyidence to show that much the same phenomena occur
on Saturn as on Jupiter, and that occasionally dis-
es on a considerable scale occur in the atmo-
sphere of the former object.
successfully observed when we compare the results
_ _with those obtained with regard to Mars and Jupiter.
The far greater distance of Saturn and the less con-
* spicuous character of the markings are no doubt in
Yet it has not been very
R
_ part responsible for this, but sometimes, as in 1903,
_ the spots and irregularities in the belts are very plain
_ The rotation period of Saturn requires redetermina-
tion, for the markings in different latitudes exhibit
proper motions. Prof. Hall’s white equatorial spot of
| 1876-77 gave a period of 1oh. 14m., whereas the dark
and light markings which were visible in the north
temperate region in 1903 indicated a period of about
toh. 38m., or twenty-four minutes longer.
_. Unrr or Srectar Distance.—
The Coolidge tube, first introduced nearly four years 4
ago, has been considerably improved in detail, and
now claims pride of place among X-ray tubes. It is —
not entirely free-from defect, and its rays are no more
homogeneous than those from an ordinary bulb, but
its elasticity, precision, ease of control, long life, and
relative freedom from inverse current make it a
valuable addition to the radiologist’s equipment. Some
wonderful output figures have been obtained by
Coolidge on experimental water-cooled models. One — :
tube was run continuously for many hours at 200
milliamperes and 70,000 volts, the power input being —
14 kilowatts, i.e. about 19 h.p. It is anticipated that —
this figure will be shortly increased to 50 kilowatts.
It was hoped on its introduction that the Coolidge
tube would be the means whereby X-rays approximat-
ing to the hardest y rays from radium would be
obtainable. Such anticipations have not been realised.
In some recently published work Sir E. Rutherford
describes measurements on the very hardest rays —
emitted by a Coolidge tube excited by close on 200,000 —
In order to filter out the hardest rays present —
volts.
he passed them through 1 cm. of lead, the reduction in
intensity being more than a millionfold. The residual _
rays proved to have a wave-length of about 0:06 A.U., ~
w
ich may be compared: with Rutherford’s latest esti-
mate of the wave-length of the hardest y rays from
radium C—between 0-02 and o-oo7 A.U. -
words, the Ra y rays in question. corresponded with
X-rays generated by voltages between 600,000 and —
2,000,000—figures to which no X-ray tube of present- —
day design could possibly stand up, even if we had the —
means to produce such voltages on a practical scale. —
As to the composition of the X-rays generated by an —
X-ray bulb, we know now that the rays consist in —
general of two groups :—
(a) A continuous spectrum of rays with a sharply a
in-
In other. .
‘January 31, 1918]
NATURE
437
fined boundary on the side of the shorter wave-
lengths, the position of such boundary depending on
the voltage on the tube.
(6) One or more characteristic radiations (of the
, K, L, M,...series), each approximately homo-
geneous and characteristic of the metal of the anti-
-eathode. The higher the atomic weight the more pene-
ing the radiation in the same series.
i proportions of (a) and (b) depend entirely on the
litions. With very soft tubes a large proportion of
radiation may be wholly characteristic.
With reference to the spectrum of general rays, it
recently been shown that the maximum frequency
X-ray which a tube can yield can be readily calcu-
lated by a simple extension of Planck’s quantum
theory. The relation in question (due to Einstein) is
Ve=hv, where V is the voltage on the tube, e the
_ elementary charge on each cathode ray, v the frequency
| of the hardest X-ray produced, h is Planck’s constant.
_ eé and h are known with considerable exactness, so
_ that we have the means of calculating very readily the
_ voltage necessary to generate a particular X-ray. In-
_ serting Millikan’s latest values of these constants, we
12,400
Wave-length in A.U.= 92
The accuracy of this simple relation has been con-
firmed experimentally over a wide range of voltages
in America. It will be noticed that the result is in-
_ dependent of the material of the anticathode.
"With reference to the characteristic radiations, each
consists of a number of spectral lines. For these, Ein-
stein’s simple law does not hold, a greater voltage
eing required. Webster noticed that the various spec-
s of a series all spring into being together as
ge is increased through the critical value.
Through the medium of the X-rays we have unveiled
ee a PR RE
om ;
——s
v of the secrets‘of the structure of the atom. The
biggest development has resulted from the discovery of
the wave-like character of the X-rays. It was Laue
and his pupils in 1913 who first demonstrated the
diffraction of X-rays by crystals, but it was in this
country that the first real insight into the problem
came. The Braggs showed how the crystal reflection
of X-rays could be utilised to separate out different
waves in a fashion exactly analogous to the production
of interference colours by thin plates. The X-ray spec-
trometer revealed both the atomic spacings of a large
number of crystals and the absolute wave-lengths of a
variety of monochromatic X-rays.
The work of Moseley stands out pre-eminently here.
Moseley photographed many characteristic X-ray spec-
tra, and measured the wave-lengths of the principal
lines. He was able at once to obtain the very remark-
able and simple relation now associated with his name,
namely, that the frequency of a characteristic X-ray
from any element is proportional to the square of the
atomic number of the element. This atomic number
must be distinguished from the atomic weight. It de-
notes merely the order in which the elements come
when arranged according to their atomic weights.
Thus the atomic number of hydrogen is 1, of hélium 2,-
of lithium 3, and so on. The atomic numbers follow
the order of atomic weights except in three instances :
argon and potassium, cobalt and nickel, iodine and
tellurium are interchanged.
The X-ray spectra are revealed as an extreme type of
light-ray spectra, and are even more characteristic of
the parent atom. Later work has shown that X-ray
spectra contain many lines and are much more com-
plicated than was first believed.
Moseley’s work has been extended by others, notably
by Siegbahn and Friman. We now know the atomic
numbers of all the known elements, beginning with
NO. 2518, VoL. 100]
‘volves study, hard work, and thought.
hydrogen and ending with uranium—with an atomic
number of 92. Each of the atomic numbers is repre-
sented by an element, with the exception of numbers
43, 61, 75, 85, and 87, which stand for five elements
waiting to be discovered. It by no means follows,
however, that there are only five missing elements ;
five is a lower limit, for we now know that several
elements may have the same atomic number. Such
isotopes, as Soddy has called them, cannot be distin-
guished one from another by ordinary chemical or
physical tests. They are grouped together under the
one atomic number in the periodic classification of the
elements, but, nevertheless, they may, and do, possess
atomic weights differing by several units. It is ap-
parent that the atomic number is something more than
a mere integer; it undoubtedly represents some funda-
mental attribute of the atom, and as the work of
Rutherford and others has shown, the atomic number
equals the excess number of positive charges in the
nucleus of the atom.
The boundaries of the known spectrum have been
considerably extended since the war broke out. In
the ultra-violet Lyman has extended the region first
investigated by Schumann to a wave-length of about
500 Angstrém units, and Richardson and Bazzoni have
very recently’ further extended this to 420 A.U. The
longest X-ray so far measured by Siegbahn has a wave-
length of 12 A.U. Rutherford has recently given evi-
dence for believing that the wave-length of the hardest
y rays from Ra-C is in the region of 1/100 A.\U. We
are thus now familiar with a range of more than ten
octaves of X- and y rays without a break—not at all a
bad record for so young a subject. There still remain
about five octaves to be explored in the region be-
tween X- and ultra-violet rays, a region which con-
tains the characteristic X-rays of the light elements
from hydrogen to neon.
And now to turn to quite a different topic. At the
moment we are all reproaching ourselves for our past
neglect of science in this country. We are paying the
penalty of our indifference, despite the wonderful adapt-
ability and resource which this war has shown we
possess as a nation. The country is slowly learning
its lesson. Willy-nilly, we are being led to see at last
that our system of education misdirects much genius
into unproductive channels, and we are awakening to
the importance of research, both pure and applied.
The value of applied science to industry is now
accepted throughout the country, and British industry
should begin to feel the benefit, especially now that
the principle of State-aided research is established.
But we must not forget that it is the pure academic
research, unrestricted and unprescribed, which has been
the prime cause of all the radical changes in industrial
methods. Research in pure science is rarely appre-
ciated by the general public or manufacturer, for it .
cannot be done to order. One must put faith in the
research worker that he may continue to have faith in
himself. Much of what he will do will be discon-
tinuous and abortive, but he must not be hampered
by utilitarian notions being continually rammed down
his. throat. If he does not solve the original problem
he will probably solve some other which has sprung
from it, and one successful discovery may outweigh
by far all his failures.
The equal importance of the applied research worker,
who is responsible for turning to account the dis-_
coveries of the pure investigator, must not be lost
sight of for a moment. There is no line of demarca-
tion between the two divisions of research. Each in-
The methods |
of both branches are questioning and searching; the
common end is knowledge, to which there is no
heaven-sent road. :
What has been the reward of the research worker
438
NATURE
[January 31, 1918
in the past? It is the shameful truth that the man
of science, with few exceptions, has received little or
no recognition by the mass of the people of this
country, who, unknowing and uncaring, have been
perfectly content to allow him ‘the status, both social
and financial, which he himself has modestly sought
for his everyday life and wants. But the country, in
its hour of need, has turned to its scientific sons for
help in its war problems, and has not turned jn vain.
The war is bringing home to the nation the dependence
of its very existence on science, and a little good may
come out of a very great evil if public opinion can, be
brought to realise that the statement is as true in peace
as in war, and that a nation’s administrators should
always include among them suitable men of the
highest technical and scientific standing, not merely
to advise, but also to initiate and direct.
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL °
INTELLIGENCE.
BiRMINGHAM.—At a special Degree Congregation held
on Thursday, January 24, the Vice-Chancellor (Col.
Gilbert Barling, C.B.) conferred the honorary degree
of Doctor of Laws on Lord Morris, late Premier of
Newfoundland.
Lonpon.—The following doctorate has been con-
ferred by the Senate :—D.Sc.- in Statistics: Miss
Kirstine Smith, an internal student, of University Col-
lege, for a thesis entitled ‘‘On the standard deviations
of adjusted and interpolated values of an observed
polynomial function and its constants, and the guid-
ance they give towards a proper choice of the distribu-
tion of observations.” ;
WE learn from the Times that in reply to an inquiry
as to whether Mr. Andrew Carnegie would make good
the damage to the science building at Dalhousie Uni-
versity, Halifax, N.S., which was originally his gift, the
reply received from the trustees of the Carnegie Cor-
poration, New York, was that they would “ consider
it a privilege to pay for repairing the damage.”
NEw scales of salaries, necessitated partly by the
increase in the cost of living, have been, or are being,
drawn up for teachers in primary and secondary
schools, but so far nothing has been done in London
towards improving the salaries of technical teachers,
salaries which even before the war were already too
low. Failure to do this is, in part, due to the fact that
no “Fisher grants ” similar to those given for elemen-
tary and secondary education have been available for
technical education. A meeting to consider the
matter has been arranged by the Association of
Teachers in Technical Institutions to be held at the
Polytechnic, Regent Street, W.1, on Saturday, February
2, at 3 p.m. All teachers in technical institutions,
junior technical schools, and trade schools (whether
members of the association or not) are invited to
attend.
WE have received the annual report of the committee
of the Aberdeen Public Library for the year 1916-17. The
committee realises that public libraries should prepare
for the coming period of reconstruction by providing
their readers with the most authoritative books in pure
and applied science. It is felt that people in all depart-
ments of industry are beginning to see more clearly
the value of a thorough: scientific knowledge of their
craft, and that tney will therefore ask for books which
contain the most recent information instead of being
content with books which are now out of date. Acting
upon the advice of a special sub-committee, under the
convenership of Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, the com-
NO. 2518, VOL. I0o|
mittee has discarded a large number of obsolete scien- —
tific books in order to make room for up-to-date works,
including technical books on every handicraft known
to be followed in Aberdeen. In the Reference Depart-
ment of the Aberdeen Library the trade and technical
periodicals, dictionaries and encyclopedias, business
directories, gazetteers and atlases form a ** commer-
cial library’ similar to those which have been estab-
lished in Glasgow and Liverpool. The purpose of such
commercial libraries is to make immediately available
the best and most recent information as to all matters
affecting trade and commerce. We _ congratu-
late the Aberdeen Library Committee upon the steps
it is taking to increase the efficiency of the library and
to make it a centre for the spread of accurate know-
ledge in all branches of industry and commerce. —
LONDON.
Royal Microscopical Society, January 16.—Mr. E.
Heron-Allen, president, in the chair.—Presidential ad-
dress: The Royal Microscopical Society during the
great war and after.
since August, 1914, and of such part of the work of the
society as is ripe for publication in connection with
the war. :
society’s abstractors during the periods 1901-13 and
1914-17, and adumbrated a contraction and specialisa-
tion of the activities of the society in the future, in the
direction of the technical optics of the microscope and
its application to all branches of industry and research.
Linnean Society, January 17.—Sir David Prain, presi-—
dent, in the chair.—E. S. Goodrich ; The restoration of |
the superficial bones of the head of the fossil fish Osteo-
lepis. Having shown the restorations of Pander,
Gregory, and Watson, which differ considerably from
each other, Mr. Goodrich described his own restoration |
of the bones and lateral-line canal system, and directed
attention to the importance ef an accurate knowledge
of the structure of such an early and primitive form
as Osteolepis, from the Lower Devonian strata, for a ~
correct interpretation of the homologies of the cranial
bones in the higher fishes and in the land
vertebrates.—J. Britten: Some early Cape botanists.—
C. E. Salmon; A hybrid Stachys. The vlant originated
in the author’s garden, where previously only Stachys
germanica and S. alpina were cultivated; it was iden-
tical with S. intermedia [Solander in] Ait: Hort. Kew,
ii., 301 (1789). eat .
_ MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, December 11, 1917.
—Mr. T. A. Coward, vice-president, in the chair.—W.
Thomson: Somatose. Somatose is a substance pre-
pared by dissolving the refuse from meat which has_
been extracted with water with the view of producing
meat extract.
was thrown into the sea.
heating it with water under a pressure of go Ib. to
the square inch—that is, at a temperature of 320° F.
By filtering and evaporating this solution to dryness
he obtained a horny grey mass, which, on being pow-
dered, constituted somatose.
by the amount of nitrogen it contained, and that the
nitrogen equivalent in somatosé was equal to the
nitrogen equivalent in lean beef. With the view of
determining this, the author considered that it could 7
be done only by feeding animals with food containing —
lean beef on one hand and somatose on the other. —
The president gave a review of ©
the war conditions under which the society has met |
It was held by some that —
the value of somatose as a food could be determined
He gave an analysis of the work of the —
In South America this refuse material —
A German chemist found.
that he could dissolve. part of this refuse fibrin by.
te a ae en
0 ea
a
pepe
aan i ek
i
on app
aro
Academy of Sciences,
di
hate ;
1
/
is January 31, 1918]
NATURE
439
_ He made these experiments by feeding tame mice, and
_ found that, whilst the mice throve upon a mixture. of
_ oats and lean beef, they did not thrive upon a
ss mixture: of oats and somatose, and whilst the one set
. inereased in weight the other fluctuated more or less
_ largely below their original weight, and he came to
_ the conclusion that somatose should be classed
more
.
riately as a poison than as a food.
Paris.
January 7.~—M. Paul Painlevé
2 ‘in the chair.—P. Appeil: Oblique aerial movements
of light spheres possessing
weight.—G. Giraud ; Hyper-
abelian functions.—S. Lattés : The iteration of rational
substitutions and the functions of Poincaré.—J. Chok-
Some properties of the polynomials of Tche-
bicheff.—A. Denjoy: A general property of analytical
functions.—A. Guillet ; The experimental determination
of a moment of the form, x& and of an apparent
a
inertia arising from the viscosity of a fluid.—aA.
Mailhe: A new method of preparation of the nitriles
_ by catalysis. Ammonia and methyl benzoate vapour
are
ail together over thoria .at 450°-470° C.;
benzonitrite,
C.H,CN, is the main product. The re-
action is similar when ethyl benzoate is employed.
Ortho- and para-toluonitriles and phenylacetonitrile can
be made by the same method.—A. Pictet and J. Sarasin :
The distillation of cellulose and starch in a vacuum.
Under a pressure of 12-mm. to 15 mm. cellulose gives
a little water, and then, between 200° and 300°, a
heavy yellow oil, which sets to a semi-crystalline mass.
About 10 per cent. of charcoal 1emains in the retort.
The pasty mass is about 45 per cent. of the cellulose
taken, and, after purification, forms white, tabular
crystals, identical in all respects with Tanret’s lavo-
lucosane. Starch on distillation gives the same pro-
uct with the same yield.—S. Menteath: The defile of
Navarre. The tectonic of this defile is a continuation
across the Pyrenees of the structure of the layers of
Dax, Bastennes, and Salies-de-Béarn; it cannot be
taken as typical of the structure of the Pyrenees chain.
—L. and L. Joleaud: Geology of the region of
- Tunis.—L. Dunoyer: Diurnal variations of the wind
in altitude. A theory is developed which affords an
explanation of the results of observations described
in an earlier paper (C.R., 1917, p. 1068).—J. Peyriguey :
Two water-spouts observed at Rabat, December 18,
1917.—R. Souéges: Embryogeny of the Alismacez.
Differentiation of the radicular extremity in Sagittaria
| sagittaefolia.—]. Silhol: The use of kapok for dress-
ings. A description of the properties of kapok com-
pared with those of cottonwool, especially from the point
of view of materials for dressing wounds. Kapok exerts
selective absorptive properties, removing micro-organ-
isms from pus.—M. Adrian: The use of certain marine
algze as food for horses. An account of feeding experi-
ments in which a treated seaweed was used in place
of oats for feeding horses, with marked success. The
seaweed was accepted, digested, and assimilated by
the animals. The laminaria utilised are abundant on
the Breton coast.
Wasuincton, D.C.
National Academy of Sciences, September, 1917 (Pro-
ceedings, vol. iii, No. 9).—J. Loeb: Heliotropic
animals as photometers on the basis of the validity of
the Bunsen-Roscoe law for heliotropic reactions. New
guantitative experiments proving that the ‘ instinc-
tive’? motions of animals to light are phenomena of
automatic orientation and a function of the light
intensity, the function being the Bunsen-Roscoe law
of photochemical action—H. G. May: The appear- |
NO. 2518, VOL. 100]
ance of reverse mutations in the bar-eyed race of
Drosophila under experimental control. Such a pheno- _
menon is not difficult of explanation on the theory that —
it is produced by a chemical change in the constitution
of some substance.—L. R. Cary: The-part played by
Alcyonaria in the formation of some Pacific coral reefs.
On certain of the Pacific reefs the Alcyonaria are im-
portant coral-forming agents; their relative import-
ance can be determined only after borings have been
made through some reefs to determine the history of »
the reefs.—A. G. Mayer: Observations upon the alka-
linity of the surface water of the tropical Pacific.—
H. H. Plough: The effect of temperature on linkage
in the second chromosome of Drosophila. Both high
and low temperatures produce an increase in the per-
centage of crossing over. The crossing over appears
to take place in the stage when the chromosomes are
known to be finely drawn-out threads, not-in the early
oogonial divisions or in the late thick thread stage.
H. Sturtevant: Genetic factors affecting the
strength of linkage in Drosophila.—H. Seares : Further
evidence on the concentration of the stars towards the
galaxy.—-C, Barus: Theoretical relations in the inter-
ferometry of small angles.—J. A. Harris: Interperiodic
correlation in the egg production of the domestic fowl.
The results make possible the selection of groups of
birds of high annual egg production from. the - trap-
nest records of individual months.—E. W. Washburn :
Two laws governing the ionisation of strong electro-
lytes in dilute solutions and a new rule for determining
equivalent conductance at infinite dilution derived from
conductivity measurements with extremely diluted solu-
tions of potassium chlorite. In sufficiently dilute solu-
tion all uni-univalent salts of strong acids and’ bases
obey the mass-action law, and all have the same
ionisation constant; the values of the mass-action ex-
pression for all such salts are identical, the identity
persisting up to higher concentrations the more nearly
the salts resemble each other.—E. C, MacDowell and
E. M. Vicari: The growth and fecundity of alcoholised
rats. Both growth and the fecundity of the alcoholised
are subnormal as compared with non-alcoholics.
October, 1917 (Proceedings, vol. iii., No. 10).—
G. M. Green: The general theory of curved surfaces
and rectilinear congruences. Preliminary announce-
ment of the number of theorems in a field which seems
to be promising.—J. P. Iddings and E. W. Morley:
A contribution to the petrography of southern Celebes.
Twelve analyses of lavas from Celebes.—A. G, Mayer :
The non-existence of nervous shell-shock in fishes and
marine invertebrates. Corroboration of the conclusion
that war-shoc'x is predominantly a psychic phenomenon
and, being hysteria, can be cured by hypnotic sugges-
tion.—A. R. Moore: Chemical differentiation of the
central nervous system~ in invertebrates. In the
cephalopod, caffein brings about’ hyper-irritability of
the cerebral ganglia, while camphor affects the stellar
ganglia in the same sense. Atropin causes spasms in
the squid, but inhibits the activity of the chromato-
phores. Camphor shows a selective action in the
shrimp, paralysing the elements, controlling backward
swimming, and exciting those controlling forward
motion.—W. E. Garrey: Proof of the muscle-tension
theory of heliotropism. Experiments show that the
motion of animals to or from a source of light are
due to an influence of the light on the tension of
muscles of: different sides of the body.—W. H.
Longley : Changeable coloration in Brachyura. The
colours of crabs and their capacity to change them
vary from species to species, according to the same
general rule that appears to prevail among fishes.—
J. F. McClendon; The equilibrium of Tortugas sea-
water with calcite and aragonite. The surface water
440
NATURE
| JANUARY 31,
of the sea is the supersaturated solution of CaCO,
and it is only necessary to introduce calcite crystals in
order to cause precipitation of this substance.—H.
Muller ; An G£nothera-like case in Drosophila. Report
of an extended series of experiments showing that it
will not do to accept evidence apparently in favour
of factor inconstancy without the support of highly
rigorous factorial analysis.—A. G. Mayer: Is death
from high temperature due to the accumulation of acid
in the tissues?) Death is probably due to the formation
of acid rather than to coagulation of proteid sub-
stances,
‘VICTORIA.
Royal Society, November 8, 1917.—Prof. W. A.
Osborne, president, in the chair.—R. S. Rogers : Chilo-
glottis pescottiana, sp. nov. The species was found at
Tallangatta, and is distinguished from others of. the
genus in the distribution of the calli and the: form of
the labellum.—Miss N. C. B. Allen: Magnetic deflec-
tion of rays; tabulation of v against RH, assuming
Laurentz theory.—F. Chapman: The occurrence of
Acrotreta in Lower Paleozoic (Lancefieldian and
Heathcotian) shales. The discovery of this genus in
Victoria further supports the conclusion as to the
Upper Cambrian age of the Heathcotian and asso-
ciated beds. The new species is related to A. belti
from the Lower Tremadoc of North Wales and to
A. transversalis of the St. John Group, New Bruns-
wick.—F. Chapman ;:
cean tooth from the Tertiary of Tasmania. Scaptodon
lodderi is represented by a flattened conical tooth with
a small beve'led crown, which is otherwise allied to
teeth of the Physeter type.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
A Theory explaining the Causes of Tem-
Solectrics :
pests, Seismic and Volcanic Disturbances, and other
Natural Phenomena: How to Calculate their Time
and Place. By A. J. Cooper. Pp. 213. (London:
J. D.. Potter.) 6s.
Ambulance de 1’Océan. La Panne la Prothése du
Membre Inférieur. By Dr. F. Martin. Pp. viii+ 107.
(Paris: Masson et Cie.) 5 francs.
The Philosophy of Benedetto Croce. ‘The Problem
of Art and History. By Dr. H. Wildon Carr. Pp.
x+213. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d
net.
Notions d’Acoustique. Instruments de Musique; le
Telharmonium. By J. Rodet. Pp. 96.. (Paris:
Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) 3.50 francs.
The Scientist’s Reference Book and Diary, 1918.
(Manchester : J. Woolley, Sons, and Co., Ltd.) 2s. 6d.
Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. Report on the
Physical Welfare of Mothers and Children. - Scotland.
Vol. iii. Pp. xxviii+625+ illustrations. =(Dunferm-
line: Carnegie U.K. Trust.)
Third Melbourne General Catalogue of 3068 Stars
for the Equinox 1890, from Observations made at Mel-
bourne Observatory during the Period 1884-87 to
1894-1900. Pp. viiit77. (Melbourne: A. J. Mullett.)
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, January 31.
Roya Society, ‘at 4.30.—The Growth of Trees: A. Mallock. —Action of
Light Ravs. on Organic Compounds, and. the Photosynthesis of Organic
from Inorganic. Compounds -in Presence of Inorganic-Colloids: Prof. B)
Moore and T. A. Webster.—The Isolation and Serological Differentiation
of Bacillus tetani: Capt. W. J. Tulloch.—An Investigation into the
Periodicity of Measles Redo in the Different Districts of London-for .
the years 1890-1912: Dr. J. Brownlee.
RovaL INSTITUTION, at 3.—Revolving Fluid and the Weather Map: Sir.
Napier Shaw.
. FRIDAY, Feprvary t.
Roya INSTITUTION, at 5.30. —Gravitation and the Principle of Relativity :
Prof. A. S. Eddington.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2.
Rovat InstiTuTIon, at 3.—The Ethics of thé War: P. H. Loyson.
NO. 2518, VOL. 100]
An apparently new type of Ceta-—
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4. f rea |
Roya Society or Arts, at 4.30. —High- temperature Processes and Pro- 3
ducts: C. R. Darling. F)
RaRCoTy Ae Society, at 8.—The Theory of a Limited sien Bishop a
8) own.
s
ie a
|
4
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5. ¥
pig He INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Problems of British Anthropology : Prof. a
Rovat camel oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Industrial Resources of South
Africa: C. du P. Chiappini.
INSTITUTION OF CIvIL_ ENGINEERS, at 5.: 30.—The West Quay Madras
Harbour: The Hon. Sir Francis J. E. Spring and Hugh H. % oMnekel:
RONTGEN Society, at 8.15.—A Simple ae of barge ** Static
Currents” from an Induction Coil: Dr. G. B. Batten.—A Mobile Snook
Apparatus: K. E. Burnside.
ZooLocicat Society, at 5.30.—Notes on the Dingo in Ania 7. pa
Whitehead.—Notes on the Skull of Rana tigrina: Prof. B. L. Bhatia
and Baivi Prashad.—Description of a New Snake of the Genus t
from Upper Burma: G. A. Boulenger.—A New and a Rare nen ‘of the
Golden Mole (Bematiscus): Dr. B. Broom. 4
WEDNESDAY, ¥esruary 6. ae ae
RovaL "bbciery or ARTS, at 4.30. —The Development of the Mineral (
Resources of the Empire: Prof. W. Frecheville. - ‘
Society oF Pusiic ANALYysTs, at 5. rcs General cade cok Modi- 4
fied Acetic Acid ee a for Valenta Tests: A. EK. Parkes.—Oiticica Oil—
» a New Drying Oil: E. Richards Bolton and Cecil Revis. es "
GEOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 5.30. pie, :
ENTOMOLOGICAL SocIETYy, at 8.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7 :
Roya. Society, at 4.30.—Prolable Papers.: The " Photo-Electric iia a
of eign Prof. O. W. Richardson.—The Parent of Actinium: &.Soddy
and J. A. {Cranston.—The Absorption of the Radiation Emitted by ‘4 .
Palladium Anticathode in Rhodium, Palladium, and Silver: E. A. Owen.
Roya InstrruTion, at 3.—Illusions of the Atmosphere ; The Travelling _
Vortex and the Cyclonic Depression: Sir Napier Shaw.
INSTITUTION OF ri pale appr cao, at 6.—Ninth Kelvin Lecture:
. ani ps “8 L Histoire et Porte des Plantes,”
ga Secretary. —Plant Distribution from the Standpoint of an Idealist
. P. Guppy.
FRIDAY, Fepruary 8
erry INSTITUTION, at 5.30.—Science and ithies + Principal E. B.
riffiths.
RoyAL ASTRONOMICAL SocIETy, at 5.—Anniversary Meeting.” :
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9. <
Roya Siaeonbracu, at 3.—The Ethics of the War: P. H. Lesson.
‘
CONTENTS. PAGE
Some Cheitiiest Manuals ... PMa Stee et apres « y
The World’s Wheat Supp'y. By T. BOWE 422
The Problem of Human Instinct, — w.c. £08 423)
Our Bookshelf . pencil oh Bn ta REA
Letters to the Editor :— ae Ati 3)
The East and West Asymmetry of Sola Prominences. ipa
—J. L. 425
Carnotite Ores and the Supply. of Radium. —Prof.
Bertram B. Boltwood; J. H. Gardiner 425
The Growth of Conifers.—Prof. T. D. A, Cockerell 426
The Outlook in French Agriculture. ....... 426
Sir John Wolfe Barry, K.C.B.,F.R.S. ...... 427
Dr. William Greenwell, F.R.S. oy ere ES eS
Mise. Ethel Sargant.. ........ s “244 gene eee
Notes . Paar OR ta hte
Our Astronomical. Column: —
The Planet Saturn "+ oo ae ieeeaener ees |
Unit of Stellar Distance . . Se Paline 433-5
Relativity and Shifts of Fraunhofer Lines . » ss. 433.8
The ‘‘ Annuaire Astronomique” for 1918 . 433
Paris Academy of Sciences: Prizes eee for j
the Yearigig... eel 6 Ae nS a
Glass Technology ae ei) 4344
X-Rays and the War. By Capt. ‘G. W. Cc. ‘Kaye = 435.
University and Educational inveiameee o> a ea ggO: w
Societies and Academies | 2.3... she oh bee neae
Books Received : ER Ae Me Ns 440 -
Diary of Societies 440 _—
Editorial and Publishing Offices:
MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., a
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2,
Advertisements and business fisiehs to be oaareet to the
Publishers. “
Editorial Ciihinitabions to the Editor, Be
Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. ie
Telephone Number:
GERRARD 8830. ae
NATURE
441
“THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1918.
- BIOLOGY FROM AMERICA.
_ Organism as a Whole, from a Physico-
Viewpoint. By Dr. Jacques Loeb.
X+ 379. (New York and London: G. P.
am’s Sons, 1916.) Price 2.50 dollars.
i Evolution. A Text-book. By Prof.
S. Lull. Pp. xviiit+729. (New York: |
Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and
‘Ltd., 1917.) Price 3 dollars.
Biology. By Prof. Gary N. Calkins. Second
edition, revised and enlarged, Pp. viii+255.
ew York: Henry Holt and Co., 1917.)
A BOOK by Dr. Jacques Loeb is always
new facts, and these are often surprising. The
itral idea of this book is not new—that organ-
isms are ‘chemical machines consisting chiefly of
colloidal material and possessing the peculiarity of
serving ‘and reproducing themselves’’; but
any of the facts illustrating this definition are
“new, and many of them are the rewards of the
Pee s own industry and ingenuity.
What are the distinctive feattires of a living
eature from Dr. Loeb’s point of view? First, there
s the constant synthesis of specific material from
psimple compounds of a non-specific character ;
econdly, there is the division of the cell when it
reaches a certain limit; thirdly, there is the whole
‘business of fertilisation and subsequent develop-
ment. But when these features are carefully exam-
jned in the light of modern knowledge their apart-
ness from inanimate phenomena tends to disappear.
Is anything more specific than fertilisation, yet
a strange spermatozoon may be got to enter an
inappropriate ovum if the surface conditions of
that ovum be modified by artificially altering the
chemical concentration of the medium, and the
‘manifold ways of artificially launching a non-
fertilised ovum on the voyage of development are
well known.
_ The generic characteristics of a type seem to
depend on the specificity of the’ proteids in the
ovuni m; and the unity of the organism in
development, and afterwards, depends on the uni-
organisation of the ovum-cytoplasm, which
| contains the organism “in the rough.”’ On this the
Mendelian factors or genés (probably hormones in
e nucleus) may impress varietal or stock char-
acters in the course of development. Very in-
) teresting is the author’s suggestion that special
|
.
|
| be
| favour the formation of specific internal secretions
I) which have developmental potency, and, on the
other hand, that ‘an’ environmentally’ induced
lichange in these ‘internal secretions might even
ounteract the chromosomal sex-determination. It
need scarcely be said that, according to Dr: Loeb,
there is nothing in instincts to remove them from
mechanistic category ; and we are likewise
assured that “the mere laws of chance are ade-
NO. 2519, VOL. T00}
very welcome, for he bases new ideas
ex-determining chromosomes may hinder or |
quate to account for the fact of the apparently pee
poseful adaptations.”
Sometimes the author seems to us impetuous, as
in his acceptance, in spite of Prof. Castle’s work,
for instance, of the conclusion that Darwin’s small
fluctuating variations are not heritable. But
whether one agrees or not, the book is always
stimulating, and in the majority of cases the
author is ready with chapter and verse, i.e. with
facts and experiments, in support of his con-
| tention.
Perhaps the author is not responsible for the
statement on the wrapper that ‘‘ Darwinism had
reached the conclusion that the harmonious char-
acter of the organism as well as its adaptation to
the environment was the result of chance,” but he
is responsible for the erection of a “bogey”’
vitalism, the overthrowing of which does not tax
his strength. In the genus vitalism. there are
several species, some of which are already extinct,
while others are in process of elimination; but it
is not of the essence of methodological \vitalism
to make an antithesis between the physico-chemical
and the vital, between materiality and mind. Dr.
Loeb. considers the organism as the seat of a con-
catenated and correlated series of physico-chemical
operations. So do all biologists. But to methodo-
logical vitalists it seems that the physico-chemical
descriptions, invaluable as they are, do not ex-
haust the reality before us, do not adequately
describe the living, growing, developing, varying,
struggling, and sometimes companionable organ-
isms that we know. We do not speak of more
general grounds for finding it impossible to be-
lieve that from a physico-chemical viewpoint one
can ever envisage the organism as a whole.
It is not perhaps of great importance, but we
must direct attention to the curious statement in the
preface that “the book is dedicated to that group
of freethinkers, including d’Alembert, Diderot;
Holbach, and Voltaire, who first dared to follow
the consequences of a mechanical science—incom-
plete as it then was—to the rules of human con-
duct, and who thereby laid the foundation of that
spirit of tolerance, justice, and gentleness which
was the hope of our civilisation until it was buried
under the wave of homicidal emotion which’ has
swept through the world.” Wave of homicidal
emotion, forsooth ! .
(2) Prof. R. S. Lull has written a useful texts
book of organic evolution, compendious but clear
and very generously illustrated. The introductory
part deals with what may be called the facts of —
life—the variety of types, their distribution in
time and space, their interrelations, and so on.
The treatment of the geological succession is
particularly effective. The second part is entitled
‘The Mechanism [rather a question-begging
term] of Evolution,’’ and the treatment is broad-
minded and eclectic. The discussion of ortho-
genesis and kinetogenesis is interesting, and the
balance of Nature is picturesqueiy illustrated.
The author then passes to the evidences of evolu-
tion, and, after a brief discussion of. recapitula-
Aa
442
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 7, ie
tion, leaves the beaten track and gives. the
student a delightful account of adaptations to
various modes of life—such as running, burrow-
ing, swimming, climbing, and flying—and of adap-
tations to various haunts—such as deserts, caves,
deep sea, and inside other animals. This section
extends over about 200 pages, and it is very
instructive. Prof. Lull gets the student to see
that every fact of life that admits of genetic inter-
pretation is an “evidence of evolution,’’ and he
works successfully with the idea which Osborn
called “‘‘adaptive radiation,’’ that around many a
central or focal type we may group an often-
repeated series of similar solutions of the problem
of livelihood.
The last section of the book is paleontological.
Selecting three great lines—molluscan, arthropod,
and vertebrate—Prof. Lull sketches the probable
evolution of the highest class of each, namely,
cephalopods, insects, and mammals. With the aid
of the abundant illustrations the reader gets some
feeling of the movement, both progressive and
retrogressive, of the evolutionary process. No
student ‘can fail. to be impressed, for instance,
with the case of the nautiloid Lituites, which
“went through the orthoceran, cyrtoceran, gyro-.
ceran, and nautilian stages, and as it became ado-
lescent left the close coil and reverted to the
orthoceran stage.’’
The part of the book that deals with the evolu-
tion of vertebrates seems to us the most distinc-
‘tive; the author is there dealing with subjects
around which most of his own investigations have
centred. He is inclined to. accept Prof. Chamber-
lin’s. hypothesis of the origin of vertebrate
animals in flowing land water; he traces back
terrestrial forms to a probable derivation from
Crossopterygian fishes earlier than the Upper
Devonian; Dinosaurs arose from a primitive Coty-
losaurian Carboniferous stock; birds from a stock
common to them and Ornithischian Dinosaurs;
mammals from reptiles like Therapsids; and man
from primitive anthropoids. Without ever pre-
tending to finality, Prof. Lull balances various
theories, and the student will appreciate the
methodical questioning in regard to each import-
ant type: What was the probable ancestral stock?
When and where did the emergence occur? What -
were the probable evolutionary factors? Most
characteristic of the whole treatment is the cor-
relation of organismal and environmental changes,
which, even when tentative, is full of interest and
suggestion. “The stream of life pulses irregularly
as it flows.
expression points of evolution which are almost
invariably coincident with some great geologic
change. .. . The geologic changes and the pulse
of life stand to each other in the relation of cause
and effect.’’ In any case, climatic changes and
organismal evolution are correlated.
(3) We have already had an_ opportunity
(NatTuRE, ‘vol. xciv., 1915, p. 504) of expressing
our appreciation of the first edition of the fresh
and stimulating introduction to biology which
Prof. Calkins has worked out. H is an eminently
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
There are times of quickening, the.
educative book, and the second edition is evem
better than the first. Galton is still called Dalton,
but that is a microscopic fly in the ointment. We
mention it, however, since we directed attention.
to it before. J. |: Actas
SCHOOL-LIFE IN THE SEVENTEENTH ~
CENTURY.
About Winchester College. By A. K. Cook. To
which is prefixed De Collegio Wintoniensi, by
R. Mathew. Pp. xviit+583. (London: Mac-
millan and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 18s. net.
© Pastel a boy should have been moved to orig
an account of his school, in which
enumerates the warden, masters, chaplains, clerit
and organist, the seventy ‘‘ children,’’ the sixteen
‘ quiristers,’’ their gowns and other garments,
the servants and their several offices, the hours of
rising, meals, and lessons, and to describe the
food, the games and other occupations, is difficult
of explanation. That Robert Mathew’s 286 hexa-
meter lines should have been preserved is most
remarkable. His picture of life at Winchester in
1647—it is a machine drawing rather than 2
picture—can have had no interest for his con-
temporaries. | They were too familiar with the
details which he sets forth with the pedantic
accuracy of a valuer’s inventory. He had no pre-
vision of their interest to posterity. Documents
of this kind are extremely rare. Students of
sociology may search in vain such famous
chronicles as the Mahawanso, in which a long
succession of Buddhist priests recorded, from year
to year, the current history of the Sinhalese from
the first establishment of their kingdom, for evi
dence of the ways and occupations of the people
Does the Times describe a man’s evening dress?
The uniform and obvious calls for no description
To a student of Wykehamical customs, or 0}
the functioning of any other academic body,
Mathew’s poem is of surpassing interest. It is
used by Mr. Cook as a fixed point from which
surveys the college life—backwards to its founda:
tion, forwards to the present time. Since the days
when he entered as a schoolboy to his retirement
from a mastership, his life has been spent in the
college precincts, save for the usual interval a
New College, Oxford. The book is indispensah
to Wykehamists. To others, who had not the pri ;
lege of education in the ‘‘ best of all schools,” it is)
a delightful pastime to gaze at the moving views |
of the social life of five passing centuries. How
ever enthusiastic the reader may be for the Newest,
Education, the reflection will give him pause the
boys have, apparently, made progress under
system-in which all his axioms were inverted. _
Even the physiologist will find himself co:
strained to admit that the genus Boy is, or wa
a more adaptable creature than he supposed. “To
take a few illustrations out of the many to whit
one would like to direct attention. .
was at 5 a.m., summer or winter.
on gowns, breeches, and shoes, the ‘
_ Fesrvuary 7, 1918]
ie
NATURE
443
_ they go downstairs and out to the conduit to
wash their faces and hands. (The regulations of
_ Eton and Westminster only required them to wash
I th ir hands.) There were no baths, and, as at
_ Cambridge and at Glasgow, ‘‘ going into the
_ water ”’ in the Meads was an offence against pro-
_ priety which earned a flogging, if not expulsion.
_ Of flogging’s on all days, but organised on Bloody
_ Friday, it is unnecessary to speak. No food
before 9, whether the early morning was spent
_ in school or “‘ on Hills,’’ then bread and beer for
_ breakfast; at 12, for dinner, boiled beef, bread,
_ and beer ; 3.30, bevers of bread and beer ; 5, supper
of mutton, bread, and beer; ‘‘ further refresh-
“ment ”’ before going to bed, and a nipperkin of
_ beer in chambers, to last the night. (It reminds one
_ of F. W. Maitland’s discovery, ‘‘ Doomsday Book
and Beyond,’’ that the allowance of a Canon of
St Paul’s, probably including two servants, was
eighteen gallons a week.) Vegetables are not
_ mentioned, and there is no reason for thinking
_ that they were comprised in the diet. ‘‘ In winter
_ we may, perhaps, be allowed a fire in Hall ’’—
_ charcoal, in a brazier, beneath the lantern in the
_toof. There was no other fire in college. And,
_ for mental food, Latin and Greek authors, with,
.**on Saturdays, for the higher classes, the cate-
_chism of Nowell (the learned divine) in Greek, by
heart.” Mathematics, taught by the writing mas-
ter, made a timid entry towards the end of the
eighteenth century. Physical science was first
tolerated (the word is used advisedly) in 1867.
All servants were male, with the exception of
one anus culinae (old woman in the kitchen) over
an, apparently, short period, and the nurse who
made her appearance in Sick-House just after
Mathew had left. The list is of great interest as
pointing the contrast between the economic con-
ditions of the seventeenth century and modern
times: one manciple, one bread-butler, one beer-
butler, two cooks, one baker, two brewers, one
miller, one horsekeeper, one gardener, one porter,
two scullions, one cleaner of trenchers, one old
woman of the kitchen. As in all other colleges,
the society killed their own beef and mutton,
_ ground their own wheat, baked their own bread,
_ grew their own hops, and brewed their own beer.
For a society of 105 persons, of whom most of
| the scholars and all the ‘‘ quiristers ’’ performed
| many menial duties for the masters as well as for
| themselves, the establishment was large and
** economically ” wasteful. A. H
ORGANIC CHEMICAL ANALYSIS.
}) Allen’s Commercial Organic Analysis. Fourth
}, edition, entirely re-written. Vol. ix. Edited
by W. A. Davis. With index for all the
volumes. Pp. xviii+836. (London: J. and A.
Churchill, 1917.) Price 30s. net.
} "THE issue of this volume marks the completion
of a task begun some ten years ago, when
e production of a revised and entirely re-written
liedition of Allen’s well-known work was under-
iitaken. Ten years is a somewhat lengthy period
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
in modern chemical history. A considerable
amount of literature dealing with organic analysis
has appeared during the last decade, and many
new processes have been devised within this
period; it was therefore desired to bring the text
of the whole work, and. especially of the earlier
volumes, as nearly “up to date’’ as was prac-
ticable. This has béen done in the present volume
—the ninth—by means of a series of sup-
plementary articles, written for the most part by
the original contributors, and embodying any note-
worthy advances in the various branches of
organic chemical analysis dealt with in the eight
preceding volumes.
Without attempting to indicate by any means
all the additional matters, mention may be
made of a féw out of many interesting points
noted on looking through the book.
In the section on “ Alcohols ’’ a method is given
for the detection and estimation of methyl alcohol
in ethyl alcohol, which marks a real advance in
the subject. By this method, due originally to
Denigés so far as the detection is concerned, the
presence of as little as o°2 per cent. of methyl
alcohol in ethyl alcohol can be detected with cer-
tainty within twenty minutes, and’ only twice as
much time is required to estimate the proportion
of methyl alcohol with sufficient exactness for most
purposes.
For the estimation of starch, particularly in
foliage leaves and similar material, a method of
employing taka-diastase is recommended. Starch
is converted by taka-diastase into maltose and
dextrose, free from the dextrin produced with
ordinary diastase of malt. The resulting sugars
are determined by the usual methods.
In the article on “Butter’’ it is of interest to
note that the composition of margarine has under-
gone great changes during the last few years.
Except in the case of margarine intended for
pastry and cooking, the use of animal fats is
rapidly: dwindling; their place has been taken by
products obtained from the coconut and palm
kernel. A certain percentage of butter fat, how-
ever, is often present. The various changes have
made the analysis of modern margarine mixtures
a very complicated problem. The introduction of
hydrogenated (‘hardened ”’ or ‘“ semi-hardened ’’)
fats complicates the matter still further, as the
process of hydrogenation largely destroys the
identity of the original oil or fat.
An abuse of scientific knowledge is indicated in
connection with the production of essential oils.
Artificial esters such as terpinyl acetate, glyceryl
acetate, and ethyl citrate are prepared for use
as adulterants of these oils. The esters, as is
doubtless well known to the persons who employ
them, have chemical characters such that essential
oils adulterated with the esters appear to contain
natural esters considerably in excess of the arti-
ficial adulterant added. Methods for the detec-
tion of such admixtures are indicated in the book.
Since the previous articles on alkaloids were
written, a good deal of work on individual alka-
loids has been published, but not much which
affects alkaloids as a class. The question of the
444
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 7, 1918.
Le ee
mode of formation of vegetable alkaloids is. still
left open, but on the whole it is considered that
the work done recently rather supports the view
that alkaloids are formed from the decomposition
products of proteins. As regards the function of
alkaloids in plants, the view most widely accepted
now is that they are ultimate products of meta-
bolism, and pf no further use to the plant. Among
useful néw processes of alkaloid analysis may be
mentioned the citrate method of estimating quinine
(p. 516) and tht ferrocyanide process for quanti-
tatively separating strychnine from quinine
(p._ 518).
The volume contains a two-hundred-page index
to the whole work, which is indispensable to’
analytical laboratories dealing with organic pro-
ducts. The editor is to be congratulated upon
the successful cémipletion of his lengthy tae
" Pitts.
our BOOKSHELF.
Om Laegekunst hos Perserne. By A. Christen-
sen. Pp. 103. | (Medicinsk-historiske Smaa-
skrifter, 18.) (K@benhavn: Vilhelm Trydes
Forlag, 1917.) fi
Tuis small work of one hundred pages constitutes
the eighteenth pamphlet of the Medicinsk-
historiske Smaaskrifter edited by Vilhelm Maar
and ‘published in Denmark. We have reviewed the
other volumes in a previous issue, and regret that
an announcement in the present. pamphlet indi-
cates that the series, for the present at any rate,
has reached a conclusion. The subject of Persian
medicine has. been dealt with by many historians,
and ‘Dr. Christensen’ has brought our knowledge
up to’ date. He divides the matter into four
chapters: the Zoroaster period, ancient Islam
medicine, the “period of Avicenna, and recent
Persian medicine. An appendix with a translation
of one of the four treatises of the ‘* Tchahar
makala”’ of Nizami-i-Aruzi (twelfth century) com-
pletes the account. The medicine of the Avesta,
the original document of Zoroaster’s religion, is
fully dealt with, and the influence of Ahura Mazda,
the all-wise spirit, in maintaining health is
analysed. The demoniacal concept of disease and
its production through the agency of Anro Maiynus
—the evil mind—is carefully considered. The fall
of the Sassanian empire in the seventh century
and its conquest by the Arabs has had a profound
influence on the subject of medicine, for it was
through the Arabs, notably Rhazés and Avicenna,
that the great works of classical antiquity were
restored to European learning, enriched with the
valuable commentaries of these diligent students
of. the dark ages. Dr. Christensen’s researches
constitute a distinct addition to our knowledge of
this interesting period. ; .
