oe ate « yt Hy 47 Sie ‘ on nt there f. ag ty Seater ' Gears ates! afer bes puly ives = vous feat asa Coat piesa a eee as cman! yee. si ae ‘ Ne oe ars iat tte igi Hy cutee g res: ca Sue ats ‘ may METS acc as Sree abe i Nature, September 20, 1917. _ Nature —_— A WEEKLY yA -, ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE VOLUME XCIX MARCH, 1917, to AUGUST, 1917. ‘““ To the solid ground Of Nature trusts_the mind which builds for aye.” —WORDSWORTH 14g | ————————— iy ja fly £ondon MACMILLAN. AND CO. LimitepD NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - Nature, September 20, 1917 NAME - Naval Architects, 113 , The Biochemical Phenomena of Oxido- x We The Fourth Colourless Sensation in the sation Curve, 178 Laws of Flow of A pes by Drops in ‘and Prof. F, G. Sarking, Feeding Experi- Deficiencies in the Amino-acid Supply, 111 , A Large Part of Exmoor Placed Under the rust, 31 3 . J. G.), Adaptation and Disease, 495 New Zealand Time Service, 252 ), and G. Strémberg, Stellar Motions and Magnitudes, 472 ee F _C.), The Work of the Ministry of Munitions, ; y - J. }, The Origin of Flint, 345 -), The Whalebone Whales of New England, H. S.), Sound of Digsut Gun-firing, 289, 409 _W. C. dohituary], 69 ), and G. R. McDole, Importance of the Water ined in the Deeper Portions of the Subsoil, 379 Origin and Prophylaxy of Heat Stroke, 319; % Movement in Invalids and Persons who have Lost the Right Arm, 219; The Physiopathology 520; The Prothesis of the Lower Limb, 79 arks on Meal Times, 320 ), Plans for Arctic Expedition, 210 - C.), Bibliography of Australian Mineralogy, (R. J.), and G. Lusk, Interrelation between Dirt : ype etc., 400 ical Ss gata to Spitsbergen, 450 i Whale, 3 and Gunfire, 467; Value of the e Elements of ie Val-Joyeux Observatory on tory Course of Practical Elec- Seational Schools and Shop Classes, 402 | INDEX. INDEX. Archer (E.), A Disease or Malformation of Lucerne, 1 79 Archer (W. E.) [obituary], 528 Arctowski (H.), Heliographic Positions of the Sun-spots and Magnetic Storms, 39; The Sun-spot Zones, 72 Ardern, The Activated Sewage Sludge Process, 533 Ariés (E.), Entropy of Perfect Gases at the Absolute Zero of Temperature, 119 Armitage (E.), An Invasion of Ants, 525 Armstrong-Jones (Sir R.), Psychological Medicine, 301 Ashley (Rev. A. J.), Esperanto, 318 Ashley (Prof. W. J.), German Iron and Steel, 251 Ashton (Dr. A. W.), appointed Principal of the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Department of the Stoke- on-Trent Central School of Science and Technology, 499 Atack (F. W.), assisted by L. Whinyates, The Chemists’ Year Book, 1917, 2 vols., 225 Audley (J. A. )s The Use of Zirconia as a Rae Material, 375. Bacon’s. New Series of Physical Wall Atlases: British Isles, 364 Baddeley (St. Clair), The Place-names of Herefordshire, 391 Bailey (E. B.), and H. B. Mauffe, Geology of Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, and the Surrounding Country, 173 Bailey (Dr. G. H.), The Tutorial Chemistry. Part ii., Metals and Physical Chemistry. Edited by Dr.. W. Briggs. Third edition, 244 Bailey (Prof. L. H.), The Pruning-Manual, 263; The peers Cyclopedia of Horticulture. Vols. iii. and iv., Bailey ‘(Major P. G.) [obituary], 211 Baillaud (B.), Memories of Sir David Gill, 161 Baily (W.) [obituary], 149 Baird and Tatlock, Ltd., : Rarer Glass Jars, 14 Baker (A. C.), and W. F. Turner, The Rosy Apple 78% 291 Baker (C.), List of Second-hand Instruments, 16 Baker (Dr. Sarah M.) [obituary], 329 Balfour (H.), A Ceremonial Paddle Used by the Kalabari Tribe, 150; Primitive Forms of Agricultural Implements from Assam, Balland (M.), Some Experiments in Bread-making, 259; Soya as a French Foodstuff, 99; The Alterations of Biscuit Bread, 519- Ballard (Dr. P. B.), awarded the Carpenter Medal by the University of don, 95 Ballif (L.), Determination of the Density of Air as a Function of the Altitude, 319 Balliol (The Master of), Natural Science in Education, 419 Ballivian (M. V.), awarded the David Livingstone Cen- tenary Medal.of the American Geographical Society, 500 Banerji (S. K.), Diffraction Phenomena in the Testing of Optical Surfaces, 206 Bangay (R. D.), The Elementary Principles of Wireless Telegraphy. Part ii., Second edition, 382 Bannister (C. O.), Granjon and Rosemberg’ s Autogenous Welding, 143 iY p pre Nature, September 20, 1917 Barbillion (Prof. L.), Legons sur le Fonctionnement des Groupes Electrogénes en Régime Troublé, 2 _ Barnard (C.), New Method of Dispersal of Noxious Weeds by Birds, 392 ‘ Barnard (Prof. R. J. A.), Elementary Dynamics of the Particle and Rigid Body, 322 Barnes (Prof. J. H.), awarded the Degree of D.Sc., by Birmingham University, 397; [death], 370; [obituary], 428; and A. J. Grove, Insects Attacking Stored Wheat in the Punjab, 170 Barnett (S. J.), Magnetisation of Iron, Nickel, and* Cobalt by Rotation, 219 Barry (Sir J. Wolfe), to Deliver the “James Forrest” Lecture, 89 : Bartholomew (Dr. J. G.), The Advanced Atlas of Physical and Political Geography, 323 Bartlett (F. C.), Valuation and Existence, 58 Bartlett (Dr. H. H.), Status of the Mutation Theory, with Special Reference to GEnothera, 34 Barton (Prof. E. H.), Thermodynamics and Gravitation, 45 Baskerville (Prof. C.), appointed Representative in the United States of the Ramsay Memorial Committee, 391 Barus (C.), Displacement Interferometry of Long Distances, 500 Bassot (Genl. J. A. L.) [obituary], 51 Bastin (H.), British Insects and How to Know Them, 404 Bastin (S. L.), How to Know the Ferns, 463 Bateson (Prof. W.), Is Variation a Reality ?, 43 Bather (Dr. F. A.), The Triassic Crinoids from New ~ Zealand Collected by C. T. Trechmann, 59 Battelli (Prof. A.) [obituary], 90 Baumberger (J. P.), Food of Drosophila melanogaster, Meigen, 179 : Baxter (G. P.), and H. W. Starkweather, Revision of the ; Atomic Weight of Tin, 140 Bayley (T.), Edited by R. Ensoll, A Pocket-book for _ Chemists. Eighth edition, 503 Bailly (O.), Does the Law of Mass-Action Govern Diastatic Reactions ?, 520 Bayliss (Prof. W. M.), awarded the Baly Medal, 469; Hunger and Appetite, 41 ; The Nature of Renal Activity, 344; The New Food Orders, 128, 165; The Teaching of Physiology, 1o1 Baxter and Rintoul (Misses), Gift of Local and other Birds to St. Andrews University, 198 Bazin (H.) [obituary], 190 : Beattie (Prof. J. C.), Deviation of the Compass, 15 Beatty (Dr. J.), The Method of Enzyme Action, 443 Becker (Prof. L.), The Arithmetical Mean and the “ Middle” Value of Certain Meteorological Observations, 340 Beddard (Dr. F. E.), The “Sei” Whale, 17 Beeson (C. F. C.), Life-history of Diapus furtivus, 392 von Behring (Dr. E.) [death], 109 ; [obituary], 169 ; [obituary article], 228 Beilby (Sir G.), Chemical Engineering, 54 Bell (Dr. R.) [death], 350; [obituary article], 370 Bellingham and Stanley, Ltd., The Design of the Zeiss Abbe Refractometer, 331 Belot (E.), Possible Origingof Star Clusters, 159 Belton (Rev. P. S.), appointed Honorary “Assistant and Demonstrator in the Metallurgical Department of Bir- mingham University, 58 Benares (The Maharaja of), Foundation of a Gold Medal cs Lady Hardinge Medical College for Women, 33 Benham (C. E.), Electric Discharge from Scythe, 366 Benson (W. N.), and others, British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-9. Reports on the Scientific Investigations. Geology, vol. ii., 441 Berg (Prof. L. S.), Les Poissons des Eaux douces de la Russie, 222 Berg (W. _N.), Transformation of Pseudoglobulin into Eu- globulin, 379 Berget (A.), Differential Refractometer for Measuring the Salinity of Sea-water, 119 Bergonié (J.), Advantages from a Change in Number, Time, and Importance of Meals, 320; Superiority of Agricul- tural Work Medically Prescribed and Controlled, etc., 199 Beringer (J. J.), The Physical Condition of Cassiterite (Tin Ore) in Cornish Mill Products, 112 Berkeley (Earl of), E. G. J. Hartley, and C. V. Burton, Osmotic Pressures Derived from Vapour Pressure Measurements, 58 Berry (C. S.), Effect of Smoking on the Speed and Accuracy of Adding Figures, 71 Berry (E. W.), Age of the Bolivian Andes, 379 Berry (H. S.), Gift of the Equipment of a Technical Mining and Engineering Institute, 418 Berry (W.), Plea for a _ Professorship of Ornithology, 372 Bethelot (A.), The Production of Phenol by Micro-organisms, 60 ‘oe Economic: Berthelot (Prof. M.), Unveiling a Statue of, 290 ; Besant (Dr. W. H.) [death], 289 ; [obituary article], 310 Besley (Capt. C.), A Kinematograph Film of an Expedition to the Head Waters of the Amazon, 109 | Bews (Prof. J. W.), The Plant Ecology of the Drakensberg — Range, 430 orl Bickerton (T. H.), appointed Lecturer on Ophthalmology in the University of Liverpool, 3 Bickerton (W.), Feeding Habits of Woodpeckers, 192 Biggart (A. S.) [obituary], 189 i Bigourdan (G.), Some Ancient Observations of the Provencal — Region in the Seventeenth Century, 79; The Observa- | tions Attributed to- Prince Louis of Valois, 440; The — Observations of La Fléche, etc., 119; The Propagation of the Sound-wave Produced by Gun-fire to Great Distances, 519 h Bilham (E. G.), The Diurnal Variation of Atmospheric Pressure at Benson, during 1915, 178 . i Bingham (E. C.), and R. F. Jackson, Standard Liquids for the Standardisation of Viscometers, 512 i Binnie (Sir A. R.) [death], 248; [obituary article], 267. ~ Birch (Col. de Burgh), Titlé of Emeritus Professor Con- ferred upon, 357 Birkeland: (Prof. Kr.) [obituary article], 349 Birdwood (Sir G.) [obituary], 370 Blackman (Prof. V. H.), and I. Jorgensen, Effect of Over- head Eleetric Discharge upon Crop Production, 232 Blagden (C. O.), appointed Reader in Malay in London University, 438 Blaikie (Dr.), Monthly Star Maps for 1917, 93 Bland-Sutton (Sir J. and, Lady), Gift to the Middlesex Hos- pital Research Fund, 169 Blyth (B. H.) [obituary article], 249 Boardman (Lt.-Col. T. H.) [obituary], 528 Bodding (Rev. P. O.), The Santals, 14 . Bolton (A. T.), appointed Curator of Sir John ‘Soane’s Museum, 499 op Be Bonacina (L. C. W.), The Frequency of Snow in London, 185 3 Bonnier (P.),; Incontinence of Urine, 159 Booker (A.) [obituary], 129 Bordas (L.), Ichneumonides as Auxiliaries in Forestry, 360; Réle of the Ichneumonides in the Contest against the Parasites of Forest Trees, 79; The Egg Deposition of Rhynchites conicus, etc., 480 Bordier (H.), and G. Roy, Colloidal State of Camphor in Water in Presence of Camphorated Oil, 219 Borradaile (L. A.), Decapod Crustacea and Barnacles Col- lected by the Terra Nova Expedition, 155; The Mouth- parts of the Palamonid Prawns, 19 Boswell (Dr. P. G. H.), appointed to the George Herdman Chair of Geology at Liverpool University, 238; British Sands: their Location and Characteristics, 16; Proper- ties of Sand Suitable for Glass-making, 71; British Sand for the Glass and Metallurgical Industries, 532 Bottomley (Dr. F.), Plants Fitted with Fused Silica Con- ’ densers, etc., 431 Bottomley (W. B.), Effects of Growth-promoting Substances (Auximones) on the Growth of Lemna minor in Culture Solutions, 77 - Bougault (J.), Acidylsemicarbazides and Acidylsemicarbazic Acids, 319; Action of Iodine on Alkalies, 439; A New Method of Estimating Aldehydic Sugars, 440; Isomerisa- tion in the Ethylenic Acids by Migration of the Double Bond, 219; Mixed. Anhydrides derived from Ben- zoylacrylic Acid, 99 Boule (Prof. M.), and Prof. R. Anthony, Neopallial Mor- phology of Fossil Men, 52 Boulenger (Dr. G. A.), Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Tachydromus, 239; The Genus Nucras, 430 Lndex Vv and A. Aubry, Crystallisation and Com- tary Properties of the Galactobiose Previously ed by Biochemical Synthesis, 139; The Bio- ical Synthesis of a Second Galactobiose, 15 (J. E.), M. Bridel, and A. Aubry, Crystallisation of a B-monoglucoside of Glycerol, 319 r A. G.), The Value of Research in Science, 75 - R.), Osmotic Pressure, 215; The Specific Water, 419; and C. E. Bousfield, The Specific Solutions, 419 of. E.), appointed Herbert Spencer Lecturer at ), Artificial Nepheline, 269; Potassium Repre- of N ine, 269 M.), Physiological Studies on Rhizophora, 139 -), Estimation of Toluene in Crude Petroleum, ,ertie ‘Arrest’s Periodic Comet, 112; and J. Fischer- Schaumasse Comet 1917), 271; Mrs. J. omet 1917a@ (Mellish), 133, 152; A New Comet ~ a 214 - So W.), Gift to Columbia University, 518 C.), The Origin of Flint, 324 cipal C.), Applied Science and Pure Science, 330 W. H.), and W. L. Bragg, awarded the Gold the Societa Italiana delle Scienze, 150 J. S. S.), Liquid Fuel and its Combustion, 134 3.), Janus and Vesta: a Study of the World risis and After, 142 : (Prof. J. C.), The Tejon Pass Earthquake of ‘ober 22, 1916, 492 C.), Continuative Education in France, 288 . R.), Second-Year Mathematics for Secondary Is. Second edition, 322 (Dr. P. W.), Effect of Great Pressures on the ature and Velocity of Transition of Polymorphic 32 ; Resistance of Metals under Pressure, 159 C.), The Alcohol Industry in the Philippines, etc., . B.), and E. C. Kemble,Harmonics in the d Absorption Spectra of Diatémic Gases, 500 iss B. M.), appointed Honorary Assistant strator in Botany at Birmingham University, 58 -), The Frequency of Snow in London, 205 i. A. D.), Present Objects of the Society of >. E. P.), Continentality and Temperature, 19; eduction of Temperature Observations to Mean of wenty-four Hours, 359 wn (Dr. H. T.), Postponement of Lecture to the -C.), Geology of the Province of Yiinnan, 471 rof. M.), Appearance and Disappearance of Islands, . R. N. Rudmose), appointed an Examiner in hy at Oxford, 38 vf. W.), Change in Young’s Modulus of Nickel ic Fields, 119 gs (Dr. C. H.), and Dr. S. Russ, The Germicidal n of Ultra-violet Radiation and its Correlation Selective Absorption, 217 E rowning (Prof. K. C.), Detection of Traces of Mercury _ Salts for Toxological Purposes, 292 ; (Dr. W. S.), The Weddell Sea, 429° 3 Gulbrausen, and Thornton (Drs.), The Anti- ive Properties of Flavine and Brilliant Green, 490 st (Dr. J.) [obituary], 267 V. W.), Arcs of Halos, 345 Worth of 138 Ccitiptils Rendus of Observation and hy. Ancient Literature to the ryce The its (J. ¥.), oe 1420 O. E.), An Tonisation.-Manometer, 139 (S. S.), Correlation of Jurassic Chronology, A. and H. St. George Gray, The Glastonbury 2 V “Wok: ti; 482 : (D._ K.), Steel and its Heat Treatment. Second 381 > Burgess (Dr. G. K.), Measurement of the Temperatures in Bessemer and Open-hearth Practice, 151 4 Burne (R. H.), Some of the Viscera of an Okapi, 178 Burnet (Prof. J.), Higher Education and the War, 361 Burnham (J. B.), Game Protection in America, 18 Burton (T. H.), Microscopic Material of the Bunter Pebble- Sang ee and its Probable Source of rigin, 23 Butler (Prof. G. M.), A Pocket Handbook of Minerals. e632 Butler (Prof. M.), * Riistsica Drifting ? Butler (S.), Life and Habit. New edition, 203 Buttikofer (Dr. J.), The Baboons of Celebes, 313 Byerly (Prof. W. E.), An Introduction to the Use of Generalised Co-ordinates in Mechanics and Physics, 1$2 Calderwood (W. L.), The Salmon of the River Lochy as Shown by a Collection of Scales Made in 1916, 239 Calman (Dr. W. T.), Report on the Crustacea Collected the Terra Nova Expedition, 352 Calmette (Dr. A.), appointed a Sub-Director of the Institut Pasteur, Paris, 489 Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co., Ltd., List of Resist- ance Pyrometers, 16; Lists of Scientific Instruments, 193 Campbell (Prof. W. W.), The Nebulz and Stellar Evolution, 393; and W. H. Moore, Rotation in Planetary Nebulz, 375 Camus (Dr.), A Centre for Determining the Extent of War Incapacitation, 468 Capps (S. R.), The Age of Peat-layers, 471 Capus (A.), Discourse to the French Academy, 390 Cardot (C. and H.), Analogy between the Lactic Ferments -and Streptococci, 539 Carleton (Prof. M. A.), The Small Grains, 22 Carlson (Prof. A. J.), The Control of Hunger in Health and Disease, 41 Carmichael (Prof. R. D.), The Provision made by Mathe- matics for the Needs of Science, 353 Carpenter (Dr.), The Basis of Modern Industry in Mechanics and Chemistry, 532 Carpenter (Dr. F. A.), The Aviator and the Weather Bureau. Second edition, 263 Carpenter (Prof. G. H.), Neglect of Pure Scientific In- vestigation, 213 Carrel (A.), et G. Dehelly; Le Traitement des Pilates Infectées, 363 Carslaw (Prof. H. S.), The Elements of Non-Euclidean Plane Geometry and Trigonometry, 302 Carter (H. F.), and Dr. D. Mackinnon, Intestinal Pro- tozoa, 14 Carus-Wilson (C.),‘/ The Origin of Flint, 345 Carvalho (C. M. Delgado de), Météorologie du Brésil, 364 Cary (L. R.), Influence of the Marginal Sense Organs on Metabolic Activity in Cassiopea xamachana, 140 Cashmore (M.), Fermat’s Last Theorem, 302 Castle (Prof. W. E.), Genetics and Eugenics, 202; and Ss. Wright, Studies of Inheritance in Guinea-pigs and _ Rats, 226 Cauwood (J. D.), S. English, and W. E. S. Turner, The Action of Chemical and Physical Agents on Some Types of Scientific Glassware, 453 Cavasino (Dr. A.), Italian Earthquakes, 1891-1910, 392 Cave (Capt. C. J. P.), The Forms of Clouds, 15 Cave (Lieut. L.), Auroras and Magnetic Sterms, 525 : Caven (Dr. R. M.), A Short System of Qualitative Analysis for Students of Inorganic Chemistry, 422; The Origin of Flint, 306 : Cazin (M.), Total Heliotherapy in the Treatment of Men Wounded in the War, 259 Chapman (A.), The Brent Goose, 170 : Chapman (A. C.), Some Main Lines of Advance in the Domain of Modern Analytical Chemistry, 271; The Colouring Matter of Red Torulz, 132 Chapman (F), Some Tertiary Fish-teeth, 179 Chapman (Dr. S.), Convection and Diffusion within Giant Stars, 258; Thermal Diffusion and the Stars, 259 ; Charlesworth and J. Ramsbottom, Structure of the Leaves of Hybrid Orchids, 19 Charpy (G.), and A. Cornu-Thenard, Tests for Resilience, 139; and M. Godchot, Conditions of the Formation of Coke, 359 vi Lndex [ Nature, September 20, 1917 Chatley (Prof. H.), Cohesion (third paper), 258 } Chauvenet (E.), Combinations of Zirconium with Sulphuric Acid, 320; The Zirconyl Sulphates, 439 | is Chelmsford (Lord), Importance of Education in India, 38; Technical Education in India, 479 Cheshire (F. J.), recommended as Director of the Depart- ment of Technical Optics at the Imperial College of Science, 257 ‘ Chevenard (P.), A Self-recording Differential Dilatometer, 360; Mechanism of the Tempering of Carbon Steels, 480 Cheyne (Sir W. Watson), elected Member for the Univer- sities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews, 499 Chick (H.), and E. M. M. Hume, Deficiency of Substance in Grains Causing Polyneuritis, etc., 19 Chisholm (G. G.), awarded the Charles P. Daly Medal of the American Geographical Society, 509 Choate (J. H.) [obituary], 230; The New York Natural History Museum, 530 : Chree (Dr. C.), Photographs of Aurora, 405; Prof. Kr. Birkeland, 349; The Magnetic Storm of August 22, 1916, 39 Chilton (Prof. C.), Terrestrial Isopoda from the Shore of the Chilka Lake, 313 Chinnery (E. W. P.), Use in Papua of the Conch Shell and Wooden Trumpet as a Mode of Signalling, 269 Christy (Miller), The Sound of Gun-firing in Flanders and France, 250 Church (Dr. F. H.), and W. C. Farabee, The Macusi and Wapiriana Tribes, 490 Clapp (C. H.), Geology of the Nanaimo Map-area, 110 Clark (J. E.), and H. B. Adames, Phenological Observations for 1916, 259 Clarke (F. W.), and R. Echinoderms, 500 Clarke (Prof. W. B.) [death], 509; [obituary article], 527 Clarke (Dr. W. Eagle), Presence of Migratory Birds, 390 Clayden (A. W.), A Diffraction Colour Box, 97 Cleland (Prof. H. F.), Geology: -Physical and Historical, M. Kamm, New Analyses of 441 Cleland (Dr. J. B.), elected President of the Royal Society of N.S.W., 427; Dr. S. Dodd, and Dr. E. W. Fer- guson, Etiology of Worm Nests in Cattle, 430 Clements (Prof. F. E.), Plant Succession: an Analysis of the Development of Vegetation, 154 Clodd (E.), Dr. Johnson and Lord Monboddo, 231 Clowes (Prof. F.), and J. B. Coleman, Elementary Practical Chemistry. Part ii. Eighth edition, 223 Coatalen (L.), Aircraft and Motor-car Engine Design, 294 Cobb (Prof. J. W.), Control for the Temperature-Time- Atmosphere Effects, 70; Scientific Aspects of Fuel Economy, 45 Colani (A.), Action of Metaphosphoric Acid upon the Oxides of Molybdenum, 519 ‘ Cole (Prof. G. A. J.), The Origin of Flint, 324 Cole (S. W.), The Preparation of “Blood Charcoal,” 226 Coleman (Prof. W. M.), Apparatus for Studying the Effect of Hertzian Waves on the Heart, 97 Colin (H.), The Antiseptic Properties of Nitrous Fumes, 519 Collinge (Dr. W. E.), Destructive Wild Birds, 6; The Destruction of House-Sparrows, 347; The National Im- portance of Farm Vermin, 188 Colthurst (Miss B.), appointed Principal of the College of Agriculture, Holmes Chapel, 257 Colwell (H.), The History of Electrotherapy, 130 Commont (V.), Deposits of the Historic Period Superposed on the Neolithic Tufa of the Valley of the Somme, 79; The Tufas of the Valley of the Somme, 99 Conacher (H. R. J.), Oil Shales and Torbanites, 530 Condon (J. P.), Rude Stone Monuments in Cork County, 71 Conklin (E. G.), The Share of Egg and Sperm in Heredity, 179 Conn (Prof. H. W.) [obituary], 212 Connolly (T. F.), A Variable Angle Collimator, 96 Connor (J. D.), Metallurgical Report of the South Australian Department of Mines, 111 . Conradi (Prof. A. F.), and W. A. Thomas, Farm Spies : How the Boys Investigated Field Crop Insects, 23 Conrady (Prof. A. E.), to Deliver a Course of Lectures at the Imperial College of Science on “The Designing and Computing of Telescope Systems,” 459 Cooke (Prof.), A New Comet, 172 Coolidge (Dr. J. L.), A Treatise on the Circle and the Sphere, 201 Cornwall (Prof. H. B.) [obituary], 170 Coste (J. H.), Ceratonia Siliqua and the Carat Weight, 185 Coupin (H.), Influence of Calcium Salts on the Absorbent Root Hairs, 219 Courmont (Prof. J.) [death], 12 5 Courvoisier (L.), Variable Proper Motion of 8 Cassiopeiz, 454 Coutts (Dr.), and others, Investigation on Anthrax, 391 Cowan (W. H.), Scientific Parliamentary Reform, 29 _ Crabtree (J. H.), Identify Them, 404 Crafts (Dr. J. M.) [obituary], 409 7 Fresh-water Wonders and How to Cragg (Dr. E.), and Dr. H. Drinkwater, Hereditary Absence — of Phalanges through Five Generations, 71 Crawfurd (Prof.), Comet b 1916 (Wolf), 172, 214 Crawfurd and Alter, Comet 1916 b (Wolf), 375, 454, 532 . | ight Crittenden and Richtmyer, Photometry of Sources of of Different Colours, 512 Crommelin (Dr. A. C. D.), Holt’s A Manual of Field Astronomy, 523; Correction for Atmospheric Refraction — in Geodetic Operations, 433; New Determinations of Proper Motions of Stars, Problem of Spiral Nebulz, 234 1755 Crozier (W. J.), The Immunity Coloration of Some Nudi- branchs, 139 Cumming (Dr. A. C.), and Dr. S. A. Kay, A Text-book of © Second edition, 223 - .Cunningham (Dr. B.), The Australian Water Problem, 394 Quantitative Chemical Analysis. Currie (D.), Sources for Supply of Asbestos, 233 Curtis (Dr. M. R.), Physiology of Reproduction in Domestic Fowl, 110 Ri Curtius (Fraulein A. M.), appointed Lecturer in French in Leipzig University, 198 the. Cushny (Prof. A. R.), The Secretion of the Urine, 304; to. Deliver the Sydney Ringer Memorial Lecture, 211 Cutter (Dr. E.) [obituary], 248 Dahlgren (Prof. U.), Production of Light by Animals, 191, 30 Dakfs (Prof. W. J.), Exploration of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, 19 Dalby (Prof. W. E.), A Graphical Method of Drawing ‘Trajectories for High-angle Fire, 58; Inner Structure of Mild Steel, 113; to Deliver the May Lecture of the Institute of Metals, 13, 170 Dales (Prof. B.), and Dr. O. Qualitative Analysis, 281 Dall (W. H.), Anomalies in Geographic Distribution of Pacific Coast. Mollusca, 140 : L. Barnebey, Elementary ‘Daly (R..A.), A New Test of the Subsidence Theory of Coral Reefs, 139 Daniel (L.),- Influence of Grafting upon the Adaptation Products of the Cactus, 99; Preservation of our Oaks, 9 pate (J.), Anti-luargol, 259 ey Darbishire (A. D.), An Introduction to a Biology, and other Papers, 304 ; Darboux (Prof. J.'G.) [death], 12; [obituary article], 28 Daressy (G.), Identity of an Animal Symbolising Set, 316 Darling (C. H.), Training in Physics given at the Finsbury College 55 Darton (N. H.), Geology and Underground Water of Luna County, New Mexico, 376 Dastur (J. F.), A Fungus Disease of Hevea brasiliensis, 232 Davenport (Prof. C. B.), and Dr. E. B. Muncey, Hunting- ton’s Chorea in Relation to Heredity and Eugenics, and the Hereditary Factor in Pellagra, 55 David (M.), The Estimation of Ozone, 139 Davidson, Analyses of Clays and their Plasticity, 393 : Davis (Prof. W. M.), awarded the Gold Hayden Geological Medal by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia, 129 Davison (Dr. C.), The Sound-Waves of the East London Explosion, 450 Dawes (C. L.), Electrical Measurements and Testing: Direct- and Alternating-Current, 402 Index Vii r. B.), and Dr. C. R. Eastman, Bibliography of eS, 491 (L.), Influence of Temperature on Electro-capillary jomena, 319° 3 (Dr. Fr.), German and English Education: A tive Study, 201 Prof. J. J.) fobituary), 150 *) Pharmacological uivalents and Therapeutic (Prof. A.), and Prof. J. W. Nicholson, Influence of ions upon the Form of Certain Sponge-spicules, (Mrs.), Bequest for a “Frank Denning Memorial,” V . F.), Bright Meteors in March, 112; Fireballs pia ; The August Meteors of 1917, 493 _ M.), for the Improvement of Educa- ‘C. H.), Floating Earths, 104 Eg i tia Intense and Prolonged Gun- the Fall of Rain, 218 -(M.), La Réforme Rationnelle de |’Heure, f ux (Prof. H.), Special Methods of Cultivation . of , ot vad G. Vegezzi, Helicorubin, 320 rt (F.), and F. Wandenbulke, The Estimation of Free hlorine in Solutions of Hypochlorites, 460 _(W. H.), Heat Balance of the Atmosphere, 19; r and Aviation, 424; The Horizontal Tem- ient and the Increase of Wind with -), and Dr. T. F. Sibly, Carboniferous Limestone on the South-Eastern Margin of the South Wales eld, 159. : of. A. F.), Fragment of the Lower Jaw from n, S ‘Sec.-Lieut. H. E. O. M.) [obituary], 248 (Sir J. J.), Services of Professional Chemists in nection with the War, 30; The General Education Chemists, 199 : (G.), Aeroplanes and Atmospherie-Gustiness, 164 ado (M.), A Letter of Ch. Darwin in Argentina, | (Prof.), Research Chemists, Engineer-Chemists, and Enoi (Lieut. C. K. XL), Experience during Ascents ngst Clouds, 73; Some Causes of the Formation of : ic Stratus, 19 © : aS S. R.), Migration of Woodcock Breeding in West of Ireland, 78 ‘A. T.), Electric Traction, 341 j . A. H.), and Dr. U. Griffin, Parasitology of _ Pyorrhoea alveolaris, 39, 313 our, a The Terrestrial 440 2 J. L. E.), The Origin of Ptolemy’s Catalogue stars, 2 . sry (C. T.) [obituary], 489 of. A. W.), A Text-book of Physics. (R. S.), Two Eclipsing Variable Stars, 252 n (F. M.), Fertilisation and Deposition of Ova in ee operator, ae ogi - D.), and A. Blades, The Pay and Supply : qT : lop (E. B.), Behieiey among Rooks, 313; [obituary], raven ), The Nationalisation of Marine and Fresh- water Fisheries, 510 ré (J. V.) [obituary], 249 : nd (Prof. W. Eh The Application of Science, 377 : rham (Miss M. E.), South Slav Customs as Seen in _ Serbian Ballads and Tales, 158 n (Sir A. J.) [obituary], 170 tt (C. P.), e Anatomical Characters of Coniferous 5; Weed and their Value in Classification, 98 i : m (Sir F. W.), Eclipse Test of Einstein’s Theory o : F tisitn, yt aad Prot. H. H. Turner, Commence- Tetrahedron and the Dis- Fourth edition, Eastman (Dr. C. R.), Chinese and Persian Giraffe Paint- ings, 344; The Fossil Fishes in the U.S. National Museum, 330; The Hippocampus in Ancient Art, 385 Easton (Dr. C.), A Forecast of Coming Winters, 524 Eckles (Prof. C, H.), and Prof. G. F. Warren, Dairy Farming, 383 Eddington (Prof. A. S.), Radiative Equilibrium of the Stars, 339; The Radiation of the Stars, 308, 395, 445 Effront (J.), Achrodextrinase, 120 Elliot (Daniel Giraud), Memorial Medal and Honorarium, Establishment of the, 489 Elliot (H.), Herbert Spencer, 163 Ellis (Dr. D.), Phycomycetous Fungi from thé Lower Coal Measures, Ellis (Mrs. J. D.), Herbs Used in Medicine (First Series), _ with Descriptive and Explanatory Notes, 501 Ellis (Dr. J. W.), The Mycological Collection of, Acquired _ by the Kew Herbarium, 490 Ellison (Dr. F. O’B.), A Curious Meteorological Pheno- menon, 312 : Emery (Dr. W. D'Este), Clinical Bacteriology and Hematology for Practitioners. Fifth edjtion, 443 Epstein (T.),, Elements of the Sun’s Rotation, 493 Eredia (Prof. F.), Manual of Instruction in the Use of Meteorological Instruments, etc., 131 Estabrook (Dr. A. H.), The Jukes in 1915, 226 Escott (Miss), Science in Girls’ Schools, 339 Evans (I. B. Pole), The Genus Terfezia, 520 Evans (Dr. J. W.), The Limitation of the Symmetry- numbers of Crystals, 98 Everitt (P. F.), Design and Testing of Telescope Objectives, 97 Evershed (J.), Scarcity of Wasps in Kashmir in 1916, 185; The Kodaikanal Observatory Report, 272; and Mrs., Solar Prominences, 432 Ewart (A. J.), Contributions to the Flora of Australia, No. 25, 179 Ewart (Prof. J. C.), Horse-Breeding and Horse-Racing, 346 Exner (H. V.), A Case of Hermaphroditism, 520 Eyre (Dr. J. V.), and S. T. Parkinson, Conserving Plums by Drying, 451 Fabry (Prof.), The Temperature of Space, 394; and H. Blondel, - Provisional Elements of Sy Comet, October z, 1916, 80 Farmer (Prof. J. B.), The Future of Education, 367 ~ Fawcett (C. B.) More Rational Administrative Divisions for England and Wales, 52 < Fawdry (R. C.), Dynamics. Part i., 102 Fayet and Schaumasse Comet 1917 b (Schaumasse), 259, 20, 375 Panaks (Prof. W. G.), awarded the G. C. Greenwell Silver Medal of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, 489; Resources of Refractory Materials Available for Glass Manufacture, Fakeor (E. S.), Numerical Relation between Zones and Faces of a Polyhedron, 98 Feldtmann (F. R.), Exploitation of Magnesite at Bulong, 233 Felt (E. P.), Distribution of Gall Midges, 400 Fenneman (N. M.), Physiographic Subdivision of the United States, 159 Ferguson (A. D.), Fish in Dams in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 430 : : Ferguson (D.), Geology and Geography of South Georgia, 272 Féry "Prof. C.), Work of the Optical Laboratory of the “Ecole de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, Paris, I Fewhes (Dr. J. W.), The Cliff-ruins in Fewkes Cafion, 110 Fielding-Hall (H.) fobituary], 230 Findlay (Prof. A.), Chemistry in the Service of Man. Second edition, 463 Finzi (Capt.), An Ink for Localisation Marks, 510 Firth (J. B.), Highways and Byways in Nottinghamshire, 4 Fishenden (R. B.), Illustration Processes used in Scientific Publications, 218 Fischer-Petersen (J.), Comet 1917a (Mellish), 214 Fisher (Dr. H. A. L.), Educational Reform, 17; Methods of of the Astronomical Day, 512 51 Py Crab ccation and Evaporation of Gzs S, 219; Shapes of Group Molecules Forming es of Liquids, 379 (Sir E. Ray), Science and Education, 183; The of Flint, 283; The Problem of Heredity, 181; of Parthenogenesis, 504 oR) Tisorie de la Contre-évolution ou Dégén- nce par |’Hérédité Pathologique, 401 « (Sir J.), British Optical Science, 5; Prof. G. Darboux, 28; Radiation-Pressure, Astrophysical Re- tardation, and Relativity, 404; and N. Yamaga, Per- manent Periodicity in Sun-spots, 258 rm amics and Gravitation, 44 in) [obituary], 70 M.), Treatment of Cases of War-Deafness, 120 Prof. A. A.), Gametophytes of the Psilotaceze, 99 | (Miss N. F.), Wooden Scratching-tools made by an African Parrot, 199 (A. L.), Nanna’s Cave, Isle of Caldey, 93 (Dr. W.), Floating Earths, 45 : m (Dr. J. G.), Discontinuous Fluid Motion, 178 (Miss), and others, Plankton Research at Plymouth, 433 Chatelier (H.), Progress of High Temperature Measure- ments, 471; Some Scientific Problems to be Solved, 79 ; Synthesis of Ammonia, 199; The Tempering of Steel, 519; and F. Bogitch, Refractory Properties of Clay, 279; The Refractory Properties of Silica, 520 Dr. F.) [obituary article], 488 1 Se Walker, and A. C. Wheatley, Crystal- s Patt A. N.) [death], 528 f. C. H.), The Aeroplane Bomber’s Problem, 449 os (L. A.), and J. C. Grant, Typographical Printing- surfaces: The Technology and Mechanism of their Production, 42 dine (G.), Influence of Intense and Prolonged Gunfire _ on the Fall of Rain, 219 tts (Prof. E. A.), Resignation of, 51 nner (Prof. A. O.), The History of Orbit Deduction, pore alee (M.), Tempera e Cementazione dell’ Acciaio, 493 Levinstein, Ltd., Rise and Progress of the Organic Chemical Industry, 376 Lewis (Prof. E. P.), Recent Progress in Spectroscopy, 115, 134 Lewis (Prof. W. C. McC.), Physical Chemistry, 262 Lightfoot (G.), Research Institutions in the United States, 274 Lingen (J. S. v. d.), Radiation of Crystals, 360 Lippmann (G.), Some Decisions taken by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, Liversidge (Prof. A.), So-called Gold-coated Teeth in Sheep, 2 go Livingstone (R. W.), A Defence of Classical Education, 1; Classical Education and Modern Needs, 205 Lodge (Sir Oliver), Gravitation and Temperature, 104 Loeb (J.), and J. H. Northrop, What Determines the Dura- tion of Life in Metazoa?, 400 Logan (Dr. F. R.), Endowment of Three Research Fellow- ships in Chicago University, 198 Long (B.), Esperanto and Why We Need It, 518 Long {E. T.), Experiments on Growing Crystals, 392 Long (H. C.), Plants Poisonous to Live Stock, 501 Long (J.), Food and Fitness: or Diet in Relation to Health, 323 . Longley (W. H.), Tropical Fishes and their Adaptive Colora- tion, 140 Longridge (M.), Technical Education for Engineers, 198 Longstaff (J.), Supplementary Notes on Aclisina, De Koninck, and Aclisoides, Donald, etc., 238 Lorentz Prof. (H. A.), awarded the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute, 2 k Lotsy (Dr. J. P.), Evolution by Means of Hybridization, 43 Love (Dr. C. E.), Differential and Integral Calculus, 102 Lovelace (B. F.), Annual Chemical Directory of the United States, 362 Loveridge (A.), Natural History Notes from British East Africa, 352 : Low (A. J.), An Unusual Rainbow, 525 Lunge (Dr. G.), Technical Chemists’ Handbook. Second edition, 223; The Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid and Alkali, with the Collateral Branches. Fourth edition. Supplement to vol. i., Sulphuric and Nitric Acid, 381 Maanen (A. van), Parallax of N.G.C. 7662, 179; Parallax _ of a Planetary Nebula, 153 MacAlister (J.), The Formation of “Grceund Ice,” 251 Macalpine (J. H.), Marine Applications of ‘Reduction Gears of the Floating-frame Type, 114 Macaulay (F. S.), The Algebraic Theory of Modular Systems, 302 MacBride (Prof.), “Are Acquired Characters Inherited?”, 354 Macdonald (Sir W. C.) [obituary], 311 MacDowell (E. C.), Selection Experiments with Drosophila, 80 3 MacEwan (P.) [obituary], 249 MacFarlane (A.), Lectures on Ten British Mathematicians of the Nineteenth Century, 221 Macfie (Dr. J. W. S.), West African Mosquitoes, 191 “MacGregor (Sir W.), elected a Member of the Atheneum Club, 51 Mackenzie (Dr. C.), The Peritoneum and Intestinal Tract in Monotremes and Marsupials, 530 Mackichan (Rev. Dr.), Early Indian Contributions to Mathematics, 108 , Maclean (Prof. M.), Electrical Laboratory Course for Junior Students, 402 f Maclean (N. J.), Workshop Training of Apprentices, 357 Maclennan (D.) {death], 528 } é. MacMahon (Major P. A.), Combinatory Analysis. Vol. ii-, 82 Macmillan (D. B.), and his Companions, Safety of, 268 Macphail (Capt. A.), “A Day’s Work,” 490 MacRobert (T. M.), Functions of a Complex Variable, 61 Madan (A. C. [obituary], 518 Mahdihassan (S.), Ten per cent. Agar-agar Jelly, 530 Makower (Dr. W.), The Photographic Action of a Rays, 98 Malinowski (Dr. B.), Baloma: The Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands, 151 Mallock (A.), Museular Inefficiency and Possible Speeds of Walking, 83 Xil Index Nature, September ao, 1917 Mangin (L.), Arctic Forms Erroneously Described under the Name of Chaetoceros criophilus, 279 Manley (J. J.), elected to a Fellowship at Magdalen College, Oxford, 338 Manson (J. L.), Experimental Building Science, 483 Maquenne (L.), and E. Demoussy, Influence of Water and Mineral Matter on the Germination of Peas, 440, 479 Marage (M.), Arterial Pressure in Cases of Deafness Caused by Shell Shock, 120 PGi, &. eae Marett (Dr. R. R.), Sir E. Tylor and Sir L. Gomme, 329 Margerison (S.) [obituary], 329 ; Marie (Dr. P.), appointed Professor of Clinical Neurology in the University of Paris, 198 Marr (Dr. J. E.),, Prof. T. McKenny Hughes, F.R.S., 326; Submergence: and Glacial Climates during the Accumula- tion of the Cambridgeshire Pleistocene Deposits, 78 Marshall (A.), Explosives. Second edition, Vol. i., History and Manufacture. 321 Martin (Major A. J.), A Plea for the Fuller Utilisation of Coal, 484 Martin (Dr. G.), appointed Director of the Research Depart- ment of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, 150 Martin (Dr. L.), appointed a Sub-Director of the Institut Pasteur, Paris, 489 Martin (L. C.), Protection from Glare, 365 Martin (Dr. W.), Science and the Industries, 354 de Martonne (Prof.), The Carpathians, 429 Mason (Dr. W.), Alternating Stress, 72 44 ; Massart (Prof. J.), Une Organisation Scientifique Inter- - alliée, 371 j Massee (G.) [obituary article], 9 : Massenz (A.), Guida Pratica del Meccanico Moderno, 483 Massol (M.), and M. Faucon, Absorption of the Ultra-violet Radiations by Some Chlorine Derivatives of Ethane, etc., 99; Absorption of the Ultra-violet Radiations by the Iodine Derivatives of Methane, 319 Massy (Miss), Cephalopoda Collected by the Terra Nova Expedition, 155; The Gymnosomatous Pteropoda of the Coasts of Ireland, 399 Masterman (B. A.), Birds of the District of Humansdorp, Cape Province, 130 Masterman (Dr. E. W. G.), Palestine, 411 ; Matignon . (Prof. C.), Germany’s Effort to Obtain Nitro- genous Compounds, 33 Mattei (A. C.), The Santa Barbara Earthquakes of April 12 and 20, 1917, 492 Matthew (Dr. W. D.), Elephant-Ivory and of the Elephant, 18 Matthews (R. B.), The Aviation Pocket-book for 1917. Fifth edition, 481 Maudsley (Dr. H.), Organic to Human: Psychological and Sociological, 21 -Mauger (Capt. G. G. E.), “Quelques considérations sur les jeux en Chine,” etc., 392 Maunder (Mrs. E. W.), Sun-spots in High Southern Lati- tudes, 339 Maxted (Dr, E. B.), The Synthesis of Ammonia, 533 Maxwell (Sir H.), Plated Teeth of Sheep, 284 McAdie (Prof. A.), A New Thermometer Seale, 139, 152; Airplanes and Atmospheric Gustiness, 125 McCall (Prof. A. G.), Field and Laboratory Studies of Crops, 383 McCallum (Dr. W. G.), appointed Head of the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins University, 499 McClendon (J. F.), Hydrogen Ion Concentration of Sea Water, etc., 139 McCollum (Prof. E. V.), A Text-book of Organic Chemistry for Students of Medicine and Biology, 28% McCourt (Second-Lieut. C. D.) [obituary], 110 McDiarmid (R. J.), The Eclipsing Variable SS Camelo- pardalis, 332 McFarland and Harder, Study of Acid-resisting Alloys, 374 McIndoo (N. E.), Nicotine as an Insecticide, 292 McLennan (Prof. J. C.), Industrial Research in Canada, 207 McWalter (Dr. J. C.), Botany in Malta, 78 _ M’Intosh (Prof.), Description of the Skeleton of a Stranded Piked Whale, 392 M.D., F.R.S.E., Flat-foot in Young Women, 204 Meares (Capt. C. S.), Nesting Habits of the Dotterel in Scotland, 329 é Meek (Prof. A.), The Migrations of Fish, 81 the ‘Evolution Meldola (Prof. R.), Proposed Presentation of Portraits of, 267 Mellor (Dr. J. W.), Spalling of Magnesite Bricks, 7o Ménard (M.), Treatment of Hemorrhoids by High- frequency Currents, 239 Mendel (L. B.), and S. E. Judson, Interrelations between. Diet, Growth, and the Chemical Composition-of the Body, 140 ee Mendenhall (W. C.), R. D. Dole, and H. Stables, Ground Water in San Joaquin Valley, Cal., 376 TK Menschutkin (Prof. B.), Russian and British Scientific and Industrial Undertakings, Co-operation in, 168 — ~ Menzies (Prof. A. W. C.), Talbot’s Observations on Fused Nitre, 85 Menzies (G. K.), appointed Secretary of the Royal Society of Arts, 371 ia: Merica and Woodward, Failure of Brass, 431 Merrill (G. P.), Calcium Phosphate in Meteorites, 392 Merriman (M.), and T. Merriman, Treatise on Hydraulics. Tenth edition, 483 es Michelson (Dr. A. A.), elected Secretary of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 268; presented with the Henry Draper Gold Medal, 212 Michie (A. C.), Devitrification of Quartz Glass, 484 4 Miége (M.), New Attempts at the Disinfection of the Soil, Le ee est Miessner (B. F.), Radio-dynamics: The Wireless Control _of Torpedoes and other Mechanisms, 442 ; Miles (W. R.), Some Psycho-physiological Processes Affected by Alcohol, 140 a Mill (Dr. H. R.), Heavy Rainfall in London, 328; Forests and Rainfall, 445; The Exceptional Cold Weather, 210 Miller (E. C.), Daily Variation of Water and Dry Matter in the Leaves of Corn and the Sorghums, 500 Se ee eye OS Pe Oe ee a eee ee ys Miller (Prof. G. A.), The Function of Mathematics in — Scientific Research, 411 Miller (Capt.), and Dr. H. Rainy, The Blood in Gas Poisoning, 359 Millikan (R. A.), A Re-determination of the Value of the — Electron and of Related Constants, 379 Milward (F.), Foundation of a Scholarship at Birmingham — University, 58 ; 7 Miner (J. R.), The Fitting of Parabolas, 179 Miner (W. H.), The American Indians North of Mexico, 283 ‘Mingaye (J. C. H.), Description of Meteorites, 352 — Mitchell (F. W. V.), Gift to Birmingham University, 397 Mjéberg (Dr. E.), A Projected Aerial Expedition to New Guinea, 92 ; Mockeridge (F. A.), Effects of Growth-Promoting Sub- tances (Auximones) on the Soil Organisms Concerned in the Nitrogen Cycle, 77 Moffat (C. B.),- Birds Destroyed in Ireland by Snowstorm, 372 A Moir (Dr. J.), Colour and Chemical Constitution, 412.’ Moir (J. Reid), Some Human and Animal Bones, etc., Discovered near Ipswich, 218 aC Montagu of Beaulieu (Lord), The World’s Air Routes and their Regulation, 349 ao: de Montessus (Prof. R.), Exercises et Lecons de Mécanique Analytique, 201 : Montgomerie (J.), Stress Determination in a Flat Plate, 113 Moodie (Prof. R. L.), The Sources of Anatomical Litera- ture, 391 Moore (Prof. B.), The Origin of Flint, 324 % Moore (C. B.), Aboriginal Sites on Green River, Kentucky, etc., 291 5 More (A.), Fecundity versus Civilisation, 226 = Moreau (L.), Radiological Researches on the Angle of Inclination of the Human Heart, 440 Morgan (Prof. C. Lloyd), Fact and Truth, 158 Morgan (Prof. G. T.), Chemistry in Industry, 412; The British Synthetig Colour Industry in War Time, 494; The Dye Problem among the Entente Powers, 406 Morgan (G. Vaughan), Gift to the Middlesex Hospital Research Fund, 169 Morgan (Prof. J. O.), Field Crops for the Cotton-Belt, 342 Morgan (Prof. T. H.,) A Critique of the Theory of Evolu- tion, 181; elected a Foreign Member of the Linnean _ Society, 211 2 : Morison (D. B.), Standardisation as Applied to the Ma- chinery for Cargo-boats, 113 Index Xlll an Karl A. HL.) (obituary), 10 Dz), elected oo, of coe South-Eastern ee S og Analysis of Caitle-Foods, 423 Some Aspects of the Cold “Period, 5 its of Fish, 78; and Dr. S. ms sit eg and Immunity of Rats Towards 118 i: ‘The Biole Biology, of Tumours, 44 ), nominated as President of the Institution of 268 EL: & Swezey, The Cane-borer Beetle in Ramsay), Science Teaching and National : 184; The Teaching of Natural Science to xpansion of ‘the Product. of Two Oblong ), “Lessons i in oe Latin and Sere Dace of toe Se Potsdam Astro- : Ee Meta for she Siertiticnticn: ‘of seg The Tubular Enamel of the Sparidz _of Hylastes cunicularius, 91 Es of) Gift of the Library of to Harvard : wu Microscopical Determination ‘of the 523 ), The Normal Density of Hydrobromic’ Acid, ), Endowment of a Chair of Russian Lan- ais bi Poland asa Geographical Entity, 269 a osc meeenené in the Hornelen District, ; a ¥ 49 oh The Mothers’ Pension System, 490 C.), A Prehistoric Pueblo Ruin in New Mexico, Archzology of Mammoth Cave and Vicinity, 219 <7 W;), Chemistry, from the Stand- Avogadro's Rule and Thermodynamics. Revised 62 Fr), The Probiem of Pain in Nature, 103 3. J.), Solar Prominences, 1916, 259 - E), Recent Work on Over-Voltage, 279 . B.), What is Instinct? Some Thoughts on r and Subconsciousness in Animals, 243 = (Sir A.), awarded the Bisset-Hawkins Medal, 469 R. B.), Fossiliferous Limestone from the North 3535 ae Conchological Features of the Lenham ae of Kent and their Stratigraphical Im- is Seation,.’s n 6. B.), The Ninth Satellite of Jupiter, 219; and upley, 33. i: rof.), Deitratitos of Mira Ceti, 512 (Sir W. D.) [death], 289; [obituary], 311 pte Observations on the Eclipse of the Moon of 4, 1917, 519 : J.), Nature of the Ions Produced by the Spraying Vater, << berland (Duke of), elected President of the Royal m, 190 — (Prof. Fr, H.), American Sources of Nitrogen, 274; Chart, 54; Problems in Dye Synthesis, 53!- cw. H. ye The re aie and Measurement of In- (Prof. G: H. F.), ‘Tnvestigations on Human Lice, 372 ~ W.), re-a ted Honorary Curator of Surgery mingham University, 318 gorges at Queen’ s University, Belfast, 158 | QO’ if, (Major A.), The Criminal in the Western Punjab, O’ Brien (P. V.), Water Supply in the Interior of Western Australia; and J. Parr, The Coolgardie Water Supply, Western A 394 Offord (J.), Floating Earths, 165; The Animal Symbol of the Egyptian Deity, Set, 316 Oka (Dr. A.), Zoological Results of a Tour in the Far East, Hirudinea, 340 ee (C. P.), Meteor System of Pons-Winnecke’s Comet, O’Malley (L. §. S.), Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Sikkim, 123 Omori (Prof.), Recent Eruptions of the Asama-Yama, 471 Onnes (Prof. K.), and Dr. W. H. Keesom, Measurements of the Specific Heat of Solid and Liquid Nitrogen, 53 Orwin (C. S.), The Agricultural Output per Person, 330 Osborn (Prof. H. F.), Application of the Laws of Action, Reaction, and Interaction in Life Evolution, 159; The Restoration of Extinct Animals, 213 O'Shaughnessy (F. R.), Progress of Applied Chemistry, 532 Osler (Sir W.), to Deliver the Annual Oration to the Medi- cal Society of London, 211 Otlet (R.), A Central Information and Records Office for Industry, 468 Owen (J. H.), Home-Life of the Sparrow Hawk, 39 Paddock (G. F.), Radial Velocities of Five Cepheid Variables, 394 Painlevé (A.), Letter to the Royal Institution, 230; Speech at the Unveiling of a Statue of Prof. M. t, 290, Palmer (A. H.), Earthquakes in California in 1916, 411 Pannell (J. R.), Electric Discharge from Scythe, 324 Papillault (Prof. G.), Science Francaise-Scolastique Alle- mande, 225 Pariselle (Prof. H.), Telemeters, 233 Park (Col. S.), Foundation of Two Scholarships in Naval Architecture at Glasgow University, 338 Parker (Prof. G. H.), Responses of Hydroids to Gravity, 179; The Fur Seal of the Pribilof Islands, 291 Parnell (T.), Method of Comparing Two Fixed Inductances at Commercial Frequences, 358 Parsons (L. M.), The Carboniferous Limestone Bordering the Leicestershire Coalfield, 97 Pascal (P.), The Neutral and Acid Sulphates of Sodium, 21 aceon (C. C.), J. W. T. Walsh, and W. F. Higgins, Radium Luminous Compound, 319 Paterson (Principal W. G. R.), Training and Employment of Discharged Disabled Sailors and Soldiers, 350 | Paton (E. R.), Breeding Habits of the Merlin, 410 Paton (Prof. Néel), and others, Functions of the Parathyroid Glands, etc., 151 Patton (R. T.), Timber Production and Growth Curves in the Mountain Ash, 379 Payne (E. S.), J. E. B.. Mayor, and Todhunter, 264 Payne (Col. O.-H.), Bequests by, 478 Pearl (Dr_ R.), Effect of Continued Administration of Cer- tain Poisons to the Domestic Fowl, 55; Effects of Con- tinued Administration of Alcohol to the Domestic Fowl, 139; Fertility and Age in the Domestic Fowl, 400; Probable Error of a Mandelian Class-Frequency, 530 | Pearson (Prof. Karl), Calculating Machines, 384 Pease (F. G.), Hind’s Variable Nebula, 332; and H. ' Shapley, Axes of Symmetry in Globular Clusters, 179 Peavot (H.) [obituary], 212 - Peddie (Prof. W.), The Remoulding of National Administra- tive Institutions, 264 Peddle (C. J.), British Glass Sands, 16; British Sands for Glass Making, 433; F. Twyman, and S. English, | Annealing of Glass, 32 Pellissier (J. se Some Geometrical Properties of a Bundle of X-ray Tubes, 159 Penman (D.), Compressed Air Practice in Mining, 203 Perkin (Dr. F. M.), Sulphur in Petroleum Oils, 112; and = M. Jaggers, Text-Book of Elementary Chemistry, Perkin > (Prof. W. H.), The Universities and the War, 499 Perret (F. A.), The Eruption of Stromboli in 1915, 131 | Perrett (Dr. W.), Some Questions of Phonetic Theory, 1%4 Perrin (Prof. J.), Atoms, Translated by D. LI. Hammick, 44 XIV Index Nature, Septemxr 20, 1907 — “ Perrine (C. D.), Relation of the Apex of Solar Motion to Proper Motion, 160 F Perry (Sir C.), elected Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, 357 ; Perrycoste (H. M. M.), A Note on Chaftinches and Cuckoos, 345 : Peters (Prof. E. D.) [death], 69 : Peterson (Sir W.), elected a Member of the Athenaum Club, I Petherbridge (F. R.), Fungoid and Insect Pests of the Farm, I Pethybridge (G. H.), and H. A. Lafferty, Cause of the Common Dry-rot of the Potato in the British Isles, 79 Petrie (Prof. Flinders), History in Tools, 469 ; Photog-aphs from Abu Simbel Depicting Racial Types, 429 & Petrie (Dr. J. M.), Hydrocyanic Acid in Plants, Part iii., 260; Poisonous Plants in the N. O. Solanacew, part iv., 260 Petronievics (Prof. Science, 53 Petrunkevitch (Dr. A.), Morphology of Invertebrate aL ripes, 6 Philip (A.), Simplification of the Calendar, 399 Philip (J. B.), Nature Study Lessons Seasonally Arranged, B.), Slow Achievement in Advanced 82 Phillips (Sir L.), appointed Controller of a Branch of the Ministry of Munitions on Mineral Properties (other than Coal and Iron Ore) in the United Kingdom, 69 Phillips (Rev. T. E. R.), Micrometrical Measures of Double Stars, 339 Picart (L.), fhe Total Eclipse of the Moon of July 4, 1917, Pickord-Cambridge (Rev. O.) {death], 51 ; [obituary article], 89; Bequest to Oxford University, 338 Pickering (Prof. E. C.), Variability of Uranus, 133; Dis- covery of a New Star by Mr. Ritchey, 472 Pickering (S.), Problems Bearing on Residual Affinity, 118 Pictet (A.), O. Kaiser, and A. Labouchére, The Alcohols and Bases of Vacuum Tar, 480 Pilcher (R. B.), Presentation to, 189 Piper (C. W.), National Service, 25 Plimmer (Prof. H. G.), Deaths in the Gardens of the Zoological Society in 1916, 19 : Pocock (R.), Horses, 364 Podjapolsky (Dr. P. P.), Chlorophyll in Animals and the Fate of Chlorophyll in the Animal Organism, 493 Pool (C. J. C.), Insects Reared in the Insect House of the Zoological Society’s Gardens in 1916, 7 E Pope (Prof. W. J.), elected President of the Chemical Society, 109 Popovatz (P.), Notions Générales Réaction, 145 Porter (Prof. A. W.), Osmotic Pressure, 215 Porter (Dr. J. B.), The Coals of Canada, with Reference to their Economic Qualities, 37 Porter (Mrs. L.), Attachment Organs of the Common Corticolous Ramalinae, 399 Porter (W. T.), Observations on Traumatic Shock, 500 Portevin (A.), he Carburation of Iron by Alkaline Cyanides and Cyanates, 519; The Manganese Steels, 480 Poussin (C. de la Vallée), Intégrales de Lebesgue. tions d’Ensemble. . Classes de Baire, 61 Poussin (Prof. L. de la Vallée), appointed Temporary Lec- turer in Sanskrit and Tibetan at the School of Oriental Studies, 499 Prain (Sir D.), re-elected President of the Linnean Society, 289; The Geographical Diffusion of Kava and Betel, sur les Appariels a Fonc- 52 ieeaen (Dr. S. Tolver) [obituary], 190 Price (Dr. W.), Bequest to the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, 216 Procopiu (St.), Induction Apparatus for Detecting Projec- tiles in Wounds, 480 Prosser (R.-B.), History of the Invention of the Achromatic Telescope, 393 Prior (Dr. G. T.), The Meterorites of Simondium, Eagle Station, and Amana, 379 Puente (C.), Determinacion de la Latitud por Alturas Absolutas, Circunmeridianas, Meridianas é Iguales de dos Estrellas, 83 Pugsley (H. W.), Enumeration of the Species of Fumaria,. — Section Sphcerocapnos, 239 Puiseux (P.), and B. Jekhowsky, General Form of the — Lunar Globe, 199 : Purser (Major F. C.), elected Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic in the Schools of Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 499° Quaintance (A. L.), and A. C. Baker, (Aleyrodinz), 213 Rabot (C.), Severity of the Weather in 1917 in Scandinavia, 213 4 Raciborski (Prof. M.) [death], 189 ; Raclot (M.), Origin of Terrestrial Magnetism, 39 Raistrick (H.), Formation of an Unsaturated Carboxylic Cases of Bacillary _ Acid, 431 Rajchman (Dr.), and Dr. Western, Enteritis from the Eastern Mediterranean, 130 — Ramsay (Dr. E. P.) [death], 30 Ramsay (Sir W.), Memorial Fund, of, in Glasgow University, 327 Ramsbottom (J.), A Canvas-attacking Fungus, appointed Protozoologist at Salonika, 289 Raymond (V.), and J. Parisot, Trench Feet, 60 NT Redding (C. L.), A Method of Determining the Size of the Tool required for a given Block of Lenses, 96 — Regan (C. Tate), Distribution of the Clupeinae, 398; Guide to the British Fresh-Water Fishes, 130. ; Reina (V.), Sulla Determinazione del Coefficient di Rifra- © zione Terrestre in Base ad Elementi Meteorologici, 433 Reinach (S.), Floating Earths, 165 Reiman (C. K.), Revision of the Atomic Weight of Bromine, 59 zi Renaud (J.), Influence of the Hermelles on the régime of Michel, 179; The Time on — the Bay of Mont St. Ships, 79 ; Rengade (E.), The Purification of Salts by Claircage, etc., 520 Renié (M.), Peat and its Uses, 333 Renouard (M.), The Metric System in France, 152 Rettger (Prof. L.), Milk in its Relation to Health, 510 Rey (J.), The Range of Electric Searchlight Projectors, Translated by J. H. Johnson, 4o1 Reynolds (J. H.), Photographs of Jupiter, 112 Riban (Prof. J.) [obituary article], 247 ! Ricard and Barral, A Method of Ascertaining whether Water has been Poisoned, 351 Rice (Dr. H.), Expedition to the Amazon, 429 Richards (Prof. C. R.), appointed Dean of the College of Engineering, etc., of the University of Illinois, 238 _ Richards (T. W.),-and H. S. Davis, Improvements in ‘Calorimetric Combustion, and the Heat of Combustion 160; and N. F. Hall, Attempt to Separate the Isotopic ‘form of Lead by Fractional Crystallisation, 400; and C. Wadsworth, Atomic Weight of Lead of Radio-Active. Origin, part iii., 140 Richardson (G. H.), Need for Standardising Auxiliary International Language, 279 Richardson (L.), The Inferior Oolite and Contiguous Deposits of the Crewkerne District, 459 Richet (C.), H. Cardot, and P. Le Rolland, Regular and Irregular Antiseptics, 239; and H. Cardot, New ona of Determining the Reducing Substances in rine, Richmond (K.), The Permanent Values in Education, 201 Richmond and Gordon (Duke of), elected Chancellor of ‘Aberdeen University, 158 Riddelsdell (Rev. H. I.), The Flora of Gloucestershire, 192 Rintoul and Baxter (The Misses), American Brent Geese in Scotland, 31; Scottish Ornithology in 1916, 470 Ritchie (Dr. J), Plated Teeth of Sheep, 306 Ritchie (W.), Structure, etc., of Myelophilus minor, 19 Righi (A.), Ionisation of the X-rays in a Magnetic Field, 439 Rittenhouse (E. E.); The Life Insurance Companies of New York State, 215 Ritter (W. E.), Science and an Organised Civilisation, 377 Robbins (W. W.), J. P. Harrington and Miss B. Friere- Marreco, Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians, 291 White Flies — 325; Memorial Tablet — 206; ie Nature, % Baplenber’ se, 1917 Index XV (Miss I.), awarded the Pereira Prize of the Pharma- bentical ‘ary & 211 son (Prof. J. K.), Visibility of Interference Fringes and the Doubie Slit, 424 ert: (Prof. T. B.), Presentation of his Patents for Tethelin to the University of California, 318 ason (Prof. A.), The Origin, Rupture, and Closure of crarien Follicles, 459 yin: (G. W.) Russell’s Soil Conditions and Plant Thir ion, (Prof. H.), appointed Dean of the Paris Faculty of 458 s (Sir L.), awarded the Fothergillian Medal, 169; on Kala-azar, 296 Alar Bs and G. W. Vinal, The Silver Voltameter as International Standard for the Measurement of Elect Current, a (Prof. M. A s ‘Direct an Investigation of Promaine Poisoning, 1 baum (J.), Studies of Ye Genus Phytophthora, 219 penan (L.), Orbit of Mellish Comet 1915 a, 353 s (Prof. and Mrs. A. D.), Peculiarities of the Tides aed Western Australia, 99 ary. Y the Dee Elements of Mars, 493 Ex. ie water Paddy of Orissa, 411 (Mrs. S.), Results of the Expedition to Easter Seis a Mr., Visit to Pitcairn Island, 490 r wc my: Coppell A Fixed System of Grating Inter- ae The Beis of Engineering Drawing, 103 igs S. D.) [obituary article], 67 ts ane Birhors, 14 ds splacements of Solar Lines, 234 — uffer a Rreitaah aah laeatsh 189 ; (obituary article], 209 (Dr. A.), Electrotechnical Books, 401; Scientific , 2; Lhe Electrification of our Railways, 341 (Dr. E. J. “ Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. Third edition, 444 Russell (Prof. H. N. ), The Minimum Radiation Visually = Sees Rage 293; M. Fowler, and M. C. Borton, Variables, 512 Russell (D Ace pai Wise elected Sunt Professor of Medicine at University, 3 sep btien (Sir E.), elected a T aicaina >" the Atheneum (Dr. tf ), and W. M. O'Riordan, Lichens for Dyeing Wool, - R. R. S., The Scandinavian Languages, 505 atier (P.), and G. Gaudion, A New Case of Reversible Catalysis, 520 Prot O.), A Text-book of Thermochemistry and Thermodynamics. Translated and Revised by Dr. G. E. e ari 262 (B2: The Evolution of Branching in Ferns, 98 mon (C. E.), Some Plants that Might Occur in Britain, 19 mon (Prof. E. S.), Potato-spraying Experiments, 451 mpson (Prof. R. A.), The Southern Magnitude Distribu- _ tion, 339 2 C. ), Measurement of Rainfall Duration, 15 ent (H. C.), A Spilitic Facies of Lower Carboniferous S ‘avefows in Derbyshire, 59 | _ Sarton (Dr. G.), Proposal for an American Institute for the _ ___— History of Science and Civilisation, 268 Sauger (M.), Time of the Fall of a Stone to the Centre of the Earth, 439 unders (Miss E. R.), Doubleness in Flowers, 391 ore oe R.), Resolution Concerning the Resignation of, oe “Prof, E. A.), The Classical System of Education, 61 : = (R. F.), H. J. Seymour, and E. T. Newton, Ex- tion of Castlepook Cave, Co. Cork, 399 : Ane H.), elected a Foreign Member of the Linnean ty, 211 saiee Ase ), Parallax of Barnard’s Star, 2 (Miss B. J.), awarded the Gilchrist Student- ship of the igen | of London, 318 Schmidt (J.), The Wild Hop in Denmark, 510 “Runaway” Schofield (Dr. A. T.), The Borderlands of Science, 2 Schonland (S.), Distribution of the Genera of South Abican Flowering Plants, 360 Schuchert (Prof. C.), Atlantis and the Permanency of the North Atlantic Ocean Bottom, 179; Correlation of Strata on the Basis of Palxogeography, 352; The Earliest Fresh-water A 140 Schunck (C, A.), Sources of Ultra-violet Radiation for Therapeutic Purposes, 270 Schuster (Prof. A.), Conferment of the Honorary Degree of D.Se. by pe University, 318; to Deliver the Halley Lecture, 2 Schwarz (Prof.), Molteno, 492 — Sclater (W. L.), Index of Genera and Species referred to, and an Index to the Plates in “The Ibis,” 1895-1912, 4 Scoble (Lieut. W. A.), Design of Pin Joints based on Ultimate Strength, 113 Scott (Dr. A.), A Curious Case of Devitrification, 379; to give an Address on “The Atomic Theory,” 69 Scott (Dr. D. H.), The Heterangiums of the British Coal Measures, 199 Scott (K.), Fixation of the Nitrogen of the Air, 533 Scott (Prof. W. R.), to deliver the Jevons Memorial Lectures at University College, London, 216 Scott-Moncrieff Sir G. K.), elected an Honorary Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 51 Scripture (Prof. E. W.), Reaction Time in Nervous and Mental Diseases, 52 Seager (R. B.), Excavation of the Cemetery of Pachy- amnos, 529 Seares (F. H.), Colour of the Standard Polar Stars Deter- mined by the Method of Exposure-ratios, 160; Deter- mination of Star Colours, 16: Distribution of Stars with Respect to the Galactic Plane, 219 Sebelien (Prof. J.), Results of a Comparative Examination of Chemical Glass and Porcelain Ware, etc., 453 Sebert (Genl.), Can Violent Cannonades Produce Rain?, 239; Possible Influence of Violent Cannonades on the Fall of Rain, 259 Sée (P.), Moulds Causing Alteration of Paper, 79 Seligman (Prof. C. G.), Canoe Prow Ornaments from Netherlands New Guinea, 70 Selous (Capt. F. C.), Proposal for a National Memorial to the late, 230 Sen (J. N.), Assimilation of Nutrient Materials by the Rice Plant, 131 Seward (Prof. A. C.), A Group of Fossil Plants, 73; Science and the Nation, Edited by, 141 Shackleton (Sir E.), elected a Corresponding Member of the Russian Geographical Society, 51; Morrell Land, Sonickds in the Molteno Beds of 290 Shannon (H. J.), F. F. Renwick, and B. V. Storr, Be- haviour of Scattering Media in Fully Diffused Light, 8 Shapley (H.), Studies of the Magnitudes of Star Clusters, iv., 160; V-, Vi-, 379 Shaw (Sir Napier), appointed Halley Lecturer for 1918, 357; Distribution of Cloud and Rain with Reference to the Centre of a Cyclonic Depression, 74; Revolving Fluid in the Atmosphere, 378; The Lack of Science in Modern Education, with Some Hints of What. Might Be, Shaw ne’. E.), Adustable Clock-dials, 144; Gravitation and Thermodynamics, 84, 165; The Tribo-Electric Series, 420; To Measure the Pressure in a High Vacuum by Observations of Logarithmic Decrement, 97; and C. Hayes, A Special Test on the Gravitation Temperature Effect, 77 Shebley (W. H.), Introduction of Food and Game Fishes into the Waters of California, 151 Shelford (the late R. W. C.), A Naturalist in Borneo, 64 Shenstone (J. C.), Herb-Growing in the British Empire, 373 Shepherd (R. J.), awarded the Elgin Scholarship of the Institution of Naval Architects, 113 Sheppard (T.), Bronze Weapons Found near Scarborough, 189; British Geological Maps as a Record of the Advance of Geology, 279; elected an Honorary Life Member of the Selby Scientific Society, 150; Money Scales and Weights, 452; William Smith: His Maps and Memoirs, 351 XVI Lndex [ Nature, September 20, 1917 Sherrington (Prof. C, S.), elected a Corresponding Member of the R. Accademia delle Scienze of Bologna, 69 Shipley (Dr. A. E.), elected Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, 299; Studies in Insect Life, and Other Essays, 244 ; Shklovsky (1. W.), In Far North-East Siberia. Translated by L. Edwards and Z. Shklovsky, 426 Shreve (F.), Vegetation Map of the United States, 110 Sidgreaves (Father), Stonyhurst College Observatory Report, 252 Silberstein (Dr. L.), Motion of the Perihelion of Mercury, Deduced from the Classical Theory of Relativity, 159 ; The Motion of the Perihelion of Mercury, 412 Simonsen (Dr. J. L.), Causes of the Paucity of Research Work, 108 ie Simpson (Dr. G. C.), A Very Penetrating Radiation in the Atmosphere, 124 Skeats (E. W.), Age of the Alkali Rocks of Port Cygnet and the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, 180 : Skinner (C. E.), Dielectric Losses in Insulating Materials, 4 . Seattebere (Dr. C.), Leader of an Expedition to Juan Fernandez and the Galapagos Islands, 314 Sleggs (G. F.), Drum-fire, 513 Slipher (Dr. V. M.), appointed Director of the Lowell Observatory, 51; Persistent Aurora, 193; Radial Velocities of Spiral Nebula, 532; The Variable Nebula N.G.C. 2261, 54 Smith (Prof. A.), General Chemistry for Colleges. Second edition, 343 Smith (A. H.), The Acquisition of the Elgin Marbles, 31 Smith (C. M.), Electric and Magnetic Measurements, 401 Smith (E. F.), Chemically Induced Crown-galls, 380 Smith (Prof. G. Elliot), Form of the Frontaf Pole of an Endocranial Cast of Eoanthropus dawsoni, 78; The Endocranial Cast of the Boskop Skull, 79 Smith (Dr. G. F. H.), The Problem of Sartorite, 379 Smith (H.), The High Price of Sugar and How to Reduce itr Rees Be Smith (Dr. J. H.), A New Acid Sodium Phosphate, 471 Smith (M.), and Matthews, Intestinal Protozoa, 14 Smith (S. A.), The Fossil Human Skull Found at Talgai, 38 Smith (Prof. S. W. J.), The Bursting of Bubbles, 5; and } ,. -H. Moss, Experiments with Mercury Jets, 96 Soddy (Prof. F.), The Complexity of the Chemical Elements, 414, 433; The Stability of Lead Isotopes from Thorium, 2 Somerville (Prof. W.), Forestry in Britain, 330 © Somerset (Duchess of), Reported Decrease of Migratory Birds, 390 Sosman (R. B.), Common Refractory Oxides, 314 Sowerby (A de C.), Heude’s Types of Artiodactyle Ungu- lates in the Sikawei Museum, China, 7 Spencer (Dr. G. L.), A Handbook for Cane-Sugar Manu- facturers and their Chemists. Fifth edition, 162 Sperry (E. A.), Aerial Navigation over Water, 15 Spier (L.), Zuni Chronology, 379 Spiers (F. S.), Refractory Materials for Use in the Glass Industry, 430 Spinden (Dr. H. J.), Tour in Central America, 212 aa Stager (H. W.), A Sylow Factor Table of the First Twelve Thousand Numbers, etc., 164 Stanford’s Half-inch Map of the Battle Front in France and Flanders: Ostend, Zeebrugge, Bruges, 523 ; Large-scale War Map, No. 17, 171 ; Stansfield (Prof. A.), Smelting of fron-ores Rich in Titanium, 352 rae Stapledon (R. G.), Grassland and Ploughed Land, 373 Starch (D.), Similarity of Brothers and Sisters in Mental Traits, 313 Starks (Prof. E. C.), The Sesamoid Articular Bone in the Mandible of Fishes, 31 Start (Miss L. E.), Burmese Textiles, 91 Stephenson (Dr. J.), Zoological Results of a Tour in the Far East: Aquatic Oligocheta from Japan and China, 240 Stephens (Miss J.), Sponges Collected off the Coast of Ireland, 399 Stephens (W. H.), Bequest to the American Association, 518 Stephenson (L. W.), A. F. Crider, and R. B. Dole, Geology and Ground Waters of North-Eastern Arkansas, 376 Steven (H. M.), Relation of the Chermes Group of Insects to British Forestry, 491; The Chermes of Spruce and Larch and their Relation to Forestry, 359 é Stewart (Lieut. C. D.), Atmospheric Electrical Phenomena during Rain, 178 ) Stiles (P. G.), Human Physiology, 101 Stirling (Lord Justice), Herbarium of, Presented to the Tunbridge Wells Natural History Society, 248 : Stirling-Maxwell (Sir J.), appointed Assistant-Controller of Timber Supplies for Scotland, 509 Ges Stoney (G. G.), appointed Professor of Mechanical Engin- eering in the Manchester School of Technology, 439 Stérmer (Prof. C.), Numerical Calculations of Orbits about a Magneto-electric Centre, 453; Photographs of Aurora, — 405 =: and Chemical Constitution, Dr. J. Moir, 412; _ Kinematography, A New Process of, 132 Columbia University, Gift to, by G. W. Brackenridge, 518 mbi Analysis, Major P. A. MacMahon. Vol. ii., 82 Gomet : A New, Prof. Cooke, 172; 1915a (Mellish), Mie. J. _ Vinter-Hansen, 72; 1916b (Wolf), Prof. Strémgren, 72 ‘Comets, Observations of, made at Lyons Observatory, J. Guillaume, 279 Fa, The Deviation of the, Prof. J. C. Beattie, 15 _ Compressed Air Practice in Mining, D. Penman, 203 oe Continuation Classes, 114 Conch Shell and Wooden Trumpets, Use of, for Signalling, _E. W. P. Chinnery, 269 ‘Conchological Features of the Lenham Sandstones of Kent, _ ete., The, R. B. Newton, 353 Coniferous Wood, Anatomical Characters _ Value in Classification, C. P. Dutt, 98 _ Continentality and Temperature, C. E. P. Brooks, 19 sae aes on Classes, Compulsory, 114 uity, A New Equation of, F. G. Keyes, 400 Contre-évolution, Théorie de la, ou Dégénérescence par _ YHérédité Pathologique, Dr. R. Larger, 401 Coolgardie Water Supply, The, P. V. O’Brien and J. Parr, 394 Cooling of Metals by Water, Garvin and Portevin, 280 Cooper, Astley, Prize, The, 189 Co-operative Wholesale Society, Dr. G. Martin appointed _ Director of a Research Department of the, 150 _ Co-ordinates, Generalised, in Mechanics and Physics, An _ Introduction to the Use of, Prof. W. E. Byerly, 182 Coot, Some Habits of the, 91 _ Copper-ferrocyanide Membrane, Selective Properties of the, - _ ¥F. Tinker, 178 Coral Reefs, Subsidence Theory of, A New Test of the, _. R.A, Daly, 139 ‘Cornus controversa, Effect of Ringing the Stem of, _-§. Hibino, 452 ; of, and their CORRESPONDENCE, Aeroplanes and Atmospheric Gustiness, Prof. McAdie, 125; G. Dobson; C. E. Stromeyer, 164; S. L. Walkden, 225 Agar-agar Jelly, Ten per. cent., Dr. E. H. Hankin, 24 Ants, An Invasion of, E. Armitage, 525 Auroras and Magnetic Storms, Lt. L. Cave, 525 “Blood Charcoal,” The Preparation of, S. W. Cole, 226 British Optical Science, Sir J. Larmor, 5; J. W. French, 103 Bubbles, The Bursting of, Prof. S. W. J. Smith, 5 Calculating Machines, Prof. Karl Pearson, 384 Canvas-attacking Fungus, A. J. Ramsbottom, 206 Ceratonia siliqua and the Carat Weight, J. H. Coste, 185 Chaffinches and Cuckoos, A Note on, H. M. M. Perrycoste, 345 Classical Education and Modern Needs, R. W. Livingstone; M. D. Hill, 225; H. G. Wells, 205 Clock-dials, Adjustabie, Dr. P. E. Shaw, 144 Coal, A Plea for the Fuller Utilisation of, Major A. J. Martin, 484 Darwin, A Letter of Ch., in Argentina, M. Doello-Jurado, 395 Diffraction Phenomena in the Testing of Optical Surfaces, S. K. Banerji, 206 Electric Discharge from Scythe, J. R. Pannell, 324; C. E. Benham, 366 Flat-foot in Young Women, M.D., F.R.S.E., 204 ; Flint, The Origin of, Sir E. Ray Lankester, 283; Dr. R. M. Caven, 306; Prof. B: Moore; Prof. G: A. J. Cole; S. C. Bradford, 324; C. Carus-Wilson ; Dr. F. J. Allen, 345 Floating Earths, Dr. W. Leaf, 45; Dr. C. H. Desch, 104; J. Offord; S. Reinach, 165 Food Orders, The New, Prof. W. M. Bayliss, 165 Giraffe Paintings, Chinese and Persian, Dr. C. R. East- man, 344 Glare, Protection from, L. C. Martin, 365 Grating Interference Bands, A Fixed System of, C. K. V. Row, 63 Gravitation and Thermodynamics, Dr. P. E. Shaw, 84; Sir O. Lodge; Dr. G. W. Todd, 104; Dr. P. E. Shaw, 165; J. S. G. Thomas, 405 Haloes,. Arcs of, W. W. Bryant, 345 Hippocampus, The, in Ancient Art, Dr. C. R. Eastman, 385 Jupiter’s Sateilites and the Velocity of Light, Prof. H. W. Warrington, 345 Lead Isotopes from Thorium, The Stability of, Prof. F. Soddy, 244; Dr. A. Holmes, 245; Prof. J. Joly, 284 Mayor, J. E. B., and Todhunter, E. S. Payne, 264 Moon, The First New, in the Year 1 B.c., Dr. O. Klotz, 405 Mountain Sickness, Dr. J. Knott, 64 Muscular Inefficiency and Possible Speeds of Walking, A. Mallock, 83 National Service, C. W. Piper, 25 Oceanic Tidal Friction, H. Jeffreys, 405 lated Teeth of Sheep, B. Thompson, 264; Sir H. Maxwell, 284; Dr. J. Ritchie, 306 Parthogenesis, The Terminology of, Sir E. Ray Lankester, co) Quartz Glass, Devitrification of, A. C.* Michie, 484 Radiation in the Atmosphere, A Very Penetrating, Dr. G. C. Simpson, 124 Radiation of the Stars, The, J. H. Jeans; Prof. A. S. Eddington, 365; J. H. Jeans, 444; Prof. A. S. Eddington, Radintion-Presen Astrophysical Retardation, and Rela- tivity, Sir J. Larmor, 404 Rainbow, An Unusual, A. J. Low, 525 Renal Activity, The Nature of, Prof. W. M. Bayliss, 344; The Reviewer, 345 Scandinavian L ene, 2. K- R,.S.;: 505 Science Teaching and National Character, Prof. Ramsay Muir, 184 Scientific Literature, The Po By Jourdain, 306 Snow in London, The Frequency of, L. C. W. Bonacina, 185; F. J. Brodie, 205; E. L. Hawke, 206 Spectra of X-rays, Relations between the, Dr. J. Ishiwara, Organisation of, 424 i Synchronous Signalling, Prof. J. Joly, 384 XXIV Lniex [ Nature , September 20, 1917 Talbot’s Observations on Fused Nitre, Prof. A. W. C. Menzies, 85 Temperature Gradient, The Horizontal, and the Increase of . Wind with Height, W. H. Dines, 24; Major E, Gold, 6 Thermodynamics and Gravitation : A Suggestion, Dr. G. W, Todd, 5; J. L., 44; Prof. E. H. Barton, 45 Thorium, The Stability of Lead Isotopes from, Prof. F. Soddy, 244; Dr. A. Holmes, 245; Prof. J. Joly, 284 Visibility of Interference Fringes and the Double Slit, Prof. J. K. Robertson, 424 Wasps in Kashmir in 1916, Scarcity of, J. Evershed, 185 Winters, A Forecast of Coming, Dr. C. Easton, 524 ‘ Cotton: Cultivation in the United States, 342; Research, A Provisional Committee on, 130; Spinning, W. Scott Taggart. Vol. iii., Fourth edition, 462 Cotyledon Colour in Prism, Inheritance of, Dr. O. E. White, 34 Cow, Contagious Abortion of the, W. Giltner, 351 Crewkerne District, The Inferior Oolite and Contiguous Deposits of the, L. Richardson, 459 Crocker Land Expedition, Safety of the, 268; Dr. H. J. Hunt, 451 ‘ Crop Production, Effect of Overhead Electric Discharge upon, Prof. V. H. Blackman and I. Jorgensen, 232 Crops, Field and Laboratory Studies’ of, McCall, 383 Crowley’s Hygiene of School Life, Dr. C. W. Hutt, 382 Crown-Galls, Chemically Induced, E. F. Smith, 380 Crustacea, Experiments and Observations on, parts iv. and v., Dr. J. Tait, 340 Crystallisation and Properties of a f-monoglucoside of Glycerol obtained by Biochemical Synthesis, E. Bour- quelot, M. Bridel, and A. Aubry, 319 Crystals; Growing, Experiments on, E. T. Long, 392; Growth of, Pressure Phenomena accompanying the, S. Taber, 380; Radiation of, J. S. v. d. Lingen, 360; Symmetry-numbers of, Limitation of the, Dr. J. W. Evans, 98 ; Dairy Farming, Profs. C. H. Eckles and G. F. Warren, 383 Daly, The Charles P., Medal awarded to G. G. Chisholm, 509 D’Arrest’s Periodic Comet, J. Braae, 112 Darwin, A. Letter, of Ch., in Argentina, M. Doello-Jurado, 395 Day’s Work, A, Capt. A. Macphail, 490 Deafness: Caused by Sheli Shock, Arterial Pressure in Cases of, M. Marage, 120; War-, Treatment of Cases of, M. Lautier, 120 DEATHS. Alpers (Dr. W. C.), 69 Archer (W. E.), 528 Bailey (Major P. G.), 211 Baily (W.), 149 Baker (Dr. S. M.), 329 Barnes (Prof. J. H.), 370, 428 Bassot (Genl. J. A. L.), 51 Battelli (Prof. A.), 90 Bazin (H.), 190 von Behring (Prof.), 109, 169, 228 Bell (Dr. R.), 350, 370 Besant (Dr. W. H.), 289, 310 Biggart (A. S.), 189 Binnie (Sir A. R.), 248, 267 Birdwood (Sir G.), 370 Birkeland (Prof. Kr.), 349 Blyth (B. H.), 249 Boardman (Lt.-Col. T. H.), 528 Booker (A.), 129 Brunchorst. (Dr. J.), 267 Clarke (Prof. W. B.), 509, 527 Conn (Prof. H. W.), 212 Cornwall (Prof. H. B.), 170 Courmont (Prof. J.), 12 Crafts (Dr. J. M.), 409 Protsemcc: G., Cutter (Dr. E.), 248 Darboux (Prof. J. G.), 12, 28 : Dejerine (Prof. J. J.), 150 Dixon (Sec.-Lt. H. E. O. M.), 248 Druery (C. T.), 489 Dunlop (E. B.), 409 Dupré (J. V.), 249 Durston (Sir A. J.), 170 Fielding-Hall (H.), 230 Fleet (Dr. J. F.), 13 Fletcher (A. L.), 231 Forrest (J.), 30 Ganz (Prof. A. F.), 528 Geddes (Major A. C. B.), 190 Gibbs (A. E.), 70 Gibson (A.), 268 Hague (Dr. A.), 312 Harper (Lt. A. G,), 312 Hesse (Dr. J. O.), 129 Hill (Prof. E. G.), 370, 409 Hoffmann (Dr. G. C.), 190 Holden (Miss R.), 249 Hughes (Prof. T. McKenny), 311, 326 Jessop (W. H. H.), 12 Jones (Lt. J. B.), 370 Jungersen (Prof. H. F. E.), 89, 209 Katte (Col. W.), 89 Kelleher (Prof. S. B.), 509 Kennedy (Lt. H..T.), 328 | Laer (Prof. H. Van), 370 Landouzy (Prof. L. T. J.), 230, 250 Latham (Baldwin) 70 Le Dantec (Dr. F.), 488 Leeds (Major A. N.), 528 Macdonald (Sir W. C.), 311 MacEwan (P.), 249 Maclennan (D.), 528 ‘McCourt (Sec.-Lt. C. D.), 110 Madan (A. C.), 518 Margerison (S.), 329 Massee (G.), 9 Morner (Count Karl A. H.), 190 Muntz (C. A.), 70 Niven (Sir W. D.), 289, 311 Peavot (H.), 212 Peters (Prof. E. D.), 69 Pickard-Cambridge (Rev. O.), Preston (Dr. S. Tolver), 190 Raciborski (Prof. M.), 189 Ramsay (Dr. E. P.), 30 Riban (Prof. J.), 247 - Rowland (Major S. D.), 67 Ruffer (Sir M. Armand), 189, 209 Stubenrauch (Prof. A. V.), 109 Taylor (Sir W.), 170 Tiddeman (R. H.), 13 Trechmann (Dr. C. O.), 428 Welander (Dr. E.), 30 Wheatley (Dr. H. B.), 189 Wright (Dr. Hamilton), 149 Zeppelin (Count), 50 51, 88 De Bilt Observatory, Records of Magnetic Disturbance Obtained at, 171 oe Decimal: Association, Annual Report of, the, 250; Coinage and the Metric System, The Institute of Bankers on, 390 Degeneracy, The Problem of, Dr. A. F. Tredgo'd, 469 - Demonology and Bacteriology in, Dr. J. Wright, 372 - Denmark, Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters of, Subjects for Memoirs for Prize Awards, 290 Denning, Frank, Memorial, Foundation of, by | Mrs. cares = nsity of Air, Determination of the, as incti Altitude, L. Ballif, 319 ae a Derbyshire, A Spilitic Facies of Lower Carboniferous Lava- ' flows in, H. C. Sargent, 59 9 Devitrification, A Curious Case of, Dr. A. Scott, 379 Diamonds in the Molteno Beds of Molteno, Prof. Schwarz, 492 Diapus furtivus, Life-history of, C. F. C. Beeson, 392 %, 9:7] Lndex XXV os Philosophical Works. Pose ag 343 ees The Interrelation between, 3) SS and G. » 400; Growth, and the Translated and of the "Body, Interrelations be- , L. B. Mendel and S. E. Judson, 140 ane Colour Box, A, A. W. Clayden, 97 ; Phenomena Testing of Optical Surfaces, S. K. Banerji, 206 fa Salt at a Definite a? Calculation J. G. Adami, 495 Hieron Habits of the, Miss M. D. Haviland; s Habits of the, in Scotland, Capt. C. S. Meares, son-flie -Zygopterid, Morphology of the Caudal Gills the Larve of, R. J. Tillyard, 259 tg ga Plant Ecology of the, Prof. J. W. toe ‘Gold Medal, The, presented to Prof. A. A. | Michelson, 212 rosophila : Bearing of Selection Experiments with, upon the quency of Germinal Changes, E. C. MacDowell, 380; melanogaster, Meigen, Food of, J. P. Beusmberger, ‘ The War, and our Supply of, F. A. Hocking, 90 G. F. Sleggs, 513 lin, A Geological Map of, 270 instania, The Looe? 4 waengee Position of, R. J. Tillyard, 373 neyo aa Clouds, and Dew, Dr. J. Aitken, 192 ch Con of Natural and Medical Sciences, The, 189 y and America, with Notes on Colour Pro- _H. Higgins. Second edition, 303 Dye: -making | , Establishment of a Temporary Cae te chon of, LEA Board of Trade, 328; Problem, the Entente Powers, Prof. G. T.. Morgan, , Problems in, Prof. T. H. Norton, 531 Dy : R. C. Fawdry. Part i., 102; of the Particle mend Rigid Body, Elementary, Prof. R. J. A. Barnard, Divsetexien ren Le Choléra Asiatique, Le Typhus Exan- aie 1 ae a H. Vincent et L. Muratet, 363 a Me ighet 3. ‘Earth, The Figure of the, The SABIE of Astro- owe ary ie gg J. H. Jeans, 317 stered on May 1, 211 a aise Prof. H. N. Russell, M. Fowler, and C. Borton, 512 panics of Life Insurance, 215 Ecuador, Progress of a Swedish Expedition in, 30 ag and St. Andrews, the Universities of, Sir W. _ Watson Cheyne elected Member for, 499; Royal Society of, Award of Prizes of the, 312; _,__ of the, 30 x Edison Medal of the American Institution of Electrical The, awarded to Nikola Tesla, 328 Education : Address on, Lord Haldane, 478 ; and Administra- tion, Science in, 455; and Research, H. G. Wells, 141; “ae Bill, The New, H. ALL. Fisher, 485: Board of, Re- - moval of the Offices of the, 318; Report of the, 1915-16, 55 The Future Policy of the, 338; Continued and cag in England and Wales, 252; Continuative, - in France, C. Brereton, 288; German and English, a _ Comparative Study, Dr. Fr. De Hovre, 201; Higher, __ and the War, Prof. J. Burnet, 361; in England, H. G. _. Wells, 186; Modern, The Lack of Science in, with Some ‘Hints of What Might Be, Sir Napier Shaw, 367; _ National Reforms in, 167; Science and, Civil Service Estimates for, 175; Natural Science in, The Master of Balliol, 4293 New Ideals in, Conference on, 418, 519; Technical, F M. Denton, 177; in South Wales, Prof. "Election of Fellows J. Wertheimer, 533 ; The Future of, Prof. J. B. Farmer, Joy The $ Permanent Values in, K. Richmond, 201 Educational: Ideals, 201; Progress, The Bedrock of, 126; Reconstruction, 356; National Conference on, 217; Reform, H. A. L. Fisher, 17; 156 Edward Medal, The, awarded to the Representatives of the late A. Angel and G. Wenborne, 350 Effort, The Physiopathology of, J. Amar, 520 Egyptian Almanac, 1917, The, 53 Electric: and Magne ements, C. M. Smith, 4o1; Carrier in eee Silver, and Aluminium, Mass of the, R. C. Tolman and T. D. Stewart, 160; Conductivity of Metals, A Possible Function of the Ions in the, E. H. Hall, 219; Discharge from Scythe, J. R. Pannell, 324; C. EL 366; Furnaces, Gallenkamp’s List * of Small, 53; Power Supply, Appointment of a Com- mittee on, 89; Searchlight Projectors, The Range of, J. Rey, Translated by J. H. Johnson, 401 ; Switch and Controlling Gear, Dr. C. C. Garrard, 2; Traction: A Treatise on the Application of Electric Power to Tram. ways and Railways, A. T. Darr, 341 Electrical : Laboratory Course for Junior Students, Prof. M. Maclean, 402 ; Measurements and Testing : Direct- and Alternating-Current, C. L.. Dawes, 402; Made at Boa Vista, Brazil, during the Total Solar Eclipse in 1912, Drs. W. Knoche and J. Laub, 213 Electricity : and Agriculture, Formation of a Committee on, 69; Practical, A Laboratory Course of, for Vocational Schools and Shop Classes, M. J. Archbold, 402 Electrification of our Railways, The, Dr. A. Russell, 341 Electrogénes en Régime Troublé, Legons sur le Fonctionne- ment des Groupes, Prof. L. Barbillion, 2 ‘Electrotechnical Books, Dr. A. Russell, 401 Electrotherapy, The History of, H. Colwell, 130 Electron and of Related Constants, A Re-determination of the Value of the, R. A. Millikan, 379 Elephant-ivory and the Evolution of the Elephant, W. D. Matthew, 18 es me History of the Acquisition of the, A. H. mit Elliot, Daniel Giraud, Memorial Medal Fund Established, Dr. 489 Ellis Mycological Collection, The, Acquired by the Kew Herbarium, 490 Empire Development and Organisation, 165 Employé, The Method of Choosing an, 350 Engineering: Applications of Higher Mathematics, V. Karapetoff. Parts ii. to v., 102; Drawing, The Ele- ments of, E. Rowarth, 103; Experiment Stations, 228; Scientific, Dr. A. Russell, 2 Engineers, Technical Education for, M. Longridge, 198 England and Walés, a Scheme of Rational Administrative Divisions for, 52 Enteritis, Bacillary, from the. Eastern Mediterranean, Drs. Rajchman and Western, 130 Enzyme Action, The Method of, Dr. J. Beatty, 443 Enzymes, The ‘Action of, 443 Eoanthropus dawsoni: Evidence of a Second Skull of, Dr. A. Smith Woodward; Form of the Frontal Pole of an Endocranial Cast of, Prof. G. Elliot Smith, 78 Epinepelus striatus, Bloch, Rheotropism of, H. Jordan, 219 Esperanto: Rev. A. J. Ashley, 318; and Why We Need It, B. Long, 518 Ether, Immobility of the, Prof. P. Zeeman, 132 Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians, W. W. Robbins, J. P- Harrington and Miss B. Freire-Marreco, 291 Etoiles, Recherches sur les Mouvements Propres des, R. Furuhjelm, 175 tae ree se taken in the British Isles and in Canada, H. T. Tams, 410 Bk dina: be “Means of Hybridization, Dr. J. P. Lotsy, 43; Theory of, A Critique of the, Prof. T. H. Morgan, 181 Exmoor, A Large Part of, Placed under the National Trust, Sir T. Acland, 31 Expansion of the Alloys of Iron and Nickel, Changes in the, C. E. Guillaume, 359 Experimental and Research Station, Turner’s Hill, Ches- hunt. Second Annual Report, 127 Explosion of April 2, 1916, Distance of Places Where Heard, 250 Explosive, A New, 289 XXvi Lndex “re, Explosives: A. Marshall. Second edition. Vol. i., History and Manufacture, 321; History and Manufacture of, 321 Extinct Animals, The Restoration of, Prof.-H. F, Osborn, 213 Fact and Truth, Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, 158 Failure, Causes of, in Bolts, etc., 353 Fall of a Stone to the Centre of the Earth, Time of the, M. Sauger, 439 Faraday Society, Report of the Symposium on Refractory Materials at the, 314 Farm: Spies: How the Boys Investigated Field Cro Insects, Prof. A. F. Conradi and W. A. Thomas, 23 Vermin, The National Importance of, Dr. W. E Collinge, 188 Fatigue Study: The Elimination of Humanity’s Greatest Unnecessary Waste, F. B. and Dr. L. M. Gilbreth, 23 Fecundity versus Civilisation, A. More, 226 Feeding Experiments with Deficiencies in the Amino-acid Supply, H. Ackroyd and Prof. F. G. Hopkins, 111 Felspars, Potash Fertilisers from, 94 Fermat’s Last Theorem, M. Cashmore, 302 Ferns: Branching in, B. Sahni, 98; How to Know the, S. L. Bastin, 463 Ferro-Magnetic Substances, Effect of Temperature on the Magnetism of, Prof. K. Honda and J. Okubo, 270 Fertilisers, “The World’s Production, etc., of, 330 Field Crops for the Cotton-Belt, Prof. J. O. Morgan, 342 Fiji Islands, Geology of the, W. G. Foye, 380 Filter-papers, British, 114 Fireballs in June, W. F. Denning, 271 Firing on the Western Front, Sound of, Dr. H. S. Allen, 409 Fish: Appointment of a Committee on the Home Food Supplies of, 89; Breeding-habits of, and of Riverside Birds, J. C. Mottram, 78; Migration, 81;- Sea-, Appointment of a Committee 09, 89 Fisheries, Marine and Fresh-water, Suggested Nationalisa- tion of, Lord Dunraven, 510 Fishes : Bibliography of, Drs. B. Dean and C. R. Eastman, 491; Tropical, and their Adaptive Colouration, W. H. Longley, 140 Flagellated Protozoa in Infective Processes of the Intestines and Liver of Animals, Réle of the, Dr. P. B. Hadley, 151 Flat-foot in Young Women, M.D., F.R.S.E., 204 Flint, The Origin of, Sir E. Ray Lankester, 283; Dr. R. M. Caven, 306; Prof. B. Moore; Prof. G. A. J. Cole; S. C. Bradford, 324; C. Carus Wilson; Dr. F. J- Allen, 345 Floating Earths: Dr. W. Leaf, 45; Dr. C. H. Desch, 104; J. Offord; S. Reinach, 165 Flood, Great, Ancient Stories of a, Sir J. Frazer, 191 Flotation Method of Ore Concentration, The, 66 Flow of Liquids by Drops in Cylindrical Tubes, Laws of, L. Abonnenc, 120 Flowers, Doubleness in, Miss E. R. Saunders, 391 Fluid Motion, Discontinuous, Dr. J. G. Leathem, 178 Fly-control in Military Camps, Prof. H. B. Kirk, 71 Flying-Machiine, The, from an Engineering Standpoint, F. W. Lanchester, 241 Fog and Mist, Formation of, Major G. I. Taylor, 98 Fog-signal Machinery, Acoustic Efficiency of, Prof. L. V. King, 132 Food: Dr. A. Hill, 503; and Fitness: or Diet in Relation to Health, J. Long, 323; and Health, Prof. H. Kinne * and A. M. Cooley, 41; Orders, The New, Prof. W. M. Bayliss, 128, 165 Foreign-born Citizens{ Our, 231 Forestry in Britain, Prof. W. Somerville, 330 Forests: and Atmospheric and Soil Moisture in India, Relation between, M. Hill, 445; and Rainfall, Dr. H. R. Mill, 445; Dr. G. Walker, 446 5: Formicide, The Phylogenetic Development of Subapterous and Apterous Castes in the, W. M. Wheeler, 179 Forrest,” “James, Lecture, Sir J. Wolfe Barry to deliver ‘the, 89 Forthcoming Books of Science, 16, 72, 172,.193, 271, 315, 331, 431, 454, 492 Forts and Dolmens, Ancient, in Western Ireland, T. J. Westropp, 71 . Nat September 20, 1917 Fossil: Cycads, American, vol. ii, Taxonomy, G. R. Wieland, 73; Fishes, The, in the U.S. National Museum, Dr, C. R. Eastman, 330; Plants, A Group of, Prof. A. C. Seward, 73 aS Fossiliferous Limestone from the North Sea, R. B. Newton, 353 Fosterage as a Process of Evolution, Sir P. I. H. Grierson, 2 Fothergillian Gold Medal awarded to Sir L. Rogers, 169 Fowl: Body Pigmentation and Egg Production in the, J. A. Harris, A. F. Blakeslee, and D. E. Warner, 379; Domestic, Effect of Continued Administration of Certain Poisons to the, Dr. R. Pearl, 55; Fertility and Age in the, Dr. R. Pearl, 400; Physiology of Reproduction in the, Dr. M. R. Curtis, 110; Some Effects of the Con- tinued Administration of Alcohol to the, Dr. R. Pearl, 139 ; France: and National Scientific Research allied to Industry, E. S. Hodgson, 408; Continuative Education in, C Brereton, 288 f Franklin Medal, The, awarded to Prof. H. A. Lorentz and _ Admiral D. W. Taylor, 248 z Fresh-water Wonders and How to Identify Them, J. H. Crabtree, 404 : Fuel : Economy, Scientific Aspects of, Prof. J. W. Cobb, 45; Liquid, and its Combustion, Prof. J. S. S. Brame, 134; Research, 432 ian Fumaria, Section Sphzrocapnos, Enumeration of the Species of, H. W. Pugsley, 239 Fumaroles and Hot Springs, Commercial Utilisation of, R. M. Gabrié, 259 a Fungoid and Insect Pests of the Farm, F. R. Petherbridge, 144 , Fur-Seal of the Pribilof Islands, The, Prof. G. H. Parker, 291 Galactobiose, Crystallisation and Complementary Properties of the, Previously Obtained by Biochemical Synthesis, E. Bourquelot and A. Aubry, 139 Gall Midges, Distribution of, E. P. Felt, 400 Game Protection in America, J. B. Burnham, 18 Garden: A Private, for Educational Purposes, Dr. J. B. Hurry, 378; and Field, 22 Gas: Engineers, Institution of, Lord Moulton nominated as President of the, 268; Molecules, Condensation and Evaporation of, I. Langmuir, 219; Poisoning, The Blood in, Capt. Miller and Dr. H. Rainy, 359 Gases, Perfect, Entropy of, at the Absolute Zero of Tem- perature, E. Ariés, 119 Gaskell Prize, The, awarded to Major J. C. Woods and Dr. M. Krohn, 489 : : Generalised Co-ordinates, 182 Genetics: A Text-book of, 202; and Eugenics, Prof. W. E. Castle, 202; Plant, Further Studies in, 34; Studies in, 226 Geodetic Operations, Correction for Atmospheric Refraction in, Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin, 433 Geographical: Journal, Retirement of Dr. J. Scott Keltie as Joint Editor of the, 409; Society, Thirty Years’ Work of the, Dr. J. Scott Keltie, 329 Geological Physics Society, Annual Meeting of the, 312 Geology : American and Antarctic, 441; Physical and His- torical, Prof. H. F. Cleland, 441; of the Old Radnor District, Dr. E. J. Garwood and E. Goodyear, 339 Geometry and Analytical Mechanics, 201 : Georgia, South, Geology and Geography of, D. Ferguson; Petrology of, G. W. Tyrrell, 272 << German: and English Education: A Comparative Study, Dr. Fr. De Hovre, 201; Iron and Steel, Prof. W. J. Ashley, 251; Methods, J. H. Vickery, 76; Universities, Women Students in, 118 Germany’s Effort te Obtain Nitrogenous Compounds, Prof. C. Matignon, 33 ; Gigantopteris, Distribution of the Genus, Prof. Yabe and K. Koiwai, 492 Gill: David, Man and Astronomer. Memories of Sir David Gill, K.C.B. Collected and Arranged by G. Forbes, 161; Memories of Sir David, B. Bailland, 161 Giraffe Paintings, Chinese and Persian, Dr, C. R. Eastman, 344 a age eeca mee = 20, ia Index XXxVii =. laci: Phenomena: in the Iberian Peninsula, Dr. ‘L. F. ; ape 511; near Bangor, P. Lake, 79 Gladstone Memorial Prize of the London School of Econ- __ omics awarded to Miss O. Wright, 499 rs in Army Horses, Tests for, 253 , Protection from, L. C. Martin, 365 sow University: Conferment of Degrees, 177; Two ‘ larships in Naval Architecture founded by Col. S. ‘ark, 338 and Porédiain Ware, etc., Chemical, Comparative Examination of, Prof. J. Sebelien, 453; Annealing of, ES Twyman, 433; Grinding and Polishing, J. W. i 39, ae Jars, Rectangular, 14; Research since 14, Prof. H. Jackson, 268; Technology, 432 ‘Cultivation, Scientific Aspects of, 127 sware, Scientific, Action of Chemical and Physical on Some Types of, J. D. Cauwood, S. English, | Pte Dole les NVillag *3hné, A. Bulle:d H. Lake 1 ey e, u and St. George Gray. Vol. ii., 482 Glauberite, Crystals of, in Eastern Peansylvania, E: fT. Secie Bree Wu of, Rev. H. 1. Riddelsdell, 192 ycerine from Waste Fats, 29 Gold-coated Teeth in Sheep, So-called, Prof. A. Liversidge, Beale Clearing House System and Machinery, Lord 12 titasace of, upon the Adaptation Products of the Cactus, L. Daniel » 99 Investigate, ‘Grains, The Saat Peak MA, Carleton, 22 _ Grape, Inheritance of Sex in the, W. D. Valleau, 34 A Olas erie Ploughed Land, R. G. Stapledon, 373 Interference Bands, A Fixed System of, C. K. Venkata Row, 63 ft E Graidintion : and Thermodynamics, Dr. P. E. Shaw, 84, | 6s: Sit O- Lodge Dr. G. W. Todd, 104; J. S. C. i » 405; Temperature Effect, The, Des Pook, a ‘Shaw and C. Hayes, 77 E Greet: ‘Britain and the United States, Some Decisions by q the Governments of, G. Lippmann, 99; Race, The Bee 8 gaan the, M. Grant, 502. oo. Compulsory, in the Previous Examination at Cam- bridge University, 76 | Greenwell, The G. C., Silver Medal awarded to Prof. W. G. ecu, | Greenwich, Royal Ciieetvatory; Report of the, 295 Form and Inheritance in the Common, Prof. A. H. Trow, 34 E Growth : and Reproduction of Rations, Physiological Effect * on, E. B. Hart and others, 400; -promoting Substances _ (Auximones): on the Growth of Lemna minor in Cul- ture Solutions, W. B. Bottomley ; on the Soil Organisms Concerned in the Nitrogen Cycle, F. A. Mockeridge, 77 _ Guinea-pigs and Rats, Studies of Inheritance in, Prof. W. E. Castle and S. Wright, 226 Gunfire : Intense and Prolonged, Influence of, on the Fall z of Rain, H. Deslandres, 218; G. Lemoine, 219; Rain- _ ___ fall and, M. Angot; E. L. Hawke, 467 - Gun : Audibility of Distant, Dr. H. S. Allen, 289; in aes Flan rs and France, Sound of, M. Christy; Dr. Bee H. C. L. Morris, 250; in Flanders, Sound of, 450; E. Sound of Distant, 528 _ Guthrie Lecture of the Physical Society, Prof. P. Langevin to Deliver the, 51 sole eg eae 4 “Halakite Inquiry, Reports of the, 311 _ Halley Lecturer for 1918, Sir Napier Shaw appointed, 357 _ Halos: Arcs of, W. W. Bryant, 345; Radio-active, Prof. J. Joly, 456, 476 _ Hanbury Gold Medal awarded to Prof. H. G. Greenish, 169 _ Hemorrhoids, The Treatment of, by High-frequency ‘Cur- a _ rents, M. Ménard, 239 _ Hardinge, Lady, Medical College for Women, Foundation , of a Gold Medal by the Maharaja of Benares, 338 - Harmonics in the Infra-red Absorption Spectra of Diatomic : _ Gases, J. B. Brinsmade and E. C. Kemble, 500 Hartford, Stamford, Salisbury, Willimantic, and Saybrook Bre § Grain: Rust in Western cae, W. P. Fraser Appointed to , Areas, Conn., Ground Water in the, H. E. Gregory and A. J. Ellis, 376 Harvard University, Prof. H. Miinsterberg’s Library Pre- sented to, 137 Hatschek’s Pit, ete., The Development of, E. S. Goodrich, 199 Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (Mythology), Translated by W. D. Westervelt, 144 Hayden, Gold, Geological Medal, The, awarded to Prof. W. M. Davis, 129 Headmasters, The Association of, The Educational Policy of, 479 Health: A Ministry of, 128 ; Postponement of the Establish- ment of a, 370; The British Medical Association on the Creation of, 451; Insurance, Compulsory, Fallacies of, Dr. Hoffman, 215 ; of the British Armies, The, 29 Heart : Human, "Radiological Researches on the Angle of Inclination of the, L. Moreau, 440; in Man, Develop- ment of the, Prof. D. Waterston, 459 Heat : Economy in Metal Melting, 133; Practical Experi- ments in, W. St. B. Griffith and P. T. Petrie, 41; Stroke, Origin and Prophylaxy of, J. Amar, 319; Treat- ment of Steel in Practice, The, 381 Helicorubin, C. Dhéré and G Vegezzi, 320 Helio-therapy,. Total, in the Treatment of Men Wounded in the War, M. Cazin, 259 Helium Stars, The Classification of, Prof. A. Fowler, 25 Hematozoa in Man, A New Endoglobular, A. Krempf, 439 Herb-growing in the British Empire, J. C. Shenstone, 373 Herbs : Medicinal, The Cultivation of, 208; Used in Medi- cine (First Series), with Descriptive and Explanatory Notes, Mrs. J. D. Ellis, 501 u Herculis, The hekenp Star, W. Dziewulski, 413 weeps Absence of Phalanges through Five Generations, Drs. E. Cragg and H. Drinkwater, 71 Heredity : and Disease, 55 ; and Juvenile Delinquency, J. H. Williams, 231; Studies i in, Gift for, in Sweden, 30; The Problem of, Sir E. Ray Lankester, 181; The Share of Egg and Sperm in, E. G. Conklin, 179 Herefordshire Place-names, St. Clair Baddeley, Hermaphroditism, A Case of, H. V. Exner, 520 Hermilles, Influence of the, on the régime of the Bay of Mont St. Michel, J. Renaud, 179 Hertzian Waves on the Heart, Apparatus for Studying the Effect of, Prof. W. M. Coleman, 97 Heterangiums of the British Coal Measures, The, Dr. D. H. Scott, 199 Heude’s Types of Artiodactyle Ungulates in the Sikawei Museum, China, A. de Sowerby, 78 l’Heure, La Réforme rationnelle de, M. Désortiaux, 251 Hevea brasilensis, Fungus Diseases of, J. F- Dastur, 232 High: Resistance of the Bronson Type, a Method of Con- structing a, Dr. W. F. G. Swann and S. J. Mauchly, 251; -speed Telegraphy, 55 ; Temperature Measurements Progress of, Le Chatelier, 471 Highland Border Rocks in the Aberfoyle District, The, Prof. Jehu and Dr. R. Campbell, 398 Highways and Byways in Nottinghamshire, J. B. Firth, 4 Hind’s Variable Nebula, Pease, 332 Hippocampus in Ancient Art, The, Dr. C. R. Eastman, 384 Histology, A Text-book of, Prof. H. E. Jordan and Dr. S. Furguson, 502 Holmes Chapel College of Agriculture, Miss B. Colthurst appointed Principal of, 257 Hop, the Wild, in Denmark, J. Schmidt, 510 Horse-Breeding and Horse-Racing, Prof. J. C. Ewart, 346 Horse-chestnuts : The Collecting of, 529; Use for, 328 Horses, R. Pocock, 364 Horticulture : A University Degree in, 287; The Standard Cyclopedia of, Dr. L. H. Bailey. Vols. iii. and iv., 22 Hourly Time Zones, Extension to the Sea of, C. Lallemand, Collected and 39! 99 House Sperrousl Food of, Dr. W. A. Hollis, 427; The Destruction of, Dr. W. E. Collinge, 3 Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Exploration of the Prof. W. J. Dakin, 19 Huggins, Sir W. and Lady: Address at the Unveiling of a Memorial to, Sir J. J. Thomson, 153 ; Unveiling of the Memorial to, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, 69; and Dedica- tion of a Medallion to, in St. Paul’s ‘Cathedral, 109 Human: and Animal Bones, etc., Discovered near Ipswich, XXViili Index - [ Nature, September 20, 1917 J. Reid Moir, 218; Energy, Temperature Optima for, E. Huntington, 179 - Humidity and Temperature, The Control of Settlement by, Dr. G. Taylor, 14 “Homogen,” Experiments with, M. A. F. Sutton, 373 Hundred-inch Reflector of the "Mount Wilson Obseryatory, The, 385 Hunger : and Appetite, Prof. W. F. Bayliss, 41; in Health and Disease, The Control of, Prof. A. J. Carlson. 41 Huntington’s Chorea in Relation to Heredity and Eugenics. etc., Prof. C. B. Davenport and Dr. E. B. Muncey, 55 Huxley Lecture at Birmingham, Prof. D’Arcy W. Thomp- | son to Deliver the, 18 Hydraulics, Treatise on, M. and T. Merriman, Tenth edition, 483 Hydrobromic Acid, The Normal Density of, W. J. Murray, 59 Hydrocyanic Acid in Plants, Occurrence of, Dr. J. M. Petrie, 260 Hydro-Geology in the United States, 376 Hydroids, Responses of, to Gravity, G. H. Parker, 179 Hydrozoan Fossil, A New, I. Hayasaka, 492 Hygiene: and Public Health, School of, Dr. W. H. Welch appointed Director of the, 499; Personal, Syllabus of, for Colleges, Prof. E. C. Howe. Third revision, 382 School and Personal, 382 Hylastes cunicularius, Life- -history of, J. W. Munro, 91 Ground, The Formation of, J.-MacAlister, 251; in Arctic Seas in 1916, State of the, 192 Ichneumonides as Auxiliaries in Forestry, The Function of Some, L. Bordas, 360 Igneous Action in Britain, Some Aspects of, Dr. A. Harker, 77 Illinois: Noxious and Beneficial Insects of, Dr. S. A. Forbes, 213; University. Prof. C. R. Richards ap- pointed Dean. of the College of Engineering, etc., 238 Illuminating Engineering Society, Annual Report of the, 230 Illustration Processes Used in Scientific Publications, R. B. Fishenden, 218 Impact in Three Dimensions, Prof. M. W. J. Fry, 132 Imperial : College of Science and Technology, Guide to the Facilities for Study at the; F .J. Cheshire recommended as Director of the Department of Technical Optics, 257 ; Institute, Proposal to Constitute a Bureau of Mineral Intelligence, 50; Work of the, 492; Mineral Resources Bureau, Appointment of a Committee to Prepare a Scheme for an, 289; Preference, Resolutions on, 50 ~ Incapacitation, War, A Centre for Determining the Extent of, Dr. Camus, "468 Index of Genera and Species | Referred to, and an a ie to the Plates in “The Ibis,” 1895-1912, Edited by W. L. Sclater, 4 India : Agricultural Journal of, New Series, 131; Agricul- tural Statistics of, vol. i., 530; Importance of Education in, Lord Chelmsford, 38; Scientific Libraries in, 108 ; Technical Education in, Lord Chelmsford, 479; The Public Services of, 187 Indian: Association for the Cultivation of Science, Report of the, 195; Saltpetre, Sir E. Thorpe, 447; Science Congress, The, 108; Dr. G. Walker elected Fepement of the, rog; Arrangements for the, 509 Inductance and Capacity, The Calculation and ment of, W. H. Nottage, 401 Ice: Induction Apparatus for Detecting Projectiles in Wounds,” St. Procopiu, 480 Industrial Research: in Canada, Prof. J. C. feed 207; in the United States of America, A. M. Fleming, 465 Industry: A Central Information and Records Office for, P. Otlet, 468; Modern, Basis of, in Mechanics and Chemistry, Dr. Carpenter, 532; Science and, 376, 465; and Education, Principal E. H. Griffiths, 533 Inertia, The Effective, of Electrified Systems Moving with High Speed, G. W. Walker, 217 Infant Lives, Loss of, and Means of Prevention, C. W. ’ Hobson, 391 Ink for Localisation Marks, Capt. Finzi, 510 Insect Life, Studies in, and other Essays, Dr. A. E. Shipley, 244 : Rees sire. Insects: and Light, An Observation on, Prof. G. Kerr, 399; Attacking Stored Wheat in the Punjab, J. H. Barnes and A, J. Grove, 170; The Carriage of Disease by, Dr. L. O, Howard, 391 Instinct?, What is, Some Thoughts on Telepathy and ‘Sub- consciousness in Animals, C. B. Newland, 2 Institut Pasteur, Paris, Drs. A. Calmette and a Martin appointed Sub-directors of the, 489 Institute : of Chemistry, Presentation to R. B. Pilcher, 189 ; of Metals, The May Lecture to be Delivered by Prof. W. E. Dalby, 170 Institution of Civil Engineers, Election of Officers” of the, 170 Insulated Wire, Multiple-Stranded, High-frequency Re- sistance of, Prof. G, W. O. Howe, 258 Insulating Materials, Dielectric Losses in, C. E. Skinner, 453 Intégrales de Lebesgue. Fonctions d’Ensemble. Classes de Baire, C. de la Vallée Poussin, 61 Interference Fringes and the Double Slit, Prof. J. K. Robertson, 424 ‘ Interferometry, Displacement of Long Distances, C. Barus, Visibility of, 500 Internal-combustion Engines, High-speed, A. W. Judge, 124 Intestinal Amcebe of Man, The Entameebic Cysts of, Capts. Knowles and Cole, 250 Invertebrate Types, Morphology of, Dr. A. Petrunkevitch, 63 Iodine, The Action of, on Alkalies, J. Bougault, 439 = Ionisation Manometer, An, O. E. Buckley, 139 Ions Produced by the Spraying of Water, Nature of the, J. J. Nolan, 420 ; Ireland, Royal College of Science for, Calendar of the, 539 - Irish Peat . Deposits, Utilisation ‘of, Appointment of a Com- mittee upon the, 432 ’ and Steel in Canada, Production of, 17; Institute, Autumn Meeting of the, 529; Carburation of, by Alkaline Cyanides and Cyanites, M. Portevin, 519; -Ores Rich in Titanium, Smelting of, Prof. A. Stans- field, 352 Islands, ‘Appearance and Disappearance of, Prof. M. Brown, Iron: 15 “Isle of Wight” Bee Disease, The, 507 Isomerisation in the Ethylenic Acids by Migration of the Double Bond, J. Bougault, 219 Italian : Earthquakes during 1891-1910, Dr. A. C. Cavasino, 392; Royal Geological Commission, Report of the, 428 Italy : Scheme for the Founding of Scientific Laboratories in, 312; Science Laboratories in, A Grant for Im- proving, 328 Jacksonian Prize for 1916 awarded to E. W. H. Groves; Subject for 1918, 170 Jahrbuch des Norwegischen Meteorologischen Instituts for 1916, The, 452 Janus and Vesta: a Study of the World Crisis and After, . B. Branford, 142 : Jensen’s Rat Sarcoma, Susceptibility and Immunity of Rats. Towards, J. C. Mottram and Dr. S. Russ, 118 © Jefferson Physical and the Cruft High-tension Electrical Laboratories, Contributions from the, 32 Jevons Memorial Lectures, Prof. W. R. Scott to Deliver the, 216 : Johns Hopkins University, Resignation of Dr. W. H. Welch as Head of the Department of Pathology ; Appointment of Dr. W. G. McCallum, 499 ~ Johnson, Dr., and Lord Monboddo, E. Clodd, 231 Say Juan Fernandez and the Galapagos Islands, A Swedish Expedition to, 314 Jukes *n 1915, The, Dr. A. H. Estabrook, 226 Jupiter’s Satellites and the Velocity of Light, Prof. A. W. Warrington, 345 Jupiter: Photographs of, J. H. Reynolds, 112; The Ninth. Satellite of, Nicholson and Shapley, 33; S. B. Nichol- son, 219 Jurassic Chronology, Correlation of the, S. S. Buckman, fer Kala-azar, Researches on, Sir L. Rogers, en ba oa Kalabari ‘Tribe, A Ceremonial Paddle Used by the, H. Balfour, 150 Kava and Betel, The Geographical Diffusion of, Sir D. Prain, 452 : F Lndex XXix Bulletin, The: 232 ; The Suspended Publication of the, 45, 289; The Publication of the, 348, 370; Publication ; ‘to be Continued, 389 with a Census of Amphicheirals with Twelve Cross- ngs, M. G . Haseman, 399 Bs Observatory acc vershed, 272 “Bromide es 92 ; oratoire Central d’Electricité, Paris, The, 27 rador Eskimo, The, E. W. Hawkes, 313 ‘Ferments and Streptococci, Analogy between the, - and H. Cardot, 539 ikal, The Flora, Fauna, and Hydrology of, 189 id anc the Empire, The, C. Turnor, 62 nguage, Auxiliary International, Need for Standardising, AE. ? 