The ‘' Wellcome’? Photographic Expostre’ Record
and Didry.* Pp. 256. (London: Burroughs
Wellcome and Co., 1918.) | Price 1s. Eat
Tuis well-known pocket-book Has “all its’ usual
features, in spite of thé exigéricies of the times.
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
| applied to the instrument-making trade, but. the sam
The main article has been rewritten, and gives
concise but sufficient directions for the use~
‘‘ tabloids ’’ in all the usual photographic opera=
tions. It includes development by time and tem=
perature, tank development, factorial develop-
ment, fixing, intensification and reduction, and
printing processes, the use of various develop-
ment papers, carbon printing, and oil pigment
printing, the making of lantern slides, various
toning and staining processes, and colour photo-
graphy by means of autochrome, Dufay and
Paget colour plates. The mechanical calculator
attached to the cover, with the necessary tables”
and lists, from which the photographer will select
those details that apply in his particular case, has
established its trustworthiness and convenience by
many years of experience. A useful diary, plenty
of space for recording exposures, a copious index,
sundry tables, etc., and two illustrations ‘‘ from
the front,’’ or very near it, complete the volume.
It is interesting to note that in the classified lists
of photographic materials there are given con-
siderably more than two hundred different kinds
of plates and films, forty-five kinds of bromide’
paper, and twenty-nine kinds of lantern’ plates,
although German and Austrian goods are
excluded. a ae
ee
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.} — a
The British Scientific Instrument-making Trade.
THE progress of science as-the result of- experience
gained during the present war will call for increased
effort on the part of British manufacturers of scientific
instruments at the conclusion of hostilities.” Moreover,
the knowledge gained by our principal enemy by virtue’
of the British blockade will give her a lead over us in
many directions, since she has been forced to bring
the brains of her leaders of scientific thought to beat
on many problems of vital moment to the life of their
country. ae eek Sy
From this it would seem as if British scientific in=
strument makers were called upon to co-operate more
closely .than has been the case in the past, if they ar
to meet the competition they will be called upon to fac
as soon''as Germany is in a position to reconstruc
her industries when relieved: from the burden of war
The object of the present. letter is te suggest. th
formation of an institution’ which, while retaining mos
of the features of existing scientific societies, will pro
vide means for greater effort in collaboration, as
gards training, research, and propaganda, with the view
of increasing the field for Britishsmade instruments
As was pointed out by the present writer in an articl
in NaTurE of August 16, 1977 (vol. xeix., p. 488), Get
many has always realised the. value of research a
cannot be said for this country. One of the first tasks
then, confronting such. an- institution. if establishe
would be the installation of a properly equip an
staffed laboratory, in which investigations coul
ried. out (1) in the interests of individual. member
in the interests of the general body of members, T
be objected that this would mean usurping the fun
_ Feprvary 7, 1918]
NATURE
445
the national laboratories, but this would scarcely be
since the institution laboratory would devote its
sntion more to the creation of new types of appa-
tus, the outcome of improved methods of teaching,
the perfection of existing types, rather than to the
y theoretical ascertainment of data’ on which
ard apparatus is based. It must not be forgotten
are many small firms whose means are
ent to allow of their bearing the somewhat
charges levied by the national institutions for
research work
discussion of methods of manufacture would
e another important function of the institution.
firms no doubt meet with difficulties which
often be cleared by free discussion, just as
bers of other scientific institutions profit by the
ice gained by their colleagues. There are very
if any, treatises on the manufacture of instru-
nts. Most of the existing books on the subject
me from Germany, and several of them have never
been translated. Thus it will be seen how original
papers and discussions could be made into a permanent
record.” —
Such questions as the standardisation of designs and
the study and improvement of the designs of other
intries could also be very suitably dealt with in an
tution intended for the general development of the
4°
epave
regards the organisation of the proposed institu-
tion, this could folly, generally, the lines of existing
scientific societies, with extensions to cover the par-
ticular activities suggested by individual firms. It is
expected, of course, that the first cost would be heavy,
and would necessitate the co-operation of the entire
_ instrument-making trade ; but surely it is worth while if
the ultimate benefits to be- conferred upon the trade
_ were made permanent, as they could not fail to be. The
_ question should be dealt with at once, for indications
} are not lacking that Germany is relaxing no effort to
secure, by ation and concentration on the part
of her leading manufacturing concerns—and probably
‘scientific instrument makers also—the dominant posi-
‘tion she held at the outbreak of the war.
3 E. S. Hopcson.
Coventry, February 5.
‘THE NATIONAL FOOD POLICY.
¥ Bais columns of the daily Press have for many
| - months past furnished adequate evidence of
“the controversy which is raging in agricultural
circles as to the lines upon which national policy
‘should be. framed with the view of securing the
maximum of efficiency in the production and hus-
banding of food supplies. That part of the ques-
‘tion which relates to animal production may be
said to have been brought to a focus in the notable
conference of representative agriculturists from
jj all parts of the country which met on Friday last
1) to receive statements on the position from Lord
Rhondda and Mr. Prothero.
1 Mr. Prothero indicated clearly that the domin-
| ating factor by which national policy in this matter
must be guided is the great shortage of concen-
trated feeding-stuffs. Basing his conclusions upon
Wi estimates of the supplies of such feeding-stuffs
I which are likely to be available before next
harvest, and postulating as self-evident that work-
ing horses and milch cows must be adequately,
| though not extravagantly, provided for in the first
Hlinstance, Mr. Prothero found that the remaining
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
supplies of concentrated food available for other
classes of live-stock were far from sufficient to
enable these to be fed in the same numbers or on
the same lines as has been customary in past
years. Whilst expressing the opinion that ample
freedom should be left to the individual farmer to
determine how he can utilise inadequate food
supplies to the best advantage, Mr. Prothero out-
lined suggestions as to the kind of ration of con-
centrated feeding-stuffs which might be regarded
as giving a reasonable apportionment to different
classes of stock. A considerable reduction in the
numbers of certain classes of live-stock was in-
evitable, but the farmer must endeavour to miti-
gate this by growing as much food as possible at
home for his stock. :
The address of Lord Rhondda was punctuated
freely with criticism from the audience, especially
when outlining the reasons which had led to the
existing policy of control of meat and milk sup-
plies. This policy had been rendered necessary
owing partly to the undue rise in meat prices even
when supplies were relatively plentiful, and partly
to the necessity of keeping meat production
within moderate limits in view of the restricted
supplies of concentrated feeding-stuffs and the
more efficient utilisation thereof in other directions.
From the reports of the meeting in the Press.
it is evident that the conference was not entirely
successful, owing to no opportunity being afforded
the audience of discussing the many controversial
matters raised by the speakers. This view was
expressed in a leading article in the Times of
February 2, the writer then proceeding to criticise
adversely certain items of the food policy of the
Government, and incidentally to throw doubt upon
the competence of the scientific investigator to .
furnish trustworthy guidance in the matter of the
economical utilisation of food supplies. ‘“‘ Scientific
calculations about food,’’ said the writer, “are a
very untrustworthy guide to practice, because the
data on which they are based are quite inadequate
to justify the conclusions drawn from them,’’ The
reply of the scientific worker came promptly in
Tuesday’s Times from the pen of Prof. E. H.
Starling, with the retort that science is “nothing
but practical experience accurately noted, re-
corded, and classified.’ The data upon which the
man of science bases his calculations are furnished
entirely by practical experience, and include all
such data as are detailed and accurate. The prac-
tical man can have no other data which will render
his conclusions more trustworthy, and, indeed, in
all too many cases the individual practical critic
has little regard for data of any description in the
formulation of his opinions.
It is surprising to find that the attitude of the
writer of the Times article on this point is appar-
‘ently determined by the views expressed in a letter
in the same issue contributed by Mr. C. B. Fisher,
“a well-known agriculturist of wide experience,”’
who is referred to as writing “in the moderate
tone of a man who is master of his subject.’’ It
is doubtful whether Mr. Fisher would entirely
accept the latter description, but it is clear from
446
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 7, 191 8.
his letter that whatever be his mastery of the prac-
tical aspect of the subject, he is not well informed
on the scientific aspect as set out in the report of
the Royal Society Food Committee. He is par-
ticularly scornful of the view that it is ‘more
economical to feed cereals direct to human beings
than to use them first for the production of pork.
By a travesty of the facts as to the common prac-
tice of pig-feeding, and an obvious inaccuracy in
the numerical example given, he has no difficulty
in evolving his reductio ad absurdum. The whole
matter would have been scarcely worthy of notice
but for the public attack upon the position of the
scientific investigator in relation to food problems,
and a special meed of thanks is due to Prof.
Starling for the swiftness and effectiveness of his
defence.
For the farmer the position is perfectly lata
and must be faced. The supply of feeding-stuffs
is very short, and live-stock of some kind must
be sacrificed. Above all, there must be no com-
petition between animals and human: beings. for
food which the latter can directly utilise. It is
under this latter head that the hand of restriction
falls most heavily on the pig. It is undeniable
that by pig-feeding much could be done to remove
the evil of the butter-queue; but the bread-queue
would be infinitely more dangerous, and can only
be avoided by a rigid Scapory in the use of
cereals.
THE INVESTIGATION OF INDUSTRIAL
FATIGUE.
Peer STANLEY KENT gives, in the papers
mentioned below,! a general summary of the
results at which he has arrived in his studies of
the physiological signs of industrial fatigue and
some practical conclusions to be drawn from
them. It is pointed out that the state to be tested
is more complex than that of simple muscular
exhaustion, inasmuch as it is dependent on a
state of the nervous system, brought about, not
by muscular fatigue alone, but even more by ner-_
vous fatigue, combined with worry, bad hygienic
conditions in the factory, ill-health, and insuffi-
cient food, as well as unsatisfactory home-life.
The tests used were four in number—reaction
time, visual acuity, acuity of hearing, and height
of blood-pressure. They were selected as being
made quickly and easily, while being incapable of -
control by the examinee. Curves constructed
from the results of these tests show a gradual
development of fatigue during the day, which re-
covers to some extent during the night, so that
there is a steady increase through the week. The
increase due to overtime work is also indicated,
and the greater effect of a given amount of over-
time towards the end of the week comes out dis-
tinctly. Overtime work always causes a greater
1 ** Fatigue Induced by sc is Bristol i ete -Chirurgical Journal,
July, 1917, vol. xxxv., No. 13
An Address on ‘‘ Fatigue ae Alcohol.” Deliv oe before the Society for
the Study of Inebriety. Lancet, July 28, 1917.
’ NO. 2519, VOL. Too]
-disinclination to work present on Monday morn-
fatigue than the same amount of work at. an early
part of the day. 5
A factor which upsets the regular accumulation _
of fatigue i is that called by Prof. Kent the ‘‘Mon-
day effect.’’ This is due to the lassitude and
ing. The cause of this appears to be the partia
forgetting of skill during the period of rest, and
is the more obvious the greater the skill acquired.
The decrease of output on the Monday morning
is not, in fact, a case of fatigue, but of loss of
As a rule, the Sunday rest puts an end to the.
accumulated fatigue of the week; if not taken gl
fatigue continues to increase until breakdown”
slackening of work takes place, accompanied with h "i
late arrival in the morning and so on, In ‘an 1
case, there is loss of efficiency. a
kind described leads thus to the same conclusion
as that arrived at by Dr. Vernon from investiga-
tions of output, namely, that the maximum output
-
hours of labour. An equally important aspect 0 |
the matter is that the worker is also given time
for culture and relaxation and for becoming ° a
,
It will be seen that the fatigue investigated in’
this research may be described as the feeling of
being tired, as distinguished from ‘the exhaustio
that the mischievous effect of alcohol shows itself
so clearly. Alcohol abolishes for a time the feel
ing of fatigue, and thus enables the worker to go
He naturally takes more alcohol and so on, ” e
net result is no increase of output—rather the re-
verse—while the state of the worker himself ie:
cular work was strikingly shown in the march to
the relief of Ladysmith, where the “drinkers ’’ fell
out as if labelled. Some interesting results with
address on ‘‘ Fatigue and Alcohol.’? The i.
action-time of abstainers was uniformly less that
that of those who took alcohol. Moreover, the
as great in the ‘‘alcoholics’’ as in the abstainers
Similar results were obtained with the othe
tests.
to the credit of alcohol is a psychical one, and tha
this is transitory, leading to repeated doses. Th
worker knows by experience that the discomfor
and he naturally turns to it. The remedy is of
vious. The fatigue is determined by the cond
tions in which men work.. Improve the condition
therefore, do our best to provide ‘‘the elemen’
of a healthy, full, and interesting life in place o f
mere existence without interest, without plea
co-ordination. ”
occurs; unless, as usually happens, an automatic.
ry
The measurement of fatigue by tests of te
is to be obtained in most cases by reducing thi
‘“reasonable being instead of a mere machine. i!
of the muscles themselves. Now, it is just here
on until the fatigue becomes worse than before.
from bad to worse. The effect of alcohol on mus: ,
the four tests mentioned are given on p. 16 of
depressing effect of a day’s work was five ti es
The conclusion is that the only effect to be p }
called fatigue can be diminished by taking alcoho
and fatigue and drinking disappear. Let ©
and without hope.’’ . BayLis
FEBRUARY 7, 1918}
NATURE
447
“GERMANY AND IRON-ORE SUPPLIES.
tinual references in the German technical
ress and in the papers read before various tech-
al societies to the immense importance of the
riey and Longwy iron-ore basins for German
dustry both during and after the war. Gradu-
y the mask is being dropped in technical circles,
vhere the facts are, of course, well known, and
he hollow pretence that this war was a war of
referred to, for these circles at any rate know
that it is a war of aggression and _ spoliation.
dn February last Dr. M. Schlenker, Syndic of the
| Saarbriicken Chamber of Commerce, showed that
fhe extraction -of iron ore in the Briey basin
amounted (calculated by iron contents) to 28 per
ent. of the total German ore supply, this latter
_ being made up as to 56 per cent. of domestic pro-
duction and as to 44 per cent. of imported iron
ore. He said that it must be described as a
“special stroke of good fortune that at the very
commencement of the war Germany came into
possession of the Briey ore basin, as without the
Foose iron ores it would have been impossible
for the German iron industry to cover its enor-
“mous requirements of munitions; on the other
hand, France has lost, as the result of the opera-
tions of the war, 85 per cent. of its pre-war iron
output. Dr. Schlenker takes for granted that
_ Germany will retain possession of its spoil and
thus remain “simply invulnerable in its most
important sources of strength and power.”’
The same story was repeated even more em-
phatically at the meeting of the Union of German
Tron and. Steel Manufacturers at Berlin in Decem-
ber last, where it was pointed out that the German
_ supplies of iron ore in the portion of Lorraine an-
_nexed in 1871 will be practically exhausted in forty
to fifty years, and that the German iron industry
| needs the Briey ironfield in order to assure its
continued existence. Here, again, the demand for
the retention by Germany of the Briey and Longwy
iron deposits is most ifsistently put forward.
Somewhat similar conclusions are reached by
the writer of an article signed “Politicus’’ in
the Fortnightly Review for the current month.
' After showing that throughout the history of the
world Germany’s aggressive militarism has been
ha constant danger to the world’s civilisation, he
discusses in detail the main sources of military
power—namely, man-power and supplies of coal
and iron. He indicates that to a considerable
extent the former depends upon the latter, because
industrial districts are always the most densely
populated, and “the greatest centres of population
occur on and around the great coalfields.’’ The
writer also emphasises the importance of the iron-
ore question, though he employs statistics as old
as 1910, and therefore not quite correct in the
light of modern knowledge; this accounts for his
statement that ‘Germany has by far the largest
iron deposits in Europe. France comes second.’’
Recent developments in France have somewhat
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
elf-defence on the part of Germany is barely.
URING the past year there have been con- |
altered the position as it was known in 1910, and
it is now recognised that the quantity of iron ore
in France is but little less, and probably even
greater, than that of Germany. This fact, how-
ever, strengthens rather than weakens his con-
clusions, which are that “Germany intends to
retain the coal- and iron-bearing frontier lands
upon which she has seized. . . . If Germany should
be allowed to retain her conquests she would not »
only subject to herself millions of non-Germans,
but she would absolutely dominate Europe with
the coal and iron monopoly which the war would
have given her, and she would thus be able to
embark upon the final conquest of the world.”’
If any confirmation of the correctness of these
views and of the real intentions of Germany is
required, this is furnished by the recent speech
of the German Chancellor, who gave a number of
reasons why Germany should retain possession of
Alsace-Lorraine, but carefully abstained from even
hinting at their supreme economic importance to
Germany.
NOTES.
THE managers of the Royal Institution reported at a
general meeting of members held on February 4 that
Dr. Mond, under the conveyance and deed of trust of
the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory, covenanted to
pay to the institution before the year 1926 the sum of
62,0001. as endowment fund. Dr. Mond’s trustees have
in the most generous way anticipated the obligation by
eight years, and have transferred the sum of 66,500l. in
5 per cent. War Stock to the trustees, nominated by the
managers, of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory
Endowment Fund. This will add materially to the
income available for the purpose of promoting and
maintaining the efficiency of the Davy-Faraday Re-
search Laboratory in the advancement of original re-
search in chemical and physical science.
A MEETING was held at the rooms of the Royal Society
of Arts on Monday, February 4, at the invitation of
the London Section of the Society of Chemical In-
dustry, to consider the formation of a London Section
of the British Association of Chemists. There was an
attendance of about 300, including members of the
Society of Chemical Industry, the Chemical Society,
the Institute of Chemistry, the Society of Public
Analysts, and the British Association of Chemists. Dr.
Ling took the chair, and briefly explained the reasons
for convening the meeting. Prof. Brame outlined the
history of the British Association of Chemists and the
course of the negotiations between that body and the
Institute of Chemistry. Mr. Smith, on behalf of the
British Association of Chemists, dealt with the need
for some registration authority for chemists and the de-
mand by chemists for a professional association which
would not only improve the status of chemists, but
also bring into the ranks of the chemist a larger num-
ber of well-equipped men than is now the case. He
emphasised the importance of chemists from a national
point of view, and invited the meeting to form a Lon,
don Section of the association. After remarks by Prof.
Donnan and other speakers, a resolution was passed,
with few dissentients, for the formation of a London
Section, and a provisional committee of eleven was
appointed to proceed with the matter. Mr. Pilcher
made a spirited defence of the Institute of Chemistry
against some criticisms of that body, and stated that
the institute was not antagonistic to the new associa-
tion.
448
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 7, 1918.
Tue following arrangements have been made in con-
nection with the Royal College of Physicians of Lon-
don:—The Harveian oration will be delivered on
October 18 by Dr. P. Kidd, and the Bradshaw lecture
in November by Dr. Aldren Turner. Prof. H. R.
Kenwood is to be the Milroy lecturer this year, and Dr.
J. McVail in 1919. '
THE next meeting of the Faraday Society will be held:
at the Municipal School of Technology, Manchester, on
February 14, when there will be a general discussion on
electric furnaces. The discussion will be preceded by
the reading of the following papers :—Application of
electric furnace methods to industrial processes, H.
Etchells; electric furnaces for steel refining, J. Bibby;
electric furnace control, A. P. M. Fleming and F.
Hill; and a high-temperature electric resistance fur-
nace, E. A. Coad-Pryor and W. Rosenhain.
Tue death is announced of Prof. J. P. Remington,
chairman of the Committee of Revision of the United
States Pharmacopoeia and professor of the theory and
practice of pharmacy in the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy. Prof. Remington was the author of
numerous papers on pharmacy, many of which were
contributed to the American Pharmaceutical Associa-
tion, and of the ‘‘ Practice of Pharmacy,”’ the sixth
edition of which was recently published by Messrs.
J. B. Lippincott Co.
Tue death of Mr. M. Beazley, which is recorded in.
the Engineer for February 1, is the third death among
Indian engineers announced last week. Mr. Beazley
was born in Bath in 1833. He assisted Mr. Cubitt in
the piercing of the Shakespeare Tunnel at Dover for
the South-Eastern Railway. He proceeded to India in
1859, and was engaged in the construction of a portion
of the Central Indian Railway. Afterwards he served
for ten years in the Imperial Chinese Customs.
WE note with regret that the Engineer for February 1
records the death of Mr. T. Anderson on January 15.
Mr. Anderson spent about thirty-three years in India,
thirty of which were in the service of the Royal Indian
Marine. He was born in Greenock in 1842, and went
to India in 1864. After occupying various positions, he
became, in 1881, engineer-surveyor to the Port of Bom-
bay, and was made chief engineer in 1885. After the
Burmese war he was sent to Mandalay to value the
factories of King Theebaw. Mr. Anderson was an asso-
ciate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers,
_ WE notice with regret the announcement of the
deaths of several distinguished medical men.
Gen. Sir Adam Scott Reid; who died in London on
February 2, at the age of sixty-nine, was for many
years in the Indian Medical Service.—Sir George H.
Philipson, ex-president of the British Medical. Associa-
tion and representative of the University of Durham
on the General Medical Council, died on January 24,
in his eighty-third year.—Sir James A. Russell, for
some years demonstrator of anatomy in the University
of Edinburgh, afterwards inspector of anatomy and
vivisection for the whole of Scotland, and an active
fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, died on
January 22, at seventy-two years of age.
Tue death has occurred of Prof. Amos P.
Brown, professor of mineralogy and geology in the
Towne Scientific School of the University of Penn-
sylvania, at fifty-two years of age. A resolution passed
at a recent meeting of the faculty of the Towne Scien-
tific School, and published in Science, states that
among the most notable ‘recent investigations in
America was the work done by Prof. Brown in the
field of crystallography; specifically the investigations
in the classes of crystals found in the hemoglobins of
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
Surg.-.
the entire range of the vertebrate animals. In
course of this investigation Prof. Brown prep;
examined, and talculated the functions of the is
of intricate and minute crystals, deducing from —
conclusions highly important alike to organic an
organic science. This work, carried out in colla
tion with Prof. Reichert, is referred to as one of the
greatest contributions to exact science ever made in
America. vas ARE og
Mayj.-GEN. H. P. BaBBaGe, who died at Che
on January 29, aged ninety-three, inherited mut
ieuthemnatical ability of his distinguished
Charles Babbage, mathematician and mec
whose famous calculating machine, after mam
tudes, was pronounced by a committee of the Bri
Association to be, ‘‘in the present state of the design
not more than a theoretical possibility.”” Maj.-Ger
Babbage was educated at University pra shoo
and at University College. He joined the East Indiz
Company’s Army in 1843, served in Assam and dur-
ing the Mutiny, and was then transferred to civil em-
ployment, where he gained reputation as a builder
bridges. He was a learned mathematician, and is
known by his account of his father’s work and o
principles of calculating machines, besides - paper c
mechanical notation and occulting lights. After iS
retirement from Indian service he engaged in muni-
cipal work at Bromley and Cheltenham, and did gooc
service as a vigilant critic of the accounts of
corporations. ° a
Pror. A. N. Tatsot, professor of municipal —
sanitary engineering, University of L[llinois, has
elected president of the American Society of
Engineers. The American Society of Civil i
is the oldest American engineering society.
membership of 8225, an annual budget of 30, 9.1
assets of 120,000l. As a consulting engineer Pi
Talbot has been connected with many large enterp
such as the Galveston Causeway, the Chicago City
Hall, and numerous waterworks and sewage purifica-
tion problems. , Prof. Talbot is a past pea of th
Society for the Promotion of Engineering Educa
tion and a past-president of the American Society fo
Testing Materials. The University of Pennsylvaniz
has conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor
of Science, and the University of Michigan thi
honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering.
AN interesting example of the audibility of the sount
of a distant fog-horn has been communicated to us bi
Mr. W. T. Evans, of Treharris, Glam. On Januar
14, from about 6 to 7 a.m., he heard series of foul
consecutive blasts, each followed by an interval
silence—the distinctive note of the siren at Nas!
Lighthouse, on the southern coast of Glamorganshire
Treharris is about twenty miles inland, and is separa’
from the coast by several ranges of hills. Though a
the blasts were distinctly audible, they varied 4
strength, some being as loud and clear as when heard
at other times from a distance of four miles. The fos
horn at Nash, according to a statement by the ligh'
house-keeper, was sounding on account of a snov
shower from 6.15 to 7 on the morning in question.
thick mantle of snow lay over the ground at th
time, and the air was absolutely calm. The condition
were thus favourable for the transmission of
sound to so great'a distance. es
Mr..H. S. Wettcome has presented to the
Office, for the use of the British Army Medical De
ment, a completely equipped motor bacteriolo
laboratory. Fhe bodv of the car and its ext
weather-proof annexe form a laboratory with a tot
working space of 219 sq. ft. The equipment incluc
Bt.
f
Seto ip se ints rie
i 2 i. _ a
1S A
‘on
2
ag
e FEBRUARY 7, 1918] _
..
ay.
‘improvemen
method of preserving perishable foodstuffs.
trace of oxygen.
paral sound fruit.
NATURE
449
microscopes, incubators, balance, autoclave, centrifuge,
microtome, ice-chest for water samples, and numbers
of accessories, the whole being packed in’ thirteen can-
_ teens, which ensures safety. in
the
gy ae conditions. A water tank fitted with pump
is fi on the roof of the car, an electric lighting out-
fit, with dynamo and accumulators, is fitted,» and
transit under
_ apparatus for the staff mess and sleeping accommoda-
tion for the staff are provided. Much ingenuity has
been exercised, so that everything is conveniently
grouped and easily accessible, and can be packed or
in about two hours. The formal presenta-
tion of the laboratory was made a few days ago to
Col. Stanistreet, the representative of the War Office.
Tue Times of February 1 contains an account of an
t by Dr. S. A. Kapadia in the Lawton
‘ In that
system the produce was kept under anaerobic condi-
tions, so that putrefactive and other changes were
arrested, but the objection to it was that the gas used con-
tained carbon monoxide, forming an explosive mixture
inthe preserving chamber. The gas used by Dr. Kapadia
consists of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with only a
Australian apples which had been
kept for five weeks in this atmosphere were found to
be in as good condition as at first, and the rottenness
from some of the sp2cimens had not spread to the
Raspberries, a fruit very
cult to preserve fresh, after a fortnight of the same
treatment were as fresh as when the experiment
started, and, moreover, they retained this freshness
for four days after removal from the preserving cham-
ber, thus allowing time for the fruit to be marketed.
After salted fish had been kept in the preserving
chamber for six weeks it appeared to an expert to be
in exactly the same condition as when introduced.
Similarly, eggs which had been preserved for twenty
weeks in the same way could be. afterwards boiled
without the shell cracking, as if new-laid.
; On account of the warmth and dampness of the air
‘in mines, the timber which is used for props, sleepers,
etc., underground is very liable to decay, set up by
fungi. Pitwood as a rule lasts a very short time, and
has to be speedily replaced. Before the war this class
of timber was very cheap, and nothing was done in
Britain to Se oa its duration by preservative treat-
ment, oes it was known that economies in this
direction had been effected in France owing to the
experiments that had been undertaken by M. Fayol
in the collieries of Commentry, and by Prof. E. Henry
in the mines near Nancy. The U.S. Forest Service
had also treated a large number of timbers by various
methods, and placed them in the coal mines at Potts-
ville, in Pennsylvania, with convincing results of the
efficiency of creosote and zinc chloride as preservatives.
Several mining companies in the United States have
been using treated timber, and have found it econom-
ical. It is most important at the present time to
lengthen the life of pitwood in our mines and col-
lieries, as this will result in a lessened demand for sea-
borne timber. With this end in view, the. Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research has issued Bulle-
tin No. 1, Memorandum on the Preservation of Timber
in Coal Mines, by Prof. Percy Groom. Practical reme-
dial measures against the spread of the spores of the
destructive fungi in the galleries are clearly described.
The fructifications can be readily removed and burned,
provided careful inspection of the timbers is made
periodically by an intelligent workman. The mycelia
accessible on the surface of the pitwood can be washed
off by an antiseptic solution and removed. All the
fresh timber put down in the mines should be treated
beforehand with creosote or zinc chloride, applied by
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
brushing or impregnated by immersion or pressure
methods. When the wood has to last only a relatively
short time, other substances may be used, as common
salt, magnesium sulphate, and certain mine waters.
A REPORT just issued of the Meteorological Com-
mittee for the year ended March 31, 1917, the sixty-
second year of the Meteorological Office, shows that
considerable activity is maintained in meteorology. Sir
Napier Shaw is director, and no change has taken
place in the Meteorological. Committee constituted
under the authority of the Lords Commissioners of
H.M. Treasury. The observatories and the stations
for the daily weather service have been. kept. regularly
in operation. There has been an unprecedented in-
crease in the work of the forecast division and the
instruments division, -Many calls have been received for.
new publications and new editions of existing publica-
tions from various sub-departments of the Admiralty,
War Office, Air Board, Ministry of Munitions, Board
of Trade, and Colonial Office. To meet the increased.
requirements in the office and to supplement the
absence of many members of the staff on military
service, use has been made of members of the staff who
have reached or passed the age of superannuation in
the office. ‘‘Summer-time’”’ has entailed some addition
to the work, and as the diurnal variations of the’
weather are so essentially controlled by the sun, the
office obtained permission under the Act to retain
Greenwich time for the hours of its observations, but
this by no means freed the office from much com-
plexity. An interesting inquiry is mentioned, ‘at the
instance of Dr. Walker, Director-General of Indian’
Observatories, into the statistical relation between the
weather in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean
and subsequent weather of north-western Europe.
Especial mention should be made of an important new
work, ‘“‘ Réseau Mondial,’ for which data have been
prepared, which give a compendious review of the
meteorology of the globe. This work is a great ad-
vance in international meteorology, and the report
states that the work is fairly completed for the years
IQlI, 1912, and 1913.
Tue Bihar and Orissa Research Society continues to
do excellent work on the antiquities of the province.
In the Journal of the society for September last (vol.
iii., part 3) Mr. C. W. Anderson describes a find of
prehistoric stone implements in the Singhbhum dis-
trict. The first discovery of such remains dates from
1868. Generally speaking, the trap implements may
be classed as Mesolithic, intermediate between the Neo-
lithic and Palzolithic periods. This definition would
bring them in line with Prof. Sollas’s Azilian stage, if
the assumption be made that there was an uninter-
rupted sequence of industries. But this is by no
means a necessary assumption, and such implements
as can be compared with European collections rather
point to an origin contemporary in the stage of cul-
ture, if not in age, with the Magdalenian. If the view
recently expressed be correct, that the language of the
Kolarian tribes in India may be connected with. those
of races in the Malayan Peninsula and the Andaman
Islands, the present discovery may lead to further
interesting identifications, mira
THE importance of Syria and Palestine as fields for
the investigation of prehistoric antiquities is fully illus.
trated in an important paper by Le Fre Néophytus,
entitled ‘‘‘La Préhistoire en Syrie-Palestine,’” published
in L’Anthropologie, vol. xxviii., parts 4-5, for; July=
October, 1917. - The practice of human sacrifice ‘in, the
form of immolatien of new-born children in funereal
jars is fully established. The historical survey « of
rarer
450
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 7, 1918.
explorations describes a large number of prehistoric
animals the remains of which have been discovered,
The Palzolithic period is represented at several sites
in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, :
and the periods known’ as Mesvinian, Mousterian,
Aurignacian, Solutrian, and Magdalenian .are all more
or less fully illustrated by discoveries. The Neolithic age
is abundantly represented by examples from .Mount
Carmel, the banks of the Jordan, and the neighbour-
hood of the Dead Sea. The writer remarks that
though the prehistoric age in Syria and Palestine has
not been so fully investigated as in Europe, the mate-
rials for its study are abundant, and students of the
history of ancient man will share with him in the
hope that when peace has been re-established the study
of the remains in this important region will be under-
taken with still greater hopes of success.
Dr. R. F. Scnarrr, in the Irish Naturalist (Decem-.
ber, 1917), gives a long and useful history of the now |
extinct Irish: ‘t greyhound-pig,’”’ which survived until
recently’ in the more isolated parts of Ireland. This
he is inclined to believe is not a descendant of. the
wild boar which roamed over the island, but was
introduced possibly so far back as the Bronze age.
It would seem to be nearly related to the ancient
“turf-pig”’ of the Swiss Lake dwellings and the. Lake
dwellings of Glastonbury, in Somerset, . From
this last fact it would seem more probable that. the
Irish pig was introduced from England rather than
from the Continent, as Dr. Scharff is inclined to be-
lieve. A great deal of information has been brought
together in this short paper, which is further illus-
trated by photographs. sae
IstanD faunas afford us valuable data as to the
effects of isolation in regard to the evolution of species.
Hence we are.glad to note the.summary of a study
of the birds of the Anamba Islands by. Mr. Harry C.
Oberholser which appears in the Bulletin of the Smith-
sonian Institution (No. 98). The material described
was collected some years ago by Dr. W. L. Abbott,
and includes fifteen subspecies peculiar to these islands.
As might be expected, they are all of small species of
the Passerine type. It is shown that, so far as their
avifauna is concerned, these islands are most closely
related to the Malay Peninsula, less so, but about
equally, to Sumatra and Borneo, and only slightly to
Indo-China.
A very remarkable shrew, Scutisorex congicus, is
described’ by Mr. J. A. Allen in the Bulletin of the
American’ Museum of Natural History (vol. xxxvii.,
1917). This animal, when originally described by Mr.
Oldfield ‘Thomas: from. a. ‘skin. and skull . from
Uganda, seemed to differ from the typical shrews
chiefly in its long, thick fur and the great develop-
ment of the cranial ridges. But a number of specimens
have been recently obtained by the American Museum
of Natural History Congo Expedition, and among
these are several skeletons and specimens in alcohol.
The dissection of these has revealed a quite extra-
ordinary condition of the vertebral column, un-
known in any other mammal. Briefly, all the verte-
bre, from the seventh thoracic to the last lumbar,
have the latero-ventral borders so. enormously pro-
duced that this part of the vertebral column, seen from
below, is deeply trough-shaped. Nothing that is
known of the habits of this creature affords any ex-
planation of so singular a modification. But it cer-
tainly imparts tremendous strength to the backbone.
This is well known to the natives, who take “ great
delight in showing to the easily fascinated crowd its
extraordinary resistance to weight and pressure... a
full-grown man weighing some 160 Ib. steps barefooted
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
-worse for this mad experience.”’
fact that fully adult animals do not exceed 243 mm, ~
in length, its weight-carrying possibilities are truly
upon the shrew. Steadily trying to balance himself —
to vociferate séveral —
Thé poor creature seems certainly doomed.
But as soon as his tormentor steps off, the shrew, after
upon one leg, he continues
minutes.
a few shuddering movements, tries to escape, none
Having regard to the
wonderful. The natives hold this: animal in great
esteem. They are convinced that its charred body, or
even its heart, when prepared by their medicine-men, —
transmits truly invincible qualities.
Such precious
relics are always worn by those engaging in warfare,
or setting out on any equally dangerous enterprise, such —
as hunting elephants.
Tue December number of Terrestrial Magnetism
and Atmospheric Electricity contains an article by Mr.
J. P. Ault on the meteorological observations taken by
the Carnegie during her voyage around the Antarctic
continent in the spring of 1916. With a few excep-
tions, the observations were taken between latitudes
50° and 60° S., from Lyttelton, New Zealand, to South
Georgia, Kerguelen, and Lyttelton. The temperature
of the ‘sea, the pressure, temperature, and humidity of
the air, the direction and speed of the wind, and the
position of the ship are given for noon each day. The
weather was uniformly bad, the humidity 80 to 90 per
cent., the sea and air temperatures only a few degrees
above freezing point, and the wind high. With de-
‘creasing barometric pressure the wind almost invari-
ably shifted from north to west, became a gale, and
as the pressure again increased, shifted to the south-
west and blew hard. A comparison of the Carnegie
observations with those made by the Shackleton ex-
pedition during the same period should prove of con-
siderable interest. se
THE Chemical Trade Journal for December 29 con-
tains an interesting article on the perchlorate method -
of estimating potassium. By the work described the
following facts are established :—(1) The perchlorates —
of sodium, barium, calcium, and magnesium are
readily soluble in alcohol containing 0-2 per cent, of
perchloric acid, in which potassium perchlorate is—
almost insoluble. (2) The chlorides of the above
| metals are completely transformed into perchlorates by
evaporating their solutions with excess of perchloric
acid. (3) The loss effected by washing one gram of
potassium chlorate with 100 c.c. of alcohol containing
o-2 per cent. of perchloric acid and then with 2 c.c.
of alcohol amounts to 0-36 per cent. (4) Barium
hydroxide is preferable to barium chloride for the pre-
liminary precipitation of sulphates, and, when such large
quantities as o-8 to 1-0 gram of perchlorate are dealt
with, it is advisable to ‘use the solid hydroxide. ‘The
procedure recommended is as follows :—The solution
of the potassium salt is treated with excess of solid
barium hydroxide, and the barium sulphate filtered and
washed under pressure on an asbestos filter. The fil-
trate and washings are evaporated with a 50 per cent.
excess of perchloric acid in a glass basin until, white
fumes are evolved, then 25 c.c. of water are added,
and the product evaporated to dryness. The residue
is taken up with 20 c.c. of alcohol containing 0-2 per
cent. of perchloric acid, the potassium perchlorate —
transferred to an asbestos filter, washed with 80 c.c.
of the dilute alcoholic solution of perchloric acid, and —
then with 2 c.c. of pure alcohol. The filter is dried,
weighed, washed with boiling water, dried, and again
weighed, the difference in the two weights giving the
amount of perchlorate.
occurred to the writer to use a Gooch crucible, and
thus reduce the weighings to one, nor does he seem to —
= ‘.
1
“
It does not seem. to. have ~
&
j _ FEBRUARY 7, 1918]
NATURE
451
vol. xc., p. 441), who established most of the above
- ium. perchlorate can be entirely obviated by washing
_ with alcohol saturated with this salt.
_. Mr. Rosinson Smirn, in an article on efficiency in
the Quarterly Review, states that the two forces in
America that in recent years have done most to put the
_ American house in order, and of which next to nothing
_ is known in Europe, are efficiency and prohibition.
_ Efficiency, or scientific management, as it was termed
by its founder, was introduced by Mr, F. W. Taylor,
_ and its methods certainly lead to large increases in the
_ output per worker. Mr, Taylor got his data by timing
_ men at work with a stop-watch, and by seeing whether
_ the men could do more work if they omitted certain
movements or rested periodically; hence the term
_ “motion-study.”” The following illustrates the process
_ applied to a gang of men lifting pig-iron from a
- ground-pile, walking up an inclined plank, and drop-
ping it into a car at the rate of 124 long tons per day.
__ *Taylor’s first step was to single out one of these men
_ —of the ox-type of man—and on this first day and all
_ day long he was told by the man who stood over him
_ with a watch: ‘ Now pick up a pig and walk’; ‘ Now
_ sit down and rest,’ and at half-past five in the after-
- noon the man had loaded 47}. tons of pig-iron on to
_ the car.” The author of the article expresses regret
at the cold reception which has been given to Mr.
_ Taylor’s ideas in Britain, and uses many arguments
in its favour. Probably the prejudices which bar the
way at present would be modified considerably if work-
men were convinced that better wages and shorter
working hours would permanently follow the introduc-
tion of Mr. Taylor’s methods.
ig SoME recent developments in balancing apparatus
are descri in a paper read by Mr. N. W. Akimoff
before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
and reprinted in Engineering for February 1. Mr.
Akimoff’s original machine consisted in principle in |
mounting the body which required dynamic balance on
a beam hinged at one end and supported on a
spring at the other. A “balancing cage’? was also
mounted on the beam and rotated in unison with the
body. By moving masses on the balancing cage, the
effect of the rocking couple on the body was neutral-
ised, and from a knowledge of the amount and position
of these masses was obtained the information neces-
sary to correct the want of balance in the body. In
Mr. Akimoff’s latest machine the effects of both static
and dynamic want of balance can be readily neutralised
by means of a clamp fixed to the body, and having a
mass which can be adjusted in radius from the axis of
rotation. The clamp can be moved axially and also
adjusted for angular position. The effect of static
want of balance is first eliminated, and the rocking
couple is then got rid of. The machine is ingenious,
and appears to be effective in solving a rather trouble-
some problem.
Tue water supply of the city of Brisbane is the sub-
ject of an article in the issue of the Engineer for
January 25, and the following particulars are of in-
terest. The supply is derived chiefly, from the Bris-
bane River. The pumping plant, which is located
about twenty miles from the city, and above the tidal
region, consists of three triple-expansion, condensing
engines, each capable of pumping six million gallons
per twenty-four hours. The population supplied is
about 158,000, and the average daily consumption forty-
six gallons per head. There is an important storage
reservoir at Cabbage Tree Creek, a tributary of the
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
be aware of the work of W. A. Davis (NATURE, 1912, | crete, 740 ft. long (including the by-wash), 125 ft.
| high, 95 ft. thick at the base, and 1o ft. wide at the
_ facts, and in addition showed that the loss of potass- |
| of the stars.
_xivi., p. 298).
top. The surface area of the enclosed lake is
7oo acres, and the quantity of water. impounded
5,800,000,000 gallons. The rainfall of the district is
intermittent; there are long periods of drought alter-
nating with heavy downfalls, which result in floods.
The longest recorded period of drought was in 1915,
when the Brisbane River was dry for eight weeks.
Allowing for evaporation, the available: quantity of
‘water, when the reservoir is full, affords 12,000,000
gallons daily for 300 days, and as the present con-
sumption’ is only seven and _ three-quarter million
gallons per day, there is ample margin for consider-
ably more than a year’s supply without the aid of a
single drop of rainfall. The dam was ceremonially
opened in December, 1916, the work having cost about
172,000l.
Tue latest catalogue of second-hand books (No. 172)
just issued by Messrs. W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., Cam-
bridge, should be of much interest to readers of
NATURE, seeing that it deals mainly with books relat-
ing to science. It contains sections devoted to astro-
nomy and meteorology, botany (including forestry and
herbal), chemistry, folklore and mythology, geology,
mineralogy and palzontology, mathematics, physics
and engineering, physiology, anatomy and medicine,
and zoology, biology and Nature-study. Copies of the
catalogue are obtainable upon application.
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN,
LUMINOSITIRS AND PARALLAXES OF 500 Stars.—The
spectroscopic method of determining the absolute mag-
nitudes, and thence the luminosities and parallaxes, of
stars has been further improved in detail by Messrs,
W. Adams and A. H. Joy, and applied to 500 stars
(Astrophysical Journal, vol. xlvi., p. 313). For stars
of the same spectral type, the enhanced lines and the
hydrogen lines are relatively strong in those of high
luminosity, and weak in those of low luminosity, while
the low-temperature lines behave in’a manner directly
opposite. For 360 of the stars, measured parallaxes
are available for comparison, and the average difference
between these and the spectroscopic parallaxes, taken
without regard to sign, is 0-026".. The spectral types
now within the capacity of the spectroscopic method
range from A8 to M.. One of the most striking con-
clusions from.this important investigation is that the
distinction between ‘“giant’’’ and ‘dwarf’ stars is
clearly shown for types M, K, and G, with a slight
indication of such separation even in the case of F
stars. In the case of the M type the list includes
thirty stars brighter than absolute magnitude 3-9, and
twelve stars fainter than absolute magnitude 9-5, with
none of intermediate brightness. It is considered
almost certain, in the case of types M and K at least,
that these results cannot be ascribed to the selection
The catalogue is conveniently arranged,
and includes position, proper motion, and visual mag-
nitude, besides other data.
SotaR HyproGcen Bomss.—A_ remarkable — solar
phenomenon of short duration has been investigated
photographically and visually by Mr. F. Ellerman at the
Mt. Wilson, Observatory (Astrophysical Journal, vol.
It consists of the sudden appearance
_of a very brilliant narrow band extending for several
_rarely from five to ten minutes.
angstroms on each side of Ha, which persists as a
dark line with little change in width. The duration is
only from one to three minutes on the average, and
The average width
| of the bright band is about 8 A., but in an extreme
Brisbane River, formed by a dam of cyclopean con- |
case the band extended over 30 A. These ‘“ bombs”
452
NATURE
N
are most likely to appear around and) among active
spot-groups, especially groups which are developing
and have many component members... At times they:
follow one another like the balls of a Roman candle,
at intervals varying from ten to twenty minutes. Two
essential conditions for their observation are good
seeing and a large solar image. The appearance sug-
gests something of the nature of an explosion, in
which nothing but hydrogen seems to be involved. The
level at which the explosions occur would: seem to lie
below the reversing layer, as the Fraunhofer lines,
including those of hydrogen, do not seem to be affected.
The phenomenon is quite distinct from -the ordinary
eruptive reversals of Ha, in which the continuity of
the dark line is interrupted.
‘“ ANNUAIRE DU BureAU DES LonaiTupDES.’’—In_ addi-
tion to the valuable astronomical tables and explanatory
matter which ordinarily appear in this well-known
official publication, the volume for 1918 includes a
number of articles of special interest. Among these
is the first part of an extensive study of sundials by
M. Bigourdan; the Egyptian calendar, by the same
author; the sun and terrestrial magnetism, by M.
Hamy; and the life and.work of Gaston Darboux, by
M. Emile Picard... It should be noted that the tabular
matter is not exclusively astronomical, but also in-
cludes authoritative data which make the volume a
valuable source of reference on questions relating to
meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, physics, and chem-
istry. The Annuaire is published at two francs by
Messrs. Gauthier-Villars et Cie.
TuirD MELBOURNE StTaR CaTALOGuE.—The third Mel-
bourne General Catalogue of 3068 stars, for the
equinox 1890, has recently been. issued. It is based
upon observations made at the Melbourne Observatory
during the period 1884 to 1894, under the direction of
Mr. R. J. Ellery, and has been prepared for publica-
tion by the present Government Astronomer, Mr. P.
Baracchi. The catalogue -includes fundamental stars
used for the determination of clock-error and azimuth,
guide-stars in connection with the astrographic work,
and various stars observed for special purposes at the
request of other astronomers. The second catalogue,
of 1211 stars, was published in 1889.
THE ENDOWMENT OF UNIVERSITY
AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
R. H. A. L. FISHER, President of the Board of
Education, speaking at Birmingham on January
31, referred to the support afforded to higher education
in the United States and Germany in comparison with
that in England. He is reported by the Times to have
said that ‘‘he had been looking into the endowments
from private sources which have been going to the
American universities on one hand, and to the Eng-
lish universities on the other, in recent years. In the
period from 1906 to 1917 the American universities
received an average of more than four millions
annually from private sources, whereas our. universi-
ties were lucky if they received 200,000l. in one year.
Concerning the amount of State help to the universi-
ties in Prussia on one hand, and in England and
Wales on the other, whereas the Prussian universities
receive rather more than a million pounds a year, our
universities and technical institutes receive 378,oo00l.
from the rates and taxes combined. The comparison
is even more unfair to England than it appears at first
sight, because the Prussian figures exclude the endow-
ments of the technical institutions and sums paid by
the State to assist the training of teachers.”
We are glad that Mr. Fisher has directed attention
to the need for more liberal provision for university
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
and higher technical education in this country, as in-—
dicated by the support offered in other countries. The
most complete survey of State-aid and private.endow-
ments for scientific and educational purposes is that
given annually in the report of the British Science
Guild; and in connection with Mr. Fisher’s remarks
it is of interest to extract the following fatts from —
such reports published in recent years :-— ;
(1) The grand total of gifts to education in the
during the forty-four years 1871-
The average annual! amount:
of new benefactions during the - four ‘years 1911-14 —
was six million pounds, excluding grants by the United —
States, different States, and municipalities; in the —
United Kingdom, the average is less than one-twentieth —
United States
1914 was 116,883,600.
s ave PY ‘ > t
this amount. fs :
(2) The total receipts of universities in the United
States in the year 1910-11 amounted to nearly nine- —
teen million pounds, and the benefactions to five —
millions. In the same financial year, the total in-
comes of those universities and university colleges in —
Great Britain which are in receipt of State grants was —
little more than one-seventh of the amount of gifts
to education in the States, and was less than one- —
thirtieth of the incomes of the universities there.
) The income from endowments in the case of the —
universities and university colleges receiving Treasury —
grants is about 85,oool. for England and 4oool.
Wales; or, say, 90,o00l. for Great Britain. Five uni-—
versities in the United States have each a much greater |
income from private endowment funds alone than the
total endowment income of State-aided universities and -
university colleges in Great Britain. They are :—
Harvard University, 239,500l.; Columbia University, ©
199,700l. ; Leland Stanford Junior University, 177,400l. ;
University of Chicago, 164,700l.; and Yale University,
140,gool. pee e \
(4) Our Treasury grants in aid of experses of universi-
ties. and university colleges amount to about 300,000l.
The Treasury grants of the United States Government to
universities and colleges amount to 1,175,000l., and the
State or city grants for current expenses to 2,940,000l.,
or more than 4,000,000l. in all. “ibt
several single States in the United States, from State
or city funds, for. current expenses of universities and
other institutions of higher education approach the —
grant made for like purposes in |
total amount of the
Great Britain.
(5) In Germany, State subsidies provide the main —
part of the incomes of the universities. The annual —
[FEBRUARY 7, 1918. 2
for~
The contributions of —
expenditure for the universities from State funds —
amounts in round figures to 1,800,000l.' In 1913 the
expenditure of the University of Berlin alone was
242,0001.; and of this amount 200,000l., or about 83 per —
cent., was derived from .State funds.
(6) The total number of full-time day students in —
the universities of the United Kingdom is about 21,000,
in comparison with 55,000 in German universities. In —
our technical institutions, the number of day students —
in attendance is about 2000, in comparison with 16,000 —
in the technical high schools of Germany.. The seventy- —
two universities, colleges, and technical schools in the
United States, on the accepted list of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, had, in
1910, 89,000 students. ‘
It is evident that we have much leeway to make up
in order to increase the number of highly trained men —
required to enable us to come into line with the United —
States and Germany as regards the provision for the
scientific development of our industries. There is no
more important problem of reconstruction than that of”
extending our facilities for higher education, yet almost
nothing has been done to enable. our universities and
technical institutions to provide for the’ extensions
which are needed for national security in the future.
_Fesruary 7, 1918]
NATURE
453
___ As we have now a really democratic President of the
4 d of Education, who has a genuine zeal for educa-
on and a fervent desire that all who are capable of
benefiting from it shall have the means of enjoying its
_ advantages, we may hope that steps will be taken to
_ place our universities and technical institutions upon a
‘Satisfactory financial footing. In an address delivered
in September last to the Associated Educational Socie-
ties bP Maachester, on “ Educational Reform,” recently
issued in pamphlet form, Mr. Fisher surveyed the
whole field of education, and directed attention to the
great. increase in. the number of _ universities
now existing in England and Wales, compris-
ing twelve, including the ancient universities of
_ Oxford and Cambridge. Mr. Fisher characterised these
___as in the forefront of European learning, and said they
_ need not fear comparison with the most famous uni-
_ versities of the Continent in respect either of the
_ quality of their contributions to the advance of know-
ledge or of the adequacy and power of their teach-
g. The ten more modern universities, which are
ely subsidised by the State, have not yet re-
ceived an equipment at all adequate to modern needs,
_ and are nowhere supported by so large a body of
____ students as they deserve. Attention was directed to a
comparison between Lancashire and Scotland, with a
similar population. In the former there are two uni-
__-Versities, in the latter five, with, in the case of Scot-
land, a body of undergraduates five times as numerous
___ as that of the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool
The place and function of the secondary school in its
_ relation to the university were also discussed by Mr.
_ Bisher. While the number of such schools has greatly
increased, there being nearly 1000 in receipt of education
grants, there is in many areas very inadequate pro-
. Vision, to the great detriment of the children residing
_ therein. There are too many early leavers and too low
a percentage of pupils who reach matriculation
standard. Much needs to be done before the secondary
schools can reach a proper level. Better salaries must
be offered to the teachers and an adequate scale of
pensions arranged. More encouragement must be
offered to induce a higher standard of work, and so
enable the universities to reach a higher plane of teach-
ing. More and better provision is needed in the way
of maintenance scholarships enabling capable, though
poor, children to travel along the broad highway un-
impeded from the elementary school to the university.
Whilst the work of the elementary school has much
improved of late it can never do its full work until the
leaving age is made compulsory up to fourteen at ledst,
and provision then made for a liberal, continued educa-
tion within working hours for those entering industry
up, to eighteen years of age.
' One point which has been overlooked in recent dis-
cussions is that of the need for improvement of the
seales of salaries of teachers in universities and tech-
nical institutions if competent instructors are to be
maintained. A meeting of teachers engaged in the
technical institutes, junior technical and trades schools
of London and the neighbouring counties was held on
Saturday last to consider this question. Special em-
phasis was laid by several speakers on the fact that
men and women of attainments similar to those of
teachers in technical institutions can obtain much higher
salaries in industry or in secondary schools than are
aid in the technical institutions. A resolution declar-
ing that the present rates of salaries paid to both day
and evening teachers in technical institutions are totally
inadequate, and urging
take immediate steps to establish satisfactory scales of
salaries for all teachers, was carried unanimously.
A further resolution requesting the Government to allo-
cate special grants, similar to those given in the case
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
the education authorities to °
of secondary and elementary schools, for improving
| the salaries of teachers in technical institutions was
| also adopted,
It was agreed that the London Branch
of the Association of Teachers in Technical Institu-
tions, by whom the meeting was organised, should re-
quest the County Councils of London and the Home
Counties to receive deputations for the purpose of
placing the views of the meeting before them.
—
MAGNETIC SURVEY OF NEW ZEALAND.*
EX the observational work recorded in the pub-
lication referred to below Dr. Farr had much assist-
ance from Mr. Skey, who succeeded him as direc-
tor of the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory when
Dr. Farr became professor of physics at Canterbury
College, while Mr. D MacLeod took an active
part in the discussion of results. The observational
work extended over the years 1899 to igog, in the
course of which 334 stations were occupied, including
forty-four in the Southern Islands, Chathams, and
West Coast Sounds. The instruments, a unifilar mag-
netometer and dip circle—the former once used by the
North American Boundary Commission, and by the
Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition—were lent by
the old Kew Committee of the Royal Society.
Particulars are given of the position of each station,
the date or dates of observation, the values of the
_declination, dip, east and north components, hori-
zontal, vertical, and total forces. Owing to the long
period covered by the observations, considerable im-
portance attaches to the secular change corrections
necessary to reduce the data to a common epoch.
These were based on the Biagnetograel data obtained
at Christchurch from 1901 onwards, and on observa-
tions at repeat stations. Following the example
afforded by Riicker and Thorpe’s survey of the British
Isles, New Zealand was divided into ten overlapping
districts. These were bounded by parallels of latitude,
the limits of three successive ones being, for instance,
38° and 4o° S., 39° and 41° S., and 40° and 42% S.
Assuming the change in any element within any one
district a linear function of the latitude and longitude,
the rates of change with latitude and longitude were
deduced in the first instance by the method of least
squares. A process of smoothing was then applied, to
secure continuity in passing from one district to the
next.
The general nature of the results is best seen
by consulting the maps. The great length of New
Zealand from north to south necessitates two maps
for each.element, one for the North Island, the other
for the South Island. The latter, it should be noticed,
is described as the ‘Middle Island” in the charts
principally devoted to the North Island, a memory of
the time when the small island, now known as Stewart
Island, was called the South Island. In the case of
the declination, starting at the extreme north of the
North Island, we have the isogonal of 14° o’ E., slop-
ing from N.W. to S.E. Near the south of the North
Island, and north of the South Island, the isogonal
of 15° so’ runs nearly due east and west, while to the
extreme south of the South Island the isogonal of
17° 10’ slopes from N.E. to S.W. The isoclinals and
lines of equal horizontal force, on the other hand,
have a nearly parallel trend from extreme north to
south. The dip ranges from under 60° S. to over
71° S., and the horizontal force from 0-275 C.G.S.
in the extreme north to 0-200 C.G.S. in Stewart Island.
Other maps deal with the northerly, east, and ver-
tical components, and the total force. The two last
1 ‘*A Magnetic Survey of the Dominion of New Zealand and Some of the
Outlying Islands for the Epoch June 30, 1903." By Dr. C. Coleridge Farr.
Lina si with 18 maps, (Wellington: John Mackay, Government Printer,
1916.
454
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 7, 1918.
show the local disturbing forces, which are discussed
in pp. 28-31. Amongst the largest disturbances are
those in Stewart Island and near Invercargill and
Dunedin. Prof. Marshall contributes in pp. 63-64 some
remarks on the geological character of the disturbed
regions. His conclusion is that ‘while in each case
of magnetic irregularity it is possible to point to some
unusual geological feature, these are in no instance
the most marked feature of that kind in the country,
and those localities where such feature is most pro-
nounced show no unusual magnetic characters."’ As
Dr. Farr says himself, there is room for considerable
further observational work in the disturbed districts.
Two supplementary pages give particulars of ob-
servations made in March and April, 1916, at ten of
Dr. Farr’s stations by Mr. W. C. Parkinson, once of
Greenwich and Eskdalemuir Observatories, now ob-
serving for the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
These serve a useful purpose in- showing the changes
that have occurred since the epoch of the survey.
Transport is still a serious difficulty in parts of New
Zealand, and the work had to be carried on in the
spare time which his other important duties left at
Dr. Farr’s disposal. He is to be congratulated on
having brought to a satisfactory conclusion an arduous
_ piece of work, which adds substantially to our know-
ledge of terrestrial magnetism in. the southern hemi-
sphere. It is satisfactory to notice that the work had
the active support of the New Zealand Government,
and that the printing was done, and satisfactorily
done, at the Government Press. C. CHREE.
PARASITES OF CROPS AND CATTLE. .
Eyal striking data as to the extent of the loss of
crops occasioned by diseases of parasitic origin
are contained in the paper on economic mycology
read by Prof. M. C. Potter at the Newcastle meet-
ing of the British Association (1916), and since pub-
lished in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural
Society (vol. xlii., parts ii. and iii.) In the year 1891
the loss to the German Empire upon the total cereal
crops was estimated at more than 20 millions sterling,
an amount nearly equal to one-third of the total value
of the crop. In the same season (1890-91) the loss due
to rust of wheat in Australia was estimated at 2}
millions. The case of potatoes is even more notorious.
In Germany the loss due to disease of the potato crop
amounted in one year to 30 millions, and in our own
country it is computed that, on the average, the crop
is reduced by disease by at least one-third. | It is esti-
mated that in Northumberland and Durham about
half the crop of swedes and turnips is destroyed in
average years by parasite attacks. Losses of timber
also are very serious, and probably amount to one-
third of the whole. Other crops, such as tea, rubber,
hops, and every kind of fruit, greenhouse, and garden
crops, all pay a heavy toll to fungus diseases. A
plea is entered for greater encouragement by botanists
to the prosecution of research in phyto-pathology and
for the wider treatment of the fungi in ordinary
botanical courses, especially from the point of view
of their work in Nature. The scope of the problems
awaiting’ solution in this field is abundantly illus-
trated, and appreciation is expressed of the increased
attention and support given to it in recent years by
Government departments and other institutions, al
though further provision is still urgently necessary.
A report on investigations into the cause of worm
nodules (Onchocerca gibsoni) in cattle by Messrs. C. G.
Dickinson and G, F. Hill has been issued as a Bulletin
(C. 9341) by the Government of the Commonwealth
of Australia. Two series of experiments were carried
out in the Northern Territory with calves from
NO. 2519, VOL. 100}
nodule-free districts of Victoria. Calves grazing on
high, dry ground along with infected cattle became in-
fected within eight months of arrival, whereas similar
nodule-free calves did not become infected during the
same. period when enclosed in an open with con-
crete floor within 30 yards of a paddock within which
affected cattle were depastured, although exposed
to the attacks of winged and apterous Arthropoda,
The results, while not revealing an intermediary host
of the parasite causing Onchocerciasis in cattle, have
definitely excluded certain species: that were regarded
as possible vectors, namely, Lyperosia exigua, Sto-
moxys calcitrans, Tabanus mastersi,’T. migritarsis,
Boophilus australis, and any purely aquatic forms
other than those possibly found in the bore-water.
Various common species of mosquito, it is thought,
may also be excluded. Wild swamp buffaloes were
not affected, whereas wild Zebu cattle and domestic
cattle grazing on the same country are invariably
affected. ay
LIGHT AND VISION
THE old Greek philosophers who did so much think-
ing and so little experimenting had queer ideas
about light and vision. Empedokles, who died about
420 B.C., considered it necessary to record the fact that
darkness is not a real thing, but privation of light;
and that the moon shines with reflected light, but he
thought that the sun is the primary fire of the light
of the sky reflected in a crystalline spheroid. Demo-
critus, who died about 370 B.c., held that vision was to
be explained by emanations or exceedingly thin husks
or films which were continually being detached or
thrown off from the surface of bodies, and that they
penetrated into the sense-organs through fine passages
or pores. We admit this in the case of taste and of
smell. These ghost-like forms or images were called
eidola (é8wAa), whence we have the word idol (a very
different kind of image from those considered in optical
books), and were supposed to be ever passing from the
object to the moist and receptive surface of the eye
straight into the mind. Aristotle, who died about
325 B.c., seems to have objected to some of the earlier —
theories. He scarcely alludes to light and vision in
‘‘De Physica,’ but there is some reason to suppose
that a treatise by him on optics has been lost. More
than two centuries later Lucretius, the scientific poet,
discussed the theory at great length in the
fourth book of ‘“‘De Natura
used the expression simulacra quasi membranae,
resemblances like films, peeled off from the upper sur-
face of things, flying hither and thither on one side
and the other through the air. Simulacra was also
used for ghosts, and he goes on to explain how they
terrify us in sleep. He also attempted to explain the
action of curved mirrors, of the distance of the image
behind a mirror, and why the theory does not work in
the dark.
The schoolmen in the Middle Ages tried to follow
Aristotle as closely as they could, but matter and form
probably did not mean to them what they meant to
Aristotle or to us. The eidolon was still used, but
the expression had lost its materialistic signification.
At the end of the sixteenth century men began to shake
off dogmas of authority, to think, for themselves, and
to follow inductive lines of reasoning.
We may perhaps flatter ourselves that in our branch ~
of.applied optics we are not trammelled by fundamental
theory, -and that if the corpuscular hypothesis of light
came back again into fashion next week to replace the
undulatory theory, as the electron has pushed aside the
1 From the presidential address delivered before the Illuminating Engineer-
ing Society on December 18, 1917, by A. P, Trotter. ;
ES ee ee
Rerum.”’ He |
‘ - FEBRUARY 7 1918]
NATURE
455
elastic ether hypothesis which satisfied us in Maxwell’s
_ days, we should carry on with no change in our
' Silvanus Thompson, in his inaugural presidential
_ address on the founding of our society, referred to the
youthfulness of that branch of engineering which we
_ practise. It recalled, he said, illuminations on the pro-
_ clamation of peace after the Crimean War, ‘ Bengal
_ lights and rockets. How the vision of them stands out
-- in memory! But our society has as little to do with
fireworks as with fireflies. As littlke—and as much—
for, after all, both of them are assuredly of some
interest to the illuminating engineer.’’
He knew that the secret of the firefly is still hidden
_ from us, but that if we knew it,-if we knew how to
_ produce the rapid vibrations which give the stimulus
_ ealled light, without producing all the slow ones as
___—_well, as when we sound a high note with a finger
___ instead of pressing all the keyboard at once, the mechan-
___ ical equivalent of light would be as important as the
__ mechanical equivalent of heat, and we should be able
___ to produce light without heat. The quantity of energy
__ which appears as useful light is about 2 per cent. of
: the energy radiated from an electric glow-lamp; in the
_ firefly it is about 96 or 97 per cent. In other words, if
____we could produce a highly efficient lamp, the light-
_ generating output of a dynamo would be fifty times
‘greater than now, and 45 lb. of coal would do what a ton
to-day. The cost of lighting will not be reduced in
anything like the same proportion, The cost of fuel
‘7. + pal one-tenth of the selling price of the light. The
ordin
domestic lighting, which entailed a consumption of
_ about o-44d. of coal at pre-war prices.
__ While so many engineers and scientific men have
‘been eager to do something for the war, and so few
have succeeded in finding any appreciation of their
services, our society must be content to have been
allowed to carry out more than one investigation for
which it was well fitted. Silvanus Thompson said that
fireworks, as well as fireflies, were of some interest to
the illuminating engineer. The star-shell, flares, and
parachute lights which play so important a part in the
war are but fireworks. The chemist has used his
skill to choose the most suitable compositions, and
ingenuity has been expended in putting them up and
in priming them; but in estimating the results, no
further progress had been made beyond the stage of
Lambert—the eye alone was the judge. Fortunately
the right men in the right department were approached.
It was recognised that photometric tests would be use-
Our society offered to find men who would sug-
gest methods and give their time, if necessary, to carry
out the work. A committee was accordingly formed;
it conferred with the experts, who cordially placed their
data and requirements before the members; a special
photometer was at once discussed, designed, and made.
At the present time nothing more can be said than that
the instrument has fulfilled all expectations; it needs
no manipulation whatever. during observations,
measurements may be taken over large ranges, and the
behaviour of unsteady or flickering lights can be re-
corded. The observations on a large number of sam-
ples, both of service patterns and of experimental kinds,
were made by the committee during night meetings,
and were reduced to candle-power-seconds per gram of
composition, and it is hoped that the results’ have been
useful.
Some five and twenty years ago it seemed likely that
luminous paint would have many useful applications.
but the results were disappointing. The preparation of
one of the best kinds was kept secret, and it was never
properly placed on the market. Night operations of
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
London householder pays 3d. to 6d.-for his:
war have directed attention to this subject, and the old
method of exciting zinc sulphide or other materials by
light has given place to continuous stimulation by
a rays of radium compounds. Dials of watches and
compasses are well known, and luminous gun-sights
are no secret, but there are other applications which
cannot be described at present. On these a committee
of our members has been working. Tiny tubes are
used which are smaller and give less light than a glow-
worm, but in their preparation careful photometric
measurements of considerable difficulty have been made
and valuable information has resulted from the re-
search.
More work is wanted, or at all events more accessible
literature is needed, on the physiology of vision. The
dioptrics of the eye are well understood; its normal,
abnormal, and pathological characteristics are the basis
of ophthalmic science. The theory of colour vision is
still; perhaps, unsettlgd, though no one worker will
admit it. The subject to which I wish to refer is a
purely quantitative one, and is the relation of light
flux to visual perception. The range of the luminous
stimulus to which the eye can respond is enormous.
When we grope our way on so dark a night that objects
are only just visible, the illumination is about one-ten-
thousandth of a foot-candle, or equal to that received
from a candle at a distance of 100 ft. In summer
sunshine we often have 5000 foot-candles, and in clearer
atmospheres than ours 10,000 foot-candles are reached.
The brightness of a furnace is even higher, and furnace-
men judge the temperature by the colour.
By some marvellous’ organic control the eye so reacts
that it is capable of éstimating difference of tone and
colour. over a range of several thousand millions. The
contraction of the pupil has very little to do with this
regulation. It merely seems to take advantage of a
greater stimulation to reduce spherical aberration.
Over a large part of the enormous range Fechner’s
relation between stimulus difference and sensation
difference holds good. There must be some intricate
and delicate provision, perhaps, of a chemical change
in the receptive portion of the eye, the retina, depend-
ing on saturation or exhaustion of material; or some
inhibition of the transmissive portion, the optic nerve,
or some compensatory reaction or opposing activity
or fatigue in what Huxley called the sensificatory por-
tion, the brain. The automatic adjustment of control
which permits so sensitive an organ to accommodate
itself to such great changes in the external stimulus
has its counterpart in other organs and functional
mechanisms of the body, such as those which are con-
cerned in, breathing. If physiologists could tell us
something about this quantitative control, it would
help us in several ways. :
SCIENCE AND THE COLD-STORAGE
. INDUSTRY.} :
‘THE value of perishable produce imported into this
country, subject more or less to refrigeration,
was, before the war, about 130,e00,000l. per annum. It
is abundantly evident that the most natural means of.
preserving foodstuffs, v'z. by methods of low tempera-
tures, have gained ithe confidence of our merchants, and
the cold-storage industry to-day is a striking example
of the successful combination of science, commerce,
and industry. The history of: the cold-storage move-
ment reveals four outstanding features :—
(1) It is difficult to imagine a more striking example
than the cold-storage industry affords of the success
of the spirit of enterprise and love of adventure which
have always characterised British commerce.
1 From a paper read before the Royal Society of Arts on December 19, i
1917, by Prof. J. Wemyss Anderson.
456
NATURE
| FEBRUARY. -7, 1918.
(2) Refrigerating engineers have been in no sense
less typical, inasmuch as the methods employed are
scientifically sound, the machines of the leading manu-
facturers are thoroughly: trustworthy, and the neces-’
sary low temperatures for: the transport and. storage
of food have been’made a sound commercial proposi-’
tion. :
(3) Refrigeration has played a most important part
in the development of some of our Colonies—particu-
larly Australia and New Zealand.
(4) While the applied science of the -engineer has’
done much for the advance of cold storage, pure
science has in this country done little or nothing for
the commercial preservation of: foodstuffs.
The principal foodstuffs at present cold-stored can be
roughly divided into three classes :—
» (1) Produce the life-history of which is finished, such
as all classes of meats, poultry, rabbits, and fish.
‘ (2) Produce the life-history of-avhich is not finished,
such as fruit and eggs.
(3) Milk and produce fron’ milk—cream, butter, and
cheese.
’ It has been found that with good rearing of sound
stock, combined with scientific methods of slaughter,
and a thorough system of veterinary inspection and
hygienic after-care,- beef can be kept in the chilled
(soft or unfrozen) state for five or six weeks. _ This
time permits of a voyage from North or South America,
together with the time necessary for collecting the
cargo at one end and its distribution at the other—in
- this country.- This time allowance cuts out all possi-
bilities of a chilled beef trade with Australia or New
Zealand with low temperatures only. ;
Then, with all classes of meats, poultry, and rabbits,
certain troubles manifest themselves from time to time
—such as mould. Often the troubles are epidemic and
caused by ignorance or carelessness prior to shipping,
while often only a small percentage of an overseas
consignment is affected and the source of trouble
cannot be found by the trader. -
Fish has been preserved in many ways, but it is
safe to say that refrigeration is destined to outrival, in
bulk, all other methods. Research work is urgently
needed in this direction, both with respect to meeting
periods of glut and for general preservation and trans-
port. The main questions to be determined are :— _
(1) What kinds of fish will stand preservation the
best ?
(2) What are good methods, and, if possible, the best
with each kind of fish?
(3), Which seasons of the year are the best adapted
for each form of preservation ?
(4) What are the food values and general effect for
each method of preservation on the principal kinds of
fish ?
When the best methods have been determined, there
still remains the problem of educating the public taste.
In. the British Isles the problem is.mainly how to
get the fish to the markets in a fresh state. Cold-
storage methods will help this, but wider researches
are required for the fishermen who go far. to sea, and
‘also for fish imported in a frozen state from our
Colonies.
The preservation of both fruit and eggs, if properly
understood, would mean a great saving of wealth to
the country, .and also better health. It seems
very doubtful if new-laid eggs will ever again be sold
in any part.of the country at 6d. a dozen. With
respect to.fruit, refrigeration has enabled this country
to.enjoy a perpetual autumn; but the methods that
enable Australian fruit.to be eaten in a sound condi-
tion in this country are not applied to home-grown
fruit. Why? The fruit merchants ofthis“ country
have had to depend on the pure science of countries
NO. 2519, VOL. 100}
other than our own to help them to keep material the’
life-history of -which. is» not finished.
vegetables offer an immense field for research. - 1ioR
Milk and its products open up a still greater field.
Sterilisation as-usually adopted hopelessly. destroys its
structure, and; no doubt, correspondingly destroys its:
food value. _ Common-sense © deductions point to
mechanical milking into covered vessels, the whole to.
be cooled down to 3° or 4° C. as soon as possible after’
the milking operation, and then kept away from the
air until the time of consumption.
kept cold will keep quite sound, with ordinary com-
mercial handling, for more than a week—theoretically,
it should last for months. mrydel
The main questions may now well be asked: What
has stood in the way of scientific development in the
past, and what are the suggestions for the future?
With respect to low-temperature work, the answer
to the first question can be readily divided into two.
main reasoris :—
(1) The want of a bond or link between pure scien
and industry.
The present time is most opportune, and if the than
of science will only realise that laboratory results are
not by any means conclusive, he will find the man of
commerce will’ help -him in researches of a practical
nature; the net result will be more commerce and a
higher and better scientific knowledge. eet
(2) The man of science has not had facilities in his
laboratory for low-temperature work. Many researches
stop short at the melting point of ice or a little below.
_Every seat of scientific learning should have a re-
frigerating apparatus as part of its equipment. No
research of any kind where temperature is a function
can be considered complete that does not go down
to the lowest limit reasonably attainable, yet how
many institutions are there where such investigations
are possible? The lack of such. facilities, in the light
. Fruit .and)—
Milk so treated and: -
of recent advances all over the world, will constitute _
a serious disadvantage to our men of science, and the
question must be taken up by every scientific body in ~
-the kingdom.
\r
The author suggests :—
(1) That institutes of research and_ schools of re- :
frigeration should be instituted in London and Liver-
pool. (This suggestion has been approved by the Cold
Storage and Ice Associatiori.). These institutes would
be attached to learned institutions, and would act
as centres for. research work and the ‘higher
instruction of graduates (or others duly qualified) in
medicine, science, engineering, and veterinary science
from home and Colonial universities. They would
also keep definitely in touch with Government depart-
ments and associations interested in low-temperature
work. : fh ene a
. (2) That every seat of scientific learning should pro-
vide facilities for low-temperature study and research, —
(3) That every. engineering school of. university rank
should provide facilities for refrigerating engineering
study. and mechanical research. seat
(4) That the principal technical colleges and schools
under. the Board of Education should be provided with
facilities for instruction in mechanical refrigeration.
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
Oxrorp.—The first election to a biological scholar-
ship under the bequest of the late Mr. Christopher —
Welch, of Wadham College, will take place in July
next. The scholarship is of the annual value of tool.,
and is tenable for four years. Candidates must be
undergraduate members of the University; they may
offer either botany, animal physiology, or zoology, and
x
cS AY
4
q
4
’
A
_ during 1917, as against eight in 1916.
;
| FEsruary 7, 1918]
NATURE — ;
457
ust give notice of the subject selected to the registrar
of the University not later than March 1. They may
Submit to the examiners any original work previously
done by them.
_The Committee for Anthropology reports that nine
fresh students entered their names on the register
: Miss M. Czap-
licka has delivered a course of lectures on ethnology,
with special reference to her Siberian researches. She
has been assisted in the preparation of the scientific
results of her expedition by a grant from the com-
mittee. Lady Tylor has offered the valuable scientific
library of the late Prof. Sir E. B. Tylor to the Rad-
eliffe Library on condition that such books as are not
_ needed to supplement that collection shall be placed at
the disposal of the Committee for Anthropology.
- Tue Department of Agriculture and Technical In-
struction for Ireland has issued the time-table of tech-
nic ool examinations which it will hold on various
dates during May next.» The Department’s scheme of
technical-school examinations is designed to follow
i _ courses of instruction extending over four years in the
branches of technical knowledge :—Com-
merce, building trades, applied chemistry, electrical en-
gineering, mechanical engineering, domestic economy,
and art. ere are, in general, two examinations in
: a course in each of the four years, and the examina-
on
ons in each course must be taken in a prescribed order.
_ If was agreed in the House of Commons on Febru-
“ary 1, in a discussion of the Lords’ amendments to the
Representation of the People Bill, that the University
of Wales should separately represented in Parlia-
ment. When the Bill was in the House of Lords,
eel, the spokesman for the Government, accepted
an amendment to give to the University of Wales,
_ instead of being one of a group of universities return-
ing two members, a member to itself, and he appealed
to the Home Secretary to assent to this being done.
The request made on behalf of the University has now
been granted. The position of- university representa-
tion is, therefore, that Oxford and Cambridge
retain two members each; London has one; Wales
one} a single constituency is formed by the group com-
posed of Durham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Shef-
field, Birmingham, and Bristol, and the Scottish uni-
versities form one constituency returning three mem-
_ THE cS a on the work of the Department of Tech-
nology of the City and Guilds of London Institute for
the session 1916-17 has now been published by Mr.
John Murray at the price of 6d. net. The total num-
ber of candidates examined in technology in the United
Kingdom in 1917 was exactly 1000 fewer than in 1916,
viz. 7508 as against 8508. The candidates entering
for examinations in England and Wales in 1917 num-.
bered 85 per cent. of those in the preceding year, and
in Scotland 91-5 per cent. In Ireland, on the contrary,
there was an increase of 25 per cent. on the figures for
1916. In spite of this general decrease in Great Britain
there was an appreciable increase in the number: of
students attending classes in certain chemical subjects,
such as alkali manufacture, -coal-tar distillation,
painters’ oils and colours, oils and: fats, cotton dyeing,
leather dyeing, and dressing of skins. After a con-
sideration of the proposed new regulations issued by
the Board of Education for continuation, technical, and
art courses. in England and Wales, the Technology
Committee of the institute contemplates no change in
its system. of . examinations, . which is: to . be
continued. on the same lines as heretofore. - The
programme of» the current + session’s -work in-
cludes no new subjects of examination, but a special
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
viva voce and practical examination is announced in
connection with ‘the highest tests in cotton weaving.
In Mind (New Series, No. 105) Mr. P. J. Hughesdon
discusses the relation between art and science. He
argues that, at a time when education reform is being
called for but still debated on the basis of an i
adequate, and in part false, antithesis of the classics
versus science, a satisfactory scheme of education must,
whatever adaptations to tradition, etc., may be advis- —
able, start with a correct view of the relation between
the various aspects of truth or spheres of knowledge.
He discusses the causes which have obscured the true
relation of art and science, causes which, by exaggerat-
ing the particular domain of each, have deepened the
gulf between them, chief among which is the erroneous
view that art is concerned primarily with feeling and
science with thought. The writer maintains that art
and science provide complementary and correspondent
conceptions of reality; in both the freely conceiving
mind is active, but the organon of art is intuition or
imagination, through which the nexus in the context of
reality is divined implicitly’ and under the aspect of
fitness or harmony, while that of science is reasoning,
through which the nexus is recognised explicitly and
abstractly under the aspect of ground, or reason, the
essence of art lying in individualised representation,
that of science in generalised explanation. The article
is interesting, and furnishes some valuable points of
view to those interested
problems underlying art and science.
Tue Journal of the Board of Agriculture for Decem-
ber last contains an account. by Mr. W. Ashby of
some interesting features of agricultural educational,
work in connection with the State College of; Agricul-. ”
ture, University of Wisconsin. It is an essential con-
dition of graduation in agriculture at the University,
that the student must have previously secured at least
two years’ experience in farming, In.order, to ensure,
facilities for such experience to be obtained under good,
conditions a system of examining, farms and awarding’
certificates of good management was established some.
years ago, and has proved very. successful. In addi-,
tion, university honours have;been: awarded.to farmers
who have rendered distinctive service to their profes-
sion or to their localities, During the past six years
twenty-one farmers have been honoured in’ this way,
of whom only three could claim: academic training, . A.
further feature which is described is the annual farm
management contest. in which, despite the small finan-,
cial inducement offered, competition is always keen.
The awards are based uvon a definite seale of ‘* points,’’
and it is. specially. interesting ,to ,note, that. no less.
than 20 per cent. of the total is allotted to “home
life,’ a decidedly novel item in such score-cards:| The,
importance of this factor is apparent to the student
of rural conditions, even in. this country, but in a
country of widely. scattered homesteads, where each
must of necessity function as a largely ‘self-contained.
social centre, the amenities of existence. must. bulk
largely in ensuring the permanence of labour supplies,
upon which a_ steadily prosperous agriculture must
depend. ; '
SOCIETIES’ AND ACADEMIES.
Lonpon. ‘3
Royal Society, January 24.—-Sir J..J. Thomson,, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Prof. A. N. Whitehead : Graphical
solution for high-angle fire.—Spencer Pickering ; Floccu-
lation. The subsidence of. suspended ,matter on the
addition of a flocculant to. a mixture of kaolin and
water is accompanied by an increase of 100. to 200 per
cent. in the specific volume of the sediment deposited.
n-
in the more fundamental
..
458
NATURE
/
[FEBRUARY 7, 1918.
This increase, as well as the disappearance of
Brownian motion, proves that flocculation is due to an
increase in the size of the particles. With acids as
flocculants, definite combination between them and the
kaolin occurs, the acid being almost completely. re-
moved from the solution up to the point when floccu-
lation is complete, beyond which no more is removed.
The acids being in a highly hydrated condition accounts
for the increase in volume of the kaolin particles on
uniting with them. ‘With alkalis the phenomena are
the same, but combination is complete only in the pre-
sence of excess of alkali; hence the concentration at
which flocculation occurs is much higher. In ve
weak alkaline solutions where there is but little actual
combination, the subsidence of the particles is retarded
by the attraction of the alkali present.—Dr. J. Aitken:
Revolving fluid in the atmosphere. The paper deals
with the objections to the cyclonic theory of circulation
recently advanced by Sir Napier Shaw. These objec-
tions are founded on the fact that the charts of isobars
and winds of the weather maps nowhere show a circu-
lation such as would be given by a combination of the
motions of rotation and translation.. It is pointed out
that these objections are based on suppositions which
do not find support in Nature. If the cyclone were a
closed system, the winds would be such’as Sir Napier
says they ought to be, but as the cyclone is an open
one and draws in air at its lower end, and as this
incoming air is only on its way to become part of the
system, it cannot be treated as having the revolution
and translation of the cyclone. If the combination of
these two motions is to be found anywhere, it will
probably be in-the higher winds, and even there they
will be affected by the general circulation in the system.
—Hon. R. J. Strutt: Ultra-violet transparency of the
lower atmosphere and its relative poverty in ozone.
(1) The lower atmosphere is found to be comparatively
transparent to ultra-violet light. The 2536 can be
detected on the spectrum of a mercury lamp four miles
distant. (2) The solar spectrum, even when observed
from high altitudes when the equivalent thickness of
air overhead (reduced to N.T.P.) is less than four
miles, is limited by atmospheric absorption: to A 2922.
Air near the ground-level is therefore much more trans-
parent to ultra-violet light than the upper air. (3)
Since the limitation of the solar spectrum is almost
certainly due to ozone, it follows that there must be
much more ozone in the upper air than in the lower.
(4) Scattering by small particles acts in the same way
as ozone to absorb ultra-violet radiation from a distant
source, and this action makes quantitative estimation
difficult. Even if the observed enfeeblement of d 2536
were entirely due to ozone, 0-27 mm. of pure ozone
in four miles of air would suffice to produce it. Taking
scattering into account, the quantity is probably much
less, and there is no evidence from this investigation
that any ozone is present in the lower air.—Prof. A
Fowler: The presence in the solar spectrum of the
water-vapour band A 3064. The band at A 3064, which
is usually attributed to water-vapour, is quite strongly
represented in the solar spectrum, and accounts for
at least 150 lines which were previously unidentified.—
Prof. A. Fowler and C. C. L. Gregory : The ultra-violet
band of ammonia and its occurrence in the solar spec-
trum. The ammonia band having its greatest inten-
sity at 4 3360 has been photogranhed with high resolv-
ing power, and the positions of 260 component lines
have been determined. In the principal maximum,
and in a secondary maximum at A 3371, the band lines
are verv closely crowded and form series of the usual
tvpe. On the less refrangible side the principal lines
form three series which coalesce and fade out at A 3450,
and there is a similar set of three series-on the more
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
refrangible side which coalesce and disappear at A 3287.
These two groups, however, are not symmetrical, and
they differ considerably from the more usual type of
series.
consistently represented in the solar spectrum and
account for about 140 faint lines which were previously
unidentified. The remaining band lines are either too
weak to appear in the sun or are obscured by lines of
metallic origin. The brightest part of the ammonia
band accounts for the greater part of Group P of the
solar spectrum.
Geological Society, January 23.—Dr. Alfred Harker,
president, in the chair.—Prof. W. J. Sollas: A flaked
flint from the Red Crag. The remarkable specimen
forming the subject of the paper was obtained by Mr.
Reid Moir from the base of the Red Crag exposed in
the brick-pit worked by Messrs. Bolton and Co, .near
Ipswich. It is a fragment of a nodule of challx-flint,
irregularly rhombic in outline, with a nearly flat base
and a rounded upper surface which retains the whitish
weathered crust of the original nodule. The base was
formed by a natural fracture which exposes the fresh
Both upper and.
flint bordered by its weathered crust.
under surfaces of the specimen are scored with
scratches which are mainly straight, but in some cases
curvilinear. Two adjacent sides have been flaked by
a force acting from below upwards, in a manner that
recalls Aurignacian or Neolithic workmanship. The
two edges in which the flaked faces meet the base are
marked by irregular minute and secondary chipping, —
such as might be produced by use. On the hypo-
thesis that the flint has been flaked by design, these
edges should correspond with the ‘surface d’utilisa-
tion’ of M. Rutét, and one would expect to find on the
opposite edges of the flint the ‘‘ surface d’accommoda-
tion,” as, in fact, is the case. The origin of the flaking
is discussed, and the author, while admitting that the
fashioning of the flint is not inconsistent with intelli-
gent design, concludes that the evidence is not suffi- |
cient to establish this beyond dispute.
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, January 22.—Prof.
S. J. Hickson, vice-president, in the chair.—J. W.
Jackson: The association of facetted pebbles with |
The object of the paper: was to -
Glacial deposits.
place on record several recent discoveries of facetted
and wind-etched pebbles in localities near Manchester
and in the Wirral peninsula, and to discuss the asso-
ciation of such pebbles with Glacial deposits. The
pebbles are of Glacial origin, and all show the char-
acteristic features of wind-erosion. The most note-
worthy feature, however, is the large number of split
and fractured pebbles, all of which exhibit the action
of sand-blast on the fractured surfaces, in addition to
other parts of the pebble. All stages towards the
formation of typical ‘‘ Dreikanter’’ are exhibited. The
splitting appears to have been independent of rock
composition, as both igneous and sedimentary rocks
are represented in the series; in the latter they are
mainly split along joint-planes. The mode of occur-
rence shows that the pebbles were acted on by sand-
blast after the deposition of the Glacial beds on which
they lay, and in this respect they agree with similar
pebbles found in North Germany and in North
America.
frost action, and that it is somewhat earlier than the
wind-erosion.—The late E. Halkyard (paper edited and
revised by E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland) : The fossil
Foraminifera of the Blue Marl, Céte des Basques,
Biarritz. The Blue Marl of Biarritz forms a cliff
stretching for nearly three-quarters of a mile N.N.E.
It is shown that the ammonia band lines are
It is suggested that the splitting is due to _
ee a ee CS a “ o
4 i Spt = iy
_ -Feprvary 7, 1918]
NATURE
459
to $.5.W., and attains a height. of about 135 ft.
_ The height is maintained for about two-thirds of its
length and dies away at the valley of Chabi.
The
paper contains an account of the genera and species
of Foraminifera found by Mr. Halkyard in this blue
marl, and is illustrated by eight plates of figures.
’ DUBLIN.
Royal Dublin Society, January 22.—Dr. G. H. Pethy-
bridge in the chair.—Dr. A. G. G. Leonard and P.
: The quantitative spectra of lithium, rubidium,
cwsium, and gold. The utility of spectrum analysis
has been greatly enhanced by a knowledge of the per-
_ sistency of the spectrum lines in the spark spectra of
dilute solutions of the metals.
continuation of the quantitative study of these spectra,
. southern Patagonia.
rubidium, cesium, and
The present paper is a
and includes the results obtained for the metals lithium,
gold.—Capt. E. G. Fenton;
Studies in the physiography and glacial geology of
This paper, which is the result of
several years of personal observation on the pampas
from the coast region at the mouth of the Gallegos.
River to the Andes, describes the way in which the
Ily level country has been cut into by the streams,
and the formation of successive terraces by repeated
Ol and erosion. The distribution of large ice-
borne boulders enables the limits of a large ice-sheet of
Glacial times to be determined, and the author shows
_ that there were at least two epochs of ice-extension
from the Andes. An epoch of dry south-westerly winds
ve rise to a remarkable series of sand-cut grooves
in the lava-blocks and lava-surfaces of the plateaus.
The bajos, which are spoon-shaped excavations in the
, with a steep cliff at their heads, are attributed
‘to waterfall action during the melting of the margin
of the ice-sheet. The succession of events is pointed
out, and the corresponding climatic changes are dis-
Paris.
Academy of Sciences, January 14.—M. Paul Painlevé
in the chair.—E. Ariés: The co-volumes considered as ©
functions of the temperature in the Clausius equation
of state—G. Julia: The repetition of rational frac-
tions.—M. d’Ocagne: Skew surfaces circumscribed to
a given surface along a given curve.—R. Soreau: The
origin and the meaning of the word ‘ abaque.”—MM.
Lub rano and Maitre: The determination of the latitude
of the Observatory of Marseilles by observations made
with the prism astrolabe. The mean of the determina-
tions, reduced to the latitude of the meridian circle, is
43° 18’ 16-35”, a value identical within 0-01" with the
mean figure obtained with the meridian circle.—A. .
Colson : cause of the anomalies presented by the
dissociation of amylene bromohydrate, and its conse-
sequences. The reaction between amylene and hydro-
bromic acid at 184° C. was found by Lemoine not to
obey the law of mass action, and this has been con-
firmed by the author. It is shown that this anomaly
is due to the partial change of the bromopentane
originally formed into an isomer.—P. Chevenard: An
anomaly in the elasticity of carbon steel correlative to
the reversible transformation of cementite. . The elastic
anomaly of steel, due to transformation of the
cementite, is proportional to the percentage of carbon.
—E. Léger: The action of hydrobromic acid upon
cinchonine and its isomers :. cinchoniline, cinchonigine,
and apocinchonine. Hydrobromic acid produces pheno-
mena of isomerisation with these alkaloids.—C, R.
Lopez-Neyra: A new Cyrnea of the partridge. The
name Cyrnea seuratii is proposed for the new species,
and a detailed comparison is made of it and Cyrnea
eurycerca,—C,, Vaney and A. Allemand-Martin : Contri-
bution to the study of the larva of Hippospongia equira
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
from the coasts of Tunis.—F. Diénert, A. Guillard, and,
Mme. A. Leguen: The search for the Eberth bacillus
and the B-paratyphoid bacillus in waters. A detailed
account of the modified method now in use, the first
medium being a broth containing malachite-green. The
two bacilli above-named can be detected by this method
in 50 c.c. of Seine water taken at Paris.—P. Masson :
Abnormal epidermisation after bathing with hypo-
chlorites. A warning as to possible dangers attending
the prolonged use of hypochlorites for disinfecting
wounds. Epidermal lesions sometimes appear which
are characteristic of pre-cancerous states, and which
it is necessary to excise.
SYDNEY.
Royal Society of New South Wales, December 5,
1917.—R. T. Baker: The occurrence of crystals
in some Australian woods. Crystals of calcium
oxalate were found to be of rather frequent
occurrence amongst some microscopical sections
of Australian timbers when being examined for
anatomical data. Timbers of twenty-two natural orders
were examined, and of these crystals were found in
fourteen, being the first record of such in Australian
timbers. The crystals were simple, being found in
both the wood and ray parenchyma, a single one in
each cell, with one exception.—J. H. Maiden: Notes on
Eucalyptus (with a description of a new species). No. 5.
The paper consists of supplementary notes on a num-
ber of species, many of them Western Australian.
Most of the species are somewhat rare, and their life-
history and morphology but little known. The pro-
posed new species is a remarkable form which throws
light on the affinities of Eucalyptus erythronema.— |
Prof. J. Read and Miss M. M. Williams ; A novel appli-
cation of bromine water in synthetic organic chemistry.
The method bears directly upon several processes of
technical importance, including the manufacture of
novocaine (a well-known synthetic substitute for the
natural drug cocaine) and other substances of physio-
logical interest; it may also be applied in preparing
phenyl acetaldehyde, a hyacinth perfume; and it is of
interest in connection with the chemistry of the Aus-
tralian natural essential oils.
Linnean Society of New South Wales, Septem-
ber 26, 1917.—Dr. H. G. Chapman, president,
in. the chair—R. J. Tillyard: Some _ dragon-
flies from Australia and Tasmania.—A. A, Hamil-
ton: Notes on the genus Lepidium.—W. F.
Blakeley : A new species @f Acacia.—R. Etheridge and
J. Mitchell: The Silurian trilobites of New South
Wales, with references to those of other parts of Aus-
tralia. Part vi.: The Calymeneidz, Cheiruridz,
Harpeide, Bronteidz, with an appendix, - —
October 31, 1917.—Dr. H. G. Chapman in the chair.
—F. H. Taylor: Australian Tabanidz, part iii—R. J.
Tillyard ; Odonata, Planipennia, and Trichoptera from
Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.—E. Cheel: Notes on
the common nightshade (Solanum nigrum, Linn.) and
some closely related forms or species which have been
confused with it—A. M. Lea: Descriptions of new
species of Australian Coleoptera, part xiil.
November 28, 1917.—Dr. H. G. Chapman in the
chair.—R. J. Tillyard: The morphology of the caudal
gills of the larve of Zvgopterid- dragonflies. Parts
iii._iv. (Ontogeny and Phylogeny)—G. I. Playfair:
Rhizopods of Sydney and Lismore.—R. J. Tillyard :
Mesozoic insects of Queensland. No. 2: The fossil.
dragonfly Aeschnidopsis (Aeschna) flindersiensis, Wood-
ward, from the Rolling Downs (Cretaceous) series.—
R. J. Tillyard : Permian and Triassic insects from New
South Wales in the collection of Mr. J. Mitchell.—Miss
V. A. Irwin-Smith ; The Chetosomatida, with descrip-
460
NATURE
[FeBRuary 7, 1918.
tions of a new genus and four new species from the
coast of New South Wales.—H. J. Carter: Some new
Heteromera and a new Stigmodera (Coleoptera) from
tropical Australia.—Prof. W. N. Benson; The geology
and petrology ‘of the Great Serpentine Belt of New
South Wales. Appendix to part vi—Dr. H. S. H.