279 Determinacion de la, por Alturas Absolutas, etc., and are Fiji Group, The, W. G. Foye, 471 ching ae and W. H. Riddlesworth, 114 "Temperature Isotopic Forms oa Attempts to Separate the, by i “Crystallisation, T. W. Richards and N. F. Prot. #8. Isotopes from Thorium, The Stability of, Soddy, 244; Dr. A. Holmes, 245 ; Prof. J. Joly, ee of Radio-active Origin, Atomic Weight of, part iii., i; W. Richards and C. Wadsworth, 140 ‘Leeds. University, Col. de Burgh Birch Soule Emeritus Pro- _ fessor by the, 357 Leipzig University, ‘Fraulein A. M. Curtius appointed Lecturer in French in, 198 ‘Human, Specimens Desired of, Prof. G. H. F. H.. Ryan and W. M. FR Soe Oa er, tion of the Laws of Action, Reaction, and Inter- : - getion in, H. F. Osborn, 159; Insurance and the War, _ ag; Insurance Companies in the United States, Func- Bb com of, Dr. Fisk; Cox; H. Fiske, 215; Insurance Res of New York State, The, E. E. Rittenhouse, aes 215; Insurance, Economics of, 215 Ligh Alloys Sub-Committee, Appointment of a, 69; by Animals, Production of, Prof. U. Dahlgren, 191, 430; i Sage Experiments in, W. St. B. Griffith and P. T. etrie, Lightning Bakes A Remarkable, 529 od University of, Dr. J. Arce. appointed Professor of Tropical Pathology in the, 458 Limbs, Transplantation of, G. Harrison, 379 Linear Vector Function, "The Square ‘Root of a, F. L. Hitchcock, 359 ‘Lingua Internazionale, Sulla questione della, Prof. I. Galli, 358 Linnean Society: Election of Officers and Councjl of the, 289 ; New Foreign Members of the, 211 ‘Lions, Captive, Effects of Environment and Habit on, N. Hollister, 470 Lepia Fuel, Prof. J. S. S. Brame, 134 University : Dr. P. G. H. Boswell appointed to Herdman Chair of Geology, 238; T. H. Bickerton appointed Lecturer on Ophthalmology in, 357 2 Bonen The David, Centenary Medal awarded to M. Vv. Ballivian, 509 : Lizards of the Genus Tachydromus, Dr. G. A. Boulenger, r 239 : - Leaded Antennz, Wave-lengths and Radiation of, B. van der Pol, jun., 358 ,» Edward, Medals, The, awarded to Prof. A. E. ennelly, F. H._Achard ‘and A. S. Dana, 469 ‘Lc. C.: Grants to London Polytechnics, 419; Report of teas Education eat of the, on the Training of 3 London: Appeal for 7 Increased Grant for Education a Purposes in, 257; University. Report of the Military _. ‘Education Committee, 18; Conferment of Doctorates ; Carpenter Medal awarded. to Dr. P. B. Ballard, 95; ‘Annual Report of University College, 96; Report of the Vice-Chancellor for 1916-17, 238; Aims and Work of the Appointments Board of, 278; Offer from the Rhodes nithe b oem ! at, 5 Trustees for Secretarial Assistance; Renewal of the Franks Studentship; Conferment of Doctorates, 278; The Gilchrist Studentship awarded to Miss B. J. Schlumberger, 318; Resolve to Institute a New B.Sc. Degree, 338; Sir C. Perry elected Vice- Chancellor ; Gifts to; > Conferment of D Doctorates, 357; Increased Grant by the London County Council, 378; C. O. Blagden’ appointed Reader in Malay; Sir A. Tata thanked for Donation of £1,400; Conferment of Doc- torates; Grants from the Dixon Fund, 438; Prof. L. dela Vallée Poussin appointed Temporary Lecturer in Sanskrit and Tibetan at the School of Oriental Studies, 499; woth College, Pamphlet on Medical Studies ; The New Chemical Laboratories of, 318 Lowell baeeraboey, Dr. V. M. Slipher appointed Director of the, 51 Lower Limb, The Protheses of the, J. Amar, 79 Lucerne, A Disease or Malformation of, E. Archer, 179 Luna County, New Mexico, Geology and Underground Water of, N. H. Darton, 376 Lunar Globe, General Form of the, Jekhowsky, 199 Lyrids, April, The, 133, 172 P. Puiseux and B. Macgregor, Dr. Jessie, Prize of the Royal College of hysicians, Edinburgh, The, 328 Machine-gun Shop, A New, 214 Macmillan’s Geographical Exercise Books. by B. C. Wallis, i. to v., 4 — Macusi and Wapisiana Tribes, Practices of the, 491 Madras Presidency, Edible Molluscs Found on the Shores uf the, J. Hornell, 410 Magnesite, Exploitation of, at Bulong, F. R. Feldtmann, 233 Magnetic: Elements of the Val-Joyeux Observatory on January 1, 1917, Value of the, A. Angot, 79; Inertia, G. W. Walker, 178; Storm, A Large, Recorded at Kew Observatory, 489 ; of Aug. 22, 1916, The, Dr. C. Chree, With Questions 39 Magnetisation of Iron, Nickel, and Cobalt by Rotation, S. J. Barnett, 219 Malleinisation, The Value of the Intra-dermo Palpebral Method of, na 2 Hobday, 253 Malta, Botany in, Dr. J. C. McWalter, 78 Mammoth, Skeleton of a, Discovered near Bapaume, 370 Manchester: Astronomical Society, The, 16; Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, and Birmingham, Joint Matriculation Board of the Universities of, and Latin, 137; School of Technology, G. G. Stoney appointed Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the, 439 Manganese : and Chromium, Rapid Estimation of, in Metal- lurgical Products, H. Travers, 519; Steels, The, A. Portevin, 480; The Magnetic Properties of, and of Some Special Manganese Steels, Sir R. Hadfield, C. Chéne- veau, and C. Géneau, 419 Manila Obs Weather Bureau of the, Annual Report of the, 9 Manitoba Uniwenaey. Establishment of a Chair of Zoology, 78 Mai of Science, The, in the Community of To-day, Prof. D. Fraser Harris, 236 Map, A New Method of aeasing the Representative Frac- tion of a, A. R. Hinks, 110 Marine Fibre Industry of Spencer’s and St. Vincent’s Gulfs, The, 314 Mars, New Elements of, Dr. F. E. Ross, 493 Mass-action, Does the Law of, Govern Diastatic Reactions? O. Bailly, 520 Maternal and Child Welfare, 388 Mathematical : Analysis, 61; Logic, Function of Symbolism in, P. E. B. Jourdain, 193 ; Text-books, Some, 102 Mathematics : for the Needs of Science, The Provi ision made by, Prof. R. D. Carmichael, 353; Second-Year, for Secondary Schools, E. R. Breslich. Second edition, 322; The Function of, in Scientific Research, Prof. G. A. Miller, 411; Value of Early Indian Contributions to, Rev. Dr. Mackichan, 108 Mathematicians, Ten British, of the Nineteenth Century, Lectures on, A. MacFarlane, 221 Mayor, J. E. B., and Todhunter, E. S. Payne, 264 Meal Times, Remarks on, M. Amar, 320° XXX I ndex re Nature, . LSeptember 20, 1917 Meals, Advantages of a Change in, J. Bergonié, 320 Mécanique Analytique, Exercices et Lecgons de, Prof. R. de Montessus, 201 Meccanico Moderno, Guida Pratica del, A. Massenz, 483 Mechanics and Metallurgy, 483 Medical Education of Women, Facilities for the, Sir G. Foster, 398 Medicinal : Herbs, The Cultivation of, 208; Plants, Essen- tial Home-grown, 52 Melanthaceez, North American, from the Genetic Stand- point, Dr. R. R. Gates, 97 . Meldola, Prof. R., Proposed Memorial Portraits of, 267 Mellish Comet: 1915a, Orbit of, L. Rosenbaum, 353; 1917a, 112; Mrs. J. Braae and J. Fischer-Petersen, 133 ; J. Braae and J. Fischer-Petersen, 152; J. Fischer- Petersen, 214, 233; The Spectrum of, Prof. Frost, 315; Prof. S. S. Hough, 375 . Mendelian Class-Frequency, The Probable Error of a, Dr. R. Pearl, 530 Mental Organisation, 21 Mercury : Jets, Experiments with, Prof. S. W. J. Smith and H. Moss, 96; Motion of the Perihelion of, Deduced from the Classical Theory of Relativity, Dr. L. Silber- stein, 159; Salts for Toxological Purposes, Detection of Traces of, Prof. K. C. Browning, 292; The Planet, 152 Mercury’s Perihelion, The Relativity Theory ‘and ‘the Motion of, Dr. L. Silberstein, 412 Merlin, Breeding Habits of the, E. R. Paton, 410 - Merthyr Technical and Engineering Institute, Equip, H. S. Berry, 418 Messines: The Battle of, Sound of the Explosions at, 312, 35° Metal Melting, Heat Economy in, 133 . Metallic : Tin and Oxide of Tin in Staphylococcus Infections, Action of, A. Frouin and R. Grégoire, 280; Vapours, Condensation of, on Cold Bodies, Prof. M. Knudsen, 132 Metals: Institute of, Annual General Meeting of the, 13; Institute of, Autumn Meeting of the, 529; Under Pressure, Resistance of, R. W. Bridgman, 159 Metazoa? What Determines the Duration of Life in, J. H. Northrop, 400 Meteorite, An Egyptian, Dr. H. Wilde, 138 ' Meteorological: Instruments, Instruction in the Use of, Prof. F. Eredia, 131; Observations, Certain, The Arith- metical Mean and the “Middle’’ Value of, Prof. L. Becker, 340; Phenomenon, A Curious, Dr. F. O’B. Ellison, 312 Meteorology: and Aviation, W. H.° Dines, Solar Constant, 73 Meteors: Bright, in March, W. F. Denning, 112; on July 19, 431; The August, of 1917, W. F. Denning, 424; and the 493 Meteorites: Calcium Phosphate in, G. P. Merrill, 392; Description of, J. C. H. Mingaye, 352; of Simondium, Eagle Station, and Amana? The, Dr. G. T. Prior, 379 Metric System: in America, The, 129; in France, The, 152; The Adoption of the, .526; The Elementary Education Sub-Committee of the London County Coun- cil on the, 257 Mexico, Geographical Conditions in, 52 Microscopic Stains, New, Derived ‘from Methylene-blue, L. Tribondeau and J. Dubreuil, 179 Middlesex Hospital Research Fund, Gifts to by Sir J. and Lady Bland-Sutton, and G. Vaughan Morgan, 169 Migrations of Fish, The, Prof. A. Meek, 81 Migratony Birds, Reported Scarcity of, Duchess : Somerset; Dr. W. Eagle Clarke, 390 Milk: in its Relation to Health,+ Prof. L. Rettger, 509; Supplied to Babies, Hygienic Quality of, 232 Milling Offals, Classification of, Prof. T. B. Wood and R. H. Adie, 171 Mineral : Intelligence, Proposal to Constitute a Bureau of, at the Imperial Institute, 50; Properties (other than Coal and Iron Ore) in the United Kingdom, Branch of the Ministry of Munitions on, 109; Resources of Great Britain, vol. iv., Second Edition, 375 Minerals: A Pocket ‘Handbook of, Prof. G. M. Butler, Second Edition, 523; Opaque, Microscopical Deter- mination of the, Dr. J. Murdoch, 523; Two Books on, 523 ’ ? of Offer to Mining, Subsidence Resulting from, Dr. L. E. Young and E Prof. H. H. Stock, 33 Minnesota, The State of, A Mining Experiment Station be Established in, 58 Mira Ceti, Observations of, Prof. Nijland, 512 E. Urbain, Molecular Weights, Method of Determining, 480. Molecules, Group, Shapes of, Forming the Surfaces of Liquids, I. Langmuir, 379 a Mondes, Uber.die Rotation des, A. Jonsson, 494 ; Money Scales and Weights, T. Sheppard, 452 Monotremes and Marsupials, The Peritoneum and Intes- _ tinal Tract in, Dr. C. Mackenzie, 530 Moon: Eclipse of the, July 4, 1917; Observations on the, A. Nodon, 519; L. New, in the Year 1, B.c., Dr. Rotation of the, 494 Morrell Land, Sir E. Shackleton, 290 Moseley’s Law for X-Ray Spectra, H. S. Uhler, 179 Mosquitos of North and Central America and the West _Indies, Howard, Dyar, and Knal, 430 t Mothers and Children, Report on the Physical Welfare of, — England and Wales. Vol. i., Dr. E. W. Hope; vol. ii., Dr. J. M. Campbell, 388 Mothers’ Pension System, The, Judge H. Neil, 490 Moulting of Flycatchers and Warblers, H. F. Witherby, O. Klotz, 405; The I Mounk: Wilson Observatory: Report of, for 1916, Prof. Hale, 193; The Hundred-Inch Reflector of the, 385 Mountain: Ash, Timber Production and Growth Curves in the, R. T. Patton, 379; Sickness, Dr. J. Knott, 64 Movement, The Price of, in Invalids and Persons who have Recently Lost the Right Arm, J. Amar, 219 _ Mozambique, The Pre-Cambrian and Associated Rocks of the District of, Dr. A. Holmes, 459 Munitions, Ministry of, The Work of the, 369 Muraena helena, The Serum of, W. Kopaczewski, 439; 460 Muscle, Electrical Testing of, Dr. Adrian, 351 Muscular Inefficiency and Possible Speeds of Walking, A. — Mallock, 83 Museum Lectures to Children at Liverpool, 217 Museums: Association, Forthcoming Conference of the, 458; The Proposed Conference of the, not to be held, 489; Leicester and Norwich, Exhibitions at the, 89 Mussel-Fishery and Foraminifera of Esnandes, etc., The, E. Heron-Allen, 199 Mutation Theory, The Status of the, Dr. H. H. Bartlett, 34 Myelophilus minor, Structure, etc., of, W. Ritchie, 19 N.G.C.: 7023, Spectrum of, Dr. M. Wolff, Parallax of, A. van Maanen, 179 Nanna’s Cave, Isle of Caldey, A. L. Leach, 94 Natal, Sea Fishes of, Dr. J. D. F. Gilchrist and W. W. Thompson, 491 National : Administrative Institutions, The Remoulding of, Prof. W. Peddie, 264; Association of Head Teachers, Recommendations of the, 178; Physical Laboratory, The, 332; Reconstruction, Lord Sydenham, 186; 196; Reforms in Education, 167; Scientific Laboratories, 111; Service, C. W. Piper, 25; War Museum, The Proposed, 268 Natural: Resources, etc., of His Majesty’s Dominions, Final Report of the Royal Commission on the, 165; Sciences, The, in Public Schools, 9 : Nature Study Lessons Seasonably Arranged, J. B. Philip, 82 Naval Architects, Institution of; The Elgin Scholarship Awarded to R. J. Shepherd; The Annual Gold Medal Awarded to Prof. T. B: Abell; A Premium Awarded to A. T. Wall, 113 Nebulz: and Stellar Evolution, The, Prof. W. W. Camp- bell, 393; Spectra of, Dr. W. H. Wright, 354 _ Neopallial Morphology of Fossil Men, Profs. M. Boule and R. Anthony, 52 Neate Nepheline, Artificial, N. L. Bowen, 269 Nervous and Mental Diseases, Reaction Time in, Prof. E. W. Scripture, 52 Nettles, Stinging, Cultivation of, for Textile Purposes, 151 92; 7662, Picart, 539; The First Fi bi a 2 s ei, ” 5 1 Index XxXxi _ New Mexico: A Design-Sequence from, A. V. Kidder, 400; A Prehistoric Pueblo Ruin in, N. C. Nelson, 212 ew South Wales, Royal Society of, Dr. J. B. Cleland Elected President of the, 427 : New York Natural History Museum, The, H. J. Choate, New Zealand: Earthquake, The, 489; The Cretaceous _ Faunas of, H. Woods, 79; The Trias of, C. T. Trech- mann, 59; The Triassic Crinoids from, Collected by ___ ©. T. Trechmann, 59; Time Service, C. E. Adams, 252 _ Nice ition to, Return of the, 89 Nitre, Fused, Talbot’s Observations on, Prof. A. W. C. -- Menzies, 85. _ Nicotine as an Insecticide, N. E. McIndoo, 292 trogen: Compounds, Sources of, 274; of the Air, Fixa- _tion of the, K. Scott, 533; Solid and Liquid, Measure- ments of the Specific Heat of, Prof. K. Onnes and Dr. W. H. Keesom, Cc. M 53 vitre ous Compounds, Germany’s Effort to Obtain, Prof. gC: Matignon, 33 Nitrous Fumes, Antiseptic Properties of, H. Colin, 519 Noctiluca, A Physiological Study of, E. B. Harvey, 159 Nodules of Ultrabasic Character from Jagersfontein, P. A. Dare Wagner, 492 Non-Euclidean Plane Geometry and Trigonometry, The __ Elements of, Prof. H. S. Carslaw, 302 Non-Ferrous Metals, Melting of, Ideals and Limitations in the, Dr.C. Hering, 133 _ North-Eastern Arkansas, Geology and Ground Waters of, __L. W. Stephenson, A. F. Crider, and R. B. Dole, ar. BN Wales, University College of, Proposed New Science Buildings for, 158 _ Nott mshire, Highways and Byways in, J. B. Firth, 4 _ Nouria rugosa, a New Foraminifer from the Shetland- __ Farée Channel, E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland, 37 _ Nucras, The Genus, Dr. G. A. Boulenger, 430 : s Numbers, The Partitions of, 82 ~ _ Oaks, Preservation of Our, L. Daniel, 439 _ Oblong Arrays, Expansion of the Product of Two, Sir e 2-T. Muir, 360 _ Observation and Reasoning, Comptes Rendus of, J. Y. ___ Buchanan, 142 _ Observatories, Some Seventeenth-Century, in the Provinces, __ G. Bigourdan, 119 _ * Oceanic Tidal Friction, H. Jeffreys, 405 ig Some Sensorial Reactions of the, Mile. M. g ey ith, 139 ; _ Oil: Cedarwood, Flatters and Garnett’s, 15; Sardine, Treatment of the Indian, Govindam, 232; Shales and Bi. Torbanites, H. R. J. Conacher, 530 _ Okapi, Some of the Viscera of an, R. H. Burne, 178 Ontario Nickel Commission, Report of the, 211 Optical: Laboratory of the Ecole de Physique et de Chimie ____Industrielles, Paris, The, Prof. C. Féry, 315; Science, | British, Sir J. Larmor, 5; J. W. French, 103; Society of London, Transactions of the, 71; No. 1, New Series, Peis Optics: Applied, An Institute of, for France, E. S. Hodg- a son, 236; Technical, National Instruction in, 11; The Promotion of, 10; Technical, 317; The Promotion of, 24 _ d’Orvigny, Alcide, Career and Observations of, E. Heron- a 4 k 7 90 , _ Orbit Deduction, The History of, Prof. A. O. Leuschner, 532 Orbits About a Magneto-Electric Centre, Numerical Cal- Bie - cu‘ations of, Prot. C. Stérmer, 453 _ Orchids, Hybrid. Structure of the Leaves of, J. Charles- = worth and J. Ramsbottom, 19 _ Orders, Two New, 528 _ Ore Concentration, The Flotation Method of, 66 _ Organic : Compounds, Identification of Pure, A Method for ‘ the, Prof. S. P. Mulliken, vol. ii., 21; to Human: Psychological and Sociological, Dr. H. Maudsley, 21 ie Od > Organisation Scientifique Interalliée,” “Une, Suggestion for the Formation of, Prof. J. Massart, 371 Oriental Studies, The School of, 8 Ornithology, Economic, Plea for the Establishment of a Chair of, W. Berry, 372 Osler Memorial Fund, The, 318 Osmotic: Pressure, Prof. A. W. Porter; W. R. Bousfield, 215; Pressures Derived from Vapour Pressure Measure- ments, Earl of Berkeley, E. G. J. Hartley, and C. V. Burton, 58 Ovarian Follicles, Origin, Rupture, and Closure of, Prof. A. Robinson, 459 Overvoltage, Recent Work on, Dr. E. Newberry, 279 Oxford University : Report of the Committee for Geography, 38; Grant from All Souls’ College; Form of Statute Establishing the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy passed by Congregation, 58; Forthcoming Arrangements of the Departments of Geography and Anthropology, 90; Prof. A. Schuster to Deliver the Halley Lecture; Statutes Reconstituting Boards of Electors, etc. ; Annual Report of the University Observatory, 257; Suspension of the Romanes Lectureship; Statutes of ; T.. R.. Glover appointed Wilde Lecturer; Prof. E. Boutroux appointed Herbert Spencer Lecturer, 299; Conferment of the Honorary Degree of D.Sc. on Prof. Schuster, 318; J. J. Manley elected to a Fellowship at Magdalen College; Report of the University Museum ; New Decrees for Examinations; Bequest by Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 338; Sir Napier Shaw appointed Halley Lecturer for 1918; Arrangements of the School of Geography; Lectures, etc., in the Department of Anthropology, . 357; Gifts to the Professorship of Forestry Funds, 478; Death of A. C. Madan; Addition to the University Laboratory in the Department of Human Anatomy, 518 Oxido-reduction, The Biochemical Phenomena of, Abelous and Aloy, 539 Ozone, Estimation of, M. David, 139 Pachyamnos, Excavation of the Cemetery of, R. B. Seager, 2 Pacike. Coast Mollusca, Some Anomalies in Geographic Distribution of, W. H. Dall, 140 Paddy, Deep-water of Orissa, The, E. L. Rout, 411 Pagine Geografiche della notra Guerra, 531 Pain in Nature, The Problem of, C. F. Newall, 103 Palzontographical Society, Annual Meeting of the, 109 Palestine: A War Map of, 373; Dr. E. W. G. Masterman, II ira: Isthmus of, Hydrology of the, Brig.-Gen. H. L. Abbot, 160 Paper, Moulds Causing Alteration of, P. Sée, 79 Parabolas, The Fitting of, J. R. Miner, 179 : Parahopeite, Crystallisation of, A. Ledoux, T. L. Walker, and A. C. Wheatley, 98 3 Parathyroid Glands and their Relation to Tetany, Functions of the, Prof. Noel Paton and others, 151 Paris: Faculty of Medicine, Prof. H. Roger elected Dean of the, 458; University, Dr. P. Marie appointed Pro- fessor of Clinical Neurology in, 198 Parliamentary Reform, Scientific, W. H. Cowan, 29 Parthenogenesis, The Terminology of, Sir E. Ray Lankester, 504 Peanut, The Proteins of the, C. O. Johns and D. B. Jones, 00 Pearl Culture in Indian Seas, J. Hornell, 291 Peas, Germination of: Influence of Water and Mineral Matter on the, L. Maquenne and E. Demoussy, 440; Influence of Mineral Matter on, L. Maquenne and E. Demoussy, 479 Peat : and its Uses, M. Renié; E. S. Hodgson, 333 ; Layers, The Age of, S. R. Capps, 471 Pensions, Civil List, 370 Pereira Prize of the Pharmaceutical Society awarded to Miss Ivy Roberts, 211 c Petroleum: (Production) Bill, Introduction of the, 509; Technologists, Institution of, Election of Officers of the, 150 Pharmaceutical Latin, Lessons in, and Prescription Writing and Interpretation, H. C. Muldoon, 403 Xxxil Index Nature, September 20, 1917 Pharmacological Equivalents and Therapeutic Units, Y. Delage, 139 Phenol, Production of, by Micro-organisms, A. Berthelot, 60 Phenological Observations for 1916, J. E. Clark and H. B. Adames, 259 Philosophy and Paradox, 302 Phonetic Theory, Some Questions of, Dr. W. Perrett, 184 Phoronis ovalis, Dr. S, F. Harmer, 191 Phosphates for Meadows and Pastures, Use of, 32 : Phosphorus Metabolism, Influence of Extracts of Genital Glands on, M. Jean, 139 Photo-electric Emission, Complete, from the Alloy of Sodium and Potassium, W. Wilson, 58 Photographic: Action of a Rays, Dr. W. Makower, 98; Images, Possible Attraction between, Prof. H. Turner, 159 Photometry of Sources of Light of Crittenden and Richtmyer, 512 Phycomycetous Fungi from the Lower Coal Measures, Dr. D. Ellis, 340 Physarum carneum, British Gathering of, H. J. Howard, 491 Physical Society, Officers of the, 51 Physics: A Text-book of, Edited by Prof. A. W.. Duff. Fourth edition, 41; Elementary, for Engineers, J. Paley Yorke, 343 ; Theoretical and Practical, 41 ; Training in, at the Finsbury College, C. H. Darling, 55 Physiological and Pathological Chemistry of Metabolism, The Problems of, Dr. O. von Fiirth. Translated by Prof. A. J. Smith, ror ; Physiology: Human, P. G. Stiles, 101; The Teaching of, Prof. W. M. Bayliss, 1o1 Phytophthora, Studies of the Genus, J. Rosenbaum, 219 Pig-iron, Synthetic, Electric Manufacture of, in France, 328 Pilcher Research Laboratory of Bedford College for Women, Places in the, 499 Piltdown : Gravel, Fourth Note on the, with Evidence of a Second Skull of Eoanthropus dawsoni, Dr. A. Smith Woodward, 78; Sussex, Fragment of the Lower Jaw from, Prof. A. F. Dixon, 399 : Pin Joints, Design of, Based on Ultimate Strength, Lieut. W. A. Scoble, 113 Pitcairn Island, Examination of Natives of, 490 Plague Investigations in India, Gloster, White, and Brooks, §3° Planet Discovered by M. Sy, Provisional Elements of the, L. Fabry and H. Blondel, 80 Planetary: Nebula, Parallax of a, A. van Maanen, 153; Nebulz, Rotation in, Prof. W. W. Campbell and W. H. Moore, 375 Plankton Research at Plymouth, 433 Plant: Genetics, Further Studies in, 34; Remains in the Hornelen District, Prof. Nathorst, 510; Succession, Prof. F. E. Clements, 154; Teratology, The Principles of, W. C. Worsdell, vol. ii., 501 Plants: Enquiry into, and Minor Works on Odours and Weather Signs, Theophrastus. With an English Trans- lation by Sir A. Hort, 282; for Exhibition, Methods of Preparing, C. E. Jones, 97; New Books on,- 501; Poisonous to Live Stock, H. C. Long, 501; Some, that _ Might Occur in Britain, C. E. Salmon, 19 | Plated Teeth of Sheep: B. Thompson, 264; Sir H. Max- well, 284; Dr. J. Ritchie, 306 Jat Infectées, Le Traitement des, A. Carrel et G. Dehelly, 393 Platyzoma microphyllum, R. Br., Dr. J. R. Thompson, 460 Plums, Conserving, by Drying, Dr. J. V. Eyre and S. T. Parkinson, 451 Poincaré, Henri, Discourse on, A. Capus, 390 Poisoned Water, Method of Ascertaining, Ricard and Barral, 351 Poisonous Plants in the N.O. Solanacee, Some, Dr. J. M. Petrie, 260 Poissons des Eaux douces de la Russie, Les, Prof. L. S. Berg, 222 Poland as a Geographical Entity, W. Nalkowski, 269 Polyhedron, Zones and Faces of a, Numerical Relation between, E. S. Federov, 98 Polymorphic Forms, Effect of Great Pressures on the Tem- perature and Velocity of Transition of, Dr. P. W. Bridgman, 32 Different Colours, Polyneuritis, Deficiency of Substance in Grains, etc., Causing, H. Chick, and E. M. M. Hume, 19 ~ 4 Pons-Winnecke’s Comet, Meteor System of, C. P. Olivier 160 Porcelain, Chemical, H. Watkin, 532 ie Port Erin Biological Station, Work at Easter at the, 149 Portunas depurator, Fertilisation and Deposition of Ova in, F, M. Duncan, 379 =e Potash : Fertilisers from Felspars, 94; from Seaweed in the United States, 52; Salts, Production of, in the United States in 1916, 411 : : oe Potsdam Astrophysical Observatory, Dr. G. Miller appointed Director of the, 469 Potato: Causes of the Common Dry Rot of the, in the- British Isles, G. H. Pethybridge and H. A. Lafferty, 79; -spraying, Experiments in, Prof. E. S. Salmon, 451; Supply, The, 27 : Poultry Management and Feeding, Appointment of an Advisory Committee on, 328 Poverty and its Vicious Circles, Dr. J. B. Hurry, 83° Prawns, Palaemonid, The Mouth-parts of the, L. A. Borra- | ‘ daile, 19 ; Pressure in a High Vacuum, To Measure the, by Observa- tions of Logarithmic Decrement, Dr. P. E. Shaw, 97 Prismatic Compasses, Appeal for Loan of, 490 Professional Chemists, Position and Prospects of, 85 iw Protozoa, Intestinal, M. Smith and Matthews; H. F. Carter and Dr. D. Mackinnon, 14 NY Pruning-Manual, The, Prof. L. H. Bailey, 263 iy Psilotacez, The Gametophytes of the, Prof.-A. A. Lawson, 99 A Pseudoglobulin into Euglobulin, Transformation of, W. N. Berg, 379 Psychiatry, Manual of, Dr. J. R. de Fursac and Dr. A. J. Rosanoff. Fourth edition, 301 Psychological Medicine, Sir R. Armstrong-Jones, 301 Pteropoda on the Coasts of Ireland, The Gymnosomatous, Miss A. L. Massy, 399 Ptolemy, The Maps Attached to the MSS. of, L. O. T.- Tudeer, 372 . eens Ptofemy’s Catalogue of Stars, Origin of, Dr. J. L. E. Dreyer, 258 : Ptomaine Poisoning, Prof. M. J. Rosenau to Direct an Investigation of, 150 Public Schools: and Nature Study, Rev. H. Friend, 235; The Natural Sciences in, 94 Punjab, Western, The Criminal in the, Major A. O’Brien, 59 .* Pyorrhoea alveolaris, Parasitology of, Drs. A. H. Drew and U. Griffin, 39, 313 : Pyrometers, Resistance, 16 Quadruple Scientific Entente, Prof. E. Gley on the Sug- gested, 409 Qualitative Analysis: Elementary, Prof. Dr. O. L. Barnebey, 281; for Students of Inorganic Chemistry, A Short System of, Dr. R. M. Caven, 423 ‘Quartz Glass, Devitrification of, A. C. Michie, 484 _ Quinine, Increase of the Curative Properties of, and of Mercury, by the Organometallic Compounds of Arsenic, A. Gautier, 199 ; = Rabbit, The, not to be Used in Examinations, 58 tals Radiation: in the Atmosphere, A Very Penetrating, Dr. G. C. Simpson, 124; of the Stars, The, Prof. A. S. Eddington, 308; J. H. Jeans, 444; Prof. A. S. Edding- ton, 445; -Pressure, Astrophysical Retardation, and Relativity, Sir J. Larmor, 404; Visually Perceptible, The Minimum, Prof. H. N. Russell, 293 ‘ : Radio-active: Halos, Prof. J. Joly, 456; 476; Luminous Compounds, The Theory of Decay in, J. W. T. Walsh, 358; -Dynamics : The Wireless Control of Torpedoes and other Mechanisms, B. F. Miessner, 442 ; -Mechanics, 442 Radium: Emanation Condensed in Sealed Tubes,’ Use of the, M. and Mme. A. Laborde, 319; Luminous Com- pound, C. C. Paterson. J. W. T. Walsh, and W.. F. Higgins, 319 Raffinose, The Isolation of, H. E. Annett, 431 Rain :?, Can Violent Cannonades Produce, Genl. Sebert, B. Dales and lee Lnudex XXXIil te pee Violent Cannonadés on the Fall of, Possible In- Pag of, Genl. Sebert, 259 , An "Unusual, A. J. Low, 525 : re and Gunfire, M. Angot; E. L. Hawke, 467; Duration, The Measurement of, C. Salter, 15; Forests and, Dr. H. R. Mill, 445; Dr. G. Walker, ; in London, Heavy, Dr. H. R. Mill, 328 Common Corti- - inted Representative of the Cierpitios: in the Po 391; castes of the, 528; Sir W., a Memorial % Tablet to, in Glasgow University, 327 eae Trochoidal Wave, The, Sir G. Greenhill, 420 : Annual General Meeting of the, 89; Resigna- of the Treasurership, by Dr. Du Cane Godman ; tion of Dr. S. F. Harmer as Treasurer, 409 d to Bile: Edited by Lord Charnwood ; assisted by Cotes, 413 constructi Committee: Reconstruction of the, 30; : of the, 169 Reduction a Marine Application of, J. H. Macal- 4 Refrain used in the Iron and Steel Industry, C. Johns, 413 ' gee Materials : Available for Glass Manufacture, Re- sources of, Prof. Fearnsides, 393; for use in the Glass ce , F. S: — 430; Report of a Symposium on, 314; Oxides, The Common, . B, Sosman, 314; a of Clay, H. Le Chatelier and F. Bogitch, Regina Survey, Development of, Third Conference of the Committee for the, 76 Renal Activity, The Nature of, Prof. W. M. Bayliss, 344; The Reviewer, 345 7 Research: and Education, Gift for the Promotion of, by Ey the Tootal Broadhurst Lee Company, 518; in Science, The Value of, Sir A. G. Bourne, 75; Institutions in the United States, G.- - Lightfoot, 274; Work, Causes Ba - of the Paucity of, Dr. J. L. Simonsen, 108 Residual : Affinity, Problems bearing on,_S. Pickering, 118 ; 2 = in Relation to Magnetic Shielding, Prof. __ E. Wilson and Prof. J. W. Nicholson, 119 f Bisificace, Tests for, G. Charpy and A. Cornu-Thenard, 139 _ Resistance to the Motion of a Lamina, Cylinder, or Sphere in a Rarefied Gas, F. J. W. Whipple, 319 Oey: REVIEWS AND OUR BOOKSHELF. Bailey (Prot. L. H.), The Pruning-Manual, 263; The Standard C of Horticulture, vols. iii., iv., 22 ‘Carleton (M. A.) The Small Grains, 22 ana oie - H.), and Prof. G. F. Warren, Dairy 3 3 MeCal ( Ceok ‘A. G.), Field and Laboratory Studies of __ Morgan (Prof. J. O.), Field Crops for the Cotton Belt, 342 _ Morris (T. 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Delgado de), Météorologie du Brésil, 364 Miscellaneous: Branford (B.), Janus and Vesta: a Study of the World Crisis and After, 142 British Universities and the War: a Record and its Meaning, 257 : Buchanan (J. Y.), Comptes Rendus of Observation ard Reasoning, 142 Burnet (Prof. J.), Higher Education and the War, 361 De Hovre (Dr. Fr.), German and English Education: a _ Comparative Study, 201 Farmer (Prof. J. B.), Sir Napier Shaw’s The Lack of Science in Modern Education, with Some Hints of What Might Be, 367 ’ Fleming (Prof. J. A.), Whetham’s The War and the Nation, 421 Franke (Prof. G.), A Handbook of Briquetting. Translated by F. C. A. Lantsberry. Vol. i., The Briquetting of Coals, Brown Coals, and Other Fuels, 242 Franklin (Prof. W. S.), Bill’s School and Mine. A Collec- tion of Essays on Education. Second edition, 204 Geikie (Sir A.), Annals of the Royal Society Club, 521 Glazebrook (Sir R. T.), Science and Industry : The Place of Cambridge in any Scheme for their Combination, 423 Hurry ee J. B.), Poverty and its Vicious Circles, 83 Kunz (Dr. G. F.), Rings for the Finger, 522 Lankester (Sir E. Ray), Science and Education : Lectures Delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Edited, with an Introduction by, 183 Legros (L. A.), and J. C. Grant, Typographical Printing- Surfaces: the Technology and Mechanism of their Production, 42 Livingstone (R. W.), A Defence of Classical Education, 1 Papillault (Prof. G.), Science Frangaise-Scolastique Alle- mande, 225 Perrett (Dr. W.), Some Questions of Phonetic Theory, 184 Richmond (K.), The Permanent Values in Education, 201 Schafer (Sir E, A.), Prof. J. Burnet’s Higher Education and the War, 361 Science and the Nation, Edited by Prof. A. C. Seward, 141 Schofield (Dr. A. T.), The Borderlands of Science, 26 Shaw (Sir Napier), The Lack of Science in Modern Educa- tion, with Some Hints of What Might Be, 367 Wells (H. G.), Science and the Nation, Edited by Prof. A. C. Seward, 141 Whetham (W. C. D.), The War and the Nation, 421 Philosophy and Psychology: Diderot’s Early Philosophical Works. Translated and Edited by M. Jourdain, 343 Elliot (H.), Herbert Spencer, 163 Maudsley (Dr. H.), Organic to Human : Psychological and Sociological, 21 Watt (Dr. H. J.), The Psychology of Sound, 462 Technology : Levi-Malvano (M.), Tempera e Cementazione dell’ Acciaio, 483 : Manson (J. L.), Experimental Building Science, 483 Massenz (A.), Guida Pratica del Maccanico Moderno, 483 Taggart (W. Scott), Cotton Spinning. Vol. iii., Fourth edition, 462 Review of Applied Entomology, The, 191 Revue Zoologique Russe, The, 330 Rhizophora, Physiological Studies on, H. M. Bowman, 139 Rhubarb, 253 ee Rhynchites conicus, The Egg Deposition of, L. Bordas, 480 Rice Plant, Assimilation of Nutrient Materials by the, J. N. Sen, 131 Richards, The Elen, Research Prize, 478 “Richmond” and “Cahirciveen” Substituted for the Names of Kew and Valencia Observatories, 452 Ringer, Sydney, Memorial Lecture to be delivered by Prof. A. R. Cushny, 211 Rings : 522; for the Finger, Dr. G. F. Kunz, 522 Rio de Janeiro Observatory, Annuario of the, 431 Rivers as Sources of Water-supply, Dr. A. C. Houston, 282 Riviera or Ligurian Earthquake of February 23, 1887, The, Agamennone and Cavasino, 471! Rockefeller Foundation, Grants of the, 1916, 169 Rook and the Wood-pigeon, Charges against the, J. H. Gurney, 91 Rodent Pests, Destruction of, 191 Rooks, Polygamy among, E. B. Dunlop, 313 Rosy Apple Aphis, The, A. C. Baker and W. F. Turner, 291 Royal: Agricultural Society : Occasional Notes of the, 232; “The Journal of the, vol. Ixxii.; Occasional Notes of the, No. 2, 511; Alfred Observatory, Mauritius, Ob- servations at the, 452; College of Surgeons in Ireland, Major F. C. Purser elected Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic in the Schools of Surgery of the, 499; College of Surgeons of England, Subjects of Forthcoming Prizes of the, 212; Geographical Society, XXXVi L[ndex [ Nature, September 20, 1917 Annual Meeting and Distribution of Medals and other Awards; Sir T. H. Holdich elected President of the, 248: Awards of the, 69; Institution, Lecture Arrange- ments at the, 90; Letter to the, P. Painlevé, 230; The Annual Meeting and Election of Officers of the, 189; ‘Observatory, Greenwich, The, 295; School of Mines, The Case of Students of the, on State Ser- vice, 76; Society Club, Annals of the, Sir A. Geikie, 521; Society, Selected Candidates for election into the, 12; Election of New Fellows of the, 211; The Bakerian Lecture of the, to be delivered by J. H. Jeans, 211; The Fellowship of the, 315; of Arts, A. A. C. Swinton elected Chairman of the Council of the, 427; Zoological Society, Ireland, Annual Report of the, 92 Rugby Schoo! Natural History Society, Report of, 1916, 235 Rumania, The Conquest of, D. W. Johnson, 429 Russia : Condition of Scientific Work and Publications in, 408 ; Imperial Astronomical Society of, Bulletins of the, 93; Natural Productive Sources of, 169; “Science in, 210; The Fresh-water Fishes of, 222 Russian : and British Scientific Undertakings, Co-operation in, Prof. B. Menschutkin, 168; Botanical Society, The Annual Meeting and Election of Officers of the, 191; Geographical Society, Dr. D. W. Freshfield elected an Honorary Member of the, 51; Sir E. Shackleton elected a Corresponding Member of the,, 51; The Translitera- tion of, E. Foord, 454 St. Andrews University, Gift of Local and other Birds to, Misses Baxter and Rintoul, 198 St. Kenelm, The Legend of, E. S. Hartland, 372 Sacbrood, G. F. White, 232 Sailors and Soldiers, Discharged Disabled, Training and Employment of, Principal W. G. R. Paterson, 350 Salinity of Sea-water, A Differential Refractometer for Measuring the, A. Berget, 119 Salmon: Fisheries, Nationalisation of, J. A. Hutton, 213; of the River Lochy as shown by a Collection of Scales made in 1916, W. L. Calderwood, 239; The Life-history of the, J. A. Hutton, 410 Saltpetre: Indian, Sir T. E. Thorpe, 447; Its Origin and Extraction in India, C. M. Hutchinson, 447 Salts, Purification of, by Clairgage, E. Rengade, 520 San Joaquin Valley, Cal., Ground Water in, W. C. Menden- hall, R. B. Dole, and Mi. Stables, 376 San Salvador, Earthquake at, 312 Sand: British, for Glass and Metallurgical Industries, Prof. Boswell, 532; for Glass-making, Properties of, Dr. Boswell, 71; in the Island of Sansego, etc., Origin of the Deposits of, Prof. T. Taramelli, 511 Santals, The, Rev. P. O. Bodding, 14 Sartorite, The Problem of, Dr..G. F. H. Smith, 379 Scandinavia, Severity of the Winter in, C. Rabot, 213 Scandinavian Languages, The, T. R. R. S., 505 Scattering Media in Fully Diffused Light, Behaviour of, H. J. Shannon, F. F. Renwick, and B. V. Storr, 358 Schaumasse Comet: J. Braae and J. Fischer-Petersen, 214; Fayet and Schaumasse, 259; J. Braae and J. Fischer- Petersen, 271; 315; Elements of, G. Fayet and A. Schaumasse, 320; Fayet and Schaumasse, 375 Schistosoma (Bilharzia) mansoni, The Host of, Caracas, Drs. Iturbe and Gonzalez, 451 Science : and an Organised Civilisation, W. E. Ritter, 377; and Education, Civil Service Estimates for, 175; Lec- tures Delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Edited, with an Introduction by Sir E. Ray Lankester, 183; and Industry, Sir R. T, Glazebrook, 333; 376; The Place of Cambridge in any Scheme for their Combination, Sir R. T. Glazebrook, 423; 465; and Modern Languages in Civil Service Examinations, Prof. J.. Wertheimer, 74; and Society, 521; and the Indus- tries, Dr. W. Martin, 354; and the Nation, Edited by Prof. A. C. Seward, 141; Applied, and Pure Science, Principal C. Bradley, 330; Charged as the Enemy of Mankind, G. Gissing, 230; Francaise—Scolastique Alle- mande, Prof. G. Papillault, 225; for the People, 18; in Education and Administration, 455 ; in Girls’ Schools, Miss Escott, 339; in Russia,” 210; in Schools, Present near Methods of Teaching, H. A. L. Fisher, 186; Lectures to the Troops in France, 93; Natural, Teaching, Effect of, upon Children, Prof. R. Muir, 148; Teaching and National Character, Prof. Ramsay Muir; the i 184; The Application of, Prof. W. F. Durand, 377; The Borderlands of, Dr. A. T. Schofield, 263 ; The Lack of, in Modern Education, with Some Hints of What Might Be, Sir Napier Shaw, 367; The Man of, in the , Community of To-day, Prof. D. Fraser Harris, 236; | The Value of Research in, Sir A. G. Bourne, 75 Scientific: and Industrial Research, Grants to the De ment of, 68; Instrument Trade, The Regeneration of the British, after the War, E. S. Hodgson, 488; In- vestigation, Pure, Neglect of, Prof. G. H. Carpenter, 213; Literature, The Organisation of, P. E. B. . Jourdain, 306; Observation and Reasoning, Problems to be Solved, Some, H. Le Chatelier, 79; Research, State Aid for, 329; The Carnegie Institution and, 395; Societies, Conjoint Board of, Report of the Executive Committee of the, 350; Theories, The Making of, Prof. W. H. Hobbs, 373 : Scotland, Economic Geology of the Central Coalfield of, ESE s & Scottish : Ornithology in 1916, L. Rintoul and E. Baxter, 470; Shale Industry, Appointment of Committees in Connection with the, 13 ae Sea-Urchins, Variability of Germ-cells of, A.. J. Goldfarb, j ? 379 ert Sea Water, Hydrogen Ion -Concentration of, J. F. McClendon, 139 : ; Seaman Gold Medal, The, awarded to the Julius King Optical Company, 489 ue Secondary Schools’ Examinations Council, Formation of ‘a, 298 Set, The Egyptian Deity, The’ Animal Symbol of, G. Daressy; J. Offord, 316 Seeding and Planting, J. W. Tourney, 422 Seeds, Improved Varieties of Agricultural, Need for a National Organisation for, 71 ; “Sei” Whale, The, Dr. F. E. Beddard, 17 Seismographs, Sites for the Installation of, 110 Selby Scientific Societv, T. Sheppard elected an Life Member of the, 150 Selous National Memorial, The, 230 Septic Problem in War, The, 48 : Sesamoid Articular Bone in the Mandible of Fishes, The, Prof. E. C. Starks, 31 Sewage, Activated Sludge Process, Ardern, 533 Pe Shark, Permian, The Skull of a, Dr. G. Hickling, 79 Ship-worms and Wood-lice, Life-histories of, H. F. Weiss, 2 Siberia : In Far North-East, I. W. Shklovsky, Translated by L. Edwards and Z. Shklovsky, 426; North-East, Prince P. Kropotkin, 426 Sierra Nevada Mountains, Fish in Dams in the, A. D. Ferguson, 430 sae Silica: Fused, Condensers, etc., for Sulphuric Acid and Nitric Acid, Dr. F. Bottomley, 431; Refractory Pro- perties of, H. Le Chatelier and B. Bogitch, 520 Silkworm, Genetic Studies on the, Y. Tanaka, 174 Silkworms, The Genetics of, 174 Size of the Tool Required for a given Block of Lenses, Method of Determining the, C. L. Redding, 96 Slav Achievements in Advanced Science, Prof. B. Petronievics, 53 Slavs, Southern, Suggested Holdich, 491 j oe Smith, William, His Maps and Memoirs, T. Sheppard, 351 Smithsonian Institution, Exploration and Field Work of the, 510 Smoking, Effect of, on the Speed and Accuracy of Adding Figures, C. S. Berry, 71 Snow in London: The Frequency of, L. C. W. Bonacina, _ 185; F. J. Brodie, 205; E. L. Hawke, 206 Soane’s Museum, A. T. Bolton appointed Curator of, 499. Societa Italiana della Scienze, The Gold Medal of the Physical Section awarded to Prof. W. H. and W. L. Bragg, 150 Société de Chimie Industrielle, Object of the, 450 Sodium, Neutral and Acid Sulphates of, P. Passal, 219 | Soil: Aeration in Agriculture, Howard, 195; An Artificial, cs Federation of the, Sir T. — Nature, ] Ss September 20, 1917 A. Gautier, 440; Conditions and Plant Growth, Dr. E. J. Russell. Third edition; G. W. Robinson, 444; : Disinfection of the, M. Miége, 119. Soils, Mechanical Culture of, M. Tisserand, 139 ® Solar: Constant and the Associated Problems, Value of the, Dr. Knott, 73; Meteorology and the, 73; Eclipse, Total, _ of May 29, 1919, Possible Observing Stations for the, - 171; Lines, Displacements of, Dr. Royds, 234; Motion, Relation of the Apex of, to Proper Motion, C. D. 160; Physics Observatory, Cambridge, Report 354; Prominences, 1916, G. J. Newbegin, -and Mrs. Evershed, 432; in Relation to Sun- vt a Dr. O. J. Lee, 332; Rotation Measures, Effect of Haze on, St. John and Adams, 32 Valley of the : The Deposits of the Historic Period r on the Neolithic Tufa of the, V. Commont, he Tufas of the, V. Commont, 99 Mental Aspect of, 462; The Psychology of, Dr. J. Watt, 462 ; -Wave Produced by Gun-fire to Great Waa cee 3. "ay seca per of the, G. Bigourdan, 519; ao -Waves of the East London Explosion, Dr. C. Devoe, - Souti be ofthe, African Association, Arrangements for the Session of the, 268; Flowering Plants, Distribution of the ee Genera of, S. Schénland, 360; Australia, Manufacture a of Cream of Tartar in, Dr. Hargreaves, 171 ; Australian _ Metallurgical Report, J. D. Connor, 111; -Eastern Wihetr D. College, Organisation of a Research and sO Department of the, 138; Union of Scientific Societies, Forthcoming Congress of the, 51; Annual _ Congress of the, 129; Arrangements for the Annual ongress of the, 248; Annual Congress of the, 354; _ Sir D. Morris elected President of the, 355; Georgia, _ Prof. J. W. Gregory, 272; Slav Customs as seen in Serbian Ballads and Tales, Miss M. E. Durham, 158; Wales Coalfield, Carboniferous Limestone Series on the South-Eastern Margin of the, F. Dixey and Dr. T. F. -—_ Sibly, 159 Southern Magnitude Distribution, The, Prof. R. A. Samp- Siianbia Preach Fo _ Soya asa ch Foodstuff, M. Balland, 99 Space, The Temperature of, Prof. Fabry, 394 Spalling of Magnesite Bricks, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 70 Sparidze and bridz, Structure, etc., of the Tubular Enamel of the, Dr. J. H. Mummery, 1 E's. : 9 Z r soe = a Rapid Make-and-Break, A Method of Pre- Se ngs Dr. A. Griffiths, 358 _ Sparrow-Hawk, Home-life of the, J. H. Owen, 39 _ Sparteine, Solubility of, An Anomaly in the, A. Valeur, 319 _ Sparrows, House-, The Destruction of, Dr. W. E. Collinge, _ Spectra : Index of, Appendix x., Dr. M. Watts, 492; of Sun *e and Stars, Absorption Bands of Atmospheric Ozone in the, Prof. A. Fowler and the Hon. R. J. Strutt, 379 _ Spectral Series, A General Formula for, J. Ishiwara, 151 a Spectroscopy, Recent Progress in, Prof. E. P. Lewis, 115, 134 Spectrum : of Se The Third Line, Prof. A. Fowler and J. Brooksban 159; Sensation Curve, The Fourth Colourless Sensation in the, when Measured in the _ Centre of the Retina, Sir W. Abney, 178 _ Speech, the Mechanism of, Analysis of, D. Jones, 285 cer, Herbert, H. Elliot, 163 Spiral Nebule: Radial Velocities of, Dr. V. M. Slipher, 2; The Probem of, Dr. Crommelin, 234 rgen: A Geological Expedition to, E. Andersson and others, 450; and Franz-Joseph Land, The Basaltic Rocks of, A. Holmes and Dr. H. F. Harwood, 97 Sponges Collected off the Coast of Ireland, Miss J. Stephens, a it , x a ia a a Eye ? or ee _ Squirrel, American Grey, Results of Introduction into Rich- 2 mond Park, Sir F. Treves, 31 Stability, Apparatus for Interpreting, T. Graham, 113 _ Standardisation as Applied to the Machinery for Cargo- * boats, D. B. Morison, 113 _ Stanford’s: Half-inch Map of the Battle Front in France 4 _ and Flanders : Ostend, Zeebrugge, Bruges, 523 ; Large- _ Scale War Map, No. 17, 171 _ Star Clusters: Magnitudes in, iv., H. Shapley, 160; v., vi., Index H. Shapley, 379; Possible Origin of, E. Belot, 159; = Determination of, F. H. Seares, 16 yA XXXVIi Star : Discovery of a New, by Mr. Ritchey, Prof. Pickering, 472; Maps for 1917, Monthly, Dr. Blaikie, 93 Stars: B.D., Missing, Rev. J. G. Hagen, 159; Distribution of, with Respect to the Galactic Plane, F. H. Seares, ’ 219; Double, A New Catalogue of, R. Jonckheere, 193 ; Micrometrical Measures of, Rev. T. E. R. Phillips, 339; Effective Temperatures of, Dr. Wilsing, 315; Giant, Convection and Diffusion Within, Dr. S. Chap- man, 258; Helium, The Classification of, Prof. A. Fowler, 25; Origin of Ptolemy’s Catalogue of, Dr. J. L. E. Dreyer, 258; Proper Motions of, New Deter- minations of, Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin, 175; Standard Polar, Colour of the, Determined by the Method of Exposure-ratios, F. H. Seares, 160; Thermal Diffusion and the, Dr. S. Chapman, 259; Two Eclipsing Variable, R. S. Dugan, 252; of Type O, Distribution of, O. Gyllenberg, 293; Radiative Equilibrium of the, Prof. A. S. Eddington, 339; The Radiation of the, Prof. A. S. Eddington, 308 ; J. H. Jeans ; Prof. A. S. Eddington, 365 Statesman’s Year-Book, 1917, Edited by Dr. J. Scott Keltie, Assisted by Dr..M. Epstein, 423 Steel: and its Heat Treatment, D. K. Bullens. Second impression, 381; Change in Volume Produced by Hardening, 192; Mild, Inner Structure of, Prof. W. E. Dalby, 113 ; The Tempering of, H. Le Chatelier, 519 Stellar: Motions and Absolute Magnitudes, W. S. Adams and G. Strémberg, 472; Spectra of Class R., 17 ‘ Stirling’s, Lord Justice, Herbarium presented to the Tun- bridge Wells Natural History Society, 248 Stone Monuments, Rude, in Cork County, J. P. Condon, 71 Stonyhurst College Observatory Report, Father Sidgreaves, 252 : Stoke-on-Trent Central School of Science and Technology, Dr. A. W. Ashton appointed Principal of the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Department of the, 499 Strata, Correlation of, on the Basis of Palwogeography, Prof. C. Schubert, 352 Stress : Determination in a Flat Plate, J. Montgomerie, 113; The Specification of, part v., R. F. Gwyther, 279 Stringfellow, John, Photographs and Papers in Memory of, J. Gillingham, 51 Stromatopteris moniliformis, Anatomy and Affinity of, J.- McLean Thompson, 99 Submergence and Glacial Climates during the Accumulation of the Cambridgeshire Pleistocene Deposits, Dr. Marr, 78. Subsidence Resulting from Mining, Dr. L. E. Young and Prof. H. H. Stock, 33 : Sugar : and the Tinned Fruit Industry, 162 ; at Gunthorpes Factory, Antigua, The Recovery of, Sir F. Watts, 392; Home-grown, 266; The High Price of, and How to Reduce it, H. Smith, 14 Sugars, Aldehydic, Estimating, J. Bougault, 440 Sulphur: Dioxide, Adsorption of, by Charcoal, A. M. ‘Williams, 99 ; in Petroleum Oils, Dr. F. M. Perkin, 112 Sulphuric Acid and Alkali, The Manufacture of, with the Collateral Branches. Fourth edition. Supplement to vol. i., Sulphuric and Nitric Acid, 381 Summer Time: The Introduction of, 89; Act, 1916, Report of Committee on the, 29 Sun: Observations of the, made at Lyons Observatory, J. Guillaume, 11g; During the First Quarter of 1917, J. Guillaume, 520; -spot Zones, The, H. Arctowski, 72 ; -spots and Magnetic Storms, Heliographic Positions of the, H. Arctowski, 39; in High Southern Latitudes, Mrs. E. W. Maunder, 339; Permanent Periodicity in, Sir J. Larmor and N. Yamaga, 258 Sun’s Rotation, Elements of the, T. Epstein, 493 Sydney, Technological Museums, Report of the, 269 Svlow Factor Table, A, of the First Twelve Thousand "Numbers, H. W. Stager, 164 Synchronous Signalling, Prof. J. Joly, 354 Synthetic Colour Industry, The British, in War Time, C. M. "Whitaker; Prof. G. T. Morgan, 494 Talbot’s Observations on Fused Nitre, Prof. A. W. C. Menzies, 35 Talgai, The Fossil Human Skull found at, S. A. Smith, 38 Tarred Felt Discs for Protecting Cabbages and Caulifiowers, J. T. Wadsworth, 171 XXXVili Index re, “s c [space 20, 1917 % Tasmanian Government’s Great Lake Hydro-electric Power Undertaking, The, 512 Teachers : in Elementary Schools, Appointment of a Depart- mental Committee on Scales ‘of Salary for, 299; Pay of, T. H. J. Underdown, 156; Pay and Supply of, by D. Dunkerley and A. Blades, 194; Salaries of, Appointment of a Departmental Committee on, 518 Technical : Education in South Wales, Prof. J. Wertheimer, 533; Relation of, to Science and Literature, Prof. A. N. Whitehead, 96; Library at Frankfort-on-Main, Pro- posed General, 137 Telemeters, Prof. H. Pariselle, 233 Telescope: Achromatic, History of the Invention of the, R. B. Prosser, 393; Objectives, Design and Testing Of. ok. Everitt, 97; Systems, Designing and Com-_ puting of, Lectures on thé; Prof. A. E. Conrady, 459 Tempera e Cementazione dell’ Acciaio, M. Levi-Malvano, 483 : Temperature: Gradient, The Horizontal, and the Increase of Wind with Height, W. H. Dines, 24; Major E. Gold, 63; Influence of, on Electrocapillary Phenomena, L. Décombe, 319; Observations to Mean of Twenty-four Hours, Reduction of, C. E. P. Brooks, 359; Scale, Proposal for a New, Prof. McAdie, 152; -Time- Atmosphere Effects, Methods of Control for the, Prof. J. W. Cobb, 70 Terfezia, The Genus, I. B. Pole Evans, 520°. Terra Nova Expedition : Cephalopoda of the, Miss Massy ; The Decapod Crustacea, and Barnacles of the, C. 1. Borradaile, 155; Crustacea of the, Dr. W. T. Calman; Fresh-water Algze of the, Prof. F. E. Fritsch, 352 Terrestrial: Magnetism, Origin of, M. Raclot, 39; Tetra- hedron and the Distributioii of Land and Sea, The, P. T. Dufour, 440- Tertiary Fish-teeth, Some, F. Chapman, 179 Tetanus, The Active Vaccination of Man Against, H. Vallée and L. Bazy, 440 Tethelin, Gift by Dr. T. B. Robertson of his Patents for, 318 Textile Manufacture, Some Aspects of, 303 Thermal Conductivity of Wires, Effect of Stretching on the, A. Johnstone, 258 Thermionic Detectors in Telephony, 105 Thermochemistry and Thermodynamics, A Text-book of, Prof. O. Sackur. Translated arid Revised by Dr. G. E. Gibson, 262 Thermodynamics and Gravitation: Dr. P. E. Shaw, 84; A Suggestion, Dr. G. W. Todd, 5; J. L., 44; Prof. E. H. Barton, 45 Thermometer Scale, A Rew. Prof. A. McAdie, 139 Thorium : The Stability of Lead Isotopes from, Prof. F. Soddy, 244; Dr. A. Holmes, 245; Prof. J. Joly, 284 “Thought-Subjects,” 322 Tidal As Observations, Analysis of, Dr. G. H. Fowler, 39 Tides, Dissipation of Energy in the, R. O. Street, 96 Timber Supplies for Scotland, Sir J. Stirling-Maxwell appointed Assistant Controller of, 509 Time: Legal, Determination of the, L. Lecornu, 793 On Board Ship, C. Lallamand, 179; J. Renaud, 79 Atomic Weight of, A Revision of the, G. P. Baxter and H. W. Starkweather, 140 Tissues, A New Method of Destruction of, for the Estima- tion of Arsenic, etc., A. Gautier and P, C, Clausmann, Wireless Telegraphy and Tin, 4 Toluene in Crude Petroleum, Estimation of, S. E. Bowrey, 292 Tools, History in; Prof. Flinders Petrie, 469 Torulz, Red, Colouring Matter of, A. C. Chapman, 132 Trajectories ‘for High-angle Fire, A Graphical Method of Drawing, Prof. W. E. Dalby, 58 Traumatic Shock, W. T. Porter, 500 Traumatism, Influence of, on Experimental Gas Gangrene, H. Vincent and G. Stodel, 320 Trench Feet, V. Raymond and J. Parisot, 60 Tribo-electric Series, The, Dr. P. E. Shaw, 420 Trichomonas, The Flagellate Genus, Dr. P. Hadley, ae Trifolium alexandrinum, Experiments with, in India, G. S. Henderson, 131 Troops in France, Science Lectures to the, 93 | Tropical : Agriculture, Dr. E. V. Wilcox, 183; Medicis, AJ Contributions to, Manson, McCarrison, and McCulloch, F: 53° Tsetse-flies, The Destruction of, Timmler, 232 eo Tuberculosis in the Army, Educational Campaign by the Y.M.C.A. Against, 518 Tumours, The Biology of, C. M. Moullin, 44 ‘ie Tylor, Sir E., and Sir L. Gomme, Dr. R. R. Marett, 329 Typhus Fever, The Microbe of, Prof. K. Futaki, 530 . T ypographical Printing Surfaces: The Technology of, 4; The Technology and Mechanism of their Bors 92 L. A. Legros and J. C. Grant, 42 : Ultra-violet: Radiation for Therapeutic Purposes, Sécinoks a of, C. A. Schunck, 270; The Germicidal Action of, and its Correlation with Selective Absorption, Dr. ae H. Browning - and Dr. S. Russ, 217; Radiations, Absorp- — tion of the, by Some Chlorine Derivatives of Ethane, — etc., Massol and Faucon, 99; by the Iodine Derivatives . of Methane, Massol and Faucon, 319 s Ulcerous Lymphangitis of the Horse, Treatment of, ‘op i. Bacteriotherapy, C. Truche, 139 AG: Urine, A New Method of Determining the Reducing Sub- stances in, C. Richet and H. Cardot, 539 United States : the, awarded to Dr. S. W. Stratton, ba DrizCe D; . Walcott elected President of the; Dr. Michelson elected Secretary of the, 268; A jasone Map of the, F, Shreve, 110; An Estimate of the Future Population of the, 314; Applied . Chemistry in the, 362; Cotton Cultivation in. the, 342; National Research Council, The, 56, 216; and the. War, 508; Grant to, 509; Appointment of a Psychology Committee, 509 ; Council © of National Defence and the U.S. National Research Council and War Problems, 328 ; Hydro-Geolo. . 376; Industrial Research in the, A. P. M. Fleming, — 465; Physiographic Subdivision of the, N. M. Fenne- man, 159; Research Institutions in the, G. Lightfoot, 274; Study of the Atmosphere Over the, 270; The — Gravimetric Survey of the, W. Bowie, An) Si Universities, Work of the, for the War, Prof. W. H. Perkin, " 99 ? University College: London, Speech at Prize Disiibutien at, H. A. L. Fisher, 398; of South Wales and Mon- mouthshire, Bequest to, Dr. W. Price, 216 Union Pacific Railroad Bridge at Omaha, The, 331 Upper Cretaceous Coals on Vancouver Island, C. H. Clapp, IIo Uranus, Variability of, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 133 Urine: Incontinence of, P. Bonnier, of the, Prof. A. R. Cushny, 304 Vacuum Tar, The Alcohols and Bases of, A. Pictet, O. Kaiser, and A. Labouchére, 480 i: Valois, Prince Louis of, Observations so -haciid to, G. a Bigourdan, 440 Valuation and Existence, F. C. Bartlett, 58 Vaporisation, Heats of, and Maximum Vapour Pressures, ae A. Leduc, 139 Vapour, Clouds of, Emitted by Volcanoes, F. A. Perret, 131. Variable : Complex, Functions of a, Prof. E. Goursat. Part i., vol. ii., Translated by Prof. E. R. Hedrick and O. Dunkel, 61; ; T. M. MacRobert, 61; Nebula N. Ge: 2261, The, Dr. V. M. Slipher, 54 ; Variation a Reality ?, Is, Prof. W. Bateson, 43 Vegetation, The Development of, 154 Veins of the Asbestiform Minerals, Origin of, 15. Taber, 139 Vermin: Effects of Poisoning of, in Australia, 410; Farm, The National Importance of, Dr. W. E. ai Be 188 Vertebrate Embryos, Aortic Cell Clusters in, H. E : Jordan, 219 Vertebrates, Pre-Jurassic Tetrapod, Sketch- classification of the, D. M. S. Watson, 119 Veterinary Review, The, May, 291 Vibration of Ships, Influence of Running Balance of Pro- pellers on the, J. J. King-Salter, 113 Vibrations : of Bars of Variable Section, The Lateral, Prof. J. W. Nicholson, 319; The- ‘Influence of, upon the Form National Academy of Sciences, The Medal of 159; The Secretion = | Nature, : ‘ sasecad age Index XXXIX er of Certain Sponge-spicules, Prof. A. Dendy and Prof. J. W. Nicholson, 318 Victorian Plants, Teratological Notes on, A. D. Hardy, 180 Viscometers, Standard Li a for the "Standardisation of, | E. C. Bingham and R. F. Jackson, 512 _Voltameter, The Silver, as an International Standard for = “Measurement of Electric Current, E. B. Rosa and -G. W. Vinal, 160 Voltmeter, A New Form of, Prof. J. B. Whitehead, 292 oe I - Ware After the, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 421; and the Nation, WwW. CL 'D. Whetham, 421; Bread, 427 ; Chemists in, sess, Guidance for, 31; Higher Education and the, rs tions of , Photographs of Work of Women Engaged on, . Strategy of the, Geological Factors Affecting the, of the Potash Salts, Prof. ee W. » 110; , and Our Supply of Drugs, F. A. , 90; The Relation of, to Chemistry in America, _ J. R. Withrow, 463; The Septic Problem in, 48 ; san Bacterio of, K. W. Goadby, 138; The Bi Treatment of, Col. Sir A. E. Wright, 514, 534. OW: in Kashmir i in 1916, Scarcity of, J. Evershed, 185 Water : od Matter, Daily Variation of, in the Leaves of Corn and the Sorghums, E. C. Miller, 500; Con- - tained in the Portions of the Subsoil, Importance of ie | Ae ae ing and G. R. a. 379; The edium, Derivation of the for, Prof. J. A. Fleming, 258; on _ Water, The 5 ance, Initial of a Moving Surface Pressure, Prof. T. H. 96 Weather : The, 53, 71; The Recent Cold, C. Harding, 153; . R. Mill, 210 _ Weeds, Noxious, hte Method of Dispersal of, by Birds, § C. Barnard, 3 - Wehnelt Cathodes? Loss’i in Energy of, by Electron Emission, 4 W. Wilson, 500 Weighing Apparatus from the Shan States, Dr. N. Annan- Was Asian Mosquitoes, Dr. J. W. S. Macfie, 191 Western Australia: Peculiarities of the Tides Round, Prof. and Mrs. A. D. Ross, 99; Water Supply in the Interior : Of, P. V. O’Brien, 394 Piked, Description of the Skeleton of a, Prof. M‘Intosh, 392; The Sei, R. S. Andrews, 17 -'Whalebone Whales of New England, G. M. Allen, 293 Whales, Whalebone, of New England, G. M. Allen, 293 Wheat : Special Methods of Cultivation of, Prof. A. 91; The Shortage of, 148 White Flies, As Li Quaintance and A. C. Baker, 213 Wild: Birds, Destructive, Dr. W. E. Collinge, 6; Foods, Propagation of, 131; Life in Canada, Conserva- tion of, Dr. C. G. Hewitt, 246 _ Windward and aloha Islands, The Agricultural Depart- ments of the, 314 _ Wines, White Turbidity i in, M. Fonzes-Diacon, 219 peter The Past, C. Harding, 294 jie, and the, Sir T. E. Thorpe, 463 ; Food =e Prof. J Bufnet, 361 ; Medicine and Surgery, 363; Muni- | Theory of, Sir G. Greenhill, 114; -Resist-’ Devaux, . -Duck | _ Wolfram, Working | Winters, Coming, A Forecast of, Dr. C. Easton, 524 | Wireless Telegraphy ; and Telephony, Thermionic Detectors in, 105; The Elementary Principles of, R. D. Bangay. Part ii., Second edition, 382 | Witwatersrand, Annual General Meeting of the Council of Education, Proceedings of the, 3 Wolf Comet b 1916: Prof. Crawfurd, 172, 214; 332; furd and Alter, 375; 454; 532; Dr. Kobold, 454 in Cornwall for, 13 Craw- | Women on the Land, 300 Wood, Sir H. Trueman, Impending Retirement of, 371 Woodcock Breeding in the West of Ireland, Migration of, Capt. S. R. Douglas, 78 Wooden : Scfatching-tools Made by an African Parrot, Miss N. F. Layard, 199; Ships being Built in the United States, 453; Trumpets in Netherlands New Guinea, Distribution. of, Dr. A. C. Haddon, 269 Woodpeckers, Feeding Habits of, W. Bickerton, 192 Woolwich, Temporary Assistants in the Inspection Depart- ment at, Position of, 212 Workers’ Educational Association, Report of the Conference of the, 439 Worm Nests in Cattle, Etiology of, Drs. Cleland, Dodd, and Ferguson, 430 World Crisis and After, The, 142 Wounds Received at the Front, Prophylaxy of the Infection of, H. Vincent, 40 X-ray : Industry, The Future of the, 355; Methods, Simpli- field, H. C. Gage, 410; Tubes, Geometrical Properties of-a —— of, J. Pellissier, 159 X-rays : G. W. C. Kaye. Second edition, 225; from Variong Metals, Composition of the, Dr. G. W. C. Kaye, 217; in a Magnetic Field, Ionisation of the, A Righi, 439; of the L Series, ‘Intensities of Ds. L: Wébster and H. Clark, 219; Spectra of, Relations between the, Dr. J. Ishiwara, 424 Year-Book of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ireland, 32 Y.M.C.A., Microscopical Section, Report of the, 31 Yoruba Tribe, Gods of the, H. U. Hall, 491 Young’s Modulus of Nickel with Magnetic Fields, The Change in, Prof. W. Brown, 119 Yiinnan, Geology of the Province of, J. C. Brown, 471 Zeiss Abbe Refractometer, Design of the, Bellingham and Stanley, Ltd., 331 Zirconia: as a Refractory Material, Audley, 375; Properties of, 69 Zircony! Sulphates, The, E. Chauvenet, 439 Zoological: Nomenclature, International Commission on, Circular Letter No. 35 of the, 213; Results of a Tour in the Far East: Hydrozoa and Ctenophora, Dr. N. Annandale, 240; Aquatic Oligochzeta from eee and China, Dr. J. Stephenson, 240; Hirudinea, Dr. A. Oka, 340; Society of London, Report on the Position of the, 268; Society’s Gardens, Deaths in the, in 1916, Prof. HG. Plimmer, 19 ; Insects Reared in the Insect House of the, in 1916, C. J. C. Pool, 78 * Zoology of the Terra Nova Expedition, The, 155 Zui Chronology, L. Spier, 379 The Use of, J. A. A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. “To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye. ”__WorpswortH. THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 10917. CLASSICAL EDUCATION. __Defence of Classical Education. By R. W. tone. Pp. xi+278. (London : Mac- _millan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 4s. 6d. net. ; ‘HIS book is, unfortunately, based upon two - misconceptions, both of which are common mongst classicists. In the first place, it is umed that an attempt is being made at the sent time to abolish classics from general ducation and to replace them by scientific studies. ‘his is far from the truth. Men of science claim 0 privileges for their own subject which they e not to grant equally to classics and > the other branches of learning. Narrow speci- isation in any one department, whether classical r scientific, we hold to be thoroughly bad from 1 educational point of view. The author has little knowledge of the aims of hose who wish to reform modern education. tom the frequent references to the conference eld last May on the neglect of science he has ridently taken the report of these proceedings as basis. He then proceeds to isolate state- € ents and phrases from their contexts, and from ich he builds up an entirely erroneous and hypo- tical attack which he attempts to demolish to S own satisfaction. What is the system of classical education in ree at the present time? At an early age a boy es to a preparatory school where education has ussics as its dominating note from the outset; many cases twelve hours a week are devoted _Latin alone. Since the great majority of itrance scholarships to public schools are virtu- ly awarded on a knowledge of classics, the able ys are then further hot-housed in this subject, actically to the exclusion of all other branches. a arrival at a public school, and having attained ertain proficiency i in classics, boys are unlikely wish to change to other subjects or to be NO. 2470, VOL. 99} | pen than that of Mr. | successfully. wed to do so if they wish. Thus the most | clever boys are diverted from science quite early in their lives, and consequently we get all the evils of early specialisation, which results in boys of fourteen and fifteen devoting as much as twenty-five hours a week to this one branch of learning—classics. This is education as at present interpreted in our public schools; this is the system which is being attacked so strenuously; this is the ground which, we venture to suggest, needs an abler Livingstone to defend As a matter of fact, the title of the book is a misnomer, for the work is not a defence of classical education at all. Not a single argu- ment is adduced to support the conclusion that “the first stage of classical education may be left alone. It is as satisfactory as most things in education are likely to be.” As a plea for the retention of classics in a general scheme of education, the book is excel- lent. Where Mr. Livingstone is dealing with facts he is on safe ground, and the majority of the work is a “hymn of praise ” which is wholly admirable. His assumptions, however, are nearly always erroneous, and his conclusions illogical ; one cannot help thinking that a little knowledge of scientific method would have saved him from many pitfalls. , The truth is that, although he does not admit it, and although, possibly, he does not know it, he is almost as much a reformer as the present- day advocate of science. Let us quote :—“ The world is far more intelligible to us if we have studied literature.” “The value of history is even more obvious.” “To be ignorant of the world in which we live, to have no idea of how plants and animals grow, to know nothing of electricity and chemistry, is to deny our- selves whole provinces of knowledge.” “Physical science corrects the vices of a literary training, its tendency to make men retrospective. critical, inactive spectators of the world.’’ “ Obviously any good education will include the teaching of science.” ‘It ought to be a first aim to avoid diverting boys with mechanical and _ scientific B 2 NATURE [Marcu 1, 1917 tastes, who have no aptitude for linguistics, into | given admission of steam or water respectively. studies that will be barren for them.” Such phrases as these constitute a plea for devotion of more time to literature, to history, and especially to science. If the author’s ideal is to be realised, it can only be done by an altera- tion of the curriculum, to some extent at the expense of classical studies. If “the first stage of classical education should be left alone,” how does he propose to secure the wider type of educa- tion which both he and ourselves advocate? It is on record that the head of an Oxford college urged that, since it was desirable that’ clergymen should know Greek, and since it was very often late in life before a man ultimately made up his mind whether he was going to be a clergyman or not, therefore all boys and young men were to be regarded as potential clergymen until that critical age was passed. We strongly suspect the author of similar views, with the exception that he would keep only the ablé boys at classics and hand over the dullards to science. The second misconception is that science means merely the acquisition of facts. Science can give far more than the classicists imagine. The divi- sion of branches of knowledge into ‘humanistic ” and “scientific”? is an error of nomenclature; for science may be made the most humane of all studies. In the words of a recent manifesto: “Imaginative power indicates new fields in which further knowledge of truth may be revealed; its full establishment depends upon accurate observa- tion, with constant recourse to Nature for con- firmation. The one aim of natural science is, in fact, the search for truth based on evidence rather than on authority. The special value of natural science in the training of mind and character lies in the fact that the history of the subject is a plain record of the search for truth for its own sake.” SCIENTIFIC ENGINEERING. (1) Legons sur le Fonctionnement des Groupes Electrogénes en Régime Troublé. By Prof. L. Barbillion. Pp. ii+306. (Paris: Gauthier- Villars et Cie, 1915.) Price 11 francs. (2) Electric Switch and Controlling Gear. By Dr. C. C. Garrard. Pp. xviii+656. (London: The Electrician Printing and Publishing Co., Ltd., n.d-) Price 15s. net. (1) on smooth working of steam or hydraulic prime-movers directly coupled to dynamos is one of great importance to supply station engineers. In this work Prof. Barbillion, the director of the Technical Institute at Grenoble, gives us a thorough and well-reasoned discussion of the subject. Much of the discussion, we are afraid, is too mathematical to be properly under- stood by the ordinary English engineer, but to the specialist and the advanced student it will be interesting and instructive. In the first chapter curves are given showing how the torques produced by steam-engines and hydraulic turbines vary with the velocity for a NO. 2470, VOL. 99| :xpressions are then found for the “useful * torque produced by the prime-mover, and differential equations are obtained for the dynamical equili- brium of the combined set under various condi- tions of load. These equations admit of easy solu- tion. The problems of regulation and the réle of regulators are next discussed. The effects pro- duced by flywheels, various types of Watt’s governor, air and oil brakes, etc., are investigated mathematically and the solutions illustrated by curves. ; - Expressions are found for the magnitude of the variation of the velocity produced by a given dis- turbance, the case when the resisting torque varies as the angular velocity being specially considered. Various devices for damping out irregularities in speed are described, and finally in the last two chapters a valuable descriptive study is made of the mechanisms required to keep the engine running at constant speed, and also of the devices required to make the speed of the engine increase with the load. The book is founded on a course of lectures given by the author to technical students. It illustrates well the great practical value of mathematics to engineers, __ ) (2) As a work of reference this book is of value. Much of the information in it is novel, and the problems discussed are those which are exercising the minds of electrical engineers at the present time. Many of the practical devices in everyday use have their limitations, and some are of very doubtful utility. Dr.’ Garrard’s critical remarks, therefore, will be most helpful in clearing up the mystery attending their operation. : In the first chapter materials and manufacturing methods are described. It shows clearly how scientific ordinary commercial engineering is becoming. In the old days the purchaser of raw materials made a cursory inspection of all the samples, and if they appeared to be of the same quality he accepted the lowest price. This is no longer the case. Consider, for instance, the pur- chase of the oil used for insulating high-tension apparatus. The buyer insists on knowing the electric strength, the flash-point, the viscosity, the specific gravity, the freedom from acid and alkali, the mineral impurities and additions, and the rate at which oxidation products are formed when ozonised air is passed through the oil. Similarly, other materials used in construction will have to conform—or will soon have to conform—to rigid and highly scientific specifications. In this con- nection the work done by the Engineering Standards Committee and by the many committees. of the Institution of Electrical Engineers is worthy of high commendation. The co-operation between engineers, business men, mathematicians, phy- sicists, and chemists is in every way satisfactory, and promises well for the future industrial welfare of the country. Descriptions are given of apparatus for makin and breaking electrical circuits, for obviating danger, for regulating the current and pressure for starting and controlling running machinery CH I, I917]| NATURE 3 protecting electrical machines and cables st -abnormal electrical conditions due to or atmospheric disturbances. A discussion en of the design of switchboards. In ery chapter many interesting and im- practical researches are suggested. Some researches have already been begun and tesults have been obtained. The industry dy beginning to feel the benefit of co- ve research. 553 a formula is given for the maximum stress between the horns of a lightning . It is, however, merely the formula for aximum electric stress between two infinitely lindrical wires. Apparently the assumption e that the bending of these wires into the horns does not appreciably alter the stress. The further assumption is made value of the disruptive stress in air is its per cm. This is not true. For two wires in air, if ry be the radius of either ed in centimetres, the greatest possible of the electric stress is 30+9/r} kv. ap- mately at 25° C. and 76 cm. pressure (1-013 s). It is therefore not independent of ‘the ss of the wires. Before we can compute akdown voltage we need to know the for the disruptive stress with the given wire and for. the maximum electric stress. itter is a definite mathematical problem which yet been solved. diagrammatic symbols employed by the are good, although in a few cases he is consistent. In an appendix the symbols ended by the British Electrical-and Applied acturers’ Association (known as the Beama) en. We have good grounds for hoping, , that agreement on all the diagrammatic used in electrical work—some 200— all the English-speaking races will shortly ined. _ A. RussELtL. AN AGRICULTURAL POLICY. Agriculture: The. Nation’s Opportunity. the Minority Report of the Depart- 1 Committee on the Employment of rs and Soldiers on the Land. By the -E. G. Strutt, Leslie Scott, and G. H. s. With a preface, and appendix on the mation of Land, by A. D. Hall. Pp. xi+ (London: John Murray, 1917.) Price Sos 21) ee Y, 1915, a Departmental Committee was up “to consider what steps could be promote the settlement and employment land in England and Wales of sailors and , whether disabled or otherwise.” Within nths Part i. of the report was published, a policy of closer land settlement by the of more small holdings and the carrying various minor reforms. Before Part ii. blished certain changes were made in the al of the committee, and a minority was drawn up by Messrs. the Hon. Edward No. 2470, VOL. 99] Strutt, Leslie Scott, and G. H. Roberts, who felt unable to sign the majority report. This minority report forms the subject of the present book. A considerable portion of the book is occupied by the preliminary section on the “policy of the plough,” by an anonymous author styling him- self “Free Trader,” who attempts to justify the establishment of a State policy towards agricul- ture. In the past, as he points out, cheapness was the main consideration. The only thing the country cared about was that its bread and meat should be cheap, and it was supposed to be immaterial whether the commodities were pro- duced here or elsewhere. And for a variety of reasons, which we need not now discuss, they tended more and more to be raised elsewhere, until the outbreak of war found us producing only . about half our total food, and only about one- fifth of the wheat we need. Had the submarine menace been really effective we must have been starved out. Thoughtful people of all political views are therefore asking what is being done to ensure ‘a stronger and better developed agri- culture. ‘ The minority do not consider that the recom- mendations of the majority report go far enough, and not being given to half-measures, they have evolved a scheme of their own. Their aim has not been to make farming more prosperous, but to make it more effective as a means of pro- ducing food and supporting a vigorous popuia- tion. Three conditions are laid down as being necessary to success. First, the level of prices must be put sufficiently high to make farming a safe and remunerative occupation for men and capital; secondly, the position of the labourer must ‘be improved as regards wages, housing, and the amenities of life; and, lastly, the land- owner must realise that he has a responsibility to the community. All this is, of course, entirely subversive of the old laissez-faire policy. “It is the duty of the nation,” say the authors, “to provide for its sailors and soldiers. It is to its interest that the rural population and our home output of food should be increased. We believe that the end of this war will afford an absolutely unique oppor- tunity of achieving these great ends.” An ade- quate wage, a good cottage, the attractions of a living community, and the chance of rising are necessary so far as the men are concerned, and must be provided by State action. No uniform wage is suggested, but the establishment is re- commended of district wage-boards, having power to see that wages do not fall below such a mini- mum standard as will enable the industrious man to keep himself and his family in physical health and efficiency. The chance of rising is to be provided by small holdings, which, however, will require to be on a sound basis. But this plan can only succeed if the farmer’s interest is made identical with that of the State; at present it is not. The farmer might meet the demands for higher wages as his predecessors did in the early ’eighties—by dismissing his men 4 NATURE [Marcu I, 1917 and laying the land down to grass. This, of course, would be disastrous. To avoid it, a guar- anteed minimum price of gos. to 42s. per quarter for wheat should be offered for the next ten years; in addition, a bonus of 21. should be given for each acre of grassland ploughed up. Pos- sibly an import duty would be needed to pay the cost of the guarantee, but the authors prefer not to discuss the details too minutely. The Board of Agriculture should take over several grass farms in different parts of the country and run them as demonstration farms, showing how best they may be broken up and converted into arable land. As minor reforms the authors suggest that some of the munition works should be turned on to produce agricultural machinery after the war, and that special attention should be devoted to the’ sugar-beet and potato industries, both of which are capable of considerable development. It is gratifying that agriculture is now receiv- ing so much attention, and one can only hope that something will emerge to give it direction and impetus. There is a growing tendency in favour of definite State action, and everything is gained by having the matter well discussed beforehand. OUR BOOKSHELF. Highways and Byways in Nottinghamshire. By J. B. Firth. ith illustrations by Frederick L. Griggs. Pp. xviiit+426. (London: Mac- millan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 6s. net. ALTHOUGH the county of Nottingham cannot perhaps claim.a place among the most picturesque of the English shires, it can nevertheless show many attractive landscapes, more especially in the valley of the Trent. and in the splendid rem- nant of the ancient forest of Sherwood. While mainly concerned with the towns and villages, the castles, abbeys, churches, and mansions of the county and the historical associations attached to them, Mr. Firth has done full justice to its physical features, and has produced what is cer- tainly one of the best books yet written on Nott- inghamshire. Perhaps the best chapters are those on the forest and parks of Sherwood, full of “the glamour of a romantic past and the charm of living im- memorial beauty. As a district of enchantment, of old oaks, of noble names, of great memories, of high romance, it has not its peer in England. The New Forest may vie with it in the beauty of its woodlands, but it has few associations to match those of Sherwood.” Sherwood Forest, moreover, is full of interest. to the naturalist, as might be expected in a region of primeval woodland; many of the constituents of its fauna are, indeed, peculiar to it. Such matters, however, would be out of place in a work of this kind, and as a matter of fact there is not a word in the book on the geology or natural history of the county, unless we, except the refer- ence to the Nottingham crocuses and the forest NO. 2470, VOL. 99] | flies of Sherwood. In describing the Nottingham meadows in spring as “ablaze with fairy gold,” Mr. Firth makes a curious slip, for the Notting- ham crocus is, of course, the purple-flowered species ! The book is profusely and beautifully illus- trated, and the large-scale maps will be invaluable to the explorer of the byways of Nottinghamshire. Index of Genera and Species referred to, and an Index to the Plates in “The Ibis” (seventh, eighth, and. ninth series), 1895-1912. Edited by William Lutley Sclater. Pp. 513. (British Ornithologists’ Union: sold by W. Wesley and Son, 1916.) Price 11. 12s. 6d. TuHOsE who study or refer to the more recent volumes of the Ibis will welcome the successful completion and issue of the third index of genera and species referred to, and an index to the plates. This covers the seventh, eighth, and ninth series, or eighteen volumes, and saves a tedious reference to a corresponding number of separate indexes. The two previous indexes, each cover- ing fifteen years, published in 1879 and 1897 respectively, contained 431 and 471 pages. The present volume contains 513. ‘This increase is chiefly caused by the adoption of the trinomial system of nomenclature, which necessitates three references to each bird mentioned under its generic, specific, and subspecific names respec- tively. The compilation of this great index was entrusted by the committee of the British Ornithologists’ Union to Mr. Henry Peavot and Mr. Thomas Wells, and they are to be con- gratulated upon the able manner in which they have carried out their laborious task. The general supervision of the work, as well as the reading of the proof-sheets, a toilsome and tedious business, was undertaken by Mr. W. L. Sclater, the editor of the Ibis. The list of plates occupies eleven pages, showing that the later series of the Ibis have been well illustrated, though the coloured portraits of species may be relatively fewer than in the earlier volumes. Macmillan’s Geographical Exercise Books. With Questions by B. C. Wallis. I. The British Isles. II. Europe. III. The British Empire. IV. The Americas. V. Asia and Australasia. Pp. 48 each. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) 7d. each. Keys, 2s. 6d. net each. Tue plan of these books is to enable pupils to learn geography by doing something for them- selves. Each left-hand page provides a clear out- line map—quarto size—either suitably contoured or showing political divisions, which the pupil i to fill up by answering carefully graded questions of a sensible kind, which are printed on the right- hand page. In the keys, intended for the us of the busy teacher, the maps are correctly fille in, and the questions are annotated where neces- sary with hints to the teacher on points he shoul emphasise and amplify when discussing the questions with his pupils. RCH I, 1917] NATURE 3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Editor does not hold himself responsible for ns expressed by his correspondents. Neither he un ke to return, or to correspond with writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for or any other part of Nature. No notice is 2 Of anonymous communications. | iat: British Optical Science. © following paragraph is taken from a report on al instruction in Technical Optics, published re- nder the auspices of the Board of Scientific ‘th need, which is urgent, is the supply of text-books dealing with those parts of Optics lich at present are greatly neglected in this country; includes practically the whole of Geometrical and a large part of Technical Optics. In our nm the quickest and most effective method of z with this requirement is by publishing transla- existing foreign books and abstracts of im- papers on the subject.” recommendation contained in the last part of act is admirable if carefully carried out, and to all substantial scientific literature, as to Geometrical Optics. But the reason t doubtless prompted only by our il habit of self-depreciation, is unwittingly a on On the numerous treatises on the subject, f them of high originality, and of Continental ute to judge from the references to them, that exist ihe English language. If the reason advanced had n that many of these treatises are weak on the nical side, which is important, not on account of entific principle, but solely or mainly through its mection with w practice, it would have the mark. It is in British optical manufacture, ‘in British University instruction and discovery, t there has been lack of appreciation,_until recent s, of what organisation, and co-operation between ry and oe, can do, and have done in other mtries. It isin the trade that we had fallen behind, ‘the usual reason that it is easy and profitable to J an agency for an efficient and pushing foreign anisation, but quite another matter to compete t. The works of Heath, Herman, C. S. gs, Schuster, R. W. Wood, and many others with Geometrical Optics (not to mention the edia articles of Lord Rayleigh and other ) do not seem to be in any way inferior to ental books, themselves not very numerous; as s the substantial number of recent works on thnical side of the subject by English and writers I am not much in a position to for the reason indicated above, but I see no to doubt their value. Nor, within my own sdge, is there any ignorance of the higher ment of Geometrical Optics in such a technical the Northampton Institute at Clerkenwell. , One may be pardoned for what otherwise seem an invidious remark, that in the vast ansion of optical science and practice during the ‘century this country has had more than its share. evolution of the oscope, the mightiest ern weapon of astronomical and ultimate physical th, has been effected mainly in England and mames such as Rayleigh, Rowiand, and son at Once occur to mind. For a long period struction of the great telescopes of the world British and Irish speciality; it has now gone to America because it is there that they are . One need only glance at the references in *s admirable book—itself an excerpt from a NO. 2470, VOL. 99] German Encyclopedia of Physics—to see that the treatment of aberrations was set on a scientific basis mainly by J. Herschel and Airy and Coddington. The early theoretical work of Roger Cotes and R. Smith was indeed largely anticipated in Holland by Huygens; but one can imagjne what a gap would, be made in the science if the Geometrical Optical work of Thomas Young, Sir W. Rowan Hamilton, and others named above, and more of comparable merit still happily in active production, were excluded. On the other hand, there is the old Munich school of Fraunhofer and Steinheil, with their theorist in aber- rations, von Seidel, of supreme rank, though now a thing of the past. But the great modern object-lesson is the scientific organisation and commercial success of the firm at Jena under the direction of Zeiss and Abbe, apparent mainly in the smaller optical appli- ances which are commercial articles. It has been due, as is well known, largely to their enterprise in making experimentally all the kinds of glass that had a chance of proving useful, and tabulating their optical qualities. But the very same problem was attacked in this country more than half a century ago by a solitary scientific worker—-the Rev. W. Vernon Har- court—and pursued for many years into practical re- sults with the unrivalled advisory collaboration of Sir George Stokes; and it is understood to be generally admitted that, with the aid of even a very small subsidy from public sources, their neglected labours would have solved the problem that in other hands has carried so much éclat. Nor should the public- spirited work of British glass-makers be forgotten, in our new-born and most praiseworthy zeal ; the improve- ments effected at Chance’s_ works at Birmingham under the direction of John Hopkinson are classical, and the inspiring energy of Sir David Gill promised just before his death fruitful dévelopments in the astronomical direction, both there and at Blackfriars. ; JosePH LaRMOR. Cambridge, February 17. The Bursting of Bubbles. THE interesting letter appearing under the above title in the issue of Nature for February 15 reminds me of a different, but equally simple, method of producing the same phenomenon, described in the Proceedings of the Physical Society, vol. xxvili., p. 59, 1915. There, in order to avoid obscuring the issue, the bubbles are said to discharge minute clouds of smoke; but, as often as not, smoke-rings like those described by Mr. Campbell Swinton and Miss Beale were obtained by Mr. Moss. In this method bubbles (of air) of any desired size can be used. These are filled with smoke by placing a wire, conveying a current of appropriate strength (easily determined by trial), above the end of the tube through which they enter the oil. A similar phenomenon is exhibited, very effectively, in a well- known experiment with phosphoretted hydrogen. S. W. J. Smoru. Imperial College of Science and Technology, February 16. Thermodynamics and Gravitation: A Suggestion. THE recent experiments of Dr. P. E. Shaw (Phil. Trans., ccxvi., 1916) seem to show that the “ gravita- tion constant’’ has a temperature coefficient. It is remarkable, too, that G seems to be only appreciably influenced by increasing the temperature of the larger attracting mass. The application of the principles of thermodynamics, while affording no explanation of gravitation itself, may offer an explanation of the temperature coefficient if it exists. One assumption only is required, namely, 6 NATURE [MaRcH I, 1917 4q that the approach of an attracted mass towards an attracting centre is accompanied by a rise in tem- perature, or, for the approach to be isothermal, heat must be taken away from the approaching mass. _ Let us suppose a mass m grams is attracted with a force F dynes by an attracting mass M grams at a distance r em. On an F,r diagram draw the Carnot cycle ABCD, AB and CD being isothermals at abso- lute temperatures @ and (#—86) respectively, BC and DA being adiabatic changes in the distance be- tween the attracting centres. Take the mass m round the cycle. Let the heat supplied along AB be m.8Q ergs, where 8Q is the heat required to keep the temperature of 1 gm. constant when the distance changes from r to r+ér, j By the second law of thermodynamics the work done in the cycle is m.6Q. ed ergs. The work is also given by the area ABCD, Ze. (SF) x 66 x dr ergs. ae 7 const, Hence m 80 -(S ): or, which means that . sh QW 6 m= 6 aa (1) Let the Newtonian law hold for isothermal changes in the distance between the attracting centres, then _ _2GMm 4 ay ree Also, if s is the specific heat of m in ergs we have for r constant » 3] eas. ) From (3) we get Q _ dr.00 From (1) we get 06\m ~ 8) or.00- ” 6 OF = Sf, whence F=m.7(r).Jog 6+ (7). Putting this in (2) gives m.f'(r) log 6+¢'(r)= — ct This requires that I'(r)=9, and ¢'(r)= es se Hence —_ f(r) =A and g(7)=GM™ 7, . : Mm which give FP=G—_+A.m. log 6, fs i.e. the greater the mass the temperature of which is raised, the greater the correction due to temperature. If the force of attraction between two masses at constant distance is F, when one of them is at a temperature of 6,, and F, when that same one is at 6,, then, other things being constant, we have F,—F\=A. m log &, F 1 where m is the mass the temperature of which is raised. Calculating A from Dr. Shaw’s results gives the approximate value of 1-4x 10-1. Poynting and Phillips (Proc. Roy. Soc., A76) used 208 grams attracted by the earth and the temperature was varied between NO. 2470, VOL. 99| —186° C. and +100° C. Hence the change in attracting force would be A. m.log S¢=1"4 x 10-# x 208 x log 978 dynes of f =4x1079, or a change of 1 in 5x10'*, which Poynting 2 Phillips could not possibly detect. ; GrorGE W. Topp, | Newcastle-upon-Tyne. y DESTRUCTIVE WILD BIRDS. * Sh of the evidences of the awakening in the public mind to the importance of the sub- ject of the status of wild birds in relation to agri culture, horticulture, forestry, and fisheries is the annual newspaper correspondence. The subject has been dealt with year by year in a large number of papers, from the Times to the local village weekly. Unfortunately the attitude assumed by the majority of the correspondents is one based largely upon want of knowledge and a misconception of the subject under discussion. Whilst one section of writers presupposes that the majority of wild birds are distinctly injurious and should be ruthlessly destroyed, the other re gards all birds as beneficial and advocates strin- gent measures for their protection. Suc extreme views are both wrong and retard ratl than aid a true understanding of a most com- plicated, but all-important, subject. fe At a time when it is almost imperative that um land should be made to produce its maximum yield, it is doubly important that any factor tha acts as a deterrent should be better understood and receive more than passing attention. The vexed question of the economic status of our wild birds is indeed a matter that calls for a very: thorough, exhaustive, and continued inquiry. From the first class of writers mentioned above one would conclude that little or no trustworthy evidence is forthcoming, and that we possess no exact knowledge of the feeding habits of any wild birds, the changes in feeding habits, their relation to the destruction and distribution of weeds, etc. Such, however, is far from the truth. ilst, unfortunately, we have no State department or organisation engaged upon an investigation of the subject, tabulating records and results year by year, and spreading the information thus obtained: amongst the people most interested, for more than thirty years there has been a small but enthu- siastic number of private workers whose cumu- lative work has provided us with a most valuable mass of facts and original observations, and, thanks to these workers, it is now ible to state definitely that at the present time there is ample evidence of a far-reaching kind to prove :— (i.) That no quarter should be shown to the wood-pigeon, which is one of the most destruc- tive birds with which the agriculturist is con- fronted, and that every means should be taken to destroy it. : (ii.) The results of an investigation carried out by the writer in 1907-8-9 upon the feeding: ; y Li NATURE 7 | CH I, 1917] ibits of war rook, supplemented by similar work Th .. Florence, and Hammond, clearly go ewe that this bird is far too plentiful at the ent time, that it prefers a grain diet, and it is injurious. iii.) In a like manner it has been shown that has increased in numbers enormously the last twelve years, and so long as numbers are maintained this bird must : a source of considerable loss to the mer. x) The bullfinch and the blackbird in fruit- re gy districts are most destructive, and cause 7 ise to growers. Both species demand measures for their reduction. . Purther instances might be quoted, but the be e will suffice to show that definite and indis- utable evidence can be obtained with reference ) the feeding habits of any particular species of “il d bird. If the results obtained in investigations of this a are to be of any practical value, the evidence st be thorough and overwhelming. Elsewhere * have set forth in detail the procedure that is 4 cessary in order to obtain this information, and thing short of the greatest thoroughness and cc racy can lay claim to thoughtful considera- "The statement is frequently made that notwith- a little harm that certain birds occasion- By do at particular seasons of the year, as a lass they are beneficial. If this be so, it seems > me most important that we should know which pecies are the culprits, the extent of the damage ; “loss they occasion, and the frequency with hich they occur throughout the country, in order hat so beneficial a class of animals should be d of their “black sheep,” and their fair repute emain impeccable. 4 eanctcly such a statement is only partly og ¢, and in the present state of our knowledge t cannot be denied or upheld upon practical V idence. This, at least, we do know: that many spe cies of wild birds are protected that are dis- ‘tly injurious, in consequence of which * hun- ireds of thousands of pounds’ worth of food is pal destroyed by them; that there are ny species of wild birds which are annually oyed in large numbers, and that the food of ese species has been proved to consist almost tirely of farm vermin, which latter exact an enormous toll upon the produce of the land; jally, that there are a number of species with ference to which we know comparatively very a : as regards the nature of their food and feed- habits, and before they can be said to be enef ial, injurious, or neutral, much more de- ed information i is required. _ At the present time farmers and fruit-growers hroughout the land are indiscriminately destroy- ng wild birds, so that a recent writer states: *Some of the very greatest friends that our nation _ are being destroyed without mercy. wit Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1917, xlii-, part r ; and more sues in NATURE, , 7s TIQ15-. NO. 2470, VOL. 99] fand the British Navy were threatened with destruction, a great cry would rise from the people, but only whispers are heard now and then about the slow destruction of a defensive force upon which most of our prosperity depends.” The hands of our legislators are tied, for, as I have elsewhere stated,? “the need of continued investigation upon a subject so intimately related to our food supply must be patent to even the most casual inquirer, for without a thoroughly reliable and extensive knowledge of the subject it is impossible to frame wise and beneficial laws relating thereto.” Hitherto the State has not thought the subject worthy of serious attention (if it has acted it has done so too late or inefficiently), but the exigencies of the present abnormal times may compel it to do so, and to rue that it has been so apathetic and neglectful of the subject in the past. WALTER E. COLLINGE, NEW ANTISEPTICS. ‘ia: hues the least important feature of the present war is the interest which has been con- centrated on the effective treatment of septic wounds. Attention has already been directed (Nature, February 10, 1916) to the use of the hypochlorite solutions of ‘Dakin and Lorraine Smith, and to that of chloramine-T of Dakin, Cohen, Daufresne, and Kenyon. These sub- stances, whilst they possess strong bactericidal properties, have little or no irritant or toxic action in antiseptic strength, and have in consequence found very general and successful application. The latest contribution to the subject, by Messrs. Browning, Kennaway, and Thornton, and Miss Gulbrausen, of the Bland-Sutton Institute of Pathology of the Middlesex Hospital, is embodied in a report to the Medical Research Committee. It was published in the British Medical Journal of January 20; and the daily papers have lately devoted attention to the subject. The defects of most antiseptics lie in the fact that, whilst they act chemically on proteins and so destroy bacteria, they also affect the serum, which has itself powerful antiseptic properties. This probably explains the large reduction in bactericidal action of most antiseptics in presence of serum. Furthermore, most antiseptics inhibit phagocytosis and so deprive the body of one of its most important weapons in combating local infection. An ideal antiseptic should therefore combine powerful bactericidal action along with the absence of deleterious effect on phagocytosis or on the nature of the serum. It should further be without irritant or toxic action, whilst stimulat- ing healthy granulation. Among the substances which the authors have examined are a number of triphenylmethane dyes (malachite green, brilliant green, crystal violet, and ethyl violet) and the yellow colouring matter 2 Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1917; xlii., part 1, - 8 NATURE [Marcu I, 1917 known as flavine or diaminomethylacridinium chloride. The latter was originally tried by Ehrlich on trypanosome infections, and was found to have a very marked therapeutic effect. The authors claim that whereas the bactericidal action of flavine is stimulated by the presence of serum (Staphylococcus aureus is killed in dilution of 1:20,000 in water, but in 1:200,000 in serum), its power of inhibiting phagocytosis is not high, a concentration of 1: 500, as compared with 1 : 625 for chloramine-T, 1: 13 for eusol, and 1:9 for Dakin’s solution, being required. For a true comparison, however, it is necessary to deter- mine the relation of the bactericidal action (i.e. the minimum strength of solution required to kill the bacteria) to the phagocytosis action (i.e. the strength of antiseptic required to reduce the number of leucocytes to half that of the pure serum control), and this ratio, which the authors call the therapeutic coefficient, is much higher than that given by any of the older antiseptics or the dyes referred to. The irritating effect was com- pared by placing three or four drops of the solu- tion on the conjunctiva (rabbit) for three minutes. Flavine produced no effect in a concentration of I: 200, mercuric chloride 1: 500, and chloramine- T 1:25. It thus appears that though flavine does not compare very favourably with chlor- amine-T in its irritant action, or with the absolute values of the hypochlorites in phagocytosis, its interest appears to lie in its exceptional bacteri- cidal properties, and more especially in the enhanced effect said to be produced by the presence of serum. The value of the antiseptic seems to centre round this fact, and it will be interesting to learn what special property attaches to flavine whereby it is able to destroy bacteria, whilst not only leaving untouched, but materially activating the antiseptic properties of serum. In summarising their results, the authors claim that flavine has been found to possess extremely powerful bactericidal and antiseptic properties, which are enhanced rather than diminished by admixture with serum; that in presence of serum flavine is the most potent bactericide of all those investigated for both Staphylococcus and B. colli, and it is equally efficient for the enterococcus and for anaerobes, such as B. oedematis maligni; that flavine, in relation to its bactericidal power, is very much less detrimental to the process of phagocytosis and less harmful to the tissues than the other substances; hence much higher effective concentrations can be employed without damag- ing the tissues or interfering with the natural defensive mechanisms. The clinical observations recorded by Dr. Ligat and others at the Middlesex NO. 2470, VOL. 99] fcc daily papers have given a full account of Hospital are very encouraging, and hold out the promise of an extended use of the new antiseptic. — It will now be necessary to find a means of oe ing the antiseptic at a reasonable cost. J. B.C. THE SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL STUDIES. the formal opening, on February 23, of © the new School of Oriental Studies in Fins- — bury Circus, and have reported Sir John © Hewett’s loyal address, the gracious reply — of his Majesty the King, and Lord Curzon’s © speech describing the objects and ambitions — of the school. A brief mention of an occasion © so historic seems to be called for even in ~ the pages of a scientific journal. We are in-— terested in all sound and scientific teaching, and — the teaching of Oriental languages may ultimately _ affect the progress of science in Asia and Africa. — It has been objected that the opening of a new — and expensive school, costing 14,000]. a year, — besides the expense of adding a fine block of class- © rooms to the old London Institution, was not very — consistent with the economies which war has im- — posed upon us. The answer to this objection is — easy and, indeed, obvious. The scheme to estab- — lish an Oriental school in London fitted to be a ~ rival of the famous schools in Berlin, Petrograd, — and Paris was set on foot ten years ago, and the ~ funds now expended were promised or given — before war broke out. Moreover, war has opened — our eyes to the necessity of making an effort to — compete vigorously with the activities—political, — commercial, and even scientific and linguistic—of — the Germans in Asia and Africa. We have dis- — covered that their industry was rarely disinter- — ested, and that political propaganda was too often at — the root of “peaceful penetration” in the field of — missionary, scientific, and linguistic effort. Even if that were not the case, it was a re- proach and a shame to us that our present — enemies had all but secured a monopoly in Oriental — learning. Our own Oriental scholars looked to — Berlin for recognition, instruction, and aid. — Many of them are justly proud of German ~ honorary degrees conferred upon them at a time — when Germans were admittedly at the head of © the Indianists of the world. They pursued and — rewarded not only the classical learning of the East, but the newer studies, ethnological and linguistic, which are scarcely known to our own universities. It was an Austrian priest, Pater Schmidt, who discovered that the speech of the Khasis in Assam, once supposed to be as unique and isolated as that of the Basques in Europe, in fact extends right across the Pacific Ocean to Easter Island. It was in Germany that all the best research was done, all the most learned periodicals printed. It was the Germans who inherited the tradition of Oriental learning set up by Sir William Jones. It was time that this monopoly should be contested. : It is to be hoped that the new school will act in concert with indigenous scholars in India. Maso i 1917 | NATURE 9 ' of these are endeavouring to make the - India languages fit vehicles for the im- z of scientific teaching. For example, the ‘Sahitya Parisat, a learned society in a utta, has for some fifteen years past been ompiling a vocabulary of chemical and botanical ‘minology in the vernacular. This is a task in LY: of Western scholars is plainly » lest there should be misunderstanding of effort. So is it also in the c eer comparative philology, in which native 3 — Ss are apt to ignore the acquisitions of Vestern epeesiip- _ Finall ane the King was happily inspired ; that the pupils of the school may he. “teachers of unselfish government civilised commerce.” Scholarship and science ld be disinterested, while commerce should be loyal and friendly exchange to the benefit of both fies to the transaction. It was, once more, e that the great City of London should recog- se that a sound and scientific knowledge of and African languages, literary and other, c: areca part of the extension of British zence in lands where our sole object is to wis athe social and physical condition of races sabia fallen behind our own standard of 0 4 t 1 Be gad of the school the King was accom- anied Queen and Princess Mary. On arriving it the their Majesties were received by Lord and a aoe nie and Sir John Hewett, chairman of the The ing ceremony took place in ea where Sir John Hewett, addressing the they took the King’s presence _as a sign that jesty was fully cognisant of the mmportance to 2 b Esepire of the study of Oriental and African lan- es and civilisations on a scale which Great Britain, one among great countries of the world interested n the East, had not hitherto regarded as necessary ; ind they had planned that the school should be at least qual to the Oriental schools in foreign capitals, and dequate to_ Imperial _ needs. a rh = Hing, in the course of his reply, said: “I am be the patron of the School of Oriental feet it gives me particular gratification to take ar es in the ceremony of opening this fine lilding in which the school is henceforth to carry 1 its work, “ I cannot sufficiently emphasise the wide scope and = t Pmeorcanive of that work. The school will afford h opportunities of study to those services which ave been the pioneer of progress and the instrument good government in India and Egypt. It will nish with a fuller technical equipment the pioneers Mf commerce and industry who in each successive meration undertake the duty of upholding the snoured fame of British trade in the East. Its work serve to develop the sympathy which already so pily exists between my subjects and those of my + Eastern aliy, Japan. But more than this is to looked for from the school. : pelt it happily succeeds in imparting to the pupils ent out as teachers of unselfish government and ivili sed commerce a clearer comprehension of the houghts and lives of the diverse races of the East, _ good effects of that success will extend far be- yond the immediate and tangible results. ature and the art of India are of unique interest NO. 2470, VOL. 99] The ancient | | l in the history of human endeavour. “I look to the school to quicken public interest in the intellectual tradition of that great continent and to promote and assist the labours of the students in these depart- ments of knowledge, to the mutual advantage of both countries.” After the termination of the proceedings their Majesties inspected the new school. They were accom- panied by the Lord Mayor, Lord and Lady Curzon, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, Sir’ John Hewett, Mr. P. J. ale and Dr. Denison Ross, the director of the schoo GEORGE MASSEE. M YCOLOGISTS in all parts of the world will learn with great regret of the death of Mr. G. Massee, which occurred at Sevenoaks, on February 17, after a brief illness. George Edward Massee was born at Scampston, in Yorkshire, about 1850, and at the age of ten wassentto school in York. He early showed a taste for drawing and natural history. At the York School of Art he gained the national medal for the year, and when about seventeen years old published a paper on woodpeckers in the Intellectual Observer. Later he studied botany. under Spruce, a relative of his mother. It was intended that he should follow his father’s steps as a farmer, but, always ready for adventure, he readily accepted Spruce’ s suggestion to visit the West Indies and South America. He travelled in both the eastern and western countries of that continent, and, in addition to making botanical collections, sent home livi ing plants in bulk. On his return Massee’s artistic talent became further manifest through the publication of his drawings in Spruce’s “Hepatice Amazonice’ et Andine.” He took up teaching and returned to the study of botany, specialising in fungi and plant diseases. He also got into touch with the late Dr. M. C. Cooke, and after working as a volunteer at Kew for some years he succeeded Cooke in 1893 as head of the Cryotogamic De- partment of the Herbarium, a post which he held until his retirement in 1915. Amongst his earlier volumes may be mentioned “ British F ungi, Phycomycetes and Ustilaginez ” (1891), and “A Monograph of the Myxogastres ” (1892). Between that year and 1895 four volumes of his “British Fungus Flora” were issued, the work remaining incomplete. The descriptions in this flora were detailed and comprehensive, and the book has proved indispensable to all British students. Massee’s serious pathological investigations began about 1895, and from that date until his retirement a continuous stream of contributions to this subject flowed from his pen. His “Text- book of Plant Diseases ” (1899), in whieh he made a wise selection from the best work of others, was . a really good and useful book, and had perhaps a higher reputation than any other. Its publica- tion marked a distinct epoch in the history of plant pathology in this country. In his larger work, “Diseases of Cultivated Plants and Trees ” (1910), many of the author’s own views, not always 10 NATURE [Marcu I, 1917 shared by others, are included. As a work of reference the later treatise is, however, unique and invaluable. In spite of his energies in the field of pathology, taxonomy still received atten- tion, as is testified by the volumes, “ European Agaricacee ” (1902), “British Fungi and Lichens ” (1911), and ‘British Mildews, Rusts, and Smuts ” (1913). Massee was a fellow of the Linnean Society from 1895 to'1915. He was elected an associate in 1916. In 1902 he received the Victoria Medal of Horticulture of the Royal Horticultural. Society. Massee’s talent as a systematist lay perhaps mostly in his genius for recognising the affinities of a fungus and his remarkable memory. He wrote fluently