Wardlaw : ‘The variability of cows’ milk. Samples of
afternoon milk from iog healthy cows kept under
similar conditions, but of various ages, breeds, and
stages of lactation, were examined. Certain physical
properties, the composition, and quantities secreted in
eight hours’ were determined. The variabilities of the
results fall into four distinct groups. The percentages
of results lying within five of the mean, and the per-
centage-deviation from the mean within whieh prac-
tically all the results lay, were:—(1) Freezing point
and density, too, 5; (2) electrical conductivity and con-
centration of soluble matter (chiefly lactose), 50, 25;
(3) concentration of matter not in solution (chiefly fat
and protein), 20, 50; (4) quantities secreted in eight
hours, 10, 100. Only three samples contained less than
3:2 per cent. of fat, while more than 4o per cent. of
the samples contained less than 8-5 per cent. of
solids not fat.—Miss E. C. Pinkerton: The composition
of expired alveolar air. Estimations of the percentage
of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the successive portions
of air “rapidly expelled from the lungs show that the
concentration ot carbon dioxide diminishes by not more
than 0-22 per cent. in the final 600 c.c. respired, and
that the concentration of oxygen increases by not more
than 0-36 per cent. in the same portion of the breath. The
change in concentration is independent of the depth of
respiration, but depends on the speed with which the
air is expired; the more slowly the air is breathed out
the greater the change in concentration of the gases of
the final portion. The results obtained lead to the
inference that the alveolar air in the pulmonary atria,
at the end of an expiration, contains a lower concentra-
tion of oxygen and a higher concentration of carbon
dioxide than the air last expelled from the mouth in
the rapid expiration.
BOOKS REZEIVED.
The Principles and Practice of Pruning. By M. G.
Kains. Pp. xxv+420. (New York: Orange Judd
Co.) 2 dollars net.
Comment :Economiser: le Chauffage Domestique et
Culinaire. By ‘R. -Legendre and A. Thevenin. Pp.
123. (Paris: Masson et Cie.) 1.25 francs. _.
The Rural Teacher and his Work’ in Community
Leadership, in School Admifistration, and in Mastery
of the School Subjects. By H. W. Foght. Pp. xii+
359. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Mac-
millan and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net,
Manual of Milk Products. “By Prof. W. A. Stock-
ing. Pp. xxvii+578. (New York: The Macmillan
Co.; London :. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) tos. 6d. net,
La Statique des Fluides, la Liquéfaction des Gaz et
l’Industrie du Froid. By H. Armagat and L.
Décombe. Premiére et Deuxiéme Partie. © Pp. vit
265. (Paris and Liége: Ch. Béranger.) 18 francs.
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, Freruary 7.
Roya Society, at 4.30.—The Photo-Electric Action of X-rays: Prof.
O.-W. Richardson.—The Parent of Actinium: Prof. F. Seddy and J. A.
Cranston.—Some Problems in the Theory of Radiation: Prof. A. Schuster.
—The Absorption of the Radiation, Emitted by.a Palladium Anticathode
in Rhodium, Palladium, and Silver : wen.
Roya. Insti TUTION, at 3.—Tllusions of the Atmosphere : The ‘Travelling
Vortex and the: Cyclonic Depression :,Sir Napier Shaw.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6. —Ninth Kelvin Lecture :
Kelvin as a Teacher’: Prof. M. Maclean. :
Linnean Sociery, at: 5.—Two Bibliographical Rarities of the-Society’s
Library : 3B ! Cupani, F., .‘“Panphyton siculum,” 1713; °() Du Gort,
J. and P.,- “*L’Histoire ‘et Pourtrait des Plantes,” Lyon, 156t: The
5 ae a Secretary.—Plant Distribution from the Standpoint ‘of ab Idealist :
suppy-
NO. 2519, VOL. 100]
|
CHEMICAL Society, at 8.—Atomic and Molecular Numbers: H. S, Allen
—Studies of the Carbonates. IV. The Hydrolysis of Sodium Bicarbonate’
and the Ionisation Constants of peice 5 A. Seyler and
E..H. Tripp. —Some Inorganic Stanrichlorides: J. G
_ investigation of the Cellulose-dextrose Relationship : Miss M. Cunningham.
—Esparto-cellulose and the Problem of Constitution : C. F. Cross and
E. J. Bevan.
FRIDAY, FEBRuARY 8, ; ;
gone PERO, at 5.30. —Science and Ethics: Principal E. H.
riffit
Roya AsTRONoMIcAL SocigerTy, at 5.—Anniversary Meeting.
_ SATURDAY, FrEpruary 9
Royau INsTITUTION, at 3-—The Ethics of the War: P. H. Loyson.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11.
Roya. GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The London Society’s Map with
its Proposals for the Improvement of London: Sir Aston Webb.
Society or ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—Presidential Address : W. B. E
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12.
es a aaomca at 3.—The Problems of British Asthiopalaayl Prof.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13.
British Association GEopuysicaL Discussions (Royal Aatconomtical
sot at 5.—The Influence of Barometric Pressure on Mean Sea-level :
ra ose.—Precise Levelling : Major Henrici.
Rave SociETY oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Relations between Capital aid
Labour—Reasonable Hours, Co-partnership, and Efficiency: Lord Lever-
hul me,
" THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14,
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Pvrolable Papers: The Artificial Production of
Echinoderm Larve with Two Water-vascular Systems, — also of Larve
Devoid of a Water-vascular System : Prof. - MacBride.—The Quan-
titative Differences in the Water-conductivity of the Wood in Trees and
Shrubs: Prof. J. B. Farmer.—The Efficiency of Muscular Work: Capt.
reenwood.
sson, —
~ RovaL Society or ARTS, at 4.30.—The Hide Trade and eee Industry
of India: Sir Henry Ledgard.
FRIDAY, Ruse TF.
pone INSTITUTION, at 5.30. —The Mechanism of the Heart: Prof. E H.
tarling. a
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL Pecineses at 6.—Annual General Meating;
—Traction on Bad Roads or Land: L. A. Legros.—Utility . of Motor
Tractors for Tillage Purposes : A. Amos.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16.
Roya. INSTITUTION, at 3.—Problems in Atomic Structure: Sir }. J.
Thomson.
CONTENTS. “PAGE
Biology from America. ByJ.A.T.... 441
School-life in the Seventeenth Century. By A. H. 442
Organic Chemical ai okie 82: \. ick oe rea
Our Bookshelf see ro i
Letters to the Editor:— Sil
The British Scientific Instrument- mek ‘Trade. —
E.'S. Hodgson «...... re rane.
The National Food Policy. . 4
The Investigation of Industrial Pitieate By P Prof. crear
W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S. : J) ee
Germany and Iron-ore Supplies. By Hi. pee 447
Notes FPG Oo 8 Fe 8 . . Rie ee ah 447
Our Astronomical Column :— i
Luminosities and Parallaxes of 500 oo oo ge Se ae ee
Solar Hydrogen Bombs «oe i er
** Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes ” Vee he, BS
Third Melbourne Star Catalogue . 452
The Endowment of University and “Technical
Education . s+ 452
Magnetic Survey ‘of New "Zealand. By 1 Dr. Creo
Chree, F.R.S. . Bi ae ae ee
Parasites of Crops and Cattle .- | SN oa yeaa ate eae
Light and Vision. By A. P. Trotter. aene yt 454
Science and the Cold-storage Industry. By Prof.
. Wemyss Anderson Se CE Page
University and Educational Intelligence ah Se ae
Societies. and Academies, . . . <4 acl’ shee eee
Books Received SEP Re
Diary of Societies cA Sou, oka . . 460
Editorial and Publishing Officest
MACMILLAN ‘AND'CO., Lip, ~
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2.
Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the
. Publishers. | eSSiar
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Telegraphic Address: PHusts, LONDON.
Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.
F..Druce.—A Re- |
Se ae
Pa NATURE
461
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1918.
LIFE AND WORK OF JAMES GEIKIE.
James Geikie: The Man and the Geologist. By
Dr. M. I. Newbigin and Dr. J. S. Flett. Pp.
—xi+227. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd; Lon-
don: Gurney and Jackson, 1917.) Price 7s. 6d.
2 tus Ea
i Sie! life of James Geikie deserved to be
written, for he was not only a good geo-
logist with marked literary’ gifts, but also had
an innate love of travel, Nature, and the humor-
ous, with the art of making friends. The task
has been well done, the biographical part by
Dr. Marion Newbigin, the strictly geological by
Dr. J. S. Flett. The book avoids the error, so
common in biographies, of needless prolixity ; it
contains well-selected specimens of Geikie’s letters
and writings, grave and gay, with three good
likenesses and an amusing sketch, and abstains
| from commonplace padding.
Born at Edinburgh in
(Murdoch, his second Christian name, was early
discarded), after its High School anda short period
of uncongenial employment, obtained, in 1861, an
appointment to the Geological Survey. On that
he worked for twenty years, rising to be District
‘Surveyor, then gave it up reluctantly to become
_Murchisonian Professor in the University of
pestis One of his earliest duties in the
ions ity was to map the drifts of Fifeshire
othians, which attracted him to the
wale ‘of their origin and moulded his future
studies. Then he went on to the solid geology of
Ayrshire, the Lanark coalfield, the Cheviots, and
other districts of southern Scotland. As professor
he discharged the duties of his chair zealously
until the early summer of 1914, and on March 1
of the following year died suddenly from heart
_ failure. As a worker, whether in the field, the
class-room, ar the study, he was indefatigable ;
in fact, he evidently overtasked even his vigorous
constitution, often suffering in his later years from
more than one form of nervous exhaustion, and
probably somewhat shortened his span of life.
Notwithstanding his numerous ties, professional
and social—for he was a devoted husband, father,
and friend—he was able to see more than a little
of other lands, visiting Iceland, the Farées, and
Norway, France, Germany, Switzerland, and
Italy, with Egypt, the Canaries, Canada, and the
United States, always keenly observant and
gathering notes for use in the lecture-room and
his numerous contributions to scientific literature.
The most outstanding of his works are ‘‘ The
‘Great Ice Age’’ and “Prehistoric Europe.’’ Of
them and of the author’s position in the Glacial
controversy Dr. Flett writes clearly, concisely,
and apparently as if he thought his client to have
gained his cause. Be this. as it may—and the
present writer unfortunately differs in some im-
portant respects from the late professor’s inter-
pretation of Nature’s hieroglyphs of the Ice age,
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
‘1839, James Geikie
| scarcely less than from his inferences about meta-
| morphism in Ayrshire—all students will gladly
acknowledge the value of the above-named books.
The third édition of ‘The Great Ice Age’’ (pub-
lished in 1894) is a veritable mine of information,
collected from many lands and diverse sources,
about its deposits and their significance; and the
other volume—‘“ Prehistoric Europe ’’—discusses
in addition the advent of man, which, according
to its author, was anterior to the Glacial Epoch.
But even antagonists who think that he was
a little too prone to put his trust in Continental
prophets of the Ice age (when they were favour-
able to his views), and to ignore rather than to
refute the criticisms of opponents, will assign a
high place to these volumes as works of reference.
The same may be said of his geological articles
—and they would themselves make a volume—in
‘““Chambers’s Encyclopedia,’’ where he successfully
puts off the advocate to become the judge. In all
that he published his style was attractive; he
evidently wrote with facility, sought to make him-
self intelligible, and never shirked his work. In
brief, he was a many-sided, very able, and most
genial man, who had the power of winning the
regard of his students, and whose loss was re-
gretted by everyone who had been his workfellow,
his friend, or even his antagonist.
T. G. Bonney.
THE COMPLETE DAIRY FARMER.
Dairy Cattle Feeding and Management. By Dr.
C. W. Larson and Prof. F. S. Putney. Pp.
xx+471. (New York: John Wiley and Sons,
Inc. ; London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1917.)
Price ris. 6d. net.
HE ancient art of agriculture has always been
invested with a halo of romance, through
which only in times of the severest national stress
has its essentially prosaic character as the great
industry of food production been clearly discern-
ible tS the popular eye. In the lay imagination the
idea commonly persists that the art still retains
essentially its primitive form, amounting to little
more than a crudely systematic collection of the
gifts which from year to year a benevolent, though
not always generous, Providence is pleased to
bestow upon mankind.
It is lamentable, but inevitable, that in ali
aspects of human activity the advance of know-
ledge should tend to overlay the rosy tints of
romance with the more sombre hues of reality.
The philosopher-ploughman of yesterday gives
way to the motor engineer of to-morrow; the milk-
ing machine dispels the last vestige of romance
fiom the art of the dairymaid.
In the days before the Industrial Revolution the
production of milk was largely incidental to the
production of crops and meat, and the needs of the
community could be satisfied without recourse to
even such simole intensive methods of milk pro-
duction as could then have been employed. With
the steady divorce of the food consumer from food
production, and the increasing dependence of civi-
B B
462
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 14, 1918
lised peoples upon cow’s milk for the feeding of
infants, the need for the development of milk sup-
plies and for the organisation of distribution has
steadily grown until at the present time the pro-
duction of milk has been developed by the leaders
of the industry into the most highly organised and
efficient branch of agriculture in the more densely
populated regions of the civilised world.
Before the development of modern science the
business of milk production was necessarily run on
simple lines. Alternative feeding-stuffs were few
in number, and the significance of chemical com-
position was unknown. With the development of
chemistry and physiology, and the consequent
elucidation of the fundamental principles of nutri-
tion, a more elaborate adjustment of rations to
milk output became’ possible, and was further
facilitated by the increased range of feeding mate-
rials which the concurrent expansion of commerce
and industry placed at the disposal of the farmer.
The: discovery of micro-organisms and of their
relation to public health has exercised, and must
continue to exercise more and more, a potent influ-
ence upon the methods of milk production and
distribution. A knowledge of the _ principles
underlying improvement Of livestock by breeding
has also become an essential item in the intellec-
tual equipment of the modern dairy-farmer, and
acquires additional importance with the develop-
ment of the infant science of genetics. -The fur-
ther complexities introduced by the modern de-
velopments of transport and marketing facilities
are obvious.
It is thus patent that the technical education of
the dairy-farming expert of to-day cannot be com-
pressed into any narrow curriculum, and demands
for its efficient assimilation a level of intellect and
capacity which is scarcely associated as yet in the
public mind with the farming industry. The pro-
vision of the necessary educational guidance is a
formidable task that has nowhere been faced with
more courage and success than in America. From
their inception the American agricultural colleges
and experiment stations in dairying areas. have
placed great emphasis upon the importance of
scientific method in dairy-farming, and the litera-
ture of the subject bears witness to the persistent
effort which has steadily brought American work
into the very foremost position in this branch of
applied science.
As in so many other branches of technology and
science, British readers in the past have been
accustomed to draw largely upon German litera-
ture, but in this particular field the German has
been surpassed, and no country now possesses a
dairying literature equal in volume and general
level of quality to that which America has pro-
duced. The work of Dr. Larson and Prof. Putney
is an excellent example of the best type of modern
American text-book, and is primarily designed to
secure the closest co-ordination between class-
werk and private study. The material is ar-
ranged in twenty-nine lectures, which cover the
whole field of feeding, breeding, management,
hygiene, housing, cost accounting, and distribu-
tion. A commendable feature is the outline of a
course of practical work which is given in the ap-
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
pendix.
It is obvious that an exhaustive treat- —
ment of the subject is impossible within the com-—
pass of one volume of this size, and some sections
bear evidence of compression beyond what the
student may reasonably expect to find. On the
whole, however, the compression has been judi-
ciously effected, without omission of essential in-
formation or of adequate illustrative matter from
experimental records. The work may be warmly
commended to the dairy student and teacher as
being perhaps the’ most comprehensive class-book
or. the subject. ee.
PHILOSOPHICALIDEALISM AND NATURAL
SCIENCE.
The Idea of God in the Light of Recent Philo-
sophy, The Gifford Lectures delivered in the
’ University of Aberdeen in the Years 1912 and
1913. By Prof. A. Seth Pringle-Pattison. Pp..
Xvit 423.
1917.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
Be! his recently published Gifford anneee Prof.
(Oxford: At the Clarendon er
Pringlé-Pattison, starting from Hume’s “ Dia-~
logues concerning Natural Religion,’’ passes in
review the reasoning of successive philosophical
writers up to the present time on the nature of
ultimate reality. His personal point of view is
that of the idealism so strongly represented in —
recent British philosophy, including his own
former works; but in the course of very acute
and yet thoroughly sympathetic criticisms of other —
writers, and particularly his fellow-idealists, he
has now carried philosophical idealism a consider-
able step forward, and brought it into more liv- —
ing touch with natural science and other develop-.
A clear and >
ments of human thought and action.
very graceful literary style adds largely to the |
value of what is unmistakably a great ser teat ;
cal book.
To many men of science it will perhaps come as
something of a shock to find that the world of ©
ce
apparent ‘‘ objective ’’
appearance of a deeper reality. Prof. Pringle-
physical reality is treated —
by philosophers as only the one-sided or subjective —
Pattison traces the steps by which philosophical —
thought has developed in the direction of showing
that the real world is a world of what he con-
stantly refers to as ‘‘intrinsic values.’’ “‘ Ideal-
ism,’’ as he puts it,
tial truth of our judgments of value, and the im-
possibility of explaining the higher from the lower.
Beauty and goodness are not born of the clash of
atoms ; they are effluences of something more per-
A distinctive key-note of
9?
fect and more divine.
the book .is his treatment of imperfection and
suffering as organic to the development and very
existence of these intrinsic values. The hedonistic
test of perfection is examined and rejected.
Perhaps the designation ‘‘ idealism ”’
what misleading. What it mainly indicates is a
direct historical descent from Berkeley, Hume,
and the great German idealists ‘of a century ago.
Philosophy is only the endeavour to describe
reality; and the result of this endeavour, as set
is some-~
‘‘takes its stand on the essen- —
‘
a
i
= F EBRUARY 14, 1918]
ore
NATURE
463
forth in the book before us, is that the conceptions
_-of the sciences are in themselves no more than
inadequate ideal constructions of what can only
__ be described finally as spiritual reality.
_. In a short notice it is impossible to give any
_ detailed account of the whole book, but some re-
_ ference may be made to the fourth chapter, en-
_ titled “The Liberating Influence of Biology.’’
_ The author is in full agreement with those biolo-
_ gists who now claim that biology must be regarded
_ as a science with a distinctive working hypothe-
_ is which separates it from the physical sciences.
_ The basis of this claim is simply that it is not
_ possible to describe and interpret the distinctive
_ facts of biology in terms of the working hypothe-
_ sis of physics and chemistry: the conception of
_ life itself must be employed as a fundamental
_ working hypothesis. In referring to this claim he
_ is careful to dissociate himself from what is ordin-
_ arily understood as vitalism, and to show that the
_ claim goes much farther than that of the vitalists,
; cede + what seems to him an untenable posi-
= While he agrees,. for instance, with
_ Driesch’s criticisms of the mechanistic account of
_ life, he points to radical weakness in Driesch’s
_ Own vitalistic position. The ‘‘liberating’’ in-
- fluence of biology results from the fact that the
new biology treats as mere working hypotheses of
_ limited application what had come to be regarded
_as absolute truths established by physical and
__ chemical investigation. He points out that a simi-
; lar liberating influence has resulted from recent
_ -discoveries as to the nature of atoms. There is
_ thus no reason now for concluding that in ulti-
_ mate analysis the phenomena of Nature, including
human activity, must be reducible to an interplay
of material particles, in accordance with the meta-
physical theory which he designates as ‘“ natural-
ism.”” The way is left open to interpretations
on a higher plane, and each of the sciences is left
free to use its own special working hypotheses.
__ Perhaps most scientific readers will be inclined to
‘think that the author under-estimates the strength
of the position of what he calls the “old guard ”’
of mechanistic biologists; but, however this may
be, his treatment of the whole subject, and refer-
ences to Darwin, Huxley, Bergson, Driesch, and
other writers, will be found to be of much interest.
_ The book may be recommended confidently to
all those who wish to understand modern philoso-
pPhical idealism and the grounds for its uncom-
promising rejection of “naturalism.’’
t Sie 5
OUR BOOKSHELF.
Highways and Byways in Wiltshire. By E.
Hutton. With illustrations by Nellie Erichsen.
Pp. xviit+463. (London: Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd., 1917.) Price 6s. net.
Tus book, with its charming illustrations from
pen-drawings, is more nearly a guide to the
ecclesiastical and monastic -architecture of ‘the
Middle Ages in Wiltshire than any other yet pub-
lished. It is not, it is true, in the form of a guide-
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
/
‘tackled intelligently.
book, but is arranged more or less as a description
of a series of walks, taken by the author from
different centres, beginning with Salisbury . and
South Wiltshire, which is treated of far more fully
than the northern portion of the county.
The author has, indeed, an eye for natural
scenery and dweils thereon at length on occasions ;
but his real interest lies in medieval architecture
and in Church life previous to the Reformation,
which for him is the end of all things good in Wilt-
shire or in England. As for. Puritans, Protestants,
Anglicans, they are, with scanty exceptions,
anathema to him. George Herbert, Richard
Hooker, and the ‘‘ White King ”’ are, it is true,
amongst the exceptions, but for everybody even
remotely connected with the destruction of the
monasteries, for Seymours, and Thynnes, and
Hungerfords, and especially Bayntons, he can find
no words to fit their baseness. The only greater
criminals are the modern restorers of churches.
Of the restored statues in the West Front of Salis-
bury Cathedral he remarks: ‘‘ Is it not monstrous
that ignorance and imbecility should be allowed
to disport themselves on such a work as this?’’
Yet, for all his violent preferences, he writes well
and very readably, and for those whose interests
lie in the same direction as his own there is a vast
deal of architectural information, very largely
taken, as he acknowledges, from the pages of the
Viltshire Archaeological Magazine. But it is a
pity that the proofs were not more carefully read
by the author. There are many misspellings and
misprints, some of which make nonsense of the
passages in which they occur. The index is good.
The Vegetable Garden. By Ed. J. S. Lay. (The
Pupils’ Class-book Series.) Pp. 144. (Lon-
don: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price
Is. 6d.
ELEMENTARY education is indebted to Mr. Lay for
a number of school books on various subjects in-
tended to train children to do more and think more
for themselves. Were school gardening made a
subject of scientific study as well as of manual
instruction, it would teach children to think as
well as to work. Unfortunately, this is not always
the case, and, even in the counties where most is
done to encourage observation and experiment,
many gardening teachers find it difficult to get
away from rule of thumb: If only to help such,
Mr. Lay’s book is to be welcomed. Intended for
class reading to accompany outdoor work, it not
only describes the operations, crops, insect pests,
etc., of the garden, but also puts, in an interesting
way, the problems that have to be faced, and leads
the children to make simple experiments through
the results of which many of the problems can be
As a class reader it is the
most useful gardening book that has yet appeared
in this country, and its use should greatly enhance
the value of school gardening as a means of real
education. It comes at an opportune time, for in
connection with the food production campaign
_ school gardens are being multiplied, so that a host
_ of new teachers will be grateful for its guidance.
404
NATURE
[FeBRUARY 14, 1918
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. ]
Flights of Rooks and Starlings.
I may be writing of what is so commonly known to
naturalists as to be unworthy of: record; the facts,
however, are new to me. On a fine, still day last Sep-
tember I observed a large flight of rooks attended, as
Gilbert ‘White notes, by starlings. As they passed
across the sky both rooks and _ starlings mounted
higher and higher until they were lost to sight
in the distance. Whatever may have been the
occasion of the concourse, it was a subject of much
interest to rooks in general, for solitary birds hurried
by, cawing loudly, to join the main body. ‘These be-
lated individuals mounted in fairly regular spirais.
About a fortnight later I had the good fortune to
be able to follow with powerful glasses a similar flight,
but of rooks unaccompanied by starlings. As before,
the mean movement in the still air: was a_ steady
oblique ascent, and the general impression that of a
crowd of birds the individual movements of which were }
confused and irregular. This impression of confused
flight was, however, probably wrong, for the few indi-
vidual birds I was able to follow were undoubtedly
rising in fairly regular spirals.
The surprising and, to me, novel character of the
flight did not appear until the birds had risen to a
height beyond the limits of unaided vision. The move-
ments of individual birds then changed from the even
sweep of the spiral to what can only be called trick
flying. The wildest antics were indulged in, the com-
monest being a dive with closed wings, the bird some-
times rolling over and over. I could not fit the char-
acter of the movement to the hypothesis that the birds
were darting after insects on the wing. —
The two facts new to me were the height attained
and the fact that a bird of such sedate manners as
the rook should on occasion condescend to do ‘‘ stunts.”
W. B. Harpy.
The Athenzeum Club, Pall Mall,
February 4.
National Union of Scientific Workers.
THERE is appearing in your advertising columns an
announcement relating to this Union; will you allow
me space to explain its objects very briefly, but rather
more fully than is possible in an advertisement ?
There is a general agreement that it is imperative for
the best interests of science that those who pursue it
should possess‘greater political and industrial influence.
The founders of our Union believe that they can attain
that influence only by adopting the form of organisa-
tion which has proved effective in experience. That
organisation involves the formation of a Union imclud-
ing, so far as possible, every professional scientific
worker, and governed in a completely ‘democratic ”’
fashion. It is such a Union that we are trying to
form.
In the pamphlet for which everyone is urged to write
further details of our aims and methods of attaining
them are suggested., But we feel that no self-appointed
body can possibly legislate permanently for a Union
designed to embrace the whole world of science. Our
immediate endeavours, therefore, are to set up a pre-
liminary organisation which will lead to the summon-
ing of a thoroughly representative general meeting .
having the authority necessary to set the Union
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
on a permanent basis. The pamphlet is mainly
devoted to an account of this organisation. Until it
has done its work the constitution and policy of the
Union will remain unsettled; we would urge accord-
ingly that any divergence, except on the fundamental
principle, from the views of the founders is an argu- —
ment for, rather than against, taking part in the pre-
liminary work. 5
One last point. We are often asked what is our
attitude towards other societies, existing or proposed.
Our answer is that, since none of them are both all-
inclusive and democratically governed, none, according
to our view, can do our work. But, of course, we
recognise that there are other ways of advancing the
cause of science which are being followed effectively
by other bodies. We recognise further that our rela-
tions to these other bodies will need careful considera-
tion and regulation; but to discuss exactly what the _
relations must be would be to exceed the space I can
ask you to put at my disposal,
NoRMAN R. CAMPBELL
(General Secretary N.U.S.W.)..
North Lodge, Queen’s Road, Teddington.
THE GREEN LEAF: ITS SCIENTIFIC AND
‘ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION.
°c Norinhipgyad the unnumbered ages which
have witnessed the rise and fall of successive
civilisations upon this planet, the one thing that
‘has stood between mankind and extinction by .
lack of food has been the activity of the chloro-
plast of the green leaf. Perhaps, before equal
time has again rolled over the world, the synthetic —
production of food may have been achieved, and |
man in all his intellectual glory may claim equality
with the lilies of the field. Until then the fixation
wes
of organic carbon by “photosynthesis ’’ in green ~
cells must, by us, be regarded as the basal
chemical happening of our planet. Thousands
of years of empiric agriculture have enabled man
to exploit this aspect of vegetation with remark-
able success, but the problem of carbon assimila-
tion found its way into the laboratory only at the
end of the eighteenth century by the genius of
Priestley, and its broad aspects were first formu-\_
lated by the wisdom of De Saussure in 1812.
We may consider in this article what progress
has been made with this matter, as a problem of
pure and applied science, in the century that has
elapsed since then. The recent appearance of a
summary review of our knowledge of the subject
by I. J¢érgensen and W. Stiles! gives a good
foundation for such consideration. .
Investigators have not been idle. The biblio-
graphy contains 250 entries, but these are not a tenth
of the papers published, for our authors’ intention is
to ignore historical development and give only a.
critical account of those researches which mark
the present advance line of knowledge on the many
separate, but converging, roads by which this
well-defended secret of Nature has been attacked.
The authors are as severely critical as the com-
missioners on a military campaign.
They have ._
carefully thought over the aspects of the subject a
1 ‘fCarbon Assimilation : A Review of Recent Work on the
the Green Leaf and the Processes connected with Them.” By Ingvar
Jorgensen and Walter Stiles, WVew Phytologist Reprint, No. 10. Pp. 180.
(London : Wesley and Son, 1917.) : Price 4s.
*
Pigments of
a ed EBRUARY 14, 1918]
NATURE
465
as one connected whole, and are impatient of the
_ many individual attacks which’ have wasted half
_ their effort by failure to keep contact with flanking
_ movements by workers coming from other direc-
2 ‘tions, who should be regarded as allies, but are
' often treated as rivals. This report ought to have
a valuable effect in unifying research activity. No
_ similar presentation of the subject has appeared
7 _ before i in any language.
A century of laboratory attack has driven
& ‘several salients forward, of which perhaps three
_ stand out conspicuously. We may briefly consider
: Fase: far each has progressed, as reported in this
ph pamphlet, and what may be expected of the future.
_ These advances concern (1) the pigments of the
nm formed in the leaf (chap. v.); and
(3) the influence of external factors on the rate of
carbon assimilation (chap. iv.).
___Inchap. vii. will be found set out those specula-
_ tions that have any significance as theories of the
assimilation process. During the process that
_ takes place in the illuminated green cell, whereby
_ ¢arbon dioxide disappears and sugar appears, it
i - clear that, somehow or other, reduction and
ea is? ‘must take place; but even now it is
; quite v unclear to what system of reactions this
result is to be attributed. Many hypotheses have
been put forward, and Baeyer’s “formaldehyde
‘jm “has been almost canonised as an eternal
_ verity, yet there is really no good evidence for it.
Its perennial attraction no doubt is due to its
_ gesthetic simplicity. It appears now that the re-
- action must be much more complex (unless, as is
‘ possible, ‘we are entirely on the wrong tack), and
this is our excuse for the slowness of progress.
A knowledge of the reacting system at work would
be equivalent to storming the citadel of the whole
_ defence, but so far no one has advanced a satis-
' factory hypothesis that can be put to the proof of
experiment. We have still to advance by slow
tactics from various directions.
_ The advance that has been made in elucidating
_ the nature of the pigments of the green leaf under
_ the guidance of Prof. Willstatter really amounts
to a- shock attack, so continuous and_ rapidly
widening has been the progress.
In 1864 Sir George Stokes stated that he had
proved that the green matter of leaves consisted
of two and two yellow pigments, though
he never published his evidence. In the last
decade this conclusion has been finally established
by the monumental research of Prof. Willstatter
and his colleagues. Before Prof. Willstitter there
was no clue to the real chemical nature of these two
green pigments, and it could be hoped that when
their chemistry was known the process of reduc-
tion of carbon dioxide would be elucidated.
The curious nature of the green and yellow
pigments is now made quite clear; the greens
are esters of a big alcohol molecule, phytol, and
a tricarboxylic acid based on a nucleus of four
_ pyrrole rings. Magnesium is also an essential
: constituent, not electrolytically dissociable, but
__ believed to be directly united with the nitrogen.
| The difference between the two green pigments
: NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
is simply this, that “chlorophyll b’’ contains one
| dance.
atom more of oxygen (and two less of hydrogen)
than “chlorophyll a. In complete contrast to
this complexity is the simplicity of the yellow pig-
ments; ‘“‘carotin’’ is an unsaturated hydrocarbon,
and “xanthophyll’’ an additive oxidation deriva-
tive of it. Both the yellows, when isolated from
the cell, spontaneously absorb oxygen in abun-
It is easy to assume that these differences
| of oxygen-potential occurring within both the
_ green arid the yellow pairs are significant for the
reduction of carbon. dioxide;
but there is no
_ evidence on this point at present.
| which arise in the leaf as CO, disappears.
|
| experiment,
A second line of attack into which much work
has been put is the determination of the nature
leaf (chap. ii.); (2) the products of carbon |
and amount of the carbon-containing substances
Is the
CO, quantitatively reduced to its theoretical yield
of carbohydrates, or do other substances arise in
“multiple photosynthesis ’’?. The measurement
of the CO, intake by the green leaf is not difficult,
but difficulties attend the correction of this ap-
parent photosynthesis for the amount of CO,
simultaneously produced in the body of the leaf
by respiration—an amount which is large at high
temperatures, but must be known and added in
for exact statements of photosynthesis. At the
other end of the reaction the determination of the
carbohydrates produced .continues to present con-
siderable difficulties, so that no one has yet man-
aged to. measure in one experiment both the’
initial CO, used up and the final carbohydrates
produced whereby we might judge of their equi- _
valence. Much discussion has taken place on the
question of what is the first sugar to appear in
photosynthesis, though this is largely a strife of
ideas rather than of facts.
The identification and accurate determination of
individual sugars and polysaccharides in a mixture -
of such bodies form a special field of analytical
work the difficulties of which have been much
lightened by recent English researches, set out in
chap. v.; but these have not been. fully overcome
yet. Further, these carbohydrates have all to be
extracted from the leaf unaltered by the enzymes
that lie in wait for them in the cell, and finally
not one determination, but two differential deter-
minations are required to establish changes due.
to photosynthesis; one, at the beginning of the
being on some other area of leaf
that can be held to furnish a strictly comparable
control. Progress in this important line of work
waits upon absolutely trustworthy methods of ex-
traction and analysis of carbohydrates..
The third significant advance that has been
made is that towards an understanding of the in-
fluence and mode of interaction of the many ex-
ternal and internal factors that can influence the
rate of photosynthesis. ‘The control or measure-
ment of the external factors of illumination (sun-
shine or artificial light), temperature, and CO,
supply require elaborate apparatus and consider-
able physical experience in the fields of radio-
metry, photometry, scientific illumination,
thermo-electric measurement of leaf temperature,
etc. Of internal factors the amount of chloro-
466
NATURE
| [Fepruary 14, 1918
phyll and the degree of openness of the stomata
are sometimes significant.
When the magnitudes of the three external
factors are known or controlled, there arises the
important question of the. nature of their inter-
action when the magnitudes of them vary inde-
pendently—a problem which has been elucidated
largely by English investigations. In any possible
combination of these factors, the rate of photo-
synthesis at any moment is not an expression of
their combined magnitude, but only of the magni-
tude of a particular one of them acting as a
“limiting factor’’ to the rate of functional
activity. Which of the factors happens to be .the
limiting factor in any combination of them can be
determined experimentally by. application of the
principle that increase of the magnitude of the
limiting factor, and of this factor only, can in-
crease the rate of photosynthesis.
With high rates of photosynthesis, yet a new
factor has to be brought into account, as internal
causes produce a regular falling off of the power
of photosynthesis from moment to moment of
time. Until the internal causation of this is fully
explained it may pass by the non-committal name
of the ‘time-factor.’’
There is yet another important aspect of our
attack on the problem of photosynthesis which is
still in its infancy, and that is the “energetics ”’
of the process, dealt with in chap. vi. of the
pamphlet. é
The: essential human value of the chloroplast
activity lies, of course, over and above the indis-
pensable accident that its products are edible, in
the high energy content of these carbohydrates.
Therefore, the energetic aspect of the process is
the fundamental one, and the whole problem
should be investigated on this basis. This in-
volves measurement of the energy incident on the
leaf-surface, with determinations of the amount
transmitted, or reflected, or used in transpiration,
as compared with the fraction stored up in photo-
synthesis, which last finds expression in the in-
creased heat of combustion of unit-area of’ leaf-
surface enriched by carbon assimilation. In this
field of work progress can be made only by elab-
orate physical apparatus and critical determina-
tion of physical constants. ; -
Let us now turn to the economic aspect of
photosynthesis regarded as a problem of industrial
or applied science. In these times, when cereal
food supply threatens to become a limiting factor
to the endurance or free existence of nations, the
question of what science can do to multiply the.
number or heighten the activity of the chloroplasts
subserving the cause of humanity acquires a
poignant interest. j
It cannot be said that the physiological study
of chlorophyll activity has yet enabled any im-
provement to be made in the applied science of ©
agriculture. The conditions of present-day agri-
culture are too little intensive, and not yet such
as to make it worth while to attempt to exploit
the researches of plant physiologists. Cultivation
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
of transport facilities are the present solutions —
!
of new acreage, selection of types, and increase
of the limitation factor of. carbohydrate
supply. :
The utilisation of researches on the augmenta- —
tion of photosynthesis would be of profound im-
portance in the imaginary case of a self-contained
or strictly isolated community of limited acreage,
a wealthy and-intelligent community with a large
population on a small area of soil for sunshine or
artificial illumination. Their problem would have
to be solved on the basis of investigations on the
factors controlling photosynthesis of the type we
have already mentioned. . Set
In such a community the relation between plant
physiology and agriculture would become some- —
thing like that holding now between human physi- —
ology and medicine. To-day every progress in —
human physiology is eagerly correlated with medi- —
cine, and lavish endowment and encouragement —
are extended to pure physiological science on
account of its generally recognised applicability —
to medicine. The outlook of medicine and hygiene —
is, however, individual, and not commercial; there —
is a desire to save every life and continue the ~
activity of every individual, however worthless it —
may be to the community. With agriculture and —
plant communities there is no such outlook, and —
with regard to any application of plant physiology
it is required that the intensification of the syn- ~
thetic activity of the plant aimed at shall pay —
economically. .
We see, then, that it is probable that the main
cereal crops will for a long time be left to the
mercy of natural vagaries of light, heat, water, —
and carbon dioxide, but minor activities of inten- —
sive food cultivation are now utilising eof the
bene
eye
“iy, 3
Or unconscious control of one or more of the
factors of photosynthesis.
highly important that there should be carried out —
a comprehensive investigation of the physiology —
and energetics of carbon assimilation dealing with —
the possibilities of intensive photosynthesis under —
all artificial combinations of factorial conditions. —
From what we have said as to the complexity of —
this matter it is clear that no one or even two —
investigators are likely to have all the special 3
chemical, physical, and physiological experience —
required for rapid progress, so that this would —
have to be an organised combined research, and
continued over a number of years with good equip- ~
ment and liberal endowment. ae ‘d
-In conclusion we may express the opinion that, “4
in the eyes of all who know the results of modern
work on chlorophyll, Germany has acquired last-
ing credit for her great achievement with this
difficult and elusive problem. Under the inspira-—
tion of Prof. Willstatter many workers have
striven for years in the National Research In-
stitute, and thousands of pounds have been spent, —
on a novel type of investigation involving tons of —
leaf material. Their credit is not the less for this, —
that the results have not at once proved to be of ©
economic importance: one more province of igno- —
rance has been strenuously conquered and an-—
nexed to the empire of knowledge oa
It becomes, therefore, —
FEBRUARY 14, 1918]
EH
NATURE
467
, or
_ An equal spirit of organised research and muni-
ficent endowment in this country should enable
us to raise here, on the basis of existing English
pioneer work, a similar monument of research
‘on the physiology and ‘energetics of carbon
assimilation. FE. F, B:
_ THE ADOPTION OF THE METRIC
Be SYSTEM.
AN account of the position of the subject of the
-% adoption of the metric system in this country
as given in Nature of August 30 last. That
the question is being very seriously considered by
‘the controllers of our larger industries is clearly
indicated by the two papers on the subject read
recently before the Institution of Electrical
Engineers. In the paper, “A Case for the Adop-
ym of the Metric System (and Decimal Coinage)
y Great Britain,’’ by Mr. A. J. Stubbs, the multi-
ity of standards—and, worse still, variations
from these standards—is so clearly shown that
one is not surprised that the writer should arrive
_.at the conclusion that the change must come, and
‘that delay but increases the difficulties of the
~chan e. The final conclusion, “ Do it now,’’ will
- meet with unqualified approval from those who
_ feel that the change is urgently needed.
4 _ Very different is the paper from Mr. Llewelyn
:
=
oh
B. Atkinson on “The ‘Pros and Cons’ of the
‘Metric System.’’ Broadly speaking, it is a paper
“damning with faint praise.’’ Starting from the
‘three possible systems, namely, (1) the British
is inora (2) the metric system, (3) the C.G.S. or
|
_ abst lute system, the writer proceeds to discuss
_ the questions of (a) decimalisation, (b) the actual
_ magnitudes involved, and (c) policy. The main
point made is that there is always so much to be
said for the other side that everything is question-
able. The further difficulty of the enormous .
- number of readjustments of tolls, rates, dock dues,
wage lists, etc., which would have to be made, is
_ -emphasised.
If our object were simply to criticise this paper
rather than most seriously to urge the adoption of
‘the metric system in the full light of all the diffi-
culties actually known to be involved, we should
simply ask Mr. Atkinson to produce his British
‘system—say, for the textile industries; and in
reply to the difficulty raised respecting the re-
adjustment of tolls, rates, etc., we would suggest
that the sooner the whole of the agricultural and
commercial worlds of this country receive the
shaking up that such a change would give them
the better. But the paper is too good to be thus
summarily dismissed. :
The question of decimalisation admittedly ré-
solves itself into a careful weighing up of the
pros and cons. That uniformity, accuracy, and
speed make a strong trio in favour of the decimal
system is, however, beyond question. If proof of
this be required it may be readily obtained from
those who have worked in both British and Con-
tinental mills and works. _—_,,
The question of the actual magnitudes involved
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
is complicated by reference to the varying weights
of the bushel of wheat, of barley, of oats, etc.
This is typical of the whole trend of the paper.
Whatever standards of measurement be adopted,
the same difficulty will be in evidence. This ap-
proximates any two systems to one another in
the sense that it involves them in a common difh-
culty—but does it therefore leave them equally
useful for world service? If there were a chance
of either Japan or China adopting any such British
system as could be speedily designed, there might
be something in the argument. But is there?
The question of policy is debated rather from
the point of view of Britain holding certain markets
by the imposition and retention of her peculiar
weights and measures—in other words, by the
methods employed by some of our machinists, who
purposely adopt their own peculiar standards in
order that they may absolutely bind to themselves
any firms once depending upon them for
machinery. Does not this savour far too much of
subterfuge? And where subterfuge comes in, in
the long run efficiency goes out.
From this point- of view international coinage
and rates of exchange form an interesting study.
If the time ever comes when thé spirit of scientific
finance, rather than the spirit of “opportunism,’’
dominates industry, then will commerce have |
made possibly the greatest step forward on record.
In the final paragraph of his paper Mr. Atkinson
asks for some indication of how the change can
in practice be effected in the case of the textile
industries. This change was definitely made and
the metric system employed in the textile indus-
tries department of the Bradford Technical Col-
lege for more than a year. The experiment re-
vealed the simplicity of the change, and has mate-_
rially influenced the views of the writer of this
article on the possibilities of the metric system in
the textile industries. That the-cotton section of
the textile industries will profit least from the
proposed change is certain, since it already pos-
sesses many of the advantages conferred by a
world-wide system; but surely it will join hands
with its less fortunate associates in advocating a —
change which to those with long vision seems
almost likely to be the factor deciding our fate in
the commercial warfare looming ahead.
But perhaps the deficiencies of outlook in evi-
dence in Mr. Atkinson’s paper may best be attri-
buted to an apparent lack of appreciation of the
questions’ of mentality (or psychology) involved.
Every mathematical problem solved—be it simple
or complex—serves in two ways. Directly, it gives —
the particular answer required; and indirectly, it
incorporates itself into the intuitive faculty of the
thinker. Thus each problem solved will naturally
tend either to strengthen or to weaken the
intuitive mathematical faculty. A multiplicity of
standards with many haphazard variations will in-
evitably tend, through confusion of precept, to
suppress, and ultimately entirely to eliminate, the
intuitive mathematical faculty; whereas scientific
standardisation will tend to promote that type of
brain culture which ultimately resolves itself into
468
NATURE
[ FEBRUARY 14, 1918 ba
cumulative efficiency. That our people markedly
lack this intuitive mathematical faculty is too pain-
fully in evidence. A great opportunity is opening
out before us to correct this defect. Are we going
to make the attempt? Risk there will, of course,
always be, but in this case the risk of standing
still seems to be far greater than the risk. incident
upon the compulsory adoption of the metric system,
AG Dt. B,
CONTROL OF SEX IN PIGEONS.*
aoe late Prof. Whitman, of Chicago, was the
first to show the remarkable suitability of
wild pigeons for the analysis of the sex-problem.
He found, for instance, that generic crosses
(Columba and Turtur), when not permitted to lay
many eggs, produce mostly or only males; that
such pairs, when made to lay many eggs (crowded
reproduction), produce males predominantly from
their earlier stronger eggs,.and predominantly or
only females from the later eggs laid under stress
of overwork; and that from eggs of pure wild
species the first egg of the pair or clutch more
often hatches a male, while the second egg of the
pair more often produces a female. Dr. Oscar
Riddle has followéd up Prof. Whitman’s work
with very important results, bearing not only on
the theory of sex, but also on possible practical
control,
It seems certain that there are two kinds of
eggs in the pigeon’s ovary. The male-producing
egg of the spring stores less material than the
female-producing egg of the autumn. The male-
producing egg of the clutch stores less material
than does its female-producing fellow. The eggs
of old females store more material and yield a
‘higher percentage of females than do the eggs
of birds not old. During the season successive
clutches present higher and higher storage, and
the eggs of the low-storage period give rise (in
the generic cross) to males, and those of the high-
storage period produce females.
Increase in storage capacity means decrease in
oxidising capacity—a lowered metabolism; and
the fundamental difference between the female-
producing ovum and the male-producing ovum is
a difference in the level of metabolism. Though
there are a few discrepant results, it may be said
that femaleness in the egg is associated with low
metabolism, lower percentage of water, and a
higher total of fat and phosphorus, or of phos-
phatides; and conversely for maleness. ‘The less
hydrated state of the colloids will favour increased
storage, while a more hydrated state will favour a
higher rate of oxidising metabolism. Analysis of
the blood and constitutional features of adult birds
gives some indication that the metabolic differences
of male and female germs persist in the male and
female adults. A calorimetric determination of
the energy-value of hundreds of eggs confirmed
the reality of what may be called metabolic
dimorphism, agreeing with the conclusions reached
from studies on the weights of yolks and on yolk
1 “The Control of the Sex Ratio.” By O. Riddle.
Acad. Sci., vii. (1917), pp. 319-55.
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
Journ. Washington
ing data.
burn our chromosomes.”
Some of the incidental corroborations of Dr. .
Riddle’s thesis are very interesting. Thus females —
hatched from eggs laid early in the season tend to —
be more masculine in their sex-behaviour thap
their own full sisters hatched later in the season.
‘“Several grades of females can be thus seriated
according to the season of hatching. ”’
female hatched from the first egg of a clutch is,
in a great majority of cases, more masculine than —
her sister hatched from the second of the clutch.
Another sidelight may be found in the frequency —
of a persistence of the right ovary in birds hatched ~
from eggs which are otherwise known to be most
feminine.
Numerous facts converge to the conclisien: that
‘sex and characteristics other than sex, such as."
Pai and developmental energy, not only bear
initial relations to the order of the egg in the clutch,
but that sex and these other characteristics are.
progressively modified under stress of reproductive
overwork, until at the extreme end of the season
certain aspects of femininity are abnormally or un-
usually accentuated. In the light of these facts
sex reveals itself as a quantitative modifiable
character,” associated with modifiable metabolic
levels.
Dr. Riddle’s view of sex, based on experimental
results, is akin to the biological interpretation | ex-
pounded by Geddes and Thomson in “The Evolu-_
tion of Sex” (1889), that the fundamental dif-
ference between maleness and femaleness is a
difference in the ratio, of katabolic to anabolic pro-
cesses, and that the determination of sex is to be
looked for in factors affecting the rate and the
nature of metabolic processes in the germ-cells or —
Dr. Riddle -
inthe early stages of development.
partially recognises the anticipation: “A general
classification of male and female adult animals on
the basis of a higher metabolism for the one and
a lower for the other was indeed made by —
It now —
seems beyond question that this conclusion of these —
Geddes and Thomson many years ago.
authors is 4 correct and important one.’
Dr. Riddle’s physiological view of sex is in har-
mony with many experimental results reached by ©
other investigators, as may be illustrated by refer-
ence to Baltzer’s beautiful experiments on the
worm Bonellia, where there is striking dimorphism ~
between the large ‘female and the pigmy male.
The newly hatched larve are capable of becom--
If they happen to become attached —
ing either.
to. the proboscis of an adult female they become
males; if they settle into the sand and mud they
undergo, quite slowly, further development into
females (almost, exclusively). If the free-
swimming, indifferent larva are artificially helped
to a connection with the proboscis of an adult —
female, and then removed at progressively longer
periods, the significant result is the production of —
practically all stages of hermaphroditism. Those —
Again, the |
\
analysis, and strikingly consistent with the breed-
‘“We could say, if we wished to make —
merry with our colleagues, the cytologists, that ‘7
we here get closest to the facts of sex wheal we :
73
ae
Fepruary 14, 1918]
NATURE
469
‘
first removed become almost perfect females;
thers with longer and longer periods of attach-
int become more and more perfect males.
The general idea, then, is that “sexually dif-
ferentiated organisms, from the first, have had
e problem of producing germs pitched at two
erent metabolic levels.’’ In connection with
establishment of these two metabolic levels
‘appear to us to be also illustrated by varia-
al alternatives quite apart from those of sex),
germ-cells have sometimes at least’ produced
different chromosome complexes. “But, as
ave seen, the requisite metabolic level of the
may be established in the absence of the
ropriate chromosome complex, and the sex
the offspring made to correspond with the ac-
grade or level of metabolism.” Sex is
, reyersible, quantitative in nature. “‘Seem-
this can only mean that other hereditary
ers are also modifiable.” Dr. Riddle has
very notable contribution towards the
in of a long-standing problem.
weir NOTES.
‘mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge, is
gift of the Crown, and to this post, vacant by
death of Dr. Butler, Sir J. J. Thomson has
appointed. No fellow of that great house has
more distinguished career, and his appointment
not unexpected. He is the first layman to hold
office. Three other fellows of the Royal Society
heads of Cambridge colleges, namely, Dr. A. E.
Christ’s; Dr. H. K. Anderson, Gonville and
and Prof. A. C. Seward, Downing. “J. J.,”’
as commonly called, was born just over Beaty
ome years ago, entered Trinity in 1876, was made a
lecturer of fis college in the same year in which he
took his M.A. degree, and shortly afterwards, at the
irly age of twenty-seven, was appointed Cavendish
fessor at Cambridge in succession to Lord Ray-
. His success in developing the Cambridge
ool of mathematical and experimental physics must
be familiar to all readers of pas Ae and there is
scarcely any civilised country which has not sent
pS hg Re under him in his laboratory. The
brilliant researches carried on there were surveyed in
Nature of March, 1913, when Sir Joseph Thomson
was the subject of an article in our series of ‘‘ Scien-
tific vale Spica ea 1905 Sir rete Soca was
appointed professor of physics at the Royal Institution,
and was awarded a Nobel prize for physics in the
following year. He was president of the British Asso-
ciation in 1908, and four years later received the
coveted distinction of the Order of Merit. In 1915 he
was elected president of the Royal Society, and now
his academic course is crowned by the headship of the
leading college in his University. This is not the place
to describe Sir Joseph Thomson’s discoveries. It is
more interesting to turn to the future. He is a ready
speaker, a good talker, has the “saving grace” of
humour, is popular, and knows and is known by all
physicists and most chemists. He has now a great
nity, ‘and we predict with confidence that,
aided by his wife, his rule in Trinity will add further
lustre to his career, and bring university society into
ever closer touch with leaders of scientific thought in
- Europe and America.
Pror. W. W. Warts, professor of geology at the
Imperial College of Science and Technology, has been
elected a member of the Athenzum Club under the
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
provisions of the rule which empowers the annual elec-_
tion by the committee of a certain number of persons
“of distinguished eminence in science, literature, the
arts, and for public service.”’
SiR Napier SuHaw, director of the Meteorological
Office, has been elected a foreign honorary member of
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston. |
WE regret to announce the death on February 7,
in his seventy-first year, of Prof. G. A. L. Lebour,
professor of geology in Armstrong College (formerly
Durham College of Science), Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
since 1879, and vice-principal of the college since 1902.
Tue Perkin Medal Committee, consisting of mem-
bers of several chemical societies, has, says Science,
awarded the Perkin medal for 1918 to Auguste J.
Rossi, of Niagara Falls, New York, in recognition of
his work on titanium.
Tue death is announced, at eighty-six years of age,
of Prof. G. P. Girdwood, professor of chemistry in the
faculty of medicine of McGill University, Montreal,
from 1869 to 1902.
Ar the ordinary scientific meeting of the Chemical
Society, to be held at Burlington House, W.1, on
Thursday, February 21, at, 8 p.m., the Hon. R. J.
Strutt will deliver a lecture entitled ‘‘ Recent Studies
on Active Nitrogen.”
WE learn from Science that the Nichols medal for
meritorious research in organic chemistry has been
conferred on Prof. T. B. Johnson, of the Sheffield
Scientific School of Yale University. The medal is
awarded annually by the New York Section of the
American Chemical Society on the merit of the original
communications published in the journal of the society.
Tue following officers and other members of council
were elected at the annual meeting of the Malaco-
logical Society on February 8 :—President, J. R. le B. ~
Tomlin; Vice-Presidents, Rev. A. H. Cooke, A. Rey-
nell, Tom Iredale, and H. O. N. Shaw; Treasurer, R.
Bullen Newton; Secretary, G. K. Gude; Editor, B. B.
Woodward; Other Members of Council, A. S. Ken-
nard, Charles Oldham, G. B. Sowerby, A. E. Salis-
bury, E. R. Sykes, and W. J. Wintle.
Tue officers and ordinary members of council of the
Royal Microscopical Society, elected for the ensuing
year, are as follows :—President, J. E. Barnard; Vice-
Presidents, E. Heron-Allen, F. Martin Duncan, A
Earland, and R.. Paulson; Treasurer, C. F. Hill;
Secretaries, Dr. J. W. H. Eyre and D. J. Scourfield;
Ordinary Members of Council, A. N. Disney, Dr.
R. G. Hebb, T. H. Hiscott, Dr. Benj. Moore, Dr. J.
Milton Offord, P. E. Radley, E, J. Sheppard, A. W.
Sheppard, Dr. C. Singer, C. D. Soar, J. Wilson, and
B. B. Woodward ;. Librarian, P. E. Radley.
THE twelfth award of the Reuben Harvey triennial
memorial prize of the Royal College of Physicians of
Ireland will be made on July 1 next. The competition
is open to all students of the various recognised schools:
of medicine in Dublin, and to graduates or licentiates
of the medical licensing bodies in Iréland of not more
than three years’ standing. The essays must show
original research in animal physiology or pathology,
be illustrated by drawings or preparations, and reach
the registrar of the Royal College of Physicians of
Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin, not later than June-r,
Miss EpirH H. Martyn records from Cheltenham —
the appearance of a fine peacock butterfly (Vanessa
Io) on February 8. Though Blomefield, in his
470
NATURE
| [FEBRUARY 14, 19 18
‘“Naturalist’s Calendar,” gives February 28 as_ the
earliest date of occurrence of this butterfly near Cam-
bridge, it is not unusual for specimens to be ‘seen in
the south of England several weeks earlier. Two pea-
cock butterflies were seen by the present writer near
Arundel, Sussex, a fortnight before the date of Miss
Martyn’s record. They were no doubt insects which
had hibernated and had been stirred into flight by the
warm sunshine.
Ar the anniversary meeting of the Royal Astronom-
ical Society held on ebruary 8 the officers and council
were elected as: follows :—President, Maj. P. A. Mac-
Mahon; Vice-Presidents, Prof. A. S. Eddington, Dr.
J. W. L. Glaisher, Prof. R. A. Sampson, and Prof.
H. H. Turner; Treasurer, Mr. E. B. Knobel; Secre-
taries, Dr. A. C. D..Crommelin and Prof. A. Fowler ;
Foreign Secretary, Dr. A. Schuster ; Council, Mr. A. E.
Conrady, the‘ Rev. A. L. -Cortie, S.J: Dr. J. L. E.
. Dreyer, Sir F. W. Dyson, Col. E: H. ‘Hills, Mr. J. H.
Jeans, Mr. H.-S... Jones,.Mr. E. W. Maunder, Dr.
W. H. Maw, Prof. H. F. Newall, Prof. J. W. Nichol-
son, and the Rev. T. E. R. Phillips. -- .. >...
Tue possibility of-producing from home. sources,
hitherto neglected, a certain, proportion. of the vast
amount of mineral oil and its kindred products, now
so vital a necessity to our national existence, has been
much discussed for some ‘time ‘past in both’ the general
and technical Press. Particular interest, therefore, is
attached to the paper entitled ‘‘A New British Oil
Industry,” by Mr. E. H. Cunningham Craig, Dr. F.
Mollwo Perkin, Mr. A. G. V. Berry, and Dr. A. E.
Dunstan, to be read: at the meeting of the Institution
of Petroleum Technologists on February 19, at 8 p.m.,
at the house of the Royal Society of Arts, Adelphi,
W.C.2..The president of the institution, Mr. C. Green-
way, will occupy the chair. :
Tue council of the Paisley Philosophical Institution
has decided to initiate a special research section, and
to equip a laboratory for the use of members who
desire practically to investigate problems of geology and
biology. The institution has a practical interest in the
well-equipped Coats’s Observatory, in which research
in astronomy and meteorology is provided for. — It
possesses, also, an outfit for the encouragement of
photography. Members are to be at liberty to join the
new section by payment of an additional subscription.
The satisfactory equipment of the laboratory will cost
money; and this has to be found. The institution hasa
small reserve fund, but it is proposed to raise a special
fund of 150l. by subscription, and towards this Mr.
Robert Russell, a vice-president, has given 5ol.-
In a report presented to the Imperial Institute Com-~
mittee for Australia on the recent work of the institute
for the Commonwealth, particulars are given of the
results of an investigation into a series of oils pre-
pared during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
and forwarded to the institute by Sir Douglas Mawson.
These materials included sea-leopard oil, Weddell seal
oil, and penguin oil. The oils have been carefully
examined in the Scientific and Technical Department
of the Imperial Institute in order to determine their
characters in comparison with commercial oils of a
similar kind, and have also been submitted to buyers
of such oils in the United Kingdom. The oils were
of good quality, and could be utilised for the purposes
to which commercial seal and whale oils are applied,
viz. for soap-making, leather-dressing, burning, etc.
There is no doubt that there would be a ready sale for
consignments of any of these oils at about the current
price of whale and seal oils if they should become
available in. commercial quantities. s Pm
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
‘tained. Prof. Maclean also stated that Kel
Pror. Macnus Macvean, of Glasgow, gave the
vin lecture to the Institution of Electrical Engineer
on February 7. He took for his subject Kelvin as
teacher ; and as he was for fifteen years Lord Kelvin
official assistant at Glasgow University, he thre
many interesting sidelights on the everyday life of 1
great physicist. The lecture consisted mainly of extra)
from Kelvin’s letters to his assistant, generall
him instructions to carry out researches. Ths
show intense eagerness to extend the boundari Pe
knowledge of physical science and impatience at
length of time requisite to carry out the nec
experiments. Kelvin’s experiments on electric f es
1886 and on ‘‘ampere gauges’? (ammeters)
showed how he almost intuitively knew the di
that would arise, and apparently that he never
a loss for methods of obviating these difficult
connection with his ampere gauges, for. insta
suggested that they might be made ‘“‘dea
means of a dash-pot. His first suggestion fe
the latter was a metal plate dipping into
of sugar in water contained in a test-tube,
means any desired amount of viscosity cot
regarded seriously any suggestions for ‘‘ ratic
our system of electric units. In fact, he r
proposals as ‘‘ frivolous nonsense.” a
In the old days electricians used to regard a “mi
neto” as a toy dynamo, and thought that it
be beneath the dignity of a first-rate designer tc
gest improvements. Now neither labour nor
is being spared in order to perfect it. Before the
there were only two or three firms in this country
made magnetos; there are now at least twenty
as. many. As most of the pre-war magni
from Germany, our manufacturers were hard put
in the early days of the war, and many of
slavishly followed the well-known design
by Bosch. Great improvements were Ss
by the British engireers im the igni
cuit, and there are now many types ¢
neto which are greatly superior to the Bosch.
is still a great demand for further improvem
the engineer finds it difficult to determine wheth
has to design for a minimum amount of energy 0
a big potential gradient in the sparking-plug,
hinders progress. The Students’ Section -oF
tution of Electrical Engineers ably discussed t
tion at a meeting at Faraday House on Feb
when Mr. R. W. Corkling read a paper on mag
Mr. opelne showed all the latest types of
He gave a full description of the one taken
Zeppelin brought down in this country in 1
finish and accuracy of manufacture left little to
desired, but the design was poor. Mr. James, th
vice-chairman of the section, suggested that the problet
of “jamming” the ignition circuit of an enemy aerc
plane by a suitable wireless method ought not
an insuperable one; men of science had solved much ~
more difficult problems in the past. There was a large
number of youthful electricians present, who all toc
the greatest interest in the proceedings. ee
An account of the life and mathematical w
Giuseppe Veronese is given by Prof. Corrado §
the Atti dei Lincei, vol. xxvi., (2), 9. Born at Chi
on May 7, 1854, the son of a small painter, Ver«
early showed a taste for art, which he later
vated as a hobby, but after’ studying at the tec
schools in Chioggia and Venice (where he partly
ported himself by copying and giving lessons), Veron
went to Vienna, undertaking work there in. connect
with the Danube and designs for the exhibition.
year later he went to the. Polytechnic at Zurich, s
| _ FEBRUARY 14, 1918] _
NATURE
471
fe a
he
}\ ing mechanics at first, and then pure mathematics
}| under Fiedler. Here he became interested in the work
}\ of Steiner, and sought to investigate the properties
}| of the Pascal lines of the sixty hexagrams formed by
ae yining up six points in every possible way. In 1876
‘Veronese asked to study at Rome under Cremona and
} Battaglini, where he was soon ‘appointed assistant lec-
‘turer in projective geometry. His work on the hexa-
} gram was published in April, 1877, and some years
}) certain configurations in planes and in space. In
} 1880-81 Veronese went to Leipzig under Klein, and
published an important memoir in German on the geo-
metry of hyperspaces, and this was followed by further
| writings on this and kindred subjects. In October,
]| 1881,
and it is noteworthy that his predecessor, Bellavitis, was
|| a disbeliever in the new-fangled ‘‘ geometrical aberra-
was the author of a successful treatise on elementary
geo . He appears, however, to have had a prac-
|| tical » to his character entirely distinct from his
|| more abstruse studies, for he occupied himself assidu-
ously with hydrographical problems with special, but
not exclusive, reference to the Venetian lagoons. In
| addition, he served on the Municipal Council, and in
| 1904 was nominated Senator, in which capacity he made
| Many important speeches. He was one of the first and
‘most enthusiastic supporters of the war, but unfor-
tunately his health had begun to break down in 1911-12
the result of influenza, and he died on July 17 of
| last year. —
| Tue third report of the Committee for the Explora-
tion of the Irish Caves has just been issued by the
| Royal Irish Academy (Proceedings, vol. xxxiv., Sect. B,
iF No. 3). It deals with the Castlepook Cave, Co. Cork,
| ive la Seca under the direction of the late
and teeth. A description of the cave by Mr. Ussher
| himself shows that it originated by the usual widening
of joints in the Carboniferous Limestone, and the
(decomposed limestone) and stalagmite, but also of sand
and stones introduced by running water. As
pointed out by Prof. H. J. Seymour, all the
| stones are of local origin, while many of those
| in the Boulder Clay of the surrounding country
have been brought from a long distance. It therefore
seems probable that the deposits containing the bones
of animals which no longer live in Ireland are pre-
Glacial. There is no evidence that the cave was ever
occupied by man—indeed, it seems to have been always
too p for human habitation; but, as shown by
abundance of remains in the lowest layer of the floor,
_ it was at first frequented by a large variety of the
brown bear, and, as equally evident from numerous
bones and coprolites in the second layer, it then became
- a den of spotted hyzenas. These animals introduced
into the cave an immense number of bones of the rein-
. deer and some young individuals of the mammoth.
, Among them are also numerous remains of the Scan-
dinavian lemming and a new species related to the
Arctic lemming. In later deposits there are bones and
teeth of domesticated animals, which have been intro-
duced partly by foxes, partly by accidental falls from
above. Dr. R. FE. Scharff, who describes the mamma-
lian remains, emphasises the’ importance of the dis-
covery of the cave hyzna in Ireland, and the interest
of the proof that it was a contemporary of the reindeer.
Tue classification and study of the anaerobic bacteria
of war wounds is the subject of a report by Dr. James
McIntosh, published by the Medical Research Com-
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
} later the Lincei published two memoirs by him on°
tions,” as he styled the studies in which Veronese |
|| revelled. In addition to more advanced work, Veronese |
. J. Ussher, and yielded more than 30,000 bones |
deposits on the floor consist not only of cave earth ©
mittee (Special Report Series, No. 12, 1917). Infection
of wounds by this class of organisms has been very
common in the present war, and some of the resulting
complications, such as gas gangrene, are very danger-
ous. A good deal of confusion and uncertainty has
hitherto existed as to the particular micro-organisms
involved on account of the great difficulty of isolating
them in pure culture. In the investigations detailed
in the present memoir Dr. McIntosh has used elaborate
precautions to establish really pure cultures as surface _
growths. This has been accomplished by the use of
palladium-black as a means for obtaining anaerobic
conditions—a method elaborated by Dr. McIntosh and
Dr. Fildes. Some nineteen types of anaerobic bacteria
C | are fully described, of which seventeen were isolated .
e succeeded to the chair of geometry at Padua, |
from wounds. The memoir js illustrated with fifteen
plates, and Dr. Fildes contributes an account of the
principlés involved in anaerobic cultivation. The pub-
lication of this valuable and important piece of work
is particularly opportune at the present time.
Mr. Girsert Arrow, in the Entomologists’ Monthly
Magazine for January, gives a brief account of the
life-history of one of the Coccinellid beetles (Scymnus
capitatus), including what appears to be the first accu-
rate figure yet published of the larva. “It is interest-
ing to note,” he remarks, “that before attaining the
fully mature condition the freshly developed beetle
passes through stages of pigmentation which are re-
presented in allied species of Scymnus.”
A NORTHWARD extension of the range of the purple
sea-urchin (Strongylocentrotus lividus) is recorded in
the Irish Naturalist for January by Mr. W. F. John-
son, who gives a brief description of specimens taken
from the Island of Inishkeel, Co, Donegal. At Bun-
doran, where this.species occurs in some numbers, it
lives in cup-shaped hollows excavated in the surface of
the rock. The specimens found at Inishkeel seem in
no case to have made similar excavations, from which
it is inferred that they have but lately established
themselves. Both the purple and the reddish varieties
were found.
UntiL now the white-winged black tern (Hydrocheli-
_ don leucoptera) has been extremely rare in Australia,
but during Easter of 1917 it was found in great num-
_ bers along the west coast so far south as Fremantle—
a thousand miles south of its normal winter range. It
would seem that the birds followed the trail of a
dragonfly (Hemianax papuensis), which, during this
time, was to be seen in myriads. On these the birds
were feeding. This occurrence is one of quite peculiar
interest, not merely to ornithologists, but also to
students of migration generally, who will find an ad-
mirable summary of the occurrence in the Emu for
October last, which has just reached us. :
Tue Ipswich and District Field Club is fortunate in
securing for its Journal (vol. v., for 1916, published
November, 1917) a paper by Prof. P. G. H. Boswell,
dealing with the Paleozoic floor as revealed by borings
in East Anglia. Details of -wells and borings for water
made in Suffolk. since 1906 are appended, as a supple-
ment to those recorded in the Memoirs of the Geological
Survey. ;
THE Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey
of Great Britain for 1916 includes details of. deep
borings made for .coal and ironstone ‘near Dover and
Folkestone, the cores from which have been in large
part examined by the officers of the Survey. Mr. —
Lamplugh records the details of a boring made at
Battle in 1907-8 from near the top of the Wealden
Ashdown Sand to the base of the Kimmeridge series,
(472
NATURE |
a total depth of 2071 ft. A useful educational section -is
given, showing our knowledge of the floor of eroded
Carboniferous rocks that underlies eastern Kent.
Mr. C. A. Cotton, of Wellington, N.Z., contributes to
the American Journal of Science (vol. xliv., p. 249, 1917)
a paper illustrated by numerous diagrams on “ Block
Mountains in New Zealand.’ This is in part a sum-
mary of his previous work, and is accompanied by an
important bibliography. The expository methods of
Prof. W. M. Davis are utilised, and fault-scarps, in
various stages of maturity, are traced as the margins
of block-masses throughout central Otago. The im-
portance of tors as measures of the amount of erosion
of a land-surface is usefully pointed out.
SEVERAL changes have been instituted in the Monthly
Meteorological Chart of the Atlantic Ocean beginning
with the January number for this year. The part
which refers to the Mediterranean has been discon-
tinued and replaced by inset maps showing the mean
annual rainfall and the mean rainfall of the current
month over Nigeria. To the coast line of the great
American lakes the results of observations for pressure,
air, and sea temperature and currents are added.
Among other changes and additions there is a map:
showing the distribution of specific gravity. The simi-
lar monthly chart of the Indian Seas has also under-
gone some changes, and now includes a large-scale
map of the China Sea, showing the distribution of
pressure, air, and sea temperature.
THE rainfall of 1917 in the British Isles was about
the average, but large areas of deficient rainfall
occurred in all parts of the country. According to
Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for January (vol.
lii., No. 624) the most important of these areas were
in the centre, part of the north, and the south-west of
England, all of which had deficiencies of more than
10 per cent. The east midlands of Scotland were also
dry, the deficiency exceeding 20 per cent. over an area
extending from the Firth of Forth to the Grampians.
The southern half of Ireland and the extreme north and
the south of Wales had a rainfall below the average.
Unusually wet regions included the west and north of
Scotland, the north of Ireland, the Yorkshire Wolds,
Cardigan Bay, and the London district. August, Octo-
ber, and November showed a general excess of rainfall
over the country. May was rather wet in Ireland and
June in England, especially locally. | February and
December were unusually dry, and there was, on the
whole, a general deficiency of rainfall during the first
seven months of the year.
Part 1 of vol. xxx. of the Proceedings of the Physical
Society of London is exceptionally strong in optical
papers. Mr. T. H. Blakesley points out the conveni-
ence of representing-a simple lens by a point on a
plane diagram .in which: the co-ordinates are the
quotients of the two radii of curvatures of the two
bounding surfaces by the thickness of the lens at its
middle point. Lenses having some particular property
are then represented on the diagram by the points on
some line which in many cases turns out to be straight.
Mr. T. Smith and Miss Dale, of the National Physical
Laboratory, show that the mechanically strong triple-
cemented objective may with advantage be substituted
for the non-cemented doublet of flint and crown glass
at present usual in small telescopes. - Such triple objec-
tives, it is shown, can be designed with the first-order
spherical aberration and coma. zero and the second
order small, and these conditions do not necessarily
limit the lens surfaces to those of small curvature.
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
4
f.
| use and transportation of celluloid articles, an inves-
Wirn reference to the possible risk involved in we
tigation into the etfects of heat upon such articles was
carried out by the U.S. Bureau of Standards in. 1907.
In view of the present interest in nitro-cellulose pro-
ducts. it has recently been thought desirable to publish
the results, which are now given in Technologic
Paper No. 98, issued by the bureau. The chief con-
clusions arrived at were that when celluloid is exposed
‘to heat, decomposition commences at temperatures in
the neighbourhood of 100° C., and above 170° the
decomposition takes place with explosive violence. If
loss of heat by radiation is prevented, the heat of
decomposition at temperatures of about 120° to 135°
may raise the temperature of the mass to the ignition
point; and momentary contact with bodies having a
temperature of 430°—below visible redstheat—may
ignite celluloid articles. The rate of combustion was.
found to be from five to ten times that of paper, pine-
wood, or poplar wood of the same dimensions and
burning under the same conditions. Nitro-cellulose
exists and reacts as such in celluloid, and the rate of
its decomposition when heated is not diminished by
admixture with zinc oxide (a common ingredient of
celluloid products) in proportions up to 20 fF
| FEBRUARY 14,2918 4 |
per cent. —
There appears to be no good evidence that celluloid —
articles often inflame spontaneously, or that they are
directly explosive under any conditions. The vapours
evolved by decomposition are poisonous and extremely
combustible, and may be ignited by the heat of decom-
position of the celluloid itself.
The decomposition is —
autocatalytic, and while not necessarily explosive, it —
may readily approach that condition as a limit.
In the Journal of Geology, vol. xxv., p. 629, 1917,
Prof. L. V. King, of McGill University, discusses the
internal friction and limiting strength of rocks under
conditions of stress such as exist within the earth.
2"
——
Taking his data from Adams and Bancroft’s experi- —
ments on the effect of intense end pressures applied
to small rock specimens enclosed in nickel-steel cylin-
drical jackets, he shows that a simple theoretical treat-
ment of the elastic stage suffices to explain the mode —
of shearing rupture observed in the rock and the en-
closing jackets.
His main purpose, however, is to test
Navier’s modification of Tresca’s theory that a stressed —
solid would commence to flow (without rupture) as soon —
as the maximum shearing stress exceeded a limiting
ae
value K characteristic of the solid; Navier’s hypothesis
replaced K by K+uN, where N is the stress normal —
to the shearing plane, while » is a coefficient of internal
friction. 4
Adams and Bancroft, that for some kinds of rocks con-
stants K and p» do.exist, although the theory does not :
lead to very accordant values from different sets of —
experiments. In some cases, while the limit of plas-
ticity certainly increases with the hydrostatic pressure,
the internal friction does not seem to be simply propor-
tional to the normal stress; this was particularly so ~
for some of the hardest rocks, such as dolomite, which |
appear to possess great internal friction. These con- —
clusions have an important bearing on questions of ©
geology and geodynamics. Sir G. Darwin estimated
that under the continents of Africa and America the .'
strain must be so great that marble would break under —
it, though strong granite would stand. This was based
on the limiting stresses found from ordinary crushing
tests, but it now appears that the limiting stress
will be much greater at considerable depths, owing to. q
It is suggested that —
great movements of the earth’s crust have mainly pro- ~
the great hydrostatic pressure.
ceeded by slow and gradual adjustment,
rather than
by series of cataclvsmal collapses. » x
Prof. King concludes, from the work of ‘
NATURE
473
—
tion of gold by sodium cyanide solutions it is
essary to know the extent of the hydrolysis of the
tter, because it has been shown that this is an impor-
factor in the rate of dissolution. An ingenious
thod for the estimation of the degree of hydrolysis
sodium cyanide solutions has been devised by
essrs. F. P. Worley and V. R. Browne (Chemical
siety’s Journal for December). A set of three flasks
tated test tubes is set up in such a way that a
nt of air can be aspirated through all six vessels,
flasks alternating with the test-tubes. The latter
an alkaline solution of sodium picrate; the
< contains hydrocyanic acid of one concentra-
-second the sodium cyanide solution, and the
hydrocyanic acid of a second concentration. The
cator solution depends onthe concentration
en cyanide vapour in the air current. Conse-
y varying the concentration of the hydro-
acid solutions until one is found which gives
same intensity of colour as the sodium cyanide
the concentration of hydrocyanic acid which
the same hydrogen cyanide pressure as the sodium
le solution is determined. It was shown that
mount of hydrogen cyanide removed from solution
‘small to affect the degree of hydrolysis, and that
2 of the vapour was absorbed by one tube of
ution
ave analysed the ashes of a large number
2 eat grasses, trees, and bushes to
rhether the rare elements which have been
| certain soils occur in plants which have been
n those soils. The results, together with
fe) are published in Bulle-
. Department of Agriculture.
‘quantities of lithium were found in all
its examined, and rubidium was present in the
ity of cases, the quantity of it being larger than
other rare alkalis. But plants containing
cent. or more of rubidium oxide had been
‘soil in which tare alkali minerals are known
ur. Czesium was detected in the ashes ot
timothy grass from Mount Mica, Paris, Me., the red
reeamnee pons Beryl Mountain, Acworth, N.H., and
the beets from Marlboro, N.H. Cesium beryls have
- been found in the first two of these localities. Molyb-
_ denum was never detected; chromium and vanadium
were occasionally found, though only in traces. Deter-
‘minable amounts of barium were found in the ash of
all the plants examined, and strontium in all except
-. bean’ seeds. Very small quantities of titanium were
- present in the ash of all the plants. All the plant
_ ashes analysed, except two, contained aluminium.
Pine needles contain an exceptionally high amount of
"the latter element. The ee the amount of rubi-
© dium and cesium, but not of lithium, present in the
! soil, the more is absorbed by the plant. There is no
evidence that vanadium replaces phosphorus (as phos-
phoric acid) in its functions in the plant. The authors
conclude that of the elements determined none need
be considered in fertiliser practice except those com-
monly used, and sulphur, chlorine, and manganese in
some cases. The appendix to the bulletin contains a
detailed account of the analytical methods employed.
Messrs. H. Sorneran anp Co., 140 Strand, haye
just issued a catalogue (No. 770) of rare and standard
books on exact and applied science, which is of excep-
tional interest and value. It includes the scientific por-
tion of the library of the late Lord Justice Stirling, and
selections from the collections of George Rennie,
F.R.S., Samuel Roberts, F.R.S., and other men of
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
the reddish-brown colour produced in the |
. :
N the study of the chemical actions involved in the | science, and gives particulars of a large number of very
scarce works. The list is particularly strong in sets of
journals of scientific societies. Among many rare
volumes we notice the following :—The first edition of
the Opus Majus of Roger Bacon; the Edizione
Nazionale of Galileo’s works; Borgo’s :“ Libro de
Abacho” (the first edition of the first printed treatise
on arithmetic); the first Continental edition of Napier’s
‘‘Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio,” etc.; the first
edition of Gilbert’s **‘ De Magnete, Magneticisque Cor-
poribus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure, etc.” ; the first
octavo edition of Newton’s ‘‘ Opticks,”’ with MS. addi-
tions and corrections in Sir Isaac Newton’s handwrit-
ing; and Dalton’s ‘‘New System of Chemical Philo-
sophy,’’ complete. The catalogue is published at
2s. 6d. net.
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN,
Gavactic Co-orRDINATES.—An interesting article on
the galactic circle as a plane of reference for star
places is contributed to the February number of
Scientia by Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin. Following a
comparison of the more familiar systems of co-
ordinates, it is explained that catalogues of stars. giving
positions with respect to a plane which is independent
of the earth’s motions would have the great advantage
that they would not get out of date as our present
catalogues do, as only small corrections for proper
motion would be required. The most obvious circle of
reference is that provided by the Galaxy, for almost
every feature either of distribution or of motion of
the various classes of stars is based on the Galaxy as a
plane of symmetry. It is difficult to give precision to
the definition of the galactic circle, but from a con-
‘sideration of eight determinations, Dr. Crommelin sug-
gests that the adopted position of the north galactic
pole, for the equinox of 1900, should be R.A. 12h, 42m.
37s., decl. +27° 32’. It is further suggested that an
actual star should be selected to mar
galactic longitude, say a Cygni, which has an extremely
small proper motion. The general adoption of some
such scheme has been widely advocated, and will doubt-
less sooner or later be realised.
MOLECULAR SCATTERING OF LiGHT.—In a paper com-
municated to the Astronomical Society of France
(L’Astronomie, January), Prof. Ch. Fabry gives an
account of Lord Rayleigh’s explanation of the blue
coloration of the sky, and announces that the theory
has been experimentally verified in his laboratory at
Marseilles by M: Cabannes.
that several hitherto mysterious phenomena in the
heavens may possibly be explained as effects of this
scattering of light by gaseous molecules. In the case
of the solar corona, for example, the portion of the
luminosity which gives a continuous spectrum does not
necessarily imply the presence of solid or liquid par-
ticles, but may be attributed to the diffusion of photo-
spheric light by molecules of truly gaseous coronal
matter. A density of only one-thousand-millionth
part of that of atmospheric air would suffice to account
for the observed intensity of the coronal light, and the —
polarisation of the light would be simply explained, as
in the case of the light of the sky. A part of the
luminosity of the tails of comets may be explained in a
similar manner, and in this case the density must be
less than one milligram per 1000 cubic metres, as other-
wise the luminosity would be greater than any which
has ever been observed. Other possible effects of mole-
cular scattering are also suggested. It may be added
that Prof. R. J. Strutt has also succeeded in observing
the scattering of light by dust-free air in a laboratory
experiment with artificial illumination (NaTtuRE, Octo-
ber 25, 1917). :
Prof. Fabry suggests’
the zero of. |
474
NATURE eA
LFEBRUARY 14, 1918
LrEps ASTRONOMICAL SocrreTy.—The Journal and
Transactions of this society for the year 1916 has been
received, The number of members was fifty-two, and
in view of the prevailing conditions, an average at-
tendance of fourteen may be taken as an indication
that the meetings continued to be interesting and help-
ful. Numerous observations of interest are recorded,
and among the contributed papers, one by. the Rev.
is Carr-Gregg on ‘The Invisible Universe,” and
another on ‘Sir William Herschel,” by Miss C. A.
Barbour, call for special mention. The editor is Mr.
C. T. Whitmell, who has also made numerous con-
tributions.
}
WAVE-LENGTHS OF HELIUM LINES.
account of its great intensity and the convenient _
N
O distribution of the lines, the spectrum of helium
furnishes a valuable source of standard wave- lengths —
in spectroscopic and optical» work. A new series of
determinations of the wave-lengths of the brighter lines
which has been made by Mr. P. W. Merrill at the
U.S. Bureau of Standards, Washington (Astrophysical
Journal, vol. xlvi., p. 357, December, 1917), will there-
fore be generally welcomed. The highest possible pre-
cision has been aimed at, and as lines belonging to
all the six series which constitute the spectrum of
helium were included in the measurements, the new
wave-lengths will also provide valuable data for com-
putations of theoretical interest.
An interferometer of the Fabry and Perot type was
used, and nine of the lines were compared directly with
the fundamental standard—the red line of cadmium—
by photographing the helium and cadmium spectra
simultaneously on the same plate.
were then determined from photographs of the helium
spectrum alone. The adopted values for the twenty-
one lines measured are given in the appended table,
* which also includes the values given by previous
observers. The values given by Lord Rayleigh (two
sets) and Eversheim were derived from interferometer
observations, but those by Runge and Paschen were
determined in the more usual way from grating photo-
graphs; the latter have been corrected from Rowland’s ,
scale to the international scale in order to make them |
directly comparable with the other values.
Wave-lengths of Helium Linés (in I.A.).
Rayleigh Sots
Standards ns : Eversheim psShen
2945'104 106
_ 3187-743 701
3613-641 641
3705:003, 007
3819-606 ” 605°
3888-646 638
3964°727 727
4026-189 192
4120-812 821
4143°759 766
4387-928 934
4437°549 ; 549
4471-477 (478) 480 493 475
4713°143 (171) 142 154 074
4921-929 «.. 925 928 922 919
5015-675 ~~... - 680 678 683 550
5047-736 641
5875-618 616 623 639 650
6678-149 144 147 151 14.
7065-188 189 197 207 t22
7281-349 53
In the case of double lines the wave-lengths are those
of the stronger components. From the general agree-
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
_formula for spectral series, based upon three consecu
‘wall thus indicates a rise of water-level (whether
Other wave-lengths .
centres of the platforms having been extinguished b
isles, has greatly strengthened the Darwinian view
ment of individual determinations it is considered prob-
able that the error is in no case so much as 0-003 4
and that in most cases the errors are smaller than
amount. It is shown that the Kayser and Rui
lines, will not reproduce accurately even the next mem-—
ber in any one of the six helium series.
te, *)
THE CORAL-REEF PROBLEM. ~~
proM time to time recent work on the topography —
of coral-reefs has been referred to in Nature, — S
and the existence of submarine platforms from which —
atolls and encircling reefs rise has been very generally —
demonstrated. Prof. R. A. Daly regards these plat-
forms as wave-cut plains, produced from coral banks —
and volcanic isles when the level of oceanic waters
was lowered by . ice-accumulation in Glacial times.
The melting of the ice caused a general submiergerice
of the platforms and of the adjacent coasts, giving ris
to drowned valleys and all the features that rave been
attributed to a subsidence of the ocean-floor. The
existing coral-reefs are thus for him post-Glacial,” and
grew up on the submerged platforms when be cage
conditions were renewed. fei at
In a summary of his views in Scientia =a x
p- 188, 1917) Daly points out that flat, reefless banks
occur a in every ocean, inside and outside the tropica
belt . . . covered with 45 to 100 metres of wat
He urges that the inner walls of reefs are :
graded to the floors of the lagoons, and that the
attribute it to flooding or subsidence) since the pe feet
tion of the level inner floor. He believes that this floo
is part of the platform, and is not, due to infilling,
though it is not clear why he should demand “ milli
of years”’ for such deposition within the wall (cor
also -his paper on ‘‘A New Test of the Subs:
Theory of Coral Reefs,” Proc. Nat. Acad.
vol. ii, p. 664, 1916). He holds that
mean depths of water above the flat fi
of wide lagoons are nearly equal to the mea Bi
apis. pound. on reahess banks,” and that shere is a
growths on wave-cut platforms,’? those nearer. ‘the —
mud and sand swept over the shoals. a
On the other hand, Prof. W. M. Davis, i in a series”
of critical papers, based on a recent visit to the Pacific
Thanks largely to his reasoning, even those who
cannot find evidence for a general subsidence of ocean-
floors are inclined to invoke block-faulting to explain —
the drowning of certain areas. Davis (“A Shaler —
Memorial Study of Coral Reefs,” Amer. Journ. Sci. ee
vol. xl., p. 223, 1915) urges that if the lagoon floor i
part of a wave-eroded plain from which the reefs ri
the sea would have cut cliffs in the surviving volcani
isles, the tops of which should appear as truncation
of the spurs that -bound the subsequently drowne ie
vallevs. Such cliffs occur in Tahiti ae Islands in F
the Coral ponte ” Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., ii
gards them as emphasising the gi
cliffs, even if they ‘tare the work of abrasion duri1
the. lowered sea-stands of the Glacial Rei,
(‘Problems Associated with the Study of Coral-Reefs,
Sci. Monthly, vol. ii., p. 564).
Davis, in his three’ papers in the Scientific Monti
(1915) and elsewhere, lays stress on the mature fo
of the valleys in the reef-encircled isles as indication
of their an These valleys cannot have bee
_ FEBRUARY 14, 1918]
NATURE
475
pened and widened to their present condition during
relatively short epoch of glacially lowered sea-level.
e embayed shores, first used by J. D. Dana as a
mation of Da:win’s subsidence-theory, have none
the characters of recently dissected land. Another
point firmly brought forward is the unconformity be-
een the reefs and the floor from which they have
own upward. That floor may be seen, for instance,
eath elevated fringing reefs in the New Hebrides.
has, at some epoch, been subject, not to marine
ing, but to subaerial denudation. At Havannah
arbour in Efate it must have stood above the sea
drowned valleys with their mature forms and of the
unconformity of the reefs on an old land-surface points
very strongly in favour of Darwin’s views.
u in
illatory movements, and some authors have held
se to be incompatible with a broad system of subsi-
ce. Davis justly styles this objection as ‘the most
gular of all.” Finally, the inequality of the depths
» which drowning has taken place in adjacent regions
is a powerful argument against ascribing the submerg-
‘ence to an increase of water in the sea. Davis,
vith characteristic width of outlook, believes that
“some combination of regional subsidence with Glacial
ges of sea-level—or with changes of sea-level
used by movements of the sea-bottom—is worthy of
sful consideration as ‘being probably nearer the
th than either process taken alone.’ But his
sasoned conc'usion is that subsidence has played by
ir the greater part.
In a still more recent paper Davis deals with the
1 snsland platform (‘The Great Barrier Reef of
Australia,” Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. xliv., p. 339, 1917),
ich he believes to be due in large measure to coral-
agencies, which produced a mature reef-plain before
subsidence occurred that gave rise to the present
barrier reef and the embayment of the coast. —
teat eae GRENVILLE A. J. Cote.
/
A BACTERIAL DISEASE OF CITRUS.
yR. ETHEL DOIDGE, mycologist
: oe age ent of Agriculture of the
f South Africa,
to the
Union
who is becoming well known
her researches into the bacterial diseases
plants; is to be congratulated on the excel-
t piece of work which. is described in detail in an
article on ‘A Bacterial Spot of Citrus.’’* At a time
when research in phytopathology is largely at a stand-
still, it is refreshing to read of such ably conducted
scientific investigations in our Colonies as these are.
_ The citrus ‘‘spot”’ is a disease of economic import-
ance in the citrus orchards of the Western Province of
the Cape, and attacks not only the fruit, but also
the leaf and the branch of the tree. The fruit is dis-
ered and ultimately destroyed, while the attacks on
‘the tissues of the stem cause very commonly gum-
‘mosis in the spring.
_ The cause of the disease was ascertained to be a
species of Bacillus new to science, B. citrimaculans,
_ A comparative table is given of the characters of this
and the two organisms known to attack the citrus in
_ America, viz. Bacterium citriputeale and Pseudomonas
_ ¢itri. The description of B. citrimaculans given by the
author, together with its full ‘group number,” may
be held up as a model to be followed by workers in
this field. The opinion is expressed that very
i obably the organism is a soil bacillus, which first
invaded rotting fruits lying on the ground, and has
now taken on a parasitic habit. The organism loses
a ? Annals of Applied Biology, vol. iii., January, 1917, pp. 53-81, with
et plates.
» __No. 2520, VoL. 100]
efore the corals grew. The joint evidence of the |
Efate and |
e Hawaiian Islands furnish instances of
.| vated’? the land. That this is so is
' its virulence rather rapidly when cultivated on artificial
'media. The most frequent method of infection is
through wounds, and the author considers the possi-
bility of stomatal infection an open question at present.
While preventive measures are not discussed, it is
pointed out that any improvement in the sanitation of
the affected orchards would doubtless prove beneficial.
| Since it was found that the organism is very sensitive
| to copper sulphate, it is suggested that spraying with
Bordeaux mixture should be tried. a: Beate
-THE FLORA OF THE SOMME
BATTLEFIELD.'
Lee ground over which the Battle of the Somme
was fought in the late summer and autumn of
1916 rises gradually towards Bapaume, and at the same
time is gently undulating, with some well-marked
branching valleys initiating the drainage system of the
area. Before the war the land was for the most part
under cultivation, but on the highest levels there were
large areas of woodland, such as High Wood and Del-
ville Wood, now shattered and destroyed.
During last winter and spring all this country was
a dreary waste of mud and water, the shell-holes being
so well puddled that the water has remained in them,
and even in the height of the summer there were
innumerable ponds, more or less permanent, in every
direction.” .
The underlying rock is everywhere chalk with a
covering of loam of varying thickness. As a result of
the bombardment the old surface soil has been scat-
tered and the chalk partially exposed. One effect of
the shelling, however, has been to disintegrate the
underlying chalk and produce a weathering effect which
has been accentuated by the winter rains, snow, and
frost. A general mixing of chalk, subsoil, and scat-
tered top soil and also a rounding of the sharp edges
have taken place, so that instead of the new surface soil
being sterile, the shelling and weathering have “ culti-
proved by the
appearance of the Somme battlefield during the past
summer. )
Looking over the devastated country from _ the
Bapaume Road, one saw only a vast expanse of weeds
of cultivation which so completely covered the ground
and dominated the landscape that all appeared to be
a level surface. In July poppies predominated, and the
sheet of colour, as far as the eye could see, was superb;
a blaze of scarlet unbroken by tree or hedgerow. Here
and there long stretches of chamomile (Matricaria
chamomilla, L.) broke into the prevailing red and
monopolised some acres, and large patches of yellow
charlock were also conspicuous, but in the general
effect no other plants were noticeable, though a closer
inspection revealed the presence of most of the common
weeds of cultivation, a list of which is given below.
Charlock not only occurred in broad patches, but
was also fairly uniformly distributed, though masked
by the taller poppies. Numerous small patches were,
however, conspicuous, and these usually marked the
more recently dug graves of men buried where they
had fallen. No more moving sight can be imagined
than this great expanse of open country gorgeous in its
display of colour, dotted over with the half-hidden
white crosses of the dead.
In all the woods where the fighting was most severe
not a tree is left alive, and the trunks which still stand
1 Abridged from an article by Capt. A. W. Hill, Assistant Director, Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the Kew Bulletin of Miscellancous Information,
aoe 9 and 10, 1917, by permission of the Con'roller of H.M. Stationery
ce.
2 For a description of the battlefield shortly after the fighting Mr. John
\ Masefield’s recently published book, ‘‘The Old Front Line” (Wm. Heine-
} mann), should be read.
476
NATURE |
are riddled with shrapnel and bullets and torn by frag-
ments of shell, while here and there unexploded shells
may still be seen embedded in the stems. Aveluy
Wood, however, affords another example of the effort
being made by Nature to beautify the general scene
of desolation. Here some of the trees are still alive,
though badly broken, but the ground beneath is
covered with a dense growth of the rose-bay willow
herb (Epilobium angustifolium) extending over several
acres.. Seen from across the valley, this great sheet of
rosy-pink was a most striking object, and the shattered
and broken trees rising out of it looked less forlorn
than elsewhere.
The innumerable shell-hole ponds present many in-
teresting features to the biologist. In July they were
half-full of water, and abounded in water beetles and
other familiar pond creatures, with dragonflies flitting
around. In nearly every shell-hole examined, just
above the water-level, was a band of the annual rush
(Juncus bufonius, var. gracilis), and this plant appeared
to be confined to those zones where the ground
was relatively moist, and to occur nowhere else. With
the Juncus, and oftén growing out of the water, were
stout plants of Polygonum persicaria, and water grasses,
_ not in flower, were often seen spreading their leaves
over the surface of the pools. :
In the battlefield area not only were the common
cornfield weeds to be seen, but here and there patches
of oats and barley, and occasionally plants of wheat,
sometimes apparently definitely sown, perhaps by the
Germans, though more often the plants must have
grown from self-sown seeds of crops that were on the
land before the war. Here and there, too, could be
seen opium poppies representing former cultivation and
remnants of battered currant and other bushes which
alone remained to show where once had been a cottage
garden. Both weeds and corn afford good evidence ©
that the soil has not been rendered sterile by the heavy
shelling, but how and when the land can be brought
into a fit state for cultivation are questions not easily
answered. .
On the banks and sides of the roads traces of the
old permanent flora still remain, and perennial plants,
such as Scabiosa arvensis, Eryngium -campestre,
Galium verum, chiccry, Centaurea scabiosa, Cnicus
acaulis, and other characteristic chalk plants were
occasionally seen. :
The clothing of this large tract of country with such
a mass of vegetation composed almost entirely of
common annual cornfield weeds is remarkable when
one remembers that it has been the seat of encamp-
ments, and for the most part out of cultivation
since the autumn of 1914. It is well-nigh impossible
that such masses of seed can have been carried by
wind or birds to cover these thousands of acres, and
the plants must therefore have grown from seed lying
dormant in the ground. No doubt in the ordinary
operations of ploughing and tilling of the ground in
years before the war much seed was buried which has
been brought to the surface by the shelling of the
ground and subsequent weathering. In this connec-
tion the presence of charlock on the more recently dug
graves, where the chalk now forms the actual surface,
is of interest, since it adds further proof of the longevity
of this seed when well buried in the soil.
List of Plants.
Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb., larkspur; Papaver
Rhoeas, L., poppy; Fumaria officinalis, L., fumi-
tory; Raphanus Raphanistrum, L., white charlock;
Brassica sinapis, Vis., yellow charlock; Matricaria
chamomilla, L., chamomile; Centaurea cyanus,’ L.,
cornflower; Cnicus arvensis, Hoffm., thistle; Sonchus
arvensis, L., corn sowthistle; Sonchus oleraceus, L.,
NO.°2520, VOL. 100]
‘of motive power in the United Kingdom amounts at
development and carrying on of new
far too low.
Le;
arvensis, L., small bindweed; Solanum nigrum, L.,
Plantago major, L., etc., plantain;
Veronica hederaefolia, L., etc., speedwell; Galeopsis —
ladanum, L., hemp-nettle; Chenopodium album, L.,
goosefoot; Atriplex patula, L., orache; Polygonum —
aviculare, L., knotgrass; Polygonum persicaria, L.,
persicaria; Rumex obtusifolius, L., dock; Euphorbia |
helioscopia, L., sun spurge; Mercurialis annua, sae.
dog’s mercury; Juncus bufonius, L., var. gracilis, St.
Amand rush. A few grasses and occasional plants or
patches of oats, barley, and wheat. ie
| at hie
Pie an nly ee ee
a
—
= ak
by
r
Fa weer.
mm
gos
iSincbant
wi
COAL CONSER VATION AND ELECTRIC |
referred in our issue of January 3 ae: in-
mittee of the Reconstruction Committee. Dr
ductory note that the important issues affecting muni-
action is proposed to Parliament upon the subje i
production of motive power and other forms of energy —
POWER SUPPLY, eas
\ X TE
terim report on electric power supply in Great —
ss Ce
cipalities and public bodies raised in the report will be —
The report deals, first, with the extent to which |
used for industrial purposes in this country; se Ns
no
eet
Britain prepared by the Coal Conservation Sub«Com-
Addison, Minister of Reconstruction, states in an intro. |
explored in all respects by the Government before any
conservation of coal could effect economy in the ‘"
with the expansion of industry which should result, i
the way of new manufactures, from the proper use
the coal so saved; and thirdly, with the steps necessary _
to attain these objects. Bohan ead te
It contains many valuable tables and other details,
and the following summary of the chief points dealt —
with and thé conclusions arrived ati— =. 3
(1) The coal consumption involved in the production Ri
pry o ie
Rarer D hearer
the present time to 80,000,000 tons per annum, equiva-
lent in value to, say, 40,000,000l. at pit-head. =
(2) In the industrial reorganisation which must take
place on the termination of the war the further de- —
velopment of power is of great importance. The pre- —
sent use of motive power per employee is only about
half that in the United States of America. Large
quantities of electrical power will be required for the
rocesses not at |
present undertaken in this country. Processes involv-
ing some millions of horse-power at present worked in —
America, Norway and Sweden, Germany, etc., can be —
profitably carried on, and, having in view the desir- —
ability of making all essential products in the Empire,
should be carried on in this country. a
(3) It is only by largely increasing the amount of —
power used in industry (by two or more times) that the —
average output per head (and as a consequence the
wages of ‘the individual) can be increased. The pre- ~
war earning power, or wages, of each individual was:
(4) Power may be most efficiently applied to industry
by the medium of electricity. é FSLe
(5) The economical generation of the electricalenergy —
so required is thus of great importance, and the first q
question to be answered is whether the best economy ~
can be obtained by each works or municipal area pro- —
viding for its own individual needs, or by a compre- —
hensive scheme. ° ae.
(6) Technically and economically the electrical energy’ —
can be best provided by a comprehensive system, a
may be amply proved from experience gained in those
Fesrvary 14, 1918]
NATURE
477
s of the world where such systems are in existence,
ably in Chicago (Illinois), on the north-east coast ot
and, on the Rand, and in certain industrial dis-
of Germany. Power production in large super-
nts, with generating machines of 50,000 h.p. or
ore, will not only be far more economical than in a
»number of smaller plants, but will also ultimately
valve great economies of capital by securing a better
jad and a more effective use of the plant. Such
“ vp if suitably situated on large sites, would
€ ble—so far as it was economical to do so
oleae the by-products in the shape of oils, motor
, ete., from the coal before using it as fuel, thus
iding to a large extent the necessity of importing
_ (7) The super-plants would feed into the main trunk
istribution system, which must be laid down throughout
the country. For this purpose the country should be
; mig into some sixteen districts, throughout each of
WI there should be a standard periodicity and main
ik voltage.
) This main trunk distribution system would col-
any waste power available wherever situated and
r it where it could be profitably used. It would
peri § the cost of transport, make it com-
le to bring to the surface much coal
nt Di asested and left in the pit which, under
new conditions, would be turned into electrical
ey at or near the pit-head. .
) oS sana supply in the United Kingdom were
on comprehensive lines and advantage taken
the. most modern engineering development, the
via in coal throughout the country would, in the
, amount to 55,000,000 tons per annum on
present ‘output of manufactured products.
(x0) Tr the coal so saved were used for the produc-
wuously not fewer than 15,000,000 horse-power,
ered more than compensate for the absence of
- watef powers in this country and admit of the
manufacture here of many products which are at pre-
sent | ‘made only in America and on the Continent.
(11) The development of such a power system may
oe ‘to the development of the railways of a
try, and it is just as impossible to secure econom-
power generation and supply by each municipal
ares working independently, which is the position
_ to-day, as it would be to have an efficient railway
f system if each municipal area owned its own lines,
nd long-distance transport were provided for | by
-running-power agreements. History shows that in the
early stages of railway development in this country
exactly the same ' process of amalgamation had to be
ey oe
MoM,
out the country, which is undertaken by
lore far 600 authorities in as many separate dis-
tricts, is technically wrong and commercially un-
economical. The present average size of a generating
_ of what should now be the smallest generating machine
in the power station. The ‘Power Act” legislation
inaugurated some fifteen years ago has not had the
desired result on account of the restrictions imposed
n the power companies.
(13) A national system of electric power supply would
_ greatly facilitate the électrification of railways with its
attendant advantages. save large sums of money at
_ present spent on the transport and distribution of coal,
and bring within reach of the community as a whole
the great benefits of an increase in the use of electricity
for domestic purposes, advantages which, taken to-
gether, are perhaps of more value than the direct coal-
: saving.
3 NO, 2520, VOL. 100]
of further power it would be possible to generate’
resent system of electrical power distribu-
station is only 5000 horse-power, or about one-fourth:
PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND THE ART OF
EXPERIMENT.)
i HE exigencies of the war had seriously impeded the
work of the Physical Society, as of all our scien-
tific institutions. Many members were at the front;
many others were busy on war work, and there was
little time available for normal scientific pursuits.
Since his predecessor’s address, the scientific com-
munity had been stirred to an extent which he thought
was unnecessary by the passing of the Daylight Saving
Act. Scientifically the thing was a sham, and as such
was naturally distasteful to us; but the community at
large was not scientific, and had a very vague notion
of the meaning of time. In the stress of war people
had realised the desirability of starting the day earlier
to save, not daylight, but paraffin and gas, and the
simple operation of putting all the clocks wrong, though
hateful in principle, did not disturb the public at all.
In reference to the question of the metric system,
this was important in relation to education. The
reason why English schools were so backward in mathe-
matics was that so much of the available time had to
be devoted to memorising tables of weights and measures
and similar medieval relics.
Another matter of public importance was the recog-
nition of science as an element of general education.
It is sometimes urged that our officials need not be
scientific, because they can get all the scientific advice
they want. But they may not know when they require
it, or appreciate the force of it when they get it. He
might’ instance in this connection the wasteful method
of street darkening which still prevails after three
years. The annual trouble with frozen water pipes was
another example of the general ignorance of scientific
principles. Burst pipes were unknown in really cold
countries, where the elements of common sense were
atlowed to prevail.
All his own contributions to physical science had
been experimental, and some words on the art of ex-
periment might not be out of place. In order to suc-
ceed as an experimentalist it was necessary to find by
personal experience how as many materials as possible ,
behave under as many conditions as possible, and this
can only be done by one who will practise every art
and use every tool and instrument that he can. While
endeavouring at first to imitate the practices of the
professional mechanic and acquire as much of his skill °
as possible, the experimentalist must not be bound by
tradition and custom in his methods. It is the slavery,
to tradition and practice that makes the assistance of
the professional so tiresome to the experimentalist. In
this connection a saying of Fresnel had greatly im-
pressed him—‘‘If you cannot saw with a file and file
with a saw you willbe no use as an experimentalist,” or
words to that effect. He had made it his business to
use every tool and to handle every material that he
could. On one occasion he had had the somewhat rare
opportunity of handling five or six large uncut dia-
monds, each as big as a walnut. Glass-blowers are
familiar with the difference in the contact of freshly
blown bulbs and of bulbs some time blown; but the
contact of diamonds was unlike either. When brought
lightly into contact they emit a curious squeaking note
of possibly 2000 vibrations per second. This meant
that the diamonds were bouncing with slowly diminish-
ing excursions of 1/80,000 of an inch approximately, a
phenomenon only possible with a material of such per-
fect elasticity or hardness. It was possible that a test
of this kind might be useful for discriminating between
the hardness of the harder materials. The whole ques-
tion of what hardness was, and if, indeed, it were really
1 Abstract of the presidential address delivered to the Physical Society
January 25 by Prof. C. V. Boys, F.R.S.
478
NATURE
[Fepruary 14, 1918
a definable quantity having definite dimensions, was
one to which ‘the attention of physicists ‘could profitably
be devoted. Another such question was that of the
oiliness of lubricants. This appeared to depend on
something other than viscosity. Animal and vegetable
oils lubricated better than mineral oils of the same
ViSeaenys
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
Dr. W. Boxwe.t has been elected professor of
pathology and bacteriology in the schools of surgery
of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
A RESEARCH scholarship in mental affections has been
instituted at the Western Asylums’ Research Institute,
Glasgow. Its annual value will be 250l., but no ap-
pointment will be made during the war.
Tue Board of Education announces, in Circular 1026
of February 5, that after this year it will discontinue to
hold its general examinations in science and_ tech-
nology. The higher general examinations will be held
this year for the last time, and will be conducted in
accordance with the ‘‘ Regulations and Syllabuses for
Examinations in Science and Technology, 1915,”’ so far
as they are still applicable. This intention to discon-
tinue these general examinations was announced in the
prefatory note-to the 1915 regulations, and the decision
was arrived at after consultation with representative
educational and administrative bodies directly interested
in the examinations. The present announcement marks
the final stage in the gradual elimination of the per-
sonal examination of students in its classes. by the
Board. In 1912 the old elementary stage examinations
in science, instituted by the now defunct Science and
Art Department, were discontinued, and lower and
higher examinations took the place of elementary, ad-
vanced, and honours stages. In 1909 the special exam-
inations, which had for many years been held for young
students attending day classes in science, were discon-
tinued, as for some years the number of papers worked
at day examinations had. steadily diminished as the
conditions of work in secondary schools improved. It
is reasonable to hope that the abolition of these official
examinations will strengthen the development of initia-
tive of local education authorities and encourage them
to promote schemes of instruction designed to meet
local requirements.
THE main measure to be brought forward in the
eighth session of the present Parliament, opened by
the King on Tuesday, is the Education (No. 2)
Bill. The British Science Guild has just circulated a
memorandum in which cordial approval is expressed
of the provision made in the Bill for the following :—
(1) The general development and organisation of all
forms of education other than elementary; (2) prac-
tical instruction for all elementary-school children, pro-
vided that such teaching does not involve direct in-
struction for a trade; (3) continuation schools and
compulsory attendance thereat for 320 hours’ per
annum ; (4) co-operation of local education authorities,
particularly by means of the formation of federations,
chiefly because many local education authorities are
“obviously unable to deal adequately with higher educa-
tion, e.g. university and higher technological work and
the training of teachers;
rate limit for higher education -in county areas; (6)
abolition of exemotion from attendance at school be-
tween the ages of five and fourteen; (7) further re-
strictions as to employment of children; (8) school
holiday camns, centres for physical training, playing-
fields, school baths, school swimming-baths; etc. ; (9)
the extension to secondary schools and other provided
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
- formaldehyde rises in all intense reactions of light upon
process by which all organic matter has been built up —
(5) the removal of the 2d.:
bbheols of the powers and duties of local education
authorities respecting medical supervision and tre
ment; (10) aiding teachers and students in carrying @
research ; (11) the collection of information respecting”
schools and educational institutions not in receipt of
grants from the Board of Education. The British
Science Guild recommends that provision be also made
in the Bill (a) to compel local education authorities to
provide. nursery schools in those districts where the
Board of Education deems such schools necessary; —
(b) for the inspection, by an approved authority, of all
schools not now liable to inspection, whether a request P
for inspection is made by the school authorities or not;
(c) for the adequate registration of all chars and
other educational institutions, re F
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. eee
Lonpon.
Royal Society, January 31.—Sir J. J. Thomsdag presi-
dent, in the chair.—A. Mallock: The growth of trees.
An account is given of some recent observations of the
growth of trees. The observations consisted in the
measurement, at short intervals of time, of the varia-
tion of the girth of the trees at a height of 4 ft. or 5 ft.
above the ground. The measures were made by
‘interference’ method, which is described. The re-
sults showed a well-marked daily period in the varia-
tion of girth, different for different species of tree, but
all cases having a maximum at night and a minimum
shortly after noon. Diagrams of sets of observations, each
extending over several days, are included, showing the
growth of a black poplar, an oak, and a Douglas fi 3
From twenty to thirty readings were taken in the ~
course of each twenty-four hours.—Prof. B, Moore and —
T. A. Webster: Action of light rays on organic com- —
pounds and the photosynthesis of organic from i inorganic
compounds in presence of inorganic colloids. Theresults —
are recorded under three sections :—(a) Photosynthesis | &
by inorganic transformers; (b) action of sunlight and of
Ga violet light upon concentrated solutions of form-
aldehyde ; (c) the general formation of formaldehyde by
the action of light upon organic substances of bio- ~
chemical origin. In the concluding section a general
reversible reaction is described as a result of whicl AS
substances of biochemical origin. This reaction in pre-
sence of excess of light is an interesting reversal of the
from inorganic sources. The bearing of this process —
upon the germicidal action of sunlight, and upon the —
destruction of living organisms by ultra-violet light, is
discussed, and it is pointed out that the simple organic
products so formed are incompatible with the life-~
processes. of living organisms and so lead to their de- —
struction, Taking such a reaction as travelling in the —
reverse direction, it is shown that the building up of ~
organic matter from inorganic must have been a neces- —
sary precedent to any existence of living organisms on
the earth, and that all accumulations of reduced sub- —
stances possessing stores of chemical energy must ha
arisen in this manner from storage of the energy of —
sunlight.—Capt. W. J. Tulloch : The isolation and sero-
logical differentiation of Bacillus tetani. (1) More than —
one variety of non-toxic endosporing bacillus resembling —
tetani. (3) The “U.S.A. type” of the bacillus—that 2
commonly used for the preparation of antitoxin—is not
frequently obtained from wound-exudates in cases
the disease occurring among men who have recei
prophylactic inoculations of antitetanic serum. (4)
ture in a selective medium, followed by agglutinat
FEBRUARY 14, 1918]
NATURE
479
the washed growth, in presence of the three-type
ra, gives valuable information. It is, however, appar-
ently not so delicate a test.for the presence of B. tetani
as is animal inoculation after culture of the wound-
exudate.—Dr. J. Brownlee: An investigation into the
periodicity of measles epidemics in the different dis-
tricts of London for the years 1890-1912. In a previous
paper it was found that during the years investigated
the chief epidemic periodicities were respectively 87,
97, 1093, and 114 weeks, the most marked period being
that of 97 weeks. It is found now that the epidemic
‘with the 87 weeks’ period occurs solely south of the
A nes, where it is a very marked phenomenon; that
the epidemic with the 97 weeks’ period, while very
“marked in the whole of London, is especially marked
in the western district; that the epidemic with the
weeks’ period is present throughout London with
exception of the east, but is most marked in the
n districts; while that with the 114 weeks’ period
t marked in the central districts and least present
s eastern districts. The most important fact
ound, however, is that the epidemics of different periods
special phenomena of their own. In the case of
ne chief period, that of 97 weeks, the epidemic prac-
ally breaks out synchronously in the whole city. In
ease of the epidemic with the 87 weeks’ period a
ite different phenomenon is found, the permanent
of this epidemic being St. Saviour’s or Bermond-
whence the disease spreads to the neighbour-
districts. With regard to the period 109} weeks,
> is evidence that, in both, the conditions just
described exist, this epidemic breaking out synchron-
> in several districts and extending from these
eighbouring districts.
intgen Society, February 5.—Capt. G. W. C. Kaye,
, in the chair.—Dr. G. B. Batten: A simple
of obtaining “static currents” from an induc-
il. One pole of the secondary winding is
, while the other is connected, through a series
gap and a series condenser, to the patient, who is
ated from earth. The function of: the condenser
at of a high resistance, and the apparatus is most
tive when employed with the old type of coil with
long and fine secondary winding. The main advan-
s of the ae pen are that the method is . not
by a damp atmosphere, and its cost is small.
table adjustment of the spark-gaps enables any of
» six usual methods of application of static elec-
city to be Sa haghen E. Burnside: A mobile Snook
yaratus. This is constructed on the same principle
the larger pattern hitherto in use, but is made in a
e compact form by reducing the maximum spark-
gp 7 in. Mr. Burnside also showed a small trans-
former constructed for employing the continuous-cur-
_ rent main supply to heat the spiral of the Coolidge
_ tube. A small rotary converter changes the direct
current into alternating current, which is stepped down
to 12 volts by the static transformer. The secondary
is well insulated from the rest of the apparatus, and
regulation of the filament current is obtained by a vari-
able choke-coil in the primary circuit of the trans-
i. ee ers:
thes
Raper MANCHESTER.
} ty and Philosophical Society, February 5.—Mr.
W. Thomson, president, in the chair.—Capt. L. Munn:
_ Ancient mines and megaliths in Hyderabad. During
__ his thirteen years’ exnerience as Inspector of Mines to
_ the State of Hyderabad, Capt. Munn discovered large
_ numbers of ancient gold and copper mines, many of
_ them of great ‘depth and extent, of which no remem-
_ brance has persisted among the people. These mines,
_as well as the old diamond pits, show the association
- with megalithic monuments to which Perry directed the
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
a
Ber
| attention of the society two years ago; but Capt.
Munn’s discoveries are of peculiar importance, because
Perry was not aware of the presence of ancient gold
mines in Hyderabad, although he attached primary im-
portance to gold as the chief attraction of the mega-
lith-builders in other parts of the world. Capt. Munn
also discussed the interesting problem of the ancient
iron and steel workings in Hyderabad.—Prof. G. Elliot
Smith’; The origin of early Siberian civilisation. At
least as early as 3000 B.c. the people who developed
Sumerian and Elamite civilisations at the head of the
Persian Gulf were already exploiting the country east
of the Caspian for copper, and probably turquoise and
jade also. It is highly probable that somewhere in the
neighbourhood of Meshed the art of making bronze was
discovered. The earliest prospectors came from the
shores of the Persian Gulf, and had already credited
pearls with certain remarkable magical properties. The
fact that the special appreciation of jade by the Chinese
is due to the mineral being credited with the same
powers of life-giving, birth-promoting, corpse-preserv-
ing, and luck-bringing -as the pearl acquired on the
shores of the Erythrzan Sea .affords conclusive evi-
dence that the incentive to work jade did not originate
in China, as Laufer believes, but came from the
Khotan-Kashgar region, where the mineral acquired its
peculiar virtues by transference from the pearl, the
legends concerning which were brought to Turkestan
by miners from the south: The inspiration of the
early civilisations of both Central Asia and China came
directly from Turkestan, which in turn was influenced
early in the third millennium B.c. by miners from the
Erythraan coasts exploiting its gold and copper and
its precious stones. Some centuries later, when bronze
came into use, the deposits.of tin in Transcaspiana
probably attracted men from all parts of the then
civilised world; and the effect of this was that to the
Babylonian influence in Turkestan and Central Asia
was added that of the Mediterranean area.
PETROGRAD.
Academy of Sciences, December, 1917.—V. I. Palladin :
The influence of wounds on plant respiration.—V. I.
Pavlov : Investigations on the luminescence of mercury
vapour under the action of low-velocity electrons.—
N. A. Abramenko: Sugar-beet cultivation by the
peasants of the Governments of Poland..
BOOKS RECEIVED.
Memento Oppermann a 1|’Usage des Ingénieurs, etc.
Pp. 268. (Paris and Li¢ge: Ch. Béranger.) 6 francs.
The Wonders of Instinct. By J. H. Fabre. Trans-
lated by A. Teixeira de Mattos and B. Miall. Pp. 320.
(London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.) 10s. 6d. net.
Late Cabbage from Seed until Harvest: also Seed
By E. N. Reed. Pp. xiiit+131. (New
Soil Biology. By Dr. A. L. Whiting. Pp. ix+143.
(New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chap-
man and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. net.
School Entomology. By E. D. Sanderson and L. M..
Peairs. Pp. viit+356. (New York: J. Wiley and
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 7s.
net. ;
The Chemistry of Farm Practice. By S. E. Keitt.
Pp. xiit+253. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. net.
A Laboratory Manual of Farm Machinery. By F. A.
Wirt. ‘Pp. xxii+162. . (New York: J. Wiley and
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 6s.
net.
NATURE
[Frpruary 14, 1918
480
Microscopical Examination of Steel. By Prof, W.
Fay. Pp. iv+18+illustrations. (New York: J. Wiley
and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) —
6s. net.
A Course in Food Analysis. By Dr.
Pp. ix+252. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ;
London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 7s. net.
Irrigation Works Constructed by the U.S: Govern-
ment. By A. P. Davis. Pp. xvi+413. (New York:
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall,
Ltd.) 21s. net.
Engineering for Masonry Dams. By W. P. Creager.
Pp. xi+237. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 11s. 6d. net.
A. L. Winton.
French Forests and Forestry, Tunisia, Algeria, Cor- |
sica. With a translation of the Algerian Code of 1903.
By S. S. Woolsey, jun. Pp. xv+238. (New York:
J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; Londom: Chapman and Hall,
Ltd.) «11s. 6d. net.
Lecture Notes on Light. By J. R. Eccles. Pp. vit
215. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London :
Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net.
The British Journal Photographic
Photographer’s Daily Companion, 1918.
G. E. Brown. Pp. 660. (London:
Co., Ltd.) 1s. 6d: net.
A Laboratory Outline of College Chemistry. By Prof.
A. Smith. Pp. v+206.
Ltd.) 3s. net.
Edited by
H. Greenwood and
_ Experimental Inorganic Chemistry. By Prof. A:
Smith. Sixth edition. Pp. viit+171. (London: G.
Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net.
Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry. By Prof. A.
Smith. Third edition. Pp. xiv+925.°
Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net.
Liquid Fuels for Internal Combustion Engines. |
H. Moore: Pp. xv+200.
wood and Son.) 12s. 6d. net.
(London: G.
By
(London : Crosby Lock-
Imperial Institute Monographs on Mineral Resources, |
with Special Reference to those of the British Empire.
Zinc Ores. (London: Imperial Institute.) 2s.
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14.
Roya Society, at 4.30.—The Artificial Production of Echinoderm Tarvee
with Two Water-vascular Systems, and also of Larvae Devoid of a Water-
vascular System: Prof. E. W. MacBride.—The Quantitative Differences
in the Water-conductivity of the Wood in Trees and Shrubs: Prof. J. B.
Farmer.—The Efficiency of Muscular Work: Capt. M. Greenwood.
Rovat Society oF Arts, at 4. 30.—The Hide Trade and Tanning Industry
of India: Sir Henry Ledgard:
MATHEMATICAL SociEty, at 5.—Note on Functional Rquations which are
Limiting Forms of Integral Equaticns : Prof. A. C. Dixon.—The Singu-
larities of Trochoidal Curves: Prof. D. M. T. Sommerville.—A State-
ment by Fermat: L. J. Mordell.
' » FRIDAY, Fepruary 1s.
jotta” INSTITUTION, at 5.30. —The Mechanism of the Heart: Prof. E. H.
tarling.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Annual General Meeting.
—Traction on Bad Roads or Land: L. A. Legros.—Utility of Motor
Tractors for Tillage Purposes: A. Amos.
GroLocicat Socirry, at 5.30.—Anniversary Meeting.
SATURDAY, Frpruary 106.
Rovau St. at 3-—Problems in Atomic Structure:
Thomson
MONDAY, Fesrvary 18.
Rovart GEOGRAPHICAL SocIETY, at 5.—A Transformation of the Magnetic
Dip Chart : E._A. Reeves.
Rova Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Economic Condition of the United
Kingdom before the War: the Real Cost of the War: and Economic Re-
construction: Edgar Crammond.
ARISTOTELIAN Society, at 8.—Anthropomorphism and Truth : Prof. J. B.
aillie
Victoria INSTITUTE at 4.30.—Sun-spots and some of their Peculiarities :
E. W. Maunder.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY
19
53 a4 anette at 3.—The Problems of British Anthropology: Prof.
. eit
ZOOLOGICAT.
cordatum ¢
ag Capt. G. D. Hale Carpenter.—Reptiles from the River Tajan:
antz.
NO. 2520, VOL. 100]
Sirs Jsids
Society, - at
Almanac and |
(London: G. Bell and Sons, |
.30.—The Development of Echinocardium |
Prof. E. W. MacBride.—An African Civet Attacking Human |
Roya STarTIstTIcaL Sociery, at 5,15.—Statistics of Poland and Lit!
rage.
INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—/urther Sa
West Quay of Madras Harbour: The Hon. Sir Francis J. E. S g
H. H. G. Mitchell.—Prvlable Paper : Modern Developments in Gaswo
Construction and Practice: A. Meade.
InstTiTUTION or Perroteum TECHNOLOGISTS, at 8.—A New British oi
Industry: Ff. H. Cunningham Craig, Dr. F. Moliwo Perkin, er ve
Perry, and Dr. A. E. Dunstan. the! Committee, ‘and all communications»shou t
be addressed to him at-4 Whitehall. ‘Place, asic ie
WE regret to note that the death of Mr. ‘Joha Far
“quharson big fg is recorded » in. fe aa for
and was
his appointment he shat to dee :
-tives,-beginning with- the “Dunalastair' ” for. the-Gla 4
ow and Carlisle-passenger service. ~He was invited:
‘the. Belgian’ Government.to prepare designs: suitable :
‘the international express service on the State railways
‘from ‘Ostend. Mr. McIntosh was a member of the
-Association-of! Railway Locomotive Engineers, ‘and
presidént in“1911, in which year ‘also he was ‘crea
At the outbreak of the war the Swiss Fed
-Government ‘seized all the instruments installed
Swiss wireléss ‘stations, so that such stations could 1
_ Fesrvary 21, 1918]
NATURE
489
_ fonger receive the daily time-signals transmitted from
_ the Eiffel Tower. At the urgent request of several
_ establishments, the Swiss Administration of Telegraphs
_ and Telephones decided to arrange for the retrans-
_ Mission ofsuch «signals, by telephone, as received from
_ the Paris Observatory. Since August, 1916, therefore,
_ Swiss ‘telephone subscribers have thus been able to
_ Teceive, ‘by ‘telephone ‘each day, ‘between 10.56 and
_ 1 aim., ‘the Eiffel Tower signals transmitted to Berne
_ and repeated simultaneously. In a recent communica-
_ ‘tion to *the Swiss Geophysical Society (quoted in La
_ ‘Nature for February 2), M. Paul Ditisheim, the
_ eminent Swiss ‘horologist, states that this service has
_ ‘worked perfectly, and that the signals transmitted in
_ ‘this manner do not vary more than +0-087 sec. from
the time:as transmitted from Paris.
__. ‘REPLYING to a number of questions raised by the
_ vote for a supplementary sum of 4oool. for expenditure
a ect of art and science buildings in connection
_ with the ‘Civil Service Supplementary Estimates, Sir
__ A. Mond ‘said, in*the House of Commons on Monday,
vatabhreat 8, ‘that the Imperial Institute was partl
” -occupi forthe sugar rationing purposes of the Minis.
_ ‘try. ‘As to the new Science Museum, it was in course
_ Of ‘construction, and incomplete. It had been repre-
_ ‘sented that ‘the work-of:construction ought ‘to be con-
_ tinued during the war, but the was not in a ‘position
__ to complete the construction of museums in existing
_ circumstances. Corsiderable expense ‘had been in-
_ curred in making the ‘finished. part of the building. suit-
_ able for the work’ now to be done there. Museums
_ “now wholly or partly occupied by. Government Depart-
_ «ments were*the National.Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the
“s ‘Wallace Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum,.and
_ ‘the British Museum, of whith a small part had been
_ ‘taken over. The vote was..agreed to.
me | Tue Norwich Public Library has received for its
_ *extensive ‘local collection a’valuable donation from ‘Mr.
g Be ae trettetron,, "the ‘well-known Norfolk -naturdlist.
“On Tuesday, yuary 19, the ‘Norwich City Council
__+passed/a resolution’ of'thanks to’Mr. ‘Patterson ‘for his
5 So ea tel Saye “a large and valuable collection of
_ ‘his-writings and sketches, comprising ‘his manuscript
‘notebooks from 1878 ‘to ‘1916 ‘(including original draw-
, printed articles, and ‘letters), a complete set of
ished works relating to the natural ‘history of
folk, and about a thousand of ‘his political, foot-
all, and ‘fishing cartoons ‘of ‘local interest.’”? ‘Mr.
3 srson has'had the opportunity of making continu-
_ “ous Observations for about forty years ina district—
_ the ‘Norfolk estuary (Breydon)—which ‘is. particularly
‘attractive 'to‘naturdalists. ‘It is one of best districts in
____ the’ couritry for observation of ‘fishes ‘and ‘birds, in¢lud-
_ ‘ing a’large number of'bird immigrants, some of which
_ “are extremely’rare visitants to our shores. Great suc-
‘cess has attended ‘his seen ence, and he ‘has
been able to-make valuable-additions to the list of Nor-
‘folk “fauria, ~patticitlatly ‘fishes. ‘His notébodks are a
_-mine‘of valuable information, for in: them since 1878
_ he*has*recorded day’ by day ‘his ‘careful observations of
_ ‘the fauna, and‘has preserved notes of curious and in-
' ‘teresting specimens which’ have ‘been brought to him,
_*pen-arid-ink $kétches, and coloured drawings of in-
eS atk
.
_ teresting examples, and letters from other naturalists
regarding his work.
_. Ar 'the opening ceremony of the Bose Research ‘In-
-stitute-at Calcutta, the founder, Sir J. C. Bose, delivered
'._an address, published in the Pioneer Mail of December
8 last, in which he pointed out that thirty-two years
ago, when he began the teaching of science, it was
‘generally supposed that the Hindu mind, immersed in
metaphysical «speculation, was «unable ‘to undertake
4
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
“entrance hall.’’
“was ‘2800 ‘Calories,-and that of a F
scientific inquiries. There were then no well-equipped
laboratories, no skilled mechanicians. ‘* Twenty-three
years ago some of the most difficult problems: connected
‘with-electric waves ‘found their ‘solution ‘in-my labora-
tory, and received high appreciation from Lord ‘Kelvin,
Lord Rayleigh,-and others. ‘The Royal Society honours
me’by publishing ‘my discoveries and offering an appro-
priation from ‘a ‘special ‘Parliamentary grant.”’ He
added :—‘‘ The work already carried out in my labora-
tory on the response of matter and plant-life ‘has
opened out -very-extended regions of inquiry in physics,
physiology, :medicine, and psychology; but high suc-
cess is not to be obtained without corresponding experi-
mental exactitude; hence the instruments and appa-
ratus designed here which stand before you in our
The institute is admirably equipped
for the special research which its staff intends to under-
take. An interesting feature is a-small garden of:sensi-
tive plants. A large double tracing is being auto-
matically made in two parallel curves, one recording
atmospheric changes, while the other summarises the
responses of a large tree to these changing conditions
for every minute of the twenty-four hours.
SomE exceptionally large stone implements ‘discovered
in ‘1887-88 near the Johnstone ‘River, on the Pacific
coast of Queensland, are described -in the February
issue of Man by Mr 3H. ‘Ling ‘Roth. The materials:
from which they .are made are an altered diabase,.
-argillaceous and smicaceous grit, and an arenaceous:
shale. One implement measures 16:5 cm.:by to-9 cm.by
2:9 cm. Dr. Walter E. ‘Roth, who made some ‘inquiries:
regarding ‘them, ‘states that at ithe present «day such
stone .axe-heads .are not used—in fact, no stone axés
are used. They seem ‘to have ‘been procured from
quarries, ‘one about ninety miles from the scene ofthe
discovery. Dr. '!Roth found, in the neighbourhood :of
Boulia, an axe-head measuring 9 in. in its greatest
‘diameter—considerably larger ‘than any in ‘the :collec-
tion ‘mow described. ‘These appear 'to ‘be *the largest
‘dressed ‘stones ‘hitherto :found in ‘Australia, ,but tthe |
Bankfiéld Museum possesses a similar implement ‘from
Lifu, ‘Loyalty Islands, formed of impure jade. ‘It ‘is
‘not so large-as some of the big New Caledonian stones
fastened:at 'right angles to a handle ‘by sinnet passéd
through ‘two ‘holes in ‘the ‘stene.
ACCORDING ‘to ‘an sinvestigation on the ‘Diet, .Nutri-
tion, and .Exeretion of Asiatic Races in Singapore,”
‘undertaken bysProf. J. Argyll)Campbell,.and published
in the Journalvof the Straits Branch: of !the Royal Asia-
tic Society :in ‘1917, .the-energy value of the diet. of;a
Chinese, a Tamil, or a Malay medical student was.
only about 1600 Calories. That of a Brahmin was
higher, but, the diet being vegetable, was to:a :large
extent unutilised. To-compare «with this, we may take
the diet of an Anglo-Indian, ede to McCay, which
ilipino, which was
2630 Calories. It is suggested that ‘the low-energy
value of 'the Singapore diet may be due to.the moist
‘atmosphere, which retards’ toss of heat by evaporation,
so that less ‘food is -required. Another contributory
cause’is‘the ~small amount -6f ‘muscular exercise ‘taken
by the Singapore student. Although Europeans in-the
tropics are not inclined ‘to take much exercise, they
‘cannot keep ‘healthy on a European diet unless they
do so. ‘The author ‘found the Singapore students ‘to
do as much ‘brain work as his previous European
students did.
In a letter written on ‘Christmas Day, 1927, ‘from °
Dongonab, via Port Sudan, Nubia, Mr. Cyril Cross--
land reports ‘his having found a species of Ophio-
glossum growing in a patch of disintegrated coral just
below the top of a cliff 136 ft. high on Rawaya penin-
490
NATURE
| FEBRUARY 21, 1918
sula on the Red Sea coast, near lat. 21° N. The
species in question is doubtless O. capense, Schlecht.,
which has already been recorded by Prantl as having
been collected by Schweinfurth in May, 1864, in an
adjacent locality—the western side of; Macaur Island,
Jat. 21° N., on coral detritus. This species, unlike the
European O. vulgatum, Linn., prefers dry situations.
It was .collected by Schimper in Abyssinia in sandy
desert. The late Prof. Pearson met with: it among
Acacia scrub in German South-West Africa, and in
deep sand at Kiubis, in Great Namaqualand. In Natal
it has been found growing only on very dry sandy
knolls near Durban. Mr. Crossland remarks that two
showers in November constitute all the rain that had
fallen at Dongonab during 1917, and that wholly dry
years are common. The desert flora of lat: 21° N. is
much less abundant, and individual plants are more
stunted, than is the case only a hundred miles further
south... Generally the plants that occur are confined to
water-courses and drainage lines, but ‘the cliff-on which
he met with the Ophioglossum bears a few: bushes: near
the top. Pane BF ay 7 3:
WE have received the 1916-17 part of the Transactions
and Proceedings of: the Perthshire Society: of Natural
Science, the pages 6f which show a; continuance of
careful work. Mr. Henry Coates, the curator of the
admirable regional museum, deals with some stone
cists from the Carse of Gowrie; Mr. Graham Callander
has an interesting paper on methods of archzeological
research; Mr. J. A.. Donald discusses to good purpose
some of the. difficult ‘problems. of. afforestation; Mr.
D. A. Haggart describes, in a racy manner, various
faunistic-and floristic rambles in Mid-Perth, especially
among ‘the hills. .One of Mr. ‘Haggart’s’ notes is en-
thusiastic over: the delicious meal which may,be made
of roast sparrow, and ‘another directs. attention to a
change of colour exhibited by the beetle, Carabus
catenulatus, when it-is excited: . Mr. Barclay, the presi-
dent of «the society, records some .interesting botanical
rarities, such as’ Potamogeton | gracilis; (reputed to be
a hybrid of P. alpinus and P. heterophyllus), which
differs from all, or almost all, other pond-weed hybrids
in being fertile and producing good fruit. It has
hitherto been found-in Britain in only one station in
the Shetland Islands. .The Proceedings contain a num-
ber of notes of interest, e.g. on the activity of a hedge-
hog in catching bees flying and crawling about in front
of a hive, and on the sub-fossil antler of an elk (Alces
machlis) found ‘near»Methven in 1801. It measured
27 in. across from-one extreme snag to another, and
weighed 8} Ib. A’ good’ photograph is given. The
Perthshire Society was founded in 1867, and it deserves
to be congratulated“‘on its’ record of fifty years. of
activity. It wears well}‘and-is a fine example of what
a local Natural History “Society should be.
In an article on:‘‘ Forestry in the Dominion of New
Zealand,” just published in the Quarterly Journal of
Forestry (vol. xii.; pp...1-28), Sir W. Schlich gives an
account of the present condition of the forests in-that
country, and critically discusses their future manage-
ment. A Royal Commission, which submitted a re-
port to the Government in May, 1913, practically. re-
commended that the valuable native forests should be
replaced by artificial plantations of exotic trees. Sir
W. Schlich considers it injudicious to neglect the
natural forests, and urges that a considerable area of
these should be declared permanent State reserves, and
managed for the sustained production of timber in
such a way that the more valuable species would
naturally regenerate themselves. It is a melancholy
fact that, apart from a few remnants, the Kauri forests
have been destroyed. This wonderful tree yields one
- Of the finest coniferous timbers in the world, and surely
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
‘something might be done to restore ‘the tree Wipes
_materials required, for our basal industries from within
_the British. Empire, and hence. authoritative informa-
_tion upon these Canadian. deposits: is ,.very: welcome. —
. The Grenville: area lies just to: the-north of the River —
| Ottawa, about. midway between. the towns of Ottawa —
-and. Montreal, and is thus ‘conveniently situated as
where intimately associated . with. dolomite, so that —
/-most.of. it. contains more than .7 per cent. of lime. —
upon 700,000.tons, whilst nearly 500,000 tons of mixed —
the reservation of a few acres for sentimental reason
It is asserted by the Royal Commission that “
timber trees-of New Zealand are of much slower
growth than those grown in forestry operations the
world over.’’ This opinion is quite unfounded. Mr. —
D. E. Hutchins, who has lately been in New Zealand, _
states that Kauri is fit to cut at 100 years old, and is —
then 2 ft. in diameter, which is a greater rate of
growth than that of most European trees. Sir W. ~
Schlich, using the meagre statistics available, holds
that the growth of Podocarpus Totara, the second most.
valuable native conifer, is equal to that of silver fir, —
which produces the largest yield of timber of any tree
on the continent of Europe. The article, which is
replete with statistical, economic, and geographical
information, is illustrated with four maps of New
Zealand, showing the distribution of the forests, rain-
fall, and physical features. 7
Messrs. R. D. Sattspury and G..N, Knapp, in “The
Quaternary Formations of Southern New Jersey” (Final
Report of State Geologist, vol. viii., 1917), illustrate —
by an admirable series of drawings the stages in the
history of the coastal: plain, the material of which is —
largely derived from Glacial outwash, and was accumu- —
lated under terrestrial conditions. A former diversion —
of the Hudson River is suggested.
Tue Geological. Survey of Scotland has issued. a
memoir on ‘‘The Economic Geology of the Central —
Coalfield of Scotland, Area II.” (1977), covering the —
country round Falkirk. A number of vertical sections —
are conveniently included-in, a pocket at.the end. We
notice how.the miners’ words, ‘“ fakes,’ “‘blaes,” and
“ribs,” which have also invaded Irish geology from the —
north, are accepted as technical terms, for. the benefit
of those who will primarily use the memoir. ;
Tue Canadian Department of Mines has issued a
recent memoir descriptive of the magnesite deposits of _
Grenville District, Quebec. Magnesite is.a refractory —
material, extensively used in connection with the manu- ~
facture of open-hearth steel,.and. the British demand ~
has. been. in ‘the past supplied mainly. from Greece,
particularly from the island of Euboea, which-furnishes —
the mineral in,a high state of purity, containing about —
46. per cent. of magnesia, a little more than r per cent. —
of lime, and less than 1 per cent. of silica. It is of great
importance that we should be able to obtain all the
regards exportation of its mineral production. A con- —
siderable .number of separate deposits. have already —
-beerm proved to exist ; the magnesite is practically every- _
The- quantity. of magnesite already proved.containing —
less than 12 per cent. of lime is estimated at close
magnesite and dolomite, containing more than 12 per —
cent. of lime, are also known to exist, and there is —
evidence that other deposits of magnesite still remain —
to be discovered. It is important that the attention —
of ironmasters in this country should be directed to the
existence of a new source of supply of this important
material. Seat ‘am
"IN the Philosophical Magazine for January Dr. J. G.
Leathem discusses the motion of a hydrodynamical —
liquid past a two-dimensional contained solid having a~
i
- FEesRuARY 21, 1918]
NATURE
491
notion of translation and rotation. The object of the
aper is to apply the method of periodic conformal
ransformation to problems of this class of a more
eneral character. than those commonly given in text-
ooks. For this purpose the motion is divided into two
ortions, viz. a uniform rotation of the solid and liquid
md a spinning motion with equal and opposite spin
ast the solid boundary supposed at rest, the two
ms combined making up the required hydro-
ical solution.
_ In the December issue of The Central Mr. R. A. S.
Phwaites, of Messrs. Allen and Co., Bedford, gives a
valuable summary of the results which have been ob-
ained by a study of the effects of the heat treatment
of nickel-chrome and other steels on their mechanical
roperties. This study has been forced on the British
tee manufacturers by the authorities insisting that
steels for aeroplane engines should satisfy an impact
_ which the foreign steels available before the war
fied without difficulty. By hardening the steel at
> C., and tempering at 640° C. instead of 250° C.,
he number of foot-pounds required to break a small
notched bar by the Izod test can be raised from 25 to
y2. The yield point and ultimate strength of the steel
are reduced by this treatment, and Mr. Thwaites gives
es showing how all the principal mechanical pro-
ies of the steel are affected by tempering at tem-
tures between 350° and 600° C. From these curves
proper tempering temperature to ensure steel of
n mechanical properties may be found.
_ Durine the last few years a number of experi-
menters, including Reinganum, Walmsley and
ower. Miehl, Mayer, Sahni, Kinoshita and Ikeuti,
_ published excellent photographs showing the
s of individual a particles from radium which
e the ee ete at glancing incidence.
a recent paper Kinoshita and Ikeuti (Journ. Coll.
ci., Imper. Univ., Tokio, November 20, 1917) sum up
our information on this interesting subject, and show
‘a number of such photographs. Special methods were
used to obtain very small radiating nuclei, so that the
e track of an a particle (magnification 500 to 1500)
ped grains from ten to twenty in number, depend-
on ‘the
dustry. According to the Department of Agriculture,
per cent. of a tree is wasted in converting it into
lumber, and ten million dollars further is. wasted
ually in drying the lumber so made. Again, vast
ounts of scrap, wood available for making pulp,
_ alcohol, or vegetable products are burned or allowed to
rot. It has only recently been realised that whale meat
‘ds a delicacy, and that the intestines of the whale
_ make good leather. In the past the carcasses of seals
| Were invariably thrown away after removing the skin,
' although the blubber can be used to make oil, the flesh
for meat, and the bones for fertiliser. Germany, on
_ the other hand, is pre-eminently an economical coun-
_ try, and many of her industries, such as those asso-
_ ciated with dyestuffs and explosives, were built up on
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
by
Qj
vertically through the -cylinders.
’ Fatherland.
dial tracks of the expelled a particles show up clearly.
so-called waste products. The four chief defects in
industry to be overcome are :—(1) Separation of science
from industry; (2) industrial waste; (3) lack of indus-
trial and- commercial education; and (4) ignorance of
manufacturing costs. The Hon. L. F. Post gives a
summary of the work of the Department of’ Labour
in connection with the war. Among other feats, “it
-has registered 10,000 ship workers in ten days, placed
more than 300,000 men in manufacturing employment
last year, and adjusted 323 labour controversies in war
industries between January 1 and October 25, 1917.
Finally, Mr. H. E. Coffin discusses the general ‘organ-
isation of the business department of the United States
Government, and analyses the functions of the some-
what complex boards and committees. The complaint
has been made that there is too much subdivision.
Mr. Coffin, however, thinks that the confusion’ is more
apparent than real—in short, that the three main
groups of the war organisation, dealing respectively
with purchasing, industrial policy, and labour, are
“shaking down.”
Engineering for February 15 reproduces some in-
teresting photographs of damage done to the machinery
of German steamers interned in Brazil. These photo-
graphs illustrate the thoroughness of German destruc-
tion; in one case of two damaged cylinders, at least
8000 holes must have been drilled transversely and
The cylinders illus-
trated had been broken into hundreds of small pieces,
-and in order to make new cylinders -to:suit the set of
engines it was necessary to collect as many pieces as
possible and to patch them together so that the dimen-
sions could be measured accurately. Most of the
broken parts were found carefully stored between decks,
evidently in order to be used-as serap metal in Ger-
many in the event of: the return of. the ships to the
The number of German vessels interned
in Brazil was approximately forty-five, totalling 235,000
gross-tons. In the early part of 1917 the Brazilian
Government invited Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., to survey
the damage and carry out-the ‘steps necessary for re-
pair.” It was found that the repairs could be carried
out in the naval arsenal of Brazil, and great credit is
due to the engineering officers of the Brazilian Navy,
not only for executing the work, but also for the
expedition with which it was carried out:
’ Messrs. -A.’ GALLENKAMP: AND’ Co., Ltp:, of Sun
Street, Finsbury Square, E.C.2, have sent us their cir-
culars describing viscometers and centrifugal machines.
In the former list are placed Redwood’s and Engler’s
instruments, with details for use. No technical-school
laboratory or any works wherein lubricating oils are
largely used should be regarded as completely equipped
without one of these standard viscometers, for, although
it is possible to determine the viscosity of an oil in the
usual physico-chemical way, yet the conversion of
‘absolute viscosity ’ to ‘seconds Redwood” is by no
means possible with accuracy in every case, and one
must remember that the grading of an oil is largely
determined by its Redwood number, and not by its
true viscosity. Inthe same list is described a convenient
stop-watch for timing the flow of oil... Pensky-Mar-
tin’s, Gray’s, and the Abel flash-point apparatus are also
included in this list. For some time past there has
been a demand for convenient and compact laboratory
centrifuges. In the circular to. hand (No. 193). are
described hand patterns from so low a price as two
guineas to small power-driven instruments, built to run
at 5000 revolutions per minute. A modification, de-
signed for the rapid drying of crystals, and based on
the design of the works ‘‘ whizzer,’’ will doubtless be
| found of value in many laboratories.