and forcibly, and being full of energy and industry, was therefore an extremely rapid worker. His artistic powers were quite exceptional, and his drawings, many of which were extraordinarily beautiful, were usually executed with astonishing rapidity. His power of recalling the precise appearance of individual specimens was so great that he could with the greatest ease portray from memory a whole series of Agarics or other fungi. As to detail he was impatient, his style being always bold and vivid. Massee was a remarkable personality. Quick, shrewd, and outspoken, he was misunderstood by some. Those who knew him well understood -and appreciated him, and mourn the loss of an old and valued friend. A, D.C. THE PROMOTION OF TECHNICAL OPTICS. Ss cas attention of all interested in the subject of technical optics, the importance of which we have emphasised repeatedly during the last few years, is directed to the subjoined valuable and interesting report, issued by the Board of Scientific Societies, having been approved by the Board on January 24. It will be recalled that the board was formed some time ago by the Royal Society after conferences with the learned and professional societies of the kingdom with the object of investigating scientific and technological problems arising out of the war. It is an addi- tional testimony to the importance of the subject that this should be the first formal report issued by the board. The committee upon whose labours the report is based was exceptionally well qualified to deal with its reference “to consider and report upon national instruction in technical optics.” It com- prised well-known representatives of the scientific, the industrial, and the educational aspects of optics, and included a high official of the Ministry of Munitions, which has had such good cause to realise thoroughly the disasters brought upon the nation by previous neglect. The report is, we think advisedly at this stage, not overburdened with details, but deals with the matter in hand on broad lines, both as to the necessity for immediate action and the direction NO. 2470, VOL. 99] that action should take, but we are pleased to note that the ‘committee is willing,” and, we assume, prepared, “ to give further advice with . matters connected with subjects — respect to. . referred to in the report.” | | F a The necessity for immediate action is empha- | sised in weighty sentences, especially in regard — to the numerous scientific and industrial interests — The report asserts that “the next involved. few years are the years which will determine the future of the [optical] industries of the country.” The actual recommendations for action are directed towards concentration and appear to focus on two points—the provision of the “man” and of the “home ”—though other matters of out-— The > standing importance are not overlooked. first point can be dealt with without any great | delay by the appointment of a “director,” as he > is provisionally termed, whose initial duty will be the organisation and direction of the whole of the teaching, and who, assisted by a qualified staff, should, from the start, be able to advise “the trade in any difficulties they may encounter” until “a sufficient supply of men thoroughly trained” can be evolved. But such an appointment involves an appointing body, and this the board proposes to set. up in the form of an independent “super- vising representative council,” which, although it . is sometimes referred to as an “‘advisory council,” — obviously must have executive powers and the © control of funds, and, presumably, would be a statutory body, although the report does not say sO. or governing body, as dependence would seem “to perpetuate what . . . should only be a transitional stage.” member of the staff or responsible to the govern- ing body of any existing institution, It is strongly advocated that the council — should be independent of any existing institution — Similarly, the director should not be a> One of the dangers which the board appears to anticipate in too close a connection with, say, the ~ Imperial College is the tendency to allocate all higher research to the favoured college. But higher research in any subject, and not least in such a subject as optics, grows naturally out — of opportunities and predilections in any suitable soil, and it would be a mistake to endeavour to confine it to any one college or institution, especially if the favoured place has already many wider and diverse interests tions. The recent history of research in this very subject illustrates the point. We need only refer to what has been accomplished by Prof. H. Jack- son at King’s College, London, by the University of Sheffield, and by the Glass Research Committee of the Institute of Chemistry... Such researches are essentially strongly individualistic and not made to order, whilst, for the organised research involved in the investigation of particular indus- in other direc-_ trial problems, there is the National Physical — Laboratory created for this very purpose. — The other point referred to above—the provision of a “home ”’—is regarded by the board as of vital _ importance, and to be proceeded with “as soon as the preliminary work of organisation permits.” ARCH I, 1917] NATURE II | a home, provided not only with lecture- s and laboratories, but also with meeting- es for societies, traders, and students, and ally with an adequate library, “would con- trate the efforts of all who are concerned with ‘manufacture or use of optical instruments.” have ourselves more than once advocated such roject, and it is to be hoped that those en- trusted with the administration of the large public funds which are, and will be, we hope, more in the future, devoted to similar objects, will not, as a scheme criticised in the report, take the line least apparent resistance and relegate the estab- shment of an optical institute to the dim and ant future. Such a course would be, we assert, simply disastrous. It may not be inop- rtune to recall that the establishment of such an titute received, only a few months ago, the rdial approval of the present Prime Minister, who was doubtless influenced by his experience as Minister of Munitions. _ Space does not permit us to dwell in detail on other valuable suggestions in the report, but there ‘is one of great importance which may be mentioned ‘in conclusion. We refer to the provision of suit- le optical text-books, the translation, in the first instance, of suitable foreign books, and to the abstracting of important publications on technical optics. — * - Nationa Instruction In TEcHNIcAL Optics.? SEVERAL attempts have been made during recent ears to provide systematic training in technical ‘optics, and a scheme prepared by the London County Council will be referred to in this report. But, before discussing the details of any proposals; it is advisable “to form a clear conception of the requirements of the optical trade, and of the organisation of the teaching adapted to promote the interests of that trade thout regard to existing conditions, which no doubt ill place some difficulties in the way of the imme- ate adoption of a thorough-going and satisfactory neme, ; _ It is necessary at the outset to emphasise one point which is of vital importance. If a perfect ganisation for instruction and research in optics d instantaneously be called into being, some years ould necessarily elapse before the trade would appre- bly benefit by it, because that trade requires above erything a sufficient supply of men_ thoroughly ained jin the scientific principles underlying the Oper construction of optical appliances. Such men @ not obtainable at the present moment; they will we to be trained, and this requires time. But the ext few years are the years which will determine the future of the industries of the country. To avoid delay which might prove fatal, it is essential that Ovision should be made at once to give the trade ch assistance and advice as will ultimately be sup- ed by the body of trained men which, it is hoped, be available in a few years. : This leads us to our first recommendation. What- er scheme be adopted, it is essential that it should clude the appointment of a highly qualified scientific man, who will be charged with the organisation and direction of the whole of the teaching. This man, to hom we shall refer as the ‘director ’’—whatever | Report approved by the Board of Scientific Societies of a Sub-Com” ‘consisting of Mr. Conrad Beck, Mr. F. J. Cheshire, Mr. E. 2 ade! oe Magnus, Prof...H. Jackson, and Prof. A..Schuster disc ~6pes er NO. 2470, VOL. 99] | | title he may subsequently receive—ought to be ap- pointed at once. Among the duties dg gos lage to him in the preliminary period should that of advising the trade in any difficulties they may en- counter. A sufficient staff should be assigned to him for the purpose. The director should not be attached exclusively to any of the existing institutions. A further need, which is urgent, is the supply of standard text-books dealing with those parts of optics which at present are greatly neglected in this country; this includes practically the whole of geo- metrical optics and a large part of technical optics. In our opinion, the quickest and most effective manner of dealing with this requirement is by pub- lishing translations of existing foreign books and abstracts of important papers on the subject. In defining the range of teaching to be provided, and forming an estimate of the number and type of the students who may avail themselves of the oppor- tunities offered, we must keep in mind that the use of a knowledge of optics is not confined to those in- tending to enter the optical trade. The Army, the Navy, the Patent Office, and other Government depart- ments employ optical experts. We are informed that the Royal Naval College habitually sends some of its ablest young officers to an optical firm, to be- in- structed in the principles and designs of range-finders, gun-sights, and other optical instruments. Medical men, bacteriologists, surveyors, and nautical men would also, in many cases, welcome instruction in special branches of optics. We may here refer to the School of Economics, an institution mainly devoted, as its name implies, to a highly specialised branch of knowledge, which derives its practical importance from its connection with matters affecting the welfare of the country. In these respects, it presents a cer- tain analogy with the proposed school of optics. Ex- perience in this case shows that the instruction given has attracted, from much wider circles than was originally contemplated, students desirino instruction in special departments of economics. It is, therefore, well not to take too narrow a view, but to look upon the practical application of optics as being one of the many points of contact between the industries and pure science. Any advante in its study will hence react beneficially on the advance of the science on which it is based. We therefore look forward to the establishment of an optical institute which would concentrate the efforts of all who are concerned with the manufacture or use of optical instruments. It would bring to- gether the several optical societies, which might find a home within its building; it would be the centre for the co-operation of the trade with students and teachers; it should contain a library with periodicals and books on optics. The general direction of the courses of study should —as is the case in the scheme of the London County Council—be vested in an Advisory Council on which the trade, as well as the optical and learned societies, is represented. It has already been insisted upon that there should be a principal or director who is highly qualified on both the theoretical and the practical side, and who would be responsible to the Advisory Council. Full courses of instruction, in both day and | evening classes, will be required. The day depart- ments would consist mainly of youths between the ages of fifteen and twenty, who would receive general and technical instruction, including’ mathematics, physics, chemistry, and practical optical work. ; The evening work would be adapted to the require- ments— . (1) Of students engaged in the trade during the daytime; — (2) Of advanced students, some of whom would have 12 NATURE [Marcu I, 1917 graduated in science, and would be preparing to occupy the position of managers in optical works; (3) Of other persons interested in learning the scien- tific construction or use of optical instruments. Provision should be made for research work not requiring a highly specialised or expensive plant. Special investigations might be referred to the National Physical Laboratory, or any other laboratory suitable for the purpose. It is also worth considering whether a good journal or paper should not be published, devoted to scientific instruments and other matters concerned with optics. We are aware of the difficulties which stand in the way of putting into immediate operation a scheme which would satisfy in a comprehensive manner all the abové conditions. It will therefore be necessary to contemplate a transitional period leading up to what we ultimately hope to obtain. In considering the provisional arrangements, regard must be had to the fact that already some very good work in the training of operatives of different classes is being done at the Northampton Polytechnic Insti- tute, where a certain amount of modern machinery and apparatus has been provided, and young men and women are receiving useful training, the value of which has been recognised by the Government. We may also direct attention to the valuable research work being carried out in King’s College, London, under the Glass Research Committee of the Institute of Chemistry. The instruction given at the Northamp- ton Institute should, however, at once be _ supple- mented by more advanced teaching in some convenient institution of university rank. Stress has already been laid on the immediate appointment of a principal or director, and there is.no reason for delaying the formation of the Advisory Council. So soon as the preliminary work of organisation permits, plans should be prepared for a new building, which, in our opinion, is essential. The scheme of the London County Council repre- sents a carefully considered attempt to utilise and extend the teaching given in existing institutions, and to reconcile conflicting interests. Its object is, there- fore, the same as that which we contemplate in the transitional period, and in its main features it seems to differ little from our proposals. It is not with the object of making any captious criticism, but merely to prevent possible misunderstanding, that we desire to point out what seem to us to be serious defects in the details of the scheme. It is provided that the Imperial College of Science should institute a separate Department of Technical Optics, with a heai who is also to exercise some un- defined powers of general supervision over the whole scheme. Being a member of the staff of the Imperial College, he would presumably be appointed by the governing body of that institution, and primarily be responsible to it. He would have at the same time powers over the course of instruction at another insti- tution that had no voice in his appointment. His relationship to the Advisory Council is not defined, and the proposal in its present form does not seem to us to be conducive to harmonious working. It also seems to perpetuate what, in our opinion, should only be a transitional stage. Our own proposal contem- plates that the appointment of the Director of Studies should be primarily vested in whatever body is con- stituted as the main governing body. Another fundamental defect of the scheme is implied in the wording defining the distribution of the work between the Imperial College and the Northampton Institute. Stress appears to be laid on post-graduate work conducted at the Imperial College, and research work is confined to that institution. If it be meant that NO. 2470, VOL. 99| the normal course of instruction should begin with a. degree course in pure science, and the higher technical. teaching should only begin after such a course is completed, we must express our dissent from that view. There may be some cases, no doubt, where a graduate in science will turn his mind towards tech- nical optics, and provision should be made for him; but the centre of gravity of the institution must be a course extending over two or three years, in which teaching in science is, ab initio, directed towards the necessities of its optical applications. As regards re- search work, the teachers in any institution which may be built. or during the transitional period at the Northampton Institute, should be of sufficient stand-- 2 ing to be able to conduct research work, and though no expensive or elaborate plant need be supplied, and such research work need not form a prominent part of the activity of the institute, it is not advisable to lay down any hard-and-fast lines as to where researches are to be carried out. Special investigations, as has already been said, will probably be largely concen- trated at the National Physical Laboratory, but they also should not necessarily be confined to any one place. : In conclusion, we which appear to us to require immediate attention :— (1) The appointment of a supervising representative council. Tat (2) The appointment, under the proposed supervis- ing council, of an administrating director, with duties during the transitional period, which will in- clude advice to the trade and the organisation of the different parts of the curriculum. rye ay (3) The translation of suitable works and the ab- stracting of other important publications on technical optics. ‘a (4) Pending the erection of a suitable building, the organisation of day and evening courses at the North- ampton Institute, and arrangements for higher in- struction at some other institution of university rank. The term ‘technical optics” throughout the report is intended to include the chemical composition and manufacture of glass. : The committee is willing to give further advice with respect to the selection of books for translating or abstracting, and any other matters connected with subjects referred to in the report. NOTES. WE notice with much regret the announcement of the death, -at seventy-four years of age, of Prof. J. G. Darboux, permanent secretary of the Paris Academy of Sciences,professor of higher geometry at the Sorbonne, and a foreign member of the Royal Society. Tue following fifteen candidates have been selected by the council of the Royal Society to be recommended for election into the society: Dr. J. H. Ashworth, Mr. L. Bairstow, Prof. G. A. J. Cole, Mr. C. F. Cross, Dr. H. D. Dakin, Prof. A. S. Eve, Prof. H-. Jackson, Prof. J. S. Macdonald, Prof. J. W. Nicholson, Dr. R. H. Pickard, Mr. C. T. Regan, Dr. R. Robert- son, Dr. E. J. Russell, Mr. S. G. Shattock, and Prof. F. E. Weiss. Tue Times announces the death, on February 24, of Prof. Jules Courmont, professor of hygiene and deputy doyen of Lyons University. Mr. W. H. H. Jessop, senior ophthalmic surgeon to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and president of the Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom, died on February 16 at the age of sixty-four. In 1885, soon may sum up the requirements : Maxcu 1, 1917] ated the action of this drug upon the eye. He ed himself chiefly to the clinical side of his ject, and with t success. He was a member several foreign ophthalmological societies and a ant visitor to international congresses. In this _ became well known amongst Continental s, and they were always made wel- as: he guests. At the time of his death he was d upon two very important projects. The C ion of a really representative British Journal 0] Ophthalmology has already been successfully accom- plished a actly as the result of his energy and _en- m. He was also actively promoting the affilia- certain provincial ophthalmic societies with the on Society. Mr. Jessop was a lover of the arts, his collection of Whistler prints is unique. J ‘the death, | jn his. Ses aaiteth year, of Dr. J. F. eet, India has lost one of the most learned members the Civil Service. At an early period of his career the Bombay Presidency he acquired a profound dge of Sanskrit and of the local dialects, par- y of the ancient Kanarese. His most important — in 1888, was vol. iii. of the ‘‘ Corpus indicarum,.” in which, for the first ithe. aeeucaleg’ of the Gupta period, one of the st difficult problems in the history of ancient India, - settled. Besides numerous papers in journals, he contributed the article on epi- to the last edition of the “‘ Imperial Gazetteer Ir ria ,’ and those on ‘‘Hindu Chronology” and Indian Inscriptions * to the eleventh edition of the “Encyclopedia Britannica." He also engaged in the froversy, not yet finally settled, on the date of the Kanishka. the death of Mr. R. H. Tiddeman_ on 20, we have lost a field geologist of long ce and rare sagacity. Born on February 11, he was appointed by Sir R:—Murchison an fant Mogist on the Geological Survey of the in 1864. He was promoted to ist in 1870, and retired in 1902. For more than nty Tiddeman was engaged in surveying Caihenitecous rocks of Westmorland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and during this period he made. the ations which enabled him to lay before the reological Society in 1872 a classic paper of far- g consequence on the evidence for an ice-sheet ‘those counties. Later on he was temporarily raged in North Wales, where he determined the boniferous age of some red rocks in the Vale of Clwyd, which had previously been regarded as Trias. From 1895 until his retirement he assisted in survey- the southern part of Glamorganshire. He was thor of the Geological Survey memoir on the water- ply of Oxfordshire, a task for which his residence Oxford after his retirement proved convenient, and A editor and in part author of the memoir on the nley coalfield. "Contrihations were furnished by : to. upwards of nine other memoirs dealing with ' north-west of England and North and South In his unofficial work his investigations in } Victoria Cave, and his philosophic work on reef- ols and succession of episodes in the Carboniferous stone, take first place. His views on the relative ‘of the deposits of the Victoria Cave and the ulder Clay were long in receiving the appreciation = to them. In 1911, partly in consideration of his long record of useful work, but especially in recog- “Rition of his observations on the fauna and structures f reef-knolls, he was awarded the Murchison medal. was elected president of the Yorkshire Geological ciety in 1914, and served on the council of the NO. 2470, VOL. 99] cS. | Victoria, NATURE 13 the introduction of cocaine by Koller, he in- | Geological Society of London in 1905-10. He leaves a widow and two daughters. THE Minister of Munitions, after consultation with the Admiralty and the Home Office, has appointed two committees—an owners’ committee and a work- men’s committee—to deal with certain problems con- nected with the Scottish shale industry. Prof. John Cadman will represent the Ministry, and will act as chairman of the two committees when they meet in joint session. Sir George Beilby has been appointed to act as technical adviser, and Mr. Hugh Johnstone will be a member of the committee and act as secre- tary. THE annual general meeting of the Institute of Metals is to be held on Wednesday, March 21, and Thursday, March 22, in the rooms of the Chemical Society. The meeting on the Wednesday will com- mence at 8 p.m. and that on Thursday at 4.30 p.m. A special feature of the meeting will be a general discussion on metal melting, over which the president of the institute, Sir George Beilby, the head of the new Government Board of Fuel Research, will preside. The seventh annual May lecture of the institute will be given at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster, on May 3, at 8.30 p.m., by Prof. W. E. Dalby, on “ Researches made Possible by the Autographic Load-Extension Optical Indicator.” An important programme of mining development is being undertaken by the Duchy of Cornwall, the principal object being the recovery of wolfram. This mineral is at present in great demand for the pro- duction of tungsten, a metal which constitutes from 18 to 20 per cent. of the modern high-speed cutting tool. The scene of the operations is on the extreme eastern edge of Cornwall, a few miles to the west of Tavistock, and the work on which the Duchy is engaged falls into three parts. The first is at Kit Hill, which forms the westerly part of Hingston Down, and rises nearly r1oo ft. above sea-level. Here a cutting is being driven north and south across the surface of the hill. For the greater part of the course it runs through granite, and in this section it has cut through a number of promising lodes of wolfram and tin. These lodes, which run roughly east and west, are vertical, and contain a varying number of veins of mineral. The largest disclosed so far is about 20 ft. wide. The second area on which the Duchy authorities are working is further east on Hingston Down. At the Plantation shaft a consider- able quantity of wolfram has been blocked out, and work is to be pressed forward vigorously. The third part of the enterprise is represented by the mine and ore-dressing works at Gunnislake Clitters, situated on a steep bank beside the river Tamar, a mile or so from the Hingston Down Mines. Work will be resumed on the mine in due course, but at present attention is being paid to the remodelling of the mill, which stopped work in 1909, being idle until recently, and consequently deteriorated. Tue extent to which aluminium, which thirty years ago was merely a scientific curiosity, has become a | war metal of the first importance is well illustrated by a recent order made by the Minister of Munitions under the Defence of the Realm Acts and the Munitions Acts, requiring that all persons shall in the first seven days of each month, beginning in March, send in to the Director of Materials, Hotel S.W., monthly returns of all aluminium (a) held by them in stock or otherwise under their control on the last day of the preceding month; (b) purchased or sold by them for future deliverv and not yet delivered on) such last day; (c) delivered to 14 NATURE [Marcu I, 1917. | them during the preceding month; (d) scrap or swarf produced by them. No return, however, is required from any person whose total stock of aluminium in hand, and on order for future delivery to him, has not at any time during the preceding month exceeded 56 lb. The variety of uses in which aluminium now finds application is shown by the fact that for the purpose of the order the expression includes ingots, notched bars, slabs, billets, bars, rods, tubes, wire, strand, cable, plates, sheets, circles, and strip. The Air Service claims in one way or another at the present time the bulk of the aluminium production. It is in- teresting to note, as a temporary phase of the disturb- ances caused by the war, that a number of aluminium transmission lines were taken down in the latter part of 1915 and replaced by copper. Mr. G. F. Hitt contributes to vol. xxxvi., part ii., of the Journal of the Hellenic Society, 1916, an elaborate paper on Apollo and St. Michael, He finds a parallelism between them, as destroyers of an evil principle, as light controlling darkness, as the controlling agency of plague. Incidentally, he pro- tests against the common view that the worship of saints is always a mere relic of paganism. ‘There is no doubt that the medieval or modern worship is often engrafted on an old pagan stock, and the choice of the stock may have been assisted by some likeness of name or other association. ‘‘ But the fact that we must not lose sight of is that, even had the pagan worship never existed, medieval Christianity was per- fectly capable of inventing its own cults and legends.” Tue Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society is doing excellent work in examining the manners. and customs of the forest tribes of the province. In vol. ii., part iii., the Santals, with their peculiar marriage customs, receive special attention. Among them, according to the Rev. P. O. Bodding, **the original, and even now theoretically accepted, idea of woman seems to be that she is a kind of irresponsible and untrustworthy being, a necessary and useful, but somewhat inferior, member of human society.”” The Birhors, according to Mr. Sarat Chandra Roy, have an elaborate totemistic system, one peculiar feature of which is the belief in the magical power of certain clans over wind and rain. But the tribe is not at the present day organised, like the Arunta, as a co- operative supply association, composed of groups of magicians, each group charged with the management of particular departments of Nature. Birhor totemism has little influence on the growth of their religion, but its. most noteworthy feature appears to be the belief in the vital connection between the human clan, their totem, the hill which is reputea to have been their original home, and the presiding spirit of this hill, Tue Annals of Tropical. Medicine and Parasitology for February (vol. x., No. 4) contains two lengthy papers on intestinal protozoa. The first, by Messrs. Malins Smith and Matthews, deals with these organ- isms in 250 non-dysenteric cases, of whom twenty were found to be carriers of the dysenteric amceba. The second, by the same observers, together with Mr. H. F. Carter and Dr. Doris Mackinnon, discusses the protozoal findings in o10 cases of dysentery examined at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medi- ‘cine, of whom 410 were found to have protozoal infec- tions. Of these, ninety-four were infected with the dysentery amoeba, 231 with the non-pathogenic Ent- amoeba coli, and 207 with other protozoa, In some of the cases double and triple infections existed. Mr. E. E. Lowe, the hon. secretary of the Museums Association, has for some time past been endeavour- ing to induce glass manufacturers in this country to NO. 2470, VOL. 99] cultivation, and adherence to obsolete methods of take up the production of rectangular glass jars, such as are used in museums and other scientific institu-— tions, since these have hitherto been made in Ger- — many, ‘The results of his labours in this good cause, — which have been by no means light, he gives in the — Museums. Journal for February. Messrs. Baird and Tatlock alone have responded to the invitation ‘to — supply our needs in this direction. This they have — been induced to do as the result of undertakings — secured by Mr. Lowe from institutions in this country, — India, and America. France, South Africa, and Aus- tralia will also, it seems, be glad to turn to this country for their needs in this regard, so that the demand for jars of this description should justify the — initial outlay in the matter of making the moulds, the © high cost of which has served as a deterrent with other manufacturers. To save this trade from falling again into the hands of the Germans it is to be hoped that all institutions using these jars will, as soon as possible, place orders with Messrs. Baird and Tatlock to encourage them in their venture. In a pamphlet entitled ‘‘The High Price of Sugar and How to Reduce It’? (London: Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd.; 1s, net) Mr. Hamel Smith, editor of Tropical Life, directs attention to one of the results of our failure to think out and put into operation in normal times an Imperial scheme for providing necessary supplies of food. There was perhaps some excuse for our failure to encourage the production of corn and meat in this country, but there was none for our neglect to stimulate the production of such materials as sugar in our tropical possessions before the war. The fact of our dependence on foreign countries for sugar was noto- rious long before the war, yet practically nothing was done, nor apparently is anything of great importance — being now done, to alter this state of things. Almost | everywhere throughout the Empire where sugar is grown the yields are low, the chief causes being failure to grow the best canes available, neglect of intensive manufacture. Perhaps the most notorious case is that of India, which, with 2,500,000 acres under sugar- cane, is able to produce only 2,600,000 tons of inferior cane-sugar, an average production of about one ton per acre, against a_vroduction of about four tons per | acre in Java and nine tons per acre in Hawaii. Mr. | Smith’s proposals briefly are that the improvement of cane cultivation and of sugar-cane manufacture should receive immediate attention from the Imperial, Colo- nial, and Indian Governments, and he shows that we could without difficulty produce within the Empire all the sugar we require and have a considerable surplus for export. c In a paper published by the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology (Bulletin No. 14) Dr. Griffith Taylor makes a contribution on somewhat novel lines to the much-debated question of acclimatisation. The paper, which is entitled ‘‘The Control of Settlement by Humidity and Temperature,’’ discusses the limits of comfortable settlement for the white races. This, Dr. Taylor maintains, is decided mainly by the humidity and wet-bulb temperature. Other elements are rain- fall and wind velocity, but as the present in- vestigation " deals with colonisation from the point of view of comfort rather than from that of wealth, the influence of rainfall has been omitted. Dr. Taylor has drawn a graph with the twelve monthly means of wet-bulb temperatures and relative humidity at a given place plotted as a twelve-sided polygon, with wet-bulb ordinates and humidity abscissz. This he terms a climograph. In height and area the climograph shows the range of [ARCH I, 1917| NATURE 15 ature. In order to find the typical white climo- the author takes five towns in the southern, and in the northern, hemisphere, where white energy rs at its highest development. The resulting he uses as a criterion in all the climograph He then takes Herbertson’s natural region draws a typical climograph for each, which in case is compared with the white climograph. g the results more particularly to Australia, ‘aylor confirms the generally accepted opinion the hinterlands of tropical Australia can develop mn pa lines, and that the coast lands of the are useless for white settlement. The paper is iable scientific reply to the advocates of a white aT" 4 AUS . MAVEORDLOGICAL information of a varied character is given in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal logical Society for January. Among the srs communicated are “A Meteorologist in ~ by C. E. P. Brooks; ‘ Discontinuities steorological Phenomena,” by Prof. H. H. ; and a lucid communication by Sir Napier director of the Meteorological Office, - on Meteorology for Schools and Colleges”; also a ‘communication on “The Measurement of Rainfall luration,”” by Carle Salter, assistant-director, British Rainfall Organisation. Records from self-recording _ gauges for fifty-eight stations scattered over the _ United Kingdom are as yet obtainable. Many of the _ records are for a short period, for a year or two only, -and the recording gauges are of various patierns. The author acknowledges that many difficulties have - to be contended with and he hints that possibly a _ standard type of recording instrument may eventually have to be insisted on, in the same way as in official _ sunshine returns. Mr. Salter has done good work in dealing with the method and preliminary difficulties enc . A discussion on ae — of “Clouds,” by Capt. C. J. P. Cave,-R.E., is of con- siderable ‘date The ae is illustrated with beau- tiful photographs of the forms of cloud, and the author oa the different forms, and combats freely the _ forms es by many earlier writers on the sub- ject. uch information is given on the different of air and the measurements of the heights _ of clouds. This cloud paper is in many ways sug- _ gestive to the would-be observer. __WeE have received from Messrs. Flatters and Garnett, Ltd., Oxford Road, Manchester, a specimen their cedarwood oii for use with oil-immersion microscopic objectives. As the result of tests we find that the oil is of good consistence and colour, does not become cloudy in cold weather, and has a high refractive index. The refractive index is stated to be “510, but that of the specimen sent to us was well above this, viz. 1-518. Immersion oil has hitherto been supplied from the Continent, and we are glad to direct attention to this British-made oil, which seems to fulfil every requirement. It is supplied in bottles at from 9d. to 4s. each, or in bulk. eae 5 _ Tue sixth part of vol. v. of the Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa contains a paper by Prof. J. C. Beattie, of Cape Town, in which are _ embodied the whole of the determinations of the devia- _ tion of the compass from.true north and of the mag- _ netic dip at 667 stations in South Africa. The two _ large maps show that the lines of equal deviation run across the country from north-west to south-east, the _ greatest deviation—27° to the west—occurring at the ' south-westérn corner of the country near Cape Town, and the least—14° west—at Beira. The lines of equal NO. 2470, VOL. 99| dip run from south-west to north-east in the south- eastern portion of the country, and show a tendency to run more nearly east and west in the northern dis- tricts. The dip is nearly 63° south in the south-east near East London, and diminishes to 52° south in the neighbourhood of the Victoria Falls in lat. 18° south. During the last ten years the deviation to the west has decreased a degree and a half to two de- grees, while the dip has increased by a degree or a degree and a half. Pror. MacMILLAN Brown, in a recent number of the Press of New Zealand, discusses the appearance and disappearance of islands amid the western insular fringe of the Pacific. He recognises two curves of vulecanism, an outer, extending from the Aleutian Islands to Malay and New Zealand, and an inner, passing through the Marianne, Caroline, Gilbert, Ellice, Samoa, Tahiti, and Paumotu archipelagos to Easter Island. The outer curve lies off the enclosing continental shelf of the ocean, while the inner curve is parallel with the trend of the ancient continental shelf. The ‘‘main longitudinal crescent of vulcan- ism.’’ has shifted from the inner to the outer curve, and with this shifting much archipelagic land between the two curves has disappeared. The main interest of the theory lies in the suggestion that this shifting has taken place in human times. The elevation of Rota in the N. Mariannes is dated to the Japanese Bronze age, 4000 years ago, by bronze bosses in the elevated coral. Ocean Island has risen and sunk several times, and in a previous elevation was in- habited by Polynesians, who made the regular Maori ovens... Ponape is supposed to have been a central point in a large archipelago with a great population. A considerable forest area with a dense population is required to account for the megaliths of Easter Island. In any case, those who speculate on migration routes must not assume as their basis the same areas and distribution of land in the Western Pacific as now exists. Prof. Brown, if the subsidence theory of atoll. formation (which he assumes to be the only applicable- theory) is applicable to the Western Pacific, must find much further and more direct evidence of those great- archipelagos which he postulates as existing such a short time ago in what are now deep oceans with- comparatively level beds. Existing coral formations: do not point to the former existence of great islands. The animals and plants of still existing high lands should be more varied in genera and species if such- lands were formerly parts of considerable archi-. pelagos. TuE new technical journal, Air, does not appear to- be a great innovation, judging from No. 3, which is in our hands. There is, however, in this number, one interesting article by Mr. E. A. Sperry, on “ Aerial Navigation over Water,” which describes very- clearly and simply the methods which are in use for measuring the wind-drift of an aeroplane moving over the earth, and the various ways in which the- pilot can obtain information as to his actual direc- tion of flight relative to the earth. The construction and use of the drift indicator are explained; and the way in which the direction and velocity of motion of wave crests, and their distance from crest to crest, can be used to afford information as to the flicht path is clearly dealt with. Arother article, on “The Fundamental Equations of an Aeroplane,” succeeds, after three pages of involved argument, in arriving at a simple aerodynamic conclusion which could be stated in as many lines. The reasoning reads as if the main object had been to make an exceedingly simple argument look as complicated as possible. 16 NATURE [MaRcH I, I917 Tue youthful Society of Glass Technology has begun its career with every indication of a vigorous and useful future. At the meeting on January 18, held at Leeds, two papers were read on the subject of British glass sands. The first, by Dr. P. G. H. Boswell, on ‘British Sands: their Location and Characteristics,’? dealt with the chemical, mechanical, and mineral analysis of sands. The author stated that the analysis of British sands had proved their value. The proof of the pudding, however, is in the eating, and Mr. C. J. Peddle, in the second paper, ‘British Glass Sands: the Substitution of Foreign Sands by British Sands for High-grade Glass-making,” demonstrated by actual melts made from native sands what could be done with the material. A good glass sand should attain the requisite degree of purity; it should be evenly graded, and the grains should be angular; consignments should not vary in character and should be ready for use when they reach the’ manufacturer. The author pointed out that all these essentials are fulfilled by Fontainebleau sand, but not all by British sand as at present supplied. That some British sands compare favourably with those of Fontainebleau as regards purity and grading has been established by the author, whose results in general were in agree- ment with those of Dr. Boswell: Much depends upon the treatment of the sand for the market. Excellent results were obtainable with properly prepared British sands, as was shown by the samples of glasses made from them, some of which could not be distinguished from similar melts made from Fontainebleau sand. The question of transport charges is one which closely affects the home sand industry ; in the past, on account of through rates for carriage, foreign sands have fre- quently been delivered at the works at a lower cost than it was possible to supply the British material. WE have received from the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co., Ltd., a new list of their resistance pyrometers for indicating or recording temperatures from —200° to 1200° C. They all depend on the platinum thermometer, of which four types suitable for different purposes are figured and described. The temperature is shown either on a Whipple indicator or on a Callendar recorder.. A sample chart shows a continuous record of the temperature of a hot blast in an ironworks during twenty-five hours. The in- formation given is sufficient to enable anyone with an elementary knowledge of electricity to set up and understand the working of the instruments. Messrs. Henry Hott anp Co, (New York) are pub- lishing very shortly new and revised editions of Prof. A. L. Kimball’s ‘‘ College .Text-book of Physics ”’ and Prof. Martin’s ‘“‘ The Human Body: Advanced Course.” THE new list of announcements of Messrs. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (New York) (London: Messrs, Chap- man and Hall, Ltd.) includes: “The Sun’s Radiation and other Solar Phenomena,” F. H. Bigelow; “‘In- terior Wiring and Systems for Electric Light and Power Service,” A. L. Cook; “Irrigation Works Con- structed by the United States Government,” A. P. ‘Davis; ‘“‘ Bio-Chemical Catalysts,” J. Effront {being ‘vol. ii, of “‘Enzymes and their Applications”), trans- lated by Prof. S. C. Prescott; ‘* Microscopic Examina- tion of Steel,” Prof. H. Fay; “Fats and Fatty De- generation,” Prof. M. H. Fischer and Dr. M. O. Hooper ; “‘ Agricultural Chemistry,” Prof. T, E. Keitt; “The Essentials of American Timber Law,” J. P. Kinney; “Elements of Hvdrology,” Prof. A. F. Meyer; *‘ A German-English Dictionary for Chemists,” Dr. A. M. Patterson; ‘‘ Mechanical Equipment of Buildings "—part ii., ‘Power Plants and Refrigera- tion,” L. A. Harding and Prof. A, €. Willard; “Printing: A Text-book for Printers, Apprentices, NO. 2470, VOL. 99] Continuation Classes in Printing, and General Use in Schools and Colleges,” F. S. Henry; ‘t The Efficient Purchase and Utilization of Mine Supplies,’ H. N. — Stronck and J. R. Billyard; ‘Stresses in Structural Steel Angles,” Prof. L. A. Waterbury; ‘Sanitation Practically Applied,’ H. B. Wood; and ‘“ French Forests and Forestry,’’ T. S. Woolsey, jun. Tue classified list of second-hand instruments for | : sale or hire, just received from Messrs. C. Baker 244 High Holborn, London, includes particulars of hundreds of microscopes, surveying and drawing in- struments, telescopes, spectroscopes, optical lanterns, and other apparatus and accessories. ‘The list is well arranged, and should be of real service to intending purchasers of second-hand optical instruments. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. — DETERMINATION OF STaR CoLours.—An ex i photographic method of investigating the colour-indices of stars has been tested by Mr. F. H. Seares at Mt. Wilson (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. iii., p. 29). The method consists of making a series of exposures with graduated exposure-times, first through a yellow filter and then without filter. In this way the ratio of exposure-times necessary to give images of the same size in yellow and blue light is determined. The colour-indices are then derived by reference to a curve showing similar ratios for standard polar stars, the colours of which have already been ascertained by a comparison of their photographic and visual magni- tudes. In general, the: method of exposure-ratios © gives excellent results, showing no systematic errors _ of any importance which depend upon stellar magni- tude. The probable error of a colour-index derived - from a single exposure-ratio is 0-07 magnitude. The method would appear to be of special value on account of its independence of stellar magnitude, and because it gives a direct measure of the colour. The results obviously include that part of the colour which is a function of the star’s intrinsic luminosity, and also such colour effect as may be due to the scattering of light in space. An interesting outcome of the new observations is the confirmation of the previously re- ported conclusion that there are no faint white stars in the vicinity of the pole, though this is apparently not _ true of all parts of the sky. : MANCHESTER ASTRONOMICAL SociETy.—It is gratify- ing to note that the activity of the Manchester Astro- nomical Society has been well maintained. The journal for the session 1915-16 indicates a membership of about 120, and an average attendance at the meet- ings of forty-seven, while no fewer than eighteen members contributed papers relating to their own ob- servations. A summary of the proceedings is given, and the papers printed at length include “‘ The Colours and Spectra of the Stars,’ by Father Cortie; ‘‘ Satellite Systems,’’ by Prof. R. A. Sampson; and “‘ Astro- nomical Drawings,’? by W. Porthouse. — Ce CaNaDIAN. OBSERVER’S HaNnpBoox.—The Astronomical Society of Canada renders a valual ‘service to amateur astronomers in the Dominion by the annual issue of ‘‘ The Observer’s Handbook.” The volume for 1917 includes the usual astronomical information in a convenient form, and an extensive set of tables by means of which the times of sunrise and sunset in any part of the country can very readily be determined. Another feature calling for special mention is a catalogue giving the chief known facts regarding 276 stars and 13 nebule, including La af motion, parallax, spectral type, and radial velocity. There is also a simple guide to the constellations, with maps. The price of the handbook is 25. cents. [ARCH I, 1917] NATURE 17 : EDUCATIONAL REFORM. R. H. A. L. FISHER, the new President of the Board of Education, has not wasted much time mitting his posals for educational reform ie Cabinet, with a view to immediate legislation. The most urgent and necessary demand is that the ry Is ool age for the children of the elemen- shall be made effective until the age of at least is reached, and that all exemptions iz the child to escape from school before that “be abolished. One of the greatest impedi- in the = of this long-needed reform is to be in the half-time system which prevails almost y in the well-paid textile districts of Lancashire kshire, to abolition of which, despite the of trade-union leaders and of the Workers’ 1: gener the et of the workers €ven some employers are steadily opposed. It is case where the Government ought to ignore merely litical considerations in the best interests of the child the nation as a whole, and take a strung lead. ose concerned with this vital reform must either avert their constituents or urge the Government mmediate and drastic action. @ question of the number and efficiency of the : teaching staff of the elementary schools is ly less significant and urgent, especially as there d be a very large accession to the number and of the pupils if all exemptions were abolished school age raised to fourteen, x ; in the schools the cleverer pupils, _ who by reason of their ability have hitherto been q v to leave school at .an earlier age than the _ average scholar. children, where they are boys, a eed as they approach adolescence more of the ace and control of the trained male teacher, numbers, if the schools are to be maintained tively, must be materially increased. But to secure such a body of trained and educated en (and the estimated number required is not nearly sufficient, i if the size of the Classes be largely _ reduced, as it should be), the attractions of the pro- _ fession, alike in respect of status, salarv, prospects, _ and pension, must be greatly improved. The measures above mentioned will inevitably result in a demand for a better quality of teaching and of educa- tion for the scholars, aad will react favourably upon the secondary school and its work, inducing a larger number at an earlier age to seek its advantages. These changes will require a much larger expenditure ; now is the time to embark upon it, and it is to be _ hoped .that Mr. Fisher, with his’ wide educational _ experience and authority, may be able to induce his to view them with sympathy and Parlia- ment to give them immediate effect. a PRODUCTION OF IRON AND STEEL IN CANADA. HE Canadian Department of Mines has issued _* the usual advance chapter of the annual report dealing with the production of iron and steel in the Dominion in 1915, and simultaneously an approxi- _ mate estimate of the production of iron, steel, and _ coal in 1916. It appears from these statistics that the ' output of iron and steel has increased considerably in a years. The total production of pig-iron for 1916 is given as 1,046,185 long tons, as against 815,870 long tons in 1915, and 699,256 long tons in 1914, the _ pre-war level being thus exceeded. The steel produc- tion for 1916 is also the highest.on record, namely, 1,270,969 long tons of ingots and 27,356 long tons of _ direct castings, as against 876,591 long tons of ingots NO. 2470, VOL. 99] and 27,739 long tons of direct castings in 1915. It is very interesting to note that in 1916 no fewer than 39,098 tons of steel were produced in the electric furnace, as against 61 tons in 1915, so that this new process has made important advances, and appears to have found a permanent footing in Canada. A note- worthy feature of Canadian steel manufacture is the large proportion of old scrap that is worked up, this amounting to about 55 per cent. of the pig-iron charged. The ores used in the manufacture pig- iron in 1915 were 293,305 short tons of native ore, which, together with 623,094 short tons of Lake Supe- rior ore, imported from the United States, were smelted in the province of Ontario, almost wholly with coke imported also from the United States; practically all the balance of the pig-iron was produced in Nova Scotia from Wabana ore, imported from Newfoundland, the imports amounting to 802,128 short tons. The coal production of Canada for 1916 is given, as 14,365,000 short tons, as against 13,267,023 short tons in 1915. The main increase comes from Alberta, being there about one million tons; British Columbia shows an increase of about half a million tons, and Nova Scotia a decrease of practically the same amount. THE “SEI” WHALE. q Bole profusely illustrated monograph before us is the second of a series, the first of which dealt with the Californian grey whale, Rhachtanectes glaucus. In the same thorough way that he initiated in describing Rhachianectes Mr. R. S. Andrews now. deals with the rorqual, Balaenoptera borealis. The result of his work is a much larger volume, which is due, first, to the greater mass of information which has accumulated concerning the better-known Balaenoptera borealis, and in the second place to an appendix in which Mr. Schulte publishes the data acquired by the investigation of a young foetus of this whale. The two sections are approxi- mately equal in length. The author uses throughout the vernacular name for the whale which is common among the Norwegians, slightly anglicising it from ‘* Sejhval”’ to “ Sei Whale.” This, he maintains, and with justice, is less cumbrous than the really pseudo-vernacular term of “* Rudolphi’s Rorqual,’’ which finds a place in so many English treatises and memoirs. The origin of the Norwegian whalers’ name is derived from the fact that this rorqual, formerly at any rate, arrived upon the coast of Finmark in company with the “coalfish,” known to the fishermen as “‘Seje."" From this it will be rightly inferred that the fishery of this whale is pro- minently a Norwegian industry, and Dr. Andrews takes occasion to deal very fully with the late and well-known Norwegian naturalist, Dr. Collett’s ex- haustive memoir upon this whale in its various aspects, scientific and industrial; this memoir was published some years ago in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Dr. Andrews himself acquired most of his first-hand knowledge of Balaeno- ptera borealis at the Japanese fisheries, most of which stations he would seem to have visited. A comparison of the careful work done at these two regions, so far separated from each other, leads Dr. Andrews to the conclusion accepted to-day by, as we imagine. most persons: that this whale, like so many others, has a vast range in space, and that the occur- rence of a given whale in areas so remote mutually 1 “ Monographs of the Pacific Cetacea." By.R. S. Andrews. IT. “The Sei Whale (Ba/aenoptera torealis, Lesson)” Mem. Amer, Mus. Nat. Hist., n.s., vol. iF 18 NATURE. | MaRcH I, 1917 as the eastern Atlantic and the western Pacific is by no means evidence of specific distinctness. The list of synonyms of this whale—and indeed of most—is a proof of the existence of an earlier opinion, promul- gated by Dr. J. E. Gray and others of his time, that whales were coped within much narrower boundaries than we now think. To the solution of this question Dr. Andrews has added a number of facts; he has dwelt upon the colour variability, which he declares to be ‘‘enormous,” and not at all influenced by age or sex. He has furthermore made the important ob- servation that parasites taken from whales killed near Japan are at times infested with parasites represent- ing an Antarctic species, which they must have acquired during a sojourn in those southern seas. The parasite in question is the Copepod, Penella antarctica, A short time ago an alleged new species of Ballaeno- ptera admittedly near to B. borealis, and named B. brydei, was described from the Cape region in a paper published by the Zoological Society. Dr. Andrews carefully considers this whale, and is dis- inclined to believe in its distinctness, but considers the matter incapable of settlement until more informa- tion concerning structure is received; but with this possible exception, and that of B. edeni, it would appear that all the alleged species allied to B. borealis are to be regarded merely as synonyms. Dr. Schulte’s account of the foetus is full and elaborate. Kiiken- thal and others have of late years dealt with the adult and foetus of this and other Balznopteras, and there- fore there are not facts of very wide interest left over to be recorded in the memoir. But nevertheless it is valuable, especially for its detailed account ‘of the skull ‘and musculature, which are illustrated by several plates. F. E. BErpparD. SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE. [Is this country we are only just beginning to awake to the fact that museums have a great future before them in the task of bringing home to the nation the value and importance of scientific research. In this we are a long way behind the United States, which, through numerous channels, makes strenuous efforts to enlist the interest and sympathy of the public in all that concerns science and its importance as a factor in civilisation and progress. In this the Amer- ican Museum of Natural History has played, and is playing, a very important part, not only in regard to its exhibition galleries, but also by its efforts to reach those who live outside its radius. By means of the American Museum Journal, it gives to the world at large, month by month, a series of lucidly written and skilfully chosen articles by members of its staff and others of established reputation on the various problems which are engaging the attention of specialists. In the December number, which may be taken as a fair average svecimen, nine essavs are included, covering a wide range of subjects, thus ensuring an appeal to a large number of readers, as well as an opportunity of arousing dormant interests. Dr. C. Wissler, of the anthropological department, discusses American Indian saddles and the origin and adapta- tions of horse-culture in the New World, while Dr. W. D. Matthew writes on elepharit-ivory and the evolution of the elephant. The Gulf Stream and the effect of ocean currents of different temperatures on the life and range of marine animals, and the pheno- mena of the mirage, rivet the attention on verv different aspects of Nature. The significance of the vivid hues which prevail among tropical fishes introduces the NO. 2470, VOL. 99] reader to the knotty problems which await solution in regard to animal coloration, while the brief essay on the life-histories of insects opens up yet another vista. iy Finally, we may mention the very important article on game protection by Mr. J. B. Burnham, the presi- dent of the American Game Protection jation. Herein the author shows the remarkable results which have been obtained by State protection of hen pheasants — in New York State, and of the does of the Virginian deer in Vermont. _No more convincing vindication of legislation framed for the protection and preservation of native animals from the raids of ‘‘ sportsmen ’’ was ever penned than this. And there could be no more suitable channel devised for the dissemination of the . results of this legislation than this always fascinating journal, which, unfortunately, has no counterpart in this country. We look forward to the time when the British Museum shall undertake a similar task for Great Britain and our Empire beyond the Seas. The funds, however, for the American journal, it should be re-. marked, are not provided by the State, but by the generosity of those interested in the welfare of the museum.and the furtherance of its uae wed 4 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL — INTELLIGENCE. ’ BirMINGHAM.—The Huxley lecture is to be delivered by Prof. D’Arcy W. Thgmpson, who has chosen a morphological subject entitled “Shells” for his address. CaMBRIDGE.—The Adams prize has been awarded’ to Mr. J. H. Jeans, F.R.S., formerly fellow of Trinity, for an essay on ‘“‘Some Problems of Cosmogony and | Stellar Dynamics.” ~Lonpon.—The degree of D.Sc. in chemistry has been conferred on Mr. S. W. Smith, an ex student, for a thesis entitled ‘‘Surface Tension of Molten Metals and its Relation to other Properties of Metals and Alloys in the Solid State,’ and other papers. The report of the Military Education Committee has been presented to. the Senate. -he number of cadets of the University of London Officers’ Training Corps who have obtained commis- — sions up to the end of 1916 was 3010, an increase of about 750 over the corresponding number a year earlier. The distinctions obtained by these officers include: V.C., 2; D.S:O., 3; Military Cross, 1313- mentioned in despatches, 151; and represent more than 10 per cent. of those who have seen active service at the Front. In the earlier days of the war 300 gradu- ates and students of the University (not being cadets or-ex-cadets of the O.T.C.) obtained commissions on the recommendation of the committee. In conse- quence of the Military Service Act, the work of the combatant units of the O.T.C. is now restricted to the younger men. The number of individual cadets who were members of the contingent during the training year ending September, 1916, was 2077, of whom 741 remained on the strength at the end of the year. students permitted to continue their studies are en- rolled, is at full strength. The Artillery Unit has been temporarily disbanded. The report refers also to the Officers’ School of Instruction in connection — with the contingent, through which r100 young officers have passed; and to the assistance given by the committee in connection with the enlistment of trained chemists in the Royal Engineers, It states that The Medical Unit, in which all medical ARCH I, 1917] NATURE. 19 “SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Society, February 15.—Sir J. J. Thomson, t, in the chair—Dr. J. H. Mummery: The and development of the tubular enamel of aridz and Labride. The author endeavours to that the enamel of Sparidz-and Labride is a tubular structure. Stains can be made to enter ves and -traverse. their finest branches.— » Chick and E. M. M. Hume: (1) The distri- m in wheat, rice, and maize grains of the sub- the deficiency of which in a diet causes pa in birds and beri-beri in man. (2) The ‘exposure to temperature at or above 100° C. the substance (vitamine) the deficiency of which causes polyneuritis in birds and beri-beri in Society, February 1.—Sir David Prain, nt, in the chair—C. E. Salmon: Some plants might occur in Britain. Some undoubtedly native would seem unlikely from their European dis- to occur here, such as Sagina reuteri, and Lloydia alpina, Salisb., whilst it is mani- festly uncertain what species may be ultimately found in ain. Ten species were chosen, all well-defined plants, and recognised on the Continent, leaving out ‘consideration of microspecies for the present.—Prof. W. A. Herdman: An account of a paper by Prof. W. J. in on his exploration of the Houtman Abrolhos _ Islane as gar describing the formation of these coral islands. The paper is introductory to accounts _of the fauna and flora. The group of islands extends between 28° 15’ and 29° S. lat., the archipelago being _ about fifty miles long, all four groups of islets run- ning gh ore roximately N.N.W.-S.S.E.; they are only _ about six feet above sea-level, and sinesicalty destitute _ of water, the largest plants being mangroves on the a flats. A few guano workers are the sole in- abitants.—J. Charlesworth and J. Ramsbottom: The Structure of the leaves of hybrid orchids. An investi- gpl of the anatomical characters of the leaves of _ the parents and their hybrids shows that a structure, _when present in both parents in different amounts, _ appears in the hybrid intermediate in every way. This _ can be well seen by observing the microscopic charac- _ ters of hybrids which have one parent in common; _ Cochlioda noezliana occurs as the female parent in six _ of the primary hybrids investigated and in the two _ secondary. When a character is present in one of the _ Parents it may or may not be found in the hybrid. In J Se gee if the character of one parent does occur in _ the hybrid, it is much less developed than in the Seirids Sections of the leaves of thirteen primary _ hyb and their parents were exhibited. _ _ Zoological Society, February 6.—Prof. E. W. Mac- Bride, vice-president, in the chair.—L. A. Borradaile : The structure and function of the mouth-parts of the alemonid prawns: The primitive crustacean limb regarded as consisting of a flattened axis with a flabellum (exopodite). two or more epipodites, a series of eight endites, and an apical lobe, the flabellum standing Opposite the third and fourth endites. The _ telation of the several jaws to this prototype was ' discussed. The latter part of the paper gives an _ account of observations upon. the use of the _ ™mouth-parts during feeding; the second maxilli- _ Peds, maxillules, and mandibles were found to play _ more important parts than the first maxillipeds and _ the maxille.—Prof. H. G. Plimmer: Report on the _ deaths which occurred in the society’s gardens during _ 1916, and on the blood-parasites found during the | same period. NO. 2470, VOL. 9g | ed Royal Meteorological Society, February 21.—Major H. G. Lyons, president, in the chair.—W. H. Dimes : Heat balance of the atmosphere. The paper traces the history of the solar radiation from the time it reaches the outer limit of the atmosphere until it is radiated back into space, assigning from the data available limits to the amounts absorbed, transmitted, and reflected by the air, and to the amounts mutually radiated between the earth, the air, and outer space. A note is added showing that a * grey’’ body in the position of the upper air should have a temperature of about 300° A.—C. E. P. Brooks: Continentality and. temperature. The distribution of temperature over the surface of the earth is complex, being related to various factors—latitude, height, distance trom the sea,- etc. Further, since even smoothed isotherms reduced to sea-level often show very little relation to lines of latitude, it is evident that in some. cases. geographical conditions must exercise a predominant effect. This effect was ‘investigated in the case of the distribution of temperature over Europe and western Asia during January and July. Fifty-six re- presentative stations were selected, and by the method of partial correlation regression equations were con- structed showing how the temperature of any place in the area may be built up from its height, its lati- tude, and the percentage of land in the area sur- rounding it. The function taken to represent latitude was the quantity of heat which would be received on a horizontal surface with a transmission coefficient - of o-7, on the shortest day and the longest day re- spectively (the last proviso allowed a lag of about three weeks in the thermal effect of the sun’s radia- tion). That this gives a good measure of heat re- ceived is shown by the correlation coefficient of +0-944 found between it and the temperature in January. From these regression equations the temperatures of the original stations were calculated, and over a range of 50° F. in January the average error was found to be about 4°; in July the error was much less. Finally, the equations were applied to the altered geography of the early Neolithic period, and it was found that this entirely accounted for the altered climate of that period, and the various astro- nomical theories which have been brought in to ex- plain it are quite unnecessary. EDINBURGH. Royal Society, January 22.—Dr. Horne, president, in the chair.—Lieut. C. K. M. Douglas: Some causes of the formation of anticyclonic stratus as observed from aeroplanes. This discussion of the problem of why the weather in anticyclonic distributions is frequently cloudy was suggested by observations made while fly- ing in France. These stratus-clouds are of meteoro- logical importance, preventing the development of severe frost. The tops of the clouds are usually 4000 or 5000 ft. above sea-level, and above them there is 2 well-marked rise of temperature, sometimes nearly 10° F. in 500 ft. This temperature increase was usually found associated with an increase of the westerly component of the wind. Along the lower margin of this western wind the stratus formed.—W. Ritchie : The structure, bionomics, and forest import- ance of Myelophilus minor. This destructive enemy of Scotch pine, formerly believed to be rare, exists in thousands at the tops of the trees. The damage done is of two kinds: first, by the adult boring into the young shoots and destroying them in hundreds; secondly, by the larvae working below the bark and interfering with the passage of sap. The differences between this species and M. pimperda were pointed out, and new evidence was obtained of the life of the adult being extended over more generations than one. 20 NATURE [Marcu I, 1917 BOOKS RECEIVED. - The Vaporizing of Paraffin for High-Speed Motors (Electric Ignition Type). By E. Butler. Pp. vit+120. {London : C, Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 35. 6d. net, A Text-Book of Histology. By Dr. H. E. Jordan and Dr.. J. S. Ferguson. Pp. xxviiit+799. (London and New York: D,. Appleton and Co.) 155. net, Horses, By R. Pocock. With an Introduction by Prof. J. Cossar Ewart. Pp. x+252. (London: John Murray.) 5s. net. : The Land and the Empire. By C. Turnor. Pp. 144. (London: John Murray.) 3s. 6d. net. Comptes Rendus of Observation and Reasoning. By J. Y. Buchanan. Pp. xl+452. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) 7s. 6d. net. Explosives. By A. Marshall. Second edition. Two vols. Vol. i., pp. xv+4o7. (London: J. and A. Churchill.) 31. 3s. net the two vols, Laboratory Manual of General Chemistry, with Exercises in the Preparation of Inorganic Substances. By A. B. Lamb. Pp. vi+166. (Cambridge, Mass, : Harvard University Press; London: Oxford Univer- sity Press.) 6s. net. German. and English Education: a Comparative Study. By Dr. Fr. De Hovre. Pp. 108. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. The Permanent Values in Education. By K. Rich- mond. Pp. xxiii+ 136. (London : Constable and Co., Ltd.) 2s, 6d. net, DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Marcu 1. Royat Socirry, at 4.30.—A Graphical Method of Drawing Trajectories for High-Angle Fire: Prof. W. E. Dalby.—Osmotic Pressures Derived from Vapour-Pressure Measurements; Aqueous Solutions of Cane Sugar and Methyl Glucoside: The Earl of Berkeley E. G.o J. Hartley, and C. V. Burton.— Tue Complete Photo-Electric Emission from the Alloy of Sodium and Potassium: W. Wilson. Roya Instirution, at 3.—Memorial Art To-day: Prof. E, S. Prior. MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30. CuEmIcAL Society, at 8.—Notes on the Effect of Heat and Oxidation on Linseed Oil: J. A. N. Friend.—Acyl Derivatives of Paradiazoimino- benzene: G. T. Morgan and A. W. H. Upton. Linnean Society, at 5.—Some Observations on the Feeding Habits of Fish and Birds, with Sp-cial Reference to Warning Coloration: J. C. a pr Ra Heterangiums of the British Coal Measures: Dr. D. H. cott. FRIDAY, Marcu 2. Roya. INsTITUTION, at 5.30.—Cellulose and Chemical Industry (1866- 1916): C. F. Cross. ‘ SATURDAY, Marcu 3. Roya. InstiruTIon, at 3.—The Pronunciation of English at the Time of Shakespeare. (Lecture IT.) : Daniel’ Jones. : MONDAY, Marcu 5. Royat GrocrapHicaL Society, at 5.30.—Indian Frontier Geography : Col. Sir Francis Younghusband. ARISTOTELIAN Society, at 8.—Fact and Truth: Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan. Roya Society or ArTS, at 4.30.—Memorials and Monuments: Lawrence Weaver. Society or ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—High Tensile Steel versus Mild Steel for Reinforced Concrete: A. W. C. Shelf. Victrorta INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Conscience: Clement C. L. Webb. TUESDAY, Marcu 6. ears INSTITUTION, at 3.—Internal Combustion Engines: Prof. W. E. alby ¢ Zoo.ocicat SocrEty, at 5.30.—Work of the Beavers in the Society’s Gardens: R. I, Pocock.—The Scolex. in the Cestode Genus Duthiersia, and the Species of that'Genus: Dr. F. E. Beidard.—An Experimental Investigation of the Migration of Woodcock Breeding in the West of Ireland : Capt. S. R. Douglas. RONTGEN SOCIETY, at 8.15. FARADAY SOCIETY, at 8.—General Discussion: The Training and Work of the Chemical Engineer: Opener, Sir George Beilby.—The Training of the Medical Student for Work in the Factory: Prof. F. G. Donnan.— The Training of ‘the Works Chemist in Physics: C. R. Darling.—A Plea for the Forgotten Factor in Chemical Training : W. R. Cooper.—The Work of the Imperial College in the Training of Chemical Engineers : J. W. Hinchley. WEDNESDAY, Marcu 7 Rovar Society or ARTS, at 4.30.—German Business Methods: Vickery. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8. Society or Pusiic ANALysTs, at 8.—The Quantitative Estimation of Mercury in: Organic Compounds: J. E. Marsh and O. G NO. 2470, VOL. 99| Lye.—The J. He. Composition of Milk: P. S. Arup, H. C. Huish, and H. Droop Richmond.—(r) Studies in Steam Distillation : Part 4, Propionic, Butyric, Valeric, and Caproic Acids. (2) Studies in Steam Distillation: Part 5, The Analysis of Acetic Anhydride and Alkyl-Malonic Acids: H. Droop Richmond.—Note on Salvarsan.and Neo-Salvarsan: J. Webster. i THURSDAY, Marcu 8. : RoyaL Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Some Effects of Growth- promoting Substances (Auximones) on the Growth of Lemna minor in Culture Solutions : W. B. Bottomley.—Some Effects of Growth-pro : Substances (Auximones) on the Soil Organisms concerned in the Nitrogen Cycle: Florence A. Mockeridge. i i : Roya InstTiTUTION, at 3.—Sponges ; a Study in Evolutionary Biology: Prof. A. Dendy. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Voltage Regulation of Rotary Converters: G. A. Jublin. FRIDAY, Maxcu 9. 5-30.—The Treatment of Wounds in War; Sir Roya INSTITUTION, at ’ Almroth Wright. % MavacotocicaL Society, at 7.—The Genitalia of Weanthinula aculeata:; Dr, A. E. Boycott.—(1) The Radula of the Genus Cominella; (2) A Colony of Purpura lapillus, with Operculum Malformed or Absent; (3) Note on the Adventures of the Genus named Lucena ; (4) Note on the a Costa Platesadapted for Rackett’s Edition of Pulteney’s Catalogues: B. B. Woodward. RoyaL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. SATURDAY, Marcu ro. ‘ Royat InsTiTuTION, at 3.—Imperial Eugenics ; Saving the Soldier: Dr.’ C. W. Saleeby. ; CONTENTS. Classical: Rducation «3... 20.0. ees I Scientific Engineering. By Dr. A. Russell. .... 2 An Agricultural Policy... 2.2... 14+ se ee 3 Our Bookshelf’; 2. Oe eee Letters to the Editor:— é British Optical Science.—Sir Joseph Larmor, M.P., The Bursting of Bubbles.—Prof. S. W. J. Smith, — Thermodynamics and Gravitation: A Suggestion.— ? Dr. “George W. Todd's... <5. Goa Ae 5 Destructive Wild Birds. By Dr. Walter E. Collinge 6 New Antiseptics.’. By J. B.C. :,- 220 Ga ee The School of Oriental Studies ..... .... 8 9 ce) 2 George Massee. By A. D.C... 2 «sao. sae s The Promotion of Technical Optics. ....... 1 POR a CE a ee oe ee Our Astronomical Column :— : Determination of Star Colours . . ....+.+... 16 Manchester Astronomical Society ......... 16 Canadian Observer’s Handbook .......++.- 16 Educational Reform. <0 005 866 Se ee ee Production of Iron and Steel in Canada ..... I7 The “Sei” Whale. By Dr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. 17 Science for the People. By W.P.P. ....... 18 University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 18 * Societies ‘and Academies ~. . 2.5 «2 Ss) pee Books Received .. 30%). 5.5. os ae Diary: of Societies ...0. 0.0.0 3.5 2. ee Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltp., 3 ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. } : are ‘ : ¥ Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the Publishers. i t . Editorial Communications to the Editor. .— 5 Telegraphic Address: Puusts, Lonpon. ¢ Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. ; t aes ee ee ee ere eee i i ie _ THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1917. / MEN TAL ORGANISATI ON. f anic to Human: Psychological and Socio- gical. EY Dr. Henry Maudsley. Pp. viii+ 386. di Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) i oe. net. JE welcome this vigorous expression of a distinguished veteran’s convictions in ard to some of the major problems of evolu- _ both organic and social. Mature reflection not seem to have made Dr. Maudsley more tolerant of metaphysicians, men of feeling, and others” ‘of that clan; he remains, in fact, a con- sistent unbending type of those whom William James called “tough-minded,” and he writes as _ trenchantly as ever about the folly of man’s overweening intellectual conceit. One of the ntral ideas of his book is that of the unity of e organism, which discharges mental: as well motor functions by a nervous organisation in which every part co-operates. “The whole body enters into the constitution of ery mood, thought, and feeling.” The author ss man as solidary with the rest of creation on ; mental as well as on his bodily side. We are id to see that he recognises that “there is obviously plenty of seemingly conscious work in nature outside human nature, though not, Z course, so complexly reflective intra- mentally.” With these conclusions many biologists will pe; but few will now ‘follow Dr. Maudsley in Shy ani na « isiiishtion as “embodying the cumulative acquisitions of immemorial adaptive experience trom age to. age.” Be Dre Maudsley | reise much of “mental “organisation,” which might well have been the le of his book had not the ‘word been vulgarised ‘other | ‘connections. The idea is a sound one at individual initiatives may somehow become gistered in the hereditary constitution of the . The author‘ also uses the vivid phrase ee iateaton” ‘for the way in which man se external registration—in implement and machine, in cultivated plant and written word— of the gains of ages. “The wonderful calculation t would be to estimate” the number of mind- -. rs incorporate in and now’ represented by the modern battleship evolved Step by step from t E Genitive canoe. . It is in like manner ' the intelligent instincts of animals represent e silent memories of past habits, of acquired netion grafted in structure, and that the innate acities and aptitudes of human intellect signify ‘the quintessence of immemorial consolidate adapta- . ons transmitted as unconscious mind by here- dity.” But this is very questionable interpretation. t there is “mental capitalisation ” in battleship brain alike seems ‘indubitable; but the re- blance i in process in the two cases is purely mal. That ‘the brain of any organism grew in the course of evolution by accumulating NO. 2471, VOL. 99] acquisitions of individual thrift is a very pepe ot NATURE a Micaidouas wanted!. - We are precluded by limits of space from any appreciation of Dr. Maudsley’s stimulating’ an critical discussions concerning the relation of science to social advance, the conditions of civilisation, the microbe and man, social evolu- tion, and the moralisation of the reproductive instinct; we must pass on to the ‘last chapter, where the view is expounded that “materialism neither can nor ought to be got rid of. To think such riddance possible is to perpetuate pretence and invite unrealities and hypocrisies of thought.” For a man of his experience Dr. Maudsley is surprising in the convincedness with which he continually suggests that all the hard, resolute, sincere, critical thinking is done by tough-minded scientific analysts. This conviction is more grotesque than the “ungainly, contorted, or other- wise ungraceful bodies ” which Dr. Maudsley has discovered in the animal kingdom. It is equally fictitious. Another psychologically erroneous view, as it seems to us, is expressed in the copious cold water which the book pours on those who cannot settle down sensibly and give up the adventure of trying to interpret Nature. As if that were not the very last thing man should give up! A German biologist of distinction wrote not long ago :—So until the opposite can be: proved we must accept the proposition that also human intel- ligence comprises. no psychical factor, and that it has’ arisen phylogenetically - ‘through continual transformation and refinement of physico-chemical nerve-processes.” If this sort of position is in- cluded in the materialism which Dr.’ Maudsley does not wish to get rid of, we protest, for it seems to us a false simplicity and_bad science. That the position cited would be accepted by Dr: Maudsley we do not suggest, for we understand the author of “The Physiology of. Mind” to recognise the reality of psychical factors while contending that they are inseparably bound up with physiological factors in the unified life of the creature, But he sails very, near ‘the’ wind when he says :. “Consciousness is not itself a power of doing work.” For who cares for ideas if they have not hands and feet? | J A: BOOKS ON ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. (1) Analytical Chemistry. Based on the German text of Prof. F. P. Treadwell. . Translated and revised by W. T. Hall. Vol. i., ‘Qualitative Analysis. Pp. xiii+ 538: (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916) Price 12s. 6d. net. © (2) A ’ Method for the Identification of Pure Organic Compounds. By Prot. S. P. Mulliken. Vol. ii. - Pp. ix+327. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 21s. net. (1) BBs present volume is the fourth English edition of this well-known _ analytical chemistry, which was first published at Zirich in German in 1899 by the American chemist, PF. C biological. hypothesis. - Facts are 22 NATURE [Marcu 8, 1917 Treadwell. According to the translator, W. T. Hall, the original has been so thoroughly revised _and so largely rewritten that it is no longer fair to publish the book as a literal translation, and though the general plan has been kept, greater stress has been laid upon the theoretical side of the subject. The introductory chapter deals with such general principles as are usually included in text-books on physical chemistry, viz. electrolytic dissociation, electromotive series, — solubility product, mass law, etc., subjects which not only come well within the scope, but are essential to the thorough grasp, of analytical methods. The book is, in short, not the ordinary type of examination vade mecum. nature of a philosophical treatise on analysis in which the subject is treated with the thoroughness demanded by a highly important and dignified branch of chemical science. A special feature of the new edition is the use of ionic equations, which often appear side by side with the more usual form. In this way the student is, without much effort, familiarised with both methods of representing reactions. (2) The procedure adopted by Dr. Mulliken for the identification of pure organic compounds (in vol. ii.) by means of tables follows very closely | that of vol. i. Vol. ii. contains what are termed compounds of Order II., which includes. those of the three elements, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, of vol. i., with the additional element, nitrogen. The tables are divided into suborders of colour- less and coloured compounds, these again into genera comprising acidic, basic, and neutral com- pounds, and these again into divisions A and B of solid and liquid species. An illustrative example of the application of the tables is given, and: the author claims that the method of identification is much more rapid than that which would have been required to arrive at an equally certain result by the use of the method of empirical formule. This may be true of a sub- stance with ‘no previous history which is thrust into the hands of a chemist for rapid identifica- tion. But the writer is by no means ‘convinced that, however valuable the data, the arrangement for research purposes is the most satisfactory that could be devised. Although it may be true that the scheme of species, genera, suborders, and orders may help , one, like a botanical key, to track down an un- known compound more quickly than. by means of a combustion, one has to remember that it is rarely that a chemist engaged on re- search is entirely ignorant of the possible nature of the substance he has obtained. It is not a question of one of a possible 4000 compounds described in these tables, but more probably one of half a dozen. The molecular formule and Richter’s lexicon ‘will soon put the chemist on the track of a refer- ence; and if, in addition, he has tables of: specific reactions arranged according. to molecular NO. 2471, VOL. 99] It is rather in the © ‘particularly from China. formule, he will rapidly orient his. compound, — provided it has been described before. _ The present arrangement is too mechanical, and makes too little appeal to the previous sequence of chemical events to be entirely satisfactory. At the same time one would not wish to depreciate the value or trustworthiness of the vast and varied F ; ta data which Dr. Mulliken has compiled with so- — much care and discrimination. There are distinct, if restricted, uses for such tables. i, It may be added in conclusion that not the least important section in the book is chap. iii., giving a — list of reagents, their preparation and uses, which many organic chemists often overlook. jl. Bi GARDEN AND FIELD. (1) The Standard Cyclopaedia of Horticulture. By L. H. Bailey. Vol. iii., F—K. Pp. v+1201— 1760. Vol. iv., L—O. Pp. v.+176i-243%, (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1915-16.) Price 25s. net each vol. (2) The Small Grains. By M. A. Carleton. Pp. xxxii+699. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 7s. 6d. net. ee (1) H ORTICULTURE has been well served by its encyclopeedists. possess Nicholson’s Dictionary and “The Gar- dener’s Assistant,” both admirable works of their | kind. But unfortunately, and in spite of the ever- — increasing popularity of gardening, no new edition of either of these works has appeared in recent years. One, we know, is under revision, and but before now. greatly enlarged form. This “cyclopedia” is In this country we — for the war a new edition would have appeared © No less admirable than these in- — digenous productions is Bailey’s “Standard Cyclo- © pedia of Horticulture,” now appearing in a indispensable to horticulturists if only for the fact — that it contains descriptions of the many new garden plants which are of recent introduction, Although this country led the way in the systematic horticultural.explora- tion of that wonderful country, America has made notable contributions thereto, and the many intro- ductions due to Wilson, Forrest, Purdom, Ward, and Farrer are now coming into general cultiva- tion both in the States and here. Not a few of these acquisitions are described in the pages of | Dr. Bailey’s work. As is to be expected from the provenance of — this work, the sections treating of tools and — machinery are particularly well done, the article — on machinery and implements extending over — upwards of twenty closely printed pages, and beginning with the just claim that “the American — is known by-his tools and machinery.” — Of great interest to British horticulturists also is the comprehensive account given of horti-— culture in. the North American States, to which more than 100 pages of vol. iv. are devoted. The > Marcu 8, 1917] NATURE 23 British horticulturists—and we are too rt trade from this country to the States— derive much valuable information from a y of this section of the work. We commend re OR of those whose business it is to give The Se Cyclopedia ” is well and copiously illus- ed;° the black-and-white figures are excellent. féolouted plates, however, are, as is so often case, of unequal merit. aken as a whole, this American encyclopedia : monument to Dr. Bailey’s energy and ledge, and should find its place on the shelves and in the hands of all British gardeners. _ (2) In “Small Grains,” by Prof. Mark A. Carle- acomprehensive account is given of the cereal s—wheat, oats, rye, and barley—and of buck- at and rice. A mass of useful information is Ca book, and it is no doubt useful to the student of “agronotny ” to have access to this information within the covers of one book. Nevertheless, to ignore that there is a large horticultural | account given of the horticultural experiment | ons in the various States to the particular | tained in the 700 pages which constitute the of his material in the most convenient position | } ! i | OUR BOOKSHELF, Fatigue Study: The Elimination of Humanity’s Greatest Unnecessary Waste: A First Step in Motion Study. By Frank B. Gilbreth and Dr. Lillian M. Gilbreth. Pp. 159. (London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1916.) Price 6s. net. | THE main thesis of the authors of this book is oe — sia horticultural research in | that much of the fatigue occurring among indus- trial workers is unnecessary, and is caused by the carrying out of the work under conditions which involve excessive and avoidable expenditure of energy. The methods suggested for the elimina- tion of unnecessary fatigue consist for the most part of various mechanical devices. One of these consists in the provision of high chairs so that the workers can sit to their work instead of having to stand. Another suggestion is the use of chairs provided with springs which exclude vibration from the floors of buildings in which high-speed machinery is used. Considerable attention is directed to the value of organisation in the placing for handling by the worker, to the importance of | suitable lighting, and to the desirability of fre- it | tee shat + student who mastered the multi- | ious contents of this volume would do so at the « of ruin to his mental digestion. In any case, ith on the village schoolmaster :— : . and still the wonder grew _ That one small head could carry all he knew. ‘he English student, at all events, must look on aa no doubt prove of considerable value. Particularly. good is the account of the rent kinds of wheat—common, club wheat, ard or rivet, durum, einkorn, emmer, spelt, Polish, and of the chief varieties grown in ‘rica and other parts of the world. _ With so vast a subject it is not to be wond red at that the discussion of many of ts aspects is brief; but to an English reader it E appears strange that the author has not found m for the inclusion of Biffen’s work on breed- or’s determination of dominant characters, mbination df characters). Nor, though consider- able attention is devoted to manuring, do we find, SO far as we have been able to discover, any account of the pioneer and fundamental work of Rothamsted. Srimarily for the American agronomist, it is one which the scientific agriculturists of this country vill be glad to have if only for the somewhat smarkable manner in. which the author contrives give a bird’s-eye view of the vast area and verse conditions over and under NO. 2471, VoL. 99] : would deserve the encomium lavished by Gold- | The authors find that the application of these ~ Although Prof. Carleton’s work is designed | ' similar work. . which the | a small grains” are cultivated in’ the United | how he asked “ Would it be possible for you two POT ' to get together and trade?” and how the vetch quent rest intervals during the day’s work. A useful point which is brought out is that the value of rest periods is greatly enhanced by the provision of an adequate supply of rest chairs. _ methods produces a striking improvement, both _ in the physical condition of the workers and in the . efficiency of their work. | Farm Spies: is book rather as a compendious work of refer- e than as a text-book, and used in this way it | | TuHIs is a collection of brightly written, How the Boys Investigated Field Crop Insects. By Prof. A. F. Conradi and W. A. Thomas. Pp. xi+165. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 3s. net. well- ” on various common illustrated “story-articles injurious insects of North America, designed to (for although reference is made to that ing is said of his classical experiments in the | catch the attention and enlist the sympathies of “boys and girls and those persons who know nothing about insects and how to fight them.’ Among the pests described are the cotton boll- weevil and root-louse, chinch-bugs (an American. “bug” that is really a bug), grasshoppers, and the black corn weevil. The life-histories and habits of the insects are drawn out by conversa- tions between farmers and entomologists, and the farmers’ boys are naturally enlisted in the work of destroying the ravagers of crops. Points in the breeding and feeding habits that bear on farm practice are often cleverly emphasised, and some of our, British students might be well occupied in compiling for the Home Country a ‘somewhat “Nearly every incident mentioned has at some time or other come within the experi- ence of the authors,” we are told in the preface. The qualification is satisfying when we read how “Dr. Science, walking ‘across a field, heard a vetch plant and a bacterium talking together,” 24° NATURE [Marcu 8, 1917 suggested: “The bacterium can live on my roots and supply me with nitrogen, and I furnish him with phosphoric acid and potash.” ' Happily such passages, which are neither good science nor good fiction, are rare in the handy little volume. 7 G. Be. ‘ 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 Horizontal Temperature Gradient and the Increase of Wind with Height. Ir has been known for some time past that from heights of about 1 to 9 km. the temperature is higher in the high-pressure than in the low-pressure area, and also that in general the wind, and especially the west wind, increases with height. -The following simple proof shows that these two observational. facts are not independent of each other, but. that, one being given, the other follows as a logical consequence, — A wind in the northern hemisphere exerts an acceleration towards its right-hand side equal to 2w¥sing, where » is the earth’s rotational velocity, v the velocity of the wind, and 9 the latitude. Also, if the path of the ait particles is curved, there is a further acceleration equal to v?/r, where ¢ is the radius ek. fee ‘ Uv . t LOW © v HIGH Cc D of curvature, and the acceleration is away from the centre of curvature. The total acceleration to the right is 2wvsingtv?/r, and the sign of the term involving v* is positive in regions where the isobars are concave to the low pressure. However, in these latitudes the v? term is not as a rule important, but appears as a correction, generally positive, to the term 2wv sin ¢. : : Let ABCD be a vertical section at right angles to the gradient wind, AB and CD being sections of the isobaric surfaces, and AC and BD vertical straight lines. If v be the gradient wind—i.e. the wind at right angles to the paper—then the tangent of the slope of AB is 2wvsing+v?/r:g, for 20usin ¢+27/r is the horizontal acceleration and g the vertical. Simi- larly, the slope of CD is 2wV sin o+V2/r ig. If, then, v is greater than V, BD must be greater than AC. Now the pressure difference between A and C is equal to: the pressure difference between B and D, since AB and CD are isobaric lines; and since the corresponding elements in the two air columns AC and BD are of equal pressure, and the density in BD less, the tem- perature in BD must be higher than that in AC. That is, if v be greater than V, then t is greater than T. Thus where the wind is increasing with height with- out much change in direction, anyone with his back to the wind will, if he follows an isobaric surface from NO. 2471, VOL. 99] relatively to the mean for the height. strongest winds are found near the upper limit of the. left to right—that is, from cyclone to anticyclone-—» . find an increasing temperature. Son Me If we neglect the curvature it is easy to calculate the numerical values, An increase of 1 metre per second over a horizontal range of 100 km. in latitude. 53° makes BD—AC=1-28 m.; therefore, taking AC as — 1 km, and CD as 100 km., an increase of 1 ghd 4 km. height makes t—T=o-00128t, or, giving to t a mean value of 250a, t—T=o0-32°. Thus an increase of 1 m./s. per km. gives in these latitudes an ap-. proximate rise of 1° C. per 300 km. along an i line at right angles to the wind. This is Fine a accordance with such observations as are av. ilab As a corollary it follows that the strongest winds. have a high temperature on their right-hand side — below their own level anda low temperature above, while on their left the converse holds, and it is cold above and warm below, cold and warm being used ; Since the’ troposphere in regions where the. barometric surface gradient is steep, this-again agrees with the usual. distribution of temperature in cyclones and anti- eo a Gere ss Phi eek ts The special tendency of west winds rather than east ‘to increase with height agrees with the natural rise of temperature in the lower strata from north to south.’ os ; W.-H. Dings. » Benson, February 23. Sora CaN ae = } Ten Per Cent. Agar-agar Jelly. | : * Ir may. be of use to put on record a method of making a jelly containing ten or more parts by weight of agar-agar to 100 parts by volume of solvent. é Agar-agar powder is ept to form lumps when mixed with water or with a mixture of water and glycerine. If this difficulty is obviated by vigorous stirring ~ bubbles are formed. In the case of jellies of 13 or 2 per cent. strength this does not matter, as the - bubbles readily come to the surface. With thicker — jellies this is not the case. These difficulties are. avoided by the following procedure. _ 1 fi, saa Powdered agar-agar is washed with ether, dried, and passed through a sieve. This treatment removes 2’ fatty acid. aes Twenty grams of the purified agar-agar are placed: in a round-bottomed flask. The flask is provided with a cork having two holes. Through one of the holes passes a tube leading to a vacuum pump. The other tube accommodates the stem of a separating - funnel. The air is exhausted, 140 c.c. of glycerine are placed in the funnel and rapidly run into the flask. The flask is shaken for a few seconds, by which time the agar-agar powder will be found to completely — and uniformly suspended in the glycerine. Sixty c.e. of water that has previously been boiled and com- pletely cooled are now placed in the funnel. run into the flask, and mixed with its contents by a few seconds’ shaking. Air is allowed to enter the flask, and the mixture is at once run out into a series of glass syringes from which the pistons have been re- moved and the nozzles of which are closed with rubber caps. Each syringe is filled about two-thirds full of the mixture, the pistons are replacéd, and the syringes are then heated in a water-bath. The: jelly is now ready for use. Cans for the nozzles may- be made by boring a hole nearly, but not quite, through a rubber cork. A bent strip of tin is required for each syringe to hold the cap in vlace. The jelly when melted is too stiff to pour out of a test-tube. It can be readily squirted from the nozzle of the syringe. - If the proportion of. glycerine is increased the jelly is weaker, but more transparent. With less glycerine 7 Maxcu. 8, 1917] NATURE 25 Scars water the jelly sets more firmly and cuts rat is less transparent. ly in preparing sections of the eg wing was first placed in an vering solution containing Rochelle salts ich ces cent. of alcohol had been added. had ret eo become blackened from the de- metallic silver it was washed with 50 per ohol and then placed in rectified spirit. To after this treatment I formed a cell “on a sheet of glass. A layer of melted is placed in the cell, which was then filled up with a ‘he wing was placed i in the cell. It dropped the alcohol on to the surface of the jelly. The was at once run off by making a cut through ; of the cell. The latter was then filled up with the jelly. By this procedure wings of moths erflies, which are not readily wetted by water, obtained firmly embedded, free of air-bubbles ou displacement of the scales. To the 60 c.c. used in making the jelly I had added 16 .. hy ite of soda. Having cut the ‘jelly containing the wing into ten slices of ess with a Gillette razor-blade, these were threaded in order on a wire, and placed ‘ht in a Jeo age solution of tartaric acid Ff yeerine. The acid decomposed the Riecdag coipt sulphur, with the result that the jelly ed an ivory-white colour, on which the wing- in black. The slices were mounted "call containing glycerine jelly. Embedding in oid no doubt d be preferable for wings of insects. The method here described is prob- ore suitable for larger insects, the wings of would be likely to offer difficulties in an attempt thin sections. E. H. Hankin. Stadia. — pa National Service. "wording of the enrolment form for National Service having given many the impression that volun- ee are wanted only for industrial work, which some men over fifty cannot possibly undertake, I wrote to ne Director of National Service for definite informa- z and my queries were answered as follows :— National volunteers are required not only for in- ial work, but also for other positions of national 2 o, Fd : “Mr. Chamberlain wishes it to be clearly d that brains as well as ‘ hands’ are required, ‘that no volunteer will be set to do work for which he is not fitted personally.” ~ These very clear and authoritative replies will, per- _ relieve the doubts of many who have been tating on the very reasonable ground that the k ppyoived seemed io be bevond their capacity. C. WELBORNE PIPER. TE CLASSIFICATION OF HELIUM STARS. | ] HILE it is now generally admitted that the /¥ spectroscopic differences between the ferent classes of stars are mainly due to differ- ces of temperature, there are two widely diver- ent views as to the order of celestial evolution which may be inferred. In one of them, the ‘olution is supposed to proceed by a continuous ecline of temperature from the white to the red Stars; in the other, which has been consistently vocated by Sir Norman Lockyer during nearly y years, it is maintained that the progression . NO. 2471, VOL. 99] | many ways as possible. , temperature near the middle of the sequence. is from ‘stars at a low stage of temperature to the . hottest stars, and from these to stars at a low temperature, so that a given star will have the same temperature twice in the course of its evolu- tion. The classifications of Rutherfurd, Secchi, and Vogel, and the expansion of these’ into the Harvard system, may be interpreted in terms of the first hypothesis, though actually they may be : regarded as merely empirical and independent of any such consideration. The classification of Lockyer, on the other hand, is essentially based upon the supposition that there must be stars which are getting hotter as well as stars which are cooling, in accordance with the theory of con- densing masses of gas or swarms of meteorites. If the spectrum of a star depended solely upon the surface temperature, there would evidently be no observational means of distinguishing between the two hypotheses. But Lockyer finds that when stars at any given stage of temperature are brought together by referencé to the relative in- tensities of certain lines, selected according to the indications of laboratory experiments, they are divisible into two distinct groups. The spectra, therefore, seem to depend in part upon physical conditions other than those imposed by tempera- ture alone. The difference is quite probably due to a difference in the degree of condensation, and Lockyer’s interpretation assigns one of the groups to the ascending, and the other to the descending, branch of the temperature curve. The Harvard classification takes no account of these differences, and is accordingly along one line of temperature only. The difference between the opposing views as to the order of celestial evolution is clearly of a very fundamental character, and it is important that the question should be attacked in as The work of Prof. H. N. Russell (NATURE, vol. xciii., p. 283) on the abso- lute magnitudes of stars has already given consider- able support to the main principle of Lockyer’s classification, by especially emphasising the idea | that the order of celestial evolution is primarily one of increasing density, with a maximum of As regards the helium stars, Dr. LLudendorff found in 1912 (NatTuRE, vol. Ixxxviii., p. 424) that -the radial velocities showed a very decided systematic difference for the ascending and descending stars classified by Lockyer, a difference which was not so clearly shown when the velocities were referred to the Harvard sub-classes. Since the publication. of Ludendorff’s results, Lockyer has supplemented his original catalogue of 470 stars by a second catalogue of 354 stars, and a third catalogue of 287 stars, photographed and classified at the Hill Observatory, Sidmouth (Hill Obs. Bull., Nos. 3 and 5). The first attempt to utilise some of the additional data which have thus become available has been made: by . Dr. B. P. Herassimovitch in a recent communication to the Petrograd Academy of Sciences (Bull. Acad. -Imp. Sci., 1916, p. 1419). In this. paper the helium stars included in the first two cata- 26 NATURE [Marcu 8, 1917 logues of Lockyer are discussed in relation to the radial velocities, so far as they have been deter- mined. For the ascending branch there are 57 such stars in the two catalogues, and for the descending branch 47 stars. It should perhaps be recalled that the helium stars constitute type B of the Harvard classifica- tion, and are subdivided into classes Bo to Bo, - in accordance with variations in detail. In Lockyer’s system, seven classes of helium stars are recognised, three on the ascending branch, one at the apex, and three more on the descending branch of the temperature curve, thus :— Alnitamian Crucian Achernian Taurian Algolian if Rigelian Markabian It was found by Campbell that after eliminating the apparent velocity due to the sun’s motion, the helium stars showed a systematic positive (receding) velocity of +4°'07 km., the apex of the sun’s way being taken as a=270°, 5= +30°. This systematic error, which was designated “K” by Campbell, has not yet been satisfactorily accounted for, but it is such as would arise if, in the helium stars, the lines were subject to a pres- _sure effect which caused them to be displaced slightly to the red side of their normal positions; the effect of such a displacement would clearly be to superpose on the real radial motions a receding velocity of about 4 km. for all the stars, irrespec- tive of their positions on the celestial sphere. The magnitude of K, and the sun’s velocity, are deter- mined on the supposition that, in the mean, the stars are at rest with respect to the stellar system. Forming the helium stars on the ascending branch of Lockyer’s series into one group, and those of the descending branch into another, Dr. Herassimovitch proceeds in the usual way to deter- mine the sun’s velocity and the K term for each group, using equations of the form V)cos¢+K=V, where V, is the velocity of the sun, ¢ the angular distance of the star from the apex of the sun’s way, V the observed radial velocity reduced to the sun by correction for the earth’s orbital motion; and K the residual velocity. In each group, K is thus the mean algebraic residual after eliminating the solar motion. The results are as follows :— - From 57 stars on a K =+ 6°32 km.