492
NATURE
[FEBRUARY 21, 19 4
‘OUR ASTRONOMICAL ‘COLUMN.
RELATIVITY AND GRAVITATION.—A pamphlet “has just
reached us entitled ‘La spostamento del perielio di
mercurio, e la deviazione dei raggi luminosi, secondo
la teoria di Einstein,” by Attilio Palatini-(from Nuovo
Cimento, July, 1917; Pisa: Stabilimento Tipografico
Toscano). ‘The pamphlet, like the article by Prof.
Eddington in Nature of December .28, 1916 (vol.
xcviii., :p. 328), -aims at.making the outlines of Ein-
stein’s relativity theory clear to those who have not
access to his original works. The points in:which the
new theory ‘differs from our earlier conceptions of
Euclidean space and Newtonian dynamics are clearly
brought out. As the title indicates, particular stress
is laid: upon the manner in which it.completely accounts
for the excess of 43” per century .in the motion of the
-perihelion of Mercury’s orbit, which had been recog-
-nised as a difficulty -in the Newtonian theory. It is
‘especially noteworthy that the Einstein theory was: laid
down quite independently of this result, which is there-
fore in the nature of an undesigned coincidence. It
-differsin this respecttfrom ‘some:other relativity ‘theories,
~which *have ‘assumed -arbitrary values ‘for ‘certain ‘co-
efficients, ‘in order to ‘satisfy ‘the observed facts. ‘Ein-
‘stein’s result:involvesno arbitrary’ constant,’ but ‘simply
depends con ‘the ‘ratio ‘6f ‘Mercury’s velocity ‘to 'that ‘of
‘light. ‘Phe:pamphlet employs two different»methods: of
development, each leading to 'the ‘résult that ' the ' peri-
vhelion ‘advances’ ot" sin: one ‘revolution of ‘Mercury. |
» The -other 2test proposed ‘by Einstein for ‘his ‘theory
is tthat:a raycofilight froma star just grazing the sun’s
-sufface:and passing on‘ to’ the ‘earth ‘would: be deflected
cthrough/an‘angle of 175". Itis‘shown in the pamphlet
“how this result ‘is: deducible : from ‘Hinstein’s ‘principles,
‘and allusion is*made:to'total ‘sélar eclipses‘as ‘affording
opportunities ‘for a ‘practical test. ‘The ‘Astronomer
“Royal thas already ‘urged that: advantage ‘be ‘taken ‘of
cthe very [favourable /total ‘eclipse of ‘May, ‘1919, for
vexperhmnertts of 'this'kind. ‘Prof. Eddington has’ pointed
‘out that! the ‘doctrine “that ‘light ‘has inertia ‘would ‘lead
‘us ‘to: expect*a déflection ‘of 'o88" ‘at the sun's limb in
nary easé; so’ the Einstein test:depends'on’ the chitchenee
‘between 'this value and 1-78". :
‘THe System 'or -« -PeGast.—The «star %« .Pegasi -is
a visual binary having the unusually ‘short ,period -of
11-35 years, and one of the components, as found by
‘Campbell ‘in 1900, isa spectroscopic binary. «An in- |
vestigation of ‘this interesting "triple system ‘has ‘been
‘made'by Dr. F. ‘Henréteau, utilising spectrograms pre-
‘viously taken at ‘the ‘Lick ' Observatory, ‘and ‘numerous
others ‘recently obtained by himself (Litk ‘Observatory
‘Bulletin, No. 304). “Elements of the orbit of‘ the «spec-
‘troscopic' pair, computed ‘for°the: epochs 1900, '1912,:and
‘1917,' clearly show' the ‘changes’ to be’expected from the
‘revolution round ' the: ceritre ‘df ‘mass: of ‘the’ visual ‘sys-
‘tem, ‘and “they ‘also ‘indicate a*revolution -of ‘the line
of’ apsides, ‘probably: due ‘to perturbations occurring in
‘the ‘spectroscopic’ binary ofbit-urider' the irifluence: of! the
‘third body. Combining’the data‘ obtained by’ télescopic
and spectroscopic ‘observations, ‘it is shown ‘that’ the
semi-major axis of’ the orbit of the spectroscopic: binary
‘fs “511,100,000 ‘km., while ‘that of ‘the ‘visual ‘pair ‘is
I ,826,000,000 km. “Since: the apparent: semi-major a@xis
is 0:29", it follows that the « parallax ‘is 0°025". “The
total-mass ‘of the’ spectroscopic pair is '10-33 ‘times, and
‘the mass of the other‘visual component 4-00’ times, that
of the sun.
ance of 'the*spectrum, ‘whith ‘seem ‘to’ be ‘satisfactorily
explained by ‘the ‘superposition of an’F class spectrum,
‘oscillating in a period of 5:9715 days, upon a ‘spectrum
of ‘possibly 'the same Class oscillating ‘by a ‘smaller
amount in a period of 11-35 years.
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
Testament, Sir J. G. Frazer,’three vols. =
“Tar, Prof. A. Findlay. ‘Bailliére, Tindall, and
plosives:
Ico
chemistry).
There are curious variations in the appear- ,
FORTHCOMING ‘BOOKS OF SCIE
AGRICULTURE AND. HORTICULTURE.
Bailliére, Tindall, and Cox.—A new : edition: oftd ©
Cowhouses, and Milk, G. Mayall. +
ANTHROPOLOGY -AND ARCHAOLOGY.
‘Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—Folk-Lore ‘in ‘he e 1
BroLoay.
‘Constable and .Co., Litd.—Coniferous Deed A
‘Webster, ‘illustrated. ‘C. ‘H. Kelly. Rigo
Bere, -and How to. Identify Them, S. N.
lohn Murray —The ‘Life and Letters of ‘Sir
iiten Hooker, O.M., ‘GiC.S.L.,
ese on ‘material -collected and al
Lady ‘Hooker, two vols., illustrated. L. Reeve
and Co., ‘Ltd.—Flora -of Tropical ‘Africa, ‘edited b
Sir D. Prain, vol. ‘vi., section 2, part ‘2, eed
‘the ‘orders “Ulmacez to ‘Cycadaceze ; vol. ix. (@
‘minea), part 2. The ‘University Tutorial pers
—Text-Book of Botany, J.’M. Loon
‘revised'by Birbal Sahni. 5
‘CHEMISTRY. wren
G. Allen and Unwin, Ltd.—The "Pyeeiaiieae’
Plant Products and Chemical Fertilisers, ’S..H. Collir
and a new edition of Aids ‘to eee of ‘Foods a
Blackie
-by-G. W. Robinson.
try Owes to ‘Chemical ‘Setonce OR. By. ‘ithe
.Butler-Jones, ‘with an introduction -by
(“The Engineer ”’ Series), and a-new.
tory Guide of Industrial Chemistry, . ‘~
‘tratéd. Crosby ‘Lockwood and Son.— ;
their History, Manufacture, 8 °)
ties,.and Uses, Lieut..E..de W. S. Colver, -illus a
ugmans and Co.—Lecithin.and -Allied Subste
The ..Lepins, :Dr. -H.-Maclean (Monogra: on iO-
Macmillan .and Co,, .Ltd. liam
‘Ramsay, K. Gi B,,-F:R-S..: .Memtorials oT hie Life d
Work, Sir W. A. Tilden, with portraits ;"The Manu-
facture -of Intermediate Products for. _Dyes, Dr. ia ce
Cain, «illustrated. Scott, Greenwood, ‘and .Son.—New
editions of The ‘Chemistry «of ‘Essential ‘Oils, E..
Parry, two vols,, and Iron Gorrosion, Anti-Fo alir
and-Anti-Corrosive Paints, -L. E. Andes. Phe Unive
sity Tutorial ‘Press, Ltd. — Senior Practical Chemi
iH. -W. ‘Bausor.
ENGINEERING.
Ltd.—Electrical Measuring bse
‘ments : ‘their ‘Design, Construction, and ‘Applica oF
‘Dr. C. ‘V. Drysdale ‘and A.C. Jolley; ‘The Handlir
of ‘Materials: A Manual-on the Design, Constructio
‘and ‘Application ‘of “Cranes, ‘Conveyors, Hoists, “at
Elevators (being the second and enlarged © sedition tl
‘Electric Cranes and Hoists ’’), 'H. H. ‘Brought 01
two -vols., illustrated; The Induction Coil, Prof. 7
Taylor Jones; Manual of the Telephone, W. ‘Aitk
two-vols.; and a ‘new edition of Electric Mains ai
Distributing Systems, J. R. Diek and F. Fer
‘Benn ‘Bros.,
Blackie and Son, ‘Ltd.—Tidal Lands : A*Study of Sho
Problems, A. E. Carey and ‘Prof. F. WwW. Oliv
illustrated. Constable and Co., Ltd.—The
_ Fesruary 21, 1918]
NATURE
493
bm
duction and Treatment peas illustrated; Locomotive Valves and Valve
Yoder ‘and \G. -B. Wharen, illustrated ;
»Physicai Laboratory Experiments . for Engineering
udents,*S.. Sheldon Sart E. Hausmann, ‘illustrated ;
‘anda‘new €édition of Industrial Electrical Measuring
Instruments, ‘K. Edgecumbe, illustrated. Crosby
Lockwood and “Son.—The Aviation Pocket-Book
“for “1918: A Compendium of Modern Practice
ind ‘a Collection of Useful Notes, Formule, Rules, and
eT relating to Aeronautics, iR. B. ‘Matthews, illus-
ti ated; The Mechanical Engineer’ s Pocket-Book for
1918, comprising Tables, Formulz, :Rules, and Data :
_A Handy Book of Reference for Daily Use in En-
gineering Practice, by the late D. Kinnear Clark, tenth
- edition, thoroughly revised-and enlarged, by H. 'H. P.
Powles, with a new Electrical Section by Dr. F. T.
Chapman ; The Engineer’s Year-Book for 1918, H. R.
“Kempe, with collaboration, illustrated; Aviation En-
* their Design, Construction, ‘Operation, and
Repair, a book ‘for the Student, Engineer, and all
interested in Aviation, by a recognised authority, illus-
porate Glossary of ‘Aviation Terms in English-French
French-English, Lieut. V. W. Pagé and Lieut. P.
EB “illustrated ; An Aviation’ Chart : The Loca-
n of Aviation Power Plant Troubles Made Easy. A
= wall chart, showing'a typical aeroplane power plant
ir in part section, with all important'components shown.
cl “Engineering, P. Kemp, ‘illustrated. Sir Isaac
Ps sand Sons, Ltd.—Electric Motors’ and Control
is rems, A. Dover, illustrated ;'A Small’Book on Elec-
c Motors ‘for Continuous and ‘Alternatin Currents,
WP. Maycock; Rudiments of Telephony, T. E. Her.
bert; The Stability ‘and Control of ‘Aeroplanes, A.W.
Judge (vol. iii. of the Manuals of Aeronautics); Aero-
nautica tical Materials and’ Methods of Construction, A. W.
: iv. of the ‘Manuals of Aeronautics) ; and
tions ae ‘Ma neto and ‘Electric ‘Ignition, W.
iternating-current Work, W. P.
, ilastrated ; ; The Practical “Telephone Hand-
d Guide, J. Poole, illustrated ; The Slide Rule,
“o, “N. piace “Gilustrated; “Gums and Resins, J.
try, ‘illustrated © "(Common ' Commodities and Tnidus-
aoe Series) ; Glass and Glass Manufacture, P. ‘Marson,
“illustrated. Scott, Greenwood, amd “Son. — The
eee of ‘Ships, _ J. ‘B. ‘Thomas, “illustrated ;
4 tic Stresses in “Structures, tranéldted from
the French b E. 5S. ‘Andrews, _ illustrated;
% achine ‘and Fitting Shop Practice, G. W.
ey, two vols; Modern Steam Boilers, E. Pull;
ing Loads oy Influence Lines ‘and Other ’ Methods,
bbert,
COC.
' GFOGRAPHY.
j Seti tetge “een Press. —The North Riding of
“Yorkshire, ag ‘W. J. Weston (Cambridge County
Geogr
Gooey.
Gotieriige University Press.—Lecture on . John
Michell, delivered before the Yorkshire Philosophical
pocdety., Sir Archibald Geilzie.
—-Mariemaricat AND PriysicaL ScikNcEs.
lab: e University Press.—The Theory of Elec-
9 tildity, G . H. Livens; Theory of Functions of a Com-
ex Variable, Prof. A. R. Forsyth; Lecture Notes on
3 ight, ak. Eccles. C. H. Kelly. —Stars and How to
e tify Them, E. W. Maunder. Longmans and Co.
-=Infinitesimal Calculus, Prof. F. S. Carey, in two sec-
‘tions, Section IT. ; Differential Equations, Dr. H. Bate-
tan (Longmans’ "Modern Mathematical Series). Mac-
— *millan and’ Go , Ltd.~A "Text-Book of Physics for the
. NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
M “and Co., Ltd.—Alternating-current Elec-.
Use ‘of. Students of Science and Engineering, J. Dun-
can and S. G. -Starling, illustrated, ‘in ‘five parts :
‘Dynamics; Heat, Light, and Sound; Magnetism and
Electricity ;. Heat; -Lightand Sound. .The ‘University
Tutorial Press, Lid. —Intermediate Text-Book of Mag-
netism and Electricity, ‘R. ‘W. Hutchinson.
MEDICAL SCIENCE.
-Bailligre, Tindall, ‘and .Cox.—Meat inspection
Problems, Dr. W. J. Howarth; Aids ‘to Rational
‘Therapeuties, Dr.“R.iW. Leftwich; ‘and ‘new editions: of
Papers on Psycho-Analysis, -Dr. E. Jones, and Errors
of .Accommodation and Refraction of the ‘Eye,
Dr. ‘E. Clarke. .A. and ‘C. ‘Black, Ltd.—
A new ‘edition -of Radiography and ‘Radio-Thera-
peutics, ‘Dr. R. ‘Knox. and A. -Churchill.—
The History and Present Position of Massage and
Medical Gymnastics,.Dr. Kleen, translated by Dr.
Mina Dobbie; and a new edition of A Manual-of-Bac-
teriology, Prof. .R..T. Hewlett. -H.-K. Lewis and Co.,
Ltd.—Regional ‘Surgery, edited by Dr. J. F. Binnie,
‘three vols, vol. i-; The Influence of. Sunlight in the
Production of Cancer of the Skin,..Dr. -N..'Paul, illus-
trated; The Action of Muscles and Muscle : Rest, Dr.
C. Mackenzie, illustrated ; Anti-Malarial Work in
Macedonia among British ‘Troops, . Maj. W. G. Wil-
loughby -and Capt. L. Cassidy, Biewtra teks Gould’s
Pocket Medical Dictionary ;°Stitt’s Tropical Diseases ;
Stitt’s’ Practical Bacteriology ;:and new editions of Dr.
H. Lewis Jones’s Medical ‘Electricity, revised ‘and
edited by ‘Dr. L. W. Bathurst, and Landmarks and
Surface Markings of the- Human Body, L. B. Rawling.
ic ae ‘and Co.—X-Ray Atlas. of the Skull, Capt.
A. Russell Green, illustrated; ‘Tube Teeth
and pees Rods, Dr. J. Girdwood, _-illus-
trated. Macmillan ‘and. :Co.,- Ltd:—The ‘Life s6f
Sophia Jex-Blake, Dr. Margaret Todd (‘‘ Graham
Travers”’), swith portraits; An ‘Enquiry -into ‘the
Analytical Mechanism of ‘the Internal ‘Ear, Sir T.
Wrightson, Bart, with an Apperidix‘on'the Anatomy: of
‘the ‘Parts Concerned ’ by ‘Prof. A. Keith; Fibroids‘and
Allied Tumours’: their ‘Pathology, Clinical ‘Features,
and Surgical Treatment, Dr. C.° Lockyer, illustrated ;
Hysterical Disorders of Warfare, wr LR. Yealland ;
‘Alcohol and ‘Life : A°Manual’ of Scientific Temperance
Teathing ‘for Schools, J. A. ‘Hunter, ‘illustrated.
Masson et Cie ' (Paris).—Emotions ‘et Commotions ‘de
ase Prof. A. Léri; Traitement des Psychonévroses
guerre, ‘G. Roussy, J. Boisseau, and M.
Sarita: Prothése fonctionnelle en ‘chirurgie de
guerre, Ducroquet ; Blessures de la Moelle’et de la ©
‘Queue de cheval; Formes Cliniques ét anatomiques,
Traitement, Prof. G. Roussy and J. Lhermitte;
La suspension’ dans le Traitement des Fractures (Appa-
reils Anglo-Américains), C. Robert. et P. Desfosses ; and
new editions of Traitement opératoire des plaies ° du
Crane, T. de Martel, ard Les Blessures du Cerveau,
C. Chatelin.
PHILosopuy.
Cambridge University. Press.—The Neo-Platonists,
T. Whittaker, new edition. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
—A Commentary to Kant’s.Critique*of Pure Reason,
Prof. N.. Kemp Smith; Some Suggestions 'in . Ethics,
Dr. B. Bosanquet.
TECHNOLOGY.
Bailliére, Tindall, and ‘Cox.—The Alkali Industry,
Dr. J.°R. Partington. Benn Bros., Ltd. —Notes on
Design’ of Electromagnetic Machines, part ii., Design
6f'a Slow-speed Alternating-current ‘Generator (* The
'Electrician”” Monographs). Constable and Co., Ltd.
-—Wool, F. Ormerod, illustrated; Cotton, G. Bigwood,
“illustrated (Staple Trades and Industries Series).
494
- NATURE
[ FEBRUARY 21, 1918
Crosby Lockwood and Son.—Lockwood’s Builder’s
Price Book for.1918, edited by R. S. Ayling, illus-
trated. Scott, Greenwood, and Son.—A new edition
of Grammar of Textile Design, H. Nisbet.
MISCELLANEOUS.
G. Allen and Unwin, Ltd.—Scientific Syathesis, Dr.
E. Rignano, translated by W. J. Greenstreet. Cam-
bridge University Press.—The Collected Papers of Sir
Benjamin Browne, containing, among others, the fol-
lowing contributions :—Education from the Employers’
Point of View, Labour Problems, Co-partnership, In-
surance, and the Scientific Training of Young Work-
men. Constable and Co., Ltd.—Man’s Redemption of
Man, Sir W. Osler, Bart.; Science and Immortality,
Sir W. Osler, Bart.; A. Way of Life, Sir W.
Osler, Bart. John Murray.—The Herring: its Effect
on the History of Britain, A. M. Samuel, illustrated.
PRIMITIVE CULTS,
ISS M. A. MURRAY contributes to Folk-Lore
(vol. xxviii., No. 3) a paper on the ‘* Organisa-
tions of Witches in Great Britain.’”’ The author: brings
forward certain facts which appear to show a connection
between witches and fairies—not the little beings which
the fancies of poets have evolved; the fairies of the
witch trials are the fairies of Scotch and Irish
legend. The ritual of the witches is like the ritual of
the fairies: both sacrificed children to their god, whom
Christians stigmatised as the devil; both stole up-
baptised children for the sacrifice; both sacrificed their
god or devil every year, apparently on May Day; both
had ritual dances of the same type. ‘If, as many
authorities contend, the fairies are really the aboriginal |:
inhabitants of these islands, there is nothing surprising
in their ritual and beliefs being adopted by the invading
race. And in that case I am right in my conjecture
that the rites of the witches are the remains of the
ancient and primitive cult of Great Britain.” ;
Mr. T. J. Westropp, who is doing excellent work in
investigating on scientific lines the early remains in
Iréland,: has republished from the Proceedings of. the
Royal Irish Academy (vol. xxxiv., Section C, No. 3) a
paper entitled ‘‘ The Ancient Sanctuaries of Knockainey
and Clogher, Co. Limerick.” Here a cairn commemo-
rates the cult of the goddess Aine, of the god-race of
the Tuatha de Danann. She was a water spirit, and
has been seen, half-raised out of the water, combing
her hair.. She was a beautiful and gracious divinity,
‘‘the best-natured of women,” and is crowned. with
meadowsweet (Spirzea), to which she gave its perfume.
She is a powerful. tutelary spirit, protector of the sick,
and connected with the moon, her hill being sickle-
‘shaped, and men, before performing the rites at her
shrine, used to look. for the moon—whether risen or
not—lest they should be unable to find their way back.
They used to visit her shrine on St. John’s Eve, carry-
ing wisps of lighted straw, in order to bring good luck
to crops and herds. One day some girls saw her, and
she showed them through a ring that her hill was
-crowded with fairies. Her son, the magic Earl of
Desmon4, is still seen riding over the ripples of Loch
Gur until ‘his horse’s golden shoes are worn out.
This is a valuable instance of the survival in an
attenuated form of the primitive figures of Irish
mythology.
- The beginnings of religion are discussed in an in-
‘teresting paper by Dr. E. S. Hartland in the R.P.A.
Annual, published by the Rationalist Press Association,
on religion among the Indian tribes of Guiana, based
onthe researches of Mr. Walter E. Roth, Protector of
Indians in the Pomeroon district, British Guiana.
“This attitude towards their external and material, en- !
NO. 252I, VOL. 100]
‘by it.
time, and refers to the ingenious method by whi
such that the Gulf deposits are supplying practica
day life that surround them. Yet it is not primarily
tropical plant into resilient and versatile rubber |
stance claims our attention at this time; rather
-sources of this war mineral.
‘publication of the U.S. National Museum under
ducing each year about 350,000 tons of sulphur, val
at a little more than 6,000,000 dollars. This quan
vironment is reflected in their religion—if we may ca
it religion, which is merely distrust and dislike of #
spirits that are believed to ‘surround them, for th
spiritual environment can be less steadily and distinet
contemplated than the material, and therefore is +
more the subject of surmise and distrust. The
known is magnified; the strange, the unusual, the
familiar, is regarded with uneasiness, with anxi
evolving into hostility, with wonder and-awe, lea
not to inquiry and deliberate scrutiny, but to aversion
and terror. Such is the mood, and such are the ex-
periences, to which modern psychology is inclined to
trace the beginnings of religion.” Pe en
SULPHUR IN THE UNITED STATES. ~
THE Smithsonian Institution issues for publication
in the Press interesting descriptive articles upon
subjects dealt with in many of the bulletins distribu
These articles keep the people of the Uni
States in close touch with the activities of the National
Museum and other scientific departments and enab ;
them to appreciate the interest and value of the work
being carried on. We print below, in a slightly
abridged form, an article upon the subject of Bulletin
102, part 3, of the U.S. National Museum, as it deals
with a subject of particular importance at the present
two sulphur deposits near the Gulf Coast in Louisiai
and Texas are worked. The success of the process
all the crude sulphur in the United States, and
development has ‘shifted the world’s largest sulph
industry from Sicily to that country. — re
Few people realise the extent to which sulphur
enters into the manufacture of the materials of every-
because sulphur is necessary to convert the sap
wood-pulp into miles of news-print paper that this s
cause it is numbered among those substances of p
importance, absolutely essential to the carrying on
war, as entering into the very fabrication shraoloe
themselves. Hence it is not only a matter of curiosit
but also one of urgent interest, to inquire into
In this connection the appearance is timely of
title ‘Sulphur: An Example of Industrial Indepen
ence.’ This is by Mr. Joseph E. Pogue, of the
sion of Minerals Technology, and presents in a fe
pages, in a simple and non-technical manner,
striking aspects of one of the most interesting minera
industries in the United States to-day. At the out
break of the war in 1914 the United States was pro
eS}
not only was sufficient to supply the needs of the co
try, but also contributed about 100,000 tons to E
pean markets. With the development of war activi
however, the production has increased to meet the
growing needs of munition-makers, while the export
have decreased-as a result of disturbed trade conditior
and the need for building up reserves of this essent
material at home. veed mag ‘Shi
. It is a singular fact that the chief raw materials.
explosive manufacture are localised in a remarkab!
manner, and sulphur is no exception to this rule
In the United States practically the entire supply co
from a number of deposits in Louisiana and Te:
near the Gulf Coast. These deposits are similar ii
Ba ed
_. Fesruary 21, 1918]
Paes
NATURE
495
“nature, and consist of a series of beds and lenses of
“pure sulphur at a depth of several hundred feet from
the «surface.
The discovery of the occurrence of sulphur of this
type was made so far back as 1865, in connection with
a well drilled for oil. All attempts at mining the
‘sulphur failed, however, until some fifteen years ago,
_when a highly ingenious method was devised for win-
p ning this substance without recourse to the ordinary
_ costly underground operations usually prosecuted in
mining. This process makes use of the fact that
§ oe ee melts at a relatively low temperature. By
_ drilling a well through the overlying rock until the
_ sulphur bed is tapped, and then sinking a series of
interpenetrating pipes through which superheated
_ steam is forced, the sulphur is melted and forced to the
_ surface as a hot liquid, where it is piped to large bins,
_ into which it pours and cools. This process, which is
known as the Frasch process after its inventor, has
_ been described ‘as one of the triumphs of modern tech-
_ nology, and its successful application to the Gulf Coast
_ deposits has in the past fifteen years transferred the
_ centre of the world’s sulphur industry from the island
_ of Sicily to the United States, making the States abso-
_ lutely independent of the rest of the world in this
_ important particular.
__ With the development of the world-war, the sulphur
deposits of the Gulf regions have, of course, assumed
; ea importance as supplying the sulphur needed in
_ the manufacture of gunpowder and other explosives.
_ But in addition to this, these deposits have quite un-
_ expectedly during the past few months been able to
' meet and solve a critical resource problem arising out
_ of the submarine campaign. This problem concerned
_ the raw materials of the large and very vital sulphuric
acid industry, and arose from the fact that most of
_ the several million tons of sulphuric acid used in the
- United States was made from _ sulphur-bearing
_ minerals called pyrites, brought as ballast in quantity
_ from large deposits in Spain. The restricted shipping
conditions resulting from recent events as a matter of
course seriously affected this source of supply, and
_ since sulphuric acid is a product nearly as funda-
_ mental to industry as iron or coal, the situation bade
_ fair to assume critical proportions. But it so happens
_ that crude sulphur can also be used in making sulphuric
acid, and accordingly the Gulf sulphur deposits have
come forward to tide over the dearth of Spanish pyrites
_-until the domestic supplies of pyrites, which are
_ adequate, but as yet only in part developed, can be
_ brought up to a suitable measure of productiveness.
__ There are numerous lean deposits of sulphur in many
_ of the Western States, but these as yet have practically
no effect upon the output of the country. It is certain,
_ therefore, that without the Gulf deposits and the in-
_ genious method of making them available, the United
} tes would have scarcely been able to meet success-
- fully the war needs of sulphur and sulphuric acid,
_ which goes to show, of course, the pressing necessity
_ for widespread appreciation and understanding of the
_ importance of proper development of the mineral indus-
tries of the nation.
SCIENCE AS A VEHICLE OF
q sai ; EDUCATION:.}
m TBE tendency of the modern school of political
is - thought is to attribute the majority of the great
historical events which have attended the various
_ phases of human development to the operation of
unseen underlying economic forces. The recognition
of this- fundamental truth represents a noteworthy
1 Ry Prof. T. Brailsford Robertson. Reprinted from the University of
California Chronicle, vol. xix., No. 1.
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
advance towards the completer understanding of the
factors underlying and determining the evolution of
man and of human institutions, but, admitted that’
economic forces wholly or very largely determine the’
political evolution of mankind, the question still re-
mains : To what in turn are we to attribute the inces-
sant fluctuations of the ever-urging economic forces ?
It is not that one consistent economic: pressure, inci-
dent everywhere and operating in a definite direction,
has continually urged mankind towards some undeviat-
ing goal; quite the contrary—the economic pressure’
upon mankind has been fluctuating, variable both in’
incidence and in direction, and not always advan-
tageous in its immediate outcome.
Not infrequently attempts have been made to cor-
relate these economic forces with geographical condi-
tions, with the happy or unhappy conjunction, here or’
there, of river, plain, and sea.” But the ever-changing
aspects of political geography are not to be inter-
preted so easily. n relation to the brief life of
man, the geographic contour of the earth is well-nigh
eternal and immutable. Setting aside, without under-
rating their possible importance, the very few historical:
instances of decisive ‘ variation’ in geography and
climate; such as the desiccation of Central Asia and:
the extraordinarily rapid shrinkage of at least one
great inland sea, Lake Tchad, it is evident that in
the long run, were geographical contour and climate °
the sole factors underlying and determining the inci-
dence of economic forces, the political geography of the
world would ere this have become as static as its
physical geography, of which it would be the inevitable’
and deducible outcome. ‘The ceaseless ferment of in-
ternational politics; never more turbulent than now,
would then remain utterly inexplicable.
To find any analogy corresponding. with the bewilder-
ing intricacy and rapid fluctuations of political history
and geography, we must turn to the inward workings~
of the human mind, of which economic forces are in
ultimate analysis merely the outcome and expression,
deviated or constrained, but not created by the geo-
graphical, climatic, or biological environment in which
they find their outlet. Behind the economic forces
which have fashioned human destiny we must seek
again the more potent forces of human energy,
curiosity, and inventiveness.
It is related that when recently the untutored
savages of a certain region of East Africa first saw
an aeroplane hovering over their heads they wor-
shipped it as a god, or the expression of a god-like
power. A group of high-school or university students
would have regarded that same aeroplane with mild
curiosity or supercilious indifference, so greatly has
education, or what passes for education, blinded our
eyes to underlying verities, to truths which are patent
to the savage! For, if we regard it aright, every
automobile, .every passing electric street-car, every
ray_of light we cast into the darkness with the touch
of a finger, is a miracle and a monument to the
creative intellect of man.
It is these things and such as these that determine
the economic forces which fashion the history of man.
The discovery of America was not an accident; it was
the outcome of measurement and invention, directed
by an inspired curiosity regarding the structure of the
universe. The discovery of the steam-engine was not
an accident; it was the outcome of countless patient
investigations inspired by no thought of ulterior gain.
Electricity was not harnessed by financiers, but by the
monumental intellectual labours of Oersted, Ampére,
and Faraday. These things did not happen by chance ;
they did not, like Athena, spring full-armed from the
brain of Zeus; they did not rain down upon earth
from heaven, nor have they always been. They were
not fashioned in the market-place, nor yet achieved
496
NATURE ©
[FEBRUARY 21, 1918
a
by sporadic flashes. of. prophetic inspiration.. They are
the expressions of the. creative intellect. of man. operat-
ing under a certain: discipline of thought, inspired. by
the one undeviating desire to understand, and by. under-
standing to control, the environment in which we have
our. being.
Essentially the same. discipline of thought and essen-
tially analogous expansions of economic opportunity
have been operative and determinative forces at all
stages of man’s development. The foreshortening of our
remote. past, due to its relatively immense distance
from. our own. lives and the accelerated: evolution of
our own. day, tends to render us forgetful of the
obscure struggles and achievements. of our ancestors.
Yet the peoples from whom we. sprang did not lack
- their Faradays or Pasteurs, upon whose accumulated
labours they fashioned new civilisations and rose to
greater and ever greater mastery over the inanimate,
brute. forces to which our yet remoter forbears paid
the eesing ae inspired by. fear. This is the primary
impelling force which. fashions the fluctuating yet ever-
progressing evolution of man, the force of creative
human intellect, perchance inspired, yet inspired not
without. preparatory labour, for, in. the words of Pas-.
teur, ‘‘Chance favours only the prepared mind.” —
If the woof of the fabric of history is economic, the
warp is supplied by the creative curiosity of man,
operating under the discipline ‘of thought which we
now call. ‘scientific,’ and culminating in. discoveries
and inventions.
It is. strange how little suspicion of these facts enters
into the minds of the typical products. of modern
scientific pedagogy, the vast number of students who
in our day patiently submit themselves for vears to
the exacting discipline of scientific training in order
that. they may apply it hereafter to.the solution of the
immediate practical. or theoretical problems of their
time. The more prolonged and extensive. their train-
ing, the. more intensely specialised their interests be-
come, until the material and spiritual welfare of the
vast human family, which alone confers meaning and”
dignity upon their task, becomes a matter of utter
indifference in comparison with the identification of. a
diatom, or the measurement of the angle of a crystal,
There can be little question that as pedagogues and
expositors, with a few brilliant exceptions, scientific
scholars. and investigators have failed, and that in, a
manner and to:a degree most disastrous to the welfare
of their chosen, field of intellectual endeavour. Not-
withstanding several decades of widespread training in
scientific method and the scientific discipline of
thought, and, notwithstanding, also, the multitude of
technically skilled and professionally trained. men. who
have issued from our laboratories, there is as yet
little. or no sympathy or understanding displayed by
the public, or even by our own: pupils, with the larger
problems. and. broader aspects of science. The reason —
is not far to seek; deficient sympathy and insight have
propagated. their like, and we are merely reaping that
which we have sown. We have taught our pupils to
regard science: as am arid, inhuman outgrowth: of-pure |
tude? There. isa grandeur in. science, wide as the
intellectualism; useful perchance, but not. endearing,.
interesting. perchance as chess is interesting, but never.
touching the deeper problems and broader aspirations,
of mankind save to wither our illusions. and. proffer.
the material bait of utility in their stead. Our dis-
cipline of thought has. taught us to shun hasty general-
isation, but we have ‘taught our pupils never to:
generalise at all, and in. teaching them. to contemplate.
and’ to conquer the difficulties: that lie at hand we have
deprived them of the exalted-vision of the: ultimate.
goals towards, which our labours: are. directed. - Thus,
have we earned, and most richly deserved, the in-.
difference or the veritable hostility of. the public, and,
crowning absurdity of all, the sciences. are everywhere
proclaimed antagonistic to the ‘‘ humanities.”
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth —
‘further than to the surface of things: we :
materials, amuse themselves with slight buildings
our: conjectures approach; so that s
_with his tedious and perpetual) discussions: seems to; be:
our guide.
‘scientific discovery and its applications.’ And: yet the
of science, for, im the words:of the same master: “
cultivation of the sciences in their highest expres:
‘is perhaps more necessary to the moral welfare. of a
‘nation than to its: material, prosperity.”
material gain or the paltry personal, triumph of
expression of the. awe and abiding wonder which the. —
contemplation: ot our universe compels, and a deep «
+ convictions in. formulg and. conceal them under the,
embracing the material and social welfare of the
convey some suspicion of these. facts to: our- pupils?
How gross is the caricature of. our ideals and our
functions which we have implanted in the minds. of our
contemporaries may be gathered: from the words ©
the great founders of the scientific school. of thoug
Witness the exalted vision of. their labours. embodied’
the utterances of three great physicists, representative
of three distinct epochs of. scientific thought: “I do —
not-know what I may appear to the world,” said New- —
ton, ‘“‘but to myself I seem to have been only like a —
boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now —
and then. in finding a smoother pebble or a prettit
lay all undiscovered before me.” “The laws. of
Nature,” said Oersted, ‘‘are the thoughts of bathe |
or, in the words of a master of our own day, J. J.
Thomson: ‘‘As we conquer peak after , We see:
in front of us regions. full of interest and beauty, but
we do not see our goal, we do not: see the horizon; in —
the distance tower still higher peaks, which will yiel ie |
to those who: ascend them still wider prospects, and
deepen: the feeling, the truth of which: is: er sised
by every advance in science, that ‘Great are-the works:
of the Lord.’ Or, in regard to the-function of science
towards: the welfare of humanity, compare the- pro- —
phetic utterances of Harvey: ‘“‘We can never want
matter for-new experiments. We are as yet got little
must b
content, in this our infant state of knowledge, while
we know in part only, to imitate children, who, for
want of better skill and abilities and’ of more prop
The further advances we make in the knowledge «
Nature the more probable and’ the nearer to truth will.
uccee -genera-.
tions, who shall have the benefit and advantage: both. —
of their own observations: andi those of preceding gene-.
rations, may then make considerable advances, “when "_
many shall run to and fro. and knowledge shall be
increased;”’’ with the words of Pasteur, written, two, —
hundred and fifty years later: ‘Science is in our age: —
the soul of the prosperity of nations and) the living:
source of all progress. Without doubt the sy
That which: leads us is.
Vain illusion!
material’ welfare of man is not the: chief justification,
‘ o |
In; these utterances we read, not. the. cheap haps, of F
clever: solver of an intricate intellectual puzzle, but a 4 .
sense: of: ‘‘something. far more deeply interfused,”’ an. —
conviction of the vast underlying import of natur.
law- in the welfare-and aspirations of mankind. Why,
then, do we so- diligently wrap up these aspirations and;
cloak of a pedantic affectation of hypereritical exacti-.
universe itself. There is a human import ofi science,.
totality of mankind. Would it not, then, be well to
We have succeeded’ after many years of conflict with
educational authorities, in introducing scientific studi
into. the curriculum: of schools, but what have we
accomplished thereby? Through the agency of the
compulsory dissection of flowers, the unalleviated, —
algebra of statics, or the uncertain, pursuit of the elusive,
elements. of, a chemical, ‘‘ unknown,” we have given ri
to a rooted aversion tc. science in. the minds. of many
and have attracted a few to. the pursuit of science for —
the sake of material gain, but in how many min $4
_ “many:sided curriculum ‘which ‘the :tiodern ‘universities
Offer to ‘the ‘student:public.
‘think, that scientific investigation, discovery, and in-
_ wention have played at least as great a part as war,
_ ‘literature, or commerce in the ‘evolution of civilisation,
_ Frpruary 21, 1918]
s
or the essential ultimate value of their
- (produets of seientific investigation.
‘Much ‘may be done by the individual ‘teacher ; still
_ by ‘inves
_ ‘should "be ‘taken ‘by the ‘universities as the official
_ -teaders of educational réform, namély, ‘the recognition
_ Wf the study of thethistorical:‘development of science in
__.its*relationship ‘to huntan welfare andthe evolution of
NATURE
have we implanted the idea of the intrinsic grandeur
: es l scientific
‘Studies? The spectre of -specialism -has .pursued -us.
_ “Science” must be chemistry, physics, geology, botar
_—anything rather than the study ‘of. the dependency a
human welfare upon our capacity to control our en-
‘vironment, -and the contemplation .of the. majestic. spec-
_ stacle of the order of Nature gradually unfolding itself
_ to man’s consciousness .and: placing .in. his hand the
eu uemetits -of ‘ever-augmenting power to control -his
_ ‘destinies and-attain-that ultimate.comprehension of the
_“uhiverse which has in all ages constituted the supreme
aspiration of man.
t
n of Had we offered this, had we em-
oyed ‘scientific education rather, than ‘scientific train-
as the iritroductory chapter. of the book :of scien-
_ ‘tific knowledge, then all the educated civilised inhabi-
‘tants ‘of ‘the ‘world ‘to-day ‘would leok to science -for
Oe let -inspiration, and we should. hear no.more.
Of ‘the ‘conflict between science -and the ‘“humanities,”
for science would be recognised in its true light, as the |
_ first-and -greatest-of ‘the “humanities:
_ *a master of the details of any ‘of the sciences, but on
their ‘relationship to the ‘larger needs and aspirations
tof ‘the world ‘our instructors are ‘silent. This silence
q nee, nen ‘often out a ihe ae ‘but where
_ ‘indifference does not ‘prevail then ‘an. over-sensitive
_ imposes'silence upon the professional teacher of science.
‘to professional etiquette no ‘less effectually
‘he desire not to trespass upon the ‘technical field of
‘a ‘edlleague and the desire to avoid the criticism of
_ colleagues which ‘may be aroused ‘by the appearance
of over-
_ any deliberate attempt to open up before the student
_ the deeper foundations and wider implications of the
_ scientific discipline of thought. .
__ As the demands for “vocational training’? become
_ more insistent and more complex, this condition be-
_ ‘comes ‘more ‘and ‘more age (
_ -measures'be deliberately taken to: check the prevailing
stendéncies "we may anticipate, alongside the continual
Et ee of technical training, ‘the progressive de-
_ -teriordtion of scientific education, ‘with accompanying
: con ‘of scientific philosophy and increasing misunder-
Ss
eralisation inhibit in almost every instance
gravated, so ‘that unless
ng of the purposes and misapplication of the
‘More might be accomplished by a deliberate campaign
-6f popularisation, by taking the public into our confi-
denice regarding our wider aitns and ‘the part ‘played
ation and discovery in the life and -destiny
man. But there is one desirable measure which
‘human ‘institutions, as a ‘levitimate ‘department ‘of the
Tt will be admitted, I
sand, ‘that being the case, it ‘is nothing less than
‘astounding that while ample facilities are offered by
Our universities to.the student of the ‘history of war,
_ iiterature, or commerce, no facilities and no academic
Yecognition ‘whatever are offered to the student of the
history ‘of ‘science.
tis perhaps a debatable question whether this end
‘could ‘best ‘be attained by the foundation of a new
department and a‘separate chair or lectureship in the
history of science, or whether the situation could prefer-
NO. 2521, VOL. 100|
497
ably be met ‘by the co-ordinated effort of existing de-
partments. However this may be, one thing is certain,
that the present atomistic condition of scientific learn-
ing in the ‘minds of our students “and the restricted
utilitarianism ‘of their outlook will not be corrected 'by
offering ‘them :a ‘‘course in general science,” consisting
of a mélange of jill-assorted fragments of scientific
specialities and necessarily failing to furnish ‘either a
vehicle of training or ‘a vehicle of education; nor will
Gt be corrected by offering them ‘courses in another
specialised course in ‘the history of ‘science in which
that~ history -is violently détached from the history
‘of the development of man and of ‘the evolution of
his institutions, from the study of the part played ‘by
knowledge in determining the reaction of the mind of
man -to-the varying circumstances ‘by which from epoch
to-epoch lie thas suevessively -found ‘himself -environet;
for the -new-course must above:all things 'beone of the
““humanities.”’ ” Peete
sictijentns
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE. ‘+... -
.-Mancnester.—A group of ‘large-firms engaged in the
principal industries .of .the Manchester district has
‘offered. to the governing -body of the School of Tech-
nology ‘the-sum of 3o0ol., spread over a.period of five
years, towards -the cost-of establishing a new depart-
ment of industrial management. "The Manchester Edu-
cation Committee has recommended that this gift. be
‘accepted and expressed ‘its ‘high appreciation ‘of the
donors’ public spirit. It “is proposed ‘that a ‘lecturer
“hall ‘be appointed for this ‘period of ‘five years at a
sdlary ‘of ‘600l., to conduct ‘research in the ‘subject of
‘industrial management, to organise a’ new department,
‘to ‘lecture to members ‘of the University and 'to ‘the
public, and to assist industrial concerns in‘ the:sdlution
‘of management ,préblems. To make ‘doubly ‘sure that
‘the.department shall keep in ¢lose touch with practice, .
a number of managers, directors, scientific experts, and
‘others who have ‘had special experience or are respon-
sible for important ‘innovations, will be invited ‘to
‘deliver public ‘lectures, for whith they are being offered
substantial fees. These lectures should ‘be of assistance
not only to future managers, but also to ‘those already
in ‘that ‘position; they will strengthen the idea that
‘management is-a science, “and that every manager is, or
Should be, something ’of a‘scientific researcher.
SHEFFIELD.—It was something more than a domestic
function at which ‘the Marquis of Crewe was installed
as Chancellor of the University on Friday, February 15.
The ‘ceremony was the first of its kind in Sheffield,
as the late’ Chancellor. was born, so to speak, with the
University. He was part of the gift of the Crown,
‘whereas Lord Crewe was elected by the Court in the
‘manner. prescribed ‘by, the charter. The formal act of
instdllation was concéived as taking place at a meet-
‘ing of the ‘Court in the presence of the University,
‘and the ‘Senior Pro-Chancellor (Mr. H. K. Stephen-
son), who normally presides over the Court, performed
the act of installation. ‘This was a departure from the
precedents of Leeds and Manchester, but. the ‘Sheffield
interpretation of the meaning of the ceremony is prob-
ablv based on sounder legal grounds. Once in the
chair, the new Chahcellor took charge ofthe :proceed-
ings ‘with characteristic grace and dignity. Before
declaring ‘the Congregation open for the conferment
of degrees, he spoke admirably on various burning
problems, and his pronouncements should do-much to
increase the ‘intimacy and friendliness of the ‘relations
‘between the civic and industrial life of ‘the city—close
‘as they dlready are. It was something to hear the
first ‘chairman of the Privy ‘Council Committee on
Scientific and Industrial Research say that in his view
498
NATURE
_ [Fepruary 21, 1918
“the closer the tie between the University. and the:
prime industries of the city the better for both.’ The
honorary graduates were introduced to the Chancellor
by the Public. Orator (Prof. A. H. Leahy) in terms
which did full justice to a great occasion, for an
assembly which included the Ambassadors of the great
‘Allied Powers, France, the. United States, and Italy,
was a memorable assertion of the University’s faith in
the common cause, and the presence there of represen-
tatives of sister universities made that assertion more
deeply significant. The University also did honour to
itself by conferring the degree of Doctor of Letters on
the President of ‘the Board of Education, its former
Vice-Chancellor.
Dr. R. S. Wittows, head of the department’ of |
physics and mathematics at the Sir John Cass Tech-
nical Institute, Aldgate, London, has been appointed
head physicist to Messrs. Tootal Broadhurst, Lee, and
Co., of Manchester, in connection with their scheme for
cotton research. -
Mr. D. B. Mair and Mr. L. C. H. Weekes have been
appointed Assistant Civil Service Commissioners. The
former will also hold the office of Director of Examina-
tions, and the latter that of Secretary to the Civil Ser-—
vice Commission. Mr. Stanley M.-Leathes remains
the First Commissioner, but Mr. Herbert W. Paul has
retired from the post of Second Civil Service Commis-
sioner which he has held since 1909.
THE course of public lectures on ‘“‘Some Biological
Problems of To-day,” arranged in co-operation with the
Imperial Studies Committee, are being continued at
University College (Gower Street, W.C.) on Mondays
at 4 p.m. The remaining lectures of the present term
will deal with important questions of food production,
as follows :—(1) The possibilities of increased crop
production, by Dr. E. J. Russell; (2) Grassland and
arable, by Mr. R. G. Stapledon; (3) Farm strategy of
the past and for the future, by Mr. K. J. J. Mac-
Kenzie; (4) Spraying problems, by Dr. A. S. Horne;
(5): Birds and insects in relation to crops, by Prof.
S. J. Hickson; (6) Co-operation in food supply, by Mr.
A. G. Tansley. The lectures are open to the public
without fee or ticket.
Tue first four lectures of the public university.
course on ‘Animal Life and Human Progress” at
King’s College, London, have been very well attended.
Prof. A. Dendy delivered an introductory discourse on
‘‘Man’s Account with the Lower Animals,’’ Prof. G. C.
Bourne has lectured .on. ‘‘ Some Educational and Moral
Aspects of Zoology,” Mr. C. Tate Regan. on ‘‘ Museums
and Research,” and Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, on
‘‘Man and the Web of Life.’’ The remaining lectures
of the course will be given by Prof. F. Wood Jones on
“The Origin of Man’’ (February 27); Dr. R. T.
Leiper, on ‘‘Some Inhabitants of Man and their Migra-
tions’” (March 6); Prof. R. T. Punnett, on ‘‘ The
Future of the Science of Breeding” (March 13); Prof.
W. A. Herdman. on ‘“‘ Our Food from the Sea ’’ (March
20); and Prof. Robert Newstead on ‘ Tsetse-flies and
Colonisation ’? (March 27). It-is intended to publish
the lectures in book form with Messrs. Constable and
Co., Ltd., after the ccnclusion of the course. .
Tue annual general meeting of the Association of
Technical Institutions will be held on February 22 and
23,’ at the Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Street, E.C.