+1°50 km. ascending branch V,= — 20°84 km. +2°40 km. rom 47 stars on the f K =+ 1°17 km.+1°136 km. descending branch | Vg= — 20°03 km. +2°29 km. Thus, while the resulting velocity of the sun is almost the same for the two groups, the values of _K are strikingly different. For the descending branch, in fact, K almost disappears, while for the ascending branch its value is considerably in excess of that found by Campbell from all the helium stars taken together» Lockyer’s differentiation of the ascending and descending branches thus re- ceives substantial corroboration. It was already known from the work of Camp- bell that the groups of stars giving the largest NO. 2471, VOL. 99] values of K (i.e. the Harvard classes B, K, and M’*) are among the most. distant, and Dr. Herassimovitch has. therefore further discussed. the ascending and descending groups in relation to the mean parallaxes. Applying -Kapteyn’s. formule, it results that for the helium stars on the ascending branch the probable mean parallax is 0'005/ +0°0009", and for the descending branch 0°012"+0'0030”. By the same process, Camp- bell has found for the Harvard classes Bo-B5 a mean parallax of o'006”, and for the classes B8—Bg a mean parallax of o’0129”, which are: nearly identical with the values now found for the ascending and descending stars. A_ pre- dominance of Bo-B5 stars on the ascending branch, and of B8—Bg stars on the descending branch, would thus account for the observed differ- — ence in the mean parallaxes. But this cannot account for the whole difference, for although: | there are actually a greater number of B8-Bo — stars on the descending than on the ascending branch of Lockyer’s curve, the excess among the stars here considered is only four. It would seem, then, as in the general case, that the more distant group, of helium stars gives the larger value of the K term, and it is interesting to find that Lockyer’s criteria for spectroscopic classification have so successfully withstood this further test. _ Dr. Herassimovitch has also investigated the ascending and descending groups in relation to — the magnitudes of the stars involved. Omitting those at the summit of the curve, there are 155 helium stars available for this part of the inquiry, and the figures show that the stars on the de- scending branch are in general fainter than those _ on the ascending branch. This difference cannot be explained entirely by the excess of classes: B8—Bg on the descending branch, because within — the limits of a given Harvard sub-group, say B3—B5, there is the same increase in the number of faint stars on the descending branch as wher all the B stars are taken together. When cor- rection is made to absolute magnitudes, by apply- ing the mean parallaxes previously deduced, it also appears that the stars of the descending branch are in general fainter than those of the ascending branch which fall in the same Harvard sub-class, and are therefore presumably at the same stage of temperature. Stars at the same heat level on opposite sides: of the temperature curve probably have the same intrinsic brightness, and if it be assumed that the average masses are equal, it would follow that the stars on the ascending branch must in ~ general be of greater volume and lower density than those on the descending branch. This is precisely the physical difference which is de- manded by Lockyer’s hypothesis, and also by that of Russell, and it may reasonably be sup- posed capable of explaining the spectroscopic differences which have enabled Lockyer to sort & out the two classes. The nature of the K term remains obscure. If the greater brightness of the stars of the ascend- 1 K is practically zero for stars of classes A, F, and G. SS ae ee Siete shane Marcu 8, 1917] NATURE 27 Pbe attributed to greater mass, and not merely to | greater volume, it might be. possible to regard _ Kas a function of the mass. 3 explanation. Or, as Dr. out, a displacement of the stellar lines to the red, 3 such as would account for the K term, might possibly result from the gravitational field in the «ase of great masses, in accordance with Freund- _ lich’s deduction from the theory of relativity. connection with the latter hypothesis, and it may E be added that the Mount Wilson observers have _ been unable to detect any systematic effect of this kind in the case of the sun, although the calculated effect is considerably greater than the errors of observation (Mt. Wilson Report, 1914, _p. 255). On either supposition, however, it _ seems improbable that there would be so great a _ difference in masses for Lockyer’s two groups of helium stars as to account for the large value of _K in the ascending group and its practical dis- _ appearance in the descending group. It at least seems clear, from the above results, _ that K can no longer be regarded as a constant error, having a fairly definite value for each of _ the Harvard classes. Prof. Perrine has also _ recently been led to this conclusion (Astrophys. _ Journ., November, 1916), and is inclined to the opinion that the observed residuals represent _ velocity displacements. Whatever the true ex- tion emphasises the importance of taking account _ of Lockyer’s criteria in the classification of stars 4 of the helium group. A. Fow .er. THE POTATO SUPPLY. “pie average potato crop of Great Britain is a little over 2 million tons, and that of Ireland _ a little under this figure. Great Britain and 3 Ireland together contribute rather less than 5 _ per cent. of the world’s crop of 914 million tons. # In normal years the British Isles grow nearly, or at, enough potatoes to satisfy home needs, ccessory supplies are, however, derived from the Channel Islands, Normandy, Brittany, and other sources. Hence it might be doubted whether even in these exceptional times there is need for any large ‘ measure of forethought or room for much anxiety _ with respect to our potato supplies. A combination of circumstances, however, has _ co-operated to make this year’s potato crop a _ matter of considerable national importance. __. First among these circumstances is the fact that _ very large quantities of potatoes are required for his Majesty’s forces. _ chasers. Secondly, last year’s potato crop was below the average, both in Scotland and in certain _ parts of England. In some districts the crop, though fair in amount, proved to be badly NO. 2471, VOL. 99] . 2 planation may be, Dr. Herassimovitch’s investiga-. x group, which gives a large value of K, could | | diseased at lifting time; a sure indication of loss | in store. Exact information as to the total yield | in this country is not available, but it may be The effect of great | q “mass might then be to produce the pressure dis- | placement mentioned by Campbell as a possible _ Herassimovitch points | | of 1916; taken as probable that it does not amount to two- thirds of the average crop. The reasons for the shortage are numerous, but one of the chief is undoubtedly the adverse season lack of labour for hoeing, absence of | supplies of potash manures, and the high price _ There appear to be some difficulties, however, in — Moreover, there is reason | _to believe that the French have been large pur- | of other artificial manures also contributed to the misfortune. In consequence of the partial failure of the crop it was foreseen that prices would rise to a high level, and it was hoped that official action would be taken while the bulk of the crop was in the ground, and before contracts were entered into. The hope was not realised. Warnings were ignored—for to warn. before it is too late is to be premature. More serious than the rise in price of ware (food potatoes) was the rise-in the price of seed. Scotch seed, which, together with Irish, gives a higher yield than English seed, was known to be scarce, and thrifty men, in order to secure seed betimes, paid so much as 25l. to 301. per ton for seed of good varieties. At this stage Prices were fixed—maximum price for last year’s crop, maximum for the crop not yet sown, and for the seed for sowing. The price fixed for next year’s crop had the immediate effect of determining everyone whose patriotism was not very much deeper than his pocket to abandon the idea of growing potatoes, for they knew that a maximum price of 115s.-130s. per ton would mean growing the crop at a loss. Plain men were puzzled to know why a beleaguered city must at all costs save itself from a glut of © potatoes. There was an outcry, and the maxi- mum price for next year’s crop became a minimum. With respect to seed the fixed prices remain: 12l, per ton as a maxjmum, and at the present moment anyone who wants to grow potatoes can, as we are assured by the Board of Agriculture, buy the best seed from the Board at 12l., or from any of the leading seedsmen at double the price. If the article supplied by the Board proves indeed to be the best with respect to origin, size, and trueness to name, purchasers who waited on providence will have reason to laugh at their more provident brother-growers who bought betimes. | The authorities have gone one better than the par- able : the late-come labourers get twopence instead of the penny earned bythose who bore the heat and burden of the day. Nevertheless no public- spirited person will grumble if he can be assured that the Board has dealt justly with the grower of the seed, and is able to supply seed tubers of the best quality at 12l. per ton. - Rather will he incline to a belief -in miracles. The - view is commonly held that there will be too many potatoes grown this year. Facts, however, do not warrant that view. There is a general short- age of corn crops, transport is disorganised, farm lands lack expert labour, artificial manures are dear and scarce, and seed is likely to: be of 28 NATURE inferior quality. ‘ise more the situation is con-~ sidered, the. more imperative appears the need to cultivate every rod of fertile ground. Unless the omens are false, and whether peace come soon or no, all the vegetable produce that can be raised will be sorely needed. | ae PROF. GASTON DARBOUX, For. Mem. R.S. 6 the recent death of the permanent secre- tary of the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of France, mathematical science, and all that it stands for in the evolution of human pro- gress, has suffered a grievous loss. Of dark complexion and large build, which were a con- tinual reminder of his southern Provengal origin, and of the exquisite courtesy which marks .the French man of learning at his best, Prof. Darboux was no stranger in this country. Those who were present in December, 1907, at the great concourse. which followed the remains of Lord Kelvin to his tomb adjacent to that of Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey will remember the striking figure who, in the uniform of the Insti- tute of France, represented the sister nation among the bearers of the pall. Already in those early days of the Entente France made a point to send of her best—Becquerel; Darboux, Lippmann —-to represent her in our national mourning for a man of science whose work had united so hap- pily the genius of the two nations. Later, at the London meeting of the International Association of Academies in 1912, Darboux was naturally prominent as one of the French representatives ; and, though even then showing signs of failing health, he contributed notably as usual, by his tact and moderation and sympathy, to the success- ful issue of business not always easy to negotiate. Jean Gaston Darboux! was born at Nimes on August 13, 1842, in a house which had once been a chapel of the cathedral. seven years of age; and he and his only brother were educated under the anxious care of their mother at. the local lycée, attending as demi-pen- sionnaires, as was not unusual in those days, from six o’clock in the morning until eight in the even- ing. He passed on to the more special classes of the lyeée of Montpelier in 1859, and in 1861 he headed the lists for admission both to the Ecole Polytechnique and to the Ecole Normale. Of these, true to his desire to devote himself to the profession of teaching, he chose the latter, thereby setting a fashion followed in later years by other illustrious men who came out high on both lists. His mother went specially to Paris in order to introduce him to Pasteur, then the scien- tific director of the school. At the Ecole Normale his bent was towards geometry, and he found time for minute study of the classical works of Monge, Gauss, Poncelet, Dupin, Lamé, and Jacobi. In 1864 his own studies on orthogonal surfaces had already borne fruit in the Comptes vendus, and in 1866 he sus- 1 Use has been made for these facts of a monograph on M. Darboux published by M. E. Lebon in x97%0: NO. 2471, VOL. 99| . He lost his father at [Marcu 8, 1917 t tained a memoir “ Sur les surfaces orthogonales ’” as a thesis at the Sorbonne for the doctorate in ~ mathematical science. He then plunged into teaching, to which he had been looking forward, collaborating with Joseph Bertrand in mathemati- cal physics at the Collége de France, and with Bouquet at the Lycée Louis le Grand; but he also. found time to elaborate two of his principal, memojrs, both published in 1870, one on partial differential equations of the second order, the other the famous. treatise, remarquable des courbes et des algébriques.’’ In the latter work was developed’ the theory of cyclides, so named after the special. cyclide surface of Dupin, a study which had been initiated by Moutard and envisaged under more general forms by Kummer. The Irish mathe-. matician Casey published about the same time,, and in the main independently, several very. elegant and elaborate memoirs on the same topic, developed by more purely geometrical methods; and the fascination of their results and the beauty. of the processes attracted great attention to the subject in this country during the succeeding years. It was another instance of the affinity of. the Irish school of mathematics to the French school, on which it had for long been consciously modelled. Near the end of his life Darboux re- turned to this subject and prepared an extended - edition of his earlier work. From 1873 to 1878 he assisted Liouville, then of advanced years and in bad health, in the chair of rational mechanics at the Sorbonne; and some of the fruits of this course are preserved in the elegant and valuable notes, in his best geometrical ~ vein, that he appended to an _ edition of Despeyrous’s ‘“‘Cours de Mécanique.” Darboux finally entered upon his life-work in 1880 in the professorship of Géométrie supérieure which had been founded at the Sorbonne for Chasles in 1846. As part of the activities of this chair he elaborated the great treatise on in- finitesimal geometry, the “Théorie générale des Surfaces,’’ which came out in, four volumes between 1887 and 1896. This constitutes his chief expository work; into it much of his own previous researches is condensed;. and, as usual with the French treatises on analysis, it ramifies into adjoining domains, such as_ general dynamics, whenever the methods of his exposi- tion are. adapted to illuminate such cognate theories. ; He was elected a member of the Académie des Sciences in 1884, and there he gained the highest matk of the ‘esteem and appreciation of his col- leagues in being chosen as Secrétaire perpétuel in 1900. The efficiency and charm with which he executed the delicate duties of that office have been universally recognised. - He held honorary rank in the Universities, amongst others, of Cam- bridge and. Christiania and Kasan: He was elected a foreign honorary member of the Royal Society in’ 1900, and last autumn, just in time, he received the award of its Sylvester medal. JosepH LARMOR. “Sur une classe, _ surfaces Marcu 1B 191 7\. “was given by Mr. Forster, the Financial Secre- to the War Office, in the House of Commons on h x. The waste product in question was fat. knows now that glycerine is obtained from _ even if in the early days of the war this fact was w to certain of our officials whose education had, mably, been exclusively classical, and who were fore unaware that there was any connection be- ‘the supply of fat and the production of ex- es. Beef of medium leanness contains on an e about 20 per cent. of fat, calculated upon the > part of the joints; mutton and pork contain oO cent. On heating these fats with a bn of alkali, the glycerides of which they con- are decomposed, yielding glycerine and soap. oretically, the pure fats should give glycerine approximately to 10°8 per cent. of their weight. érly meat scraps and other table refuse at the aHitar, camps were either destroyed or else sold for Il sum; but the authorities now have these rem- ; collected and sorted, in order that the fatty ions may be used for the making of glycerine. al plants have been erected for this purpose, one this country and one in France, and others are shortly to be installed. It was stated that the present rate of output of glycerine from the food of the troops is 1000 tons annually, and that this quantity. provides propellant explosive charges for approximately twelve bee VOU a half millions of 18-pounder~shells. The War Office sells the glycerine to the Ministry of Munitions - sol. a ton, whereas if it were bought in the United ates it would cost 24ol. a ton. x. FORSTER, referring in the House of Commons the Medical. Service of the Army, stated that as -ds Mesopotamia the War Office has become tly responsible for the medical ariangements in theatre of war. The general conditions there may now be regarded as satisfactory. During the summer there was necessarily some considerable sickness, but the admission rate has steadily diminished since, and e supply of nurses and medical personnel is fully equal at the present iime to that at the other fronts. ‘In France, Salonika, and Egypt the general conditions are , but in East Africa the authorities had to contend with a good deal of malaria g to the exceptionally unhealthy climatic condi- - Oneof the most remarkable features of the whole aign is the almost total disappearance of enteric noid) fever. The last weekly returns.show that » numbers in hospitals suffering from this disease re: France, four cases; Salonika, nine; Egypt, ee; Mesopotamia, eight; total, twenty-four cases. ae number of cases of typhoid fever among British ops in France up to November 1 of last year was ; paratyphoid, 2534; and indefinite cases, 353; a al of 4571. In the South African War nearly 60,000 ses were admitted into hospital, and there were deaths; there were thus approximately twice as ny deaths from typhoid fever in South Africa as ere were cases in France up to November 1 last. admission rate for typhoid fever among those who d not been protected by inoculation was fifteen times Sher than among those who had been inoculated, d the death-rate was seventy times higher! At home hospital system has been deyeloped and extended, the system of utilising the services of the volun- ry aid detachments has been highly successful and is much ciated. Arrangements have been made _ by which the problem of the treatment and training the discharged disabled ‘soldiers will be more effec- ly dealt with. The venereal diseases rate in the NO. 2471, VOL. 99] NATURE. 29, PEE ax. a) (8 a OS re Army. to-day is no higher than it was in ordinary ‘STRIKING example~of the utilisation of waste pro- | times of peace, and every effort. is being made to- reduce the rate still more by the provision of lectures to the troops on the subject in collaboration with the National .Council for the Prevention of . Venereal Diseases. THE report of the committee appointed by the Home Secretary to inquire into the social and economic results of the Summer Time Act, 1916, has just been issued (Cd. 8487, price 3d.). The committee recom- mends: 1. That: summer time should be renewed in 1917 and_in subsequent years. 2. That the period of . the operation of summer time should be from the second Sunday in April to the third Sunday in Sep- tember in each year. 3. That the change from normal to summer time should be made on the night of Saturday—Sunday and the reversion to normal time on the night of Sunday—-Monday. 4. That the varia- tion from normal time should be one hour throughout the whole period. The evidence presented by the com- mittee is not of a very substantial kind, but, taking it as a whole, it leads to the conclusion “‘that the vast preponderance of opinion throughout Great Britain is enthusiastically in favour of summer time, and of its renewal—not only as a war measure, but as a per- manent institution.””. To prevent loss of sleep by chil- dren being permitted to stay up beyond their proper bed-time during the long light evenings, it is recom- mended that all possible steps should be taken by edu- cation authorities through the school medical services and the care committees to ensure that this tendency shall be kept within the narrowest possible limits. The opinions of farmers and others concerned with agricul- ture as to the effects of summer time are more con- flicting than those of any other interests; on many farms and in some entire districts (so far as the agri- cultural community was concerned) the Act was not observed at all. Representatives of the cotton trade complained to tho committee of the inconvenience aris- ing out of the necessity for lighting up the factories in the early morning in the second half of September, and it is partly to meet this objection that the reversion ~ to normal time is to be made at an earlier date this year thar last. Sir Napier Shaw informed the com- mittee that a great deal of confusion arose with ob- servers as regards the hours at which metecrological observations were made, and he remarked : ** From the scientific point of view the discontinuity of hour intro- duces a defect which is fatal, and for which there is no remedy.’’ On this matter the committee expresses the hope that the proposal for a permanent acceleration by one hour of the international service of weather reports will receive further consideration. Po.iricaL questions do not often figure in the pages of scientific journals, and the publication in Science Progress for January (No. 43) of a leading article, - by Mr. W. H. Cowan, M.P., on “Scientific Parlia- mentary Reform” will undoubtedly arouse consider- able discussion. In this article, which treats the present national position from a political point of view, the main issue is largely identical with that urged from the point of view of a man of science in January, 1910, by the late Dr. Johnstone Stoney, F.R.S., in a tract entitled *‘The Danger which in Our Time Threatens British Liberty... In the past Great Britain, -after many struggles, secured a form of representative government that has been adopted as a model by all progressive modern nations. But in recent years there has been an ever-growing tendency to subjugate the will of Parliament to the influence of a Cabinet autocracy which, if unchecked, will reduce what professes to be Parliamentary govern- ment to the worst form of tyranny. A study of Mr. 30 NATURE [Marcu 8, 1917 sf Cowan’s article will convince the reader that at the: present time the average M.P. has practically no opportunity of bringing his capabilities as an inde- pendent expert to bear on problems of national importance. Moreover, under the closure, oppor- tunities for discussion are practically nil, except for a handful of members who are able to catch the ‘*Speaker’s eye,’ and the member who attempts to introduce a private Bill will soon find his attempts stifled by Ministerial and other pressure. As for the control of the House of Commons over finance, this is described as an empty boast, untold millions being voted without discussion at the fag-end of an all-night sitting. While not claiming to propose any final cure for this growing disease of bureaucratic tyranny, Mr. Cowan suggests the following possible remedies : Voting by ballot in divisions of the House; shorter Parliaments; an alteration in procedure enabling a Bill dropped in one session to be taken up at the same stage in the next session; and’ the more con- troversial proposal of ‘‘ Home Rule All Round.” Tue latest issue of the Victorian Naturalist to reach us brings the news of the death of Dr. E. P. Ramsay, of Sydney, at the age of seventy-four years. Dr. Ramsay was best known as curator for many years of the Australian Museum, Sydney, and his ‘‘ Tabular List of Australian Birds” was long the standard index for Australian ornithologists. A LETTER lately received from Dr. Ragnar Karsten, leader of the Swedish expedition in Ecuador, is dated El Tena, East Ecuador, October 10, 1916, and states that the expedition was then half-way along the diffi- cult road from’ Quito to Napo, at which latter place and at Curaray ethnographical studies and collections would be made. SWEDISH papers announce the death, on January 23, in his seventy-first year, of Dr. Edward Welander, the leading specialist on skin and venereal diseases. Many of his published investigations deal with the action of mercury. On one occasion he injected a mercurial preparation into his own arm-muscles, and followed its course through the system by a series of X-ray photographs. He fought these diseases also by popular education, and founded a home for the up- bringing of children with congenital syphilis, an ex- ample followed in other European capitals. THE agricultural institute of Alnarp, Scania, pro- poses to devote a plot of its land and about 4oool. to the erection of a building for studies in heredity, under the direction of H. Nilsson-Ehle, the recently appointed professor at Lund. It will also provide a maintenance grant of 2001. per annum. It is felt that such studies are of the greatest importance at this time, when Sweden is thrown on its own resources in the matter of food production, and the institute is convinced that any material sacrifices it may make for this purpose will be more than repaid by the economic results of the research, on which the insti- tute will naturally have the first claim. ‘Tue Daimler Company, Ltd., has placed at the dis- posal of the council of the Institution of Automobile Engineers a sum of money for the provision of an annual premium of 25]. to be granted to the graduate submitting the best paper on an appropriate subject in any session. institution, 28 Victoria Street, S.W., during Septem- ber of each year. Tue following have been elected ordinary fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; G. B. Burnside, Dr. B. Cunningham, T. C. Day, R. W. Dron, Prof. NO. 2471, VOL. 99] Papers must reach the secretary of the - A. Gibson, J. Harrison, Prof, J.C. Irvine, A. King, Sir Donald Macalister, Rev. H. C. Macpherson, Lieut, © L. W. G. Malcolm, A, E. Maylard, G. F. Merson, F. Phillips, Dr. H. H. Scott, Sir G. A. Smith, Dr. J. Tait, Dr. W. W. Taylor, J. M‘Lean Thompson, W. Thorneycroft, and Prof. D. F. Tovey. pi? WE learn from the Times that the Reconstruction — Committee which was appointed by the late Prime — Minister to advise the Government on the ry national problems that will arise at the end of the war has now been reconstructed. The Prime Minister will be chairman of this committee. Mr. Lloyd — George will, of course, not be able to give continuous attention to the detailed proceedings of the committee, and it is understood that his deputy, on whom the work will fall, will be Mr. Edwin Montagu, the Minister of Munitions in the late Government. __ Tue death is announced, in his ninety-second year, of Mr.. James Forrest, honorary secretary, and for many years the secretary, of the Institution of Civil — Engineers. The famous ‘James Forrest” lecture — of the institution was endowed by him a few years before his retirement, when a presentation was made _ to him by the council. His intention was that the lecture should illustrate the dependence of the engineer in his practical professional work on the mathematical and vhysical sciences. The first lecture was delivered by Dr. W. Anderson in 1893 upon the subject_of ‘The — Interdependence of Abstract Science and Engineering,” and the whole of the lectures form a very valuable — series. : THE report of the Philosophical Institute of Can- terbury, New Zealand, for the year 1916 records that the council has recognised the importance of further- ing the national movement to advance scientific research and extend the application of scientific know- ledge. Addresses on ‘‘ Education and our National Requirements "’ and ‘‘The Importance of Research | to Industry and Commerce,”’ by Mr. G. M. Thomson and Prof. T. H. Easterfield respectively, were arranged with these ends in view. In order that — matters connected with research and the technical application of science should be constantly watched, the council set up a special committee, with Dr. C. C. Farr as hon. secretary. The New Zealand Board of - Industries, having invited the institute to send dele- gates to confer with the Board on matters affecting post-war reconstruction, the council appointed . the president, with Dr. Farr and Dr. Hilgendorf, to act. Application has been made for -part of the 25ol. granted by the Government for research; and investi- ~ gations are being arranged on the phosphate rocks of Canterbury, the deterioration of apples in -cold storage, and the electrical prevention of frosting in — orchards. See eh or eae = Re ee Sr James J. Dossie, president of the Institute of Chemistry, referred, in his presidential address to the | institute on March 1, to the services of professional — chemists in connection with the war. The institute has acted as a chemical clearing-house, assisting public departments and firms engaged on Government work to obtain the chemical service they required. Apart from that, the researches on glass initiated by the institute, particularly the work of Prof. Herbert Jackson, have proved of great value, and have been specially recognised by the President of the Board of Trade. After indicating a number of new industrial developments which call for the help of practical chemists, the president advocated the extension of the training of chemists, particularly in higher physics and physical chemistry, and, therefore, the adoption of a four, instead of a three, years’ course, ‘He em- / Marcu 8, 1917] NATURE 31 Aaliasised. the importance of mechanics to chemists rhe 9 intend to practise in industry, and recommended ‘training as wide as possible for chemists generally. : lig oh the recent discussions on the subjects of education and the reform of the school curriculum, he eriony what was termed “‘ generalised science,’ by which the supposed was meant a composite course, including a little physics, a little chemistry, a little Diology, and a little of everything else, and suggested ‘that school science should be as simple as possible, al that the first place should be given to mechanics experimentally treated, as being essential to the study ol all other experimental science. *. Mr. J. W..Ocitvy, secretary of the Microscopical Section of the Young Men’s Christian Association, ‘sent us a copy of the report just issued. The ject- of this section is to give exhibitions and deliver oath on microscopical subjects to the troops in the and hospitals in the Metropolitan and Home ties areas; for this purpose sixty-five micro- ists have volunteered their services. For. the ee months October to December, 1916, seventy- ‘three exhibitions have been held and twenty-two lec- ‘tures delivered, all branches of natural history, to- gether with physiotogy and pathology, being dealt ‘with. One of the most popular lectures is entitled “Some Huns of the Microscopical World,” which treats of some of the disease-producing micro- ganisms, and in which the opportunity is taken to refer to syphilis, its causation and spread. There is ; evidence among the troops that venereal dis- eases ‘are’ spread to a considerable extent through ignorance and thoughtlessness, and an endeavour is being made to enlighten the men upon the subject. These lectures and demonstrations have proved a _ reat success, and it is proposed in the near future to commence a series of Saturday and Sunday after- . noon rambles for munition boys. — ? Mr. A. H. Situ, of the British Museum, contri- _butes to vol. xxxvi., part ii., of the Journal of the Hellenic Society for Ig16, an interesting account of the history of the acquisition of the marbles B of the Parthenon by Lord Elgin, and of their purchase Pay the British Government. The late Lord Elgin, on the centenary of the acquisition of this collection ; _by the public, placed in Mr. Smith’s hands all his | papers eaine on the subject, his desire being that the episode of the marbles should appear in its due rtion in a full biography of his distinguished . _ grandfather, the other aspects of his career being dis- cussed by Sir Harry Wilson, K.C.M.G. We have now a full collection of the original letters and reports dealing with this collection, the glory of the British Museum. An important incident is that of the work _ of Signor Giovanni Battista Lusieri, by whose efforts, _in a large measure, the operations were successtully completed. By an unlucky accident. an important _ collection of drawings and some artistic objects were lost in the wreck of the Cambrian, a 48-gun frigate, commanded by. Capt. Hamilton, wrecked on the Coast of Crete on January 31, 1828. The ship was _ attacked by pirates, and it was necessary to abandon her at once, without saving even the ship’s dog and muster-book, with the large case containing the drawings. THERE is happily a very general desire among us _ that such wild spots as still remain to us in these islands should, so far as possible, be jealously guarded. _ Thus. the announcement in the Press of February 22, to the effect that Sir Thomas Acland had placed some seven or eight thousand acres of Exmoor under the guardianship of the National Trust, will be very welcome. ‘A lease has been granted the trust for the NO. 247I, VOL. 99] next five hundred years. By arrangement, Sir Thomas and his successors will continue to enjoy the rents and profits and all the ordinary rights and powers of an owner, except that the owner will have no power to develop the land as a building estate. Pror. E. C. Starks, in the Leland Stanford Junior University Publications, University Series, gives a valuable. survey of that extraordinarily variable bone in the: mandible of fishes, the sesamoid articular, illustrated by numerous figures. He confirms the opinion of Dr. W. G. Ridewood that it is to be re- garded as a sesamoid. Contrary to the views of some earlier investigators, he regards the sesamoid articular as useless as a factor in the classification of groups larger than species, as it often differs within the genus. Nor until much more extensive investigations have been made will it be possibie, he considers, to pronounce upon its value in differentiating species. AMONG the vast numbers of Brent geese which visit our shores during the winter months a considerable sprinkling occurs of the American form (Bernicla leucogaster). Until now it has been supposed that this sub-species occurred with greatest frequency on the Northumberland coast, where, indeed, it appears to be more abundant than the British B. brenta; and the same is apparently true in regard to its numbers on the south-east coast of Ireland. While it has been by no means regarded as a rarity in Scotland, it seems possible that further observation may show that it is of far commoner occurrence than was sup- posed. For the Misses Rintoul and Baxter, in the Scottish Naturalist for February, record the fact that an examination of the specimens of Brent geese in the Royal Scottish Museum shows that the, large majority belong to the American race. Str FREDERICK TREVES, in the Observer of Feb- ruary 25, directs attention to the grave results likely to follow from the introduction of the American grey squirrel into Richmond Park. Not only has it driven out our native red squirrel, but it has also now spread beyond the confines of the park into adjoining gar- dens, working serious damage there. ‘They eat everything that can be eaten, and destroy twenty times more than they eat.’ The buds and shoots of young trees, apples, pears, and stone fruits, peas, and strawberries are all laid under a heavy contribution. Already it seems the Office “of Works has given orders for the destruction of these pests. . The order, however, has- come somewhat late, for they have already made their way into the open country of Surrey with a steady persistence and in good force. ‘“ When it has reached the fruit-gardens and young plantations of Surrey and Kent, we shall hear more.” We are evidently in grave danger of having another very practical lesson in the folly of ‘acclimatisa- tion,’ of which the rabbit in Australia forms a familiar and awful example. ALL interested in the formation and management of War Food Societies will find useful guidance in Special Leaflet No. 32 of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, of which a revised edition is now available. Examples of what has already been done by war food societies and women’s institutes since the first issue of the leaflet are now given. It is of interest to note that the Women’s Institute at Cric- cieth, with a membership of about eighty, realised in the first nine months more than 2o0l. by the sale of surplus: produce beyond home requirements. In- structions are. given as to how a food society or women’s institute may. be started, and numerous suggestions are made as to the different directions in which their activities may be» exercised. Special attention is directed to the powers now conferred 32 NATURE. [Marcu 8; 1917 upon the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries for securing the use of unoccupied land for purposes of food production. In view of the difficulty of securing delivery of basic slag, superphosphate, and other phosphatic manures, the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries asks farmers not to apply phosphates to meadows and pastures during the remainder of the present season. All available supplies should be re- served for other crops, especially for roots and pota- toes. Having regard to the short supplies, it is not advisable to apply more than three-fourths of the usual dressings of these phosphatic manures, since better results may be expected from the same total weight of manure if the whole area under any par- ticular crop is manured lightly than if a part is heavily dressed and the balance left without artificial manure. This rule applies only where the land is uniform in quality. In those cases in which farmers know that certain fields are poorer than others the manurial treatment must be adapted to the special conditions. Where land in good condition can be given full dressings of farmyard manure, artificial phosphatic manures may often be omitted without materially reducing the crops. Ar the meeting of the Society of Glass Technology, held at the University of Sheffield on February 15, some samples of glass manufactured from British sands were exhibited by Mr. C. J. Peddle, but the principal business of the meeting was the discussion of the effect of the temperature at which the annealing of glass is carried out on the time required by the process. Contributions to the discussion were made by Mr. F. Twyman, of Messrs. Adam Hilger, Ltd., London, and by Mr. S. English, of the Glass Tech- nology Department of the University of Sheffield. As the temperature is raised towards the softening point of the glass, the speed at which the internal strains dis- appear is increased, and the object is to find for each type of glass the highest temperature at which it is safe to carry out the annealing process. The observa- tions are conveniently made on a glass.rod mounted between Nicol prisms, so that light passing through the system shows the rings and cross characteristic of a uniaxial crystal. As the annealing proceeds the rings disappear, and the times of disappearance of the last four rings were found in a particular sample of glass to be as follows: At 500°C. 1230 minutes, at 550° C. 50, at 600°C. 20, and at 625°C. 12. These temperatures are all considerably below that of actual softening of the glass. VoL. xii. of ‘‘Contributions from the Jefferson Physical and the Cruft High-tension Electrical Laboratories of Harvard University”? for the year 1915 consists of reprints of nineteen papers, the out- come of researches aided financially by the Coolidge fund for research, the Bache fund of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Rumford fund of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The volume extends to 400 pages, and is a record of which Har- vard may well feel proud. The Cruft laboratory pro- vides two of the nineteen papers—one by Mr. Cutting on the design of radiotelegraphic trans- formers, another by Mr. E. L. Chaffee on coupled circuits. Of the Jefferson laboratory contributions, that of the director, Dr. T. Lyman, is of special interest, as it extends the ultra-violet end of the spectrum to wave-length 600 Angstrém units. Dr. P. W. Bridgman’s five valuable contributions occupy a large share of the volume, and deal with the effect - of great pressures on the temperature and velocity of transition of polymorphic forms of the same sub- NO. 2471, VOL. 99| stance into each other. Altogether, 150 substances: — have been examined, and it is unfortunate that the — polymorphic diagrams obtained show no tendency to — fall into simple types. The subject appears to be very _ complicated, and Dr. Bridgman suggests that the — explanation of the great variety of behaviour of the — different substances must be sought in shapes of the atoms. A copy of the Year-Book of the Scientific and — Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ireland, 1916, has been received from Messrs. Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd. This, the thirty-third annual issue of a ~ useful work of reference, contains a record compiled — from official sources of the work done in science, literature, and art during the session 1915-16 by numerous societies and Government institutions. The list of societies dealt with is remarkably comprel sive; but the plan of selection is not always clear. Under the section entitled Psychology, for instance, ° space has been found for particulars of the Nature Study Society and the School Nature Study Union, but nowhere in the volume have we found data’ con- cerning the work of. say, the Association of Public-- School Science Masters. Similarly, under the section Literature and History, the English Association is: included, while the Historical Association is over- looked. The man of science, however, will find the volume as useful as ever in discovering the work done ject during the year under review. _ the actual — in his particular subj The book is published at 7s. 6d. net. = AN interesting and very full botanical catalogue (New Series, No. 77) has just been issued by Messrs. — J. Wheldon and Co., 38 Great Queen Street, W.-C. It comprises floras of all countries, and is arranged most conveniently according to the countries dealt with. Many of the works are scarce. We notice that several belonged to the late Sir Joseph Hooker. Pror. FRASER Harris writes to correct an error made by him in his letter in NarureE of January 18 (p. 389) on the introduction of the term “‘ metabolic.” He referred to the first edition of Foster’s ‘‘ Text-book of Physiology” as having been published in 1883, whereas it appeared in 1877. Petre eee, ~ OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. | Errect oF Haze ON SOLAR RoTaTION MEASURES.— Attention has previously been directed to-Mr. De Lury’s suggestion that the apparent variations in the _ rate of solar. rotation, as determined by the spectro-— graphic: method at different times, and from different lines, might .be accounted for by variations in the haziness of the sky (NaTURE, vol. xcviii., p. 99). Messrs. — St. John and Adams have since made observations to test the possible influence of haze, and have found that to obtain equality of density in photographs of the spectra at points just outside and just within the sun’s limb, it was necessary to give exposures in the - ratio of too to 1. These observers concluded that, under the usual working conditions at Mt. Wilson, scattered radiation is a negligible factor, and is not_ a probable source of error in the observations of solar rotation (Journ. R.A.S., Canada, voi. x., p. 553). In a further note on the subject (ibid., vol. xi., p. 23) Mr. De Lury points out that the density of a negative is pro- portional to a power of the time, usually within the range 0-6 to o-9, and that equal densities with a ratio of 100 in- the times of exposure would correspond to- a ratio of scattered light to limb light ranging from. 6-3 to 1-6 per cent. A probable value would be about 4 per cent., which would produce about half the effect noted in the Mt. Wilson observations, and, allowing | [arcu 8,:1917] NATURE 33 *circumstances, could conceivably account phele effect... If atmospheric haze ‘be. proved ent; it is. alternatively suggested that the ial effects: may possibly be accounted. for by g the production of a spectrum of non-rotating the solar atmosphere. lat SATELLITE OF JUPITER —An -investigation -and Shapley to estimate its diameter as een ir and 17 miles (The Observatory, ks From photographs of this tiny object e 60-in. reflector at Mt. Wilson, the ic magnitude at. mean opposition was D 18-6,. as compared with 17-5 and 18-0 for th and ‘eighth satellites respectively. Allow- b lour-index of one magnitude, the r of the ninth satellite at mean opposi- '§ out at 0-006" or 0-009", according to the d for the visual albedo, and these lead ; of diameter stated above. ANY’S EFFORT TO OBTAIN ITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS. THOU H elementary nitrogen is not only use- _ less, positively antagonistic, to the life of rea animals (except to that of some bacteria take” free nitrogen from the atmosphere and it to the roots of leguminous plants), combined _decmgeraed necessary for their metabolism. imals obtain nitrogen from the vegetables they con- ane from the nitrogenous constituents of the ‘obtains part of its combined nitrogen vegetable matter and from the waste of animals; thé remainder has to be added. - chief forms in which it is added are sodium ‘and ammonium sulphate, which to a large are interchangeable. But for the manufacture sodium nitrate is absolutely necessary > Seren: . sulphate useless. Germany, fore- : y of . Chilean nitrate would off by the blockade of the British Fleet, “with irremediable disaster unless it could in a sufficient stock before declaring war, or methods of synthesising nitric acid. "The in which this difficulty has been overcome is ed by Prof. Camille Matignon in the Revue énérale des Sciences (January 15 and 30). Before war Germany was the greatest consumer of com- aed nitrogen. In 1913 the consumption amounted to tons of Chilean nitrate, 35,000 tons of Nor- an nitrate, 46,000 tons of ammonium sulphate, 30,000 tons of cyanamide. {n 1913 great efforts devoted in Germany to the preparation of mate- dals necessary for war, and no attempt: was made to conceal them. The German Ammonium Sulphate cate had a reserve of 43,000 tons, and on the ration of war there was probably a stock of 00,000 tons of Chilean nitrate. Immediately after » battle of the Marne, when a long war was dently certain, the production of artificial nitrates 5or ammonium sulphate was stimulated, the che Aniline Company and Bayer and Co. being dised t> the extent of 30,000,000 marks for the lation of factoriés to convert ammonia into nitric i. Im peace time 550,000 tons of ammonium hate were produced annually in Germany, but this was feduced once war was declared. As this lance is a: ere. in the manufacture of gas le in Germany were instigated to e instead of coal, and by such means No. 2471, VOL. 99! ninth satellite of Jupiter has led Messrs. . sulphate was attained. The problem of converting the ammonia into nitrie acid was solved by the Frank and Caro and. the Kayser processes. A French chemist, Kuhlmann, had discovered that ammonia is oxidised to nitrogen peroxide when mixed with air and passed over warm, finely divided platinum. The reaction. was employed on a commercial scale by Ost- - wald, and improved both by Kayser and by Frank and Caro. By the end of 1915 the Amhaltische Maschinenbau Society of Berlin had established thirty installations for the conversion by Frank and Caro’s _process, and these had a capacity of more than 190,000 tons of nitric acid per month. But this was only one of the methods adopted. Given a cheap source of electrical energy, it was known to be com- mercially practicable to prepare nitric acid by the direct oxidation of nitrogen in the electric flame, and this process had been established in Norway by Birke- land and Eyde, who used the waterfalls as a source of energy. The Germans have established a factory employing Pauling’s process (a modification of that of Birkeland and Eyde) at Muhlenstein, in Saxony,. in the neighbourhood of the lignite beds, which form the source of energy, and this has an annual output of 6000 tons of nitric acid. The third principal method adopted for the prepara— tion of combined nitrogen was the direct synthesis of ammonia. Bosch and Mittasch, two chemical engineers of the Badische Company, had adapted Haber’s synthesis to industrial conditions, and the company had established a factory with an annual out- put of 30,000 tons of synthetic ammonium sulphate- In April, 1914, the company increased its capital in order to raise the output to 130,000 tons, and after the battle of the Marne it was subsidised by the Ger- man Government :to increase the production to 300,000 tons. Before the war the oitidiat cms of cyanamide i in Ger- many was comparatively small, buf it has increased largely under Government stimulus. The cyanamide manufacturers ‘desired:a monopoly, but this was op- posed by the: Badische and other companies and by the gas manufacturers, and the project seems’ to have been: abandoned. In the direction of the manufacture of manures, it was. necessary to €conomise sulphuric’ acid, so ammonia was neutralised with nitre cake, ‘and the resulting mixture of sodium and ammonium sulphates was mixed with superphosphate. Moreover, it was found that superphosphate will absorb gaseous ammonia, and although the calcium acid’ phosphate is thereby converted into the inscluble tricalcic phos- phate, it is formed in an easily assimilable condition, and the product is found by experience to act both as a nitrogen and phosphorus manure. Prof. Matignon seems to be correct in claiming that chemistry has saved Germany from Seat H. SUBSIDENCE RESULTING FROM MINING. PH very important question of subsidence result- ing from mining operations has ‘recently been discussed in a bulletin issued by the Engineering’ Experiment Station of the University of Illinois. The report is prepared by Dr. L. E. Young, mining en- gineer for the Illinois Coal Mining Investigations, and Prof. H. H. Stock, professor of mining engineering in the University ‘of Hlinois, under a co-operative agreement between the Uni » aS represented by its Engineering Experiment Station, the Illinois State Geological Survey, and: the United ‘States Bureau of Mines. Apparently, whilst we in this*country content ourselves with talking aie the’ need: for closer co- 34 NATURE [Marcu 8, 1917 operation between the technical faculties of our univer. sities and the industries concerned, in America such co-operation is already an established fact, and reports such as the present one show evidence of its value. This bulletin is merely a preliminary one, present- ing a complete and concise account of what is known up to the present on the subject of subsidences due to mining operations, and the authors have done their work in a most thorough and painstaking fashion, and have missed very little of the published information on the subject, in spite of the difficulty of bringing it together from the large number of scattered records through which it is disseminated. It need scarcely be said that the subject is one of the greatest importance in this country, where so many of our most densely populated industrial centres are situated upon the coalfields themselves. The problem whether large masses of coal should be left in the form of supporting pillars, and thus be permanently lost to the nation, or to what extent it is advisable to remove them, with the risk, or even with the cer- tainty, of causing a certain amount of surface damage, is obviously one of first-rate importance, especially at times like the present, when thé proper conservation and full utilisation of our natural resources demand our utmost attention. Messrs. Young and Stock have contented them- selves with summarising the theories on subsidence promulgated by various writers, notably the Belgian, French, Prussian, and Austrian theories; there cannot really be said to be any British or American theories, although various. British engineers. have proposed formulas, notably for determining the angle of ‘‘ draw,” and the size of the coal pillars that must be left in order adequately to protect any given area of sur- face; the wide divergence of these various formulas is well shown by a diagram, reproduced from a paper ‘by Prof. George Knox, which shows that some of these give results ten times as great as those given ‘by others, The introductory notice to the present bulletin sug- gests that the Illinois authorities propose to study the problem in a systematic fashion, by taking careful levels across selected groups of mines at regular in- tervals, and simultaneously noting the conditions’ of the underground workings, such observations to be continued for a number of years, when it may be hoped that it will be found possible to correlate sur- face subsidences and underground workings, and thus to obtain data that will enable the conditions of maximum economy to be determined: This is a sub- ject that might with the greatest advantage be taken up on similar lines by one or other of the committees formed to deal with industrial research in this ‘country. H: Ez FURTHER STUDIES IN PLANT GENETICS. HE September number of the American Naturalist . (vol. 1., No. 597) is devoted to studies of inherit- ance in plants. Dr. H. H. Bartlett writes on “The ‘Status of the Mutation Theory, with especial reference to CEnothera.” He “finds incredible the arguments that have been brought forward in favour of the idea that mutation and Mendelian segregation are the same.”’ Nevertheless, it still remains to be decided “whether or not mutation is always, or ever, condi- ‘tioned by previous hybridisation.” “Dr. O. E. White describes some researches in continuation of Mendel’s original subject—the. inheritance of cotyledon colour ‘in Pisum. Alleged differences between the colour of segregated seeds of the F, generation and those of the original -parents = are . attributed to environmental . changes : yellow-cotyledon varieties may produce green NO. 2471, VOL. 99| ‘and the third, solution of the unamalgamated ‘still remaining by means of sodium cyanide solution, seeds because of immaturity, absence of sunlight, or excess of moisture, while green-cotyledon varieties may — fade to yellow or yellowish-green through excess of — sunlight. In one variety—‘‘ Goldkénig "—with yellow cotyledons, the yellow colour is, contrary to the usual. rule, recessive to green, This form “may be regarded — as lacking both the factor for causing green pigment. and the factor for causing that pigment to fade on the maturity of the seed.’’ When ‘‘Goldkénig”’ is crossed with yellow-seeded varieties in which i yellowness is dominant, the F, generation are all yellow-seeded, and © the F, generation are segregated in the proportion of three green to thirteen (9+3+ 1) yellow. ‘Inheritance of Sex in the Grape” is discussed by W. D. Valleau. - Wild vines bear flowers which are functionally either male or female, but the carpels or pistils are respectively present in a reduced condition ; the plants are thus transitional between the herm- aphrodite and the dicecious form. Functional herm- aphrodites, however, appear in cultivation. eee * experiments suggest that ‘‘both the staminate an functionally pistillate vines carry the determiners for na wha and maleness, respectively, partially sup- pressed.” The Journal of Genetics for September (vol. vi., No. 1) is completely occupied by Prof. A. H. Trow’s analysis of form and inheritance in the common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris). In a long paper he dis- cusses the number of nodes and their distribution along the main axis in this species and its segr Dividing the families of plants studied into “low” (9-16 nodes), ‘‘medium” (18-26 nodes), and “high” (30-31 nodes), he finds that medium characters are dominant to both low and high, and infers, therefore, the existence of two pairs of alternative determinants. However, from the cross ‘‘medium” x “high” there emerge families with from 36-39 nodes, forming a “very high” group; this ‘‘ segregates out from * : as a recessive”? ates. other anomalous results were obtained, and the author - foresees many years’ work before definite conclusions can be reached. In a short paper Prof. Trow dis- cusses the inheritance of ‘“‘albinism” in groundsel ; he finds that in some forms the expected ratio of green to white plants as 15 to.1 is obtained in the F, genera- tion; in others it is unaccountably departed from. THE ORGANISATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY AND RE-. SEARCH.* OUTH AFRICA is a country which has hitherto existed, and still does at the present moment exist, on its rich stock of raw materials. Its exports, in addition to the raw. products of agriculture, are ‘chiefly metals, crude and unrefined, and diamonds uncut. The chief chemical industry is the prepara- ‘tion of raw gold bullion from the quartzitic ore of This is carried out in three operations — the Transvaal. —the first being fine pulverisation by mechanical means; the second, amalgamation with mercury; gold followed by reprecipitation with excess of zine shav- ings and final treatment of the metal, so as to get rid of as much of the base metal present as possible before pouring into commercial bars. The major portion of the plant necessary for these operations consists of iron and steel, and the raw materials for their manufacture exist in comparative aburdance in _ the Transvaal. A thorough and scientifically com-— 1 From the presidential address delivered to Section B—Chemistry, : Geology, Metallurgy, Mineralogy, and Geography—of the South African ‘ Association for the Advancement of Science at the Maritzburg meeting, * July 4, 1926, by Prof. J. A. Wilkinson, From the cross “low” x ‘high’ Marcu 8, 1917]: NATURE 35 perteation of these has not yet been under- in the interests of the country at large anu ly. of the metal industry this should be om the first, since iron is the most important necessity ri rogress of every kind. The norma. lue of t he iron and steel imports into the country ial is almost one million pounds, and with ai ding population this. must rapidly increase, as = is, practically speaking, no industry, operation, even trade for which it is not necessary in some fc fm or other.. One small manufactory is working it Vereeniging, but this is not engaged in the pro- jon of cast iron from the raw ore and its sub- en conversion into steel of known and definite ition; and, further, what is being done is not, as I am aware, under strict chemical control, ed. ee of the chemist in the control of matter its energy content is imperfectly, if at all, under- 90d, even in industries such as this, where one zht at least that the methods which have een successful, and hence adopted in their entirety 1 other countries, would be followed here. _ The second process mentioned involves the use of : which must necessarily be cyanide and zinc are concerned, the imports which amount to half a million sterling, and both aon can be manufactured here. The former can _ obtained indirectly from atmospheric nitrogen zh cyanamide, which would find great use as i uctificial manure, and thus stimulate agricultural = rogress. In point of fact, the Rand may be said to be responsible for this great and growing dustry, since it was the search for a new method of ‘preparing cyanide that first discovered the reaction. a ‘blende is also found native, and the winning of e metal offers no great difficulty. — re ee mining of gold ore or other mineral deposits would be, practically speaking, impossible without e use of explosives, and to meet this necessity three ge explosive factories have been established in the antry, all of which are entirely dependent for their materials on other countries. The value of these ‘imports in 1913, the last completely normal pre-war period, was as follows :—Sulphur, 78,3861.; nitrates, 9 -235,9841..; glycerine, 563,014I.; or a total of. $77,384l., - iron pyrites not being given. Of these, no large _ deposits of sulphur or pure pyrites are known to exist in South Africa, but nitric acid and its salts can now prepared in any quantity from the nitrogen present ‘the atmosphere, and glycerine is a by-product in manufacture of soap, factories for which have _ recently been erected here. The production of the oils for the latter purpose would necessitate the provision of artificial fertilisers, an industry of prime importance for the progress of every branch of agriculture. Happily the problem of “the transference of atmospheric nitrogen to the _ Fequirements of the soil. first stated by Sir William Crookes in his classic address to the British Associa- E> tion at Bristol in 1896, has now been solved in varions ways, two of which have been indicated, and _would therefore serve, if established. a double function. Unfortunately deposits of potassium salts _ Or mineral phosphates of any large extent and derree of purity have not hitherto been discovered here: _ but in this respect South Africa is in no worse case than most other countries. and hence this problem is _ by no means insoluble. The manufacture of suner- vate. however. could and should be undertaken. . E the vahie imported in 1013 beine o<.2721.. and of raw g phosvh ates only r7oxl. It should also be mentioned in this connection that more than 132 million pounds NO. 247I, VOL. 99] _imported at. one to two million pounds, of basic slag, a by-product of the steel industry, were imported in 1914—another valid argument ‘for ine creauon of the latter. With regard to potassium salts there are no deposits of easy chemical access outside the celebrated Stassfurt beds, but there are sources within South Africa which could be realised it the necessity arose. Returning again to the consideration of the exports of the country, we find that copper ore and matte, tin _ ore, lead ore, and raw asbestos, along with coal and diamonds, form the remainder. It is, indeed, a sad refiection that we must needs export these raw materials, as such, without making even the slightest attempt to extract their valuable contents or work them up in any manner whatsoever, but rather in addition pay freightage on admixed dross. A piti- able confession of failure in very truth, since the paths are easy and rendered still more so by the value of the prospect! If the Chinaman and the Malay are capable enough to win the tin from its ore, why should we hesitate? A successful industry must be founded upon, and controlled by, true scientific knowledge, and the trans- formations of matter form the province of the chemist, whether it be the manufacture of the food on which we live, the bricks, lime, and cement with which we build our homes, the medicines to cure our in- firmities, the paper and ink to disseminate and pre- serve our ideas, or the explosives we use as weapons of destruction. South Africa has been endowed beyond measure with rich stores of useful minerals, and whilst- these are being exploited she is dependent entirely on others to supply her most elementary wants. Thought- less criticism might saddle me with lack of a due sense of proportion in that the economics of these possible industries have been left wholly out of con- sideration. In this regard I maintain that the duty of a country is to its own people, and the primary necessity is to furnish, so far as it can do so, its own immediate requirements. South Africa is not nearly at present so self-contained as is possible, and hence the necessity for the establishment of chemical in- dustry in our midst is, in every sense, a vital one. Private enterprise has to some extent made a begin- ning, as illustrated by the success of the soap and cement factories established within the last few years, but the coal industry is still confined to the utilisation of the raw material accompanied by the waste and loss of its most valuable by-products.” There are two points of view which make this par- ticular industry of supreme importance—first, the defence of the country; and, secondly, conservation of its natural resources. Phenol, benzene, and tolu- ene are three of the most important distillates obtained from coal tar, and apart from their own use as motor fuels, when treated with nitric acid these substances yield on one hand the highest explosives at present known, and on the other the mother substances for the preparation of dyes, drugs, and perfumes. Lord Beaconsfield once said that the prosperity of a country could be gauged by the extent of its- chemical industry, a statement which was received by his contemporaries with scorn and derision. The years which hate elapsed since then have proved, as is often the case, that his words were not the accident of an impulsive verbosity, but the reasoned verdict of a deliberative mind. The realisation of this dictum has been most profoundly shown by the stupendous proeress in chemical industry made by Germany during the last forty years, especially in the domain of organic chemistry. It may appeal to some to state here that Germany’s great chemical factories, each with a capital of from paid dividends out of 36 NATURE [Marcy 8, 1917 rofits varying from 14 per cent. to 30 per cent. in pe 3, and oe a specific example may be quoted the firm of F. Bayer and Co., of Elberfeld, which on a capital of 1,800,000l1. made a net profit of 838,o92/., figures which remind one of a rich Transvaal gold mine. If we leave out of consideration .the exploitation of her metalliferous minerals, which will in the not far distant future be but memories, South Africa may be considered as a country where chemical industry is, practically speaking, non-existent. Hence, to pre- pare the nation for the future prosperity we should so earnestly desire to see attained, the obligation rests upon this generation to develop, at the earliest pos- sible moment, those chemical industries, in the first place, needful. for its own existence, and only when this has been achieved to attempt an expansion beyond its borders. The second portion of my theme relates to the organisation of chemical industry and.the part which research should play therein.. Reference has already been made'to the enormous progress which Germany has made in this direction, but, unfortunately, it has © required a war of the present dimensions to pierce — the armour-plated conservatism of the governing classes in England, and, even yet, it is a matter. of grave doubt whether much impression has been made. By way of preface it would, perhaps, at this stage _ be of interest to take a few illustrations of the manner in which some of Germany’s chemical industries have risen to their present state of flourishing activity, and although the-story is an oft-repeated tale, con- stant reiteration does not yet seem to have brought home the lessons it teaches. I shall first refer to the synthetic preparation of indigo. ~ The synthesis of indigo was first accomplished by Nencki in 1876, but it was not until Bayer and his pupils had five or six years later thoroughly investi- gated and proved its constitution that simple methods for its: synthesis became available. The next. step, namely, the translation of the laboratory methods thus discovered .into commercially economic processes, proved a source of extreme difficulty, in which success was only achieved after nearly one million pounds had been spent on innumerable and laborious experiments, and at the end of seventeen years’ work, artificial indigo prepared from the naphthalene of coal tar being first put‘on the market in 1897. If anything can excite our admiration, surely this example of one of the finest industrial achievements known to science should do so. The result of this vast amount of labour and expenditure is shown in the following table given by Prof. P. F. Frankland in 1915 in a paper on the ‘chemical industries of Germany :— Indigo. British East Indies Germany cwt. Value of exports ‘i Imports Exports 1896 188,337 3,569,670 1,036,000 319,550 1899 135,187 1,980,319 415,450 . 392,250 1902 89,750 1,234,837 184,350 923,100 1905 49,252 556,405 60,100 1,286,050 1908 32,490 424,849 44,100 1,932,750 IQIt 16,939 225,000 22,300 2,091,500 IQI3-14 60 to 70,000 In 1895-96 the acreage under cultivation was. ap- ‘proximately 1,400,000 acres, and on December 31, 1915, the Indian Trade Journal (Calcutta) published an estimate that the total area in I915 Was 314,300 acres, as compared with 148,400 acres in .1914, this Increase being due to the high prices ruling on account of the war and the cessation of the German industry. _The total yield was estimated at 39,000 cwt., as against 25,200. cwt., the revised estimate for 1914-15, and the average output per acre 14 1b., NO. 2471, VOL. 99] . as against ,19 Ib. in the preceding year. The price of indigo (100 per cent.) in 1897 was 16s, per kil oF) | pe 7S, kill, and there are still dyers who prefer to use the natural dye. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the production of the latter would have _ been insignificant in comparison with that of the ‘ synthetic material, as happened in the previously well- | _ known and analogous case of the dye-alizarin, for- merly extracted from madder-root. The indigo fields would have shared the same fate as those of the madder. eis sare The tannin industry in this province is in a similar position to that in which the indigo industry found itself about 1880-82. The master synthesis of tannin was effected in 1913 by Prof. Emil Fischer and Dr. Karl Freudenberg in Berlin. The formula of tannin is now known with a great degree of certainty, and the researches are still being continued. The next step is the commercial utilisation of this knowledge, which means the synthetic production of artificial ' tannin on a commercial scale from raw materials found in Germany. This, as. stated above, in the case of indigo took seventeen years’ work and one million pounds in money. Fie The value of the tannin bark industry to Natal is approximately 300,000l. per annum. . The problem which confronts the industry in this province is therefore how, whilst there is still time, to. protect it against any competition which might possibly arise from the presence on the market of - an. artificial substitute. The answer to this may be put in.the form of a question. If, during the years 1880-96, the indigo planters of India had invested one million pounds in the scientific investigation and development of their industry, would they ‘have for one moment feared to have faced competition at the end of that period? This would have meant an ex- penditure to the extent of between 50,0001. and 60,0001, per. annum for seventeen years invested so. as to obtain results which would not only have made the future secure, but at the same time would also have increased the output annually during the period of its outlay. In point of faet; it would in all probability have placed vegetable indigo beyond competition. Moreover, just as India was compelled to. export the indigo which she grew, so also must Natal: at present export her tannin bark - until the chemical industry of leather manufacture be: estab- lished here, in which case the leather would be re- quired to stand the strain of the competitive market. In passing, it may be noted here that of the twenty- five large classes into which Germany officially divides -material connected with chemical industry, one of the- divisions is ‘‘ tanning extracts *? and another ‘‘dyes and dye material.’ ie \ ~ ae NATURE. $f n both these industries, the production of indigo tannin, the problems are so very similar that Tesson of the formet should be the incentive for latter in the superlative degree. It is oft-times the “wail of the’ profitmonger that the industry will not “stand*the expense,’’ and in annual balance-sheets look in’ vain for the record of “‘investments ” in future ‘of the industry itself. The work of the anist -and- chemist is the corner-stone upon which sé organisations must-not only be built up initially, also must be conducted throughout. Each must had the highest training possible, must be thor- skilled in his work, thoroughly conversant has been done, and must be selected for h all that -horse is outdistanced by the aeroplane. industry requires a complex organisation ling with the chemist and ending with the ee and serie salesman, sometimes ilso the machinery for running to earth patent thefts Gee Saadaindt iitatcds. . “But at the outset the chemist is the most important for in chemical industry, because it is in the first upon his work that the operations depend. may seem to some a self-evident truth, but, as chemist, I can give the assurance that it is, unfor- tunately, othérwise in most instances in South Africa, with, of course, resuits which are easily foretold; in fact, this is one of the main reasons why our chemical _ products are not up to the standard of imported goods. Given the chemist and the problem of the industry to be undertaken, the next procedure_is its complete investigation—in other words, to ascertain as much . f what is already known, for which access . nnine as will’ givé some clue to the difficulties ‘be encountered on the large scale, for which purpose the establishment of a properly equipped laboratory is sable. If these meet with succéss, and the industry is undertaken, tlie laboratory can be utilised to aid the engineer in selecting the best materials of construction, until such time as it is necessary for controlling the daily routine. At the same time, it serve as an instrument of research with the view of improving methods of daily control; methods of manufacture, and the discovery of new methods or processes. Whether eny or all of the functions be efficiently performed depends on the equipment and staff of the laboratory, but more especially on the man _who is the head. Routine operations soon become to _ a certain extent standardised, and can be carried out _ efficiently by well-trained assistants, but research work _ of the beneficial kind can only be effectively performed _ by the head of the laboratory in touch with every phase _ of the manufacturing process, or by chemists specially _ appointed for this purpose working independently. _ The sad aspect of the snecial cases with which we are _ concerned here is that it has hitherto been considered _ sufficient for these industries to emplov business men = and engineers alone, all excellent in their own lines, but _ quite unfitted to govern’ an industry the fundamental _ basis of which is a chemical process. This; in fact. is one of the chief reasons why England lost her _ Supremacy and was outstripped by Germany, and the _ appreciation of this fact at the present moment by NO. 2471, VOL. 99] | division. the Americans is manifesting itself in a keen en- deavour to take the lead. + Another reason is that Germany ‘has appreciated to the full the value of scientific research and education, and it is necessary for us to realise this in like measure if we are to utilise efficiently the abundance of raw material found in this country. We have seen above in the case of one industry the vast sums of money the Germans were willing to spend to effect its capture, and this was strictly in keeping with their general policy, both on the part of the State and the individual. | That the Empire is beginning at last to appreciate this is shown by the steps being taken in England, Canada, and Australia. Little has, as yet, been done in England compared with what we should expect, but this may be partly accounted for by the war: The Canadians, at the instigation of Lord Shaughnessy, have made a beginning in the establishment of. the Canadian Re- search Bureau at Montreal, thus seconding the excel- lent work which has been accomplished in recent years by their Mines Department. The proximity of the United States will doubtless assist in making for efficiency, as the work of the scientific departments attached to their bureaux of agriculture, geology, mines, commerce, standards, etc., is too well known to need description. The Australian Government has endowed a similar institution, the Commonwealth In- stitute of Science and Industry, to the extent of half a million pounds as a beginning, the object in both cases being the development of the natural resources- for the benefit of the country in the first, and of the Empire in the second, place. So far as I am aware, in South Africa nothing has yet been done in this. direction other than the meeting of the scientific societies of the Rand held recently in Johannesburg, which laid stress on this matter and formed a com- mittee to further the project. No opportunity like the present has ever before presented itself, and the cessation of the war will witness the still fiercer struggle of industrial com- petition, for which we must gird on our armour. At present we are, as I have shown, exporting our raw” materials and importing the articles manufactured | from them; hence our first and foremost need is to attempt to make ourselves independent of others, so far as our own wants are concerned. For this purpose - research is necessary, and, in my opinion, the prime mever must be the State, since its proper execution demands, if performed efficiently, an organisation © which is beyond the scope of the individual. It would take too long to enter fully, as the subject most rightly merits, into all the details of its requirements, and I shall therefore content myself with a brief summary of the most essential considerations and necessities. In the first place, however, I desire to explode a popular fallacy, that there are two kinds of research, which have been miscalled pure and applied research. They correspond to the undignified and unworthy divisions into which even science itself has been classi- fied. If research be undertaken, as it is, to thrust back the boundaries of the unknown, and to widen the areas of existing knowledge, then, no matter if the purpose for the moment be, in a sense, the abstract, - such as the proof or establishment of a law, principle, or hypothesis, or the concrete, such as we find exem-- plified in the successful development of the contact method of manufacturing sulphuric acid, as a ‘result of the commercial preparation of indigo. it is some- what of an anachronism to draw a sharp line of More especially- is the practice to be con- | demned,. since in the popular mind research -of the- | former kind is supposed to have no utility. whatever, whereas without it the latter would -be absolutely im- possible, and hence in any scheme which may be put ~ -A7P 38 NATURE {Marcu 8, 1917 forward it must claim the part to which it is justly entitled. The steps which are. necessary here for this work are as follows :— 1. Preliminary.—(a) A complete census of existing laboratories and workers; (b) a complete census of facilities for the education of scientific workers of all kinds and classes; (c) a complete census of all manu- factures, their location, methods, raw materials, and output ; (d) a complete census of all known existing raw materials of the country, which might be put to use for manufacturing or other purposes; (e) the collection of information from, and reciprocity with, organisa- tions having similar objects throughout the Empire, and in Allied or friendly States. 2. Standardisation.—(a) Of scientific instruments of all kinds, whether used in laboratories or works; (b) and scientific control of apparatus and materials required in research. 3. Initiation.—The appointment of a central council which shall (a) receive and suggest problems for re- search; (b) by the organisation of manufactures of the same or similar products, ascertain what is necessary for their progress; (c) keep in close touch with all the universities and scientific societies in the country. 4. Assistance.—(a) By endowments to laboratories and workers; (b) by the collection, publication, and dissemination of information; (c) by the establishment and endowment of libraries; (d) by the advancement of scientific education in schools, colleges, and uni- versities; (e) by increasing the equipment, etc., of existing laboratories, and the establishment of new ones; (f) by the provision of laboratories for carrying out suggested industrial processes on a small com- mercial scale with the sanction and approval of the central council. -5. Co-ordination.—(a) By: annual reports from all laboratories; (b) by bringing all: workers ,in the same branch together; (c) by the dissemination of informa- tion respecting similar work being done elsewhere; (d) by annual congresses of all scientific societies ; (e) by annual congresses of manufacturers and trade interests. If research should show that new industries can be established in this country with advantage, of which I cannot entertain the slightest doubt, it will be pos- sible, by legislation. if necessary, to assist their incep- tion by the establishment of industrial banks which would advance funds for the purpose of financing them in their early stages, provided that the methods to be emp'oved had been sanctioned bv a competent authority as mentioned above. In addition to this, protection could be given, for a time at least, by patent laws, which, if unsuitable, could be amended, but this is a shield upon which too much reliance should not be placed. History has shown that wars in the past have proved a stimulus to industry. There is no valid reason to believe that the present one will prove an exception to that rule, and hence the urgent necessity for the imme- diate oreanisation of all our resources, even were that not desirable on other more fundamental ‘grounds. Co-operation is the key, and science, education; com- merce, and manufacture must form one organic whole, each contributing its share to the common stock, their united effort for the common weal. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL ; INTELLIGENCE. OxrorD.—The committee for geography has issued its third annual report, 1015-16. The school remains under the acting, directorship of Mr. H. -O. Beckit pending the aprointment of a successor to the late Dr. A. J. Herbertson. The number of students de- NO. 2471, VOL. 99] . of lime which was coloured with iron salts. | voting. the whole or a great part of their , time, to | geography during the year was twenty-three, and _ there was also a Despite depletion of the staff, the whole work of the — school was successfully carried out, thanks to the assistance of past students. Dr. R. N. Rudmose Brown was appointed an examiner in succession to Mr, A. R. Hinks, whose term of office had expired. — _ The eighth biennial vacation course, held last August, was attended by 125 students. At a conference of directors of public instruction held at Delhi om January 22 Lord Chelmsferd, Vice- roy of India, in an address of welcome referred to the paramount importance of education in India. From the Pioneer Mail we learn that, speaking of technical training, he said at the present moment, when. the Government of: India is hoping for a lead from the Industrial Commission in the direction of industrial development, technical training looms large in the educational sphere. The term “technicai” should, he urged, be used in its widest and not its narrowest sense—that is to say, the claims of agricultural and commercial education should not be overlooked. ‘There are,” he continued, ‘‘some who say we have nothing to teach the men on the land in this country. I cannot claim to talk with authority on such a ques- tion, but having seen something of the work of scientific agriculture in other parts of the world, I take leave to doubt such a statement. The great advance made by scientific agriculture during the last half-cen- tury justifies us in pressing forward with a policy of agricultural education, and though you would not claim — to speak as experts on the agricultural side, your educational experience qualifies you to give us useful hints with regard to an advance along this road.” Referring to the commercial side of education, the Viceroy expressed surprise to find how little has been done, in spite of India’s large and growing commerce, to develop commercial education. Compared with a ‘technical institution, a commercial school is, he said, a relatively cheap institution, and one would think that there was a great opening in big towns for good commercial schools. The second point on which Lord Chelmsford laid emphasis is that in technical training - in its narrower sense we must not lose sight of work- shop practice in outside works. Laboratory training, — however good, is no real substitute for the discipline of the workshop. Technical training divorced from workshop experience is likely to prove a snare’ and a delusion. i SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpbon. Ete Royal Society, February 22.—Sir J. J. Thomson, - president, in the chair.—S. A. Smith: The fossil - human skull found at Talgai, Queensland. This is a description of the fossil human skull that was shown by Profs. Edgeworth David and J. T. Wilson at the meéting in Sydney of the British Association. Before the specimen could be studied it was necessary to clear away a hard mineral incrustation of carbonate It was then found to be the highly fossilised and much frac- tured skull of a male youth not more—probably some _ years less—than sixteen years of age. The brain- case, the capacity of which was at least 1300 c.c., is well within the range of variation of modern abori- ginal Australian skulls, to which it presents a very striking similarity in general conformation, as well as in respect of the distinctively Australian charac- teristics. But the facial skeleton reveals an important contrast. The exceptionally large teeth—the canines number of part-time students. — Se ————— A ee _ Marcu 8, 1917). NATURE 39 especially—have been responsible for a great develop- nt of that ion of. the alveolar process which ‘es the incisor, canine, and premolar teeth. In ect of this feature the Talgai skull is probably we primitive and ape-like than that of any other nown specimen belorging to the human family, excepting only the Piltdown skull, the dental arcade ‘of which that of the Talgai skull, in spite of its ‘immaturity, nearly approaches, not only in actual size, t also in its relative proportions. The fact that brain-case had already reached the stage repre- sented in the modern Australian aboriginal, while the face still retained much of the grossness and uncouth- ness of the ape’s, is a further confirmation of the view -that, in the evolution of man, the brain first “acquired the human stetus and the refinement of the features came afterwards.—Dr. C. Chree: The mag- “netic storm of August 22, 1916. The paper gives an “account of a magnetic storm, accompanied by aurora Scotland, which occurred on August 22-23, 1916. comparison is made of the results derived from : magnetic curves at Kew and Eskdalemuir Ob- rvatories. The disturbance was much larger at the er station than at the former. During, however, most disturbed period, both places afforded a con- s example-of the type of storm in which the ction of the disturbance vector shows a rapid rotation. During this period the disturbance vector diagram in the horizontal plane was described con- tinuously in a counter-clockwise direction, nearly a complete revolution being effected in the course of one hour.—Prof. W. H. Young: The ordinary con- vergence of restricted Fourier series. _ Optical Society, February 8.—J. W. French: More on glass grinding and polishing. Glass is raded pie .and the efficiency of an abrasive eas: by the form.of the grains, their hardness, _and their cleavage. A grain that cleaves and presents flat surfaces loses its cut, whereas one-that retains its original form when broken suffers only a temporary loss of cut during the grinding process. When pre- _ cautions are taken to prevent clogging of the abrasive, the amount of glass removed is directly proportional _ to the relative speed of the grinding tool and the glass. In lubrication too much water has the same bad effect as too little -oagei A new method was spider of _ comparing _ qualities of ground glass surfaces. Polishing was divided into et polishing, in which material is principally. removed, and dry polishing, in _ which the surface sleeks are filled or closed. A _ mechanical theory of polishing was elaborated. Rouge consists of grains of ultra-microscopic size. These grains appear to gather, snowball fashion, into lumps of about two wave-lengths diameter, and in this con- ‘dition they plough grooves. in the surface layer. _ During the second stage these grooves are closed up, _ thus improving the brilliancy of the surface. When _ a rounded point is drawn heavily over the surface, a _ series of semicircular cracks is produced. The crack- _ ing takes place on the tension side, and not on the _ pressure side; the cohesion of the surface layer is less _ ‘than that of the underlying material. The diameters _ of the cracks produced have a definite relationship to _ the pressure. With the semicircular cracks there are _ associated two series of tangential cracks. Fire- q glazed surfaces and fracture-glazed surfaces give _ similar results; also polished quartz; but the natural _ polished surfaces of crystals resulting from crystal ; growth do not exhibit sleeks or surface cracks, thus _ Suggesting the non-existence of a surface layer. _ Linnean Society, February 15.—Sir David Prain, _ president, in the chair.—J. H. Owen: The home-life c; of the sparrow-hawk (Accipiter nisus, Linn., Pall.). NO. 2471, VOL. 99| CuUC After a brief description of the life of the birds from autumn to spring, an account was given of the -nest- ing habits, from the selection of the nesting site in March to the scattering of the young at the end of July or in the early part of August. A series of lantern-slides was exhibited’ to illustrate various features of the nesting habits and growth of the young. Of these, particular interest attached to a series showing the various methods of brooding’ in wet weather and the care taken over the welfare of the youngest nestling. - Another series showed the young able to feed themselyes, while the hen keeps watch above the nest during the course of the meal until the young are all asleep after the food is finished. Slides were shown of -the visits of young and the old birds to the nest after the young had left. Royal Microscopical Society, February. 21.—Mr. E. Heron-Allen, president, in the chair—Drs. A. H. Drew and Una Griffin: The parasitology of Pyorrhoea alveolaris. The authors stated that careful micro- scopic examination of material from cases of pyorrhcea showed that, in the great majority of cases, at least two species of Amoebz were present. One of these Amcebe appeared to be a semi-parasite partially modi- fied by anaerobic life in the pockets around the teeth. When stained by the iron-hematoxylin method, this form showed a valkamfia type of nucleus; it also pos- sessed a flagellate phase in its life-cycle. The name Amoeba buccalis was proposed for this type, which had been successfully cultivated, after concentration of the cysts by Dr. Cropper’s method. The other species was a true Entamoeba, and corresponded to Entamoeba gingivalis. Two new flagellates had been found in the pockets, together with at least six species of spirochztes. Mathematical Society, March 1.—Mr. G. H. Hardy, vice-president, in the chair.—A. E. Jolliffe: Some properties of a quedrangle formed by the points of contact of the tangents drawn to a nodal cubic from any point.—E. H. Neville: Indicatrices of curvature. Paris. Academy of Sciences, January 15.—M. d’Arsonval in the chair.—G. Bigourdan: The first scientific societies of Paris in the seventeenth century.—E. Ariés: The law of molecular entropy of fluids taken at correspond- ing states. The application of the equation of state deduced in an earlier paper.—W. Kilian and J. Révil : The history of the Arc valley at the Pleistocene period. A, Khintchine: Asymptotic differentiation.—H. Arctowski: The heliographic positions of the sun-spots and magnetic storms. After a historical summary of the previous work on this subject the author especially examines the hypotheses of Veeder, Ricco, and Terby. Using data for magnetic storms from observations made at Porto Rico and Greenwich, and Greenwich figures for sun-spot areas, the conclusion is drawn that Veeder’s hypothesis is completely out of accord with the observed facts. Terby’s- hypothesis is equally faulty, but the views of Ricco are partially verified.— J. Deprat: The Ordovician and Gothlandian in the north of Tonkin and the basin of the upper Iou-Kiang. —M. Raclot : The origin of terrestrial magnetism. As- suming that the internal mass of the eatth’ consists of an alloy in which iron predominates, then, on account of the high temperature, the iron under the continents would be above the critical point at which magnetic properties disappear (750° C. to goo® C.). Under the oceans, on the contrary, by reason of the more rapid cooline assumed by Faye, the superficial layer could have arrived at a temperature below 750° C., and, in consequence, a certain thickness of this could be mag- netic. Wulde has shown that if a globe is covered 40 NATURE [Marcu 8, 1917 with thin sheets of iron covering the ocean areas, then the distribution of magnetism on this globe reproduces terrestrial magnetism.—L, Berdas : Biological and ana-| tomical observations on some Cetononze.—H. Vincent ; The prophylaxy of the infection of wounds received at| the front. Comparative study of some antiseptic agents. Trials have’ been made of sodium fluoride, sodium formate, zine chloride, calcium hypochlorite, boric acid, borax, copper sulphate, ferrous sulphate, potassium permanganate, and, as an accessory, iodo- form. The iodoferm, borax, and boric acid were ap- plied in powder; the remainder also in powdered form, but diluted with go per cent. of inert powder. Todo- form, ferrous sulphate, boric acid, borax, potassium permanganate, formate of soda,’ and zine chloride proved to have insufficient bactericidal power. Sul- phate of copper and sodium fluoride have. strong anti- septic properties, but are tco toxic. A mixture of cal- cium hypochlorite (10 parts) and dry powdered boric acid (go parts) is. finally recommended for first-aid treat- ment. It possesses the necessary bactericidal power, gives no pain, and is haemostatic on account of the ‘calcium chloride it contains. Details of the results ob- tained by the use of this powder will be given later.— L. Rompant: The preservation of eggs, BOOKS RECEIVED. Year-Book of the Scientific and Learned Societies. of Great Britain and Ireland. Thirty-third annual issue. Pp. Pgs (London : | C. Griffin and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d., net. Minor Surgery and Bandaging (Heath-Pollard) for the Use of House Surgeons, Dressers, and Junior Practitioners. By Dr. H. M. Davies. . Sixteenth edi- tion. Pp. x+476. (London: J. and: A, Churchill.) 6d. net. . ochre ea Vets Community :.A Sociological Study. By Dr. A. M.. Maciver. Pp..xv+ 437. (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 12s. net. Fundamental Conceptions of Modern Mathematics. Variables and Quantities, with a Discussion of the! General Conception of Functional Relation. By R. P:: Richardson. and E. H. Landis. Pp. xv+216.! (Chicago and London: The Open Court Publishing’ Co.) 1.25 dollars net. ite. | DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Marcu 8, ‘ROYAL Society, at 4.30.—Some Effects of Growth-promoting Substances (Auximones) on the Growth of Lemna minor in Culture Solutions :*W. B. Bottomlev.—Some Effects of Growth-promoting Substances ‘Auximones) on the Soil Organisms concerned in the Nitrogen Cycle: Florence A. Mockeridge. Roya Institution, at 3.—Sponges ; a Study in Evolutionary Biology : $ Prof. A. Dendy. INSTITUTION OF vor aaa gs A at $.— — ; Porone CARLSON gives, in this volume, 4+ a general account of the work done, y in his laboratory, on the physiology of ager and some related questions. - He was for- ate to have as subject of experiment a man © possessed a gastric fistula, made in conse- uence of an cesophageal stricture when he was t boy. Experiments were also made on Prof. Carlson himself and other normal subjects, as vell as on dogs and lower animals. _ The net result of the investigation is to show hat the sensation of hunger is due to a periodic eries of rhythmic contractions, which take place the stomach when empty. Haller had sug- ested this cause, but thought. that the sensation vas produced by the rubbing together of folds of € mucous membrane. Prof. Carlson shows that he sensation has its origin in receptors in the scle substance itself. The contractions are farted in the stomach, although their rhythm is htly altered after the stomach is separated from the central nervous system. When food is ; the hunger contractions cease for a few minutes, and then the movements of digestion i These differ from the hunger contrac- , being primarily concerned with the pyloric whereas the latter are initiated at the rdiac end and pass as peristaltic waves over ne whole stomach. It would seem that the only satisfactory explanation of the digestion contrac- ions is that they are brought about by the al nervous system, the hunger contractions yeing inhibited for the purpose. This inhibition san be produced by sensations of taste, or by the resence in the stomach of water, gastric juice, acid, alkali, oil, and other things, or in the in- estine of gastric juice, acid, or alkali. It is in- resting to note. that alcohol inhibits hunger, while it may increase appetite. Appetite, in fact, S quite different from hunger, being rather a nental anticipation of pleasant sensations to ome. It is, however, more complex than this, is the discussion in Prof. Carlson’s book shows. We know that appetite may be present without unger, and the experience of fasting men is that hunger may be present without appetite. _ The nerves that convey the afferent impulses roduced by the hunger contractions are the vagi. AS already stated, these contractions are not set NO. 2472, VOL. 99] aken os :. NATURE 41 into action by any stimuli from the outside, although’ they can be thus’ inhibited. ©The channels of inhibition appear to be chiefly through the splanchnic nerves, but central inhibition of the tone of the vagus centre also plays a part. We find, therefore, a further case of reciprocal innervation of the kind described by the reviewer in vaso-motor reflexes. Various other questions are elucidated inci- dentally. The ‘sensibility of the gastric mucous membrane to heat and cold is shown to be a true one, and Head’s statement as to its protopathic nature is confirmed. The want of food, even in protozoa and plants, is manifested by increased excitability and rest- lessness. - In animals this state induces them to take food, because they have learned that food abolishes the feeling. ~The book concludes with observations on the secretion and the chemical properties of human gastric juice, and with the discussion of hunger and appetite in disease. As a practical general conclusion we may note that the physiological way of increasing hunger and appetite is moderation in the amount of food taken, or increasing the utilisation of food by outdoor living, fresh air, cold baths, and muscular exercise. The book is a very valuable and interesting account of a somewhat neglected branch of physiology. (2) This manual is of a different nature. Al- though intended primarily for use in schools, it contains a mass of useful information for all con- cerned with occupations in the home. It is chiefly _ concerned with the preparation of food, but in- ° cludes instructions for its preservation, and also for the raising and selling of poultry and so on. The making and properties of bread are described in considerable detail. : The physiological facts are correctly given, and the explanation of the energy value of food and the unit in which it is expressed, the Calorie, is particularly well done. There are, however, one or two surprising omissions. No reference is made to the “accessory factors” of food, or to the misuse of alcohol, although we have a warning against the far less serious misuse of tea and coffee. Perhaps the alcohol question is not so pressing in the United States as with us. Both books are well provided with illustrations, and contain indexes and references to literature for those who wish to follow up the subject in more detail. Many otherwise excellent works lose much of their value owing to the absence. of one or other of these indispensable components. W. M. Baytiss. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL PHYSICS. (1) A Text-book of Physics. Edited by A. Wilmer Duff. Fourth edition, revised. Pp. xiv+6q92. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1916.) Price tos. 6d. net. : (2) Practical Experiments in Heat. Pp. vili+ 123. D 42 | NATURE [Marcu 15, 1917 (3) Practical Experiments in Light. Pp. viii+ 112. By W. St. B. Griffith and P. T. Petrie. (London: Rivingtons, 1916.) Price 3s. 6d. net. (1) HE fourth edition of the “Text-book of se Physics ” edited by Prof.. A. Wilmer Duff shows numerous changes, especially in the paragraphs dealing with the dynamics of rotation. A new part on sound has been prepared, in which recent important work is described, including the researches of Prof. Miller by means of his ‘ phono- deik” and the experiments of Prof. Sabine on architectural acoustics. A careful study of the results obtained by the latter investigator has shown that attempts to reduce reverberation by stretching fine wires across a hall or by similar devices are entirely useless. Other sections of this excellent treatise have also been brought up to date; we notice an interesting account of Dr. Langmuir’s mercury-vapour pump, which is given high praise: “Because of its remarkable sim- plicity and rapidity of action, it marks a great advance in methods of obtaining high vacua.” The only criticism of the volume we have to make is that some of the illustrations (e.g. the tangent galvanometer, p. 384) are scarcely worthy of the text. (2) and (3) The authors of these text-books on practical physics are masters at Uppingham School, and they have found, as have other teachers, that a laboratory guide, either written or printed, is requisite for the efficient teaching of large classes. There are drawbacks to every method of instruction; some students are met with who, from mental inertia or defective ele- mentary education, seem incapable of following the description of an ‘experiment given in print, whilst they can understand an oral account. Others, again, slavishly follow the printed page, and will even copy the diagram in their text-book instead of sketching the actual apparatus used. In such cases it is, perhaps, unfortunate that all the quantitative experiments. should be illustrated by worked-out numerical examples. The books under discussion are intended “for the use of boys between the ages of thirteen and twenty.” Their chief recommendation is the large number of simple.experiments which can be carried out without the use of elaborate apparatus. Graphical methods are rightly emphasised, and a word of praise must be given to the clearly drawn graphs reproduced in the text. Some of the other diagrams in “Heat” are not quite so satisfactory. The directions given are, as a rule, lucid and exact, but occasionally we find a misleading or careless sentence—e.g. ‘‘Do not touch the calori- meter and use the thermometer as a stirrer” (p. 50); “The temperature of different Bunsen flames vary considerably ” (p. 71). The authors do not appear to realise that convection plays a more important part than radiation in the cooling of a hot body. In the chapter on calorimetry (one of the best in “Heat”) the calorimeter, “bright on the outside,” should not be exposed on the NO. 2472, VOL. 99] bench, but be supported in an outer metal vessel or be wrapped with cotton-wool and put in a beaker. The account of Newton’s law of cooling is defective for the same reason. It is to be regretted that in the experiment on Boyle’s law the results are tabulated with six significant figures, though the observations contain only three figures. The authors have not even the excuse of Biot, who, when his attention was drawn to a similar case, replied sarcastically that if the first figures were wrong, perhaps the last would be tight. In Regnault’s hygrometer the end of the boiling tube must be cut off before the metal thimble is cemented to it. There are in all fifty- nine experiments in “Heat” and sixty-eight in “Light.” The experiments in “Light” are of the type now familiar, pin methods being employed frequently. In the first experiment, which pur- ports to show that light travels in straight lines, it is necessary to prove that the hat-pin (used to test the alignment of the holes in the three card- board screens) is straight. As an optical method is inadmissible, this might be done by fixing two of the screens, rotating the hat-pin, and noticing whether there is any lateral displacement of the third screen. The questions addressed to the student form a valuable feature in connection with the earlier part of the Light course. H, S. A. THE TECHNOLOGY OF TYPOGRAPHICAL PRINTING SURFACES. a Typographical Printing-surfaces: the Technology and Mechanism of their Production. By L. A. Legros and J. C. Grant. Pp. xxiv+732. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1916.) Price 21. 2s. net. eee eh A odo work is the outcome of a paper read by one of the authors before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers a few years ago: the paper created at the time some amount of interest in the printing world owing to the thoroughness with which it had been prepared. That matter has now been considerably enlarged—perhaps too much so in some instances—but we must readily admit the usefulness of the bulk of the information collected together, because of its previously being” scattered abroad in many directions, and due credit must be given to the compilers for the great labour involved in bringing together so much valuable material; certainly as a work of re- ference on its subject the book will be found most useful. : The volume is jointly dedicated to our first authority on printing, Joseph Moxon, 1627—1700, and to the French writer, Simon Fourrier, another great authority, 1712-68, and is a stupendous work of its kind. As it professes, it covers 2 good deal of the ground which hitherto has been but scantily treated, so far as type-founding is concerned, in any English text-book on print ing’ ever published. In fact, Moxon, in hi “Mechanick Exercises,” 1683, is the only write Marcu 15, 1917] reated of typefounding by the hand method Mf Casting, but in the large work now ader notice the founding of even single letters shown to be produced by many machines of irious kinds. Hand-casting is rarely used ywadays, except, for the occasional casting of nall orders or for special purposes. Further, in opting mechanical means many of the pre- and finishing stages needful in the old method are now dispensed with. th the output of the power-press, so it is with founding—thousands of letters are now d out in the place of a single hundred, and mparison is even greater when the rotary stem of casting is employed. is its title implies, the work is confined to production of typographical surfaces of all ds, and this covers a very wide range indeed. ‘includes not only hand-set types and those posed by different machines, but engraved ocks, reproductions by the stereotype and elec- type methods, process blocks, and all other es in relief. The details of designing type —a most important matter if a good fount ired—punch cutting, and the making of the trices and moulds for the final stage of casting, e all admirably described, particularly so from ith the draughtsman’s and the engineer’s point view. Besides very full.and concise descrip- as -of the various casting machines in use at @ present time, the different systems of type- mposing machines from their first conception vp recent date have several chapters devoted to ig and technical descriptions. In addition to several useful appendices, much her information of a general character is given most interesting to those practising, or who students of, the art of printing—which stamps hog \e ‘ volume as a valuable work of reference. The numerous diagrams have been very care- ly drawn, and the reproductions of other illus- ations are equally well rendered. These, with a mber of useful tables, a technical vocabulary in ee languages, and a very full index, complete work which must create a demand for its Phe authors are deserving of praise for the reful labour they haye bestowed on the compila- in of this bulky and useful volume. It certainly ist be a great revelation to non-technical readers, ho can have but a faint idea of the vast amount ‘detail underlying the fundamental stage of pre- typographical surfaces for the printing the greater portion of which only de- oped during the closing years of the nineteenth : It all helps to. prove how necessary a tific training is for the technical education future craftsmen. | typographical production of the book itself ve been a great tax on the resources of the responsible, and they are to be con- ated on the result. = NO. 2472, VOL. 99] i pee NATURE 43 has attempted to deal with this subject to IS VARIATION A REALITY? extent. Naturally, at that period Moxon | Evolution by Means of Hybridization. By J. P. Lotsy. Pp. viii+166. (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1916.) Price 6s. net. D® LOTSY’S book is one of many signs that biologists are growing uneasy about the adequacy of evolutionary theory. By whatever doubts the doctrine of Selection was assailed, it has hitherto been common ground that in their generations the forms of life varied abundantly, and that somehow through these variations the diversity of species had come to pass. Modern genetic research has led to the paradoxical dis- covery that much of the best evidence of variability is capable of other interpretations. Consider the “variation” of any polymorphic moth. No one doubted that from any of the varieties any other might be bred. Now we see that was a mistake. Such variation is not promiscuous, and the varie- . ties are really an orderly series consisting of dis- tinct types which will breed as true as any species, and of mongrel forms which cau throw certain fixed types, and those only. The Mendelian con- ception of the homozygote has raised a new problem. The question arises: Can the offspring of homozygotes vary? Dr. Lotsy is sure they cannot. New forms can only come by crossing. That is the thesis of this book. “Crossing, therefore, is the cause of the origin of new types; heredity perpetuates them; selection is the cause, not of their origin, as was formerly supposed, but of their extinction.” This ‘is a bold pronouncement, and it contains much of truth. We think not merely of the many species suspected of hybrid origin, but compre- hensively of the innumerable species, now perfectly distinct, which can quite reasonably be thought of as segregates derived from some cross ages ago. Few also now believe that the domesticated forms comprising many breeds real'y had single origins. Apart from difficulties introduced by exact genetic knowledge, modern writers have felt driven to suggest “polyphyletic” origins for pigeons, fowls, dogs, cereals, the common fruits, - etc. Almost whenever the history of a modern breed is known it can be traced to a cross. Dr. Lotsy took over a wonderful F, from a cross in Antirrhinum made by Prof. Baur, and, as he rightly says, it contained many types capable of . perpetuation as incontrovertible species. Most_ geneticists have seen such series and been tempted. to similar conjectures. But Dr. Lotsy is for taking still wider flights. Geology shows, he says, that new classes appear suddenly with many highly differentiated forms—the Cycads, for instance, of Mesozoic times. May not they be the direct con- sequence of some cross? Perhaps; but whence came the original diversity? Why were there distinct forms ready to be crossed? We find no answer to that fundamental question. In the view of the present writer, too, the doctrine of invariability of the homozygote cannot be main- tained. Variability is rarer than we supposed, but it is a genuine phenomenon witnessed in un- impeachable examples. 44 NATURE [Marcu 15, 1917 The book wii! do good if it rouses any reader from the torpor of an easy orthodoxy. It may excite doubts, if it cannot allay them. The lan- guage and printing of the book make it something of a curiosity. Cosmopolitanism is a virtue we are glad to meet in these days. Still, English a la Hollandaise is a sore distraction in a serious book. W. BATESON. OUR BOOKSHELF. The Biology of Tumours. By C. Mansell Moullin. Pp. 55. (London: H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 2s. 6d.. net. Tuis book comprises the Bradshaw Lecture, somewhat extended, delivered by Mr. Mansell Moullin before the Royal College of Surgeons in 1912. The author admits that the conclusions he has arrived at differ in many particulars from the views that are generally current; nevertheless, his suggestions are stimulating, and in the present state of our knowledge of the causation of tumours it cannot be said that they are erroneous. Mr. Moullin divides tumours by their mode of origin into two classes: one due tothe sudden awakening of the innate reproductive power of the tissues, in virtue of which they give birth to “buds” that grow into tumours; the other due to details of structure not being carried out so completely as they ought to be. The distinguishing feature of the former class of tumours is their independence : they grow quite irrespective of the tissue in which they develop. This group includes the vast majority of tumours, innocent and malignant. De-_ velopment is the influence which restrains the potentiality possessed by the cells of the tissues to multiply indefinitely, and is due. to chemical influences. All that is needed, then, for tumour formation is some exciting cause, mechanical or chemical, to give the growth a start. Thus, mul- tiple tumours of the ‘skin may develop from the prolonged administration of arsenic, tumours of the bladder are relatively common in workers in fuchsin, and cancer of the skin often follows the continued application of soot, tar, and paraffin. We believe we have stated the author’s views correctly, though they are somewhat difficult to follow, and it would have been useful had he given a. brief summary at the end of the book. In some respects the hypothesis is similar to that of Ross, who regards certain chemical substances— “‘auxetics,’’ as he terms them—as capable of in- ducing cellular. proliferation. Atoms. By Prof. Jean Perrin. ‘translation by D. Ll. Hammick. (London: Constable and Co., Price 6s. net. THE appearance of the authorised translation of Prof. Perrin’s book, “Les Atomes,” is very wel- come. It is true that the demand for translations into English of ordinary French scientific works is not great, but books of the semi-popular kind such as the one under review are in a rather different category. A student with only a NO. 2472, VOL. 99} Authorised Pp. xv+2it. Ltd., 1916.) moderate knowledge of French may read with advantage a standard French treatise, but he would be apt to miss the point of many of the illuminating illustrations and analogies ‘with’ which Prof. Perrin’s work abounds. Mr. Hammick is to be congratulated upon the excellence of his translation. Without previous” knowledge, one would scarcely suspect that the book is a translation at all—it reads as though it had been written in English in the first instance. _ And yet, upon comparison with the original, it is" found that the translator has adhered remark- ably closely to the text. A few small errors have survived revision—for example, the use of definitely for definite on p. x, line 26, and which for who on p. 207, line 37. The original French edition has been already reviewed. In the present translation there is an additional paragraph dealing with Mr. C. T. R. Wilson’s beautiful photographs of the paths of a and 8 particles.. The book is well bound and printed, and is unhesitatingly recommended both to those who will appreciate a popular exposition of the subject, and to those to whom it is of in- terest to survey the modern methods and results in widely differing fields of research converging towards the same end. 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.] © 3 Thermodynamics and Gravitation. Tue Carnot cycle in Dr. G. W. Todd’s interesting letter (NaTURE, March 1, p. 5) leads by a ready ex- tension to the result that if the force of gravitation on a body depended on its temperature, and thermo- dynamics were applicable, there must be interaction between the gravitational field sustained by a body and its thermal molecular energy; so that part of the exhaustion of energy of position when the field does work on the body would go to increase its store of heat, only the remainder appearing as work done, ‘Thus when, owing to displacement of a body of mass m in the field of force, work 8W is done against the field, so that energy 8W is gained, then also heat must be gained by the body of amount T da rae m av 4 There would be dissipation of energy irivolved in the diffusion. of such heat, just as in the case of heat of compression in sound-waves of very slow 8W, if its temperature is not to change. -period. Only in two ideal limiting cases will there be conservation, and then 8W will be the increment, arising from the displacement alone, of a function of position and also temperature, which thus constitutes a gravitational potential W: in these cases the heat of the body will depend definitely on its temperature T and its position in the field of force, the latter contributing an amount constant Taw mM aT interest, are: (i) that of a universe isolated in an enclosure maintained isothermal by internal radia-— . These two cases, of some curious theoretical \ ARCH 15, IQI7 NATURE 45 exchange of heat by radiation or contact. verting to the formula: if the gravitation exerted t increased by the fraction 1/k of itself for a 1° C. in temperature, then at temperature . a change of gravitational energy into work guld be accompanied, on Carnot’s principle, by a a of thermal energy equal to 273/k of its amount, 1 could scarcely escape notice unless k were large. sign in Dr. Todd’s relation (1) seems to require _ An objection applies to his hypothesis (2) leads him to a temperature term in the law e which has the same value at all distances. bridge, March 4. | ‘interesting letter from Dr. G. W. Todd in of March 1 opens new ground on the subject tation and temperature. But does not the ex- found need some modifications? Thus, in 1 case with m at temperature 6 and M at ©, we might write for the force the F=GMM+A (M log 0+ log 6). even when thus generalised, the formula still unsatisfactory. Has Dr. Todd considered how with the following curious facts?—(1) The ture corrections vanish at unit temperature; > temperature of absolute zero the attractive ecomes minus infinity, i.e. an infinite repulsion! ‘ ture correction is given as indepen- r, the distance apart of the masses. Hence temperature correction to force i Thus, for large values of r,-the temperature cor- ction to the force might exceed the Newtonian ue of the force vege E. H. Barton. niy i sity College ottin, ham, ae ~ me iid nt of iLL any of your readers kindly help in elucidating age of Strabo? It occurs in his Book XIII., i., e Greek is fairly plain, so a translation will eo is said that at Pitane the bricks float on water, has occurred also in the case of an islet in ia; for the earth is lighter than an equivalent water, so that it rides on the surface. Posi- also says that he saw in Iberia a certain ceous earth, used for taking moulds of silver ork, from which bricks were made which floated.” The site of Pitane is the modern Chandarli, or indarli, a small harbour on the west coast of Asia anor, about 30 miles north of Smyrna and 15 miles outh-west of Bergama (Pergamon). Tyrrhenia is, of ise, Tuscany. Iberia is, no doubt, in this case n. The name is also used for a district in the $ practically identical with the modern Georgia; t without qualification it should mean Spain; and rabo elsewhere quotes Posidonius as an authority | natural phenomena in that country. The two “earths ” which occur to me as floating 1 water are pumice and meerschaum. Meerschaum ,. Of course, found in Asia Minor; Eski Shehr is the ‘incipal source. But that is a long way from the fest coast, and I can find no record of its occurrence nywhere near Pitane. In any case, it does not seem ely that it should have been used for building s; and the use of the definite article, ‘‘the”’ s (ras mdiwOovs), seems to imply that the sub- tance in question was the ordinary building material f the district. | NO. 2472, VOL. 99] ite jhe ’ (ii) that of an adiabatic universe in which there | Pitane lay on the south side of the Kara-dagh, a large mass of eruptive rocks, andesite overlying tuffs, _ /as I learn from Philippson, who has described the formation (Reisen u. Forsch. im westl. Kleinasien, Petermann’s Mitth., suppl. 167 (1910), p. 95). It _ would seem, then, that in the case of Pitene the | material must have been tuff. Is it possible that a _tuff porous enough to float on water could be used ’ | as a building material, or that passably durable ‘bricks ’’ could be made of it? The floating ‘‘islet ’? in Tuscany may, I suppose, have been a mass of pumice from the Lipari Islands drifting northwards. Such islets are recorded to have floated about the A2gean Sea after the great eruption of Santorin in 1650, and even to have blocked some of the ports. But though the Lipari Islands contain enormous masses of pumice light enough to float, I can find no record of any having been actually ejected into the sea in historical times. Can anyone tell me if there is such a record? The ‘‘argillaceous earth ”’ in Spain clearly cannot have been tuff or pumice. Can it have been meer- schaum? This material is, of course, capable of delicate carving; would it be suitable for making moulds for copying silver work? It is said that there are limited deposits of it in Spain. It may be noticed that the quotation from Posidonius does not imply that it was actually used for building, but says only that bricks ‘‘ formed ”’ (mmyrvpévas) from it will float. This may mean no more than that blocks of the shape and size of a brick will float. I am not clear as to the exact meaning of myyvupévas —whether it implies any process more than mere cutting. One would naturally expect it to mean “congealed *’ or “‘solidi- fied.’’ Meerschaum is, I understand, soft when dug, but hardens on exposure to the air. Perhaps, there- fore, the word may mean “hardened.” On the other hand, I feel confident that in the phrase 7 ra dpyvpapara éxuatrerat the verb is used in the technical sense of taking a mould or impression, not, as some have thought, with the trivial meaning, “with which silver work is cleaned.” Anyone who can enlighten an ignorant Hellenist on these points would be assured of his gratitude. Water LEar. 6 Sussex Place, Regent’s Park, N.W., February 24. SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF FUEL ECONOMY.1 a aos appointment of a Board of Fuel Research by the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research on the recom- mendation of the Advisory Council was noted in NaturE of February 22, and something may perhaps be said with advantage on the real and pressing need for securing, so far as it may be done by official ‘efforts, the fullest investigation of the potentialities of fuel. To those occupied with the study of the scientific utilisation of coal, the crude and wasteful way in which we, as a nation, have been mal- treating our supplies of that irreplaceable raw material has been for some time past a depressing spectacle. Recognition of the value of purely thermal economies has been fairly general, although the quantities of fuel used in feeding 1 Report of the British Association Committee on Fuel Economy, September, 1y16. Memorandum by Chief Engineer, the Manchester Steam Users’ Associa- pion, for the year r9r5s. : 46 NATURE [Marcu 15, 1917 small steam-engines permit no unqualified state- ment to that eftect; but the less instinctive appre- ciation of the chemical value latent in coal has been a slow, and is still a stunted, growth. Our recent needs for benzene, toluene, and phenol for the making of high explosives, and the publicity given to the coal-tar dye question, have opened many eyes to the value of carbonisation, apart from its production of coke for our blast furnaces and gas for our towns; but even now the iniquity of the prevalent nitrogen waste passes almost un- noticed. To regard coal always as a source of available heat, tar, and nitrogen is a habit of mind to cultivate; consistent condemnation and eventual elimination of methods of use which offer violent offence to that regard. will follow. The particular directions which reform will take, or ought to take, in the many uses to which coal is put are less obvious than the urgent necessity for reform. Carbonisation, with all its possible variation of methods and results, demands a closer systematic study on the small and large scale, in laboratories suitably equipped and staffed and in the works. Comparison of the results obtained by Wheeler at home and by Pictet abroad with those of ordinary coke-oven or gasworks practice shows the extent to which the nature and quantity of | products are dominated by variation in conditions of operation, and emphasises the necessity for a thorough knowledge of the processes involved in the transition from primary to secondary products of carbonisation, with a view to their intelligent control. The work of Bergius, although of uncertain value on the industrial scale, touches upon another possibility, that of carbonising under very high pressure; if successful, it would demand a new type of plant, somewhat analogous to that employed for the Haber synthetic-ammonia pro- cess, and presenting new problems of construction and working. At the other end of the scale stands carbonisation. with reduced pressure, already under trial on a scale above that of the laboratory. Less removed from current practice in carbonisation are the low-temperature pro- cesses, such as the Del Monte, and the presum- ably improved form or development of the ill- fated Coalite process, which, it is hoped, will receive an adequate trial at Barugh. Several questions await an answer from such processes. It is conceded that they can produce tar rich in low-boiling-point constituents, but are these con- stituents to be mainly paraffinoid, as certainly seems probable, or aromatic, with benzene and toluene? The ammonia yield is in question; laboratory experiments indicate that a real begin- ning is not made in forming ammonia from coal by heating until a temperature of 500° C. is ex- ceeded, and that 700° to 800° C. is necessary for a yield which the standard carbonising prac- tice would call good. Soft coke has undoubted advantages for the open grate, but can it be made for carrying in bulk without crushing? These. are some of the simpler issues. . As regards nitrogen, the Mond process, with NO. 2472, VOL. 99| its 60 to 70 per cent. recovery as ammonia, is satisfactory, but the gasification of coal in an air- steam blast gives of necessity a gas too highly diluted with nitrogen to be of any service for high- temperature operations, excepting in large fur- naces where regeneration can be employed. The tar, too, has its peculiarities. Otherwise the process is successful in practice, as it is sound in principle, and all concerned with its initiation are to be doubly congratulated, in the first place on an extremely valuable contribution to the science and practice of fuel utilisation, and in the second on the comparatively advanced stage to which the working-out of the process had been carried before it was declared ready for:use. None of our methods of using fuel can be re- garded as attaining the ideal, but the most dis- turbing factor in the situation is that such advances as we have made are not properly utilised; even to-day the great bulk of our domestic heating. is done with raw coal in the open fire, and our great modern power-houses are mainly run with raw coal in their boiler furnaces. The pall of smoke over our cities signalises the daily sacrifice. Then, again, our metallurgical in- dustries, although using gaseous fuel largely in regenerative open-hearth furnaces which do secure thermal economy, still neglect and destroy the chemical value of coal by gasifying without re- covery of either tar or ammonia. ‘ The country was never so ready as now to accept the application of a remedy for these evils, but must first feel that before it lies a rational treatment, based on a sane and sober diagnosis, and not on the facile verbalism of ill-considered propaganda. Some few simple prohibitions, auto- matically progressive in their application, may be found advisable, and, if so reasonable as to be practicable, would probably be effective in check- ing criminal waste, and at the same time en- courage those developments in the technique of fuel utilisation on which we must depend ulti- mately for success. ; There has been wanting sufficient systematic attention to fuel problems from investigators, administrators, and legislators alike. It is true that, owing largely to the initiative and foresight of Prof. Smithells, the University of Leeds (fol- lowed more recently by the Imperial College in London) has established a department of fuel technology, and that the gas industry has gener- ously endowed there the Livesey chair in memory of a great leader ; but how long has the paramount necessity for what were pioneering ventures a few years ago been recognised, and how very much more remains to be done before it can be claimed that the subject of the scientific utilisation of fuel is receiving anything like adequate study or the same degree of public support as is accorded in America and Germany. Committees are to the fore just now, and the British Association has appointed one, with Prof. Bone as chairman, for the investigation of fuel economy, the utilisation of coal, and smoke prevention; this may be one sign of an awakening. The terms of reference Marcu 15, 1917] NATURE 47 | are wide, which consideration presumably justifies a list of members somewhat disconcerting in its . The committee has issued a first report, and if ‘it relates intention rather than achievement, that ; only natural at a time when so many of the ommittee must be very fully occupied with urgent ‘national duties. The field has been mapped out, however, and a number of sub-committees ap- ‘pointed to give special attention to sectional work. regard (says the report) to the - nitude of its work, Lay ge fact er tee taal inition ‘is one upon which almost every branch of manufac- ring and transport industry is dependent, the original mmittee of thirteen members appointed by the Asso- ciation in October, 1915, decided to exercise somewhat freely its power of co-option so as to make a general mmittee sufficiently large and representative of all ¢ important interests involved. The chemical and statistical sub-committee, th Dr. J. T. Dunn as chairman, is proposing occupy itself with the chemical investigation of , the survey of the chemical character of the incipal British coal seams, and an inquiry into e€ amount of wastage due to coal which for one son or another is at present left behind in the _ Another sub-committee, with Mr. T. Y. reener as chairman, is to deal entirely with car- isation. -A return is td be prepared which, hen completed, enable the committee to arrive at an approxi- ate estimate of the margins of possible economies in > shape of improved utilisation of the coal carbon- sed, which can now be effected in the coking industry, and the directions in which further progress is likely to be made. A memorandum is also in-course of pre- aration describing the more important developments the by-product coking industry, from its inception ntil the present day. : The committee would welcome the offer of sroper facilities to enable them to investigate the estion of low-temperature carbonisation.” Dr. J. E. Stead is chairman of the sub-com- ittee for metallurgical, ceramic, and refractory materials, which is concerning itself mainly with a aining actual fuel consumptions in these in- stries, and ill endeavour to draw up a statement as to the best lay-out and arrangement of a combined by-product coking, iron-smelting, and steel-making plant, from the point of view of utilising as completely as possible surplus gases and waste heat, and thus realising the maximum fuel economy in the heavy steel industry. _ A sub-committee on power and steam-raising, with Mr. C. H. Merz as chairman, is to inves- tigate the economies in fuel which would result from the use of improved methods. Regarding the practice of to-day, * in view of the impossibility of obtaining accurate re- turns of fuel consumption per horse-power-hour from the whole of the power users in’ this country, it has been decided to investigate the matter by asking for detailed returns from typical factories in various trades and in different districts throughout the country, selected by members of the sub-committee who have special knowledge of particular trades. Special memo- tanda aré in course of preparation on’ questions of Organisation of power production for industrial and NO. 2472, VOL. 99] transport purposes, the use of large turbine- and gas- engines, and other important aspects of the power question. Mr. E. D. Simon, secretary of the committee, is also acting as chairman of the domestic fuel sub- committee, which feels that it will be wise to recognise at the outset that there is probably no single solution of the domestic heating problem which is likely to be universally adopted within any measurable period of time; and that, therefore, it should preferably concentrate its efforts upon questions of more immediate practical importance. It proposes, therefore, to examine the possi- bilities of existing systems and methods, and also the relative efficiencies of coal-fired, gas-fired, and electrical heaters. Arising out of the present extensive use of solid fuel in domestic fires, the sub-committee will also consider the important question of the prospects of substituting for raw coal some form of carbonised fuel (semi-coke or coke). There can be no doubt but that if such a substitution could be effected, without either increasing the domestic coal bill or involving some other dis- advantage, not only would there be a great addition to the amount of valuable by-products annually ob- tained from coal consumed in the Kingdom, but also the smoke nuisance in our large centres of population would be materially reduced. The scheme of work which the committee and its five sub-committees set out is frankly ambitious and highly comprehensive, and although this first report would be more accurately described as a - prospectus, that peculiarity will presumably not attach to future issues. : A memorandum on a special aspect of the fuel question has been issued to the executive com- mittee of the Manchester Steam Users’ Association by Mr. C. E. Stromeyer, their chief engineer; it is concerned primarily with steam-raising. The author thinks that “our manufacturers have been spoiled by the ease with which they could obtain the very best coal in the world,” and deplores “our almost universal practice of over-working boilers.” On the Continent, he points. out, first- class coal cannot be obtained, “but there the works provide themselves with ample boiler power, and, on the whole, they obtain a higher efficiency than we can hope for with our superior coal but hard- worked boilers.” To use coke and conserve by- products would necessitate the same reform. “Steam users naturally do not like coke, partly on account of its relatively high price, and partly because it would require larger boilers than the present ones in which to burn it with as good effect as the best coal.” But Mr. Stromeyer does not expect too much from this source; he con- siders a number of working results with steam- engines of various types, and concludes :-— The fuel economy question may therefore be briefly summarised by saying that hardly any improvement is likely to be effected in the.economic working of boilers, for, as is well known, there is only a margin of about 20 to 25 per cent. to play with. Considerable pecu- niary saving might often be effected by increasing the number of boilers, so as to be able to burn a poor and relatively cheap fuel if this can be got. Our chief - hopes will therefore have to be centred on engine im- 48 NATURE [MarcH 15, 1917 provements, for here large savings might be possible, because at present about eight units are thrown away for every one doing useful work. : The steam turbine is regarded as combining the greatest number of advantages among the prime movers of to-day, and as an interesting novelty the Lundholm turbine is mentioned, consisting of two. discs and blades’ Sigsagione ME in opposite direc- tions. “As there is no difference of expansion ae the two discs there is every prospect that the clearances of the blades ean now be reduced to a minimum, and that this very serious source of loss will be ’ materially reduced. The possibilities of the gas-engine, and particu- larly of the internal-combustion turbine, perhaps in the near future, appeal to Mr. Stromeyer and lead to the following : —- From a national economic point of view the combina. tion of the internal-combustion engine with electric distribution of power would seem an ideal one. Our collieries would then be encouraged to mine even our dirtiest coal. This coal would produce by-products for farmers and for the coal-tar industries and supply the engines with suitable gas, and our factories would receive their power at a lower cost than they could produce it. The general attitude of the author seems to be that of an experienced engineer, convinced that economy in power production is going to be so vital to us after the war that strenuous effort and a bold and encouraging policy as regards both invention and research are primary conditions of our continued commercial progress. Although in all: probability no such effective blight could be laid upon the work of scientific investigation in any field as that of undue cen- tralisation and impossible regimenting, enough has perhaps been said to indicate that the scale of research necessary for adequacy in the domain of fuel necessitates, among other things, liberal financial support, and if the Government is going to provide that support it will naturally seek for guidance. Presumably the new Board of Fuel Research is to guide. Its director is Sir George Beilby, whose varied industrial and_ scientific experience should prove-of the greatest value. Sir Charles Parsons, Mr. Richard Threlfall, and Sir Richard Redmayne will assist him as mem- bers of the board, and Prof. W. A. Bone will act as consultant. This form of organisation for research is new to the country and its working will be watched with great interest. There are pitfalls in the way, which it may be difficult to avoid, and would certainly be folly to ignore, but an administration directed with liberality of spirit to really national ends will go a long way to com- mand success. Joun W. Coss. THE SEPTIC PROBLEM IN WAR. © all the many varieties of wounds with - which surgery has to deal, incised, con- tused, lacerated, etc., the most dreaded one is the punctured variety. This is because the inflicting weapon is almost necessarily infected with apaaea NO. 2472, VOL. 99| genic organisms, and because these organisms — are therefore implanted in the depths of a long — and narrow track, into which antiseptics can atte made to penetrate only with considerable difficulty. Of all punctured wounds those produced. iy gunshots are the most difficult to deal with. The — reasons for this become obvious upon con-— sideration. The mere force of impact, in the © first place, is an unusual and important feature. The energy in foot-tons of a projectile of known weight and velocity can easily be calculated, and it is to be remembered that this energy is con- ~ centrated upon a small area, with the result that the actual track of such a missile in human tissues is a tunnel the walls of which are dead tissues. The importance of. this fact in favouring bacterial growth is immense. Moreover, tunnel is surrounded by ‘a cylinder of tissue of which the constituent elements are bruised and under the influence of local shock, so that their — vitality and resisting power to bacterial invasion — are reduced. If such a missile strikes hard bone, a high degree of shattering and splintering takes place, while portions of broken bone are driven into the surrounding muscles, sometimes lacerat- — ing important vessels and nerves, and even burst-— ing through the skin, and forming a large open- — ing known as an “explosive exit.” Owing to the ballistic properties of the pointed bullet, which is now used by all countries, and which tends to turn over on its short axis on impact, the proportion of these severe wounds is some- what greater than in previous campaigns. Another difficuity in the case of gunshot in- juries is their special liability to severe forms of septic infection in the circumstances of the present campaign. In South Africa military surgeons found that a large number of wounds, even when bone was involved, showed small wounds of entrance and exit, and, so far as infection was concerned, merely required cleaning and sealing” to heal without trouble. the shape of the bullet and its tendency to traverse the tissues by a straight course without on its short axis. This meant small external openings, and therefore less liability to infection — from them. But the chief cause of the pesca? from infection was the comparative dryness of the’ country, and a soil for the most part uncon- taminated by human occupation or cultivation. The conditions in the European area of the The humidity — present conflict are very different. of the climate is greatly in excess of that of South Africa, and intensive cultivation means copious manuring of the soil, so that most of the ground occupied by our troops is thoroughly sown with bacteria of fecal origin, which in- clude, besides those ordinarily called pyogenic or. pus-producing, the .special germs of tetanus, malignant cedema, and gas-gangrene. It is in : 2 the _ This was in part due to Pe eens Eee spine Pula alin His ad oe Way . eer eR Meee Reet ne sapien Wie rade — i hy dl Daa, gta at San aeRO Spr aae ance ground thus infected that our soldiers sleep, take e their food, Their skin and clothes are plentifully smeared — with bacterial mud, and it is no matter for sur-— prise that when a bullet passes into their bodies and are occasionally buried alive. — ‘f Marca 15, 1917] NATURE. 49 it carries with it, and implants in all the inter- -_stices _of a deep and complicated wound, the “f ities of a surgical catastrophe. ‘That the bullet is infected by passing through es skin or clothing, often carrying with it & of the latter, seems fairly certain. Some - wounds in South Africa became infected when ‘the bullet passed through the mouth or any egions of the body. The bullet itself, when fired, ’ “probably. a fairly clean body from a surgical int of view. The sides are cleaned by the of the rifle barrel, and the base is seared soy the flame of the explosion. Nevertheless Col. La Garde’s experiments have shown that if deliberately infected before firing, it can be _ shown to be still carrying infection after firing. . The problem, then, which was presented by 1 t injuries was ‘how best to combat sepsis 3 wounds of all varieties, complicated ften by bone injury and severe lacerations of so the bacterial infection coming usually . from the wound openings, but being deeply aloe by the actual stroke of the bullet it passed through the tissues. Obviously, the sre application of even the most efficient ‘anti- to the parts about the external wounds will she meet such a case. The infection must be attacked in the depths of the tissues, prefer- _ ably at a very early date after the receipt of the _ wound, before the bacteria have time to multiply _ in the tissues. Moreover, practically ail wounds of any depth must be dealt with thus. It would be bad surgery to wait until the infection was ished, even though few signs of mischief appear at first. Accordingly it was soon recog- nised that the wound must be opened up, cleaned , far as possible, foreign bodies removed, and free exit provided for discharges by means of drainage tubes. _ Some surgeons hoped that in a wound thus _ Opened up, and thereby converted from a punc- _ tured to an incised type, it might be possible to the infection altogether, and here the Duasvocates of the application of strong antiseptic _ solutions had their view. A mass infection can be ‘completely destroyed by the application of, say, eee carbolic acid. At a very early stage of in- e. this may perhaps be possible, but not _ when the bacteria are in the depths of the tissues. _ Moreover, it is difficult to reach all the recesses ; of a large wound, and if one pocket is left un- attacked, the surgeon’s pains are thrown away. _ Strong antiseptic solutions, too, are very _ damaging to the tissues, which, it must be re- _ membered, are in a condition of ‘impaired vitality already. ‘Another drawback to the use of anti- _ Septic solutions, whether weak or strong, is the _ fact that many of them tend to become inopera- _ tive when in contact with the albuminous solu- _ tions like blood or*pus. They form inert com- 4 - pounds with albumin, and will no longer destroy . tia. It is claimed for an entirely new anti- septic, called from its colour flavine, that it _ actually proves more formidable to germs when = i NO. 2472, VOL. 99] atics ~ estab . ©€illoy . ‘of the alimentary tract, both highly infective | | gravity as the blood. in solution in blood-serum than in aqueous solu- tion. But further trial is required before its value can be exactly classified. Another device for the early removal of septic matter is to cut away the infected tissues bodily. The extremely localised nature of gunshot injury is a help in this case. It is possible to excise the entire internal surface of the wound en masse, with all its sinuosities and pockets, and to sew up the clean cavity remaining. This method enjoys the advocacy of Col. H. M. W. Gray, who has had success with it, but to be satis- factory it obviously must be done early, and re- quires in many cases considerable surgical skill. Cranial injuries and wounds of joints have been treated by this method with an encouraging measure of success. But both the above methods can be effectively applied only when the wound is seen early, and in warfare this is not always possible. Many hours or even days may elapse before wounded men can be collected and carried to the casualty clearing stations. What, then, can be done when bacteria, deeply implanted in the tissues, are multiplying freely and in circumstances very favourable to their growth? Here the physio- logist steps in and reminds the surgeon that the living body has its own guards against bacterial invasion; that healthy blood fluids are inimical to the growth of many, though not of all, bacteria; that the white corpuscles, the so-called phago- cytes or germ-eaters, form an immense army for home defence; and that the effect upon the body of the absorption of the special toxins produced by bacterial action is to cause it to elaborate a neutralising substance or antitoxin. Here, then, is the physiological basis both of the salt method and of the vaccine method of treatment. It is found that if a strong or saturated solution of common salt be applied to an infected wound, the salt by its osmotic action sets up a greatly increased flow of lymph from the tissues into the wound, thus relieving the inflamed tissues of con- gestion, and setting up a flow of fluid from within outwards which tends to wash away bac- teria. Both the lymph and the strong salt solution are unfavourable to the growth of bacteria. So far as the white corpuscles are concerned, strong saline solutions are unfavour- able to their vitality; but when the wound has become healthier it is usual to decrease the strength of the salt solution until its saturation has reached that of a fluid of the same specific In a fluid of this degree of concentration the phagocytes can live and act freely. The practical application of these principles consists either in packing the wound with gauze, between the folds of which tablets of salt are placed, or arranging for the continuous irrigation of the wound with a solution of salt of a known concentration. The latter method is suitable in a fixed hospital. And it is one of the great ad- vantages of the former method that a case so dressed. often requires no redressing for a few 50 NATURE | Marcu 15, 1917 days, so that the anxieties connected with the provision of fresh dressings during transport from the casualty clearing station to the base hospital are set aside. The question of treat- ment by vaccines can scarcely be efficiently dealt with within the limits of a short article. case the réle of vaccines is to neutralise tissue poisons elaborated by bacteria, rather than to contribute directly to the closing and healing of the wound itself. The ideal vaccine would natur- ally be one which, injected into the body imme- diately after the wound is inflicted, has the power of getting in ahead of the toxins and. neutralising them. This prophylactic action is. possessed - by one of the serums used, and fortunately in the case of one of the deadliest of the bacteria, the tetanus germ. It has been found that the use of this serum in a moderate dose immediately after the infliction of the wound protects the wounded man from tetanus, and consequently an important part of the treatment at the casualty clearing. stations is the. administration of this. preventive dose.. As regards the other bacteria, serums and vaccines are used, but their value is not so well established as in the case of. tetanus, though important results have been obtained and valuable lessons learnt from their trial. It will be seen from the above remarks: that surgeons had not only to appreciate and elucidate a problem which at first presented many new and puzzling features, but also to devise means for its solution. How far they have been successful cannot be quite known until after the war. But enough experience has been gained to justify the hope that we are on the right track, and that the treatment our brave soldiers have a right to expeet can now be given to them. NOTES. Aw article of immediate interest and importance appeared in our contemporary La Nature (February 17, p. 100) on the utility of supplying soldiers with body armour—a proposal which has been already urged in this country. The writer, ‘‘A. G.,” states: (1) That in trench warfare nearly 75 per cent. of wounds seen in hospitals are caused by missiles of low velocity— such as could have been warded off by a compara- tively thin armour-plate. (2) That missiles of low velocity which lodge in the body are more dangerous to life than missiles of high velocity which penetrate and leave the body, because every missile which lodges is presumably an infected body. (3) That the total mortality from head wounds has been enormously de- creased since the introduction of protective helmets. The form of body armour proposed’ by the writer in La Nature is fully illustrated and compared with suits worn by soldiers in the Middle Ages. A cuirass of armour-plating is proposed for the protection of the thorax and upper abdomen, covering the most vital organs; a gorget of chain mail protects the neck, and a girdle or short “kilt” of the same material the loins and groins; there are a mask for the face, and sheaths for the shoulders, elbows, and knees. How far such an armour would interfere with mobility is a-matter on which only military men can decide, but from a surgical point of view such a_ protection has every recommendation. We may here point out that NO. 2472, VOL. 99] In any .applications, actual or. potential, is These questions cannot be handled with success by — a soldier of average stature presents, as he faces the enemy in open field, a target with an area of 2740 squarecm, Of that target the head and neck make up — g per cent.; the.thorax and abdomen 28 per cent. ; ‘while the less vital parts—the limbs—make up largest part, viz. 63 per cent. Even if only the more vital parts could be protected, there would be a great saving of life. Tue Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy, of which Lord Balfour of Burleigh is chair- man, has recently forwarded to the Prime Minister a copy of resolutions passed on the subject of Imperial preference, and its report (Cd. 8482, price 1d. net), which includes a copy of the covering letter addressed to the Prime Minister, has been presented to Parlia- ment. In the light of experience gained during the war, the committee contends that special steps should be taken to stimulate the production’ of foodstuffs, raw materials, and manufactured articles within the Empire, wherever this is possible, and it therefore recommends that preferential treatment should be accorded to the products and manufactures of the Colonies, either by exemption from, or reduction of, duties. Such recommendations from the committee, composed as it is of well-known representatives of politics, economics, engineering, metallurgy, trade, and industry, will no doubt carry considerable weight. — There is,. however, one direction in which this com- mittee ought to be strengthened. Since the beginning of the war the importance of applied chemistry has — become obvious to everyone, but it is not yet suffi- ciently ‘realised by Government Departments and public officials. that there are many ‘industrial and economic questions in the consideration of which some knowledge of the science of chemistry and its indispensable. ordinary men of business, however able, without such knowledge, and it appears therefore eminently desir- able that a duly qualified representative of chemical ; industry should be added to the committee. Count ZEPPELIN is dead, and has left a name that brings to our minds the murder of innocent women and children in air-raids over open towns. Yet it must be admitted that his work in developing the rigid airship, in spite of many failures, is worthy of all praise. Count Zeppelin showed us how far the rigid airship can be developed, and the war has shown us the. use and abuse of such aircraft. As scouts for the navy they are invaluable, being able to hover over one spot for lengthy periods without wasting their fuel reserves, a manceuvre impossible to an aeroplane. “It is, however, clearly recognised that the use of airships for raiding open towns is quite in- defensible, and that as a means of invasion they are very unlikely to prove a serious menace. In peace iime they might be used to convey mails and pas- sengers, but their speed is not higher than that of an express train, and their liability to destruction in bad weather is a serious objection to these uses. In spite of Count Zeppelin’s painstaking labours, in face of great difficulties, it does not seem that his rigid airships are ever likely to be serious rivals of the aeroplane, either for military or commercial purposes. It is interesting to learn that the Imperial Institute proposes to constitute, a comprehensive bureau of mineral intelligence, with the object of supplying in- formation as to all mineral deposits within the British Empire. -For some years past the Imperial Institute has been doing a certain amount of such work, and it- will be a decided advantage to have a mineral in- telligence bureau available to the public. This subject Ae aap ee ama = ; a ¥ Te: eS. oe ee VDF Weal ee |g NATURE . ~ Marcu 15, 1917] scupied the attention of several similar institu- _A paper dealing with the occurrence and dis- bution of certain of these minerals, read by Prof. ullis before the Society of Engineers on December 11, 16, was summarised in Nature of January 4 (p. 1); and it is understood that the Department of cientific and Industrial Research is also moving in ie same direction. None of these attempts, however raiseworthy and valuable, can take the place of a yperly established Government Department of srals and Metals, which should co-ordinate all ese scattered efforts, and should deal with the whole ibject from the point of view of a great Imperial dustry, which is of vital importance to the future | the British Empire. This is surely a subject for e Government, and should not be left to the enter- rise of individuals or associations, and there is prob- jly no way in which public money could be expended With a better assurance of prompt and manifold >ment. "Tue resignation of Dr. E. A. Letts from the chair f chemistry in the Queen’s University, Belfast, is “Sir W. E. Garstiw and Sir G. K. Scott-Moncrieff have been elected honorary members of the Institution of Civil Engineers. — 3 ) -Tue third Guthrie lecture of the Physical Society fill be delivered in English at the Imperial College f Science and Technology on Friday, March 23, by of. P. Langevin. Its subject will be ‘‘ Molecular wz twenty-second annual congress of the South- tern Union of Scientific Societies will be held at ding on June 6-9, under the presidency of Prof. We learn from Science that Dr. V._M. Slipher, for many years chief assistant at the Lowell Observatory, anc wn for his oscopic researches, has been appointed director of the observatory in succession to late Percival Lowell. sare Tue Times announces that Dr. Douglas W. Fresh- fi presideat of the Royal Geographical Society, as been elected an honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society, and Sir Ernest Shackleton a ¢ es Dp onding member. WE regret to announce the death, on March g, at ighty-cight years of age, of the Rev. O. Pickard- mbridge, F.R.S., author of ‘“‘ Specific Descriptions ‘of Trapdoor Spiders” (1873), ‘“‘ The Spiders of Dorset”’ 1879-81), and other works on arachnology, entom- zy, and general natural history. We are glad to be able to state that the announce- nt made at the meeting of the Linnean Society on ruary 15 as to the death of Prof. G. O. Sars, the inguished zoologist of Christiania, is incorrect. * mistake arose from a confusion of his name with t of his brother, J. E. Sars, professor of history | the same university, who died recently. - Tue Right Hon. Sir William MacGregor, late Acting High Commissioner for the Western Pacific; Sir William Peterson, principal of McGill University, Montreal; and Sir Ernest Rutherford, professor of " physics, University of Manchester, have been elected “members of the Atheneum Club under the provisions ‘the rule which empowers the annual election by the committee of a certain number of persons “of distinguished eminence in science, literature, the arts, + for public service.” : NO. 2472, VOL. 99] Letters on the optical deterioration of the atmo- sphere during July and August last appeared in Nature of October 5, November 9, and December 28, 1916. Father J. G. Hagen, director of the Vatican Observatory, writes to say that the defects referred to were severely. felt at that observatory, and were attributed, as was done by Prof. Riccd in Nature of November ‘9, to the eruption of Stromboli, which reached its,maximum on July 4. Father Hagen has a these facts in the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4871. Tue following is the list of officers of the Physical Society elected for the ensuing year: President: Prof. C. Vernon Boys. Vice-Presidents (in addition to those who have filled’ the office of president): Mr. W. R. Cooper, Sir Napier Shaw, Dr. S. W. J. Smith, Dr. W. E. Sumpner. Secretaries: Prof. W. Eccles, Fins- bury Technical College, Leonard Street, E.C.; Dr. R. S. Willows; The Sir John Cass Technical Institute, Jewry Street, Aldgate, E.C. Foreign Secretary: Dr. R. T. Glazebrook. Treasurer: Mr. W. Duddell. Librarian: Dr. S. W. J. Smith. Other Members of Council: Dr. H. S. Allen, Prof. E. H. Barton, Prof. G. W. O. Howe, Prof. J. W. Nicholson, Mr. C. C. Paterson, Mr. C. E. S. Phillips, Prof. O. W. Richard- son, Dr. S. Russ, Mr, T. Smith, Mr. F. J. W. Whipple. Mr. JaMEs GILLINGHAM, of Chard, recently presented to the County Museum at Taunton a large number of photographs and papers collected by him for the se of perpetuating the memory of John String- fellow, of Chard, “the pioneer of flight and father of aviation." Nine of the photographs, mostly en- largements, are mounted on cards as follows : (1) Por- trait of John Stringfellow; and (2) another as an old man; (3) Stringfellow’s aeroplane, 1848; (4) his tri- plane, 1868; (5) another view of his triplane; (6) flower show and sports on Bewley Down, near Chard, the place where Stringfellow experimented with his flying-machine in 1847; (7) aeroplane designed by W. S. Henson and patented as ‘*The Ariel Steam Carriage, 1842"; (8, 9) two photographs of the memorial to Stringfellow in Chard cemetery, de- signed by James Gillingham; in addition, the original drawing of the last-named subject, in large frame. At the present time these photographs are exhibited in a case in the Great Hall of Taunton Castle. The collection contains a good deal of miscellaneous manu- script and printed matter having reference to aviation, and includes the memorandum of agreement made by John Stringfellow and W. S. Henson with regard to a partnership for constructing “‘a model of an aerial machine,’ dated December 29, 1843. By the death of General J. A. L. Bassot, on January 17, international geodesy has sustained a severe loss, and France mourns a distinguished geodesist. Born in 1841, General Bassot took part in the war of 1870, and immediately after it was appointed to the Service Géographique de l’Armée, where, under General Perrier, he was employed on the remeasurement of the arc of meridian in France. Later, in 1879, he took part in the geodetic operations for connecting the triangulation of Spain with that of Algeria; where Bassot occupied the mountain station’ of Filhaoussen for nearly eight weeks before he could effect his purpose. In 1884 he laid out and observed the chain of triangulation from Algiers to Laghouat, and a few vears later, in 1888, he succeeded his former chief, General Perrier, as director of the Military Geo- graphical Service. Administrative duties now put an end to His.geodetic work in the field, but he continued to direct and promote geodetic operations of. import- 52 NATURE ance, in spite of the arduous work and heavy respon- sibilities which the provision of maps for the French Army entailed. In these, too, he made numerous improvements. The remeasurement of the arc’ ot meridian in France naturally suggested a revision of the arc of Peru, which had been measured in the eighteenth century in connection with the geodetic — operations in France. A proposal to this effect was warmly supported by the International Geodetic Com- mission at its meeting at Stuttgart in 1898, and in’ June, 1899, work was commenced under the direction of General Bassot, and has since been carried to a successful termination. At several meetings of the International Geodetic Commission General Bassot presented reports on various geodetic operations, and at its meeting of 1903 he was elected president, which post he held until the commission automatically ceased to exist at the end of 1916, a few days before his death. On his retirement from the Army he became director of the Observatory of Nice in 1904, and devoted his energies to scientific work there and to his geodetic studies, besides taking part in an expedition to Spain in 1905 to observe the eclipse of the sun of that year. He was elected a member of the Académie des Sciences in 1893. Tue Journal of Mental Science for October, 1916, contains an interesting article by Prof. E. W. Scripture on *‘ Reaction Time in Nervous and Mental Diseases.” The fact that we judge whether a person is normal or not by our observations or how he reacts to his environment suggests that the study of nervous and mental diseases would be furthered by having some method by which we could study in detail the reac- tions of a patient to various stimuli. The usual reaction time apparatus is complicated, and involves much laborious calculation before the records can be utilised; it is therefore unsuitable for clinical work. The author of the article has devised, in order to obyiate this, a self-recording method that shows directly to the eye, without measurement, how quick the reaction time is and how it varies. He gives details of records obtained with this apparatus from normal people and from patients suffering from alco- holism, hysteria, epilepsy, and general paralysis. The few diseases studied show marked reaction types, even for the simple form of reaction, and the author thinks that the test can be made so complete and trustworthy as to give an accurate diagnosis of many nervous diseases. Prors. M. Boure and R. Anthony, in the Journal of Anatomy for January, make a spirited reply to Prof. Symington’s strictures on deductions drawn from endocranial casts taken from human skulls. In their paper, ‘‘ Neopallial Morphology of Fossil Men as Studied from Endocranial Casts,” they contend that Prof. Symington’s mistake lies in assuming, implicitly and without question, that what is true of modern men must also, necessarily, be true of Neander- thalians. As a matter of fact, they show that, while in, modern man furrows are to be seen only at the base of such brain casts, in Neanderthalians these furrows are traceable on the frontal and occipital regions. They also show that in the case of the lemurs, and in carnivores and ungulates, endocranial casts show the neopallial foldings over the whole brain, which can be read on a cast nearly as easily, and with as much exactitude and precision, as on the surface of the brain itself. ACCORDING to Commerce Reports (Washington) of June 12, 1915, nearly 400 square miles of seaweed- beds exist along the United States Pacific coast. From this area it is officially estimated that 59,000,000 NO. 2472, VOL. 99] 2,300,000 tons of potassium chloride could be pro- duced. Arrangements have been made by the United — ‘States Department of Agriculture for experimental work on the production of potash from this seaweed to be carried out on a commercial scale. In the New York Journal of Commerce of November 2 i sae in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture, f ry, Pp. 1158) it is stated that an appropriation of 175,000 dollars has been made for the purpose, and that the — [MarcH 15, 1917 | tons of seaweed might be cut annually, from which plant will probably be established in southern Cali- — fornia, either at Santa Barbara or Long Beach. A plant capable of dealing with about 200 tons of wet _ seaweed per day will be erected, and a daily yield of about five tons of potassium chloride is expected. — Numerous methods will be employed pestle yb 4 e but for the most part distillation processes will used. In a recent communication from the National Health Insurance Commission (England) to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries the opinion is — expressed that of the many home-grown plants used in the treatment of disease only four can be regarded, from a medical point of view, as really essential— namely, belladonna, henbane, digitalis, and colchicum, . — The communication, which is published in the Feb- ruary issue of the Journal of the Board of Agri- culture, proceeds further to give approximate estimates of the amounts of these essential plants required annually for home consumption, ranging from about . 50 tons each of dried leaves and roots in the case of | | . ete Ds belladonna to about 20-25 tons each of dried leaves of henbane and digitalis, and a much smaller quantity of colchicum. It appears that there is sufficient digitalis and colchicum growing wild in this country to meet home requirements, and that a corisiderable proportion of the home demand for belladonna and — henbane could also be met by the collection of wild plants with: well-organised schemes for collection and — drying. Moreover, the cultivated area under bella- donna and henbane has considerably increased since the outbreak of war, and probably now suffices, to-— gether with the supplies obtainable from wild plants, for home requirements. Tue relation of the geographical conditions to the present situation in Mexico, as it may affect the United States, is the subject of some notes in the Geographical Review for January (vol. iii., No. 1). It is pointed out that the scene of action, if -the United States intervenes in the affairs of Mexico, must be in the thinly peopled and arid northern frontier regions, where conditions are greatly in favour of the Mexicans. Water is scarce, and transpor of men, food, and materials will be difficult, which will handicap the Americans, but, on the other hand, will be correspondingly an advantage to the Mexicans, habituated to life transport arrangements costly out of all far removed from the high plateau on which are in these desert conditions. A campaign in northern Mexico would therefore involve — to the number of troops employed, and it would be — situated nearly all the great cities of Mexico and most ~ of its population. The article has a short but useful bibliography of geographical works on Mexico, and is accompanied by a map of the- northern frontier regions. IN a paper in February (vol. xlix., No. 2) Mr. C. B. Fawcett has tried to devise administrative divisions for England and Wales more rational and more in harmony with local and regional consciousness than the divisions into counties. The aim of his divisions is to facilitate good local government. This entails certain considerations. the Gecgraphies Journal for : NATURE 53 . boundaries must be drawn so far as possible = the more. thinly peopled tracts of land. Each ince must have a regional capital. This is essen- ‘to the development of a provincial patriotism sary for good government. The minimum of jon, and no province should be so populous as to inate the others. It is a sound geographical i that a valley forms a unity, and so aries should be drawn near watersheds. Lastly, the new boundaries to some extent supersede the ent counties, county patriotism must be allowed in determining the new provinces. The result, illustrated by a map, is to divide England and ‘ales into thirteen provinces centred respectively und London, Cambridge, Oxford, Southampton, ol, Plymouth, Cardiff, Birmingham, Notting- at Manchester, Newcastle, and an _ un- sen capital for the south-east province. While the Us provinces are not intended to be equal in ortance any more than they are in area, it is diffi- to admit of 2 ae division of Metropolitan sland, to use i ’s term, which is, and st be, dominated by London. In the north the roblem is easier. _ WE have received a copy of the Egyptian Almanac _ for the year 1917 (Government Press: Cairo). The almanac is descriptive rather than statistical, and so for ms a ry volume to the Annuaire Statis- _tique. There are chapters on the geographical features, ‘agriculture and industries, and on the work of the _ various public departments. The section on the an- _ tiquities department has been considerably extended, and contains a list of the principal antiquities and ‘monuments of art. A transliteration system of Arabic _ is added to the almanac. It would have enhanced the sefulness of the volume if a list of maps published by the survey department had been added. | RENEWAL of wintry weather occurred in all parts Great Britain on three days March 7-9, and cold snap was greatly intensified by a keen and rching ‘easterly wind. Slight snow was experi- ced generally. On March 7 the highest day tem- _ peratures failed to rise above the freezing-point at most of the health resorts reporting to the Meteoro- _ logical Office in the northern and eastern English districts. On March 8 the minima, or lowest tem- peratures, in the early morning were below 20° over Scotland, as well as at places in the north of England. a: the sheltered thermometer fell to 19° at eed Be urnemouth to 22°. In the London suburbs the lowest temperatures in the screen were generally bout 22°, and at Hampstead the thermometer fell low 20°. The day temperatures were almost as as on March 7. On the morning of March 9 _ the thermometer reading was again very low, regis- tering 15° in parts of Scotland, and 20° at several stations in the east and south-east of England, as well in the London suburbs. Much milder weather, with fain, set in over the south-west of England, and the change spread rap:dly to other parts of Great Britain. COMMUNICATION 149 from the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leyden contains the results of the measurements of the specific heat at constant = aegets of solid and liquid nitrogen carried out_by _ Prof. Kamerlingh Onnes and Dr. W. H. Keesom. The _ pure nitrogen used was condensed and entered the _ calorimeter at a low temperature. It was there heated electrically through a range of temperature of about 7.2 and the work done and the rise of tempera- | ture observed. The calorimeter was enclosed in a _ vacuum jacket kept at a low temperature to diminish - ___—sCNO. (2472, VOL. 99 | on in each province should be about one | the flow of heat from its surroundings, The atomic heat of the solid nitrogen at 15° Absolute is 1-6, at 20° 2-4, at 40° 4-5, at 50° 4-9, and at 60° 5-3. The atomic heat of the liquid nitrogen above the triple point 63° is 6-6 up to 76° Absolute. A NEw list of small electric furnaces, for tempera- tures up to 1000° C., has just been issued by Messrs. A. Gallenkamp and Co., Ltd. These furnaces are characterised by a simplicity of construction and ease of manipulation which should render them of consider- able value in chemical and other laboratories. The general advantages of electric furnaces are well known, but by many it may not yet be realised how much more convenient their use has become since the intro- duction of high-resistance, high-melting-point alloys, such as are employed in the apparatus referred to here. These materials enable small furnaces to be wound for use on voltages up to 250 (direct or alternating), while the low-temperature coefficient of the winding obviates the continued attention during heating-up that is demanded by a platinum or nickel wound furnace. In addition, the renewal of the heating tube, should breakdown occur through accidental over-running, is quickly carried out and at small cost. The listed comprise a good selection of single and multiple tubular furnaces for combustion and explosion tube work. Muffle furnaces suitable for general chemical analysis and for small metallurgical operations are constructed on similar lines, while a vertical crucible furnace has recently been included in .the list. This latter piece of apparatus is provided with a device for lifting the crucible from the heating tube from below —an arrangement which should greatly conduce to ease of working. The list gives useful information as to the power consumption for each size of furnace, while prices of renewal tubes and of suitable regu- lating resistances are quoted in each instance. A PAMPHLET entitled ‘‘Slav Achievement in Ad- vanced Science,’? by Prof. B. Petronievics, of Bel- grade (American Book Supply Co., Ltd., 1s.), contains brief accounts of the following worthies: (1) Copernicus, (2) Boscovich, (3) Lobachevski, (4) Mendeléeff. They are all interesting, and (2) and (4) are particularly good. Even to an English reader (1) goes over familiar ground, and (3) contains blemishes in detail which make it rather untrustworthy. Thus from p. 19 the reader would infer that CD in the figure is a “straight ”’ line; on p. 21 it appears as the locus of points “ equi- distant ’? from AB, and is, therefore, not a straight line. Riemann’s “‘plane ’’ (p. 22) cannot be con- structed in Euclidean space, but we have an exact image of it in ordinary spherical geometry; t.e. we can translate any formula of the latter into a formula for the Riemann plane. Similarly, formule for the so-called pseudosphere in ordinary space can be applied to the geometry of a plane in Lobachevski’s space. As illustrations of recent advance in scientific thought, we may remark that no one now would claim for Copernicus’s theory any absolute superiority over Ptolemy’s; it is only a matter of choosing axes of reference assumed to be fixed, and since the sun undoubtedly moves with reference to the fixed stars, the simplest explanation of celestial motions compels us to discard the Copernican axes, at any rate as a fixed system. Again, the theory of electrons has brought in a mathematical analysis which in some respects is analogous to Boscovich’s. We are glad to learn that Prof. Petronievics is about to publish a work ‘*On Simultaneous Discoverers"’; this ought to be very interesting. From the early days of the industries based on coal- tar products it has been fashionable to illustrate the 54 NATURE | [MarcH 15, 1917 derivation of synthetic dyes and other commercially important substances from coal-tar by diagrams somewhat on the lines of a genealogical table. This method of demonstrating the importance of coal-tar and the direct products of its distillation becomes increasingly difficult each decade, because of new developments which are constantly being made. Messrs. G. Allen and Unwin, Ltd., are responsible for the publication of one of the latest of these ‘‘ coal- tar charts,’ which was adapted by Dr. T. H. Norton from a diagram originally drawn up by Dr, von Brunck, the veteran director of the Badische Aniline and Soda Company. In this chart the genesis of many important modern dyes is traced from six direct or immediate coal-tar derivatives, namely, benzene, toluene, the xylenes, naphthalene, phenol, and anthra- cene. Among the recent additions are the substantive wool dyes of the anthraquinone series, of which alizar- ine saphirol may be taken as type. The direct cotton- blues are valuable colours, the derivation of which from tolidine and dianisidine is indicated, and refer- ence is made to some of the more important chromed colours. It is, however, significant of the rapidity with which these charts become obsolete, that in the present instance no place is found for the direct coal- tar product, carbazole, and its important derived colour, hydrone-blue. Tue North-East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders has just issued a standard specification for cargo-steamer engines. This specification is for reciprocating triple-expansion engines intended for moderate-speed cargo-boats engaged in general trade, and is based on the best practice of the day; the object in view is the ultimate standardisation of parts. It is hoped that the specification will be extended to include not only the main engine proportions and scantlings, but also the boilers, auxiliaries, and other details. The council proposes that an annual revision should be made in order that the specification may be kept thoroughly up to date. In view of the tasks which will have to be faced directly the war is over, the specification and proposals are of importance, and will tend to improve the organisation of our shipbuilding industry in this class of vessel. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. EciipsE Test oF EINsTEIN’s THEORY OF GRAVITA- TION.-At the meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society on March 9, the Astronomer .Royai directed attention to the favourable opportunity which would be afforded by the total eclipse of the sun on May 28, 1919, for-testing Einstein’s predicted deflection of a ray of light in passing close to the sun. The theoreti- cal displacement of a star near the sun is 1-75" 1/1, where r, is the sun’s radius, and yr the perpen- dicular distance of the ray from the sun’s centre. At the eclipse of June, 1918, visible in the United States, the sun will be situated in a region poor in stars, but on May 28, 1919, it will be in the Hyades group. There will then be thirteen stars in the vicinity of the sun, of magnitudes 4-5 to 7-0, for which the theoretical displacements range from 1-20" to 0-26". The greater part of the track of this eclipse will unfortunately be over the Atlantic, not far from the equator, but, in view of the importance of the sug- gested observations, it ‘is hoped that suitable ob- serving stations may be found in Brazil or Liberia. A re-examination of the photographs taken by the Greenwich observers at Sfax in 1905 revealed three star images, and a possible fourth image involved in the corona, but no trustworthy deduction as to the reality of the Einstein effect could be made.’ These NO. 2472, VOL. 99| photographs, however, show that the standard astro- graphic telescope employed is quite a suitable instru- ment for the purpose in view. Tue VariaBsLE Neputa N.G.C. 2261.—Dr. V. M. Slipher, director of the Lowell Observatory, has ob- tained a spectrogram of Hubble’s variable nebula N.G.C. 2261, to which reference has previously been made in this column (Nature, vol. xc., p. 298). The — nebula is of cometic form, and has the irregular variable star R. Monocerotis as its nucleus. The nebula and star have been found to show the same peculiar spectrum, consisting of a continuous spectrum with bright lines or bands which are not identical with those of gaseous nebula. The observation sug- gests that the nebula shines by reflected light of the pulsating nucleus. Mr. Lampland has obtained two direct photographs with the 4o-in. reflector, one on March 2, 1916, and the other on January 25, 1917, showing striking differences in parts of the nebulous detail. The magnitude of the apparent changes sug- gests that no actual transference of matter takes place, but rather that we witness the progressive motion of pulses of light resulting from fluctuations in the brightness of the variable star. The. displace- ment is estimated at 15 seconds of afc, and, assuming this to be perpendicular to the line of sight, which would generally overstate the distance, the parallax of the nebula would be about 0-00027".. The corre- sponding distance would be 12,000 light-years. THE CHEMICAL ENGINEER. 2 8 HE president and council of the Faraday Society are to be congratulated on their enterprise in organising a very successful debate on the training and work of the chemical engineer held on March 6, which supplements the discussion in November last on the same subject before the London section of the Society of Chemical Industry. The importance of a knowledge of engineering to the chemist engaged in industry was accepted by all present, but the speakers showed a great difference of opinion in their definition of the chemical engineer. Sir George Beilby, who initiated the discussion, considered that chemical engineering has for its function the design and con- struction of apparatus required for the carrying out of chemical processes on a manufacturing scale. The chemical engineer is a specialist who not only has at his command a sound knowledge of chemical pheno-. mena and laws, but, more important still, he must be able to see chemical problems from the chemist’s point of view. Prof. Donnan drew a distinction between research chemists, engineer-chemists, and chemical engineers, using the last term in the same sense as Sir George Beilby. The engineer-chemist is the ordinary chemi- cal student to whom a good deal of engineering knowledge has been imparted. or, as Prof. Donnan termed it, applied physical chemistry. He corresponds to what is usually known as the plant chemist in chemical industry—that is, the trained chemist who has naturally mechanical aptitude and has gained: engineering knowledge by experience. Prof. Donnan’s desire was to include a comprehensive training in engineering in the four years’ course for chemists. It was suggested that some attempt should be made by the teacher at the end of three years to state as ‘to what branch of chemistry a particular student showed the greatest aptitude. Prof. Donnan very properly laid considerable stress on the rarity of the really gifted research worker, who was born rather than made by training. yeh ‘Even more important in this connection was Sir ‘ abo pastiinans ap Sahel sinha eS es 1 SORA allege 0 ee “Marcu 15, 1917] NATURE 55 ge Beilby’s statement that the point of view of engineer is not so far removed from that of the mary intelligent person that the latter cannot sp, in a general way, his aims and objects; but ‘thoughts and aims of the chemist are for the st part quite inscrutable to the vast majority of his w-men. Since the chemist’s views are so much her removed from everyday notions and concep- tions than are those of the engineer, it is wiser first _ to imbue the mind of the student thoroughly with the more difficult, because less ordinary, point of view. On the other hand, many of the speakers seemed to advocate that chemists should be trained as chemical _ engineers—that is, primarily to design and control _ chemical plant; and that the factor of cost in relation » chemical processes should not be overlooked. _ From the point of view of the chemical manufac- turer, it was urged that the main requirement of the 1 stry was men fully equipped with a real know- e of chemistry: the individual with mechanical ide would without difficulty be able to learn enough to think as an engineer, and appreciate en- gineering problems. _ In addition to the scheme outlined by Prof. Donnan or the training of the would-be works chemist in engineering, papers were contributed by Mr. C. H. Darling on the training in physics given at the Fins- bury College, and by Mr. J. W. Hinchley on the course at the Imperial College. The former course - is designed to make the student acquainted with the __ type of instrument he will later meet with in works, but it was recognised by Mr. Darling that the young chemist who is to be of the maximum use to his employer must, in addition to the possession of speci- fic knowledge, have his ideas running in the right ' HIGH-SPEED TELEGRAPHY. {PRE report of the committee appointed by the a Postmaster-General in December, 1913, to con- sider the question of high-speed telegraphy has now been teeadd in the form of a White Paper (Cd. 8413, price 3d.). Unfortunately the work of the committee was interfered with by the outbreak of war ‘in August, 1914, which cut short a series of tests designed to show the best results which various competing systems could produce under identical conditions. In the absence of comparative statistics the complete exami- nation of all, the claims of rival inventions is im- possible, but as such minute statistical comparisons would be mainly valuable in connection with further ‘investigation, the considerations on which the com- “mittee’s recommendations have. been framed should ‘suffice for the present. , _ The question before the committee resolved itself _ into a rivalry between automatic high-speed systems _ On one hand, and the multiplex on the other, _ though the inventions of Mr. Creed and the advent _ of various keyboard perforators affected the situation _ of the former. Automatic high-speed systems were _ fully reviewed, but the conclusion arrived at by the ‘committee is that for ordinary commercial telegraph work between the main centres of the British Post Office service the inventions based on the multiplex __ method are superior, as they conduce to economy in _ Staff, are subject to fewer serious stoppages and _ delays than automatic systems, and necessitate less __ Spare plant and-less costly maintenance. The funda- '_ mental principles of nearly all multiplex instruments _ are based on the Baudot system, invented more than _ thirty years-ago. Ten years later it assumed, in the hands of the original inventor, practically its present NO. 2472, VOL. 99| = form. Although some of its main principles had been anticipated by earlier inventors, Baudot was the first who combined them into a system of practical utility, and the production of the system may be regarded as marking an epoch in the history of telegraphy. The leading features of the Baudot system are: (1) its method of obtaining synchronism ; (2) its direct trans- mission from keyboard to line; (3) its cadence and speed; (4) its direct printing on slip. Of the multiplex systems at present available, the Western Electric is said to have given the best re- sults, and the committee recommends that a number of quadruple duplex installations of this apparatus be ordered. Seven or eight sets should suffice, as al- though present conditions.favour the rapid application of systems with the greatest output, it is desirable to avoid too great a dislocation of working, and to allow time, so far as possible, for other makers to demonstrate their capabilities. Page- or column- printing is preferable to tape-printing on the busiest routes, and the Western Electric Company’s page- printing on a continuous roll of paper, cut off after each message, is quite satisfactory. The com- mittee does not consider it desirable that either page- or column-printing should be adopted through- out the service to the exclusion of tape-printing, while the Creed receiving apparatus is recom- mended for use in the Post Office news service. The application of printing methods to the less im- portant circuits should be kept steadily in view, and early trials of the one-way and two-way installations of the Western Electric, and of the light line printer of the Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Company, are recommended. The committee was impressed with the possibility of two-way working with one operator at each end, both to signal their messages ‘simultaneously to the other end, and then beth to gum the tape. An hourly load can be carried in this way equivalent to the average Morse load with two operators at each end, and having the additional ad- vantage of printing the telegrams. The committee predicts that the introduction of multiplex methods for news work will call for serious consideration in the near future, and it urges that the application of these systems, to give simultaneous communication on one wire between each one of three or possibly more offices, should be kept in view as multiplex methods are extended. HEREDITY AND DISEASE. [% the lately issued Bulletins Nos. 16 and 17 of the Eugenics Record Office (Cold Spring Harbour, New York) Prof. C. B. Davenport and Dr. Elizabeth B. Muncey discuss ‘‘ Huntington’s Chorea in relation to Heredity and Eugenics ” and “The Hereditary Fac- tor in Pellagra.” Nearly a thousand cases of the chorea “‘can be traced back to some half-dozen indi- viduals who migrated to America during the seven- teenth century.” The disease manifests itself in vari- ous sets of symptoms—nervous tremors, dementia, etc., —most of which act as dominants. Though the here- ditary nature of the disease has been recognised for generations, ‘‘there is no clear evidence that persons belonging to the choreic lines voluntarily abstain to any marked degree from, or are selected against, in marriage."” With regard to pellagra, there appears to be a distinct hereditary predisposition to infection; nearly half the children of a pair of susceptible parents are themselves susceptible. i The long-disputed question of the influence of poison on germ-cells has received another contribution in Dr. Raymond Pearl’s paper on the effect of continued <6 NATURE [Marcu 15, 1917 administration of certain poisons to the domestic fowl, with special reference to the progeny (Proc. Amer, Phil. Soc., lv., 1916, pp. 243-58). This is an abstract of three papers from the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, and a fuller memoir is promised later. A’ new feature in this research is that ‘‘the foundation stock used came from pedigreed strains of two breeds, Black Hamburgs and Barred Plymouth Rocks... whose genetic behaviour under ordinary circumstances may be predicted with a degree of probability amount- ing practically to complete certainty.’’ The birds were treated by. inhalation with ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, or ether, and examination of the offspring gave the surprising result that “out of twelve different characters for which we have exact quantitative data, the offspring of treated parents taken as a group are’ superior to the offspring of non-treated parents in eight characters.” several. recent workers—such, for Laitinen and Stockard—have established the degener- ate nature of the offspring of many alcoholised mam- mals. He points out that the strength of treatment may be such as to exercise a selection among the germ-cells, so that, through the elimination of feeble sperms and ova, a larger proportion than usual of vigorous gametes in the narcotised animals take part in the production of zygotes, whereas with a stronger _ treatment all the gametes are injuriously affected. It is likely that the germ-cells of birds may be less affected than those of mammals by such influence, and Dr. Pearl is certainly justified in asking for caution in transferring these results to problems of ‘human inheritance, though he is apparently willing to accept at their face-value the much-disputed statistics of Elderton and Pearson, so loudly acclaimed as an excuse for alcoholic indulgence among man- kind. G. H. C. THE U.S. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. U NDER the pressure of conditions of war, national advantage is being taken of the services which science can render, through committees or by the appointment of men of science to posts in Govern- ment departments. Definite problems have to be solved, and attention has to be concentrated upon them, though this means that the freedom which is the prime characteristic of exploration in scientific fields is necessarily restricted. In the United States at present there is no necessity of this kind; and the National Research Council is, therefore, free to de- velop a plan in which purely scientific investigation takes its essential place, without consideration of immediate problems of national defence and industrial demands. The council has recently sent a circular to the chief educational institutions in the United States recommending the formation of research committees such as have been established already at the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology and certain other in- stitutions at its suggestion. The obligations of men of science towards national defence and industry are not overlooked, but it is equally important to provide for the free scientific research upon which great developments will depend in the future as in the past. ‘‘We must not forget,’’ says the council, ‘‘that pure science, not directly stimulated by patriotic impulse for national service or the promise of financial reward from in- dustrial profits, should be accorded the encouragement which enlightened leaders of industry are so willing to concede as its due.’” We subjoin an abstract of the main points dealt with in the circular from which this ‘quotation is taken. NO. 2472, VOL. 99] Dr. Pearl does not consider that his” results contradict those of the experiments by which’ example, as Research Committees in Educational Institutions, A very large proportion of the scientific research of the United States is conducted in the laboratories of educational institutions. It is now widely appre- ciated that contact with knowledge in the making is the most effective means of seizing and holding the student’s attention. And it is also recognised that no greater injury can be done to the cause of science than to compel a promising investigator, fresh from the researches of his graduate years, to relinquish all hopes of further studies because of the com- plete absorption of his time and energy by other duties, It is with the fullest appreciation of the difficulties which financial limitations involve, and with a sincere desire not to interfere with the just demands of the teacher’s profession, that the National Research Council invites the co-operation of educational institu- tions in the promotion of research at this critical period in our national progress. We believe it to be feasible, without decreasing the efficiency of the uni- versity, the college, or the professional school as teaching institutions, to increase greatly their contri- bution to knowledge through research. Indeed, we do not hesitate to say that if a portion of the time now given to teaching were devoted to investigation, and if the courses of instruction were so altered as to take full advantage of this change, the educational efficiency of the institutions in question would be materially. enhanced. In extending a request for the formation of research committees in educational institutions of high standards, which accord serious support to scientific research undertaken by the faculty and advanced students, we beg to direct attention to some of the possibilities which lie open to committees of this character. Fis pelos Before sending out a general invitation, a_ pre- liminary test of the plan has been made in certain institutions. The Massachusetts Institute of ‘lech- nology, Yale University, the University of “Chicago, North-western University, and Throop College of Tech- nology have already established research committees — to co-operate with the council. In each case these committees are composed of the president of the in- stitution, two or three leading members of the board — of trustees who are interested in research, six or more faculty members engaged in research, and two or more members of. the alumni occupied with research or interested in its promotion. Following the example, at least for the present, of similar organisations abroad, the council has directed its activities to the promotion of research in chemistry, physics, engin- eering, mathematics, astronomy, geology and palz- ontology, geography, botany, agriculture, zoology and animal morphology, physiology, medicine, hygiene, psychology, and anthropology: There is no reason, however, why other departments of research should not be represented on the research committees of — veo lcgabas institutions wherever this appears desir- able. In view of the importance of encouraging research on the part of members of the faculties of colleges which do not undertake graduate instruction, the in- vitation of the council is not limited to universities and other institutions now giving specific recognition to research. It is highly important to encourage competent men to continue the work of research begun in their university career, and a sympathetic research committee could help greatly in this respect. Even the existence of such a committee.should serve as a valuable stimulus to men who properly look for some measure of encouragement. In small institutions powerful support can be given to research by a body of men who genuinely appreciate its significance. Cale Ce TORRE, ne ee kagome ee ee ee ee Pe ee a ee 5 3 | Marcu 15, 1917] NATURE 57 a As the invitation of the council is being rather x widely extended, a word of caution may not be out # of “Place at this point. In the case of institutions not 4 a ition to give serious support to research, it a be inadvisable to appoint research ee is quite possible, however, that the it were unable to command large a oid. s would justify its formation. sae conceivable that a research committee really ‘sympathy with the objects we have in view could 0. Secure valuable material assistance to com- ent investigators. Each research committee will doubtless discover its - own best method of procedure, adapted to the cir- _ cumstances of the case: The following suggestions as to possible lines of work may nevertheless be of in organising the committees :— 1) Prepare a survey of the research already i in pro- gress in the institution in question. _ (2) Assist in the preparation of a national census of research indicating the equipment for research, the men ed in it, and the lines of investigation pursued in Government bureaux, educational institu- _ tions, research foundations, and industrial research § puesoces . _ (3) Increase the suppl of suitably trained men to on research work. tendency towards narrow tion, so common at present, should he counteracted by developing more interest in science as a whole. Lectures on the history of science, and _ broad courses on evolution, covering its various aspects _ from the constitution of matter and the evolution of _ stars and the earth to the rise of man and the develop- ment) of civilisation, should be widely encouraged. _ From the purely educational point of view such courses may. be expected to produce a more favourable in- P flaeace: and leave a more lasting impression than routine discussions of the minutiz of the various ES _ branches. of science, though the latter are obviously __ essential in the training of the investigator. y (4) Develop a wider appreciation of the part which _ men of science may play in researches bearing both : on industrial progress and national defence, including = pag of ship design, aeronautics, the fixation of nitro- many other subjects. : sO) More general co-operction and co-ordination in ig | eth within each educational institution and in alliance with other workers outside, is another im- _ portant subject for consideration. _ (6) Interchange of research workers, especially to secure for the smaller institutions the stimulus given br leaders of research, should be strongly encouraged. _(7) Establishment of a large number of. research fellowships, each yielding one thousand dollars or more annually. (8). Establishment of research professorships and re- Age ae endowments. (9) E ncouragement of tip spirit of research, and the development of a sympathetic atmosphere in which the % investigator can work to the best possible advantage. Central Committees on Research. The National Research Council, with the co-opera- _ tion of the American Association for the Advancement _ of Science, the American Chemical Society,. the _ American Physical Society, the American Mathe- matical Society, and other national scientific societies, has established a series of central committees to Organise research in the various branches of science. The purpose of these committees may be outlined as follows :— (1) To join in the preparation of the national census _of research. This will be taken by the census com- NO. 2472, VOL. 99] Indeed, it: upport which could be given by a com. | mittee of the Research Council, of which the chair- men of the various central committees are members. (2) To prepare reports embodying comprehensive surveys of the larger possibilities of research in the various departry.ants of pure science, suggesting im- portant problems and favourable opportunities for investigation. (3) To survey the economic and industrial problems of the United States, and report on possible means of aiding in their solution by the promotion of re- search in the fields represented by the various com- mittees. (In co-operation with the council’s com- mittee on the promotion of industrial research.) (4) To indicate how investigators in each com- mittee’s field can aid in the solution of research problems involved in strengthening the national de- fence. (In co-operation with the military committee of the National Research Council.) (5) To point out opportunities, national and inter- national, for co-operation in research, and to assist ~ in the co-ordination of the various agencies already established for this purpose. (6) To keep in touch with the research committees of educational institutions, and to supply research problems, suggestions, or thesis rin pie when re- quested to do so. (7) To serve as a national clearing-house of sisbcmas tion regarding research problems in each committee’s field which arise from scientific, industrial, and other sources, and are communicated to the council by local research committees or other agencies. (8) To promote research by such other methods as may prove advisable, including the encouragement of such courses of instruction in educational institu- tions as are best adapted to develop greater breadth of view, a wider understanding of the methods of research, and a more general perception of .the national importance of all forms of research, both in pure and applied science; the more effective use of existing research funds; the establishment of re- search fellowships, research professorships, and re- search endowments. Lau UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. BIRMINGHAM.—Prof. R. Saundby having resigned his - post as professor of medicine in consequence of ill- health, the following resolution has been passed by the University Council: ** That in accepting the resig- nation of Prof. Robert Saundby the council records its great regret that circumstances of health have rendered this step necessary. It desires to thank him for his long and distinguished services to the medical school in Mason College and the University, and takes this opportunity of expressing its appreciation of the invaluable .assistance which he has rendered to medical educa.ion during the twelve years in which he has represented this University on the General Medical Council.” The work of Mr. John Humphreys, M.D.S., in connection with the Odontological Museum of the Uni- versity of Birmingham has been acknowledged by the council in the following resolution : ‘“‘*That the council desires to express its keen appreciation of the ability, zeal, and generosity with which Mr. John Humphreys, M.D.S., has prosecuted for so many years the forma- tion, in the University, of the Odontological Museum ; and now that the catalogue of the specimens in the museum prepared by him has been published by the council, it takes the opportunity of congratulating him on the completion of the task. As a further mark of its graiitude to Mr. Humphreys for his life- 58 NATURE [Marcu 15, 1917 long devotion to the scientific side of dental education, so well illustrated by this unique collection, the council decides that the museum shall in future be named ‘The John Humphreys Odontological Museum.’ ” The family of the late Frederic Milward of Red- ditch has placed the sum of 12001, in trust for the foundation of a scholarship to be known as the. Frederic Milward Scholarship, which will be open to pupils on the registers of the county secondary schools of Redditch, and will be tenable at the University of Birmingham by students attending day courses in science, commerce, or engineering. The Rev. P. S. Belton (a voluntary. war-worker) has been appointed honorary assistant and demon- strator in the metallurgical department. Miss B. M. Bristol has been appointed honorary assistant demonstrator in botany for the present term. Oxrorp.—All Souls College has come to the assist- ance of the University finances by devoting fifteen hundred pounds in aid of the general fund and the like sum to the purposes of the Bodleian Library. In the present depleted state of the University chest, owing to the war, these gifts are especially welcome. On March 13 the form of statute establishing the degree of doctor of philosophy was passed by Con- gregation, and the statute was amended in certain particulars. In view of the value of the rabbit as food, the vice-chancellor of the University of London has given instructions that it shall not be used in practical ex- aminations in zoology for science students or in general biology for medical students during the period of the war. A READING from the poems of Sir Ronald Koss, K.C.B., F.R.S. (including the suite now appearing in the Poetry Review), will be given on Friday, March 23, at 3 p.m., at the house of Sir William Lever on Hampstead Heath. Sir Herbert Warren, K.C.V.O., will preside. TueE United States Department of the Interior has, says Science, designated Minnesota as one of the three States where mining experiment stations are to be established within a year. The -Government will appropriate 50001. annually for the support of such a station, and the State must supply the building. The regents have asked for 35,0001. for this purpose. There are to be ten such stations established eventu- ally. Minnesota’s importance as a mining centre has caused her to be selected as one of the first group. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LonpDon, Royal Society, March 1.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- dent, in the chair.—Prof. W. E. Dalby: A graphical method of drawing trajectories for high-angle fire. A previous paper by the author, printed in Series A, vol. Xcii., p. 239, explained a graphical method of finding the range, time of flight, angle of elevation, and other elements of a trajectory, from the data given by a curve showing the resistance of a standard shell in terms of the velocity. The graphical method followed the analytical method laid down in the mili- tary text-books. The paper dealt with direct fire, which is officially defined as ‘“‘fire under angle of elevation 150°.’’ The present paper is a continuation of the paper referred to above, adapting the graphical: method to high-angle fire. For this the density of the atmosphere has to be brought into the ‘calculation as one of the variables of the problem. Briefly, the NO. 2472, VOL. 00] method consists in applying the graphical method explained in the first paper in a series of steps, dealing in each step first with the vertical element of the trajectory and then with the corresponding horizontal element of the trajectory. The magnitude of a step is so selected that the influence of the change of tenuity on the resistance is negligibly small during the part of the trajectory corresponding to the step. The value of a quantity corresponding to, but not the same as, the ballistic coefficient in direct fire is changed from step to step to allow for the changing value of the tenuity as the shot moves in its trajectory. The method is applied ‘to determine the trajectory of. ‘a shell weighing 380. lb., fired from a g-2-in. gun elevated to 40°, taking the conditions of the shots fired during the Jubilee Trials in 1898.—Earl of Berkeley, E. G. J. Hartley, and C. V. Burton: Osmotic pressures derived from vapour pressure measure- ments.—Aqueous solutions of cane sugar and methyl glucoside. The paper forms a continuation of re- searches on the same subject already communicated to the society. If the ratio of the vapour pressure of a pure solvent to the vapour pressure of a solution is known, the osmotic pressure between the solution and the solvent can be theoretically calculated. Since the osmotic pressure is proportional to the logarithm of the ratio of the vapour pressures, a_ specially. accurate determination of the value of the ratio is required in order to obtain good values for the osmotic pressure. The paper deals with the experi- mental arrangements for determining the vapour densities and the special precautions that have been taken to secure a high degree of accuracy. A number of corrections applicable to the simple theoretical — formula have been examined, both experimentally and theoretically. The experimental results given refer to — solutions of different degrees of concentration. : dissolved substances dealt with are cane-sugar and methyl glucoside and sulphuric acid, while the solvent. in each case is water. The experiments were made at standard temperatures of o° C. and 30° C.