The president, Sir Alfred Keogh, G.C.B., will take the
chair, and deliver a short address. Papers will be read
onthe training of teachers for technical institutions and
day- continuation classes, by Principal Watson of
Keighlev, and on the Education (No. 2) Bill, 1918, by
Prof: Wertheimer, of Bristol. Among the resolutions
to be submitted to the meeting may. be mentioned those +
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
urging, in the interest of technical education,
scales of salary providing for adequate increases am
reasonable prospects should be adopted for all fully
qualified full-time teachers, and that the Government
be requested to make a grant to technical-school
teachers, as it has done in the case of primary- and
secondary-school teachers; those expressing general
approval of the provisions of Education (No. 2) Bill
and recording the opinion that an alternative plan,
should be allowed in Section 10 of the Bill, such plan —
being half-time compulsory attendance from fourteen
to sixteen years of age, together with encouragement ~
of, and ample facilities for, attendance afterwards at —
evening classes for two evenings per week on tech- ~
nological or other subjects from sixteen to eighteen |
years of age, and those expressing disappointment that |
the Board of Education has not yet withdrawn or |
modified the objectionable features of the Regulations — if
for Junior Technical Schools. ; eee a
SOCIETIES AND: ACADEMIES. ~
LoNnpDoN. , com
Royal Society, February 7.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Prof. O. W. Richardson; The
photo-electric action of X-rays.. In this paper the ex-_
citation of electron emission by X-rays is discussed in~
relation to our knowledge of the photo-electric action
of other types of radiation. The ratio E,/E, of the ~
energy Ex emitted in the form of K secondary X-radia- —
tion to the energy F, of the primary radiation (wave- ~
length A) absorbed is found in the case of bromine to
be expressed to within the degree of accuracy of the —
available observations by ‘the formula 4
asec a
EjE Ss ae
hemes)
where ‘
— 2-046 Ney is
pre a, =
} :
Ax is the average wave-length of the K radiations and —
Axy is the wave-length of the shortest K radiation.—F.
Soddy and J. A. Cranston: The parent of actinium. —
(1) In a full historical’ introduction the data obtained —
in 1909 relative to the rays and products of uranium-X —
are discussed, in so far. as they throw light on the ©
various possible modes of origin of actinium. (2) The
minute growth of actinium previously put on record in
1913.as having been observed in the old uranium-X ag
preparations has been confirmed by their later history ~
and is now established beyond doubt. (3) Uranium-X, —
can be separated from uranium-X, by sublimation ina —
current of air charged with vapours of carbon tetra- —
chloride at a temperature below visible red-heat. (4) —
470 grams of a very pure Indian pitchblende were ~
similarly treated in the expectation of removing eka- —
f
.
a
|
|
;
rf
;
|
tantalum isotopic with uranium-X, and giving ~
actintum in an a-ray change of long period.
(s) The preparations so obtained were initially free —
from actinium, but one of them has produced it con- —
tinuously with the lapse of time. (6) A direct com-—
parison of the amount of actinium in this preparation —
after the lapse of 2-5 years with that in the original ~
pitchblende showed that it was equal to that in about
0-25 gram. (7) On the assumptions that eka-tantalum ~
and actinium are both long-lived, that no intermediate :
members intérvene between them, and that the pre- —
paration contained the whole of the parent of actinium
in the original mineral, the period of average life of ©
actinium is calculated to be sooo years. Nothing can
yet be said definitely as to the period of the parent.
(8) A second preparation separated from Joachimsthal
pitchblende, the treatment of which’ commenced in
1903, and ended in 1914, with the carbon tetrachloride —
Oi)
aa
Fesrvary 21, 1918]
NATURE
499°
sublimation, has given a similar growth of actinium.
(9) The work was undertaken to test and confirm the
ew that the parent of actinium occupies the eka-
tantalum place in the periodic table, and gives actinium
in an a-ray change of long period, itself being formed
as the product of uranium-Y, discovered by Antonoff,
who suggested that it was the first member of the
actinium series. But this mode of origin of actinium,
t ough at present the most probable, is not yet conclu-
‘sively established to the exclusion of all the other pos-
ible modes of origin, discussed in the historical intro-
duction.—Prof. A. Schuster: Some problems in the
theory of radiation. This paper deals with the oscil-
latory gy taken up by a simple resonator under
the action of white light, and the translatory energy
imparted to a molecule by radiation. The first problem
has been treated by Planck. It is solved here in a
‘very simple manner, and the method used, when ap-
plied to the second problem, leads to the important
result that a molecule at rest, within an enclosure of
‘uniform temperature, will, while taking up an oscilla-
energy, be set in motion with an acceleration that
will increase its speed until the average energy reaches
a definite value. If the Rayleigh-Jeans laws of radia-
‘tion be assumed to hold, the ultimate average energy
due to radiation alone is two-thirds of that derived
from the kinetic theory of gases.—E. A. Owen: The
absorption of the radiation emitted by a palladium anti-
_ cathode in rhodium, palladium, and silver. (1) A short
account is given of some preliminary experiments car-
ried out with the rays from an ordinary X-ray bulb.
(2) A spectrum of the rays from a palladium anti-
cathode is obtained. over a limited range of wave-
lengths by reflection in the (111) face of a carborundum
_erystal. The spectrum shows that the bulb emits a
continuous band of wave-lengths upon which are super-
_ posed the characteristic rays of the metal of the anti-
_ eathode, and under the conditions of working in this
particular case the relative intensities of the different
_ wave-lengths in the spectrum remained approximately
constant. (3) The “end radiation” of the bulb was
found to be verv homogeneous. (4) There is a minimum
of intensity in the spectrum corresponding with the wave-
_ Iength 0-493 x 1o-* cm. On the assumption that the
_ minimum is due to the selective absorption of this wave
in the crystal, the value 0-493 x 10-* cm. is assigned
- to the B line of the J series of silicon. From the ex-
_ perimental results of Barkla and White on the J series
of the elements Al, C, and O, the approximate values
_ deduced for the 8 line of the J series of oxygen and
_ carbon are o-519x10—* cm. and 0559 x 10-* cm. re-
spectively. (5) Assuming Bragg’s mean value of the
q a line of palladium to be 0-586 x 10-* cm., the follow-
_ ing values are obtained for the wave-lengths of the 8
and y lines: B=0-520x 10-* cm.; y=0-509x Io~* cm.
a ie The absorption coefficients of the rays from the bulb
have been measured in rhodium, palladium, and silver.
_ The results show that the relation between wave-length
K is a constant for a given substance over the range
_ of wave-lengths between the absorption bands of that
_ substance. (7) The critical wave-length necessary to
excite the characteristic rays of a substance lies in the
neighbourhood of the B ray of that substance. The
@ ray is not excited until the-8 ray is excited. (8) It
_ is pointed out that the purity of the characteristic lines
emitted by a bulb and isolated by reflection at a crystal
face will depend, to a great extent, upon the state of
working of the bulb.
— Zoological Society, February 5.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-
ward, vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. B. L. Bhatia
and Baini Prashad: Skull of Rana tigrina, Daud.—
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
{
|
}
G. A. Boulenger: Description of a new snake of the
genus Oligodon, from Upper Burma.—Dr. R. Broom :
Two rare South African golden moles. One specimen
was described as a new species of Bematiscus, B-
leschae. Hitherto the giant moles of the eastern Cape
Colony have been referred to B. trevelyani, but the
present type from St. Cuthbert’s, Isolo, differs from
B. trevelyani and agrees with B. transvaalensis and B.
villosa in having the temporal bulla markedly project-
ing from the side of the skull. The other specimen
exhibited was one of the rare mole, Chrysochloris
sclateri. Hitherto it has been only known from the
Nieuwveld and from Basutoland—localities 350 miles
apart. The present specimen was from New Bethesda,
130 miles nearer to Basutoland than the original
locality.
Mathematical Society, February 14.—Prof. H. Hilton,
vice-president, in the chair.—Prof. A. C. Dixon: Note
on functional equations which are limiting. forms of
integral equations.—Prof. D. M. Y. Sommerville ; The
singularities of trochoidal curves.—O. Hoppe: The
primality of (10**~1) (second communication).—L. J.
Mordell: A statement by Fermat.
EDINBURGH.
Royal Society, January 14.—Dr. John Horne, presi-
dent, in the chair.—Prof. R. A. Sampson: Notes on
the Coupar Angus meteorite. This meteorite, which
attracted much attention from its brilliancy before it
burst, fell on December 3, 1917, and fragments were
found in Perthshire and Forfarshire. It is an aero-
lite or stony meteorite, but the detailed mineralogical
characters have not yet been given. It was estimated,
from the evidence of a number of witnesses, that it
began to blaze at a height of about twenty miles in
the atmosphere, probably above Coupar Angus.’ In
regard to the origin of such bodies, it was suggested
that they might have been ejected in bygone ages from
lunar volcanoes, continuing to circulate since then be-
tween the earth and the moon in irregular orbits until
finally drawn down upon the earth.—Dr. C. G. Knott :
The propagation of earthquake waves through the
earth and connected problems. When a large earth-
quake occurs at any part of the earth elastic waves are
sent out in all directions through the earth, emerging
at the surface as disturbances which can be recorded
on delicate seismometers.. Up to about 120° from the
epicentre, the times at which these variations emerge
after the time of occurrence of the earthquake
were first tabulated by J. Milne. The increasing num-
ber of observations and the improvement of the instru-
ments have led to the tabulation of more accurate data —
than was possible in the earlier days. Following up
certain calculations made in 1908, Dr. Knott, using
these more recent data, has made fresh calculations of
| the velocities of the seismic waves through the earth
_ and absorption coefficient is expressed by the relation —
_ r/e=KA*, where r/e is the fluorescent coefficient and
by a mathematical method based on the theory -of
integral equations and entirely free from assumptions.
As has long been recognised, two. types of wave are
transmitted through the body of the earth known as
the primary (P) and the secondary (S) waves. The
broad results of the investigation may be stated thus :—
The velocity of the P wave increases steadily with ~
depth from 4-46 miles (7-18 kilometres) per second at
the surface to 62 miles (10 km.) per:second at a depth
of 400 miles (650 km.), continuously increasing at a
slightly smaller rate of increase until it reaches
7-95 miles (12-3 km.) per second. at -a depth, of
1000 miles (1600 km.), after which, at greater depths.
the speed of propagation remains constant. The §$
wave travels more slowly than the P wave, but changes
in very much the same way, the values of the speed
being 2-47 miles (3-98 km.) per second at the surface,
[Fesrvary 21, 1918
500 NATURE
3:43. miles. (5:53. km.)! at’ a, depth of} 400 miles,. Cuemcat ee: at 8 eA AE RAS on Active. Nitrogen: Hon, F R :
and: 4:25. miles (684..km;): ate depths. greater: | ; Wm ok. Notes
, i ; — on the Bionomics, Emb nd
than 1000 miles.—Prof: W. H:. Metzler:; A; deter. AidbGuedl Cocaie: Fisenonans Puceviete Dante bryology, ee
minantal equation the .roots.of which are the:products;
of the reots.of given equations.-Prof. R. A, Sampson.:
Studies.in clocks and timekeeping. (1) The theory: of(
maintenance. This paper, the first of a series of
studies which are in course of) execution at; the. Royal}
Observatory, Edinburgh, describes in outline the: ar-
rangements of the thermostat chamber; ete.,. and: the |
construction of .the: three: clocks, Riefler: 258, Syn-
chronome, and: Cottingham, upon which. most of. the:
studies are made. Its.direct occupation. is; however,
chiefly theoretical, considering with: sufficient: detail;
various - dynamical points. which: arise from the. sus-
pension and different maintenances of the clocks.and:
the. derivation, of a satisfactory, differential, equation
of the motion when the: internal. resistance. is taken.
into account,. The: solition, af this: equation presents.
some: novelty, showing that. the. frequency, in main-
tained motion is- dependent upon. the first power of;
frietion, not. the second, as. has, hitherto Ween. held.
The ‘discontinuous maintenance. is resolved’ into; a;
Fourier series, and expressions are found for calculat-
fng the escapement error: and. the arc described in
each, case. In the case of the three clocks above the
calculated, arcs are numerically. verified’ by sawetcortirs
with. their actual performance.
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DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY; FrBRUARY 21
Rovav Society; at: 4.30.—The: Scattering of Isight by-Spherical Shells, and-
by Complete Spheres of Periodic Stricture, when the Refractivity is Small;
lord Rayleigh.—The Nature of Heat as Directly Deducible from the
Postulate of Carnot : Sir Toseph Larmori—Curved Beams: J. nest.—
(1) Monoclinic Double Selenates- of the Iron Group ; (2) Selenic- -Acid and.
-Tron.,. Reduction of Selenic Ac’d by Nascent Hydrogen and Hydrogen
Sulphide. Preparation of Ferrous Selenate and Double Sélenates of Iron
Group: Dr. Ai FE. Hy ‘Futton:
INSTITUTION, OF ELECTRICAL. ENGINEERS, at 6.—Switchgear Standardisa-.
tion: Dr. C. C. Garrard.
INSTITUTION OF: MINING-AND: METALLURGY, at 5:30.
NO. 2521, VOL. 100]
Pp. v+ |
(New York: J. Wiley -
pecial
Microgaster connexus, Nees: J,.Bronté,Gatenby. .—Experiment Sil eg
in the Specific Value of Morphological Characters in the hc “ ye
Brierley,
_ FRIDAY, Feprvary, 22. = Sgatn,
PuysicaL Society, at 5.—Note on the Use of Approximate .
Obtaining Constructional ’ Data for Telescopic Objectives : T. i)
Suggestion as te.the-Origin of Spectral Series : Dr, H. Stanley alten ee
SATURDAY, FrBRUARY23. © 7
Ba sete InstiTpTION, , at 3.—Problems.in Atomica Structure : as Be Je
om f
MONDA ¥} FEBRUARY, 25.
Roya Society-or ARTS, at~4,30.--The.Economic on ee
Kingdom Before.the War: the. Real Cost; of the. Wary
Reconstruction: By Cfammond. :
Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8 30.-—A Recent Journey Panta 4
Comte Renay)d, de. Briey, F
. ot ala pot Yj ay A mrs 26. . 4 dustrial ai
OYAL INSTITUTION, at 3.—A ationa aborato ni Research
‘ Sir Rs Ty rsa brook: t is as ae
LLUMINATING ENGINEERENG ;SocInTY,y at) 5<—A* Sanvey:
Directing and Concentrating Light; Lient.- rmmander 2, Ay jarrison,
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY. 27...
Royay Society or ARTS, at 4.39: =-Organisation of ~ Commercial Ante
gence. -“Sir-W. Hi Clarke : s
vennsnArs FEprvary 28.
Rovat: Sogiary; at: 4.30:—Probable, ‘Paperss: Scattering
free Air, with Artificial Reproduction ofithe. flee
The Hon: R. J: Strutt:—The Lommel-Weber 0
tion to the Problem.of Electric Waves on, a Thin Anc
Airey.——Investigations on, Textile Fibres ; W..H
of Struts and Structure: W. L. Cowley and H. Levy. .
FRIDAY; Mace ty ed
Rovay Instirurion, at 530.—The M Sen ‘yest tadustry: Profs
A. G, Green;
SATURDAY, .MARcH.2..
Roya ee erstion at 3. —Problems : in Atomic ‘Structure : ‘Sk ea
CONTENTS. PAGE: ©
Heat-drop Tables. By Sir J: A, Ewing; KC.B., : if
F:R:S: A a eae een eee es er e+ © -peaoe eee
The Edinologival: Value. of Shells,
Haddon, F:R.S. ...
By Dr A.C.
©. 0, So. oy ‘ie fi ee ee ee ete et roe BBR
Marine. Biology and Fish Culture... ...... 482,
Our. Bookshelf; oe. 6 a ty Ele ew) gee opera ee 483.
Patents and Scientific Research ......... 484 —
Precious Stones and Platinum inig16 ......~
Prof. G. A. Lebour. ByJ.A.S. 1...
Bre fobn McCrae 0. os oye
ae Wace. a Oe 0h ah aaah Se
Our. Astronomical: Column: —- aot epee oe
Relativity-and Gravitation(’. (=. & tutions of the United Kingdom.
resumed his duties as rector of the Imperial
as director of the Army Medical Service.
Practice, in relation to the health of the soldier
from sickness
g with d diseases which worked such terrible havoc
igns of past history. The medi-
treatment of disease, but also in its prevention.
to recognise the place that science must occupy
' domain of industry, and also in_ the
. of administration, both local and Imperial,
sass achieve its best and greatest results
eSS nol science. be guided by the spirit and dis-
0 vere of science. The new Education Bill of Mr.
an immense step forward. The educa-
ot : cet os children of the nation, especially in view of
“NO. 2522, VOL. 100]
antes per:
mi fine genera with a speed of ninety miles per |
and was comprised of representatives of the _
Sir |
eogh, G.C.B., who has been president of the |
fion since 1914, was re-elected for 1918. He >
of Science and Technology, having resigned _
sidential address he emphasised the value of |
A and scientific training, as demonstrated in the |
results which, during the course of this deplorable _
and wounds, and especially in |
4 i |
al ‘eohaa has rendered splendid service not only
Alfred Keogh believes that the nation has come |
hood, has become a question of most serious moment,
since they must now assume, at an unusually early
age, grave responsibilities, far in advance of their time,
in the conduct of affairs. The effective training and
the due reward of the teacher are also matters of most
grave concern, since, unless these are provided, and
the teacher placed beyond anxiety, no education worthy
of the name can pdssibly be ensured.
The training of teachers for technical institutions
and for day continuation schools and classes was the
subject of a paper read by Principal Watson, of Keigh-
ley. Mr. Watson showed how considerable the de-
mand would be, illustrating by the submission of statis-
tical data derived from inquiries made in Keighley, a
town of 45,000 inhabitants, from which it appeared
that in that town provision must be made for at least
2800 young persons between fourteen and eighteen
years of age, requiring at least twenty-five specially
trained additional teachers, from which it is deduced
that at least 20,000 more teachers will be required of
especial character in England and Wales to. give
adequate effect to the provisions of the Bill with respect
to day continuation schools. This is in addition to
the extra provision required in the elementary day
schools, due to the large number of children who will,
under the provisions of the Bill, now be in constant
attendance in the schools up to fourteen years of age.
The feeling that the education of pupils in the day
continuation classes should be based upon liberal lines
without vocational bias found strong expression.
Sir Philip Magnus opened a discussion on the best
means of continued education, advocating that much
advantage is to be gained from a half-time system -
extending from the age of fourteen until sixteen, with
provision for continued education up to eighteen outside
the ordinary working hours for at least six hours a
week; but the feeling that the association should give
unwavering support to the continued education clauses
| of the Bill as they stand received practically unanimous
| support.
. al of
, the Association of Technical Institutions —
With a view to a more adequate scale
salaries for teachers in technical institutions
and with the purpose of securing the services of men
of high attainments and ripe technical experience, and
to the provision of a suitable scheme of pensions and
disablement allowances, it was urged by the associa-
tion that much larger State grants should be forth-
coming in aid of the work of technical institutions.
The regulations for junior technical schools were the
subject of much adverse criticism. It was demanded
that the course of instruction should be of a liberal
character, that it should include a language other than
English, that it should not have reference to a special
trade or industry,. and that . the pupil should
not be required to signify his intention to
adopt a special branch of industry or com-
merce. The association, in a memorandum on
‘Education after the War,” recently issued, urges that
there should be a large increase in the number of
scholarships with adequate maintenance grants to
enable candidates to proceed to day technical colleges,
that the technical departments of universities and tech-
nical colleges should be encouraged to undertake re-
search in co-operation with manufacturing firms, and,
having regard to the national importance of tech-
nical education, should bear a much larger proportion
of the cost, and that the Government grants in aid
of technical research should be largely increased. In
view of the difficulty many institutions have experi-
_ enced in obtaining necessary supplies, the Ministry of
| Munitions has empowered the council of the associa-
tion to endorse applications to which priority will be
the immense sacrifice of the best of our young man- |
granted under the order of the hon. secretary. The
association extends its warm support to the proposals
514
NATURE
1
[FEBRUARY 28, 1918
'
set forth on the co-ordination of engineering training
at the Conference of Engineers and Educational Asso-
ciations held at the Institution of Civil Engineers,
London, on October 25 last, with the object ot secur-
ing increased efficiency in the training of apprentice
engineers and a wider appreciation of the value in
industry of education of norte dee A rank,
THE EXPLOITATION OF THE SEA-
FISHERIES.
HE sea-fisheries as a source of food was. the sub-
ject of an interesting series of letters published
by. the Times between February 8 and 18. First of
all, Dr. W. S. Bruce directed attention to the abund-
ance of whales and seals in Antarctic seas, and in-
quired whether Lord Rhondda and “ the National Ser-
vice’? had sought advice about all this, Ought not
“canning factories and -refrigerating .vessels to be
started immediately in the, rich Antarctic whaling
grounds ’’? There are, he stated, whale meat there
which ‘‘is better to eat and tastes better than beef ”’;
seals and penguins, also. an additional meat supply ;
and ‘“‘millions and millions of new-laid penguin eggs,
larger and better than hen’s eggs.’’ Other corre-
spondents supported these remarks, but they did not
suggest where the canning factories and refrigerating
vessels were to be constructed, nor did they show that
it was sounder economics to send fishermen and large
vessels. to high Antarctic latitudes rather than employ
men and small motor-driven vessels to obtain the fish
that is plentiful enough just now a few miles away
from our own shores.
About the same time Lord Morris and others had an
interesting discussion at the Aldwych Club with refer-
ence to Newfoundland fisheries and other matters.
The remarkable quantities of plaice and soles existing
there were mentioned. Letters in the Times from
Dr. Shipley and Mr. C, Tate Regan rather dulled the
alluring picture, and cast doubts on the knowledge of
the speakers, by showing that there are no plaice or
soles in Newfoundland waters.. Whether it is better
policy to send men and vessels there after the war or
to employ them here was not discussed at the Aldwych
Club. Before the war British fishermen caught so
much sea-fish in British waters that about one-half
was exported. The remainder worked out as a
ration of about 14 oz. a day for all persons above five
years old. Even -then the fishing trades had to
organise a ‘fish as food’’ campaign to promote the
demand.
To the same correspondence remarks were contri-
buted by Capt. Howell, (late) Director of Fisheries for
the Punjab, ams Soe as to food and space, the formation
of both hydroccele and pedicellariz will be inhibited,
and larve perfectly bilaterally symmetrical will be pro-
duced which are provided on each side with a group
jinted spines in place of both hydroccele and pedi-
iz. From this observation it seems to follow
LHiecse.
on the nature’ of the laws governing the building up
of the bodies of embryos and larve is discussed.—
Prof. J. B. Farmer: The quantitative differences in the
water-conductivity of the wood in trees and shrubs.
The paper deals with the efficiency of the wood re-
garded from the viewpoint of water-conductivity.
Pout sixty species of plants, chiefly trees and shrubs,
_ have been investigated. The method adopted consists
in determining the amount of water passing in fifteen
‘minutes, delivered at a head of 30 cm. of mercury
_ through each square centimetre of wood of 15 cm. in
length. The results show that wide differences exist be-
tween different species, but that for a given species there
is commonly an ascertainable mean. Evergreens as a
class are characterised by wood of low conductivity
- with often small absolute fluctuation. Deciduous adult
trees and shrubs always possess wood of relatively high
_ conductivity, but the sapling trees and stool shoots of
_ coppiced woods exhibit low conductivity in their wood,
_ even when that of the adult shoots is high. The re-
- sults are of significance in throwing light on an aspect
NO. 2522, VOL. 100]
. By exposing the larve to the action of hyper-
| of xerophily and of transpiration which has hitherto
| been disregarded. It is also shown that the dying:
_ back of the leaders in some trees (e.g. ash) is corre-
_lated with the character of their wood. The sap wood
of deciduous trees commonly fills up with water during
the early autumn, and grounds are shown for observ-
ing caution in fitting conclusions reached in other
climates to the circumstances that obtain in the British
Isles. This matter is of some importance in its bear-
ing on the conditions that affect the seasoning of
timber.—Capt. M. Greenwood : The efficiency of muscu-
lar work. It is shown that the relation between total
_ heat production, body mass, and external work can
be expressed with sufficient accuracy for interpolation
_ by a function of the first degree, the constants of which
have been determined from the data by the method
of multiple regression. The method is illustrated upon
the data of Macdonald and those of Amar. When
body mass is constant, the relation is H=aW+b, H
being total heat production, W_ the thermal equivalent
of the work, a a constant, and b a variable parameter
dependent upon the speed of work performance. The
parameters are calculated for the data of Benedict and
Cathcart. It is pointed out that the relation neces-
sarily involves an increase of efficiency with amount of
work when efficiency is defined as W/H or as
W/(H-h), h being the ‘‘basal” heat production, and
that this increase may be without biological signifi-
cance. Reasons are given for doubting whether the
general relation between heat production and muscular
efficiency can be safely inferred from existing series of
observations, and economy of thermogenesis is dis-
cussed. .
Linnean Society, February 7.—Sir David Prain, presi-
_ dent, in the chair——Dr. B. Daydon Jackson: (1) The
‘*Panphyton siculum” of Francesco Cupani eee
1710). A few copies, none of which were complete,
were issued in 1713 by Cupani’s patron, the Prince.
Della Cattolica, the copy in the library of the Jesuit
_ Fathers at Palermo being the nearest complete, and
_ therefore cited by Gussone in his ‘‘Prodromus’’ and -
“Synopsis ’’; it consists of three volumes with about
700 plates, without text; the copy in the Linnean .
_ Society’s library has only 196 plates, two of which are
_in duplicate. (2) ‘‘ L’Histoire et pourtrait des plantes,”
_Lyon, 1561. The volume belonged to Linné, and a
pencil note on the title-page by Smith refers to an
| entry in Haller’s ‘‘ Bibliotheca botanica,” vol. i., p. 318,
_which proves to be copied from Adanson’s ‘“‘ Familles
des plantes,” vol. i., p. 6, where the book is described
from Jussieu’s library, but Jussieu’s copy is given as
published at Rouen in 1555, and attributed to Du Gort;
| the brothers Jean and Robert Du Gort were printers at
' Rouen at that time, and probably drew up the volume
from the Lyons issue of Fuchs’s ‘ Historia stirpium”’
of 1551, for nineteen of the cuts aré identical in both
books, with eight not yet-traced.—H. B. Guppy : Plant-
distribution from the point of view of an idealist. The .
paper began with an appeal for the mutual co-operation ~
of the supporters of the original Darwinian theory of
evolution and of the later hypothesis of mutation ad-
vanced by De Vries. If the view is correct that in the
history of the Angiosperms we have two main eras—
the era of the rise of the great families and the era of
their later differentiation—the mutationist would find
his most fitting field of work in the older era and the
orthodox Darwinian in the later one. It is held that
the distinction between the two schools is in degree
rather than in kind, and that the age that witnessed
the rise of the great families and the age that wit-
nessed their later differentiation are things apart. Dis-
tribution is primarily an affair of the larger groups;
and the problems that centre around the rise of the
| great families raise issues that cannot be stated in
518
NATURE
‘
‘ a
[F EBRUARY. 28, 191 :
terms of genera and species. Postulating the original
existence of world-ranging generalised family types
during an era.of uniform conditions, it is argued that
the differentiation of these primitive types was in re-
sponse to the progressive differentiation of their con-
ditions. The distribution of families is treated statis-
tically, and it is shown that whilst they largely ignore
the cleavage of the land into two great masses, diverg-
ing from the north, they respond in marked degree to
the differentiation of the climatic zones. The paper
ends with the statistical treatment of the larger groups
behind the families, and it is shown that whilst the-
Dicotyledons display a much greater tendency to de-
tachment from the tropics than do the Monocotyledons,
the Sympetalz stand foremost in this respect amongst
all the primary groups.
Physical Society, February 8.—Prof. C. V. Boys,
president, in the chair.—Prof. C. V. Boys: A recording
thermometer. This instrument was designed and con-
structed to go into the case of a-regulator clock. The
thermometric element consists of a rod of ebonite
within a glass tube. The differential expansion is
determined by a pair of levers giving a movement of
1 in. for to° F.. The drum carries an ordinary baro-
meter chart, and is driven at such a speed that a two- -
hour interval of § in. is passed in twenty-four hours.
The drum is driven by friction by*means of ‘a cord
from bélow the driving weight of the clock by an e®
‘arrangement, in virtue of which when the clockweight
descends the drum turns, but when the clock is wound
the drum remains at rest. The instrument is designed
with a view to easy construction and accuracy. It is
extremely rigid, and much more magnification might
be used. An alternative design on the same lines to
go into a recording barograph is also given.—S. D.
Chalmers ; The primary monochromatic aberrations of
a centred optical system. The paper describes approxi-
mate methods of treatment of the first-order aberra-
tions of a centred optical system. Two methods are
used, One primarily suited to the case where the separa-
tion of the surface is small, and the other more suited
for use where the separations vitally affect the design.
~The aberrational defects are expressed as lateral aber-
rations—t.e. as defects measured in the focal plane of
the system. The procedure adopted is to express the
aberrational defect of a single surface in terms of the
constants of the surface, and the perpendicular distance
of the ray considered from the centre of curvature of
the surface. The value of this perpendicular can be
expressed in terms of the co-ordinates of the ray in
any chosen medium, and thus the aberration due to
each surface can be expressed in terms of the co
ordinates of the chosen ray, in such a way that the
aberrations of the individual surfaces can be summed.
_; Optical Society, February 14.—Prof. F. J. Cheshire,
president, in the chair.—T.- Y. Baker: Reflecting
prisms. The author advocated the use of prisms in
place of mirrors as being easier to mount and as re-
quiring, in many cases, no silvering. A series of suit-
‘able designs for certain double reflecting prisms, in
which the light is made to deviate by a fixed amount,
was shown for angles 0°, 15°, 30°...90°, the form in
each case being that which gave maximum aperture to
. the prism. A special form of triple reflecting prism,
with angles of 30°, 30°, and 120°, was described. which
the author considered would be much more suitable for
the horizon glass of a sextant than the customary plane
mirror, as it would enable the telescope to be placed
close up to the prism without any danger of cutting off
light between the two mirrors. To avoid this happen-
ing in an ordinarv sextant, the horizon glass has to be
set at an angle of 75° to the axis of the telescope, and
the latter set well back, so that the angular aperture
NO. 2522, VOL. 100)
| : , i
| is equivalent to 15°, whereas with the prism des:
the aperture would be about 50°, and angles cou
measured up to 170°, in place of the maximum -
of 150° in an ordinary sextant. Bae,
Royal Meteorological Society, February 20.—Sir N
Shaw, president, in the chair.—F. A. Bellamy :
barometer record at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxfor¢
with special reference to Prof. Turner’s suggested di:
continuities. Prof. Turner has in several papers to th
Royal Meteorological Society claimed that meteoro.
logical history is divisible into ‘“‘ chapters” of an
average length of six and. a half years each, and has
assigned the «dates at which a new “chapter ’’ opens”
(when there are abrupt discontinuities in meteoro-_
logical phenomena) with considerable precision for the
last two centuries. The evidence has hitherto been
based upon the monthly mean values of rainfall a
temperature, and he has shown that these montl
means differ systematically in the’ ‘‘even”’ chapters as”
compared with the ‘‘odd.’’ To examine whether such”
systematic differences extended to periods shorter th
one month, Mr. Bellamy has analysed a series of six
two years’ daily barometer records made at the Ré
cliffe Observatory, Oxford, many of them made
himself while there in 1891-92. He concludes fro
his analysis that for periods from one to six months the:
is a decided difference in the even and odd chapters
atmospheric pressure, even for one station, as the
has been shown for rainfall and temperature fro
many stations in the world, and that the matter
discontinuities is’ supported.—Dr. C. Chree: T
diurnal: variation of barometric’ pressure at se
British observatories, 1871-82. The diurnal variati
of atmospheric pressure, as of any other element,
be analysed in Fourier terms or ‘‘ waves”’ of. perio
twenty-four, twelve, and eight hours. In the casé
of the mean diurnal variation from all months of the —
year combined, the twelve-hour wave appears of a
very dominant character, the amplitude being nearly
the same for all stations in the same latitude, and the ©
phase referred to local mean time’ being everywhere
nearly the same. The twenty-four-hour wave, on t
other hand, is very variable, and the eight-hour wa
small compared with the twelve-hour wave. Taki
the seven stations, Valencia, Armagh, Glasgow, Aber-
deen, Stonyhurst, Falmouth, and Kew, it is pointed
out that the comparative unimportance of the eight
hour wave in the mean diurnal inequality for the yea:
arises in great measure from the large difference that —
presents itself between the phase angles in two different —
seasons of the year. In individual months the eight- —
hour wave, though considerably smaller than the —
twelve-hour wave, is far from negligible, and th
phenomena presented by the eight-hour wave at the
seven British stations exhibit almost as close a simi-_
larity as those presented by the twelve-hour wave. ~
The paper also considers a theory as to the nature of —
the twelve-hour wave recently advanced by Dr. G. C
Simpson. :
z
MANCHESTER.
Literary and Philosophical Society, February 19.—Mr.
W. Thomson, president, in the chair.—Dr. J]. Stuart
Thomson: The occurrence of Cavernularia. Liitkenii,
K@6ll, in the seas of Natal.—L. Stanley Jast: The
necessity for a technical library for Manchester a
district. Manchester should lead in that provision of
technical libraries which must form a not inconsider-_
able part of our equipment for shouldering our due~
share of the commerce of the world after the war.
ASN
pat. EDINBURGH. Rese
Royal Society, February 4.—Dr. John Horne in
chair.—Dr. J. Stuart Thomson ; The morphology of
Prosencephalon of Spinax as a type of Elasmobranc!
;
_ FEBRuARY 28, 1918]
“4
NATURE
519
ore-brain. The author describes the nerve-cell areas
nd the fibre tracts. The cell-areas definitely located
re :—Tuberculum olfactorium, corpus striatum, for-
aatio pallialis, primordium hippocampi, and the para-
srminal body. The author describes twelve fibre-
mce of a corpus callosum in Spinax.—Dr. J. M.
‘fhompson: The anatomy and affinity of certain rare
and primitive ferns. The genera Jamesonia, Llavea,
nd Trismeria were specially considered. The investi-
ration seemed to show that the structural features of
amesonia are relatively primitive, and the sporangial
characters in particular are valuable guides in the con-
ideration of relationship. The features of the plant
are distinctive, and justify its maintenance as a dis-
‘inet genus, with.a high spore output and a Schizoid
igi In the case of Llavea the anatomical state was
considered transitional, but suggestive of primitive
elationships, and the sporangia seemed to be of an
advanced type in which a large spore output had not
| persisted. This plant was held to be a distinct genus.
In Trismeria the anatomical and sporangial characters
were considered more advanced, and comparison
showed that the plant is in reality a Gymnogramme of
Ce oo type. With Jamesonia and Llavea it seemed
cho! ia?’
to a laxly associated group of ‘ Acrosti-
vatives of some Schizzoid source. Among
the comparative points raised was the marked vari-
ability of spore size seen in certain of the ferns con-
) sidered. This variation in ferns of more or less clear
\ Schizzoid. source was considered suggestive of the
|) origin of heterospory.—Miss M. I. H. Ferguson: A
further study of the diets of labouring-class families in
lassow in war-time. (This was a continuation of
previous studies communicated to the society in 1916;
see Nature, vol. xcviii., p. 463.) One general result
was that in spite of the increased cost of foodstuffs
there was practically no change in the diets of Febru-
ary, 1917, and November, 1917. There was:a marked
increase in the consumption of potatoes in November
as compared with their consumption in February, but
_ this was not apparently accompanied by decreased con-
sumption of flour. It appeared that no less than
$0 per cent. of the energy was obtained from the
_ rationed food, although in 1915-16 this yielded only
75 per cent. It is of interest to know that in certain
_ families where the father was on military service the
_ diet was more adequate than when he was at home.
q
ae Dustin.
_ Royal Irish Academy, February 11.—Mr. T. J. West-
p foPP vice-president, in the chair.—J. A. McClelland
and the Rev. C Power: Electrification by
friction. The rate of production of charge on
_ various metals when pressed against a_ rotat-
ing disc of tightly stretched linen or sillkk-has been
_ measured under various conditions. Results are given
_ showing how the rate of production depends on the
speed of the disc, the pressure between the rubbing
_ surfaces, the condition of the metal surface, the tem-
- perature, and the humidity. The last section of the
s rag deals with experiments carried out in air at very
m4 pressures.—G. H. Carpenter and F. J. S. Pollard:
_ The presence of lateral spiracles in the larva of Hypo-
_ derma. The authors describe six pairs of minute
lateral spiracles in the fourth-stage larva of Hypoderma
bovis and H. lineatum. Each spiracle is open at the
_ Surface of the cuticle, but study of transverse sections
_ shows that the vestigial air-tube connected with it is
plugged by a core of solid chitin. These plugged tubes
become continuous with branches of the tracheal sys-
‘tem in which the normal spirally thickened lining can
_be clearly recognised. The anterior spiracles in Hypo-
derma closely resemble these lateral spiracles, and the
NO. 2522, VOL. 100]
cts, but he could find nothing to indicate the exist- .
forward ends of the tracheal trunks leading to them
are also plugged with chitinous corés. The presence
of vestigial lateral spiracles in specialised parasitic
larve, like the warble-maggots, is remarkable. No
description of such structures in any muscoid larva
seems to have been published hitherto, though Pantel
mentioned their existence in tachinine maggots .in
1g0l.
Paris.
Academy of Sciénces, January 21.—M. Léon Guignard
in the chair.—L. Maquenne and E.. Demoussy: The
influence of metallic salts on. germination in presence
of calcium. The presence of any salt at a concentration
approaching a harmful dose in pure water reduces the
favourable action upon parece which calcium
salts exert alone. The effect is particularly marked
with ‘copper sulphate, which, in amounts oor to
0-025 mgr. per seed, has no unfavourable action alone,
whilst it reduces the root length by a quarter to a third
in presence of 005 mgr. of calcium~ sulphate.—C.
Richet, P. Brodin, and F. Saint-Girons : Some modifica-
tions in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis by
antiseptic inhalations. Experiments were made with
creosote, camphor, phenol, gomenol, iodoform, and
terebene, dissolved in vaseline oil, the dose inhaled
being controlled by the temperature of the oil. The
same antiseptic was never inhaled on two consecutive
occasions. Creosote and gomenol gave the best re-
sults, inhaled twice a day for one hour each time.
There was a marked improvement aftef two months’
treatment in severe cases, increase of weight and
muscular strength, and reduction of expectoration and’
cough.—A. de Gramont: Researches on the line spec-
trum of titanium and its applications.—W. Kilian ; The
coalfield in the neighbourhood of Saint-Michel-de-
Maurienne (Savoy). The layer of schist, rich in
anthracite, has a flora characteristic of levels between
the middle Westphalian and the Stephanian, the former.
predominating. ‘There are numerous seams of anthra-
cite, averaging one to two metres in thickness, and it is
estimated that as a minimum there are five million tons
available with horizontal adits——R. Garnier: The
irregular singularities of linear differential equations.
—J. C. Sola: The study of stellar currents. Photo-
graphs were taken at intervals of from two to six years,
and selected portions of the plates, sixty-two alto-
gether, studied stereoscopically, and the direction of the
current was determined foreach. The results are given
in tabular form.—A. Véronnet : The law of densities of
a gaseous mass and internal temperatures of the sun.
—L. Bloch: The theories of gravitation —H, Chaumat :
A phenomenon of super-voltage in a continuous-current
circuit deprived of self-induction.—C. Matignon and F.
Meyer: Invariant equilibria in the ternary system:
water, sodium. sulphate, ammonium sulphate.—L.
Gentil and L. Joleaud: The great tectonic zones of
Tunis.—A. Mailhe: New preparation of the - fatty
nitriles by catalysis. The method recently described
for the catalytic preparation of aromatic nitriles has
been extended to the fatty series, and details are given
for isovaleronitrile, butyronitrile, and _propionitrile..
The reaction is a general one.—G. Reboul: The rela-
tion between variations of the barometer and those of
the wind at the ground level: application to prediction.
—R. Leriche and A. Policard ; The histological mechan-
ism of the formation of new bone during osseous re-
generation in man. New, bone substance appears to
be formed by a process analogous with that described
by Korff for dentine and some types of bone. With
some reserves for certain points of detail and termino-
logy, it would appear that Korff’s conception is more
in accord with the facts than the classical theory.—A.
Durand: The sense of smell. This depends, accord-
ing to the author, upon the following conditions: the
520
NATURE
presence in the air of centres (ions odorants) capable
of facilitating the condensation of atmospheric mois-
ture, a suitable hygrometric state, and cooling of the
air current produced by inspiration.—J. E. Abelous and
J. Aloy: The necessity for a hydrogen acceptor and an
oxygen acceptor for the manifestation of the process
of oxido-reduction: in organic liquids of animal and
vegetable origin.—M. Marage: Contribution to the
study of war commoticns. Definding commotion as
the lesions produced in a point of the nervous system
either central or peripheral, it is shown that this arises
from large pressures acting for very short periods of
time on the whole of the body surface, and transmitted
by the liquids of the organism to the cortical sub-
stance of the brain contained in an indeformable
chamber, the skull.
BOOKS RECEIVED. Ne
Transmission Gears, “Mechanical, Electric, and
Hydraulic, for Land and Marine Purposes. By E.
Butler. Pp. xii+164. (London: C. Griffin and Co.,
Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net.
The Exploitation of Plants. | By various. writers.
edited by Prof. F. W. Oliver. Pp. vii+170.. (London
and Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net.
The Kiln Drying of Lumber. By H. D. Tiemann.
Pp. ix+316. (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippin-
cott Co.) 18s. net..
Field Sanitation. By C. G. Moor and E. E. Cooper
and others. Pp. viii+220. (London:. Bailliére, Tin-
dall, and Co.) 2s. 6d. net.
Western Live-Stock Management. Edited by Prof.
E. L. Potter. Pp. xiv+462. (New York: The Mac-
millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.)
net.
A Manual of Physics: Theoretical and ‘Practical, for
Medical. Students. By Prof. H. C. H. Candy. Second
edition. | Pp. vili+451. (London: Cassell and Co.,
Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net.
Lyon’s Medical Jurisprudence for India, with Illus-
trative Cases. By Lt.-Col. L. A. Waddell. Sixth
edition. Pp. xiii+783. (Calcutta ‘and Simla:
Thacker, Spink, and Co.; London: W. Thacker and
Co.) 28s. net.
Directions for a Practical Course in Chemical Physio:
logy. By Dr. W. Cramer. Third edition. Pp. viii+
119. (London: Longmans and Co.) 3s. net.
The Baby. By .Dr. S. Seekings. Pp. 63. (Lon-
don: S:P:G.K.).-9d.:
The Improvement of the Gregorian Calendar.
By
A. Philip. Pp. 30.
(London: G. Routledge and Sons,
Ltd.) ‘1s. 6d. net.
A Dictionary of Aircraft. By W. E. Dommett. Pp.
52. (London: Electrical Press, Ltd.) 2s. net.
Experiments in Psychical Research -at Leland Stan-—
ford Junior University.
xxiv+641. (California :
dollars.
Infinitesimal Calculus.
tion II. Pp. x+352+/iv.
Co.) tos. 6d. net.
DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, Fesrvuary 28.
Rovar Society, at 4.30. —Scattering of Light by Dust-free Air, with
Artificial Reproduction of the Blue Sky. Preliminary Note The Hon.
R Strutt.—The Lommel-Weber Q Function and. its Application
to the Problem of Electric Waves on a Thin Anchor Ring:
Airey.—Investigations on Textile Fibres : W. Harrison.—Critical Tsk ading
of Struts and Structure: W. L. Cowley and H.: Levy. :
FRIDAY, Marcu 1.
INSTTEUTION, at 5.30. —The Modern Dye-stuff Industry: Prof.
Green.
SATUR DAY, MARCH 2.
Rovat InstiTuTION, at 3-—Problems in Atomic Structure:
Thomson.
By J. E. Coover.. << Pp:
Stanford University.) 3.50
By Prof. F. S. Carey. ‘Sec-
(London: Longmans and
Rova.
A. G.
Sir J.J
2522, VOT. 100]
» ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 5.30. —Vibrations: pie BESS Musical, and Blec: 3
MONDAY, MaRcH 4
ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY, at 8. —Syut asium: "Does the Knowing
Contribute to the Structure of the Object Known? Prof. G. Deaer) E
and Dr, H. Wildon Carr. RY ed
Rovat Society OF Arts, at 4.30. —The Effect of the War. on the cor
Condition of the United Kingdom: E. Crammond, ¥
TUESDAY, Marc A
*Royat InsTiTuTION, at 3.—The National Physical Leora Sir R.
Glazebrook. i:
ZOOLOGICAL SOciETY, at 5.30.—The External Characters of the Lemurs’
‘arsius ? ‘Pocock.—A Classification of the Pyralide, Subfan
Hypsotropinz : Sir George F. Hampson. ° og
InsTITUTION OF. Civ. ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—Modern Developments
Gasworks Construction and Practice: A. Meade. * fe
penta Society oF ARTs, at 4.30.—Poytugal as a Colonial Bower: G.
oung. ; é
WEDNESDAY, Marcu 6. iz
Me ei Society, at 5.30.—The Igneous Rocks of the. Lake District :
Be reen.
ENTOMOLOGICAL SociETy, at 8 : :
Roya. Socirery oF ArTs, at 4.30.—The Foundation of Industria Peacest
A. H. Paterson.
THURSDAY, Marcu 7
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6. "The. Control. Sof Large
Amounts of Power: E. B. Wedmore. :
INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 5.30,—The*Application of
‘Charcoal to the Precipitation of Gold from its Solution in Cyanide: H. R. |
Edmands.—Blast-furnace rh | of Stibnite, with considerations on the
Metallurgy of Antimony: W. R. Schoeller.—A “ Responsive * Shaft
Signal Device: B. Angwim +g
LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 5. —(1) The Mimetic and Mendelian Saeeosis of
the ‘‘ White Admirals” of North America (with Lantern $ Ay
New Mimetic Form of Pseudacraca poggei (Dewitz) from 3
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-E. BR. Poulton,—Mimetic Species of the African Nymphaline Genus Pseud-"
acrea and Lycanid Genus Mimacrea, together Wil th ce nr and
Danaidine Models and Some of their Pag. 2! Lord Rothschi' 4
FRIDAY, Marcu
trical: Prof. E. H. Barton.
SATURDAY, Marcu 9.
Rovar InstITUTION, at 3.— Problems in Atomic Structure + ea J. hie
Thomson
CONTENTS.
The New Era in Medicine. By C. A Or: a
Museum Management. By Sir F. G. enjon. ie CB. 502
Plant-anatomy in Relation to Evolution. By Prof. ©
i i C. Seward, F.R.8.5050.'0) . ah. Sa ee
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The Srclect of the Nile. | (Lustrated, ne ‘By Dr: i
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Our Mationomicat’ Coleman: —
Nove in the Andromeda Nebula’... ~~... - 512
‘New Variable ‘Stars ) 4)..)sgr Sec en cee 512
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Military Aeronautics .. . i Hii ta 1 Oe
The Association of Technical Institutions pitieh wee Fie
The Exploitation of the Sea-fisheries. By J. J 514.)
Seismic’ Disturbances Connected with the iiss:
mala Earthquake . . 514 |
The Pittsburgh Meeting of the American Association 555.
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wit a bore tee seagate teeta ene eee
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