—W. Wilson: The complete photo-electric emission from the alloy of sodium and potassium. The subject of this investigation is the law governing the variation — of the complete photo-electric emission with the tem-_ . . perature of the source of full radiation causing it. — Theoretical considerations indicate that this law should — be the same as that governing the temperature varia-— tion of the thermionic emission from hot bodies, namely, that expressed by the formula _¢ C=AT’e 77 where T is now the temperature of the source of radiation, C is the photo-electric current per unit area — of the emitting substance, A and 9 are characteristic of the substance and independent of T, and A is a small number, probably not differing much from 2. Experiments are described in which the alloy of sodium and potassium was exposed to approximately - full radiation. A.wide range of photo-electric currents and the corresponding temperatures of the radiator ~ were measured, and the relation between them was found to be well expressed by the above formula. H. Wildon Aristotelian Society, February 5.—Dr. Carr, president, in the chair.—F. C. Bartlett: Valua- — tion and existence. Three important stages mark the development of the act of valuing. (i) The atti- tude of satisfaction, or of contentment, which is con- ditioned by readiness of apprehension and the presence of a feeling of ease. In this there is psychologically no element of direction upon an object, although, as a matter of fact, what is apprehended, the act of appre- Raa TE ae te Gee Cea eee cL pt rs ye toe ee eat Do ee age a eo j Marcu 15, 1917| NATURE 59 ding, and the feeling are all different. xe of “liking,” where what is apprehended begins = distinguished from the apprehension and the i In neither of these cases is there assertion assumption: of existence. (iii) We have finally the efinite judgment forms: “This is beautiful, good, ” With regard to the objects valued in these in- ances no consideration of existence or of reality is ired in the zwsthetic judgment; in judgments of value existence is probably indirectly med ; the moral judgment assumes existence only acts are to be considered as existing, for itis solely n acts as performed that the moral judgment is sed. In every instance of its attribution it is ed that there should be something possessing alities and entering into relation with a subject. us, neither in the rudimentary attribution of value, . - -ONOLL ae ecessity assumed or asserted with Geological Society, February 7.—Dr. Alfred Harker, president, in the chair.—C. T. Trechmann: The Trias respect to _ by New Zealand geologists to a Devonian, Permian, _ Permo-Carboniferous, Lower, Middle, or Upper _ Triassic, or Trias-Jura age. They are distinct from _ the Matai rocks, which contain a Permo-Carboniferous fauna. Triassic beds appear at intervals from Kawhia to Nugget Point—a distance of 620 miles. They are _ steeply inclined, and where they approach the Alpine chain of the South eer pass into semi-metamorphic _ greywackes or completely metamorphic phyllites and __ schists. In the North tana only the Noric_ and _ Rheetic horizons have been recognised. The Trias ; a conformably up into Jurassic deposits. The _ lowest fossiliferous horizon of the Trias occurs near _ the top of a great thickness of greywackes, called the _ Kaihiku Series. The Kaihiku fossils are scanty in ‘species, and no cephalopods occur. The Kaihiku _ fossil horizon is either late Middle or early Upper _ Trias, and the great unfossiliferous series below it _ represents the Middle and possibly Lower Trias. The most highly fossiliferous division is the Carnic—the _ Oreti and Wairoa Series of New Zealand geologists. _ Several of the Carnic fossils show affinities with _ European Alpine forms. The Noric horizon, the Otapiri Series in part, is represented by felspathic Sandstones. The Rhetic, the upper part of the ea ab Series of local geologists, comprises a great _ thickness of sandy and pebbly beds. Forty-seven _ genera and species of molluscs and brachiopods are _. recorded, of which three genera and forty-one species _ are regarded as new. The affinities of the New re d Trias with that of the Malay Archipelago, and Spepally of New Caledonia, are discussed.—Dr. _ FA, Bather: The Triassic crinoids from New Zealand _ collected by Mr. C. T. Trechmann. The specimens _ are all from the Kaihiku Series. Comparison of the _ three new species based on all these remains with the _ Triassic crinoids described from Europe, and especially _ with those from North America, leads to the conclu- sion that they are of Upper Triassic age. They bear, _ however, no resemblance to the Upper Triassic crinoids from Timor.—H. C. Sargent: A spilitic facies of Lower Carboniferous lava-flows in Derbyshire. The _ igneous rocks of Derbyshire form a basic series, con- Sisting mainly of lavas and sills, hitherto classed as olivine-dolerites and basalts. All occur in Lower Carboniferous strata. The lavas were submarine and ‘contemporaneous. Specimens of the lavas from cer- tain localities exhibit a trachytic structure, and possess _ affinities with both spilites and mugearites. Field evidence shows that these spilitic rocks, as a rule, NO. 2472, VOL. 99] ee OR ae SS Lee ee i lee ie (ii) The | in the developed value judgment, is anything of underlie the basalts. The whole series may have been derived from a common magma of normal basaltic type, and by the upward passage of gases through the magma a relative concentration of the alkalies took place in its upper part. - It is suggested that the intense decomposition of the spilites is a case of auto- metamorphism, due to retention of volatile consti- tuents resulting from the physical environment of a submarine flow. Since the spilites appear to be differ- entiates from a normal basaltic magma, it is concluded that they do not form a separate suite of igneous rocks distinct from other alkaline rocks. Royal Anthropological Institute, February 27.—Major A. O’Brien: The criminal in the western Punjab. Crime is so excessive in the Punjab that if it were on the same scale here, there would be 1500 murders a year in the Un‘ted Kingdom. The object of the paper was to determine how far the Punjab. criminal is the outcome of his country’s past history of inter- necine wars and how far of the present methcds of administering law and order. A number of instances were quoted to show that at present the law, however majestic, is not very widely respected. The reasons .for this state of affairs may be summarised as follows : The criminal code has not been adjusted with suffi- cient regard to the popular notion of what is criminal and what is not; the judicial system, supposed to have been modified to suit the country, is neither Oriental nor British, and falls between two stools; the official staff of judges, magistrates, police,.and Crown coun- sel is quite inadequate to the work to be done. The Punjabi has adjusted himself to these conditions by taking infinite pains to fake his cases, which leads in return to his cases being viewed with the gravest suspicion. The innocent get convicted in a sufficient number of cases to encourage the policy of faking against enemies. The guilty get off too often scot- free. Thus there is a vicious circle of real crime, false accusations, acquittals, and more crimes in re- venge for those unavenged judicially. Paris. Academy of Sciences, January 22.—M. A. d’Arson- val in the chair.—The president announced the death of General Bassot, and gave a summary of his work.—G. Bigourdan: ‘The first learned societies of Paris in~ the seventeenth century. The Academv of Montmor.—B. Gambier: The identity of Bézout—M. Petrovitch: Value of the action along various trajectories——M. Mesmager: A formula in simple series of the uniformly charged plate, fixed on a plane rectangular contour.—M. Sauger: The energy possessed bv the earth from the fact of its rotation on itself. when for the density at = is assumed.—M. Mazérés: The location of foreign bodies by the X-rays without normal incidence and known height of bulb.—C. K. Reiman : Contribution to the re- vision of the atomic weight of bromine.. The density of gaseous hydrogen bromide under reduced pressure. The known action of pure dry hydrogen bromide upon mercury excludes the direct measurement of the com- pressibility of the gas. It can, however, be determined indirectly by density measurements under different pressures. In the exneriments described the gas was prepared by two methods : by direct synthesis from its elements, and by the interaction of potassium bromide and phosphoric acid. The final density leads to 79-924 as the atomic weight of bromine.—W. J. Murray: Re- marks on the normal density of hydrobromic acid. Work carried out at Geneva on similar lines to that described in the preceding paper. The gas was pre- pared by the action of a limited quantity of water on its interior the law of variation d=10(1—0-76 60 NATURE anhydrous aluminium bromide, followed by fractional distillation. The mean density found was 3°6440 grams per litre——H. Hubert: Preliminary sketch of the geology of Senegal_—P. Fallot: The tectonic of Ibiza._-E. Belot: The satellite hypothesis and the orogenic problem.—H. Devaux ; Cultural methods pro- ducing an increase in the production of wheat.—L, Roule : The larval and post-larval development of the fishes of the genus Mugil.—A. Berthelot: Re- searches on the production of phenol by micro-organ- isms. An organism, named B. phenologenes, has been isolated from the intestinal flora of man which is capable of producing about ten times as much phenol as the most active phenol-producing species hitherto known. With tyrosine as nutrient, a concentration of 800 mg. of phenol per litre is produced.—M. Tonzes-Diacon : The formation of turbidity in wine.— V. Raymond and J. Parisot: Trench feet. The authors give evidence that this condition is due to an in- fection by one or more moulds. BOOKS _ RECEIVED. Natural Health versus Artificial Health. By Satis Chandra Lahiri. Pp. vit+120 (Calcutta: J. Chandra Adhikari.) 8 annas Science and the Nation: Essays by Cambridge Graduates, with an Introduction by the Rt. Hon. Lord Moulton Edited by A. C. Seward. Pp. xxii+ 328. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) 5s. net. Kodak Bromide Pictures. By Some Who Make Them. Introduction by W. L. F. Wastell. Pp. 64. (London: Kodak, Ltd.) The Principles of Plant-Teratology. By W. C. Worsdell. Vol. ii. Pp. xvit+296+26 plates. (London: Ray Society.) Germany’s Lost Colonial Empire and the Essentials of Reconstruction. By J. H. Harris. Pp. viit+88. (London : Simpkin and Co., Ltd.) 1s. net. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Marcu 15. Rovat Socierry, at 4.30.—The Initial Wave Resistance of a Moving Sur- face Pressure: Prof. T. H. Havelock.—Exper'ments with Mercury Jets. (1) The Relation between the Jet-length and the Velocity of + filux; (2) A Comparison with Jets of Other Liquids: Prof. S. W. J. Smith and H. Moss.—The Mode of Approach to Zero of the Coefficients of a Fourier Series: Prof..W. H. Young —The Dissipation of Energy in the Tides in Connection with the Acceleration of the Moon’s Mean Motion : R. O. Street. : Roya InsTiTuTION, at 3.—Sponges: a Study in Evolutionary Biology : Prof. A. Dendy. ; Roya. Society or Arts, at 4.30.—The Inustrial and Economic Develop- ment of Indian Forest Prcducts: R. S. Pearson. Linnean Society, at 5.—The Preparation of Plants for Exhibition: C, E. Jones.—A Systematic Study of the North American Melanthacex from the Genetic Standpvint : Dr. R. R. Gates. FRIDAY, Marcu 16. Rovyat InsTITUTION, at 5.30.—Scientific Forestry for the United King- dom : Sir J. Stirling Maxwell. institution or MECHANICAL ENGINFERS, at 6.— Heat Treatment of Large Forgings : Sir W. Beardmore, Bart.—Heat Treatment of Steel Forgings : H. H. Ashdown. SATURDAY, Marcu 17. Pow au. at 3.—Imperial Eugenics : Saving the Future: Dr. MONDAY, Marcu 10. Roya Society or Arts, at 4.30.—Memorials and Monumenrs: L. Weaver. Roya GEOGRAPHICAL SociETY, at 5.30.—Palestine; its Resources and qfaitebility for Colonisation : Dr. EK. W. G. Masterman. Vicrorta INsTITuTE, at 4.30.—The ' Significance of the Geography of Palestine : Sir Charles Warren. ee TUESDAY, Marcu 20. Rovat Institution, at 3.—Geological War Problems: Prof. J. W: regory. : eo Society, at_5.15.—How to Improve our Fishing Industries: The Right Hon. The Earl of Dunraven. -MINERALOGICAL Society, at’ 5.30.—The Basaltic Rocks of Spitshergen and Franz Joseph Land in Relation to the Brito-Arctic Province : A. Holmes, ‘NO. 2472, VOL. 99] _[Marcu 15, 1917 with Analyses by Dr. H. F. Harwood.—A General Proof of the Limita- 7 tion of the Symmetry-numbers of Crystals: Dr. J. W. Evans.—The Numerical Relation between Zones and Faces of a Polyhedron: Prof. E. S. Fedorov.—The Crystallisation of Parahopeite: A. Ledoux, T. L. Walker, and A. C, Wheatley. ZooLoGIcaL Society, at '5.30.—The Prechordal Portion of the Chondro-: cranium of Chimaera colliei: E. Phelps Allis, jun.—A Sketch Classifica- tion of the Pre-Jurassic Tetrapod Vertebrates: D. M. S. Watson. . Eystrrution oF Crvit ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—The New Electric Power- house at Birchills, Walsall: E. M. Lacey. INSTITUTION OF PetroLeuM TECHNOLOGISTS, at8.—Sulphur in Petroleum — Oils: Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin. WEDNESDAY; Marcu at. Roya Society oF ARTs, at 4.30.—Colour Printing, and Some Recent Developments : G. W.. Jones. z Royat Mérerorotocicar Society, at 5.—The Formation of Mist and Fog: Major G, I. Taylor. _ ENTOMOLOGICAL Society, at 8. : Royat MicroscopicaL Society, at 8.—Bateriology of War Wounds: - Kenneth Goadby. ; ; : ‘ THURSDAY, Marcu 22. Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Paper : Observations and Experiments. on the Susceptibility and Immunity of Rats towards Jensen’s Sarcoma ; J. C. Mottram and Dr. S. Russ, ; Roya IwnsTiTUTION, at 3.—Modern Improvements in Telegraphy and Telephony : Prof. J. A. Fleming. / : RoyaAL GEOGRAPHICAL SociETY, at 5.—Modern Methods of Finding the Latitude with a Theodolite: Dr. J. Bell. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Machineé Switching Tele- phone Gear: F. R. McBerty. _ ; FRIDAY, Marcu 23. Roya INsTITUTION, at 5.30.—Magic in Names: E. Clodd. SATURDAY, Marca 24. Royat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Russian Idealism: S. Graham. CONTENTS. PAGE Hunger and Appetite. By Prof. W. M. Bayliss, — F.R.S. wb Go oN ow sb We eae a rr Theoretical and Practical Physics. By H.S. A 41 The Technology of Typographical Printing Sur- SOOO i i eg be Se i a Is Variation a Reality? By Prof. W. Bateson, Our Wockshelf: 2. eee Letters to the Editor:— : Thermodynamics and Gravitation.—J. L.; Prof. E.'H. Barton, F.R.S. ... «sous pee ee Floating Earths.—Dr. Walter Leaf ....... Scientific Aspects of Fuel Economy. By Prof. John WY Cobb. i. ce a The Septic Problem in War .... J. seus Notes... =% Our Astronomical Column :— ‘ Eclipse Test of Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation. . . The Variable Nebula N.G.C. 2261: ........ The Chemical Engineer .-. . . . 235) se ee Ue eee Se, Oo} 8 el ie tte a0 Wet et at hot High-speed Telegraphy ..... eee NY Heredity and Disease. By G.H.C....... . The U.S. National Research Council ....,..... University and Educational Intelligence. ..... Societies and Academies ... . 1... Si eee Books Received... 2. A eee Diary of Societies... . .. «5 6 6 eee ‘ Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2 g 42 . ’ pane Seals ese eth yore Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the — Publishers. Editorial Communications to the Editor. . _ Telegraphic Address: Puusis, Lonpon. . Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. _ THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 10917. — a MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS. ae Functions of a Complex Variable. Being sci t of vol. ii. By. Prof. E. Goursat. Translated by Prof. E. R. Hedrick and O. Bae pio, Kh 250. Chicago and London: 3 "Ginn. and Co., 1916.) Price ris. 6d. 3 |) Integrates de Lebesgue. Fonctions d’Ensemble. Ss ses de Baire. By C. de la Vallée Poussin. _ (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Cie, in >p: vili+ 151. | i. - 4086.): _ Price: 7. fr. at 3) Functions of a Complex Picsabias By T. M. _ MacRobert. Pp. xiv+298. (London: Mac- : _ millan and Co.,. Ltd., 1917.) Price 12s. net. 4) Bie is a competent translation of the last, i substantially revised, edition of the Prof. Goursat needs no introduction to j St ialeltiernatical public, so we.content ourselves _ with directing attention to some of the features of thisadmirable course. The definition of “analytic function” coincides with Cauchy’s definition of _ “fonction monogéne”’; the properties of such functions are developed with great lucidity, and _ the student is easily led on to such ideas as power- “series, circles of convergence, Weierstrass’s theory of analytic continuation, conformal repre- sentation, and so on. Riemann’s surfaces are alluded to, but not discussed; the main outline follows Cauchy, and in this we think the author is judicious, because, however useful Riemann’s surfaces are by their: appeal to isiuition, they are not easily realised by a beginner, and they ote to be constructed in every special case by 5 - methods. ___ Specially noteworthy is the way in which Prof. g expounds some of the more recent dis- - -coveries and theorems, such as Weierstrass’s 3 factorial formule, Mittag-Leffler’s theorem, _ functions with natural. boundaries (such as ‘Schwarzian functions), and so on. He has not only mastered these subjects, but is able to discuss them in an original and illuminating manner. ‘ For example, the brief discussion of Abel’s theorem (pp. 244-50) brings out the essential point .that if R(x, y) is a rational function of ix, y, and (xi, yi) is an intersection of two curves _$=0, Y=0, then the sum SR(xi, y i), taken over all the intersections, is a. rational ae of the coefficients of ¢, w. This is the real basis of _ Abel’s theorem; all the rest is detail, which may be troublesome "enough in any particular case. _ There is a comparatively elliptic functions; another on the apolication of _ them to curves: of deficiency 1; Hermite’s im- - portant theory of “cuts” is explained ; ; and the last _ ‘chapter is on functions of several variables. Alto- _ gether we could not wish for a better handbook _ for students of function-theory; it is clear, com- pact, and consistent; the references are to first- ‘rate authorities, and sufficient to introduce the 4 ~ seader to the original sources. We are very glad -NO. 2472. VOL. ag] long section on ordinary sense or in that of Riemann, because f(x) has finite oscillation within any interval NA FURS 61 given such prominence, because they are of per- manent value, and only require some modifica- tions of minor importance to bring them up to the current standard of rigour. (2) Every now and then an advance in function- theory compels us to revise our notion of a-de- finite integral. When the nature of Fourier series had been properly understood, Riemann generalised the definition of an integral so as to apply to them, and _ Dirichlet followed on the same lines. One of the main topics of the present course is a new definition of an integral (the Lebesgue integral) reducing, as the case may be, to the Riemann or the ordinary integral when it exists, but applicable to cases where’ both the previous definitions are at fault. Although brief, the course is so far self-contained that it ought to be intelligible to a reader who: knows little or nothing about the theory of sets or that of trans- finite numbers; the first section deals with measurable sets and their content, and: the nature of Lebesgue integrals; the second with “additive functions of sets”; the third with Baire’s classi- fication of functions of sets. The last, so far as we can judge, is an important notion, more or less comparable with Hadamard’s classification of whole functions (mutatis mutandis, of course), and adding one more to the family of “well- ordered classes” or sequences. Another point that cannot fail to strike the reader is the extra- ordinary difference: between the properties of open and closed sets; this distinction is not a new one, but its importance is becoming more and more. clear. The author is sparing in his use of new symbols and technical terms; one, however, seems deserving of mention as being likely to be very convenient. If E is any set and E’ its ar plement in the whole field considered, ¢, the characteristic function (or characteristic) of E, is defined as being 1 for any element of E, and o for any element of E’. Much use is made of the theory of lattices, more or less in the manner of Minkowski. It is searcely necessary to add that the author’s treatment is original, even when deal- ing with the discoveries of others, and‘ that he con- tributes much of his own invention. Although not, quite analogous to the problems of this course, we may give an easy example | to show the kind of difficulties with which it deals. Take a real positive variable x, and de- | fine f(x) to be 1 when ~x is rational, and 2 when | x is irrational; then f(x) is perfectly definite over | any closed interval (a, b), but the integral of f(x) from a to b does not exist, either in the 5x, however small, and the discontinuities are crowded together. We have, however, an upper limit integral 2 (b— a), and a lower limit integral (b — a). (3) Mr. MacRobert has written a book that is | likely to be very useful; it is not too big, the | selection of theorems is judicious, and there is a a ‘that the methods of Cauchy and Hermite are | large number of really instructive examples, both E 62 NATURE [MarcH 22, 1917 worked and unworked. Beginning with the ordinary definitions of complex numbers, etc., the author goes on to holomorphic functions, contour integration, and power-series; then we have Weierstrass’s theory of infinite products, and after this various applications to gamma-func- tions and elliptic functions (both first-stage and second-stage). Finally, there are four chapters on linear differential equations, with applications to Legendre and Bessel functions. Singular points are considered after the manner of Cauchy; Weierstrass’s theory of analytical continuation is explained; there is a good introduction to the work of Fuchs, Frobenius, ‘etc., on _ linear differential equations; and the last chapter shows how to find solutions of aw”+bw'+cw=o by means of definite integrals, with illustrations com- prising Bessel functions and the hypergeometric series. It is a small matter, perhaps, but we regret to see on p. 2 the formula tan@é=y/x put in such a context that a beginner is apt to take it as a definition of amp(x+iy). The proper defini- tion of the latter is that it is any angle satisfying the two relations cos@=x/r, sin@=y/r, where v= |x+iy|=+/(x?+y2). No other definition meets the requirements of function-theory. G. B.. M. PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. Theoretical Chemistry, from the Standpoint of Avogadro’s Rule and Thermodynamics. By Prof. Walter. Nernst. Revised in accordance with the seventh German edition by H. T. Tizard. Pp. xix+853. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 15s. net.. Rede fact that a fourth English edition of this treatise, based on the seventh German edition, has been called for is sufficient testimony, if any were still required, to the excellence of a work which has made for itself a high reputation for its individuality and lucidity. First published more than twenty years ago, the book was written from a definite point of view, emphasised in the title, owing to the belief of the author that “the theoretical treatment of chemical processes—the most important part of my task—depended, first, on the Rule of Avogadro, which seems to me an almost inexhaustible ‘horn of plenty’ for the molecular theory; and, secondly, on the Laws of Energy, which govern all natural processes.” The position thus taken-up by the author has become increasingly justified with time. But although we give a glad welcome to this new edition of a valuable book, we cannot but ¥eel some regret that certain sections should not have been made rather more modern, and that little or no attention should be given to some recent and valuable contributions to physico- chemical science. The translator frankly recog- nises that “the character of the work is slowly changing, since it is no longer possible in a book of this size to describe fully all modern develop- NO. 2473, VOL. 99| wie ments of theoretical chemistry.” This is quite true, but the reviewer cannot but feel that if the necessary trouble were taken, a certain amount of rearrangement of the matter would allow most of the important new developments to be at least indicated, if not fully treated. It must be regretted, for example, that in a book of this character no mention is made of the recent important work on X-ray spectra and the bearing of this on the atomic theory. Moreover, certain other sections, such as that on osmotic pressure, might with great advantage be rewritten (so far as the experimental work is concerned), in view of the investigations, in this particular field, of Morse and his collaborators, and of Lord Berkeley and -E. G. J. Hartley. One table giving the results obtained by Morse and Frazer is reproduced, but it refers to some of the earlier work of these in- . vestigators carried out before their apparatus and technique had been perfected. In the case of this subject, moreover, the importance of which the author recognises, something more might be ex- pected than the bare reference which is made to the work of Lord Berkeley and Mr. Hartley. (In passing, one may point out a misprint which “seems to have gone through all editions of this work; namely, on p. 133, Flurin instead of Flusin. Likewise in the index.) Defects such as those indicated certainly diminish the value of the work for the general student, and the reviewer cannot regard as complete compensation the interesting treatment of Nernst’s own researches, such as the sections dealing with the specific heat of solids and all that is based thereon, and the Nernst heat __ theorem. tS Nevertheless, although there will always be a ‘difference of opinion regarding the emphasis to be placed on the various sections of the subject, we cannot but recognise the success with which the author gives, in general, a survey of a very large ‘ and growing branch of knowledge; and this new edition of an inspiring and intellectually bracing book will doubtless receive the welcome it de- serves. We ought also to express to the trans- lator our appreciation of the general excellence of his work. Is, however, one may ask him, “depolarisators”” (p. 778) an English word? Ao Es OUR BOOKSHELF. The Land and the Empire. By Christopher Turnor. Pp. 144. (London: John Murray, 1917.) Price 3s. 6d. net. Mr. TurNorR is well known as an enthusiastic landowner who firmly believes in the future of British agriculture if only it is properly taken in hand. He divides his book into three parts: the errors of the past; land settlement and education ; and a sketch of an organised agricultural industry. The keynote to the whole is that a new outlook is wanted. On the rural side the Government, the landowners, and the farmers must all be brought to recognise that the holding of land implies the _ Morphology of Invertebrate Types. Marcu 22, 1917] NATURE . 63 duty of cultivating it in the best possible manner ; on the urban side the people must realise that the country ought never again to be so dependent on -sea-borne food as it has been during the past fifty years. Henceforth, Mr. Turnor urges, security of supply must be the motto, instead of a cheap _ supply at all hazards; and, lastly, the workers _ themselves must have a new outlook, and realise that salvation for our future economic troubles ies in unrestricted, and not in restricted, individual output. Mr. Turnor argues his case extremely well, and drives home his arguments with numerous dia- grams illustrative of his statistics. One of the secondary effects of the war is that agriculture is fast becoming a controlled in- dustry, and experiments in organisation are being tried now on a vastly larger scale than before. _ Already some of the suevestions of the reformers - have been carried out. We have minimum prices; we shall soon have a minimum wage. The Game Laws have had a hole knocked through them, and in several directions the new conditions are advanced beyond the wildest dreams of 1914. We shall soon see how the new order is going to work, a and in the meantime we can only welcome the fullest discussion of the agricultural problem as it is and as it seems likely to shape itself. By Dr. A. -Petrunkevitch. Pp. xiii+263. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 6s. net. Tus volume is divided into twenty-eight chapters, each dealing with one type. Each chapter con- sists of a description of the systems of organs of a type and a series of instructions to be followed | - 4n the examination of the animal. Much import- ance is rightly attached to the drawings which the student is directed to make, and to do away ‘with any tendency to copy the figures included in the book these are either diagrammatic or repre- sent some related type. This latter device has here and there its disadvantages, e.g. the figures , of Ankylostoma and Wilsonema are of relatively little use in aiding the student to understand the structure of Ascaris; there are too many differ- ences between Ascaris and the types figured. The descriptions are accurate, and on the whole ~well done, though some parts are too short, e.g. the accounts of the nephridia of the earthworm and of Nereis are inadequate. The types chosen are all found in America, except the Trematode Dicrocoelium lanceatum and the medicinal leech, but many of them occur also in Britain or are closely similar to British species, and the book will therefore be helpful to those “‘on this side who desire an account of the general anatomy of such types as Pennaria, Sertularia, Tima, Aurelia, Dendroceelum, Daphnia, a_ spider (Agelena), _Asterias, Venus, Limax, Loligo, and Molgula. But in most laboratories in this country where similar types are studied, probably more attention 4s devoted to the finer structure of some of the organs, e.g. the nephridia cited above. NO. 2473, VOL. 99} ‘ wind with height. 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 Horizontal Temperature Gradient and the Increase of Wind with Height. Ir the horizontal layers of air were isothermal (the upper layers having the lower temperature), then the gradient winds at different heights would be propor- tional to the temperatures (absolute) at those heights. Consequently the wind would decrease with height, and although a higher temperature at a given altitude over the higher pressure is a necessary corollary of an increase of wind with height, the converse is not necessarily true. It is clear on reflection that with such a temperature distribution as that described above, the temperature at any point in BD of Mr. Dines’s diagram in Nature of March 8 (p. 24) would be below the temperature at the corresponding point in AC, so that BD would be less than AC, and conse- quently v less than V; but the actual relation runs séme risk of being obscured by Mr. Dines’s use of iso- baric surfaces which in other respects gives an admir- ably simple exposition of a theorem in atmospheric dynamics, and shows also that if the isobaric and isothermal surfaces coincide there is no variation of Incidentally, during the past winter months the mean isotherms have run from N.W. to S.E., and have given at 6000 ft. a N.W. “thermal ” wind of about 13 metres per second superposed on the wind between 1000 and 1500 ft. E. Go rp. Meteorological Section, R.E., March 16. A Fixed System of Grating Interference Bands. I wisH to direct attention to a very remarkable property possessed by one of the systems of inter- ference bands which make their appearance when white light is reflected from a plane replica-film grating, backed by a_ parallel silvered surface separated by a film of air. The appearance of the fringes in question is shown in the accompanying photograph, when the grating has 14,508 lines to the inch and the air-space is 0-0740 cm. This system of bands, when examined by a spec- trometer with a fixed collimator, remained absolutely | fixed in the field of view of the telescope as the grating was rotated. This rotation has the effect only of moving the spectrum to and fro across the field of view without, in the least, altering the posi- tion of the dark fringes. This important property, which is uniquely exhibited by these fringes, seems to have escaped the notice of Prof. C. Barus, who has dealt with grating interferences and with their application to the displacement interferometry in ‘a series of papers. which appear in a collected form in the monograph ‘‘On the Production of Elliptic Inter- ferences in Relation to Interferometry’? (Carnegie Publication No. 149, 1911). 64 NATURE [Marcu 22, 1917 The fringes appear to be due to the interference between two portions of light arising out of- the single beam incident ‘on the grating, one of them being’ reflected at the silvered surface and then diffracted out by the grating element which it meets, and the other being diffracted into the air space by the same gtating element and then reflected out by the silvered ‘surface. The path difference is equal to 27 (cos X —cos $) where © and X are the angles .of incidence and emergence respectively, and t the thickness of the air film.. Therefore the condition for interference is 2¢ (cos X —cos $)=7Rth . (1) where K is an integer. But since we are using the connected ‘by the relation d(sin @—sin X)=m 2° > (2) where dis the grating interval and n the order of the spectrum. Hence, dividing (1) by (2), we have Gan OER Rds) a 2°. 7 7 1gie ' In this equation (@+X).is the angle which the direc- tion of any particular dark fringe makes with the incident light, i.e Since .(6+X) is determined once: for all independent grating, @ and X are tan .of the position of the grating, the absolute fixity of the fringes ‘is accounted for. A detailed: paper on this subject was laid before the session of the Indian Science Congress held at Bangalore in January, 1917. C. K. Venkata Row. 6 Singarachari Street, Triplicane, Madras, S. India, February 1o. a Mountain Sickness. THE reference in the Notes columns of Nature of January 25 (p. 415) to the physical failure experienced in mountain-climbing at high altitudes sent me to the very instructive (and suggestive) article by Dr. A. M. Kellas in the Geographical Journal, And the _ great interest now attached to one of the inevitable problems of the immediate future gave me to think that a few supplementary notes might be of sufficient interest for publication. The ‘“‘mountain sickness” which forms the association that specially interests the physiologist and the physician -was impressively brought under the notice of the latter in the “fall” of the fifteenth century; when the gold-thirst of the ruthless Spanish invader of the: western Eldorado made him familiar with its symptoms directly after reaching the very elevated backbone of the southern section of the New World. The oldest special description that appeared in print would seem to have ‘been that of Da Costa; and the very human appetite for novelty proceeded very soon to make the “‘ mal de montagnes” a iphrase-name as familiar to Western Europe as that -of the mal francais—so very unhappily—rapidly came to be. The syndrome was referred to in the various dinguistic territories bordering the giant Cordilleras vas: Soroche, mareo des Cordilleras, asthma des mon- dagnes, etc. And the native prophylactic, on the ‘colossal slopes and towering cliffs of the Cordilleras of Peru, was slow and continuous mastication of prepared peliets of the dried juices of Erythroxylon woca—the original version of American “gum- chewing.” The phenomena came in time to receive definite: scientific discussion, notably at the hands of NO 9AND2 WOT an! with the axis of the. collimator. . Bouguier (‘‘Voyage en Peru’’) in 1745, and Con damine (of Peruvian bark fame) in SH Mi i As world-wide scientific mountaineering Hee suwr4 ed- along lines of modern evolution—a number of French and German observers came to depict in turn their personal experiences of the symptom-group : Saussure, Clissold; Barry, Rohrdoff, Zumstein, Lepileur, Mar- tins, and ‘Bravais—according to their several personal experiences on Mont Blanc; Humboldt, Boussingault, and Hall—on the upper reaches of Chimborazo. As might be readily anticipated, in.a personal experien in which individual constitution and previous training count for so much, we are told by the illustrious Hum- boldt that : ‘‘Ces phénoménes sont trés-dissemtblables suivant l’Age, la constitution, la finesse de la peau, les efforts antérieurs, les forces musculaires,” etc. It very obviously corresponds in great, though not) ex- clusive, measure to the ‘‘incommodités” of the ‘balloon ascent of Biot and Gay-Lussac, on ‘‘le 6 fructidor, an XII” (August 24, 1804)—greatly ex- aggerated, of course, and developing at a lower alti tude, from the very laborious muscular exertion of mountain-climbing. The latter rivals, as a factor in — physiological derangement, the suddenness of chang of environment in a balloon ascent, which bars ‘off all chance of the gradual adaptation whieh would be so very necessary for functional adjustment- ; -Joun Kxorr. | ‘Dublin, March 2. hee E ‘ a ci BORNEO AND ITS INHABITANTS) ~ . Ng explained .in the author’s: unfinished intro- duction, this book is a somewhat diseon- nected account of the natural history of Borneo, compiled from notes while he was in charge of the Rajah of Sarawak’s museum at Kuching. . The first chapter deals with the mammals, and, as might be expected, considerable space is de- voted to the orang-outang, or, as the author prefers a to call it, the “ Maias,” this being its correct Malay name. It is satisfactory to learn that this inter- esting representative of the human family is still abundant, though local, in Sarawak. Though the fauna of Borneo is lacking in many of the larger mammals that appeal to the sportsman, it has at least its full share of remarkable forms among — the smaller-species. Many interesting details are given of that extraordinary little lemur, the Tarsier, Tarsius spectrum, and of the so-called flying. lemur, Galeopithecus volans, that puzzle for systematists which has now the distinction of an Order to itself. The remarkable colour rela- tionships between the squirrels of the island and certain unpalatable tree-shrews of the. genus Tupaia are discussed at length. The relations of valm civets with coffee are at first sight far from obvious, but those of'our readers who obtain their coffee from Borneo and are curious as to the previous history of the best quality berries -should consult p. 33! It is of peculiar interest to find the mouse-deer taking the place in the native folk-lore of “Brer Rabbit,” the latter itself being a direct descendant of the hare which always figures as the cunning hero in equatorial Africa. The second, third, and fourth chapters are de- By the late Robert W. C.. Shelford. Ed'ted, with a Biographical Introduction, by Prof..E. B. Poulton. Pp xxvii+ 331+xxxii plates. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 1916.) Priee Iss. net. 1 “A Naturalist in Borneo.” ew ao ye = a Marcu 22, 1917] NATURE 65 voted to birds, snakes, and other reptiles, and contain some excellent illustrations. Some account in woods in a truly wild state. Many details are given of the striking coloration of various Mantids, “< Fic. 1.—Upper-Sadong River at Tabekang. From ‘* A Naturalist:in:Borneo.” is given of the so-called “flying snakes,” which, | especially of those which are floral simulators and by rendering the ventral surface concave, are en- | are thus a living trap for butterflies and other abled to effect a sort of parachute descent from a moderate height. fF Scere The author assists in dissipating the popular idea in this country as to the ubiquitous character of poison- ous snakes in the tropics, since these do not, as a,matter of fact, constitute a very large proportion of the snake population, and are sel- dom actually aggressive. An amus- ing account is given on p. 77 of the use of a stuffed python as a scare- erow for rats, though this would perhaps be scarcely suitable for adoption in this country. The author was primarily an ento- mologist, and it is not surprising that the chapters on’ insects occupy rather more than one-third of the book. Especial attention is directed to the Orthoptera, more particu- =| | | larly the cockroaches, on which he [esses ‘6 i om Was a recognised authority. It is ——_ not generally known that the com- 1G. 2.—The ar, the Tarsier, Tarsius spectrumt. mon. cockroach, Blatta orientalis, aturalist in Borneo.” had invariably been found associated with human habitations until it was recorded a few | flower-frequenting insects. In the chapter on years ago in the Crimea under leaves, stones; etc., beetles some good figures are given of the remark- NO. 2473, VOL. 99] 66 NATURE [Marcu 22, 1917 able ‘ Trilobite ” larvae of what is presumed to be a very large, unidentified Malacoderm. The im- portance and overwhelming number of ants in the tropics, with a detailed account of their complex relations with plants, occupy another chapter. In the author’s view the supposed benefits obtained by so-called myrmecophilous plants have been exaggerated, and the wonderful development of plant forms in this relation should be regarded more as protective devices than for the purpose of attraction. A whole chapter is devoted to mimicry, of which theory the author was a strong supporter, as indeed might be expected in one who had much experience of the tropics. In this connection a valuable list is given of the Bornean Longicorns mimicking Hymenoptera and other Coleoptera. The later chapters are devoted to an attractive account of expeditions into the interior, the fauna of the seashore, and some notes on the manners and customs. of the natives, while a number of explanatory notes by Prof. Poulton and others form an appendix. The book is well printed and has a useful index, while the excellent illustrations are mainly from the author’s own photographs. Though much has been done by its distinguished editor to combine it into a more or less connected whole, it is greatly to be regretted that its author’s untimely death necessarily renders it less complete than we could have wished. It will, nevertheless, be found most fascinating reading by all lovers of Nature. THE FLOTATION METHOD OF ORE CONCENTRATION. ee recovery of metalliferous minerals from crude ores in the condition of cleanliness necessary for metallurgical operations is accom- plished by the removal of the non-metalliferous material, leaving the valuable minerals in a con- centrated condition. In this removal advantage is chiefly taken of the higher specific gravity of the metalliferous material, which permits its separa- tion either when falling vertically in still water or when travelling horizontally in moving water. This is known as water- or gravity-concentration ; it depends upon the differential movement of heavy and light minerals in water. Other properties are also at times made use of in effecting this removal, such, for example, as magnetism in magnetic separation, and electric conductivity in electrostatic separation. These secondary methods have, however, found their application almost exclusively in the separation of the individual minerals of a complex concen- trate already recovered by water concentration, and the fact remains that, outside exceptional cases, gravity-concentration has been practically the one means of removing the waste material from crude ore, This means has well-defined and inexorable limitations. When the ore has to be crushed fine in order to release the individual grains, some of it unavoidably becomes rendered so impalpably fine that all advantage of gravity becomes lost in the greater factor of the water’s resistance, and NO. 2473, VOL. 99| no differential movement is any longer possible. — Gravity-concentration also demands for its success — that there shall be a sufficient difference in gravity between the mineral to be recovered and that to In cases where that difference does — be removed. not exist, and such are continually occurring, it fails. ‘These have until limitations comparatively recently been accepted as in the nature of things. — If not in the mechanical preparation of ores, there was in the hydro-metallurgical processes of recovery the compensating factor of remarkable progress. The advent of cyanidation in 1889 had gradually effected a revolution in the recovery of gold and silver. In this process no removal of the worthless material was necessary, since the active solutions themselves made the necessary discrimination, attacking only the valuable mineral and leaving the mechanical preparation responsible simply for crushing the crude ore to the necessary fineness. In the case of the base metals the position was not so satisfactory. The greatly increased con- sumption of these metals necessitated attention to — the more complex and poorer deposits. Among them, opportunely, was the immense Broken Hill deposit containing argentiferous lead and zinc ores in a heavy matrix. By gravity-concentration it was possible to market only about 60 per cent- of the lead, and less of the silver, leaving the bull of the zinc associated with the heavy waste as @ middle product, while the finest and lightest por- tion of the crushed material was often allowed to flow away. The quantities concerned were, however, so enormous that every process possessing any pos- sible chance was tried, with in almost every case little success. which took advantage of the property possessed by metallic sulphides when in a fine condition to float, and therefore known as the flotation process. When, for instance, a mixture of such sulphides and waste in a fine condition is gently brought on to the surface of moving water, it will be found that the waste particles will break through that surface and sink, whereas the sul- phides will float away. Further, this differential behaviour will be the more pronounced if in one way or another the sulphide particles can be oiled or greased. This, providentially enough, can readily be done because of a second property possessed by sulphide particles, that of adsorbing oil when agitated with a small proportion of oil in an aqueous mixture, a property which the particles of waste do not possess. This effect of an oiled or greased surface will be appreciated from the comparative ease with which a _ small needle which has been passed through the fingers can be made to float, whereas it would be very difficult indeed to get the same needle to float after it had been cleaned in the flame or by alcohol. In this oiled condition the floating powers of sulphides are so reinforced that what otherwise. might be an inadequate separation is then gener- ally highly satisfactory. The air, and not the oil, Among them, however, was one: SR gpl se we es epee se eee Marcu 22, 1917]| NATURE 67 , however, the prime factor, and the reason the sulphide particles float is because of the air-film attached to them and not because of oil buoyancy. _ Accordingly, though a small amount of oil is _ generally used, flotation may be, and in particular cases is, achieved without oil. Nor is it necessary to bring the mixture gently on to the water sur- ace; the sulphide particles, if introduced below the surface, will attach themselves to air-bubbles introduced at the same time, and rise. This result is probably more readily completed if _ enough oil is present to cover the sulphides with the filmiest covering of oil, though an excess of oil would agglomerate such particles and cause F them to sink. Be that as it may, it is considered that the particular function of the oil is to lower the surface tension of the water and so permit the mineral-laden bubbles to form a froth which is the both because of the presence of the oil and because of the strengthening effect of the mineral particles themselves; in this latter con- ection the retention of the globular form by t drops of water thrown on to a dusty floor is interesting. When thus assembled into a froth _ the collection of separated sulphides is easy. _ Two main theories have been put forward to expla flotation. The first, and probably the most Be icable, is that of interfacial tensions between the: different phases, sulphide particle, air-bubble, a _ water, and .sometimes oil droplet. This was sug- gested by the difficulty of wetting sulphides. Tt is conceivable that the sulphide surface has a _ potentiality to oxidise or otherwise change its q chemical state, and for that reason-to stick to an air-bubble whied brought in contact with one; _ whereas the oxides, carbonates, and silicates of _ the worthless material, having nothing to get from the _air, are inert. Flotation may then for con- venience be said to depend upon the surface energy of mineral particles, just as magnetic separation is dependent upon their magnetism. 3 The second theory, and one of great assistance. as a working hypothesis, is based on the fact that ~ mineral particles in water, by reason of the film _ around them, are electrically charged, the sulphide Berucies positively and the non-metalliferous bee and air-bubbles negatively. Under these _ conditions the attachment of the sulphide particles _ to the air-bubbles is readily understood; air being a non-conductor, discharge would not come with _ contact. = addition to oil, sulphuric acid is also generally used. of the water, so that less of the waste is entrained with the sulphides and the concen- _ trate consequently cleaner. Whether the view | be taken that the acid achieves this effect _ Simply by cleaning the surfaces, or by acting as _ an electrolyte, largely depends upon what theory is being applied. If carbonates be present in the _ Ore, an additional effect of the acid is that the - generation of carbonic acid gas may render the _ special introduction of air unnecessary, since ex- perience has shown that bubbles of this gas may _ take the place of air. a NO. 2473, VOL. 99] ’ oy - | | Its effect is to increase the wetting powers | Whatever the true theory, it is impossible to question the fact of the great importance of flotation concentration. Its success upon the zinc middling product at Broken Hill was immediate. At first, in 1900, used only for treating a sandy material, with the elimination of imperfections and the intro- duction of improvements it eventually became ap- plied to the slime, the position now being that the whole range of zinc products on that field is treated by flotation, and zinc ore to the extent of about 500,000 tons per year is being recovered. Such a success could not be without influence upon the recovery of fine material elsewhere, and at this time the large disseminated copper deposits of America were becoming big producers of copper. With these low-grade deposits ordinary gravity-concentration was yielding at most, even with an extensive plant, a 70 per cent. recovery of the contained copper, the larger part of the loss being in the very fine material. Upon this material flotation tests showed a much better recovery, and many plants have now been provided with a flota- tion equipment to treat this fine material, bringing the total recovery of the copper up to about 85 per cent. One large mine, having a capacity of several thousand tons a day, has indeed gone to the extent of making flotation the prime concen- tration process employed, in spite of the fact that a gravity-concentration plant had been designed and was about to be put into execution. Lead ores in their turn have had this process applied to their finer material, to the much- improved recovery of the lead contents; while simple zinc ores have similarly benefited. Flotation has also in some cases been applied to the bene- ficiation of the fine sulphides of silver and the tellurides of gold, encroaching in these cases upon a field long the monopoly of the cyanide process; while among the ores of the minor metals, molyb- denite, the sulphide of molybdenum, except for what can be done by hand-picking, is entirely recovered this way. Finally, it may be said that though Australia’ led the way, there is scarcely a metalliferous dis- trict in the world where flotation has not become a factor of the greatest interest, while its advent has been to the base metals the same beneficent revolution that the cyanide process was to the precious metals. It is a pleasure to know that this process, like the cyanide process, was largely the discovery of British experimentalists, and in connection with it the names of Elmore, Sulman, and others will become historical. The only regret is that it should have been the subject of so much litigation and the source of so much animosity. MAJOR SYDNEY D. ROWLAND. W E regret to announce the death on March 6, in France, from cerebro-spinal fever, of Major Sydney Donville Rowland, R.A.M.C., M.R.C:S. Sydney Rowland was born in 1872 and edu- cated- at Berkhamsted School, whence he pro- 68 NATURE [Marcu 22, 1917 ceeded in 1889 to, Cambridge with a ‘science scholarship at Downing Gollege. At Cambridge he took the Natural Science Tripes and was for a short time. assistant demonstrator in jthe Physio- logical School. \Whilst at Cambridge he was a prominent member of the Cambridge Natural History Society and some time its president. At this time he was keenly interested in almost every department of natural science and philosophy. As a friend who was his contemporary has ex- pressed it, he was an amateur of science in the best sense of that word, After leaving Cambridge Rowland came to London and completed his medical studies at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. At the end of 1898 he received an appointment which afforded him scope for his particular gifts, namely, that of assistant bacteriologist at the Lister Institute, and he remained a member of its staff until his death. Henceforth he was able to devote the whole of his time to scientific investigation. Rowland was an extraordinarily good mechanic, and his ingenuity and skill were at all times at the service of his colleagues. The conquest of technical difficulties was a pure joy to him, and he was even sometimes in danger of letting it assume the importance of an end in itself. He early be- came an excellent microscopist, and ultimately acquired an unusually perfect command of all the applications of what he used to term ‘‘ glass and brass.”’ His earlier researches were concerned with the structure of bacteria and the study of various enzymes which Hedin and he discovered in the expressed juices of animal cells. The next im- portant piece of work upon which he was engaged was carried out in conjunction with the late Dr. MacFadyen. The latter having ascertained that bacteria survived the temperature of liquid air, it occurred to him and Rowland that grinding up bacteria at this low temperature would afford a cell-juice much more nearly re- sembling the composition of living bacteria than had hitherto been possible to attain, and they hoped that the injection of bacterial cell-juices, so obtained, into animals might afford curative sera for typhoid and other diseases. The research was a lengthy one, and the technical difficulties to be overcome very considerable. The latter were ulti- mately conquered by Rowland, but the result was disappointing, and the main object was not attained. Rowland was a member of the Commission for the Investigation of Plague in India and worked at Bombay during 1905 and 1906. He took an active part in establishing the dependence of the human epidemic of plague upon the rat epizootic and the importance of the rat flea in the spread of the disease. On his return to England he worked upon pro- blems in plague immunity, principally with a view to the improvement of methods of prophylactic inoculation, and published a number of important papers on this subject. He was still occupied in this work when, in October, 1914, he obtained a commission in the R.A.M.C. and proceeded to NO. 2473, VOL. 99| France in charge of No. 1 Mobile Laboratory. He was recently engaged in discovering meningo- coccus “‘ carriers ’’ amongst troops and contracted the disease himself. i. Rowland had an original and versatile mind and was interested in almost all departments of scien- tific activity. faithful friend, whose spontaneous gaiety and He was somewhat erratic, but a generous sympathy endeared him to all those who knew him intimately. C. J. M. NOTES. Ir is officially announced that Mr. A. D. Hall has been. appointed Permanent Secretary to the | ‘ of Agriculture in succession to Sir Sydney Olivier, K.C.M.G., now resigned. Sir Sydney has made many friends at the various agricultural colles and research institutions, and his term of office fas been marked by a kindly and sympathetic considera- tion of all matters relating to the application of science to agriculture. He carries with him into a well-earned retirement the good wishes of all those with whom he was brought into contact. The agricultural teachers and advisers, and the workers at the agricultural institutions generally, : appreciated his sincerity and his obvious desire to help British agriculture in every way possible. During his term of office the Board of Agriculture has con- siderably expanded, and is now larger than ever before. Mr. Hall’s appointment as Sir Sydney’s successor will be welcomed everywhere, and will be taken as an earnest that still further developments are contemplated. Mr. Hall has recently put forward greatly his ideas in his book, ‘‘ Agriculture after the War,” — in which he sets out a coherent plan for the develop- ment of British agriculture on sound scientific lines. Several of the recommendations have since been adopted, and there can be little doubt that the war period will furnish experience of special measures which will be invaluable in the reconstruction after - the war. Thus Mr. Hall starts in his new office at an opportune moment for further developments. At the same time it must be admitted that in many re- spects the situation is bad; some egregious blunder- ing on the part of War Office officials in their deal- ings with agriculturists has recently come to light, — and has caused serious misgivings among farmers. Mr. Hall has the hearty good wishes of everyo the attempts he will doubtless make to straighten out the tangle. WHEN the establishment of a separate Department of Scientific and Industrial Research was announced in December last, Lord Crewe stated that the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer was prepared to advise the Government to devote a sufficient sum to cover opera- tions during the next five years on a seale which would provide four, or perhaps five, times as much for co-operative industrial research as had been spent for the whole purposes of research hitherto. The Civil Service Estimates just issued include the sum of 1,038,o50l. to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, being a net increase of 998,o50l. upon last year’s amount. Grants for investigations carried out by learned and scientific societies, ete., are estimated at 24,oo0l., and grants to students and other persons engaged in research at 6000l. These grants will be distributed by a committee of the Privy — Council, on the recommendation of the Advisory Council, to promote ‘the development .of scientific and industrial research in the United Kingdom, and will be subject to such conditions as the committee may ne in Ne Ms s “Marcu 22, 1917] NATURE 69 _ think necessary. The 1,000,000/. ‘grant in aid of _ industrial research will be paid to the account of the _ Imperial Trust for the encouragement of scientific and _ industrial research. The -expenditure- of the trust _ will be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor- _ General, but any balance remaining on the account _ will not be surrendered at the close of ‘the financial _ year. ‘Grants will be made by the directions of the _ Committee of the Privy Council over an agreed period _ to approved trade associations for research, to sup- _ plement the funds of the associations, and payments _ in respect of such grants will not be liable to surrender _ by the grantees at the end of the financial year. We _ understood from Lord Crewe’s remarks on December 1 _ that for the next five years or so about 200,000l. a _ year would be available for scientific and industrial _ research, so that apparently the grant of 1,000,000l. is _ the sum which is to be drawn upon for ‘this purpose. _ The amount estimated for salaries, wages, and allow- _ ances in the new department is 7250l., which includes _ 15001. for the secretary and 8sol. for the assistant _ secretary. Travelling and incidental expenses are _ estimated to amount to 8ool. _ ‘Pror. C. S. ‘SHerrincton, Waynflete professor of _ physiology in the University of Oxford, has been _ elected a corresponding member of the R. Accademia _ delle Scienze of Bologna. _ Ow Thursday next, March 29, at 3 p.m., the pre- _ sident of the Royal Society will unveil the memorial to Sir William and Lady Huggins in St. Paul’s _ Cathedral. Addresses will be given by the president, - and by the president of the Royal Astronomical Society. ed » THE annual general meeting of the Chemical Society will be held at Burlington House on Thursday, _ March 29, at 4 p.m., when a ballot for the election of _ Officers and council for 1917-18 will-be held, and Dr. _ Alexander Scott, the retiring president, will deliver an address entitled ‘The Atomic Theory.” “ae __ Tue death is announced, in his sixty-eighth year, _ of Dr. E. D. Peters, professor of metallurgy at Har- _ vard University and the Massachusetts Institute of _ Technology since 1904. He was the author of standard _ works on copper smelting, as well as of many tech- nical monographs. oy _ Dr. W. C. Avpers, dean of the School of Pharmacy _ at Western Reserve University, Cleveland, has died _ in that city at the age of sixty-six. He was a native _ of Hanover, and studied at Gottingen. In 1914 he __was elected president of the American Pharmaceutical _ Association. He was a member of the revision com- ' mittee of the U.S. Pharmacopceia, and the author of ' volumes on “The Medicinal Plants of Staten Island” . and ‘*The Pharmacist at Work.”’ AtTempts have recently been made to work coal ' on the island of Bornholm, in the southern Baltic. _ No Carboniferous rocks are exposed, since apparently _ they have been cut out bv the faults that have brought ' Rhettic, Lias, and later rocks against the older Palzo- zoics. Traces of coal have, however, been found by boring, but the attempts referred to have now shown _ that any workable layers lie at such a depth that _ their exploitation is not a paying proposition. ‘Tue council of the Incorporated Municipal Electric Association, recognising the important part that elec- tricity may be made to play in the better cultivation and greater production of the land and in the ex- tension of rural industries, has formed the nucleus of what is ultimately intended to be a committee NO. 2473, VOL. 99| representative of all interests with the object of a thorough investigation into the technical and com- mercial problems underlying the application of elec-, trical energy for such purposes. The chairman of the committee is Mr. S. E. Britton, City Electrical Engineer, of Chester, and among the objects are :— (1) To investigate and advise-upon the problems under- lying the supply and use of electrical energy in agri- cultural areas for /power, lighting, heating, culture, and other purposes for farms, villages, and rural industries. (2) To collect and collate information, and publish literature bearing upon the above. (3) To co- operate with agricultural and other associations. (4) To investigate in co-operation with manufacturers the development, manufacture, and adaptation of agri- cultural machinery, and appliances for utilising -elec- trical energy. THE Royal Geographical Society announces that the King has approved of the award of the Royal Medals for the present year as follows :—Founder’s Medal to Commander D. G. Hogarth, R.N.V-R., for his explorations and other. geographical workin Asiatic Turkey, 1887-1911; Patron’s Medal to Brig.-Gen. Rawling, C.M.G., for his explorations in western Tibet. and Rudok, 1903, his journey from Gyantse to Simla vid Gartok, 1904, and his explorations in New Guinea, 1908; Victoria Medal is awarded to Dr. J. Scott Keltie for his eminent services to geography during his secretaryship of the society. The other awards are :—Murchison Grant to Rai Bahadur Lal Singh for his devoted work as surveyor to the ex- pedition of Sir Aurel Stein; Back Grant to the ‘Rev. Walter Weston for his travels and explorations in the Japanese Alps—a district previously unknown to Europeans; Cuthbert Peak Grant to Dr. A. M. Kellas for his exploration and ascent of new peaks in Sikkim, and his investigation of the effects of high altitude; Gill Memorial to Mr. E. C. Wilton for his geo- graphical work in south-western China. Tue Advisory Committee for Aeronautics has — appointed a Light Alloys Sub-Committee. The members of the sub-committee are Mr. Henry Fowler, superintendent of the Royal Aircraft Factory (chair- man), Lieut.-Commander C. F. Jenkin, R.N.V.R., and Prof. F. C. Lea, representing the Air Board; and Capt. H. P. Philpot, Mr. A. W. Johns, and Dr. W. Rosenhain, representing respectively ‘the Aeronautical Inspection Department, the Director of Naval Construction, Admiralty, and the National Physical Laboratory; together with the chairman of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, ex officio. The functions of this sub-committee will be to advise Government Departments on questions relating to light alloys, to institute research for the development and improvement of such alloys and the methods of work- ing them, and to assist in the removal of difficulties which may arise in their production and use. It will be in close touch with the experimental work on light alloys which is being carried out at the National Physical Laboratory, the Royal Aircraft Factory, the University of Birmingham, and elsewhere, and hopes to be able to give advice and assistance to manu- facturers undertaking the production of light alloys and to founders engaged in the manufacture of-engine parts, cylinders, pistons, crank cases, etc. Ar the first ordinary meeting of the Refractory Mate- rials Section of the Ceramic Society, held at Leeds ‘Uni- versity, it was stated that the remarkable properties of zirconia make it an admirable refractory. Even the natural crude zirconia is well adapted for use in elec- trical furnaces and in other cases where exceptionally strong heat has to be resisted. In Germany it was 7O NATURE [Marcu 22, 1917 used for various purposes, and before the war was sold at prices ranging from about 31/1. to about 5ol. per ton, according to the degree of purity. Podszus proposes to make refractory ware of fused zirconia, burning at 2300°-2400° C. in a furnace made chiefly of fused zirconia, using coal-gas, petroleum, or acetyl- ene, first with air-blast and finally with oxygen-blast. Ruff and Lauschke found the melting point of pure zirconia to be 2563°+ 10° C., and that addition of small proportions of alumina (1 per cent.), thoria (1 per cent.), or yttria (1 to 3 per cent.) was beneficial when burning zirconia up to 2000°, 2200°, or 2400° C. re- spectively. Dr. J. W. Mellor ascribed the spalling of magnesite bricks to two main causes: the shrinkage resulting from the change of calcined magnesite from a form having a lower specific gravity to a form with a higher specific gravity, and the shrinkage caused by the closing of the pores on heating. The feasibility of setting up a definite standard was asserted. Prof. J. W. Cobb, referring to methods of control for the temperature-time-atmosphere effects, said he had found it necessary to make Seger cones considerably larger, so that they might be easily visible in position and better able to withstand accidental heat-waves. He also found it advantageous to modify the shape, so as to give an edge instead of a point above. He hoped that now they are being made in England their dis- advantages will not be perpetuated. Tue death of Mr. Baldwin Latham at the advanced age of eighty removes a notable link with the engineer-. ing profession in Victorian days. A generation ago Mr. Latham was in the forefront of practising civil engineers, and was widely known and respected:as an authority on all matters connected with the science of sanitation. He was twice president of the Royal Meteorological Society and president of several other scientific societies, as well as twice Master of the Play- ing Card Makers’ Company. His book on sanitary engineering, first published in 1873, speedily obtained recognition as a standard work, and was awarded a diploma of honour at the Health Exhibition of 1884. In the course of his practice, Mr. Latham was com- missioned to prepare a great number of reports on schemes of water supply and sanitation for various localities. In Great Britain he actually carried into execution more than one hundred such works, in addition to advising on a great many more. Abroad, he designed and constructed water-supply and sewage-disposal works for Calcutta, Bombay, Ahmeda- bad, and. other Indian cities, and he also prepared a scheme for Cairo. He was a great authority on under- ground water, and carried out extensive hydro-geo- logical surveys. By the knowledge he acquired, he was enabled to forecast the outbreaks of the Croydon Bourne, which in some years flows down the Cater- ham Valley. By the death on March 3 of Mr. A. E. Gibbs, at fifty-eight years of age, St. Albans has lost one of its: most esteemed citizens, and science an able and assiduous naturalist. Although engaged in business as a printer and part proprietor of the Herts Advertiser and the Luton News, Mr. Gibbs took an active part in all local educational matters, having been honorary secretary of the School of Science and Art, a member of the Education and Public Library Committees, and one of the founders of the new High School for Girls, and also of the Hertfordshire County Museum, of which he was a secretary and the curator of the natural history and numismatic collections, to each of which, and also to the archzological collection, he contributed largely. Commencing his scientific studies with geology, he early turned his attention to botany, especially cryptogamic, but lately he had NO. 2473, VOL. 99| -country, but also on the continent of Europe chiefly devoted his energies to entomology, collecting Lepidoptera and other insects, not only in northern Africa. He was a fellow of the Linné Zoological, Entomological, and Royal Horticultur. Societies, and when he died was near the end of hi two years’ term of office as president of the Hertford- shire Natural History Society, his last publication, one of many papers he contributed to the society, : ciety being a presidential address on the ‘‘ Satyrid Butter- flies of Hertfordshire,”’ illustrated by a coloured plate of Pararge aegeria and its varieties. ; he | t It is with deep regret that we record the death, at the age of seventy-one, of Charles Achille Muntz, — the distinguished French agricultural chemist, who was well known for his investigations on air, soil, and — agricultural products generally. Muntz was of Alsatian birth,-and began his scientific career as ‘* pré- parateur’’ for Boussingault at the Conservatoire des Arts-et-Métiers, by whom he was attracted to agri- cultural chemistry. done in connection with Schloessing in 1878, and formed a simple yet striking investigation, which at once attracted world-wide attention and has since led to remarkable developments. that nitrates are formed in soil from nitrogenous organic compounds, and the reaction was proved to be of the highest agricultural importance. But the mechanism of the change was unknown; neither. chemical nor physical causes seemed to account for it, and no other agent was suspected. Schloessin and Muntz began by measuring the amount of nitri- fication taking place when dilute sewage was allowed to trickle down a tube packed with chalk; they found that no action occurred for twenty-one days, but then > it suddenly set in. If the process were chemical or physical, it should His first important work was — It had iong been known yy Why, they asked, was this delay? — set in at once; the only explanation appeared to be ~ that’ it was biological, the period of delay being the time needed for the multiplication of the organisms. This hypothesis was tested by adding a little chloro- form; the process at once stopped; it was started again, however, when the chloroform was removed — Although Muntz did and some soil extract added. not proceed further with the work, others took it up, and it led to the establishment of a new branch of : « science—-soil bacteriology. Some years afterwards he - showed how nitrification might be intensified so as to give a commercial source of nitrate if necessary; but subsequent electrical developments have probably dis- placed biological methods on the large scale. His other investigations, if they attracted less attention, were no less meritorious; he did good work on the chemistry of the atmosphere, determining its content of ammonia and nitric acid, and demonstrating also the presence of alcohol. dealt with mannite and other sugars, and with the nutrition of animals; finally, mention must be made of his admirable book on manures. In the March issue of Man Prof. C. G. Seligman discusses a series of canoe prow ornaments from Netherlands New Guinea. sentations of birds in these carvings suggests that the natives of this region may have totem birds. It is remarkable that ornaments of this type do not seem to occur in British New Guinea west of Cape Nelson promontory. The suggestion is made that the Humboldt Bay ornaments represent the more archaic form which became modified 1n the Massim area by the influence of a foreign culture, Polynesian or Melanesian, of which there is abundant evidence in that district. ‘‘In other words, while the basic idea of the ornament remained unaltered, a people His other chemical work — The occurrence of repre- — Marcu 22, 1917] NATURE 71 who may almost be said to have ‘seen’ in curves (if not in spirals) succeeded in imposing their idea sof 1 tation upon the simpler animal forms of the folk with whom they mixed.” # oe Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquarians of Ireland (vol. xlvi., part ii., for. December, 1916) contains two important contributions on Irish anti- ties. Mr. T. J. Westropp continues his survey ‘ancient forts and. dolmens in western Ireland with an account of those in ce and Killeimer, County Clare, in which a number of hitherto unknown build- ings are described: Mr. J. P. Condon has carried out a similar survey of rude stone monuments in the northern portion of Cork County, in which he extends and brings up to date the catalogue of these erections made by Borlase in his ‘“‘Dolmens of Ireland” and _ by other writers. Much destruction has taken place since the holdings have fallen into the hands of the asant proprietary, and it is well that these interest- - antiquities should be carefully described before it Tue Psychological Bulletin (vol. xiv., No. 1) con- tains an article by C. S. Berry on the effect of smoking on the speed and accuracy of adding figures. _ Each evening, half-an-hour after dinner, the writer added one hundred figures arranged in ten columns of ten figures each, the length of time taken to per- form the operation being noted and also the number f errors. On alternate evenings he had smoked one cigar immediately before performing the test, and he kept records for twenty days. The results of the i t, according to the author, are at variance ' with those of other investigators, giving, contrary to his expectation, an improvement of 7-7 per cent. in _ the time taken on the “smoking” days; the differ- ences in the number of errors made were so slight _as to be negligible: The author, however, does rot _ say whether, prior to beginning the inYestigation, he d had sufficient experience of the test to have over- come the effect of practice, nor does he give the y variations for a similar length of time under normal conditions. It is necessary to have had an extended series of normal records preceding a drug 4 igation before it can be confidently affirmed ‘that the differences, if any, are true drug effects. _ Ordinary normal variations are surprisingly great for any tests, and particularly so for intellectual opera- s. The present article may serve, however, to imulate further inquiry. A curious human abnormality—the ‘‘ Hereditary is described by Dr. E. Cragg and Dr. H. Drinkwater in the Journal of Genetics for December (vol. vi., No. 2). This condition is more extreme than that known as “brachydactyly,” since each digit—except- _ing the thumb and great toe—has only one phalanx and no nail. The deformity of the fingers behaves in some respects as a Mendelian dominant, but more _ than half the offspring in marriages between affected d normal persons are affected. The thumbs of these abnormal individuals are often flattened, and perhaps _ show a tendency to bifurcation. _ Tue New Zealand Defence Department has issued ' a practical pamphlet on fly-control in military camps, written by Prof. H. B. Kirk, of University College, _ Wellington. He has found that the breeding of flies in latrine-trenches may be stopped by ramming the earth hard; while spraying latrine-pans with light oil, Or with a dilute solution of arsenic and sugar, kills Very many flies. Wires coated with “tangle-foot”’ are _ found efficient for catching flies in rooms; vertical | Wires from a foot to three feet long are best, “‘sus- NO. 2473, vor. 99) _ - ave sence of Phalafiges through Five Generations ’’— » pended from a_ horizontal wire or from any chance support.’? An ingenious plan for trapping flies that may gain access to garbage-bins is described. Many ways of treating horse-dung for the destruction of maggots are suggested, such as spraying with 1 per cent. arsenical sheep-dip in sweetened water, or peg- ging tarpaulin or sacking along the base of stacks to prevent the insects from escaping. IN view of the considerable extension of our arable area which is foreshadowed, the problem of the pro- duction and dissemination of improved varieties of agricultural seeds acquires still greater importance than has yet been attached to it in this country. According to a writer in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture (February, p. 1081), the introduction of “Plumage” barley alone has probably added at least 250,0001. to the value of the barley crop in this country. The lines upon which improvement must be carried out have now been fairly well defined, and the time would appear ripe for the development of a national organisation for the production and control of improved seed supplies. The writer of the article suggests that the desired end can only be secured by means of a Seed Control Agency, to be adminis- tered in association with the research institutes con- cerned with plant-breeding, and supported, if neces- sary, by the State. The agency should serve as a centre of distribution, not only of new and improved varieties of seeds, but also of guaranteed “pure” stocks of the established varieties of proved merit. A brief account is given of the work done on these lines and the results achieved, at Svaléf, in Sweden. A GOOD representation of the weather for London is obtained from the Greenwich meteorological ob- servations, and these also show generally the weather conditions over England. The long series of observa- tions affords a trustworthy comparison with past years. Observations for the past winter, December to Feb- ruary, are taken from the results published in the daily weather reports of the Meteorological - Office. The mean temperature for each of the three months was below the average, the greatest deficiency being 46° Fahr. in February, and the mean for the whole winter was 3-4° below the normal. The mean winter temperature, 35-9°, was 7° colder than the preceding winter, 1915-:6, and was the coldest winter since 1894-95, when the mean was 35-1°, and the lowest in the last seventy-five years was 34-3° in 1890-91. Frost oc- curred in the shade on fifty-two nights during the three months, the occurrences being respectively 18, 19, and 15. Frost also occurred during the latter half of November, and it,is occurring occasionally during the present month. The aggregate rainfall was less than the normal; the total measurement was 4-49 in., which is 86 per cent. of the average fall for the last sixty years. December was the only month with an excess of rain, and in all there were forty-eight days with rain. The duration of bright sunshine was 63 per cent. of the average, and there were forty-eight sunless days in the three months, comprising in all ninety days. Tue Transactions of the Optical Society of London for the session 1915-16 extends to more than 300 pages, twelve of which are occupied by subject and name indexes to the sixteen volumes of Transactions | which have now appeared. One of the most valuable | papers in the volume is that of Dr. Boswell on the | properties which sand must possess to be suitable for | glass making, and especially for optical glass making. By an examination of the optical glass sands of Fon- tainebleau and of Lippe he finds that the ideal sand for the purpose should consist of 100 per cent. silica, | be practically free from iron, organic and clayey matter, and be in angular grains of the same size, 72 NATURE [Marcu 22, 1917 | unless the melting-pots are arranged for stirring. There are no sand’ beds at present known ‘in ‘this country from which sand for optical glass making can be obtained of such uniformity and at so low a cost as that from Fontainebleau. . There are, ‘how- ever, ‘large supplies of sand ‘suitable for good ‘flint glass, laboratory glass, table ware, plate glass, etc. Dr. Boswell points out that ‘the whitest and best sand is almost invariably found associated with -car- bonaceous matter and often in the coal measures. A USEFUL contribution to our knowledge of alternat- ing stress is contained in.a paper read at the Institu-— tion of Mechanical Engineers on February 16 by Dr. William Mason, of Liverpool University. machine used in the experiments was designed by the author so as to be capable of applying repeated torsion, or bending, or repeated torsion and bending simultaneously. It is a slow-speed machine, and most of the work was carried out at frequencies either less than, or very little exceeding, 200 cycles per minute. This plan has several advantages to recommend it. Typical curves were obtained showing how the cyclical range of strain varies with the range of stress and with the number of cycles endured. The material used was a dead mild steel. The range of stress under which the elasticity became impaired was always fairly definite. It was also found that a large number of repetitions were endured at ranges of stress that induced considerable ranges of extra-elastic strain. It is probable that the range of stress that would cause fracture in, say, 100 million cycles will be nearer in amount to the range that actually produced frac- ture in 1 to 5 million cycles than to the range of stress that brought departure ‘from the elastic con- dition. The calculated ranges of stress at which ‘cracking occurred were found to be greater for solid than for -hollow test-pieces. The effect of giving rest to a specimen in which an extra-elastic range of strain has developed is to reduce the range of the strain; the effect appears to ‘be similar to that of hardening after strain, and not to be of the nature ‘of recovery of elasticity. No real adjustment of elastic limits (with equal + and — stresses) was observed. There appears to be a marked variation, with ‘fre- quency of repetition of cycle, of the physical state of mild steel subjected ‘to repetition of a higher range of stress than that consistent with unimpaired elasticity, the mobility being greater with higher ‘frequency. For the quality of miid steel used, the range of in- duced maximum shear stress, at which the elasticity becomes impaired, is sensibly the same in both alternating torsion and alternating bending, ‘thus showing agreement with Guest’s criterion of elastic failure. Messrs. JOHN WHELDON AND Co., 38 Great Queen Street, W.C.2, have just issued a catalogue (New Series, No. 78) of second-hand books dealing with chemistry which should be of service to many readers of Nature. It.comprises ‘the library of the Jate Dr. Hugo Muller, and is particularly rich in German works. Complete sets of the Chemical Gazette, the Chemist, Chemical News (to 1916), Journal, Proceedings, and Annual Reports of ‘the Chemical Society of London (to 1916), the Technologist, and the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts (to 1913) are offered for sale. ; Tue following volumes are in preparation for appear- anceiin the ‘“‘ Cambridge Psychological Library ” (Cam- bridge University Press) :—Psychology, Prof. J. Ward; The Nervous System, Prof. C. S. Sherrington; The Structure of the Nervous System and the Sense Organs, Prof. G. Elliot Smith; Prolegomena to Psychology, NO. 2473, VOL. 99] The 4 ‘brightening. Prof. G. Dawes Hicks; Psychology in Relation to Theory of Knowledge, Prof. G. F. Stout; Men Measurement, Dr. W. Brown; The Psychology Mental Differences, C. Burt; Collective Psychology, W. McDougall; The Psychology of Personality an Suggestion, Dr. T. W. Mitchell; and The Peycholo of Dreams, T. H. Pear. . : So ae OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. CoMETS 1915a AND 1916b.—The following continued ephemeris of comet. 1915a. (Mellish), calculated for . * ‘Greenwich mean midnight by Mlle. J. Vinter-Hansen, _ has been circulated by Prof. Stramgren:— = = tod 1917 ‘ RA Decl. Log x © - om. S. e té 4 Mar. 22 4 59 26 +41 25:0 08502 ‘©8597 26 5 10 43 22-1 - caw 30 2 10 195 08543. 08710 — Apr. 3 3 44 17-5 ree ae 7 5 526 +41 15:9 08584 08816 During the above period the path of the comet i$ — P in Auriga, 7 Prof. Strémgren also reports an observation of comet 1916b (Wolf), made at Copenhagen with the 14-in. equatorial on March 1. as being very faint, ephemeris were —56s., +3’. ‘The following continued ephemeris is given by ‘Dr. Crommelin in the February number of the Observa- B tory :— ae Dee ic R.A. Decl. Log ~ ‘Loga Bright- oy ee Z * ‘ness Mar. 22 18 56 26 +2 8 03063 02989 28 26 19 559 o2 ieee 5 Set fo 30 15 36 3.59 °0:2946 ©2751 33 Apr. 3 25 16 4 58 Repack tps” 7 35 1 6 0 02833 02517 39 Til 44 50 oe ie sie 15 19 54 43 8 9 (02725 02291 645 19 ©6220: «4 «40 9 16 Ne ; a 23 14 41 19 24 0:2622 ©2074 53 27 (202446 +11 34 tg The brightness on April 3, 1916, is taken ‘as unity, and no allowance is made for physical causes of come bright enough to be visible to the during June and July. Tue Sun-spor Zonrs.—The results of an examina- tion of the latitudes of sun-spots, as recordéd in. the ee ‘Greenwich observations for the period 1879 to 1911, have been given by H. Arctowski (Mem. Soc. « Ital., February; 1917). As in the previous discussions by Mr. Maunder and Dr. Lockyer, he finds that the ~ curve showing the. variation of latitude during an ai-year cycle does not fall continuously from high to — low latitude, but has several subsidiary maxima and minima. The phase of the cycle is shown ‘to ‘be different in different zones. Thus, in the period 1889-1903, the maximum frequency of spots in the —10° in 1894. Spots ceased to be visible in the first of these zones in 1896, in the second they remained — until 1901, while in the third they did not appear until — 1891 and persisted to 1903, two ‘years after the new cycle had begun. The curves suggest that there a superposition of a number of distinct variations, of — which -the principal corresponds to the simplified Sporer’s curve and extends throughout the cycle, while some persist oniv a few years, and others may — be of very short duration. The variation would thus appear to/proceed by a succession of impulses. The comet is described and the corrections to the ~ It is expected that the comet will be- — ndked eye — zones 20° ‘to 30° occurred in 1892; in the zones-20° to — 10° it occurred in 1893; and in the zone +10° to — is rs # Z > | Marcu 22; 1917] NATURE 73 - A GROUP OF FOSSIL PLANTS.' HE publication of Mr. Wieland’s first volume in -4go06 was an event of great importance which ad a wide infiuence on botanical research. The author gave an account ofthe fioral and vegetative norpholegy of several species of Cycadeoidea,.a genus ywresented in Upper Jurassic and Lower ‘Cretaceous ta in many parts of the world, but nowhere on : a scale as in the United States, where s of well-preserved trunks have been found. h -agreei enerally in habit and in most ical ay with recent Cycads, Cycadeoidea terised by reproductive shoots of a type far from that of the existing members of the z. The work accomplished by European in- s since Wieland’s first volume was published sed in the present volume, which also con- hew facts and amplifies the earlier de- 3; it also includes some account of the si i expedition in 1909-10, which yielded ch harvest of Liassic Cycadean fossils. Incident- “Mr. Wieland emphasises the importance of per- al Observation in the field, and gives salutary advice -of us who have neglected this part of a palzo- ’s duties. He directs attention to the short- ed policy of some museum authorities in refusing allow their specimens to be disfigured by the lapi- y’s wheel. he American Cycads are divided into groups in phage and in part morphological, and each set of forms is critically discussed from a taxonomic y0int of view. The Maryland stems agree closely with he English imens described by Buckland from Hand, and British students are reminded that they aave not fully investigated their own material. Two f the most interesting species described and beautifully strated are Cycadeoidea colosallis and C. Dartont, latter founded on a portion of a-trunk bearing to 600 strobili, most of which contain well-preserved ds and embryos. A chapter on the seeds of Cyca- lea is especially interesting; in it the author lops more fully his views on the evolutionary history seeds as represented more particularly by those of the Bennettitales. The structure of the American seeds agrees in essentials with that of European types, the complete account of which we owe to the late rof. Lignier. Wieland institutes comparisons be- ween the Mesozoic Cycadean seeds and several Palzo- @ic genera, such as Lagenostoma, Conostoma, and thers, and in the course of the discussion he at a ummary of recent work on the older seeds. He sug- fests that the genus Codonotheca, usually regarded as 1e male flower of some Pteridosperm, may be a bi- ngiate shoot, which originally contained a central , though there is no definite evidence of this, sounded by a whorl of microsporophylls. His con- on is that the complex seed-coats of Palzozoic dater types are the result of sterilisation and fusion ircling leaves or sporophylls round a central re; in other words, he interprets the elaborate seed- ats as reduced foliage-organs which have become intimately associated with a megaspore. It is, how- ver, noteworthy that the bisporangiate flowers of such y : s ° a type as Cycadeoidea colosallis are apparently more prir five than the much older Paleozoic seeds, which jow no trace of any encircling whorl of leafy organs. In a chapter on Cycad derivatives Wieland ranges wer a wide field, but without committing himself definitely to any clearly defined view on the question of a relationship ‘between the Angiosperms and the , stock. He holds that the columnar, and fe unbranched, stems characteristic of the great _ 2 “American Fossil Cycad«.” Vol. ii., “Taxonomy.” By G. R. “ieland. es) «apenas (Published by the Carnegie Institution of Wash- on, 1916. NO. 2472. VOL. 99] 4 ‘ Say x Cycadea: | majority of the Cycadeoideas are an unusual type derived | | | from a much more slender and freely branched ances- tral form. Comparisons are made between the Mag- noliacez and the Bennettitales, and reierence is made to opinions on the evolution of the Conifers, the posi- tion of the Gnetales, and other questions. His survey | of the fossil Cycads leads to the conclusion that the ; } | true Cycads were probably never more abundantly re- presented than they are to-day: they were preceded by the Cycadeoidea type, a comparatively stereotyped form, and at an earlier stage the Williamsonia group occupied the dominant ,position, a group exhibiting a much greater range in the form of flower and stem. Some account is given of Cycadean foliage from Mesozoic strata, arid of the rise and decline of the Cycad element in Mesozoic floras from the Rhetic to- the early Cretaceous period, when the Angiosperms assumed the leading réle. Mr. Wieland’s second volume is a contribution of considerable importance by an author who has well earned the right to speak with authority on a subject of exceptional interest; but after reading the song. theoretical discussions, which are suggestive, thoug the conclusions are often open to question, one regrets that more attention was not paid to the elucidation of several morphological problems that are still unsolved, and on which the splendid American material .can undoubtedly throw much light. The author is an enthusiast with a vivid imagination, and does not always fully appreciate the difficulties of the problems before him; his desire to solve the mysteries of the early stages in plant-evolution leads him into deep waters of speculation, and his points are not always easy to grasp owing to a diffuse style and the lack of concise summaries of conclusions. The photographic plates are probably the most striking illustrations of fossil plants ever published, and the ‘student owes a debt of gratitude, not only to the author, but also to the officials of the Carnegie Institution. ; : A. C. SEwarp. METEOROLOGY AND THE SOLAR CONSTANT. | HE Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society (No. xxxiii.), recently issued, contains, as usual,, some very interesting articles. Lieut. Douglas, Royal Flying Corps, gives some details of his experience during his ascents amongst. the clouds in northern France. He finds stratus cloud most frequently in anticyclones and round their eastern and northern borders. The top in such cases is very flat and even, and an inversion of temperature is met with at the upper surface. The lowest tem-- perature is generallv at the top of the cloud, but is occasionally met with a little lower. If cumuli attain sufficient height they develop into thunderstorms, but at least 6000 ft. from top to bottoim is required for- this to happen, and on all occasions in 1916 when thunder developed, the height was not less than 10,000 ft. Mr. Douglas states that cirrus and cirro- stratus almdst eertainly consist of thin snow. Dr. Knott discusses the value of the solar constant- and the associated problems, giving chiefly a sum- mary of the work of Abbott and Fowle and Anders Angstrém. He explains very lucidly the method de- vised by Langley, by which the error caused in deter- mining the constant by the selective absorption and radiation of the air is overcome. The values obtained for the constant range from 1-97 at Washington to 1-92 at Mount Whitney (14,500 ft.), the mean of 573 observations at Mount Wilson (5670 ft.) gives 1-93, and Dr. Knott considers that we may take these results as correct, so that the solar constant is very nearly 2 gram-calories per cm.* per minute. This is - NATURE 74 equivalent to an average of 0-5 g.-c. per cm.’ per minute received at the outer surface of the atmosphere over the whole earth. Out of the radiation received Abbott and Fowle con- sider that 37 per cent. is reflected, chiefly by the air and clouds, and to a small extent by the earth. The figures they give are that out of the whole radiation reaching the outer limit of the atmosphere 52 per cent. reaches the level of Mount Wilson and 24 per cent. the surface of the earth. ’ The experiments of Angstrém were on what he calls the effective radiation of the earth—that is to say, the whole radiation from the surface less the back radiation from the air. The returned radiation from the air depends on the amount of water vapour ‘present, and since this increases with increasing tem- perature, the effective radiation is found to increase slightly with decreasing temperature. Angstrém also states that dry air will radiate with half the radiation of a black body. ’ The other articles are on the underground drainage of the upper part of the Dee Basin, by Dr. John Horn, and on the distribution of cloud and rain with refer- ence to the centre of a cyclonic depression, by Sir Napier Shaw. The latter contains four very interest- ing illustrations showing the average distribution in four well-defined storms that passed over the British Isles at various dates The areas of rain and also of cloud lie on the whole in front of the centre, but have not any very definite shape. The author remarks that ‘‘even in well-marked depressions convection is a local phenomenon.” The usual meteorological tables for Scotland for 1915 complete the volume. SCIENCE AND MODERN LANGUAGES IN CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS. ao is a matter of common knowledge that the country is largely govetned by men who enter the Civil Service as first-class clerks, since from these men the principal permanent officials are so frequently chosen. Attention has been directed to the fact that nearly all these positions are filled by persons whose main educational qualifications are a considerable knowledge of Latin and Greek. In reply to this, the defenders of the system puinted out that in 1913 the first and third places in the examination were taken by students of science, and that in 1914 the second place was gained by a science man. But these figures are most deceptivé, as the follow- ing statistics will show. In 1913 sixteen vacancies were announced. Of the first sixteen candidates, twelve took Latin and Greek, and all of these Greek history and Roman history; only four took mathe- matics and science; only two took French—one evi- dently as a make-weight, since he did not get enough marks to enable him to count the subject; none took Italian or German. Of the two who took French, one secured 254 marks out of a total of 2320, and another no marks out of a total of 2344. The men who gained the first sixteen places secured marks as follows :— Greek 63250 Latin ; 5,917 Greek history 3,580 Roman history 3,073 19,320 Greek history and Roman history are counted in with Greek and I atin because, as can be seen by the papers, nearly all the questions can be answered by anyone who has made a careful study of Greek and NO. 2473, VOL. 99] [Marcu 22, 1917/ Latin literature in which the history of the two — nations is embedded. . ae The same sixteen candidates secured the following — total marks for the subjects mentioned :— pape Mathematics 6,707;°,.8 Natural science 3.408. 3a French 254°) a oi Italian Se ay wa keine, German ays se Ba oe ee a 10,452 | In other words, mathematics and science and — modern languages secured much less between them — than classics. PE es In 1914 nine vacancies were announced; of the candidates who took the first nine places, seven took both Greek and Latin, and of those, six took both — Greek and Roman history; only two took mathematics with some science, and only two took French; none took Italian or German. The two who took French scored for this language 417 marks out of a total of 3876 and 321 out of a total of 3094 respectively. The two who took science scored respectively 859 marks Dae Tr te out of a total of 3528 and 561 out of a total of 3408. The men who gained the first nine places secured _ marks as follows :— Sr qu teen Ie Greek 5s a a See fe pea, : Latin “i sa 4,520 8 Greek history 1,745 % Roman history 1,834 e 11,560 u The same nine candidates secured the following total marks for the subjects mentioned :— Mathematics 3,901 Natural science 1,401 French 738 Italian oi, ‘Sim : ° Ge-man isa sae a an o 6,040 It will be seen that the candidate who studies any- — thing but Latin or Greek has a comparatively small — chance of success in the examination; the result is — that the country is largely governed by persons who, — for the most part, have little knowledge of, or sym- © pathy with, scientific method, and who are frequently unwilling to accept. scientific advice; many of the appalling mistakes made at the beginning of the war were due to this. sa. Another result of the present system of examina- — tion, which allots an altogether disproportionate number of: marks to Latin and Greek as compared with science and modern languages, is that the higher posts in the Civil Service are practically closed to persons who have not been educated at either Oxford or Cambridge. In 1913 and 1914 forty first-class” clerks were selected; of these, twenty-five came from — Oxford; ten from Cambridge; one from the Univer- — sity of London; one from a Scotch university; two- from Irish universities; and none from all the pro- vincial universities in England and Wales combined! Everyone would regret if the higher posts in the Civil Service were not recruited largely from Oxford and Cambridge; but it is ridiculous to suppose that all the provincial universities combined were incapable of producing, during the last two years before the war, a single person worthy thus to serve the State. Men from the modern universities have little chance of success, since the endowments for higher classical teaching are largely concentrated on the banks of the Isis and the Cam. J. WERTHEIMER. 3 Marcu 22, 1917] NATURE 75 THE VALUE OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE. ~ CIENCE of some sort is now being very widely J taught at all stages of education, and so far rom its progress being impeded as used to be the ase by disadvantages of a public kind, most Govern- ments are more or less alive to the importance of levoting public funds in furtherance of scientific work, ind almost every honours list now contains the names #§ men distinguished in science. In India the various sovernments have made a very fair beginning in the natter of funds. It is impossible, and would be of little value for ur purposes, to estimate the amount devoted to scientific teaching in schools and colleges by the farious education departments. I have, however, en- eavoured, with the kind assistance of the Hon. Mr. m and the Financial Department of the Govern- aent of Madras, to form some idea of the .amount ing spent upon original research and other higher scientific work throughout India. On the nature and essence of ‘“‘research” I pro- 90se to offer a few observations later on, but it is jot without interest to note at this point the connec- in which the word cccurs in the various Budget sstimates. The Government of India supports a forest Research Institute and College at Dehra Dun, ind devotes about 4 lakhs a year to it; it contributes lakhs a year to the Indian Research Fund, about 3 lakhs to the Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa, ind a lakh to the Central Research Institute at asauli. - Some of the locai Governments have entertained, or oppose to entertain, what they call in the Budget forest research officers. The Agricultural College in the Madras Presidency has for part of its title that of Research Institute. The Government of Bengal gives e h scholarships. The Punjab Government enters a small portion of its contribution to Government solleges as research grant. In Burma a small sum is voted to what are called leprosy researches. _ The Budgets, however, provide for many other forms of scientific activity in connection with which the word ‘research *’ does not happen to have been used, such as : further experimental work in connection with agri- sulture, bacteriological work as affecting man and inimals, other investigations of a medical nature, and work relating to fisheries and other industries. Further, various Governments support museums, in ome of which, at any rate, scientific work is carried n, and our institute here at Bangalore receives an annual grant of Rs.87,500 from the Government of mdia, which has promised, should any private indi- vidual be willing to subscribe, to provide a like amount 9 long as its total grant does not exceed Rs. 1,50,000. There are also the various Imperial surveys; in some of these the expenditure must, of course, be ainly debited to administrative work, but in the Majority of them the funds do something towards the ogress of science. _ Without taking the surveys into account, the annual ‘Kpenditure from public funds on scientific work in British India is somewhere in the neighbourhood of &5.70-80 lakhs—that is to say, 500,000].—and to this aust, of course, be added large capital sums invested n buildings. This expenditure is supplemented to ome extent by the more progressive of the native States, including, I need scarcely say, the State in Which we have the pleasure to be at present. Lastly, rivate sources have contributed, but to a lamentably mall extent. In this last respect there have been Davi 10ns 1 From the presidential address delivered before the Indian Science : ere Bangalore, January, 1917, by Sir Alfred Gibbs Bourne, F.R.S., NO. 2473, VOL. 99] - a few striking exceptions, and perhaps the foremost of these was the projected gift of the late Mr. Tata, to the carrying out of which by his sons our institute owes its existence. Now I propose to deal with the question of research. Research is often alluded to as a perfectly simple operation; one even hears of men being “taught to research’; newspapers speak of it in the lightest manner, whereas in even my student days it was spoken of with almost bated breath as indicating some- thing to which only the best of us could look forward, something which few of us were ever likely to carry on with any hope of success. It is probably impossible to find a classification of research work devoid of considerable overlapping, and in many cases the motives are undoubtedly mixed, but it seems possible to recognise three classes: that carried on with the single purpose of ascertaining the truth in regard to the causes of things; that which has for its immediate object a specific utilitarian pur- pose, but still without any expectation whatever of a pecuniarily remunerative result; and research with the avowed object of making money out of it sooner or later. The first and second classes would come under the head of scientific research in the sense in which the term is used by the Privy Council Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, while the third class is industrial research; but what I want to emphasise is the fact that the first class alone is research in pure science, while the second and third classes are both research in applied science—that is, science put to practical use; practical as distinguished from abstract or theoretical. Huxley said that what people call applied science is nothing but the application of pure science to par- ticular problems. The Advisory Council says that this. no doubt is so; there are not two different kinds of science; at the same time it realises that it has to. deal with the practical business world, in the eyes of which a real distinction seems to exist between pure- and applied science. There are, however, men in the business world who see more clearly. An American manufacturer pointed out only the other day that ‘‘there are no sharp lines to separate pure from applied, scientific from practical, useful from use-- less. If one attempts to divide past research in such a manner he finds that time entirely rubs out the lines: of demarcation.” But whatever terms have been used, the application: of scientific knowledge for the good of mankind is. as old as that knowledge itself, and one may safely say that the majerity of those who have attempted this application have not been swayed by any pecuniary motive. The scientific agriculturist is not in most cases the person into whose pockets comes the money secured by the use of better methods. Medical science in all its branches is applied science, and although the doctor may earn his living by means of fees, medical research is not undertaken from pecuniary motives. It has been for the most part the application to a particular problem of the scientific knowledge of the day, and there has, of course, been no such applica» tion with a more noble purpose. Still, it is not pure: science, and there have often been medical men who- have left further application to others, while they have reverted to purely scientific problems. i What utilitarian research would have discovered the fundamental facts in regard to electricity or have led to the framing of the atomic theory? Who can say how many profound truths await discovery because some utilitarian who happened upon a glimmering of them did not think it worth while to pause and investi gate the apparently irrelevant? 76 NATURE (MARCH 22, 1917 How much research has been undertaken by the student of pure science which he would have frankly admitted to be apparently useless? How much patient work and loving care have been bestowed upon investi- gations seemingly impossible of application to any of the specific problems of the day? Upon research of this kind no utilitarian would have been at all likely to embark, yet sooner or later such research has either proved capable of direct application or—and this has more often been the case—has unexpectedly formed a corner-stone, or occupied a more humble but still useful position, in building up some far-reaching generalisation capable of heing seized upon at once by the worker in applied science, thus in turn perhaps stimulating further scientific research, ‘ UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CaMBRIDGE.—The subject proposed for the Adams prize essay for the period 1917-18 is “The Diffrac- tion of Sound Waves.’’ The solution of a typical problem or. problems, such as that of diffraction by a circular or rectilinear aperture in a plane screen or by a circular disc, is desired free from approximations or restriction to relatively long waves. Treatment of the corresponding problems in electric waves is also suggested. ; The. question of compulsory Greek in the Previous: examination has been very prominent during the pre- sent term. The case for the abolition of compulsory Greek has advanced greatly since 1905, when it was put to the vote and defeated. A syndicate appointed in 1913 to consider the regulations for the Previous examination reported that it was unable to recommend that Greek should continue to be a compulsory sub- ject, and a new scheme was drawn up for the ex- amination in which Greek was made alternative to French or German. Had it not been for the outbreak of war, this reform would probably by this time have become an accomplished fact, but, as it was, the dis- cussion of the report was delayed until last year, and afterwards the syndicate expressed the opinion that it was inexpedient to bring the scheme before the Senate while so many members of the Senate were absent on war service. Early in the present term the council of the Senate issued a report on the ‘subject. whole question of the reform of the Previous ex- amination, since this should be considered together with the considerable modification and reconstruction: of the educational system of the University which was likely to take place after the war; but it held that the question of Greek was of practical urgency at the present time, and it was of opinion that, as a temporary provision, the papers at present set in French and German (which are easier than those pro- posed by the syndicate) should be alternative to Greek. However, the council had ascertained that if a dis- cussion were held and a vote taken in the existing circumstances, it would be greatly resented by some members of the Senate absent on war service, and it had accordingly decided not to take action at the present time. This aroused widespread disappoint- ment in the University, and a memorial bearing a long and influential list of signatures was presented to - the council asking it to reconsider its’ decision. A _counter-memorial was presented; strong protests were also issued by a small number of residents now en- gaged on war service in various Government offices. The result. has ‘been that the council adheres to its . decision to take no action at present, but the con- _ stitution of the Previous examination is to be con- NO. 2473, VOL. 99] The council agreed’ that it was inadvisable to proceed at once with the . ‘work, precedent to the award to them of the diploma sidered further, so that it may be possible to take action immediately upon the conclusion of the war. nee Tue third conference of the Committee for the Development of Regional Survey will be held at New-. bury on April 7-17, and it is: proposed to make a de-— tailed study of the town and region. No formal classes will be held or lectures given, but there will — be daily conferences for the purposes of study. The — committee hopes that sufficient workers will be able — to attend the conference to make all aspects of the — regional survey possible, physical, historical, and social. Members are asked to communicate with the | hon, local secretary, Kingsbridge Road, Newbury. THE governors of the Imperial’ College of Science and Technology have recently considered the conditions to be fulfilled in the case of students of the Royal School of Mines whose associateship courses of study have been interrupted by their undertaking service with the Forces of the Crown or other approved war- % “ L ‘tunity is offered for a student to complete in three years the tests ordinarily imposed, having regard to of associateship of. the Royal, School of Mines in ‘Mining or in Metallurgy or in Oil Technology. Instead — of insisting upon the full four-year course, the oppor- — ta experience gained during the war, and, in that case, — ‘the reduction is contemplated of the requirement as — ‘regards practical work (shifts) by one-third, and the © possibility ofa man making good in certain arrears)of _ subjects during vacations, but it is considered inadvis- able to. make any curtailment of the work of the first and second years. ott At a representative and largely attended confer- ence of examining bodies in Great Britain held on March 15 at the Board of Education under the presi- — dency of Mr. A. T. Davies, chairman of the British Prisoners of War Book Scheme (Educational), it was unanimously decided, on the motion of Sir Edward Busk (University of London), to: approve certaim pro-— posals for the encouragement and recognition’ of the — studies pursued by prisoners during their internment. — Steps are being taken to give effect to these proposals, — and various examining bodies (including most of* the — universities) have already intimated their willingness — to recognise work done and examinations passed in the camps, and to extend to the men on their return facilities for sitting for examinations under conditions — which will take account both of their special circum- stances and their needs. A message was read from: the President of the Board of Education in which Mr. Fisher expressed sympathy with the objects of the conference and his belief that the result of its efforts: would prove a great encouragement to the mento use wisely and well the-time of their captivity, and, further, would be of material assistance to them on their return to this country. It is intended’ that the decision arrived at shall be communicated, as soon as possible, as ‘‘a message of encouragement and hope ’’ to the various internment camps in enemy and neutral countries. In the meantime it was- that friends and relatives of student prisoners might do them a service if, when writing to them, they will direct their attention to the steps in this connection which are being taken on their behalf. pres eee Tue issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for March 9 contains a paper on ‘German Methods ’’ by Mr. J. H. Vickery, read before the society on March 7. In it Mr. Vickery deals, among other matters, with German education and science. He points out that it is the habit of the Germans to refer to the English as being a “‘ practical.’’ people. But he urges that, in point of fact, the German has Marc 22, 1917] NATURE 77 fic knowledge to account. ‘‘ With all his boasted m he has long since ceased to follow scientific sarch purely and solely for ‘the love of the thing.”’ 3 been taught that if science possesses any ‘value it would be an unpardonable violation economic law to allow that value to go unex- As a result the university and Government ries are Closely linked up with the factories workshops of the nation.’’ Scientific achieve- both in theory and in practice. receives higher gnition in Germany than in any other country. ommercial and industrial use is made of the ements of science has not lowered the tone of n man of science, but has raised the tone n industries. In Germany, says Mr. not merely one man as a voice crying in ess, but a thousand voices, from the Kaiser is, have been crying.in chorus—Think scien- _act scientifically.“’ There is no need, he for us to copy German methods, for if we recognise the underlying truths of scientific ment, both in theory and in practice, we shall e to work out the methods of fruitfully applying scoveries of science. | SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Re kant vey LONDON. . 1 Society, March 8.—-Sir }. J. Thomson, presi- t ir.—W. B. Bottomley : Some effects of ywth-promoting substances (auximones) on _ the vth of Lemna minor in culture solutions. 1. Raw eat, when further decomposed by means of aerobic oil organisms—‘‘bacterised peat ’’—is found to con- certain growth-promoting substances (auximones). a4 minor plants cannot maintain growth for ngth of time in culture solutions cofitaining only al nutrients. 3. The presence of soluble organic is essential for complete growth. 4. The addi- on to the mineral culture solution of 368 parts per Ilion of organic matter from ‘the water extract of terised t resulted, after six weeks, in a multi- sation of the number to 20 times, and an increase weight to 62 times, that of the control plants. The ater extract free from humic acid, representing an tion of 97 parts of organic matter per million, > 93 times the number and 29 times the weight; 2 parts million from the alcoholic extract gave -times the number and 73 times the weight; 13 parts © million from the phosphotungstic fraction gave times the number and 2} times the weight. 5. The fect of the reduction in amount of auximones with ecessive fractionation of the bacterised peat was 30 manifest from the general appearance of the ts. Those in mineral nutrients only, decreased in ze week by week, and became very unhealthy in ppearance, whilst there was a progressive improve- ent in the appearance of the plants supplied with creasing amounts of auximones. Those receiving we larger amounts retained their normal healthy pearance throughout the experiment and increased f size., 6. The beneficial effect of the auximones was Mt ‘due to a neutralisation of the toxic substances wesent in the ordinary distilled water, since com- arable results were obtained with conductivity water. , An interchange of culture solutions, with and with- ut auximones, showed that the plants are very sen- itive to the presence or absence of these substances. orence A. Mockeridge : Some effects of growth-pro- noting substances (auximones) on the soil organisms concerned in the nitrogen cycle. This investigation deals with the effect of bacterised peat and the various av imone-fractions obtained from it upon the four chief NO. 2472. VOL. aQ/ es much. more practical in the matter of turning . groups of soil bacteria concerned. in the nitrogen cycle, in situ, and in liquid culture. The addition of Pactacieed peat to soil increased the rate of nitrogen fixation quite independently of any bacteria contained in the material. This increase was not due to aeration, nor could it be brought about by chemically treated peat. Experiments in liquid culture showed that a water extract of this material greatly increased the nitrogen fixation of Azotobacter and of Bacillus radicicola. An alcoholic extract and the decomposed phosphotung- stic acid and silver baryta fractions from it were also very effective. Similar results could not be obtained with chemically prepared soluble humus or with arti- ficial humus. The accumulation of nitrate in soil con- taining bacterised peat was greater than that which could be accounted for by the soluble nitrogen which it contained, and took place more rapidly than in a similar soil provided with an equal amount of soluble nitrogen as ammonium sulphate. Since the water extract of the material was found to be directly nitri- fiable, its effect upon the rate of nitrification was not tested, but thé auximone-fractions, which were not nitrifiable, greatly increased the rate of nitrification of ammonium sulphate solutions. The auximone-frac- tions were without effect upon the rate of ammonifi- cation in soils and upon the ammoniacal fermentation of urea. The water extract ‘had no effect upon the rate of denitrification, but the auximone-fractions directly inhibited the process. The work indicates that certain decomposition products of organic matter stimulate the activities of certain soil bacteria, and appear to play an important part in nitrogen metabolism. Physical Society, February 9.—Prof..C. V. Boys, president, in the chair.—Dr. A. Griffiths: Note on the calculation of the coefficient of diffusion of a salt at a definite concentration. -In the calculation of the coefficient of diffusion, by B. W. Clack, a simple relation is assumed between the density.of a solution of a salt and the concentration. . This simple relation is only approximately correct, and compromises.are made which require justification. This note (1) sug- gests a method of calculating the coefficient. of .diffu- sion which, to a high degree of theoretical accuracy, gives values for the coefficient which are independent of a precise relationship between density and con- centration; and (2) justifies the method: of .calculation adopted by B. W. Clack.—Dr. P. E. Shaw and C. Hayes: A special test on the gravitation temperature effect. In the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. ccxvi., pp. 349-92, there is a paper by one of the authors dealing with the possible existence of a temperature coefficient of the constant of gravitation. It was suggested in the discussion that the effect might ‘be due to an inward displace- ment of the large lead sphéfes, at the higher tempera- tures, due to convection currents. In the present paper experiments are described in which this point is tested by micrometric measurements of the posi- tions of the supporting wires. It is shown that, at the higher ‘temperatures, there is a small outward displacement of the spheres, probably due to the ex- pansion of the crosshead from which they are sus- pended. A slightly higher value has, therefore, to be given to the temperature coefficient of gravitation. Geological Society, February 16.—Annual general meeting.—Dr. Alfred Harker, president, in the chair- __Dr. A. Harker: Anniversary address. Some aspects of igneous action in Britain, especially its relation to crustal stress and displacement. This relation ap- pears not only in the distribution of igneous .activity in time and space, in the succession of episodes, the habits of intrusions, etc., but also in the petrographi- 78 NATURE {MarcH 22, 1917 cal facies of the tgneous rocks themselves. The cause of such relation was sought in the existence of extensive inter-crustal regions in a partially molten state: that is, with some interstitial fluid magma, which must normally be rich in alkaline silicates. There will be a continual displacement of the inter- stitial magma from piaces of greater stress to places of less stress, and certain broad differences in chemical composition are therefore to be expected between the igneous rocks of orogenic belts and those erupted in connection with gentle subsidence. February 28.—Dr. Alfred Harker, president, in the chair.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward: Fourth note on the Piltdown gravel, with evidence of a second skull of Eoanthropus dawsoni. With an appendix on the form of the frontal pole of an _ endo- cranial cast of Eoanthropus dawsoni by Prof. G. Elliot Smith.—Excavations 1:ast summer round the margin of the gravel-pit at Piltdown (Sussex) supported the conclusion that the deposit is a varied shingle-bank, and that the three layers containing Palzolithic re- mains and derived Pliocene fossils are approximately of the same age. Many elongated flints and pieces of Wealden sandstone were observed in the bottom sandy clay with their long axis more or less nearly vertical. No teeth or bones were found, but one nodular flint obtained from the same layer as Eoanthropus seems to have been used by man as a hammer-stone. This is not purposely shaped, but merely battered along faces that happened to be useful when the stone was conveniently held in the hand. In the winter of 1915 the late Mr. Charles Dawson discovered in a plourhed field, about a mile distant from the original spot, the inner supraorbital part of a frontal bone, the middle of an occipital bone, and a left lower first molar tooth, all evidently human. These are rolled fragments, and the first and third may be referred with certainty to Eoanthropus dawsoni; but it is doubtful whether they represent. more than one individual. In miner- alised condition they agree with the remains of the type-specimen. The piece of frontal bone exhibits the characteristic texture and thickness, with only a very slight supraciliary ridge, and a small development of air-sinuses. The occipital bone is somewhat less thickened than that of the original specimen of Eoanthropus, and bears the impression of a less un- symmetrical brain. In an appendix Prof. G. Elliot Smith expresses the opinion that the endocranial cast of the fragment of frontal bone presents features more primitive and more ape-like than those of any other known member of the human family. Zoological Society, February 20.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward, vice-president, in the chair.—C. J. C. Pool: Insects reared in the insect house during 1916. Experiments showed that melanic variations of the magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata) were not con- nected with melanic variations in the larva. In the case of dragonflies, although the larve of several British species had been reared to maturity, it was found impossible under the conditions to feed the full-grown insects, which survived only a few days after emergence from the water. Similarly, it was found impossible to feed various species of Longicorn Coleoptera, although other beetles, differing as widely _ jin diet as Carabidze and Lamellicorns, fed readily on banana. Experimental feeding with beetles of the genus Necrophorus showed that while these insects were refused by meerkats (Suricata) they were’ eaten by a mongoose and Capuchin monkeys.—A. de C. Sowerby: Heude’s tvpes of artiodactyle ungulates in the Sikawei Museum, China. In the case of the species of Sus, Cervus, Capricornis, and Nemorhzedus it was shown that Heude had disregarded variations NO. 2473, VOL. 99] Capt. S. R. Douglas: Results of an experimental in- ‘second period of cold is marked by the presence of due to age, season, and other causes, and that in> each of these genera the number of species must be greatly reduced.—G. A. Boulenger: The lizards of the genus Philochortus. Matschie. ef March 6.—Dr. S. F. Harmer, vice-president, in the chair.—Dr, F. E. Beddard: The scolex in the Cestode genus Duthiersia, and the species of that genus.— vestigation of the migration of woodcock breeding in the West of Ireland. The paper, among other interesting points, showed an increase in the number of woodcock breeding in the West of Ireland. ‘Linnean Society, March 1.—Sit David Prain, presi- dent, in the chair.—J. C. Mottram : Observations upon the feeding-habits of fish, more especially of Salmo fario, and of riverside birds. These observations, ex- tending over a period of eight years and supplemented by from between 500 and 600 autopsies, show that the liability to attack of any species depends upon many factors, such as the general and special hunger of the preyer, the total and relative abundance of the food-supply, the abundance and ease of capture of the preyed upon, and its relative palatability. It follows that in order to estimate the palatability value of a species, it is necessary to take into account all these factors. The observations indicate that species can- not be sharply divided into palatable and unpalatable. Observations are also recorded which show that both fish and birds are deluded by rough resemblances to insects on which they may be feeding, and_ that therefore a rough mimicry may be of some value in the struggle to exist.—Dr. J. C. McWalter: A note on botany in Malta. The note began with remarks on the prevalence of Oxalis cernua, Thunb., in Malta, still as universal as it was more than twenty-five years ago, when Prof. George Henslow wrote about it (Proc. Linn. Soc., 1890-92, pp. 31-36), which is still quoted as the most recent contribution to its study. Seasons at Malta are numerous, uncertain, and erratic, but the Cape sorrel seems most prevalent in March and April; it is now called “The English Weed.”” Dr. McWalter next suggested the cultivation of certain medicinal plants, of which the present supply is short, but well adapted in his view for growth in Malta. ‘Labour is, as a rule, cheap, and though an era of prosperity now prevails on account of the war, it is thought that great distress will pre- vail afterwards unless useful work be provided for the people.” CAMBRIDGE. ‘ Philosophical Society, February 5.—Dr. Marr, presi- dent, in the chair.—Dr. Marr : Submergence and Glacial climates during the accumulation of the Cambridge- shire Pleistocene deposits. Near Narborough, at March and elsewhere in the fens marine deposits occurred from below fen-level to a height of at least fifty feet above present sea-level, indicating a sub- mergence followed by re-emergence. Evidence was given to show that the later Pleistocene deposits of the neighbourhood of Cambridge indicated the same two movements, and that the encroachment of the sea took place in Lower Paleolithic times, and the recession in Upper Palzolithic times. The climate in Lower Paleolithic times was apparently warm, and there is some evidence of a cold period at ‘the end of these times. Warmer conditions probably followed, and towards the end of Upper Palzolithic times 4 the reindeer and an arctic flora in the pit near Barn- well Station. Prior to the Lower Palzolithic times the chalky Boulder Clay was accumulated; we’ there- fore seem to have evidence of three cold: Pleistocene ACH 22, 1917] NATURE 79 _ This accords with the views of Continental .—P. Lake : Glacial phenomena near Bangor, ales. During the. Glacial period the valley Ffryddlas was blocked at its mouth by the ier and converted into a lake. The valley ree terraces, and three corresponding over- innels are cut in the ridge which bounds the 1 the north. One of these overflow channels as high up on the seaward slope of this ridge, is concluded that there was water up to this Other evidence on the seaward slopes of the ng hills points to a similar conclusion; but 7 to show whether this water was the - or fresh-water dammed up by ice in the a.—H. Woods: The Cretaceous faunas of New _ The Cretaceous deposits of New Zealand onformably on older deposits, and in the South are usually succeeded by the Amuri Limestone ary age. Two faunas have been recognised; approximately Gault age, the other of Upper age. Both faunas are of the Indo-Pacific R. I. Lynch: Exhibition of the fruit of Chocho edule: remarkable in the nat. order Cucur- native of the West Indies, and cultivated also ira as a vegetable.—G. N. Watson: The limits ability of tne principle of stationary phase.— : The direct solution of the quadratic binomial congruences with prime moduli.— E. Weatherburn: The hydrodynamics of relativity. .. Hargreaves : The character of the kinetic potential ele rt oma Pn atics.—Dr. M. in M. Hill : The fifth f Euclid’s elements. (Fourth paper.)—G. H. : A theorem of Mr. G. Polya. ir _ Dustin. Dublin Society, February 27.—Mr. R. Lloyd eger in the chair.—G. H. Pethybridge and H. A. erty: Further observations on the=cause of the mmon dry-rot of the potato in the British Isles. In ‘the cases (thirteen) of dry-rot of the potato tuber imined durine the last few years from Ireland, jtland, and England, Fusarium caeruleum (Lib.), -, has been found to be the causative parasite. sks the tubers only and does not cause a “ wilt” of the growing plant. Susceptibility to in- increases with increasing maturity of the Infection usually occurs through wounds, but so occur in the absence of them. The fungus ses a rot in tomato fruits. F. arthrosporioides, , is to be added to the list of species of Fus- pathogenic to the potato tuber. MANCHESTER. iterary and Philosophical Society, January 23.—Prof. J. Hickson, president, in the chair.—Prof. G. Smith: The endocranial cast of the Boskop Dr. Péringuey, director of the South African Museum, has submitted for examination and report endocranial cast obtained from the fossil human ull found near Boskop, in the Transvaal, in 1913. . from the right temporal bone, the base of the is missing; but sufficient of the calvaria has recovered to show that the capacity of the al cavity must have been well above 1800 c.c., aps even as much as I ¢.c.—greater than that the philosopher Kant’s skull, and almost as large k’s. The flatness of the cast and certain s features suggest affinities of the Boskop man the Neanderthal race. But the larger size, and ally the form, of the prefrontal bulging indi- an even closer kinship with the peoples found ope in Aurignacian and later times. The con- ion that seems to emerge from a comparison of €ranial casts of extinct varieties of mankind is - 2472, VOL. 99] ar? ull that the chief factor which above all others deter- mines brain superiority is not so much mere bulk as ‘the size of the prefrontal area.—Dr. G. Hickling : The skull of a Permian shark. A preliminary statement was made concerning the results of a re-examination of certain remains of the skull of Diacranodus texen- sis, Cope, sp., now in the Manchester Museum. The material is sufficient for a_ practically complete restoration of the cranium and jaws, while there is some indication of the character of the branchial, apparatus, not hitherto described. Paris. Academy of Sciences, January 29.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair—H. Le Chatelier: Some scientific problems to be solved.. Problems awaiting solution are suggested in connection with glass, metallurgy, pyrometry, heating, and agriculture.—Ch. : A French economic mission in Spain.—Remarks by M. E. Perrier on the earlier mission to Spain organised by the Institut de France.—G. Bigourdan : The first scientific societies of Paris in the seven- teenth century. The Academies of Montmor, Sourdis, etc.—J. Renaud: The time on ships. At sea, it is customary to reset the ship’s clocks every twenty-four hours to the local noon. Certain inconveniences of this plan are set out, and an alternative method is suggested.—V. Commont: The deposits of the historic period superposed on the Neolithic tufa of the valley of the Somme. The marine shells found in these deposits are débris of Gallo-Roman origin and have been carried to their present position by man.— Mlle. Yvonne Dehorne: A new species of Stromato- pore from the Hippurite chalk: Actinostroma kiliani. —H. Arctowski: A correlation between magnetic storms and rainfall—A. Amgot: Value of the magnetic elements of the Val-Joyeux Observatory on January 1, 1917. The variation of the declination is the greatest that has been observed since the com- mencement of regular observations (1883).—P. Sée: Moulds causing alteration of paper. The moulds, or their spores, are present in new paper, and probably arise from the material used. In spite of the diversity of the material and the experimental conditions, the fungi isolated are always the same and their number is limited. A list of the species is given.—A. Guilliermond: Researches on the origin of the chromoplasts and the mode of formation of pig- ments of the xanthophyll group, and of the carotines.— L. Bordas: The réle of the Ichneumonides in the con- test against the parasites of forest trees. Pimpla rufata renders great service to agriculture by laying its eggs in the bodies of a number of caterpillars. It can be used to prevent or mitigate the ravages of Toririx viridana on oak trees.—J. Pavillard: Pela- gorhynchus marinus—J. Amar: Observations on the prothesis of the lower limb. It is concluded that the prothesis of the lower limb is irrational, and out of harmony with the laws of physiology, of locomo- ~ tion, and of economy of energy.—G. Bourguignon : Normal chronaxy of the brachial triceps in man.—M. Busquet: ‘The vaso-constrictive action of nucleinate of soda on the kidney.—A. Bach: The non-specificity of the animal- and plant-reducing ferment.—A. Policard and B. Desplas: Tolerance of the tissue of war wounds in course of cicatrisation for foreign bodies of microscopic dimensions. The mechanism of latent microbism of certain cutaneous scars. February 5.—M. Paul Appell in the chair.—G. Bigourdan : Some ancient observatories of the Proven- cal- region in the seventeenth century. The obser- vatory of Avignon. Sketches of the astronomical work of Bonet de Lates, Tondut de Saint-Legier, Payen, Gallet, Bonfa and Morand.—L. Lecornu: The 80 NATURE [Marcu 22, 1917" determination of the legal time. As an alternative to summer time produced by the sudden change of, one _ Hour, a gradual method is suggested, reducing the interval between each two consecutive midnights during the spring months by 30 seconds.—E. Ariés’; The law observed by the four Massieu functions for bodies ‘taken in corresponding states.—R. Garnier : The irregular singularities of linear differential equations,—W. H. Young: The theory of the con-: vergence’ of Fourier’s series—Et. Delassus: The general notion of movement for holonomial and non- holonomial systems.—E. Jouguet: Secular stability.— H. Villat: A calculation of resistance in a limited fluid current—L. Fabry and. H. Blondel: The provisional elements of the planet. discovered by M.° Sy at Algiers, October 2, 1916.. From the: calculation of the provisional elements: the planet would appear to be new.—F: Grandjean: The. application of, the theory of magnetism to anisotropic liquids. ate Meunier: Complement of observations on the part played by micro-organisms in fossilisation.—A. Robin : Comparative analyses of the heart and’ muscles in healthy and phthisical individuals, with some therapeutic applications.—J. Cluzet: New electrical syndromes observed in the wounded.—M. Ranjard: Contribution: to the study of the diagnosis of war deafness. BOOKS RECEIVED. Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Sikkim. By L. S. S. O'Malley. Pp. xii+317. (Cambridge: At the Uni- versity Press.) 6s. net. Science and Education: Lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Edited, with: an Introduction, by Sir E. Ray Lankester. Pp. 200. {London: W. Heinemann.) ts. net. Plants Poisonous to Live Stock. By H..C. Long. Pp. vi+119. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) 6s. net. Cours de Physique. By Prof. E. Rothé. -Deux. Partie. Thermodynamique. Pp, xv+328. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) 13 franes. Peaceful Penetration. By A. D. McLaren. Pp. 224. {London : Constable and Co., Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. Germanism from Within. By A. D. McLaren. Pp. x+363. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. Field Crops for the Cotton-Belt. By Prof. J. O. Morgan. Pp. xxvi+456. (New York: The Mac- millan Co.; London: Macmillan and C€o., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. _ DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY,- March 22. Roya Society, at: 4.30.—Observations 2nd Experiments on the Sus- ceptibility and [mmunity of Rats towards Jensen’s. Rat Sarcoma : J. C. Mottram and Dr. S. Russ.—Problems Bearing on Residual Affinit Spencer Pickering.— Residual Magnetism in Relation to Magnetic Shie is ine: Prof. FE. Wilson and Prof. J. W.. Nicholson.—The So'ar and Lunar Diurnal Variations uf Terrestrial Magne ism; Dr. S. Chapman. Royat Institution, a: 3.—Modern Improvements in Telegraphy and ‘Telephony: Prof. |. A. Fleming. ‘Royar GEOGRAPHICAL Socipty, at ‘. ren Methods of Finding the Latitu. e with a Theodolite: Dr. J.B InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL a anit at 8:—Machine Switching Tele- phone Ge r: F. R- McBerty. ILLUMINATING ENGINFEKING Society, at 5.—Discussion: Fluorescence ard a geal seem and their Use to Produce Luminous Effects: Opener, F. i. Gle FRIDAY, Marcu 23. Roya. INstiruTion, at 5. 90. Magic i in Names_ E. Clodd. ‘Puysicat Society, at 5.—Third Guthrie Lecture: Molecular Orientation : Prof. P. Langevin. SATURDAY, Marcu 24. RovAL INSTITUTION, at 3.—Russian Ideali-m: S. Graham. TUESD 4Y, Marcu 27. Royat InstiTuTIon, at 3.—Geological War Problems: Prof. J. W.- Gregory. NO. 2473, VOL. 99| 4 Roya Society or Arts, at 4.30.—Land Settlement in South Australia ¢ The Hon. F. W. Yourg. Royat Anturorotocicat InstiTuTE, at 5 —Seuth Slav Customs: and 3 Beliefs as Illustrated in Old Ballads and in Tales by Serb Authors; Mi.s — M. E. Durham. InsTiruTION oF Civit ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—The Decimal System of Coinage, Weights, and Measures: H. Allcock. j WEDNESDAY, Marcu 28. GEOLOGICAL SociFry, at 5.30. ; InstiruTion oF NAVAL ARCHITECTS, at TI a.m. —President's. Adasen: The Ear! of Durham, K G.— Standardisation as Appled to the Machinery. for Cargo Boats: 1. B Morison.—A Method of Obraining for Ship Design the Spacing of Bulkheads acco oe to the Rules of the International Convention: W. J. Lovett. At 3 _p.m.—Strss Determ nation in a F Plate : J. Montgomerie. — The Closing of All Ship Side Apertures from the’ Bridge: Signor E. Benvenut:.—!‘escription of an: ere re: fori Inter- reting Stability for the Use of Shipmasters: T..Graham. Avy Baby a he Strengt: and Inner Structure of Mild Steel. Prof. W. fa Design of Pin Joints based on Ultimate Strength : Lieut. W. A. Scoble. THURSDAY, Marcit 29. Roya INstiItuTION, at 3.—Telephony : Prof. J. A. ‘Fleming. i A¥FRONAUTICAL InstiTUTF, at 8.—The Necessity for New and’ Special Treatment of Metals Emploved in Aircraft Construction : Rs de.Koz!owski. . INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS, at 11 a.m.—Further Exp-riment upon Wake and Thrust Deduction Problems: W. J. Luke —Some Expe' i ments on s Influence of Running Balance of Propellers on the Wiiton : _ of Ships: J. J: King-Salte..—Theorv of Wave Motion on Water: George Greenhill. At 3 3 p-m.—Marine Application of er ars! Gears of Floating Fram- Type: | H..Maca pine.—launchi_ thn A. Hillhouse: and'W. H. Riddlesworth.—Buoyancy and Stability of Submarines: Prof. _ W. Hovgaard. LINNEAN SocIEty, at 5.—Prof. T. H. Morgan’s Work on the’ Mechanism of Heredity : W. Bateson. pars FRIDAY, Marcu 36. ; ts Rovat InsTiTUTION, at 5.30.—Recent Developments etiicie Physics: Prof. J. H. Jeans. , GEoLocists’ ASSOCIATION, at 7.30.—Cephalopoda, and theis Nidhas in Geological Study: W. F. Gwinnell. SATURDAY, Marcu peas Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—Russian Idealism: S. Graham, — CONTENTS. PAGE Mathematical Analysis. ByG. B.M........ 61 Physical. Chemistry:. By A. F.. .-.) i (64) wien ete Our Bookshelf. ‘ voce ee. Letters to the Editor:— The Horizontal Temperature Gradient and the Increase of Wind with Height —Major E, Gold, D.S.O. 63 A Fixed System of Grating Inter erence Bands. (Ulu: trated.)—C. K. Venkata Row Pes Mountain Sickness.—Dr. John Knott ..., Borneo and Its Inhabitants. (///ustrated.)’ . The Flotation Method of Ore Concentration . . Major Sydney D. Rowland. eh J. Miron eee Notes . dig nie emer eri at cea) Our Astronomical Column :— ; Comets..191§¢ and 19166. . .. .-..4 .57 wee eee The Sun-spot Zones ; A Group of Fossil Plants. By Prof. “A. Cc. ‘Seward, “ F.R.S. . rie Bakers é Meteorology ‘and the Solar Constant ss Science and Modern Languages in Civil Service Examinations. By Prof. J. Wertheimer 74 The Value of Research in Science. By ea Alfred “f Gibbs Bourne, F.R.S., K.C.1L.E Piste fee ath | University and Educational intelligence. tS oe Societies: and: Academies-. . ... . . 4 wis gee Books’ Received ee Diary of Societies’: . . . ~.-). 25s, Editorial. and Publishing Offices :. i MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp:, ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, Be fais 2°: Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the Publishers. =y Editorial Communications to the. Editor. — ' . Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. ’ Telephone Number: Gerrarp 8830.59 ) 0) NA TURE 81 __ THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1017. FISH MIGRA TION. “The Migrations of Fish. By Prof. Meek. Pp. xviii+427.. (London: _ Arnold, 1916.) Price 16s. net.. UNDER the stimulus, and largely by the ' instrumentality, of the International Council for the Investigation of the Sea, enormous pro- _ gress has been made in marine biological re- search in its bearings upon economic fishery 4 7. ms since the founding of that body in 1902. ‘ - lapse of its active functions pending the settle- 9 ment of the question of the ‘freedom of the _ seas” affords a convenient opportunity for con- _ sidering the general results achieved, and thus the time is ripe for the appearance of Prof. Meek’s ‘ volume, the material for which has been gathered from the numerous publications of fishery investi- _ gators in this and other countries. The book, _ however, is not merely a compendium or plain _ digest of other men’s work, but possesses an in- _ dividuality of treatment which is the author’s own. _ While practically all aspects of modern fishery _ research—or at least their results—are set forth q in this treatise, which thus affords far more sub- _ ject-matter than the title implies, the main theme is the development of a theory of migration at _ various stages of growth in relation to currents. In this connection Prof. Meek introduces the terms : Pdenetant and contranatant. These are useful _ words, and will doubtless find permanent employ- _ ment, but the idea tends to be somewhat over- ~ driven, and the referring of migrations to one or _ other of these two classes, while satisfying a _ desire for logical completeness and formal syste- _ matisation, is liable to give rise to misapprehen- - sion in omitting consideration of all the factors involved i in fish migration. _ The rather self-evident fact that the pelagic ova - and larve of fishes will migrate passively in the ‘same direction as the mass of water which con- stitutes their habitat—or, in the author’s terms, | will migrate denatantly—is a fundamental factor in the distribution of fish species and is rightly _ emphasised. Also, if A represents the locus of a eepawning ground, and B the area to which the assive migration of the early. planktonic stages . is made and where the individuals grow to x - maturity, then, if the mature fish return for spawn- E ‘ing to their natal area A, the spawning migration 3 from B to A will be against the direction “of the ’ _ current which was responsible for their first pas- sive migration. This is described as a contra- _ natant migration. In our opinion this mechanical and frequently misleadingly simple representation j of the movements of the older stages leads one q very little towards a scientific understanding of the migrations of fishes. The author apparently } _ belongs to that school of ichthyologists who _ depreciate the value of hydrographical research in Betation to the problems associated with fish life. _ In the preface he says: “It is obvious that cur- 4 Rthis are importantly associated with migration, b MTA OAS UAT. UOAn! Alexander Edward but beyond this I have not found it necessary to introduce hydrographical considerations.” One may mention the researches of Schmidt and other Scandinavian naturalists upon the migrations of cod, plaice, eels, etc., as demonstrating the funda- mental importance of hydrographical factors in determining the spawning migrations of these species, while English investigations also point to the correlation between hydrographical conditions —1i.e. temperature and salinity of water—and the movements of fishes. It may be that the author considers such correlations insufficiently estab- lished as yet; but in ignoring them he would appear, consciously or unconsciously, to dissociate himself from the trend of present-day fishery research. The omission of reference to food and feeding habits also detracts from the value of this work as a treatise on migration, and further deepens the impression of a too mechanical and pedanti- cally systematised presentation of the phenomena of migration, in terms of which the following is a sample: “The mackerel. are denatant migrants in the young condition, and it is evident that the denatant migration is the dominant feature of the migrations when they become mature. It is, as a fact, usually denatant, but in some cases it may be said to be denatant in direction only.” Since the larval stages of practically all fishes are planktonic, the exposition of the idea of denatant migration is carried laboriously, but without any serious hitch, throughout the chapters on the various species. In suggesting that the landward migration of the leptocephalus larve of the eel is purely a matter of passive denatant drift, however, the author surely departs from the views of the authorities on the subject. In _ fact, leptocephali, though doubtless assisted by the drift of Atlantic water towards the European coasts, have quite considerable swimming power. The distribution and migratory habits of North Sea plaice have been investigated by the inter- national collaborators with a thoroughness and with conspicuously conclusive results which may be said without bias to constitute a monumental fabric of fishery research. These results being available in reports published between 1904 and 1916, it is a drawback that detailed consideration of plaice migrations should have been limited to the relatively insignificant and unrepresentative fraction of the plaice fauna which occurs off the Northumberland coast and in the Firth of Forth. After the unfortunate quotation from Izaak Walton in the introduction repeating the old but now quite exploded notion that a salmon returns from the sea to the river which it left as a smolt or samlet “usually about six months after,” one naturally approaches the chapter on Salmonide with shaken confidence. The above erroneous view is repeated on p. 119 in dealing with the definition of a grilse, and the statement that male smolts are present on the spawning beds is.a mis- use of terms. Nor is it correct to assume that female salmon must have spent at least two winters in the sea before spawning, since female grilse are quite common, though not propor- 82 ; NATURE {Marcu 29, 1917 tionately so numerous as males. Again, in the life of salmon at sea, while growth is more rapid in’ summer than in winter, it is erroneous to say that feeding is practically confined to the summer. Regarding purely marine species, the general information is voluminous and _ authoritative. The author should, however, revise his impres- sions as to the relative sizes of the two sexes of the conger; the species ‘of the dog-fish pest. of the English Channel, which is predominantly Acanthias vulgaris, and not Scyllium canicula; and the adequacy of the scale-reading method for the determination of the age of haddock. Notwithstanding what we have criticised as faults of commission or omission in this sub- stantial work, it is one which no one interested in fishery science or desirous of an up-to-date grasp of some of the phenomena underlying prac- tical fishery questions can afford to overlook. THE PARTITIONS OF NUMBERS. Combinatory Analysis. By Major P. A. Mac- Mahon. Vol. ii. Pp. xix+340. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1916.) Price 18s. net. HEN the first volume of this work. was noticed in these columns, the reviewer of that volume expressed the hope that the second would not be long delayed. This hope has been fulfilled, and the reader can now obtain, for the first time, a connected account of all the modern work—so largely due to Major MacMahon him- self—which has been done in connection with the partitions of numbers and with allied problems. For the more historical side of the subject the author refers the reader to Netto’s ‘Combina- torik,” and he is more concerned to present the hewer processes and ideas which lie at the root of the present rapid development of the subject, and have not hitherto. found a place in any book. Thus only the earlier sections of the pre- sent work overlap that of Netto, and certain in- vestigations which are arithmetical rather than algebraical are dismissed briefly. It is not possible, in a short space, even to enumerate the many problems of interest which are discussed in this volume—whether problems of analytical development of functions, or problems of a general interest to the non-mathematician, but the solution of which depends on the partitions of numbers. We must perforce confine attention to certain outstanding features, and make no attempt ata summary of the contents of the work. The introduction contains a list of the memoirs to which reference is made, and the index to both volumes is at the end of the book. Chap. i. begins with Euler’s “intuitive” theory of parti- tions, and gives an account also of the powerful graphical method devised by Ferrers, and used so much by Sylvester. In the next chapter more special attention is given to Durfee’s method of studying the graph of a partition, and a very complete set of expansions of generating func- tions is a notable feature. NO. 2474, VOL. 99| The most remarkable of such expansions are the pair discovered intuitively by Ramanujan. Only a few months ago it was found, by Ramanujan himself, that all the arithmetical labour of many mathematicians who have tested one of these expansions, for example, to eighty- nine terms in the supposed default of a real proof, has been wasted, for the theorem was, in fact, proved by Rogers more than twenty years ago, and at the time attracted little attention. Major MacMahon has made some very significant appli- cations of these theorems to a branch of the theory of partitions on which work was scarcely possible before their discovery. The author has succeeded in basing the theory of partitions upon the theory of Diophantine in- equalities. This method is much more funda- mental than that of Euler, and its use has ren- dered the theory of partitions highly general, so that it has now quite lost its earlier character— undoubtedly hitherto the cause of its comparative neglect by mathematicians—of a set of somewhat- isolated, though elegant, solutions of special problems. It seems fair to claim,-in fact, that we are indebted to the author for a new branch of mathematics, and a branch which must dominate future treatises which make a prominent use of algebraical processes. Many chapters must be passed over without specific reference, but special mention must be made of those on magic squares, partitions in two dimensions, and the further theory of the Latin square. It is probable that many mathematicians are not aware of the extent to which these sub- jects have developed, and of the field of work which is still unexplored, and capable of yield- ing results which are fundamental not: alone in connection with the ‘partitions of numbers. By collecting these researches, which are so very much his own, from their hiding-places in scien-— tific memoirs into these two volumes, the author has done much towards the promotion of a more general outlook on the whole range of analytical work usually classed somewhat vaguely as “algebra.” OUR BOOKSHELF, Nature Study Lessons Seasonally Arranged. By J. B. Philip. Pp. ix+147. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1916.) Price 2s. 6d. net. Ir is generally agreed that in the early stages science teaching should consist of ‘‘ Nature study.’’ But it is seldom that teachers realise that this should afford a sound foundation on which later, more serious, study can securely rest. Mr. Philip’s little book is a bright and outstand- ing exception to the general rule. It concerns itself solely with botanical material in its twelve chapters; but the child of from twelve to fourteen years of age who works through its-pages in the course of a year will not merely have learnt to observe, but also will have gained a firm grasp of fundamental botanical principles. From the outset the author is at pains to impress the fact that the Se ee Marcu 29, 1917] NATURE. 83 organs of a plant are not in mere haphazard P pesitions, but that they occupy definite positions _ in relation to one another; and that the whole plant is a ** living, breathing, feeding, energy-producing The student is thus led on by easy steps to the clear conception of modification of ans, and of homologies; and is thus furnished - with a clue by which to solve riddles presented by an apple, a cocoanut, the corm of a crocus, seeds, buds, flowers, etc. Practical work enters - largely into the scheme ; and by means of ques- _ tions - and exercises the attention of the pupil is ' frequently directed to the wild plant life of the _ countryside in a way that is entirely admirable. _ We cordially commend the book to ail teachers of elementary botany. O. H: L. _ Poverty and its Vicious Circles. By Dr. Jamieson _ B. Hurry. Pp. xiv+180. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1917.) Price 5s. net. Dr: Hurry has, in a previous volume, discussed the vicious circles of disease. He now enters the domains of sociology and economics and deals with poverty in a similar manner. “Poverty ’’ he _ defines as the condition of a person who lacks the necessaries for subsistence and efficiency, and a vicious circle” is the process by which a pri- ‘Mary disorder provokes a_ reaction which _ aggravates such disorder. In the ordinary course _ of economic law the reaction provoked by a social disorder tends to arrest such. disorder, but when a vicious circle becomes established the usual sequence is modified, and the reactions which should be beneficent are the reverse-and intensify “the disorder. As an instance of one of Dr. Hurry’s vicious circles we may quote that asso- ted with malnutrition: Poverty leads to mal- trition; this: begets debility, which causes "diminished earning capacity, and this accentuates tr poverty. _ The vicious circles of poverty are discussed “under twenty-two headings, and a chapter is _ devoted to “artificial circles,’’ e.g. when injudi- 4 cious relief aggravates the poverty it seeks to _ remove. The “effects of vicious circles ” and the “breaking of vicious circles’’ form the subject- , ‘matter of succeeding chapters. __ The book is largely made up of quotations from official reports and from standard authors, -and as an outline of the complex subject of “poverty should be of considerable value to the ‘Student of sociology and economics. It is illustrated with five plates. "Determinacion de la Latitud por Alturas Abso- _ lutas, Circunmeridianas, Meridianas é Iguales et ide dos Estrellas. Por Carlos Puente, — nomo. (Madrid: Bailly-Bailliére, 1917.) Arter a short introduction, four chapters of this short manual describe the methods of finding the Tatitude from altitudes observed outside the meri- dian, from circummeridian altitudes, from meri- dian altitudes (this is the longest chapter), and altitude when the time is known. NO. 2474, VOL. 99} Each chapter two different stars observed at the same | is divided into two parts, the first giving the . necessary formule, the second and longer part _ showing how the method is carried out in prac- tice, describing the various instruments (sextant, theodolite, transit circle) and explaining how the | instrumental errors are found. Lastly, some auxiliary tables are given. The little book should prove useful to astronomical beginners and travellers. 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.] Muscular Inefficiency and Possible Speeds of Walking. In walking over a level surface, were there no mus- cular loss or imperfect elasticity in the ground, the only work to be done would be that required to start the body and limbs at the walking speed, which work might be recovered when stopping. Thus any energy expended in walking on the level is due either to work taken up by the ground, or lost by muscular ineffi- ciency. (Air resistance may be neglected at walking speeds.) That there is, for each individual, a certain speed at which walking involves a minimum effort is well known; and it seems probable—in fact, almost certain —that this depends on the natural period of the leg about the hip joint. By frequent trials I have found that in my own case this period is about 1-35 sec., so that, since there are two steps to each complete period, the natural number of steps per minute would be about 88; assuming further that each pace is equal to one yard (which is very nearly correct in my own case), the natural speed of walking is 5280 yards, or three miles per hour. In walking at this pace the accelerations of the masses are effected by gravity. A pendulum giving 44 beats per minute is 1-46 ft. long, and this corresponds very fairly with the equiva- lent length of a leg which measures 3 ft. from hip joint to the sole of the foot, taking into account the distribution of mass. At this speed the only work required is that lost in the muscles or expended on the ground. At any other speeds the muscles are called on to accelerate or retard the various parts, and such work is apparently not recoverable. I do not know of any experiments on this point, but it would be of interest to examine whether, for instance, the muscular effort required to move a body, with a given velocity against a force, | is the same as would have to be expended in prevent- | ing acceleration when the force is in the direction of | motion; or, in other words, whether for equal motions | the muscular effort required to cause acceleration is Astro- | the same as that required to prevent it. Assuming for the moment that it is, it is possible to calculate the greatest speed at which walking is possible, the speed, namely, at which the mere accelera- tion of the masses absorbs the whole work of which the muscles are capable. If. as the simplest supposition, the.motion of the leg be represented by the harmonic motion of a mass | m, with period T and amplitude a, then— ,42*ma?* The energy is : When the period is the 84 NATURE [Marcu 29, 1917 natural period (T,) this energy (except for the loss in and the power required is ps Sy extending the muscles and in the ground) is conserved by the action of gravity. 3 Paces eh a = ‘ , ie 1 TT o Fic. r.—AA, motion of body (assumed uniform); BB, trace on ground of right femur (produced); B’B’, trace on ground of left femur (produced) ; FF, position of right foot ; F’F’, position of left foot. For any other period (T,) an amount of energy equal to has to be expended four times in each pace, twice for acceleration and twice for retardation. ‘ 1/1 I 8x? a" ‘( - - as) sy AV ai? . If P—Ca is the maximum power available (where Ca represents loss from muscular extension), then— P ane (gan :) 8r2ma* 1,\T2 127 or, putting T,;=fT>, | 3P—Ca 2 tears ° Sarma 1-7? yaa As a numerical example, assume that P—Ca is 1/10 h.p., or 55 ft.-lb. per sec., also that (as given above) T,=1-35 sec. ; The weight of each leg is about 30 Ib. (so that m=1 nearly). The length of the leg being 3 ft., and that of the pendulum of 1-35 sec. period 1-48 ft., then, since each half pace=1-5 ft., a/1-5=1-48/3, or a=0'74 ft. nearly. Thus gP-Ca_ To 8x ma* : whence p=o-6 nearly. Thus the speed of walking at which 1/10 h.p. is 6 55 - = 3 nearl 79x0%55 > at consumed in acceleration would be about 5 miles per: hour, or rather more. , = This is on the assumption that all the conditions can be represented by one simple harmonic term. The actual motions * in walking, however, are repre-. sented in Figs. 1 and 2, and some work must be done in bending the knee joint. The details of this motion vary considerably in different individuals, but in all cases the work required would reduce the maximum’ walking speed to soinething a little under 5 miles per. hour, which, as a fact, is about the limit for hard. walking. Although the above estimate rests on nothing except. common knowledge and casual observation, the result. gives a high probability to the assumption that mus- cular inefficiency, i.e. the loss of work in accelerating - and retarding their own masses, sets the limit to the speed at which they can be worked. A. MALLock. s Gravitation and Thermodynamics. _Dr. Topp (Nature, March 1) suggests that when one gravitative mass approaches another it acquires heat. This might occur when, as is usually (but not always) the case, the body moves up the gradient of potential; for then the energy of. field displaced by the body would increase. There is one development of the above speculation which is not ex- plicitly mentioned by “J. L.” have been inferred. Suppose two cases: (a) A metal disc is in a vertical plane at the earth’s sur- face. If it be started spinning on a horizontal! axis through its centre the descending half warms and ex- pands, the ascending half cools and Fic. 2.—AA, positions of hip joints; KK, positions of right knee; K’K’, positions of left knee ; FF, positions of right foot; F’F’, positions of left foot. Thus for both legs, in each complete period, the amount of energy to be supplied by the muscles is Buta’ = -4) T,? T,? , NO. 2474, VOL. 99| contracts, there will arise a turn- ing moment, and the dise will now continue to spin of itself pro- vided the friction is small enough. : (b) The extreme top and the extreme bottom of the disc will be cold and hot points respec- tively, so that if metal brushes be applied there, we 1 In the diagram, for the sake of simplicity, the motion of the body is taken as being uniform. This is not strictly correct, but the difference from uniformity is small. Paces (Nature, March 15), though it may. | EE SL A ee, ee a eT a a — NATURE 85 . Marcu 29, 1917] | obtain a continuous current in a closed circuit. 2 are two cases of perpetual motion. The prin- ‘of conservation of energy which jis here appa- y violated is inapplicable to such cases where the S are so much smaller than any experimental ults on which that principle rests. The temperature effect of gravitation is a residual ect of gravitation which is itself apparently a re- f effect, so that we are dealing with forces of, \—12 fact that the forces involved in the above sug- cases (a) and (b) are far too small to render any al effects peal, of course does not affect argument, which is that the speculation does e a theoretical continuous motion. ~ re P. E, SHaw. sity College, Nottingham. ~ ‘es __ Talbot’s Observations on Fused Nitre. Some years ago, in studying the position of the us in the binary system consisting of the es of potassium and sodium, the present writer me well acquainted with the phenomena referred by Lord Rayleigh in his interesting letter in NATURE Febrt 1. A number of photomicrographs e made of thin layers of the nitrates, crystallised m fusion, between crossed Nicols, and it was d very necessary in the work that the exposures id be made before the secondary change, the ‘rival of which, as Talbot observed, is hastened by atching, had set in. There is, of course, now no stery as to the cause of this secondary change upon ing in the character of the crystals first formed the melt, for potassium nitrate is known to be ‘phous, with a transition temperature at ordinary sure about 129° C. A considerable degree of r-cooling often occurs, and the transition, initiated Talbot’s needle-point, spreads “* like-a wave ”’ if the ‘be cooler than 129°, as Lord Rayleigh found ng a temperature near 100°. Tf Wallerant is correct in supposing that there is third, = all circumstances +: eae crystalline Variety of potassium nitrate, still further entertain- nt from this interesting, if old-fashioned, salt is least possible. - Aran W. C. MENZIEs. Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. Bi 23 February 24. AND PROSPECTS OF PROFES- 2 SIONAL CHEMISTS. 'N August, 1914, chemists, in common with - other professional men, volunteered in con- erable numbers for active service with the fight- x forces. Many were already attached to the Officers Training Corps of their universities, or "to Territorial units—the call was the same to them as to others. The need for fit men was the first nsideration, and the need for chemists, as such, other spheres directly connected with war was - at first recognised. Offers to the War Office ‘scientific assistance emanating from organised dies and from individuals were politely acknow- ledged and pigeon-holed for future reference in _of necessity. e+; OSITION possessed, fortunately, a number of ‘mists acquainted with the production of explo- ves, but as the magnitude of the task before us came better realised a much greater demand ose for chemists to control the operations of ufacture. NO. 2474, VOL. 99] In the early months of the war lists of chemists available for the service of the country were pre- pared by the Institute of Chémistry, the Chemical Society, and other bodies interested in chemical science, with the result that when the Ministry of Munitions called for them a ready response was forthcoming from all parts of the country, from industrial concerns and private laboratories as well as from the universities and colleges, both at home and in the Overseas Dominions. The majority of chemists with experience in the explo- sives industry were already engaged on war work, and arrangements were made for the training of others to take charge of operations in new factories erected in various parts of the kingdom. Additional chemists were also needed for the increasing work of the staffs of Government laboratories and_ factories and to_ control and assist in the production of war material of all kinds. For certain requirements essen-. tial to the production of armaments and munitions, for a number of drugs, for labora- tory glass and porcelain ware, filter-paper and other necessaries, we had hitherto been almost entirely dependent on Germany and Austria, and this state of affairs would have led to serious difficulties if our chemists had not speedily and successfully dealt with such matters. Students in college laboratories assisted, under the super- vision of their professors, in the preparation of drugs and the examination of materials, or left before finishing their courses to take up positions in works. Women science graduates, mostly teachers in time of peace, obtained appointments in analytical laboratories as _ substitutes for chemists who had joined the forces or been trans- ferred to war work. The demand for trained analysts and works chemists still persists, and has been accentuated by the undoubted fact that manufacturers generally are learning to appreciate more and more the value of science in industry. In addition to the activities referred to above, mention must be made of the help rendered to the Government by leading consulting chemists, professors of chemistry, and technologists, in an advisory capacity, with regard to inventions and to offensive and defensive measures, wherein many of our best are pitted against the much-vaunted chemists of the enemy. German chemists had obviously devoted attention to the employment of scientific frightfulnmess in warfare which other ' nations, if such means had occupied the minds of their men of science at all, would have refused to believe that any civilised people would adopt. British chemists, therefore, were perforce called upon to investigate problems wholly repugnant to their inclinations and degrading to their science in order to fight the enemy with his own weapons. Much of what they have done must remain, and probably will always remain, a sealed hook; but the results are shown in the well-deserved praise accorded them in the despatches of Lord French and Sir Douglas Haig. When the Germans started using asphyxiating gases, the War Office called for volunteers with training in chemistry and formed with little diffi- 86 NATURE [Marcu 29, 1917 culty a new fighting force, selecting the officers | tions and attainments engaged in private work or from chemists already holding commissions and transferring non-commissioned officers and men with scientific qualifications from other - units. Their work did not call for much scientific attainment, yet the force was for the most part nade up of graduates and qualified professional chemists, a body of men far too valuable to the country to risk in hazardous enterprise. How- ever, they proved good soldiers and “carried out their unfamiliar duties during a heavy bombard- ment with conspicuous gallantry and coolness,” as reported by Lord French. Later, the force was augmented, and many of the original corporals were promoted or, as the demand for chemists became more pressing at home, were withdrawn for work in Government and controlled establishments. Chemists were also promptly engaged on research for devising methods of defence against poisonous gases, and for inspection work in that connection. Apart from measures of offence and defence, however, the work of chemists in the Royal Engineers and in the sanitary companies of the Royal Army Medical Corps engaged on active service for the purification and examination of water and for other sanitary matters, has doubtless contributed to the maintenance of health in the armies on the Continent, in the East, and in Africa, while we must not overlook the fact that not a few of these chemists are also first-class bacteriologists, and their work as such has been indispensable. Mention must also be made of the chemical advisers to the various armies, inspectors of ordnance, instructors in gas defence, chemists with the Army Service Corps concerned with chemical supplies and _ those attached to the Air Services. Many of these men have been promoted to high rank, so that we find among them quite a number of colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and majors. One professional chemist who enlisted as a private in the early months of the war has risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel through his scientific and inventive ability. Comparatively few quali- fied men who have seen active service have not been afforded the opportunity of taking commis- sions, and a remarkable number have won honours in the field. We yet hope to see, however, due recognition accorded others, less in the foreground, who have ~ given loyal service and have materially contributed to the results achieved. We refer especially to chemists working at home, including those in the Civil Service and in Government and controlled factories, the majority of whom we do not doubt would willingly have volunteered for active service had they been permitted to do so. Not a few have worked throughout the war quite gratui- tously, while some are in receipt of salaries out of all proportion small in comparison with the responsibility of the duties entrusted to them. There are many chemists attached to different departments of the Civil Service, but few are in receipt of remuneration which would compare favourably with that of men of similar qualifica- NO. 2474, VOL. 99| in industry. . The terms and conditions of service offered to qualified temporary assistants in the Inspection Department at Woolwich were, we understand, improved towards the close of 1914, partly as the result of the publicity given to the matter, but also owing to the dearth of candidates for the appointments. Even though the remuneration of 2l. os. 6d. a week was increased to 150l. a year, and a miserable allowance (about 1s. 4d. an hour) made for overtime, in the prevailing circumstances. the position is distinctly unsatisfactory. If the work is not of a responsible character, the authori- ties need scarcely be so insistent on high qualifica- tions. We cannot but conclude that such matters. have been too much in the control of the clerical establishments, who are ignorant of the signifi- cance of chemistry and its vital importance to the interests of the country; yet, perhaps, they are not entirely to blame for the existence of a system prevailing in several places under which, if insuffi- cient financial provision is made for chemical assistants, such men find themselves classified as. “foremen” or ‘“draughtsmen,” or that some sort of shuffle has been made to bring them within the funds allotted to the expenses of their department. It is greatly to be deplored that competent pro- fessional men have not been graded and treated as such, paid proper salaries, without talk of over- time, and afforded more encouragement generally in the service they render to the State. Now that the Inspection Department is under the Ministry of Munitions we look for amore enlightened apprecia- tion of scientific work. The terms attaching to the appointments of shift chemists in works controlled by the Ministry when they were first decided on were fairly satisfactory for younger men and made allowance for increments up to a moderate limit; but these again call for. revision under the altered conditions of living to enable educated — professional men to maintain their status and to lessen the sacrifice many of them have made. In other Government laboratories and chemical establishments many assistants are continuing their work under pre-war rates of pay, and although there is a graded scale of war bonuses we trust their case also will receive due considera- tion. Throughout the war chemists have made good wherever they have been in request, and we repeat the time has come for a more substantial acknowledgment of their services. We have already indicated that in industges the demand for chemists is now in excess of the supply, due not only to the fact that so many are with the forces, but also to the growing apprecia- tion of the value of their work and the develop- | ment of scientific methods of manufacture. The shortage of qualified men has compelled employers: to offer better terms, and, as a consequence, a considerable number of teachers have been attracted to works appointments, and in the pro- duction of munitions many are engaged as “shift chemists” in charge of plant in factories where scientific control is essential to the safety of the employés. The colleges, at present, have fewer “Marcu 20, srr) NATURE 87 its than i in dotmal times, but there is much ty in securing sufficient lecturers and demonstrators, and, with the professors and heads departments engaged on war work, the junior staffs are in most cases overburdened. It is doubtful whether many who were teachers before the war will return to their former work, ‘remuneration and outlook being usually un- actory for any but those of outstanding . Yet the majority of our science graduates tunity of securing appointments in industry, few eing in a position to start practice individually. The private practitioners in chemistry who are really successful are not numerous, and these rely 1 most cases mainly on consulting and analytical rk in some branch in which they have acquired reputation. The fees for commercial work le: ve no great margin for the principals when all account, and they are seldom able to afford high alaries, even to their chief assistants. Much of he routine analytical work is entrusted, as in the ories, to men with no special qualifications. housands of men who have received an elemen- y training in secondary and technical schools available and can be utilised for a limited ‘range of analyses and comparatively simple Reeratious. The more competent are thereby crowded out. _ Reviewing the position as a whole, we come to the conclusion that qualified professional chemists will find in future an increasing demand - their services in industry, either as research emists, works chemists in control of plant, or ks managers, the routine testing work being ‘relegated to the less qualified assistants, only the st of these being eligible for promotion on the S on showing promise of real ability. In Bressive concerns arrangements will be made such assistants to receive systematic training Bee wouring universities and colleges. Works smists will be wise to take every opportunity “improving their training and experience on ie engineering side, whereby they may become pable of designing and erecting plant as quired. In the course of time many such men ‘will establish themselves in independent practice, with public analysts, official agricultural analysts, metallurgists and other specialists, and _ general consultants. Appointments in governmental and municipal ents, for which in the higher grades only ably become more numerous, and should, in the nterests of the community, be made attractive to men of the right stamp. Under this head we embrace appointments in arsenals, factories, and ards, with those of inspectors under the Alkali, etc., Works Regulation Act, and similar ‘statutory offices, as well as those under county d municipal ‘authorities, health departments, tiver boards, sewage works, etc., gas examiners, ater examiners, and so forth. Chemists igaged in official laboratories should have pros- pects at least equivalent to those in industry and NO. 2474, VOL. 99| ve hitherto turned to teaching for lack of oppor- | private practice, a principle which applies in a limited number of the higher appointments of the Civil Service. Nor should we omit the staffs of the National Physical Laboratory, the Imperial Institute, and similar institutions where research is the primary function. Finally, but by no means the least important, there are the professors and teachers of chemistry, who represent a very large body, engaged in our universities and technical colleges, public and secondary schools, whose positions generally should afford far better prospects than they have in the past. With all these openings there should be no lack of recruits for the profession of _ chemistry, either in the Mother-country or in the of maintenance have been taken into | qualified chemists should be accepted, will prob- storage > deterioration in its quality. | made towards Overseas Dominions, where also competent chemists are afforded oppdrtunities corresponding to those here indicated. THE WEATHERING OF COAL. a Ge Canadian Department of Mines has lately issued a volume of 194 pages, constituting an extra volume supplementing Report No. 83, and forming a portion of the “ Investigation of the Coals of Canada with reference to their Economic Qualities,” which has been prepared by Dr. J. B. Porter, of McGill University. This is devoted to a discussion of the literature of the subject and of the results obtained by the author and his assis- tants in their researches upon this difficult and important problem. It has very long been known that whilst all coals are liable to undergo deteri- oration on storage, some give rise to marked heat- ing, whilst others are even liabie to spontaneous combustion. The latter, as being attended with most obvious disastrous consequences, was the first of these effects to attract attention, and a Royal Commission on Coal Cargoes was appointed to study the matter exactly forty ‘years ago. It is only within the last few years that much progress has been its solution, and that mainly through the labours of a few first-class chemists under the scientific guidance of Dr. J. S. Haldane, in a laboratory the expenses of which have been defrayed by the Doncaster Coalowners’ Associa- tion; this association took up the question from a slightly different point of view, namely, with the object ‘of discovering the causes of, and finding a remedy for, the “gob-fires” te which some coal- seams are particularly liable. Dr. Porter’s atten- tion has been directed mainly to the question of the safe storage of coal and the prevention of It was soon obvious that all these problems are closely related, and depend, indeed, essentially upon ‘the oxidation of coal, and this, ‘again, upon the absorption of oxygen by the coal. Dr. Porter has presented his conclusions in the form of a brief summary, in which he shows that oxidation depends upon the presence of moisture in moder- ate amount, absolutely dry coal and thoroughly wet coal (e.g. submerged in water) being both less liable to oxidation than coal in the presence of a small quantity of moisture; it depends also upon 88 NATURE [MarcH 29, 1917 the rate of admission of oxygen or air, too large a quantity, as well as too small a quantity, check- ing the oxidising action. He throws but little light upon the part played by the pyrites in the coal, a problem that has not yet been fully solved, but considers that the oxygen is mainly absorbed by the resins and the humus bodies present in the coal. With respect to the storing of coal, he finds that any coal can safely be stored under water; lump bituminous coal, from which slack and dust have been screened out, can usually be stored with little or no danger; coal stored in the winter is less likely to give trouble than if stored in the summer, and in the latter case it is best if cool or cloudy days are selected; shallow piles are less likely to give trouble than deep ones; some coals, ‘particularly those high in sulphur, undoubtedly heat more readily when damp; the ventilation of coal piles by means of perforated pipes or other- wise is very advisable; and, finally, a coal storage pile should be carefully watched, particularly for the first few weeks after it has been built. The report is worthy of careful study, and forms a notable contribution to a subject of the greatest importance to coal producers and coal users alike, and at least.as much so in this country as else- where. It is significant of the British attitude towards the scientific investigation of such economic problems of great national importance that in Canada they are attacked by State institutions . subsidised and supported by the State authorities, whilst in this country the work is left to private individuals and to private resources. Is it too much to hope that the attention of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research may be directed to the admirable work done in Canada, and that it may decide that the time has at last arrived to initiate something of the kind in this country? . REV. O. PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE, F.R.S. FE: whatever their nationality, who have been especially interested in spiders during the last forty years have failed to make the pilgrimage to Bloxworth, where the Rev. O. Pickard- Cambridge, who died on March 9, had been rector since 1868, and to enjoy the delightfully in- formal hospitality of the Rectory. The famous “den” was no doubt their first objective, but those who were privileged to walk with their host in the surrounding country must have realised that they were in the’ company of a born naturalist of the widest sympathies, keenly observant, and on the friendliest terms with every living thing— beast, bird, insect, or plant—encountered by the way. There can have been few naturalists of equal calibre less revealed by their published work. This in his case was almost exclusively systematic, and was concerned for the most part with a single Arachnid order, the Araneina. It is true that he was selected to write the article “ Arachnida ” for the ninth edition of the “‘ Encyclopedia Britannica ” (1875); that he published useful little monographs NO. 2474, VOL. 99| on the British Phalangids and Pseudoscorpions (1890 and 1892); and that he occasionally described a tick or a Tartarid; but these were excursions, and through a long series of years his leisure was devoted mainly to the identification and description of spiders. This most useful and necessary work does not stand very high in the estimation of some zoolo- gists, though it is noticeable that a worker in some other field—a morphologist, for example—forced by stress of circumstances to try his own hand at identification, soon acquires an added respect for the necessary qualifications. In any case, it is on his work as a systematist that the reputation of Pickard-Cambridge is solidly based. His natural flair for minute points of difference, his facility as a draughtsman, his tireless patience, and his un- flagging enthusiasm through a long series of years were his equipment for his self-imposed task. The mantle of John Blackwall fell upon him. He set himself to continue Blackwall’s work, and to him he dedicated, in 1881, his most important book, “The Spiders of Dorset,” “as a small token of long friendship and respect, as-well as of gratitude for constant and ready assistance in the study of spiders during the last twenty-five years.” This book (its title is altogether too modest) still remains essential to the student of British spiders, supplemented by the papers since annually pub- lished by its author in the Proceedings of the Dorset Field Club, and by his “List of British — and Irish Spiders” (1900). As regards exotic species, Mr. Pickard- Cambridge published brochures on spiders col-_ lected by himself in Palestine and Egypt (Proc. | Zool. Soc., 1872—4—6), and on collections by mem- bers of his family, private friends, or scientific expeditions from various regions; but his chief work in this field was in connection with the “Biologia Centrali Americana.” The task of dealing with the mass of material involved proved eventually beyond his powers, and failing health obliged him to hand it over to his nephew, the late Frederic O. Pickard-Cambridge, but he continued his work on the native Arachnid fauna until the : end. Many will miss the help he was always eager to give to those who applied to him for informa- tion or advice, and not a few will mourn the loss of a picturesque and interesting personality. NOTES. TuE annual meeting of the British Association, ar- ranged to be held at Bournemouth in September next, has been cancelled; and there will be no meeting, there- fore, this year. The two main considerations which have led to this decision are the restriction of railway communication and difficulties of accommodation on account of buildings being required for various national purposes. of the General Committee of the association in London to receive reports and transact other business. Ir is refreshing to note that some of the museums of this country, by making themselves of immediate use, are justifying the authorities who have kept Beni Si BN ak te There will probably be a meeting ~ pa at a ea en ea Tee) Ee eT es i eee Se ea, =e se 7 Maxcu 295 1917] NATURE 89 them open. first pu lic exhibition of mothercraft, is now seeking by peat of models to aid those who find es handling a spade for the first time and yet to learn that a potato has two ends. Norwich Museum, which also had its mothercraft show, has Be a thrift and economy exhibition. Food values, ut cooking, home-washing, thrift garments, fuel ; * economy, saving of man-power, and the cultivation of | are among the subjects dealt with. It —- us that the rate-supported museums are ‘¢ the proper instruments for the education of ret eng in these homely ways of helping the ‘and we hope that more will follow the Dark ot of Leicester and Norwich. Sir J. Wotre Barry is to deliver the “James Forrest ”’ lecture to the Institution of Civil Engineers ee apen ‘May 2, taking as his subject, “The andardisation of E ing Materials and its fluence on the Trade and Prosperity of the ou try. ” News has just reached us of the death on 6, at sixty-three years of age, of Dr. . Jungersen, professor of zoology in the - of Copenhagen and director of the depart- ent of vertebrates in the University museum. ‘HE death is annouticed of Col. Walter Katte, the engineer who built the elevated railways of New ‘ork. He was born in London in 1830, and was _ educated at King’s College School. He emigrated to _ America in 1849. At the outbreak of the Civil War _ he commanded an engineer regiment. He super- _ intended the construction of the first steel-arch bridge 4 _ to span the Mississippi. ANOTHER national park has Bren set apart by vote of the Amezican Congress. This new reservation has an area of 2200 square miles, and lies-in south-central It contains within its boundaries the highest ntain in America, Mount McKinley, and will con- ceauentl ‘bear the name of the Mount McKinley ‘tional Park. As a game refuge and breeding- the park is expected to preserve Alaskan game, elsewhere is rapidly disappearing. Scien expedition which the American Museum of Bp estarel History has maintained for the last six months a Nicaragua has returned to New York, bringing with _ it-a collection of 1500 fishes and 2000 reptiles, together ' with a large series of photographs and unusually _ complete cecological notes. The material thus obtained ‘said to be of special value, as no specimens of reptiles have ever before been brought out of this region, although it has a reptile fauna of no ordinary t, not only because of the great diversity in the topographicai features, but also because the isthmus to-day forms a transition tract between the two con- ‘tinents, and is supposed in the past to have had land d connection with Cuba and Jamaica. The expedi- tion was in charge of Mr. C. R. Halter, an assistant oe gee at the museum, and Mr. L. A. Mann- _ hardt, of Yale. _ We learn from the Times that it has been decided to introduce summer time this year, as recommended ) ; the Home Office Committee, throughout the United -Kingdom, beginn Le depos 3 at 2 o’clock in the morning of Supiay, April 8, when the clocks will be put forward one hour, and ending at 2 o’clock in the morning of ‘, orange "September 17. An Order in Councii will be _ issued to give effect to this decision. The Rome corre- t of the Times announces that summer time E will be adopted in Italy on April 1, and will remain in | _-NO. 2474, VOL. 99] Leicester Museum, which led off . force until the end of September. Under the Daylight Saving Act, clocks in Australia were put back one hour on Sunday, March 25. Tue annual general meeting of the Ray Society was held on March 22 in the apartments of the Geological Society, Dr. S. F. Harmer, in the absence of the president, being in the chair. The report of the council showed a slight increase in the membership, a large increase in the sale of publications, and a very satisfactory balance-sheet, and stated that two volumes had been issued for 1916, and the issue for 1917 would be the “‘ British Characeze ’’ by Mr. James Groves and Canon Bullock-Webster. One of the rules was amended so as to require authors to agree to assign the copyright of their works to the society. Vacancies on the council were filled by the election of Sir David Prain and Dr. A. B. Rendle. Prof. W. C. McIntosh was re-elected president, Dr. F. Du Cane Godman treasurer, and Mr. John Hopkinson secretary. Tue President of the Board of Trade has appointed a committee to consider and report what steps should be taken, whether by legislation or otherwise, to ensure that there shall be an adequate and economical supply of electric power for all classes of consumers in the United Kingdom, particularly industries which depend upon a cheap supply of power for their ne ment. The members of the committee are -—Mr. F. Huth-Jackson (chairman), Mr. H. Booth, Mr. J. Devonshire, Mr. J. Falconer, Mr. G. H. Hume, Mr. J. Kemp, Mr. H. H. Law, Mr. C. H. Merz, Sir Charles Parsons, Sir John Snell, Alderman C,. F. Spencer, and Mr. A. J. Walter. The secretary of the committee is Mr. M. J. Collins, to whom all com- munications on the work of the committee should be addressed at the Board of Trade, 7 Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W.1. Tue President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has appointed a committee to consider prac- tical means for increasing the supplies of sea-fish for the home markets and for encouraging the consump- tion of such fish, whether cured or fresh, in substitu- tion for other foods. The committee has received a grant from the Development Fund, with authority to expend the grant, subject to limitations and conditions recommended by the Development Commissioners and approved by the Treasury, at their discretion for the increase of the fishing power of vessels other than steam fishing vessels. In general their expenditure will be confined to assisting fishermen who are owners of their own boats to develop their fishing power and to secure greater quantities of fish. The committee consists of:—Mr. Cecil Harmsworth (chairman); Mr. H. S. M. Blundell, of the Admiralty War Staff (Trade Division); Mr. H. G Maurice, of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries; Mr. E. H. Collingwood, of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries; Mr. Stephen Reynolds, representing the Development Commissioners ; Mr. A. Towle, representing the Food Controller. The secretary and manager is Mr. G. K. Hext. Communications should be addressed to the secretary, Fish Food Committee, 43 Parliament Street, S.W.1. Tue President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has .appointed a committee to consider whether any considerable addition to the home food supplies of fish could be provided from the rivers, lakes, and ponds of England and Wales. The committee is requested to have special regard to considerations affecting the practicability of any scheme for bringing fresh-water fish supplies into consumption, such as the machinery and labour required to make the sup- plies available, facilities for their transport to market, go NATURE [MarcH 29, 1917 the food value of the different kinds of fish, the prob- ability of its proving acceptable to the consumer, the necessity for interference with private rights, and the risk of damage to more valuable fisheries. Further, the committee will consider and report upon measures which might be taken for securing a greater output of eels from the waters of the United Kingdom for home consumption. The members of the committee are:—Lord Desborough (chairman), Mr. R. B. Marston, Mr. A. R. Peart, Mr. F. G. Richmond, Mr. H. T. Sheringham, Mr. A. Tate Regan, Sir John Wrench Towse. The Hon. A, S. Northcote will act as secretary to the committee. All communications should be addressed to the secretary, Fresh-water Fish Committee, 43 Parliament Street, S.W.1.. Mr. E. HERON-ALLEN devoted his recent address as president of the Royal Microscopical Society to an elaborate account of the career and observations of Alcide d’Orbigny, the founder of our knowledge of the Foraminifera (Journ. Roy. Microscop. Soc., 1917, part i.). Alcide’s father, Charles d’Orbigny, a doctor at Esnandes, near La Rochelle, initiated the studies which made his son’s name immortal. Félix Dujardin, moreover, in 1835, not ten years after the publication of d’Orbigny’s ‘‘ Tableau méthodique,” first appreciated the simple nature of the foraminiferal organism, and removed the group, which he styled Rhizopoda, from any alliance with the Mollusca. But d’Orbigny’s skill in minute observation, in collation, and in delineation makes a permanent claim upon our gratitude, and Mr. Heron-Allen proposes to publish, when peace returns, the remarkable series of ‘‘ planches inédites’’ that he has brought once more to light in the museum at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Two coloured examples of these beautiful plates accompany the address, and the other illustrations add touches of human interest to what has become, in its author’s hands, a genuine biographical and_ bibliographical research, ; Tue Atti dei Lincei (xxvi. (1) 1) contains an account of the work of Prof. Angelo Battelli, whose death, at the age of fifty-four, occurred on December 11 of last year. Born in 1862, Battelli entered the University of Turin at the close of his school career, and by 1884, when he graduated, he had already qualified for sub- stantial researches in physics. His earliest interest was in thermo-electricity, in which he made the first determination of the so-called ‘‘ specific heat’’ of elec- tricity. The Peltier effect was the subject of repeated experiments, and he described an arrangement in which reversal took place at a moderate temperature. Later researches dealt with the effects of pres- sure on the temperature of fusion and that of mag- netism on thermal conductivity, as well as on thermo- electric effects. In 1887 Battelli commenced an ex- tended series of investigations on the critical point, the density of saturated vapours, and of liquids at the maximum vapour pressure, specific heats, and allied ' phenomena. In particular, he traced the isothermals in the neighbourhood of the critical point.. In 1898 he gave his attention to the study of oscillatory dis- charges and the attendant phenomena. He was also the author of a numfer of books, including some text- ‘books, besides works of a more substantial character, on electrolytic dissociation and radio-activity. On his appointment at Pisa, Battelli found the physical laboratory quite inadequate, both for instruction and for higher studies, and it became necessary for him to get it properly equipped. He also took an active part in educational discussions in the Italian Second Chamber. The author of the notice, Dr. A. Naccari, expresses the opinion that his end was accelerated by his constant activity, which he would not allow to flag even in his last sad illness. NO. 2474, VOL. 99] THE twenty-sixth annual meeting of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was held at the Middlesex Guildhall on March 22, her Grace the Duchess of Portland, president, being in ythe chair. As might be supposed, the war has adversely affected the work of the society, though not to any serious extent. It was mentioned that the large camps now scattered over the country have often, inevitably, invaded areas under the protection of the society. But the damage done, it is hoped, will bé less than was feared, for in many cases the men were induced to take an interest in the birds, and thus reduced the damage to the lowest possible limits. The work of the society’s watchers, all of whom are ineligible for ~ military service, has for the most part gone on suc- cessfully, and some interesting items have been re- corded. ‘We are glad to note that the breeding season of 1916 was highly successful in the case’ of the Kentish and Norfolk plovers, chough, phalarope,” peregrine falcon, and buzzard. The gannet nested for the first time on Noss, in the Shetlands; the red- shank for the first time on one of the Cumberland lakes; while the great skua has spread to a new region. A strong expression of opinion that the recent prohibition of the importation of plumage during the war should find a permanent place on the Statute Book was warmly supported. For it was pointed out that otherwise the work of the plume- hunters would still go on, their ill-gotten gains being hoarded until after the war, when they would be dumped upon the market. The Dutch Committee © for the Prohibition of the Exportation of Birds and Bird-skins from Dutch Colonies was very emphatic on this point. A number of valuable leaflets on the need for the protection of insectivorous birds has been issued by the society for distribution, and these should be widely read. Tue following are the lecture arrangements at the Royal Institution after Easter :—Prof, C. R. Beazley, two lectures: ‘‘ Russian Development ”’: (i) “‘ The Old Free Russia,’’ (ii) ‘‘The Rise of Moscow ”; Prof. C. S. Sherrington, two lectures: (i) ‘‘Tetanus: Its Prevention, Symptoms, and Treatment,’’ ae mic Action in Muscle and in Nerve ’’; Prof. D’Arcy W. Thompson, two lectures: ‘Architectural Design in Organisms,”’ “‘The Laws of Growth and Form’”’; Prof. W. W. Watts, two lectures: ‘‘The Flow of Ice and of Rock’’; Prof. H. S. Foxwell, two lectures: “Industrial Finance after the War’’; Prof. Gilbert Murray, two lectures: ‘‘ Pagan Religion at the Time of the Coming of Christianity’; Prof. W. Bateson, two lectures: “‘The Chromosome Theory of Heredity and the Alternatives’’; Alfred Noyes, two lectures: ‘*Modern English Poetry’; Prof. G. H. Bryan, two lectures: ‘‘Principles of Aerial Navigation’’; Sir J. J. Thomson, six lectures: ‘‘The Electrical Pro- perties of Gases.’? The Friday evening discourses, which will begin on April 20, include :—Prof. R. H. Biffen, ‘The Future of Wheat-growing in England ”’; J. Dundas Grant, ‘*The Organs of Hearing in Rela- tion to War ’’; H. Wickham Steed, ‘‘ Some Guarantees of Liberty’’; Prof. John Joly, ‘‘ Radio-active Haloes’’; Prof. F. Soddy, ‘‘The Complexity of the Chemical Elements ’’; J. Barcroft, ‘‘ Breathlessness ’’; J. H. Balfour Browne, ‘‘The Brontés: a Hundred Years After’’; Sir J J. Thomson, ‘Industrial Ap- plications of Electrons.”’ “THE War and Our Supply of Drugs’’ was the subject of a paper read before the Royal Society of — Arts recently by Mr. F. A. Hocking. Out of about eighty drugs of vegetable origin in use at the London Hospital during 1914, only a few are drugs ordinarily. derived from enemy countries, the chief being aconite, belladonna, colchicum, - digitalis, gentian, henbane, ie g. ae a Marcu 29, 1917] NATURE 91 opium, and possibly valerian. After the outbreak of war the main difficulties were in respect of the supply _of belladonna, henbane, and valerian. The needs are now being met partly by products grown in this cot ay and partly by drugs obtainable from abroad. ‘hus India supplies opium, Japan aconite and valerian, and Egypt henbane. Of the alkaloids and their salts, ‘seven out of the fifteen used in the hospital were, and of course still are. manufactured here on a large scale, both for home use and foi export. The re- mainder were obtained from enemy countries. Of the acids and their salts, the majority are home products, but in some cases the raw materials, especially potassium and bromine, were either in enemy hands under neutral control, with the result that their ces rose enormously. The most important of manu- ctured organic drugs, such as ether, ethyl chloride, ‘chloroform, iodoform, carbolic acid, glycerine, and alcok ol, are produced here in large quantities; but of the synthetic drugs, like aspirin, phenacetin, ‘salvarsan, and veronal, were German products. Many these articles, however, are now being made here. the whole, for our drug supplies we are much less endent upon enemy sources than has generally been nised. The author, indeed, suggests that the sity for the home cultivation ot medicinal plants s perhaps been over-emphasised, since the demand belladonna and digitalis is strictly limited. In No. 7, second series, of the Bankfield Museum es, Miss L. E. Start publishes a monograph on § textiles from. the Shan and Kachin dis- pt s, based on a collection of examples made by “Mr. E. C. S. George, at the end of last century, whilst he was engaged on the Commission for the delimitation of the Burma-China boundary. The tT aph is illustrated by an excellent collection of drawings showing the modes of dress and the forms of ornamentation used by the native weavers. The illustrations to some degree suffer from the absence of colour, but designers of fabrics, who can examine original specimens in the Bankfield Museum, will well advised not to neglect this important collec- ‘tion of Oriental art, which may enable them to follow some of these graceful designs, and prepare new emes of decoration suitable to the native races of most hae TITlese monog Mr. J. H. Gurney makes grave charges against the and wood-pigeon in British Birds for March. ‘to the former he remarks: “‘It has always séemed anomaly to me that hawks in Norfolk, and even ywis, should be persecuted, while rooks go almost un- cathed, although there is not a farmer who has a good ‘word to say for them.’’ They eat potatoes and newly own grain, riddle the cornstacks with holes and thus admit the rain, and destroy a large quantity of swede ‘turnips. The wood-pigeons levy a heavy toll on the ~thousand-headed kale and on the pea-fields. The “starling, in Norfolk, is tolerated on account of its sefulness in destroying the white slugs, which infest the clover-fields. F __ InterestInc “ Observations on Some Habits of the *Coot”’ are described in the Scottish Naturalist tor “March. These more especially refer to the behaviour ‘during courtship. At this time the white shield, so “conspicuous a feature of this bird, enlarges so as to project on each side of the crown. But the author ‘leaves the reader in some doubt as to whether this is a permanent increase during the breeding season or _ whether it is an inflation evident only during moments “of excitement, comparable to the distension and con- § traction of the wattle of the turkey-cock in similar circumstances. The adults wére found to be still ‘feeding their offspring two months after hatching, and q NO. 2474, VOL. 99] - 4 therefore long after they had become fully fledged. During October the male frequently gave the “ spring call,” and the pair frequently repeated the behaviour characteristic of the spring courtship, as many game- birds are known to do. A VALUABLE contribution to our knowledge of the genetics and evolution of an interesting group of Lepidoptera is given by J. W. H. Harrison in a recent paper entitled “‘Studies in the Hybrid Bistonine” (Journal of Genetics, vol. vi., No. 2). The species with which he has worked are the common British moth (Biston hirtaria), the well-known local sandhill-haunt- ing Nyssia zonaria, whose female is wingless, and four _ Species of the northern genus Poecilopsis, one of which, P. lapponaria, is a rarity in Scotland. The Biston males, if successfully crossed with the wingless females give winged males, and females with reduced wings, and closely similar results followed the pair- ing of P. pomonaria males with Biston hirtaria females. Hence, “as regards potency in transmitting the secondary female character of wing-reduction, pomonaria males and females are alike.’ Two of these male hirtaria-pomonaria hybrids were success- fully crossed with hirtaria females. With one excep- tion, all the offspring were indistinguishable from hirtaria, a result explained by the production of ‘‘a few functionally active spermatozoa carrying to all intents and purposes hirtaria characters, with hosts of spermatozoa carrying a varied array of movel chromosome combinations, all possibly ineffective.” However, there was a single intermediate speci- men which “lacked the sexual instincts and was unable to walk or to fly... Mr. Harrison notes that the North American Poecilopsis rachelae, when crossed with the European species, gives a very small propor- tion of fertile eggs, and concludes that ‘‘ geographical separation caused the physiological condition of the species to diverge enormously.” Various schemes for the promotion of afforestation in Scotland, by co-operation between the landowners and the State, are discussed in three articles in Trans- actions Roy. Scottish Arboricultural Society, xxxi., part i. (January, 1917). The Development Commis- sioners, who have lately forwarded their proposals for afforestation and land reclamation to the Reconstruction Committee, do not favour the purchase of land by the Government, but recommend that it should be taken on lease, the landowner to receive, in addition to a rent, a bonus or percentage on the profits of the under- taking. Mr. S. Gammell advocates a scheme of plant- ing by the landowner, who would receive from the State a loan for this purpose, to be repaid, after the lapse of a period of forty years, in twenty annual instalments, calculated on compound interest at 23 per cent. Mr. James W. Munro gives an_ illustrated account of the life-history of Hylastes cunicularius, a beetle which destroys recently planted conifers by girdling the bark just below the root-collar. THE Revue Scientifique of March 3 contains an article by Prof. Henri Devaux, of Bordeaux, in which the attention of French wheat-growers is directed to the excellent results obtained by him with special methods of cultivation of wheat which are said to be widely and successfully practised in Russia. The two methods singled out for special commendation are the planting out of selected plants from a seed-bed, and the cultivation of the wheat in wide rows, permitting of an earthing-up of the plants at a later stage. It is claimed that by either method a very much larger individual plant can be obtained, and the total produce of a given area greatly increased. Full details for practical cultivation on these lines are given, and the article is illustrated by photographs of specimen plants. g2 NATURE [Marcu 29, 1917 These methods have previously been advocated in this country, and are worthy of investigation, but the obvious increased demand for labour as compared with ordinary methods of cultivation must render them largely impracticable for adoption under present condi- tions. Tue Irish Naturalist for March contains the annual report of the Royal Zoological Society, from which it is clear that the society has passed through a very troublous year, and one which came dangerously near to disaster. During the week of the Easter rebellion the difficulty of conveying food for the larger carni- vores to the gardens was so great that some of the less valuable stock had to be sacrificed, including “‘an old pony, a donkey, a goat, and a few dingoes.” These had to go to feed the lions and tigers. The keepers, for the time, had to be housed in the gardens owing to the danger of venturing into the streets of Dublin. Further, owing to the social unrest, the receipts for the month practically ceased. This loss, with the fall- ing off of revenue owing to resignation of subscribers, has seriously crippled the society, but, fortunately, thanks to the generosity of some of its members, the deficit at the end of the year was much less than at one time seemed inevitable. The young female gorilla, we are glad to notice, is not only still alive, but is, further, in better health than was the case when the report for 1915 was issued. During midsummer a female bison calf was born and is still thriving. For the first few weeks it was of a bright red colour, but has now assumed the typical dark coat. Tue plans of a projected aerial expedition to New Guinea by Dr. Eric Mjéberg, of Stockholm, are out- lined in the. February issue of the Geographical Review (vol. iii., No. 2). In view of the great diffi- culties presented by climate and vegetation in reaching the mountains of the interior, Dr. Mjéberg proposes to use aeroplanes or even hydroplanes. He considers that the interior will afford four different possibilities of landing : alpine meadows at 12,000-13,000 ft., open or thin savannas at lower altitudes, steppes of alang grass known to occur here and there, and lake surfaces. These last are not certain to occur. A reconnaissance is first to be made with a light machine. Then a heavier machine capable of carrying five passengers and stores is to leave the base for the interior. _Sub- sequent communication would be maintained between the coast and the interior stations of the expedition in a few hours’ time. Dr. Mjéberg proposes to take with him two surveyors, a botanist, a zoologist, and a geologist, besides several expert airmen. THE annual report of the Weather Bureau of the Manila Observatory for 1915 has been published. It contains the full hourly meteorological observations made throughout the year. In addition to the central observatory at Manila, the Weather Bureau maintained fifty-six other stations throughout the Philippines, and one at Yap, in the western Carolines. There seems, however, to be some doubt whether the station at Yap has been maintained in working order since the change in ownership of the Carolines. The lack of communi- cation with Yap interfered with the typhoon warnings sent out by the Manila Observatory. The volume directs attention to the fact that the Manila Observa- tory has now been in existence for fifty years. Messrs. Kopak, Ltp., have just issued an illus- trated booklet on “Kodak Bromide Pictures, by Some who Make Them,”’ a collection of seven articles, sup- plemented by the firm’s own instructions. Though obviously of chief interest to those who use bromide papers for pictorial purposes, there are suggestions that may be of much wider utility, and the illustra- NO. 2474, VOL. 99] 4 tions show what a great range of possibilities Piss 6] offered by this method of printing. The scien worker will need, however, to add to these the results obtainable on papers that have a glossy surface, which emphasises feeble and minute details, and will note the ‘‘transferotype’’ paper which permits of the film that bears the image being transferred to sur- faces such as those of glass, porcelain, wood, metal, canvas, etc. ae CERTAIN species of lichens have long been used by the inhabitants of Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of Northern Europe for dyeing wool various shades of © yellow or reddish-brown. Four of these lichens, Par- melia saxatilis, Ach., Ramalina scopulorum, Ach., ‘Ramalina cuspidata, Nyl., and Physcia parietina, De Not., have been examined by Dr. Hugh Ryan and Mr. W. M. O’Riordan (Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 1917, xxiii., Section B, pp. 91-104) with the view of isolating their tinctorial constituents. The first three lichens were submitted to a preliminary extraction with ether. By this means a colourless, crystalline substance was obtained from Parmelia saxatilis, probably identical with Zopf’s stereocaulic acid, whilst Ramalina scopulorum and R. cuspidata gave Zopf’s d-usnicacid. After the treatment wi the three lichens were extracted with boiling acetone. By this means a colourless, crystalline substance, ap- parently identical with Zopf’s salazinie acid, was obtained from Parmelia saxatilis. The lichen Rama- lina scopulorum gave a white, microcrystalline sub- stance probably identical with Zopf’s scopuloric acid, whilst R. cuspidata also yielded a white, crystalline substance, which, however, was not identified with any known compound. That these three substances are the tinctorial constituents of the respective lichens is shown by the fact that when wool is boiled with water containing them it is dyed in a manner similar to that produced by the lichens. Physcia partetina when ex- tracted with chloroform gave a quantity of physcione (probably identical with frangula~-emodin-monomethyl- ether), which has little or no dyeing properties, but which when demethylated gives frangula-emodin. The latter dyes unmordanted wool a dull orange-yellow colour. ce ether. A USEFUL catalogue (No. 67, March) of books of science (many of them scarce) has been issued by Messrs. Dulau and Co., Ltd., Soho Square, W.1, which should appeal to many of our readers. It is arranged conveniently under the headings Botany and Horticulture, Geology and Palzontology, Entomology (with subdivisions), Ichthyology, Mammalia, Mollusca _ and Conchology, Ornitholory, Reptilia and Batrachia, and Scientific Voyages and General Zoology. . OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. THE SPECTRUM OF N.G.C. 7023.—Dr. Max Wolf has > previously pointed out that many nebulz in the Mi Way are encircled by -a nearly circular space whi is void of faint stars, and that this lacuna is usuall situated at the end of a long, starless channel. S nebulz are designated ‘‘ Héhlennebel,” nebulz,’’ and Dr. Wolf has recently given an account — or “‘cave- — of spectroscopic observations of some of them which © have been made at Heidelberg (Ast, Nach., No. 4875). — One of the finest examples is H. 1v. 74 Cephei (N.G.C. 7023), in which the cave has a diameter of nearly half a degree, and the nebula surrounds the star B.D.+ 67° 1283, of magnitude 68. The photographs show that the star is of type A, and that the spectrum of the nebula exactly resembles it, without showing any trace of the lines characteristic of gaseous nebulz. It ooh 29, 1917| NATURE 93 st y probable that, as in the case of the p Oph hiuchi che ula described by "Slipher (Nature, vol. ‘evili., p. 236), the nebula shines by reflected light of star which it encloses. Other nebule have also ted, and some of them show feeble fat nebular lines in addition to continuous a. Very long exposures were of necessity given the photographs, and it is still uncertain ary extent the photographed spectrum is influ- _ by light of the associated star which is diffused earth's atmosphere. RIAL ASTRONOMICAL Society OF Russia.—A cor- welcome will be extended to the bulletins of the rial Astronomical Society of Russia, the first r of which has recently been distributed. It a series of notes by M. Viliev, including an of the planet (67) Asia, a search ephemeris 1846 IV. (De Vico), and a note on the pos- return of the comet of 1532. In opposition to . M. Viliev finds reason to believe that the of 1661 may have been a return of that of 1532, hich case its reappearance would be due about the it remains, however, to make a new n of the observations made by Hevelius in and to eee the perturbations during the hree revolutions. A further note refers to the central of the total eclipse of the sun of May 28-29, 1919. Cy So notes is in English, and the remainder in ONTHLY Star Maps For 1917.—In response to ts from naval and military officers and others, annual publication of the Scottish Provident Insti- n has again taken the form of a star atlas and calendar, which has been prepared for twentieth year in succession by Dr. Blaikie. In tion to the monthly maps, showing the stars in now familiar gold on dark blue, there is a stereo- poecion intended for the solution of many ns for which the celestial globe is ordinarily There are the usual tables relating to the ‘moon, and planets, and these, together with the e series of explanatory notes, form an admir- ar guide to the heavens. This publication doubtless done much to encourage a general est in observational astronomy, and its usefulness ‘this respect might be increased if it were made able to anyone who was anes to pay for it. MOTTMICS!| DOL ENCE LECTURES TO THE TROOPS IN FRANCE. .T the invitation of the War Office, the Young * Men’s Christian Association recently organised eo service of lecturers to visit suitable centres rance for periods varying from a fortnight to three months or more in order to provide the troops d the line with recreation of a thoughtful kind. lectures were arranged because of a desire ex- ed by many of the troops for occasional entertain- mt of a more solid or instructive character than is ‘Offered by moving pictures and concert parties. Their aim has been not merely to afford amusement to the n in their unoccupied hours, but to give an under- nding of the causes and aims for which our troops fighting, and to deal with military, naval, and Political history, with science, literature, travel, and er subjects of general interest. The scheme has eceived the hearty support of the universities, the ‘ice-chancellor of each of which has appointed a committee to nominate lecturers. The details arrangement have been in the hands of Prof. Gilbert NO. 2474, VOL. 99| ’ ' | } Murray for the War Office Educational Committee and of Mr. Basil Yeaxlee for the Y.M.C.A. In connection with this scheme a number of lectures upon scientific subjects have been, and are being, given at base camps and other centres in France. Among the science lecturers who have already completed their courses are Prof. W. Bateson, Prof. Alex. Findlay, Prof. R. A. Gregory, Mr. J. Humphreys, Prof. O. T. Jones, Rev. T. E. R. Phillips, Prof. E. B. Poulton, Mr, W. E. Whitehouse, and Dr. F. Womack. Lec- tures have been given to the officers as well as to the men upon such subjects as heredity, chemistry of daily life, the sun, moon, planets, and stars, primi- tive astronomy, protective resemblance, war among animals, the life of a river, rocks and soils of northern France, the Great Ice Age, climate and vegetation, mechanical contrivances of plants, and so on. The lectures are given in Y.M.C.A. huts, and are usually illustrated with lantern-slides. They have proved remarkably successful, and in most cases the huts have been fiiied with men who listened with attention and intelligent interest to simple discourses upon natural facts and phenomena and their scientific interpretation. Even when other attractions, such as concerts, moving pictures, and revues have been going on at the same time, large audiences have attended the science lectures, and have thus shown the existence of a real demand for more thoughtful recreation. The welfare work of the Y M.C.A. with the troops abroad is admirable in every respect, and the scheme of lec- tures now in operation merits all the assistance and encouragement which men of science can give it. Although a few separate lectures are given to officers, most of them are delivered to the men, and officers. are rarely present at them, though they are attracted by concert parties and like entertainments. It ought not to be supposed that the officers of our Army are less interested in scientific subjects than are the men of the rank and file, and their absence from lectures may be due to the fact that the Y.M.C.A. huts are regarded as places of recreation for the men only. As, however, Mr. McCowen, the chief secre- tary of the Y.M.C.A. in France, reports that the lecture scheme has succeeded almost beyond expecta- tion, it would be worth while to develop the scheme still further by arranging more lectures for officers, not so much for purposes of instruction as to excite interest in scientific matters. Of course, lectures on history, literature, the allied countries, and similar subjects have also been delivered, and, on the whole, historical subjects are probably the most popular. There is no doubt, how- ever, that the science lectures have been a source of pleasure and enlightenment to thousands of our troops at the base camps and further up the line, and the Y.M.C.A. is performing a very useful service in organising them. The work is of such decided educa- tional value that it shou!d receive practical support from the State in the form of grants. With so large a part of our population serving with.the forces at home and abroad, it should be possible for the Board of Education to make the Y.M.C.A. an education authority, and provide a substantial part of the funds required to carry on and extend the educational enter- prise so successfully begun. NANNA’S CAVE, ISLE OF CALDEY. ALDEY ISLAND, in Carmarthen Bay, two miles south of Tenby, has been occupied since the pre- | historic period, and, as is shown by the raised beaches in the vicinity, has been exposed to periodical eleva- 94 NATURE [Marcu 29, 1917 tion and depression. been found in the Carboniferous limestone. Two. of these were examined by a local clergyman about the middle of the last century, but the exploration was carried out in an unscientific way, and the remains discovered, without precise identification or record of stratification, are now deposited in the Tenby Museum. A more careful examination of the rock shelter, known as Nanna’s Cave, has recently. been made by _ local archeeologists, and the results are described in a paper by Mr. A. L. Leach, reprinted from Archaeologia Cam- brensis for July, 1916. Remains of two skeletons, one female, the other male, were found. The female skull presents no characters which enable us to separate it from modern British skulls, or from remains which have been found in Neolithic or later Palzolithic de- posits. It may be as old as the Aurignacean; but it showed no character which would disprove it being of Neolithic or historic age. In association with it was found a skilfully struck flint flake, similar to that. obtained from the Hoyle Cave near Tenby, which is probably of the late Paleolithic age. This fact, how- ever, is not conclusive of the age of the human re- mains. In the Romano-British age the cave was again occupied, and some fragments of pottery of that period formed parts of an olla, or cooking-pot, and a mortarium, probably used for rubbing down fruits and other soft food. ; POTASH FERTILISERS FROM FELSPARS. oe dearth of potassium salts in this country owing to the war has caused renewed attention to be devoted to the possibilities of preparing soluble potassium salts from the large deposits of felspar which are found in certain parts of the country. The problem has occupied the attention of chemists inter- mittently for many years, but the processes devised in the past have proved commercially unsuccessful, owing largely to the failure to obtain, along with the potash salts, other saleable products which might _ share the cost of manufacture.. This difficulty would appear to have been largely overcome in the process patented by Mr. J. Rhodin, a Swedish inventor, in which, along with the soluble potassium salts, a mar- ketable white cement is obtained. The successful results obtained by this process with Swedish felspars have been brought to the notice of the Board of Agri- culture and Fisheries, and under the auspices of a sub- committee of the Fertilisers Committee of the Board further tests with British felspars from’ Roche, in Cornwall, and Loch Eriboll, in Sutherlandshire, have ‘been carried out, the results of which are summarised ‘in the February issue of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture. The Roche felspar, containing 10-8 per cent. K,O, vielded 75 per cent. in a soluble form, whilst the Loch ‘Eriboll spar, with 8-6 per cent. K,O, gave 60 per cent. soluble. A> Swedish spar, with 12-9 per cent, K,O, -yielded 54 per cent. in a soluble form. Expert opinion described the cement as a true hydraulic cement, of -satisfactory colour, but of much lower tensile strength than Portland cement. As the result of its examination, the sub-committee expresses the opinion that encouragement should be given to any movement for the manufacture of potash and white cement by the Rhodin process on a com- mercial scale, and that in the event of a public com- -pany applying to the Treasury for permission to raise capital to work this process, the application should receive the strong support of the Fertilisers Com- ' mittee. NO. 2474, VOL. 99] From time to time caves have. THE NATURAL. SCIENCES IN. PUBLIC SCHOOLS.’ Age Limits for School Science, eS (ee teaching of natural science in public schools is of recent growth. Until quite recently most of the boys who took up this subject did so with the in- terition of making use of the training in their future careers. Even now, in some public schools, the num- ber of boys learning science is small. It is, however, becoming recognised that science should form part of every boy’s general education. For this reason it is necessary to put some, at least, of a boy’s general training in science before the age at which epee ne should be allowed. Too early specialising is ba policy: the age at which this may be begun by the average boy is about sixteen and a half years. Before this age (or its equivalent for forward or backward boys) the pupil should have spent, on an average, four hours a week at science for a period of at least two years, and six hours a week for a further two years. Thus the work should be begun in the preparatory schools. The only work recom- mended to be done there is in nature-study and prac- tical measurements. See ‘‘ Nature-Study in Prepara- tory Schools ’? and ‘‘ The Correlation of Mathematical and Science Teaching ”’ (Bell and Sons, each 6d.). After a boy has reached such a standard of general education that he may be allowed to specialise to a certain extent, he should have the opportunity of de- voting about eight hours a week to science if he chooses to do so. At a still later stage the specialisa- tion should be more marked in the case of those who choose a scientific career. Science in Examinations. If these ideals can be reached by any means other than making science compulsory in examinations, those means should be employed. If they cannot, compulsion by examination regulations must be ap-. plied. But this should then be recognised as a neces- — sary evil. It is possible that some system of inspection of schools by examining bodies, combined with the granting of certificates on the recommendation of a properly qualified master, might prove to be the solu- tion of the difficult problem of insisting on science being learnt by every boy, without the restrictions necessarily imposed when there are examination syllabuses. But the details of such a scheme would require careful thinking out. foe But there is, at present, a yet stronger argumen against the attempt to foster the teaching of science by making the subject compulsory in examinations. So long as instruction in science was given only tu those who were destined for a scientific career, it was natural (if, perhaps, unwise) to aim chiefly at incul- cating scientific method, with a certain disregard of general knowledge of natural phenomena. This was done, for the most part, by logical courses in hydro- statics, heat, light, electricity, and chemistry. But in some of the schools where science has already become a compulsory subject it has been recognised that such courses may be unsuitable for the non-scientific mind. The attempt is made to arouse a boy’s appreciation of the value and scope of science rather than to teach him the elements of a subject which he will drop even before leaving school. In such schools a considerable proportion of his science hours is devoted to studying subjects ranging from the universe to ,the electron: astronomy, geology, biology, physio- 1 Abridged from a memorandum drawn up by the committee of the _ Association of Public School Science Masters to serve as the text of the evidence offered on behalf of the association to the Goverrment Committee on the Teaching of Science. ee ee eee ee Marcu 29, 1917] NATURE 95 y, etc., are all drawn upon in such teaching; and ce is taught in a general manner by directing attention of pupils towards objects rather than by ing them learn “subjects.” In other schools the ly of science is ot ete through its applications engineering or agriculture. Now that tn is becoming recognised as an essential part of a liberal education, it is probable that kind of teaching indicated above will be more Ily adopted. The inevitable effect of making = compulsory in examinations would be to hinder imenting in educational methods, at a time when is most important. Examination for Entrance to Public Schools. _ The work recommended to be done in the prepara- ory schools is not systematic science, but rather eparation for this. The kind of nature-study and rvational work adopted in the various schools Id differ according to their locality and other 0 This makes the subject a difficult one examination purposes, and anything of the nature a rigid syllabus would have a deadening influence. But so ir tant is this preliminary work that unless preparatory schools will adopt it without compulsion rough examinations, the subject should form an essential part of the Common Entrance Examination. The questions set should cover a wide range and offer plenty of choice to the candidate. _ It is of the utmost importance that every candidate for scholarships on entering a public school should be mined in such work, and that a high proportion the total marks should reward him for good work this subject. The reason for this is obvious. So ng as science forms no part of the examination for larships, the cleverer boys. at the preparatory ols will be tempted to neglect the subject, even provision is made for teaching it, in order to ise in more paying subjects. “Having found = subjects pay, and having attained a certain iciency in them, they are unlikely to wish to ge to science, or to be allowed to do so if they h. Thus the most clever boys are diverted from ce quite early in their lives; it is not putting it Strongly to say that in the large majority of public 90ls only those boys who show no signs of becom- scholars in other subjects can take up science ously. We see here the evils of early specialising their most pronounced form. rance Examinations to Universities and Equivalent School Certificate Examinations. Compulsory Greek must be abolished. Science ould take at least as important a place as Latin. One of the worst things that can be done in these minations is to group science with mathematics is suggested in recent Board of Education circulars | in the reports of the Previous Examination Syn- ate). That means filling the upper science divisions the schools with boys who are weak at mathe- tics, merely because of that weakness. _ Entrance Scholarships offered by the Universities. _ The work of schools is affected greatly by these €xaminations. In their present form these encourage yS to specialise too early. This statement applies to all the subjects of examination. There is little doubt that at present scholarship examinations are _ €xerting a bad influence on general education. ___ With regard to science in particular, the examina- _ tions often have the effect of making boys specialise _ too strictly within the limits of the subject itself, to umstances. a boy knows, for instance, that he may get a scholar- NO. 2474, VOL. 99] | an internal | Economics, for a thesis entitled “‘The Reform of Irish the detriment of their general training in science. If | Bip in chemistry alone, he is tempted to neglect the | study of kindred subjects. Scholarship papers should test the candidates’ general knowledge of science more thoroughly than they do at present. Fees. Laboratory work is expensive. It is customary to make special charges for this. In schools where science is compulsory for all boys, the charges do not keep the boys from doing some science; but in some schools where science is not compulsory the charges do have this effect. In certain instances the charges are grossly unfair (in view of the small expenditure on laboratory equipment), and the boys who learn science are robbed in order to provide cheap education for those who do none. Organisation. In nearly every school the rate of a boy’s progress through the various forms is controlled to an unfair extent by his proficiency in classical subjects. This might be improved by giving a better range of marks for science, but the real remedy is that boys should be grouped for science and mathematics separately from form subjects. Otherwise the logical sequence neces- sary for science must be broken. The Teaching of Mechanics. This is in a most unsatisfactory position. The sub- ject is fundamental for a right study of science. But, as a rule, it is in the hands of mathematicians, who too often do no experimental teaching and treat the subject deductively. Laboratory work in mechanics is essential. Laboratory Equipment, During the past twenty years great improvement has been made with regard to equipment for science teaching. Laboratories for the teaching of practical mathematics, including mechanics, are now the most general need. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. Campripce.—Mr. D. Keilin, of Magdaiene College, has, with the consent of the Vice-Chancellor, been | appointed assistant to the Quick professor of biology. The next combined examination for entrance scholar- ships and exhibitions at Pembroke, Gonville and Caius, Jesus, Christ’s, St. John’s, and Emmanuel Colleges will be held on Tuesday, December 4, and following days. Mathematics, classics, natural sciences, and his- tory will be the subjects of examination at all the above-mentioned colleges. Forms of application for admission to the examination at the respective colleges - may be obtained from the masters of the several col- leges, from any of whore further information respecting the scholarships and exhibitions and other matters con- nected with the colleges may be obtained. Lonpon.—The following doctorates were conferred by the Senate at the meeting held on March 21 :-— D.Sc. in Chemistry: Mr. Frank Tinker, an external student, for a thesis entitled ‘*The Colloidal Mem- brane: its Properties and its Function in the Osmotic System,’’ and other papers. D.Sc. (Engineering) in Metallurgy: Mr. Andrew McCance, an_ internal student of the Imperial College (Royal School of Mines) and the South-Western Polytechnic Institute, for a thesis entitled ‘* A Contribution to the Theory of Hardening.”” D.Sc. (Economics): Mr. J. F. Burke, student of the London School of Land Tenures.”’ The Carpenter medal for the period 1913-16 has been awarded to Dr. P. B. Ballard for the thesis 96 i NATURE (| MarcH 29, 1917 entitled ‘‘ Obliviscence and Reminiscence,’’ for which he obtained the degree of D,Lit. in 1914. The annual report on tke work of University Col- lege has just been issued. The total number of students on the college books for the academic year 1915-16 was 1133 (including 51 refugee students), whereas the normal number is about 2200. Of the 1133 there were 535 men (including 36 refugee students); of the 535 men, only 222 were in attend- ance throughout the session, the remainder taking up military or naval service or some special form of war- work. The normal fee revenue is upwards of 29,000l. ; the fee revenue for 1915-16 was 14,9831. By means of drastic economies and postponement of expenditure, and with the help of generous donations from members and friends of the college, supplemented by the special Treasury grant, expenditure was kept within income. The financial outlook for the current session (1916-17) | causes anxiety, the fee revenue having further declined. The chairman and the acting treasurer are asking for help to meet the threatened deficiency, and also to cover the expenditure on the new chemistry buildings that has. not yet been provided; this amounts to 15,000. The third issue of the Pro Patria list, with the supple- ment recently prepared, contains 1554 names of members of the college, 1516 of whom are on active service. Of these, 122 have fallen in the war. Oxrorp.—The Departments of Geography and Anthropology have published their arrangements. for next term. In geography, lectures will be given on map projections, the historical geography of Europe, the West Indies, and British lands round the Indian Ocean. Practical classes, field work, and informal instruction are also announced. The list of lectures in anthropology’ includes human anatomy, ethnology, the distribution of man, comparative technology, stages of human culture, the Bronze and early Iron ages, and questions relating to ancient Egypt. Lec- tures and informal instruction are also announced on various topics of social anthropology and on primitive language in its relation to thought. Tue presidential address delivered by Prof. A. N. Whitehead to the Mathematical Society last January is printed in the current issue of the Technical Journal. The subject of the address was the relation of technical education to science and literature, and Prof. White- head’s ideas deserve wide and careful consideration. The immediate need of the nation, he maintains, is a large supply of skilled workmen, of men with inventive genius, and of employers alert in the development of new ideas; and there is only one way to obtain these, namely, by producing workmen, men of science, and employers who enjoy their work. The basis of the growth of modern invention is science, and science is almost wholly the outgrowth of pleasur- able intellectual curiosity. A technical education which is to have any chance of satisfying the practical needs of the nation must be conceived in a liberal spirit as a real intellectual enlightenment as to prin- «ciples applied and services rendered. There can be no adequate technical education which is not liberal, and no liberal education which is not technical; that is, no education which does not impart both technique and intellectual vision. In any system of technical education, training should be broader than the ulti- mate specialisation, for the resulting power of adapta- tion to varying demands is advantageous to the workers, to the employers, and. to the nation. | Prof. Whitehead applies his generalisations to the specific cases of pupils of thirteen who have completed their elementary education, and those of seventeen whose technical education, so far as it is compressed within a school curriculum, is ended. NO. 2474, VOL. 99] SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Royal Society, March 15.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- dent, in the chair.—Prof. T. H, Havelock: The initial wave-resistance of a moving surface pressure. Hitherto the wave-resistance associated with the motion of an assigned pressure system over the sur- face of water has been studied only in the steady state for uniform motion. The present work is an attempt to calculate this quantity at any time for a system which has been suddenly established and set in uniform motion at a _ certain instant.—Prof. S. W. J. Smith and H. Moss: Experiments with mercury jets. (i) The relation between the jet- length and the velocity of efflux. (ii) A comparison with jets of other liquids. It has probably been noticed by those who have worked with mercury *‘dropping electrodes ’’—in which the mercury issues in a narrow stream from the drawn-out end of a vertical tube—that the length of the jet alters in a peculiar way with the length of the mercury column producing it. The results of a study of this pheno- menon are given.—Prof. W. H. Young: The mode of 4 ae to zero of the coefficients of a Fourier series. —R. O, Street: The dissipation of energy in the tides in connection with the acceleration of the moon’s mean motion. On the hypothesis of non-turbulent motion harmonic with cespect to the time with a period of twelve hours, an expression is obtained for the mean rate of dissipation of energy by viscosity in a portion of the ocean in the form of a surface integral over that area of a function of the surface current- velocities only. This integral has been evaluated over the greater part of the Irish Sea, the mean rate of dissipation obtained being 5.x 10° foot-poundals per second. In the absence of external forces, this rate of dissipation would cause the energy to be reduced in the ratio e to 1 in about two hours. If the rate of dissipation per unit area for the whole ocean were the same as in the Irish Sea, the total frictional loss of energy by the tides would be at the mean rate 6x10'* foot-poundals per second. If the apparent lunar acceleration is attributed to a slowing of the earth’s axial rotation, a retardation of the order four minutes of arc per century per century is necessary for its explanation. This retardation implies a decay of the earth’s kinetic energy of rotation at the rate of 1-6x10** foot-poundals per second, which is about a quarter the mean rate of dissipation of tidal energy on the above hypothesis. A maximum surface current velocity of 2 ft. per second over the whole ocean would give rise to sufficient dissipation to account for this retardation of the earth. Optical Society, March 8.—C. L. Redding: A simple. method of determining the size of the tool required for a given block of lenses. When a new system of lenses has to be worked, it is desirable to select the best method of blocking, and to make the diameter -of the tool equal to the diameter of the complete block. The size of the tool may be determined by calculation or by previous experience, but the author described how this may also be done by making use of any concave tool of known radius.—T. F. Connolly : A variable angle collimator. The instrument ribed differs. from an ordinary collimator in having a bi- prism introduced between the diaphragm and the object-glass. The effect of this is to produce two separate images of the central wire, which images are. collimated by the object-glass as though they were real wires. The bi-prism is mounted in a short tube sliding within the collimator body, and its posi- tion is indicated on the outside of the collimator on a longitudinal scale. A movement of the bi-prism CWI cits hai > Marci 29, 1917] NATURE 97 the distance between the images as it slides gis this variable separation of the collimated _ Provides a convenient means for angular surem lent. If the scale is graduated to correspond h ang ition, it can be used as a standaru ular measurement for such purposes as mark- or checking stadia intervals on levels or theo- * for checking the graticules in prism bino- . FP, Everitt- The design and testing of e objectives. The author first described the pal ‘aberrations of the telescope objective, from them to others of less importance, tonite the problem to the fulfilment of more of six conditions which it is desirable _ After referring to the existing tables of solutions, trigonometrical formule are ‘means of which selected rays are accurately an objective, and the aberration is 10WN _ numerically in an example in which the omatic aberration of an objective is altered at will. “short description of the main types of objectives a given, ‘showing the purposes for which they are dapt and also some methods of ee 2 hela system. cal Society, March 9.—Prof. C. V. Boys, presi- n the chair.—Dr, P. E. Shaw: To measure the ‘in a high vacuum by observations of logarith- decrement. In experiments on the Newtonian con- Y i tern Trans., May, 1916) the author used a torsion ance in a vacuum which varied in different cases from 1 15 mm. to o-oo001 mm. pressure. Before sealing the vessel the ure was determined by a McLeod g uge. Values of the pressure after sealing off were in the case of the higher vacua, from observa- of the damping of the torsion system. The employed is due to the late Prof. Poynting, n be expressed in the form P=356. 1% or - 1=moment of inertia of ‘suspended system, Spa of surface (supposed plane) which is experi- ing the resistance, a—mean distance of plane from : re of rotation, T=period of oscillation, and A=the logarithmic decrement. A table and curve g the relation between P and A.— Pekin ten A diffraction colour box. The appa- “consists essentially of a very simple concave r , of which the slit and grating are ad at opposite diameters of a circle, the spectrum formed on the arc of this circle. Two inde- dent arms carry fittings on which may be placed er telescope eyepieces or small electric lamps. With caeg of the instrument illuminated by a suitable , the eyepieces can be set so that any two desired ' are in the centres of their respective ids of view. The eyepieces are then replaced by the (the filaments coinciding with the previous jitions of the cross-lines), and the grating is observed th a small telescove pointed towards the w idened it; the whole of its surface is seen to be illuminated th a mixture of the two colours on which the eye- were originally set. The “concave grating”’ ed consists of a Thorpe replica of a Rowland ane grating of 14,475 lines to the inch, mounted with S ruled surface in contact with the surface of a con- cave mirror of 4-ft. focal length. This forms an ad- mirable substitute for the more expensive concave grat- ing. The author prefers to state results in terms of the number of oscillations per unit of time. Observa- tions showed that the smallest change of wave-length _ which could be recognised by the eye as a change’ of NO. 2474, VOL. 99] _of the terminal and vertically above it. colour was greater than that which corresponded: to a change of period of 10’ vibrations per second, or to a change of one vibration more or less in 1/ 10! second.—Prof. W. M. Coleman: An apparatus for studying the effect of Hertzian waves on the heart. A simple pendulum, consisting of a cylindrical brass bob terminating in a pointed wire coaxial with the bob, hangs by a piece of string above one of the ter- minals of an induction coil, so that in its lowest posi- tion the point of the dob is within sparking distance The bob is connected by a piece of flexible wire to the other ter- minal of the coil. When the pendulum is set oscil- lating there is a shower of sparks every time the bob passes its lowest position. The frequency of inter- mittence can be varied by altering the length of the suspension. By adjusting the period of the pendulum nearly to the time of a heart-beat any possible effect on the rate of the beating may be observed. The condensed discharge from two Leyden jars is employed. Geological Society, March 14.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- ward, vice-president, in the chair—L. M. Parsons: The Carboniferous limestone bordering the Leicester- shire coalfield. The inliers of Carboniferous limestone situated along the northern border of the Leicestershire coalfield crop out in two well-defined series : a western series composed of almost horizontal beds exposed by stream-erosion, and an eastern series in which the limestone is highly inclined and complicated by fault- ing. The thinly bedded limestones, shales, and dole- mites of the western inliers are of a slightly higher horizon than that of the uppermost beds of the more massive dolomites seen at Breedon and Breedon Cloud farther eastwards. In no part of the district is the base of the Carboniferous seen, although borings have shown that the limestone rests upon pre- Cambrian rocks in the neighbourhood of Charnwood Forest. Linnean Society, March 15,—Sir David Prain, presi- dent, in the chair.—C. E. Jones: Methods of preparing plants for exhibition. The experiments described have been carried out in connection with the exhibi- tion of plants in the Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, South Kensington, where specimens of the results can be seen (see “also NaTuRE, Novem- ber 9, 1916, p. 191).—Dr. R. R. Gates: A systematic study of the North American Melanthacee from the genetic standpoint. The author’s point of view is the assumption, based upon experiment during the last fifteen years, that the variations which mark species have not been universally continuous and infinitesimal, but often definite and discontinuous. Definite varia- tion is not necessarily orthogenetic variation, but marked variation which may occur in any, or in many, directions simultaneously. The experience gained in work on the mutations in CEnothera are turned to account in this group of Liliales which has not hitherto been the subject of experiment. Pairs of species have been taken and investigated on this basis. Related genera showing marked differences in structure often co-exist side by side, showing that these differences cannot be claimed as of ‘selective value, but have’ arisen from “spontaneous variation”? and have been perpetuated by heredity. Mineralogical Society, March 20.—Mr. W. Barlow, president, in the chair—A. Holmes and Dr. H. F- Harwood: . The basaltic rocks of Spitsbergen and Franz-Joseph Land, with conclusions regarding the Brito-Arctic Tertiary Petrographic Province. These rocks, which were obtained respectively from Prof. Garwood and the Geological Survey of England and Wales, are very similar not only to the basaltic r previously described from neighbouring localities, but 98 NATURE [Marcu 29, 1917 also to the basalts of the whole Arctic region stretching from Dickson Harbour to West Greenland. The essential minerals are labradorite, rich in the anorthite molecule,. pyroxene of the enstatite-augite type, and titaniferous magnetite. The province as a whole dis- plays significant variations both in time and space. The earliest eruptions are generally poor in alkalies, but tend to become more alkaline as the present period is approached. Thus, the later eruptions of Spits- bergen gave rise to olivine trachydiorites instead of basalt. Jan Mayen still possesses an’ active volcano, and its rocks are unusually alkaline basalts. Similarly, the later rocks of Iceland and, to a lesser extent, of Skye and the Small Isles follow the same course. In space the most remarkable variation is seen in the distribution of titanium, the percentages of titanium oxide being high in the rocks of.Greenland and the Iceland Ridge, and falling away regularly on each side. The Brito-Arctic Petrographic Province can be subdivided into five regions, viz. the British, the Ice- landic (including the Faroe Islands and the Scoresby Sound district), the West Greenland, the Jan Mayen, and the Spitsbergen—Franz-Joseph , Land—Dickson Harbour, and the differences subsisting between them are related to the processes whereby the igneous activity was initiated. It is suggested that a petro- graphic province consists of a number of adjacent regions of igneous activity, in which similar rocks, or similar series of rocks, have been produced, whence it follows that the processes by which the magmas have been formed, differentiated, and intruded must be similar, and the underlying materials on which these processes have acted must also be similar.—Dr. J. W. Evans: A general proof of the limitation of the symmetry-numbers of crystals. On the assumption that crystals are composed of cells identical in all respects, then, if m be the degree of .the symmetry of an axis and d an integer, the equation 20 cos Praek se —d) must be satisfied. The only possible values of d are 3, 2, I, 0, the corresponding values of n_ being 2, 3, 4, 6.—E. S. Fedorov: The numerical relation between zones and faces of a polyhedron. The numerical relation shown by axes of symmetry situated in planes of symmetry pointed out by G. Cesaro in 1015 is only a particular case of the more general one deduced by the author in 1885.—A. Ledoux, T. L. Walker, and A. C. Wheatley : The crystallisation of parahopeite. Crystals in the Royal Ontario Museum of Mineralogy from the original locality, Broken Hill, North-Western Rhodesia, are triclinic with the axial ratios a: b: c= 0-7729 1: 0°7124; a=93” 22', B=a1° 12’, y=or? 22’. Thirty-two forms are recorded. The crystals have perfect cleavage parallel to the brachypinacoid, and show lamellar twinning parallel to the macropinacoid. The anvle of optical extinction on the cleavage is 10° with reference to the twin-lamellz. Royal Meteorological Society, March 21.—Major H. G. Lyons, president, in the chair.—Major G. I. Taylor: The formation of fog and mist. Fogs are due either to precipitation of water in the air or to a condition of the atmosphere which prevents smoke from being dispersed from the air close over the roofs of a town. The two necessary conditions for the formation of a smoke fog are that the wind velocity must be very small and the air near the ground must be relatively cold compared with the air higher up for a period sufficiently Jong to collect enough smoke to form a fog. The formation of fog at sea can usually be traced to the cooling of the surface air when it flows from a place where the sea is warm to a place where it is cold, but sometimes a fog is caused by air flow- ing from a cold to a warm part of the sea, In the NO. 2474, VOL. 99] ‘Conclusions are drawn as to the value of such pitting ‘as a diagnostic character. US..- J. former case the fogs are usually low-lying and thick, while in the latter they are more frequently light fogs which stretch up to a considerable height. Fogs con- sisting of small drops of water are formed on land, too, by the cooling of surface air, but in this case the air usually stays still, while the lowering of the temperature of the ground by radiation to the sky at — night cools the air near the surface. Fogs of this type are not formed until the temperature has fallen considerably below the dew-point of the air during the day. This is because the formation of dew dries — the air near the ground: Theoretical considerations show that the amount by which the temperature must fall below the dew-point before fog is produced depends on a complicated series of causes, but an empirical method has been devised for estimating whether, on any given night, there is enough water vapour in the air to form a fog if other conditions are suitable. This method can be used for local forecasting. CAMBRIDGE. - Philosophical Society, February 19.—Dr. Marr, presi- | dent, in the chair.—B. Sahni: 1. An Australian speci-— men of Clepsydropsis. 2. Observations on the evo- lution of branching in ferns. time from the point of view of vascular anatomy. It is concluded that dichotomous branching is primitive and that monopodial branching is derived from it by ‘the successive intercalation, at the base, of a series of stages, each morphologically less complex than the preceding. The process has thus been one of retro- gressive evolution in the basipetal direction.—C. P. Dutt : Some anatomical characters of coniferous wood © and their value in classification. _The author directs attention to the confusion in existing accounts of the pitting associated with medullary ray cells and gives the result of an investigation on the same subject. MANCHESTER. Literary and Philosophical Society, February 20.—Prof. — Hickson, president, in the chair.—Dr. W. Makower: The photographic action of a rays. The first important investigation of the photographic action of @ particles was made in 1910 by Kinoshita, who succeeded in showing that whenever an a particle strikes a grain of silver haioid in a photographic plate, that grain is afzerwards capable of photographic development; moreover, this was true throughout the range of the a particle. Later it was shown by -Reinganum and others that when a particles are pro- jected tangentially to a photographic plate, after de- velopment the film shows definite trails of grains of silver halide, which can readily be distinguished under the microscope. These trails are produced by the impact of the a particles on the haloid grains_as they pass through the film, and their length représents the range of the a particles in the film of gelatine. Photo- micrographs showing the paths of a particles through photographic films were first published by Walmsley and Makower, and soon afterwards by Kinoshita and Ikeuti. The method adopted by the latter was to activate the tip of a sewing-needle by gently rubbing it on a surface coated with the active deposit of radium or some other source of @ radiation. In this way a trace of active matter was transferred to the point of the needle, which was then placed for a short time in contact with a photographic film. The grains affected by the a@ particles can be clearly seen radiating out in straight lines from centres representing the points at which the needle had been brought into contact with the films. The evolution of the © ‘branching of the fern stem is discussed for the first | Ye ——— NATURE 99 Marcu 29, 1917] _ EDINBURGH, ) Royal Society, February 5.—Dr. Horne, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Prof. A. A. Lawson: The gametophytes of the Psilotaceez. This paper was a continuation of previous work, filling in a number of de By: ially with regard to the sexual organs. The most important fact was the establishment of the ) structure of the protruding neck of the Archegonium, differing from that of other Pteridophytes in being evanescent. After fertilisation it falls away, leaving the basal tier of cells, which are persistent and were at first held to represent the whole neck. Important ‘researches in the embryology will form the subject of a later paper.—J. McLean Thompson: The anatomy a affinity. of Stromatopteris moniliformis, Mett. ‘This Po, penned fern is from the arid com- I _New Caledonia. It shows many signs of reduction, and is specialised for a xerophytic existence. The construction of the stem indicated a Gleicheni- acean affinity, and the ferm and construction of the spo ing members confirmed this relationship. Sut the special form and peculiar appendages seemed to confer an individuality on the plant which could not be overlooked, and the opinion was expressed that 'Stromatopteris was a distinct and monotypic genus closely allied to Gleichenia.—Prof. and Mrs. A. D. Ross: Preliminary note on the peculiarities of the tides round Western Australia. Among the peculiari- ties mentioned was the frequent occurrence of daily _ tides instead of half-daily; a sufficient explanation was given in terms of the moon’s declination. The whole subject demanded a careful investigation, which the _authors were now entering on. __ February 19.—Sir E. A. Schafer, vice-president, in _the chair.—Dr. J. Horne and Dr. B. N. Peach: The bone cave in the valley of the Allt nan Uamh (Burn of the Caves), near Inchnadamff, Assynt, Sutherland- _ shire; with notes on the bones by E. T;-Newton. The ‘bone-cave, which is situated on the north sidé of the valley, was evidently initiated at a certain stage in _the history of the Glacial period, after the deposition of some ground moraine in the valley. It yielded a series of deposits, some of which are of exceptional _ interest. The oldest date back to a late stage in the _ glaciation of the region, and point to a partial erosion of the drift during a recession of the ice. Two of the "six layers in the cave, viz. the third and fifth in _ descending order, have furnished the remains of a ' northern lynx, the Arctic lemming, the northern vole, _ the brown bear, reindeer, red deer, and other mam- _ mais, with the bones of a number of birds, those of Ptarmigan occurring in profusion. The lynx, lem- ming, and northern vole give a boreal aspect to the fauna. In the south of England these mammals are _ regarded as Pleistocene forms. Between the third and _ fifth layers occurs a layer of compact grey clay, with ' quartzite stones, which have been transported from the _ high ground to the east (Breabag). This material is _ regarded as of morainic origin, produced during a _ re-advance of the local glaciers. In the upper mammali- _ ferous deposit, which is a genuine cave earth, or terra _ vossa, there is evidence, at various levels, of human _ occupation in the form of layers of charcoal and split _ and burned bones. No artifacts were recorded. Over- _ lying the cave earth there is a lenticular bed of shell _ marl, composed of the remains of land shells.—A. M. _ Williams: The adsorption of sulphur dioxide by char- _ coal at —10°C. The aim of the research was to find out how the heat evolved on the adsorption of a vapour _ varied with the amount adsorbed. Measurements were _ taken of the amount adsorbed, the pressure, and the _ isothermal heat of adsorption_at constant volume. The a tion isotherm was a typical adsorption curve, Similar to that found by Trouton for the adsorption NO. 2474, VOL. 99] | of water vapour. The heat of adsorption curve passed through a minimum and a maximum and, finally, ran parallel to the adsorption axis. A tentative explana- tion was offered. Paris. Academy of Sciences, February 12.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—G. Lippmann: Some decisions taken by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States. An account of the Government measures for utilising scientific methods for increasing the national security and prosperity. An account is given of the constitution of the Imperial Trust and Advisory Council, the scope of its work, and the funds at its disposal. -In the United States the National Research Council, nominated by the Washington Academy cof Sciences, is working on the same lines.—G. A. Boulenger: The nuptial tubercles simulating teeth in an African fish of the genus Barbus.—M. Balland : Soya as a French foodstuff. The soya bean contains 40 per cent. of nitrogenous material and 20 per cent. of fat, as against 20 per cent. of nitrogenous material and 2 per cent. of fat in French haricots. Soya has already been, successfully employed as a foodstuff in France, and analyses of this and other foreign leguminous foodstuffs are given.—M. Mesmager: A simple solution of Mathieu’s problem A.—A. Ledoux : New method for the determination of the refractive index of liquid substances.—MM. Massol and Faucon : Absorption of the ultra-viclet radiations by some chlorine derivatives of ethane, ethylene, and acetylene. No absorption bands were given by hexachloroethane and tetrachloroethane. With tetrachloroethylene in 1 mm. layer all radiations starting with A=271 are absorbed. Acetylene in acetone or acetone-alcohol solution shows a considerable absorption, but no bands.—J. Bougault : Mixed anhydrides derived from benzoylacrylic acid. Some new examples of a reaction previously described, together with a discussion of the mechanism of the reaction.—V. Commont: The tufas of the valley of the Somme: Neolithic and prehistoric tufas, and tufa of the historic period. The tufas of the Somme vailey were formed at various times in the Neolithic, proto- historic, and Gallic periods. The peat and tufa were formed simultaneously. The marine shells found are the débris of Gallo-Roman cooking.—M. Russo : Geological observations on the Tadla synclinal (western Morocco). —L. Daniel: The influence of grafting upon the adaptation products of the cactus. A morphological examination alone is insufficient for drawing definite conclusions as to the- integral conservation of the characters peculiar to the grafted plants, since micro- chemical analysis of their tissues may reveal changes which, without it, would escape the notice of even a practised observer. : February 19.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—The president announced the death of M. -. Bazin.— G. Bigourdan : Some observatories of the northern part of France in the seventeenth century. Details are given of work done at Blois and Caen.—M. Fournier : A problem: in the design of the hull of a ship.— C. Camichel: The calculation of large extra pressures in water-mains furnished with an air reservoir.—Ch. J. Gravier: The association of a siliceous sponge, of a sea-anemone, and an annelid in the depths of the Atlantic. PETROGRAD. Imperial Academy of Sciences, Physico-Mathematical Section, November 16.—A. A. Bélopolskij: Researches on the spectrum of the variable y Bodtis.—V. Chlopin - Boron and its occurrence in Russia.—E. Eremina : Fluorspar in Russia.—I. Ginsburg: Mica, its proper- ties, uses, and occurrence in Russia.—G. Ju. Verescagin : Report on the work carried out at Lake | Baikal in the summer of 1916.—N. F, KaStenke and NATURE 100 [MaRCH 29, 1917 M. P. Akimov: Rhinolophus bocharicus, n.sp.—M. D. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 4 Zalésskij: A marine sapropelite of the Silurian. period THURSDAY, Manctt 29. formed by a cyanophycean alga. December 3.—A. A. B8lopolskij: Researches on the spectrum of 8 Cassiopeize.—A. M. Liapunov ; A formula of analysis.—P. Krylev and E. Steinberg : Contributions to the flora of the Kansk district, province of Jenissei. —_E. Eremina : Genesis of fluorspar in Russia.—M. A. Rakuzin: Absorption in petroliferous strata—H. Baklund: Fall of a meteorite at. Boguslavka, neigh- bourhood of Vladivostok.—N. V. Nasonov: The Tur- bellaria fauna of Finland.—V. |. Bianchi: (1) The birds of the Government of Tver. (2) Our present know- ledge of the avifauna of the Government of Olonetz. (3) Geographical distribution of birds in North-West Russia-in-Europe. (4) Synoptic table for determining the Chiroptera of Russia-in-Europe. (5) The nidifica- tion of the birds of the Government of Petrograd. (6) Preliminary notes on Russian Chiroptera.—G. B. Florovskij : The mechanism of reflex salivary secretion. —_N. S. Kurnakoy and S. F. Zeméuinij ;: The magnesium salt lakes of the Perekop group. HisToRICcO-PHILOLOGICAL SEcTION, November 29.— S. F. Oldenburg : Short description of a small collection of Khotan antiquities belonging to D. V. Kossikovskij. December 7.—V. M. Ionov: The study of the pre- Christian faith of the Yakuts.—K. A. Inostrancev: A few remarks on the religion of the ancient Turks.— A. A. Sachmatov : Note on the language of the ancient Bulgars.—F. I. Sterbatskoj ; The doctrine of the cate- gorical imperative among the Brahmans. —A. D. Rudney: Cha-OSir. Translation of a fragment of a Buriat epic. BOOKS RECEIVED. The Idea of God in the Light of Recent Philosophy. By Prof. A. Seth Pringle-Pattison. Pp. xvi+423. (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.) 12s. 6d. net. ~ The Combination: of Observations. By D. Brunt. Pp. x+219: (Cambridge: At the. University Press.) 8s. net. The Psychology of Sound. By Dr. H. J. Waitt. Pp. vii+241. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) tos. 6d. net. Domestic Economy: a Text-book for Teachers and Students in Training.’ New edition. Part i., Theory. By M. G. Bidder. Pp: vi+167.- Part ii,,. The Practice and Teaching of Domestic Economy. 'Bv F. Baddeley. Pp. vi+189. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) 2s. 6d. net each. The British Journal Photographic Almanac and Photographer’s Daily Companion, ~. 1917-- -Pp. {London: H. Greenwood and Co., Ltd.) . ts. net. British Museum, (Natural History).. Report on Cetacea Stranded on the British Coasts. during. 1916. By Dr. S. F. Harmer.- (London: British Museum ae History); Longmans and Co. +; and ethers.) Is. 6d. Year-book o* the Royal Society of London, 1917. Pp. 235. (London: Harrison and Sons.) ‘5s.- The Order of Nature. By L. J. Henderson. Pp. v+ 234. (Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University ‘Press; London : H. Milford, Oxford University Press.) 6s. 6d. net. .The Banket: a Study of -the Aurifereus Con- glomerates of the Witwatersrand and the Associated Rocks. By’ Prof. R. B. -Young. Pp. xv+125+ plates xxviii. (London : Gurney and Jackson.) 8s. 6d. net. The. Calculation gnd Measurement of Inductance and Capacity... By W. H. Nottage.. Pp. 137. (London: The Wireless Press, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. NO. 2474, VOL. 99| Rivas. Society, at 4.30.—The - Fourth Colourless dealensa in the. Spectrum Sensation Curve when Measured in the Centre of the Retina: Sir William Abney.—Magnetic Inertia: G. W. Walker.—The Selective ~ Properties of the Copper-ferrocyanide Membrane : F. Tinker. .—X-Ra . Analysis of the Crystal-structure of Rutile " Cassiterite: C, MM 4 . Leathem, : Williams.—Discontinuous Fluid Motion: Dr. J. G. Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Telephony: Prof. J. A. "Fleming. Aeronauticat, INstituTE, at 8.—The Necessity for New and Special Treatment of Metals Employed in Aircraft Consign J. de Kozlowski. INsTiIruTION OF NavaL ARCHITECTS, at 11 a.m.—Furt ts upon Wake and Thrust Deduction Problems : W. J. Luke. —Some Experi- ments on ‘he Influence of Running Balance of Propellers on the Vibration. of Ships: J. J: King-Salter.—Theory of Wave Motion on Water: Sir George Greenhill. At 3 3 p.m.—Marine Applica ‘of a Gears of Floating Frame Type: J. H. Maca!pine.—Launchi if Sabe aa le H, Riddlesworth.—Buoyancy and Stability of Sie Bo Prof. rd. Linnean Soctety, at 5.—Prof. T. H. Morgan’s Work on the Mechanism of Heredity : W. Bateson. FRIDAY, MARCH 30. RoyAt INsTITUTION, at 5. 30.—Recent Developments of Molecular Physics: Prof. J. H. Jeans. GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION, at 7.30.—Cephalopoda, and their Value in Geological Study: W. F. Gwinnell. ; Py SATURDAY, Marcu’3t- Roya InstiTuTION, at 3.—Russian Idealism : 'S. Graham. MONDAY, Aprit 2. Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—T'wo Joutieys in the High Atlas: Capt. A. J. A. Douglas. ARISTOTELIAN SoOcIETY, at 8.—Is There any Justification for the Concep- tion of Ultimate Value? W. A. Pickard-Cambridge. TUESDAY, AprRiL 3. RONTGEN Society, at 8.15. ZooLocicat SociETy, at 5.30.—Big-Game Shooting in ee A. Necaiodi — on some of the Viscera of an Okapi, Okapia johustoni: R. H. urne. : WEDNESDAY, Aprit 4. ; i ENTOMOLOGICAL Society, at 8 Le CONTENTS. PAGE Miah: Mieration:. sf. ccs a CaS ee ee ee 81 The Partitions of Numbers ........... 82 Gur: Bookshelf \..-. 0. 82 Letters to the Editor:— Muscular Inefficiency and Possible Speeds of Walking. (With Diagrams.)—A. Mallock, F.R.S. .... 83 Gravitation and Thermodynamics.—Dr. P. E. Shaw 84 Talbot’s Observations on Fused Nitre.—Prof. Alan W. C. Menzies Position and Prospects of Professional Chemists . 85 The Weathering of Coal ...... wid Ree eee Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge, F.R.S..... 4 eee eae DOB es Boas yi Rte ee Our Astronomical Column :— rs a The Spectrum’of N.G.C. 7023. ; Pe ee eee Imperial Astronomical Society of Russia. ..... 93 Monthly Star Maps for 1917 . «sah igs Wok Gar fe er ae Science Lectures to the Troops in France... ._ 93 Nanna’s Cave, Isle of Caldey . .....-.-.- 93 Potash Fertilisers from Felspars. ........ % The Natural Sciences in Public Schools ..... 94 University and Educational Intelligence’... .. 95 Societies and Academies, ........ tae Books Received . . eg eee eee 7 ae oe eee Diary of Societies” © 2... 2... oo 5 ey Ie Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Lrp., — ~ ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 2 Advertisements and business letters to be adi to the Publishers. Editorial Communications to the Editor. Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. Tee ey he _ sacrificed for a more Es. NATURE peaks APRIL 5, 1917. ae a, ’ THE TEACHING OF PHYSIOLOGY. Bay, Human Physiology: ‘Schools Colleges. By P. G. Stiles. = 4 Pp. 405. (Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Co., 1916.) Price 6s. 6d. net. : wey The Problems of Physiological and Patho- logical Chemistry of Metabolism for Students, ee Physicians, Biologists, and Chemists. By Dr. Prof. Allen J. Smith. Pp. xv+667. (Phila- _ delphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., _ n.d.) Price 25s. net. . © AT the January Conference of Headmasters a resolution was passed recommending ‘the teaching of the “natural laws underlying the S siiehodieos of daily life.” A similar resolution _-was passed at a meeting of the Association of _ Science Teachers, in which the value of exciting a “spirit of- interest and inquiry with regard to the world around us and the universe at large” was ‘(see Nature of February 1, Bip. ies ‘It was thought that the best way _ of doimg this was by courses of generalised -science. It was doubtless not intended to - exclude knowledge of the activities of living j organisms, inclusive of man, and of our own _functions. In other. words, physiology _ should be part of the course. We may remember _ Huxley’s advocacy of physiology as of especial value asa means of mental discipline, and it has _ also an important practical side. The ignorance _ of most people with regard to questions of vital _ eomsequence is scarcely less than scandalous, and - it is unfortunate that there appears to be a wide- Sh sais belief that physiology is only of use to _ the medical man. Of course, it is necessary to him in order that he may understand the abnor- malities of disease; but a knowledge of the normal _ -working of our bodies is surely a matter that ji ‘concerns everyone. The pressing question of _ food is one that presents itself at once, and there are many others. _ The book before us is an Saredlent attempt to provide a text-book for high schools. But, good _ as it'is as an elementary account of the present _ state .of physiological science, it cannot be _ regarded as altogether successful. It is apt _ to be dull and didactic rather than’ stimulating. _ ‘This is probably incidental to the practice, inten- _ tionally adopted, of omitting reference to names _ ©f discoverers and details of experimental pro- cedure. In the hands ofa good teacher such details may be made to give a human interest to _ dry description, and bring what is being taught _ into relationship with other bodies of knowledge, _ such as history and art, a valuable aspect of true _ education. It would be an improvement if a _ part of the wealth of the book in facts were intensive treatment of _ Some of them. In certain cases further space _ could be fotind: by - omitting reference to NO. 2475, VOL. 99] a Text-book for High | ‘experimental side. 10] views that are now disproved. Similarly, a rather more dogmatic tone might. be used in many instances. A text-book should take the responsibility _ of recommending a | par- ticular view as -being. most in accordance with facts, although this view may be contrary to the opinion of some isolated physiologists. It will be agreed that the mode of teaching: of science suggested in the resolutions given above | depends for its success almost entirely upon: the teacher. A very wide knowledge is required, not | only of t th ‘von Firth. Authorised translation by | yf Seen ee es and it may well be that a special training is advisable. Indeed, the capacity necessary is probably of a higher order than that of many. a university professor. It need scarcely be said: that the right kind of teacher must be able. to. demand a high salary. We cannot help expressing the hope that pre- paration for any particular examination will be left entirely out of account. The conviction is forced upon us more and more that the examina- tion system has a very serious degrading effect both upon the teacher and the student. It is natural that the student, whose prospects depend on passing some examination, has little induce- ment to take account of questions or new advances in science, however important they may be, if they are not to be found in the recognised text- books, while the teacher feels reluctant to refer to them, however hampered he may be by his inability to do so. Moreover, there is an ever- present temptation to learn a numbér of facts by heart, since most examinations are easily passed in this way. If time is taken to under- stand principles, although the student is hereby caused to think for himself, he may well find that some facts have to be neglected. Under the present system facts count for more than laws. It is to be feared that Prof. Stiles’s book may lend itself to the mere committal to memory. The examination problem is undoubtedly one of great difficulty, and at present no satisfactory solution is in sight. It seems that,:on the whole, a book frankly written for the teacher rather than for the student would be the more useful for schools. In such a case more attention could be given to the This does not ‘really require elaborate and costly apparatus. -It is: astonish- ing what a wealth of significance there is in Such a simple experiment as the burning of sugar in air and comparing the products with those given off in the breath. A word must be’said on the manner of dealing with the question of sex—a difficult problem for the teacher, but one that ought not to be shirked. Prof. Stiles’s treatment is good, so far as it goes. But we are inclined to think that a refer- ence to the physiological meaning and value of the union of two individuals as the basis of the discussion would go far to rémove the mis- chievous way of looking at ‘such problems which is almost universal. The ‘book is remarkably free from errors. have detected only one serious mistake. G We On IO2 NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 p. 303 the fat resynthesised in the intestinal wall is stated to be different from the original fat hydrolysed in the cavity. of. the intestine. This is not the case. (2) Dr. von Firth’s book is well known to many of us in the original as a valuable presenta- tion of the facts of the subject at the time it was written. The use of the word “problems” in the title may cause a little disappointment to those who look for assistance in attacking difficult ques- tions ; something resembling Leathes’s “ Problems of Animal Metabolism ” may have been expected. It seems doubtful: to the reviewer whether the translation of a general text-book is worth the trouble and expense unless the translator is pos-: sessed of the knowledge and capacity to bring it up to date. A new edition of the original work is almost certain to appear before the translation is exhausted, so that the latter prolongs the life of an antiquated edition, which is undesirable. The con- tents of the present book date from some time prior to 1913. On the whole, it is questionable whether any real necessity existed for its translation, since there are other books in the English language which serve the purpose. W. M. Baytiss. SOME MATHEMATICAL TEXT-BOOKS. (1) Dynamics. By R. C. Fawdry. Part i. Pp. vili+177+ix. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1916.) Price 3s. net. (2) Differential and Integral Calculus. By Dr. Clyde E. Love. Pp. xviii+343. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price gs. net. (3) Engineering Applications of Higher Mathe- matics.. By V. Karapetoff. Part ii. Pp. iv+ 103. Part ili, Pp. v+113. Part iv. Pp. v+ 81. Part v. Pp. viit+64. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 3s. net each. (1) [as is a text-book of elementary dynamics, leading up to circular motion. One naturally turns first to see how the foundations are treated, and here’we must confess to some disappointment. Various experiments with a “trolley-apparatus”” are quoted, and are used as a basis for the fundamental. inductions. As a matter of fact, dynamics did not ‘begin in this way, but with the testing of hypotheses. Such experiments are useful and instructive enough, as verifications, at a somewhat later stage; but they are too rough and too liable to error to serve as the basis of dynamical faith. They are also necessarily - indirect, and various assumptions have to be made before they can be regarded as bearing specifically on the points they are meant to illustrate. The article on “mass” also is vaguely worded, and scarcely adequate to its purpose. Nevertheless, the book has points which may make it useful to a teacher who takes the theory largely into his own hands. The examples are well chosen and of the right standard of difficulty, and there are good exemplifications of such things as relative motion and centrifugal force. NO. 2475, VOL. 99] (2) This book. gives an account of the calculus: from the first elements to the theory of ordinary differential equations. on the applications to geometry and mechanics. Since the whole takes up only some 300 pages, it will be seen that the treatment is necessarily — concise. It can, however, be recommended as a good introduction to the subject, and it is doubt- less intended that it should be supplemented by plentiful oral comment. ‘The examples are of a simple character, and bear directly on the text. The book, naturally and properly, having regard to its scale, does not attempt to deal with the more abstruse logical points which present them- selves in the beginning of the subject. The author is, however, to be congratulated on the It includes also chapters © ee a a practice he has generally adopted of stating ex- plicitly when he makes an assumption which it is not convenient to stop and prove. There are two respects in which he has, we think, been unduly conservative. The treatment of the ex- ponential and logarithmic functions and of their derivatives scarcely brings out the special import- ance of the former function, the logarithm being practically used as the primary conception. The proof of Taylor’s theorem, again, is of the usual indirect and artificial character. One cannot but feel sympathy for the type of student whom Tod- hunter tried (vainly, we hope) to placate with the- somewhat .crue! remark that “he must not, while engaged in the elements of a subject, expect to be able, as it were, to rediscover the theorems — for himself.” It is no doubt difficult to present these matters in a way at once natural and fairly rigorous, but the attempt should be made. (3) We have here four parts of a work on the application of higher mathematics to engineering. In the words of the author :—‘“ The book may be called a summary of the most common engineer- ing applications of higher mathematics, or 2 mathematical -cross-index to engineering text- books. It fulfils its purpose if it saves the teacher the trouble of consulting many engineer- ing books for the purpose of selecting a few mathematical problems for his students. The author also hopes that the book may stimulate interest in higher mathematics among his fellow- engineers.” It should be said that the term “higher” is used in rather a restricted sense, and that the reader will find many quite elementary things explained to him. For example, it is formally proved that the minimum value of x+¥ subject to the condition xy=const. occurs when x=y; this with the help of the calculus! The four slender volumes before us deal with hydraulics, thermodynamics, elasticity, and elec- tricity respectively. The treatment is, on the whole, sound, though the diction is often rather loose. For instance, it is not easy to justify the offhand statement that the internal stresses in a cross-section of a beam are proportional to the bending moment, “since the action of these forces is to bend the beam.” The mathematical work is not distinguished by neatness, and one finds: awkward and cumbrous proofs where often quite APRIL. 5, 1917} NATURE 103 simple methods are available. The author appears _ ledge of his readers, and when a real difficulty sed contents himself with a reference to a text- The treatment of the strength of thick cylinders _ and spheres may be cited as characteristic. The _ final formula is evolved as the result of five succes- sive approximations, and the whole investigation takes up twenty-four pages. Would it not be really _ simpler, as well as much shorter, to give the well- _ known correct investigation at once? It is a little more difficult, but there are no precarious assump- tions, and by the time he had mastered it the engineering student would really know something _ about stresses and strains. These criticisms must not be taken to reflect nn the competence of the author, whose aims, as recorded in his prefaces, are excellent. But he does not seem to have a high opinion of the ttainments of the class of students whom he addresses. ah = OUR BOOKSHELF. The Problem of Pain in Nature. By C. F. - Newall. Pp. 131+7 illustrations. (Paisley: Alexander Gardner, 1917.) Price 3s. 6d. net. Tuis little book may be useful to those who are troubled in spirit by what they believe to be a _ fact: that animals in wild life suffer much pain. _ Mr. Newall explains in a simple way why he _ tegards this shadow on Nature as,-on the whole, _ of man’simagining. For the humblést animals “no _ brain, no pain” seems good sense; and animals of the little-hrain type, such as insects, the be- _ haviour of which is predominantly reflex and in- Stinctive, often go on as if they were callous to _ serious injuries. A dragon-fly which has lost its hindquarters is not thereby hindered from eating a good many flies, and finishing up with its own lost parts. _ We cannot, of course, be sure how much sensa- tion of pain there is among invertebrates, but ‘Mr. Newall’s quiet consideration of the facts _ suggests that there is but little. When we pass _ to vertebrate animals the argument from analogy - becomes more trustworthy, and Mr. Newall refers ‘to the experiences of men who have been in the 2tip of wild beasts without feeling much, if any, _ pain or fear. _ In most cases in wild life the coup de grdce is instantaneous. It may be argued, indeed, that Nature is rich in efficiencies that lessen the chance of pain. Selous was strongly of opinion that _ Wallace erred in his low estimate of the evolu- _ tion of pain-sensations among animals, but he _ himself attached too much importance to cries and the like. Many a one might conclude from _ a baby’s cries that the mother was slowly tor- turing it. We think that there is good sense in _ Mr. Newall’s conclusion that men have greatly _ €xaggerated the prevalence of pain in Nature, but “we are afraid of some of the arguments, for they seem also to banish pleasure. In a short book NO. 2475, VOL. 99] _ afraid of making undue demands on the know- | ' | | like this the reader should be spared “ amydallin,” ‘“etherial,” “Eperide,” “Barlett,” and “Sir James Lister,” which we happened to notice. | The Elements of Engineering Drawing. By E. Rowarth. Pp. xii+131. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd.) Price 2s. 6d. net. THE main purpose of this book, is to give examples of, and instruction in, the art of draughts- manship, for the benefit of young students just entering on an elementary course of engineering. It is intended as a corrective to the unworkman- like finish and execution which are apt to accom- pany a too exclusive use of models and machine parts, with their dimensioned sketches, in the teaching of machine drawing. The general treatment of the subject is some- what meagre and crude, but the plates are executed in a style that would be approved by the professional draughtsman; the instructions annexed to each plate are full and precise, being helped by pictorial views; and the book seems to be specially suitable for dealing with large classes of junior students where it is not prac- ticable to give much individual attention. The text is divided into four sections relating to the manipulation of instruments, the method of projection, and the forms and proportions of the commoner machine fastenings, with examples of their use. Ae ya LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.] British Optical Science. As a manufacturer, may I be allowed to reply to Sir Joseph Larmor’s letter in Nature of March 1 on the subject of British optical science, in which he makes certain statements that must create an entirely wrong and unfortunate impression of the circum- | stances? What is the reason for the comparative smallness of the British optical industry? If one considers the pre-war output of the important German firms, it will be seen that they are based upon their military departments. of which the public of other countries knows very little. It only knows the German firms by their civilian productions, The German War Office in peace-time issued large orders for optical instru- ments and placed them with German firms, on the principle that the optical industry would be a vital one in time of war. Having such large orders to deal with, and having the certainty of continuity of work, the German firms were enabled to develop special machinery and appliances and to develop their general organisation. As suppliers of the largest Continental Army, the German firms -naturaily ob:ained- the bulk of the orders of other Armies. with a consequent increase of their facilities and-experience. -In such circumstances it was comparatively easy to establish and maintain a civilian world trade. ; Consider now the British conditions. The pre-war British orders were of negligible importance compared 104 NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 with the Continental ones. Where single orders for thousands were received by Continental ‘firms from all sources, British firms received orders for tens. Any- one who is familiar with industry knows how difficult it is to compete with large firms under such conditions, During the war, however, the British optical firms have received large and continuous orders, and as a result the increase of output has been very great. To have rushed a small industry in war-time and in so short a period up to its present size is a marvellous performance, probably unsurpassed in any other in- dustry demanding exceptional skill. But the important points to observe are that, so far as their knowledge was concerned, the principal British firms were competent to undertake the work, and that, having the orders, they were able te erect new pre- mises, install plant, provide special jigs and tools, train unskilled labour, find suitable materials, and in these extraordinary circumstances to produce instruments that satisfy. the. requirements of the Services. If in peace-time military orders of reasonable size had been placed in this country, the optical industry would have dealt with them as it has during the war. It is largely a question of orders of reasonable size and, above all, continuity. of orders. Having pilloried the optical manufacturer, Sir Joseph Larmor proceeds to praise the British optical. writers. It is suggested that tueir works contain information that the manufacturers lack. In Germany and in Britain it is not the type of book cited by Sir Joseph Larmor that is used by the optical manufacturers. Not one of the books cited deals with the method of optical computation actually adopted in the German workshops, and, indeed, there are extremely few books in Germany that do divulge the whole system. The British books are, no doubt, well adapted to enabie students to pass examinations on general optics. For example, one of the best of those cited has a large index, which includes the rain- bow and the principle of relativity—questions no doubt that will find a place of honour in examination papers —but which does nvt refer to so vital a question as coma, to which alone a whole book should be devoted. There is a great similarity in the present optical books. They all contaia the same stereotyped material. Some deal with it ir a non-mathematical way, while others attack the propositions with heavy algebraic artillery. Generally the sign convention changes with- out ‘warning from page to page, for the simple reason that the matter is mostly copied from previous writers who used no standard system. _No doubt these bo iks are the unfortunate result of circumstances. A book devoted to, say, coma would have a very limited market, whereas a book on optics, if made sufficiently general, can be made to appeal to students and schoo] teachers and thus find a profitable market. In the early days of the optical industry in: this country our pure mathematicians were also real crafts- men. They were not content with the evolution of general equations. Today ‘the science of the best optical instrument makers is far ahead of the science of the text-books.*’ That is the oninion of the late Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, who also said: ‘But the teaching of the colleges and the university. teachin at. Cambridge—well, what is it in optics? They call it optics, but it‘is really purely mathematical gymnas- tics applied to the optical problems of a hundred years ago. I do not think there is really what one can truly call optical work going .n at Cambridge. . . . Optical teaching, I am sorry to say, is very, largely at its lowest conceivable ebb.” fs If our present-day mathematicians wish to help the industry (and their helo is desired), they must enter NO. 2475, VOL. 99] the workshops first as learners, not teachers. They. may find the work laborious. and monotonous:from the. point of view of the ma hematician. to whom a pretty, solution is an object of importance, but once they have experienced the pleasure of testing a system that accords with their calculations, they will never again be satisfied with the publication of untried formule. ; James WEIR FRENCH. Anniesland, Glasgow, March 28. ; Floating Earths. In reference to the inquiry of Dr. Walter Leaf in Nature of March 15 as to the interpretation of a passage of Strabo, the fact may possibly be of some interest that in the island of Mors, in Denmark, bricks are made from a local sandy clay which, after burn- ing, float in water. These bricks are used, I under- stand, both as a refractory material and for ordinary building purposes, their lightness and porosity giving them certain advantages for the latter purpose. Their. mechanical strength is said to be considerable. The porosity is not obtained. by the addition of combustible or volatile matter during moulding. If the expression mnyvupevas, used by Posidonius, be consistent with a process of burning the clay into. bricks, and if clays of somewhat similar physical character to that of Mors, although of different geo- logical’ origin, occur in: Asia Minor and Spain, an explanation of the passage might perhaps be found in this direction. Cecm, H. Descn. Metallurgical Laboratory, University of Glasgow, March 24. Gravitation and Thermodynamics. Ir Dr. P. E. Shaw’s contention (Nature, March 29) for a perpetual motion consequence of gravita- tional heat were justified, it would be an argument against the supposed effect. on which such a con- clusion could be based; but it does not seem to me that the contention is justified. For the line joining maximum to minimum temperature is vertical, and, unless the rate of heating differs from the rate of cooling, every horizontal chord will be an isothermal ; so there is nothing to keep a vertical dise rotating. — OLiveR LopcE. © Tue suggestion in Nature of March 1 that thermo- dynamics might throw light on the question of the temperature variation of gravitation has not been unkindly received. The criticisms have not been directed so much against this suggested application’ of ‘thermodynamics as against the expression deduced for the attraction between two bodies. It has been pointed out to me that dO is nota perfect differential, and therefore it is not valid to equate 2QO ao Or .06 06.dr The correct expression for the attraction, assuming that the specific: heat is independent of 1, is F=m.6.f(r) +r), * where m is the mass of the body the temperature of whichis 6. | This expression has none of the objections which the previous incorrect expression kad, for at the absolute zero the temperature -coefficient vanishes and W(r) is probably GMmr-?. ie The assumption that 0s/07=o is, of course, only a special case, for s may depend ‘on 7 or on the gravita- tional field in which the mass m is situated. Since Ant 5, 1917] NATURE 105 jntroduction of comparatively small masses on earth’s surface would have no perceptible effect the gravitational field, s may be taken as constant any ¢ iments on the earth’s surface. Shaw (Nature, March 29) argues that my hypothesis involves a violation of the conservation of er . To avoid the difficulty of perpetual motion Bey suggest making 90Q/0r positive instead of negative. This will not alter the expression for F, but the turning moment on Dr. Shaw’s disc will then bring it to rest. GrorcE W: Topp. Newcastle-upon-Tyne. >. yp. E. THERMIONIC DETECTORS IN WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY AND TELEPHONY. HE arts of wireless telegraphy and telephony - involve the use in the receiving circuit of some device named a detector, which is sensitive to electric oscillations of very high frequency. n the earliest years of radiotelegraphy the appli- ance used was the so-called coherer, in which a mall mass of metallic filings or an imperfect contact between two pieces of metal was con- verted into a better conductor by the passage through it of the high-frequency oscillations. All the various forms of coherer have now been aban- doned and are no longer used as detectors. In modern radiotelegraphy, so far as regards the spark or damped-wave system, only three types of detector are at present in practical use. The t of these is the magnetic detector, chiefly the Otating band form, invented by Marconi; the second type is some form of rectifying contact -erystal, such as the carborundum detector due to Dunwoody, or the zincite-chalcopyrite rectifier of Pickard; and the third is some modification of the thermionic detector, or Fleming oscillation valve. — In the magnetic detector the electric oscillations » be detected are caused to circulate round a magnetised iron wire and alter its magnetic per- ‘meability or hysteresis in such a fashion as to ‘ereate a sudden change in the magnetisation of 1c iron. This in turn is made to create an iced electric current in a second coil and teveal itself by a sound made in a telephone in ies with that coil. The rectifying contacts erystals depend upon the fact that a contact of ull surface between certain substances, gener- ly crystalline, has a greater electric conductivity 1 one direction than in the other. Hence, if such ‘contact as that, for example, between a frag- t of zincite or native oxide of zinc and a piece chalcopyrite or copper pyrites is traversed by train of electric oscillations, these will be con- d into a movement of electricity chiefly in e direction. Accordingly, if a rapid sequence of such oscillations passes through such recti- fying contact placed in series with a telephone _ receiver, the latter will be traversed by a series intermittent gushes of electricity in the same irection, and will emit a sound the pitch of which is determined by the group frequency of the oscil- ‘ations. A very commonly used rectifying con- ‘tact is a crystal of carborundum, or carbide of Silicon, held between metal clips. Although this NO. 2475, VOL. 99} | rectifying property of certain contacts and crystals. has been much studied, the reasons for it are not yet fully elucidated, but it is probably connected with the thermoelectric properties of the materials. The third type of detector is the thermionic detector first suggested and used by Dr. J. A. Fleming, of University College, London. The construction and mode of operation of this form © of detector may be briefly described as follows :-— It had been known for many years prior to the advent of radiotelegraphy that the electric conduc- tivity of a highly rarefied gas was greatly deter- mined by the temperature of the negative elec- trode by which the current left the exhausted vessel containing it. It had been found by Hittorf and also by Elster and Geitel that if the negative electrode was a platinum wire which could be rendered incandescent, the conductivity of the highly rarefied gas was greatly increased. The emission of positive and of negative ions from incandescent solids in vacuo had been studied particularly by Elster and Geitel, beginning in 1880 In 1884 Edison made known an interesting fact connected with carbon-filament glow-lamps. He sealed into the bulb of one of his bamboo-filament lamps a metal plate placed between the legs of the horseshoe-shaped filament, the said plate being carried on a platinum wire sealed through the glass bulb. He found that when the filament was rendered incandescent by a continuous current, a galvanometer connected between the terminal of the plate and the external negative ter- minal of the filament indicated no current, but that if connected between the plate and the posi- tive filament terminal, it showed a current of a few milliamperes. Edison gave no explanation of this, nor did he make any application of the discovery. He supplied a certain number of lamps made with middle plates to the late Sir William Preece, and the latter communicated to the Royal Society in 1885 a paper describing various ex- periments with these lamps. This “Edison effect ” was more completely examined by Dr. J. A. Fleming in researches described by him in papers to the Royal Society in 1890 and to the Physical Society in 1896. Dr. Fleming showed that the effect was in some way due to the scattering of particles charged with negative electricity from the hot filament, and that it could be prevented by en- closing the negative leg of the carbon in a glass tube, or placing a sheet of mica between the carbon and the plate. He also proved, as Elster and Geitel had done in another way, that a vacuum tube having two carbon filaments as electrodes had a very large conductivity for small voltages when the negative electrode was made incan- descent. It was not until 1899, when Sir J. J. Thomson announced his epoch-making discovery of elec- | trons, or corpuscles smaller than atoms, carrying a negative charge, that it was clearly recognised | that incandescent solids in high vacua emit elec- | tric ions, some positive and some ‘negative. | This electronic emission from hot bodies has 106 NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 been very fully investigated by Prof. O. W. Richardson, who has collected most of the known facts in an excellent manual on the subject. None of the investigators of this subject made any practical application of this knowledge until it occurred to Dr. Fleming in 1904 to employ an incandescent electric lamp having one or more plates or cylinders of metal sealed into the bulb as a means of detecting high-frequency electric * t sr ae - 1.—Various forms of Fleming oscillation valve or thermionic detector used in wireless telegraphy. arc oscillations, as used in radiotelegraphy. Accord- ingly he constructed such electric glow-lamps with carbon filaments and a metal plate or cylinder surrounding, but not touching, the filament, the said cylinder being attached to a platinum wire sealed through the bulb (see Fig. 1). He em- ployed this device as follows :—The carbon fila- ment in the lamp O (see Fig. 2) is rendered in- - Fic. 2.—One mode of employing the oscillation valve ‘as a detector in a radiotelegraphic receiving circuit. A, antenna; P S, oscillation trans- former ; C, condenser; O, oscillation valve; B, battery ; G, current- detecting instrument. candescent by a suitable battery of storage cells, B; most usually a 12-volt or 4-volt filament is employed. A circuit is formed external to the bulb by connecting the metal plate or cylinder to the negative terminal of the lamp. In this circuit is placed a current-detecting instrument, such as a galvanometer, G, or a telephone. In the circuit is also inserted the secondary circuit of an oscilla- NO. 2475, VOL. 99} tion transformer, P, S, the terminals of which are closed by a condenser, C (see Fig. 2). If electric oscillations are created in the above circuit, the alternations of current are rectified; that is to say, a unidirectional current flows through the galvanometer or telephone. The. highly vacuous space between the incandescent filament and the metal cylinder inside the bulb possesses a unilateral conductivity. When the filament is at a very high temperature negative electricity can pass from the filament to the plate, but not in the opposite direction. Hence the device acts as a valve and was called by Dr. Fleming an oscillation valve. Another way of viewing the effect is as follows :—When the elec- tric oscillations take place through the condenser,. the plate or cylinder in the bulb tends to become charged alternately positive and negative. The in- candescent filament is continuously emitting nega- tive ions or electrons, and these at once discharge any positive charge on the metal plate, whereas. they do not discharge a negative charge. There is, therefore, a continuous movement of positive electricity to the plate from outside the lamp. If . the electric oscillations are in trains of damped groups, then the effect is to convert them into gushes of electricity in one direction which pass through the telephone, If these groups come at the rate of several hundred per second the tele- phone receiver emits a continuous sound of corre- sponding pitch, and if the groups are cut up into Morse signals at the sending end, the listener at the telephone hears these signals as long and short sounds. An electric incandescent lamp with metal plates, grids, or cylinders in the bulb is now called a thermionic detector, because it serves to rectify and render detectable by a galvanometer or tele- phone receiver the feeble electric oscillations used in wireless telegraphy or telephony. It depends for its action upon the emission by the incan- descent filament of electrons, or-thermions as they are termed. Dr. Fleming found that a tungsten filament was of special utility for this purpose. The thermionic receiver has great advantages in that it is not injured or put out of adjustment, like crystal detectors, by powerful electric oscillations or atmospheric discharges acting on its receiving circuits. In some of Dr. Fleming’s experiments he em- ployed an incandescent lamp with two plates sealed into the bulb carried on separate terminals. An illustration of such a double-anode or two- element valve was given by him in a paper pub- lished in the Proceedings of the Royal Society early in 1905 (see c, Fig. 1). The new thermionic detector naturally attracted the attention of radio- telegraphists, and amongst others of Dr. Lee de Forest in the United States. After adopting the detector in substantially the same form, Dr. de Forest patented in 1907 a modification in which the two metal electrodes were sealed into the vacuous bulb, in addition to the metallic or - . a eS ea re oe ee o_o a ae a y Jee he hal on als cf APRIL Bs 1917 | NATURE 107 carbon filament to be rendered incandescent. of these electrodes was in the form of a plate, between the filament and the plate. In “using this double-plate thermionic detector, Dr. de Forest connected the grid terminal to one side of the receiving circuit condenser, and the nega- the same condenser; but, instead of inserting the telephone or current-detecting instrument in this _ grid circuit, he included it in a separate external circuit connecting the plate with the filament, and 2 in this circuit also a battery with negative pole connected to the filament (see Fig. 3). _ Dr. de Forest calied this arrangement an audion, and maintained that the physical action was dif- ferent from that of the Fleming valve, though valves with two anode plates had already been in use for certain experiments. however, clear that the performance of the audion as a the thermionic emission from the incandescent filament. It has been demonstrated by Dr. ‘ings of the Institute of Radio-Engineers for Sep- tember, 1915, that the physical actions taking place in the grid circuit of Dr. de Forest’s audion “are precisely the same as in those in the Fleming valve. The thermionic emission of negative ions causes the grid to become negatively charged. On the other hand, the battery in the external circuit connected to the plate sends a thermionic current through the vacuous space between~the filament -eandescence of the filament or negative electrode. ‘circuit, it reduces the thermionic current flowing ‘between the filament and the plate, and therefore ‘varies the current through the telephone. The physical actions which contribute to the operation ‘are therefore all dependent upon the thermionic ‘emission from the filament and upon the increased “unilateral conductivity of a highly rarefied gas or vacuous space when the cathode or negative elec- trode is rendered incandescent. This action is not necessarily dependent upon presence of any residual gas in the bulb, be- cause even in a highly perfect vacuum the elec- tronic emission from the incandescent filament would take place. _ The double-anode Fleming valve, or the valve with grid and plate, called an audion, has the property that an amplification of current variation pean be produced by it. _ Thus, if the grid-plate thermionic detector is i sanyed as in Fig. 3, feeble electric oscillations taking place in the grid external circuit can be ‘made to produce large variations in the continu- ‘ous current flowing in the external plate circuit. _ Moreover, by connecting two or more such NO. 2475, VOL. 99] One / ‘tive terminal of the filament to the other side of | It has been shown, to be essentially the same. It is | -radiotelegraphic detector depends entirely upon © ‘CE. H. Armstrong in a paper in the Proceed- | and the plate inside the bulb, in virtue of the in- This current flows also through the telephone or | ‘current-detecting appliance. When the grid be- | ‘comes negatively charged, due to the rectification | of electric oscillations impressed upon the grid | double-anode thermionic detectors in series, the . | current in the plate circuit of one, acting induc- and the other of a grid or zigzag of wire inter- | tively on the grid circuit of the next, enables a double amplification to be produced. ; Furthermore, such double-anode thermionic valves can be used as generators of electric oscilla- tions by inductively connecting through a suitable transformer the grid and plate circuits g and h ya 4, S Fic. 3.—De Forest audion or form of thermionic “page D, bulb of —_ glow-lamp: F, incand fila ; T, tele- = oF i B, fener pacar ch da =" of one and the same bulb V (see Fig. 4). The arrangement then acts as follows = Fesble electric oscillations set up in the external plate circuit by any means create induced oscillations in the grid circuit, and the latter sustain and enhance the former, the energy to create these enhanced oscillations coming from the battery in the plate circuit. The process exactly resembles that. in which a Fic. 4.—Mode of using double-anode valve or thermionic detector as 2 generator for electric oscillations. Bell telephone receiver in circuit with a battery and carbon microphone transmitter emits a con- tinuous musical note when the diaphragm of the receiver is held near that of the transmitter. Feeble vibrations are set up in the microphone diaphragm by noises in the room, and these vary the current through the telephone receiver, and the sound so emitted keeps the transmitter dia- phragm 1 in motion. 108 NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 Again, the double-anode valve can. be used as a. telephonic relay in ordinary telephony to mag- nify. and repeat sounds. The oscillation valve is not simply a detector ; it is a quantitative detector, and hence has been extensively used as a receiver in all experiments in wireless telephony. In fact, most of the suc- cessful long-distance experiments in radiotelephony have been conducted by it. For when so used it rectifies the continuous high-frequency oscilla- tions in the receiving circuit into a direct current. Hence the variations in amplitude in these oscilla- tions which are produced by the microphone in the transmitter circuits make themselves evident as variations in the rectified current which flows through the telephone receiver, and these repro- duce the sounds of the speech made to the micro- phone in the transmitter. This thermionic detector promises, therefore, to be of great use in the solution of the problem of radiotelephony, as well’as that of repeating or relaying ordinary ee. currents. THE INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS. S es Indian Science Congress held its fourth annual meeting in Bangalore on January 10 and the three following days, under the presidency of Sir Alfred Bourne, F.R.S.. The six sections— those, namely, of Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry, Agriculture, Botany, Zoology, and Geology—met in the mornings, and in all seventy- two papers were read. It is obviously impossible, in the space. available for this notice, to give an account of the work of the various sections or * even to enumerate the papers, but certain points in connection with the present meeting are de- serving of mention. Two of the sectional presi- dents departed from the usual custom in giving addresses on general topics. In the Mathematics and Physics Section the Rev. Dr. Mackichan re- ferred to the great value of early Indian contri- butions to mathematics, both pure and applied, but deprecated the suggestion put forward by some enthusiasts that there was no scientific truth of importance that could not be traced in the ancient Hindu scriptures. The other address, given to the Chemistry Section, is referred to below. There was a comparatively large proportion— about one-third of the total number—of papers dealing with the application of science to parti- cular industrial problems. The increase in the number of papers of this kind is undoubtedly due to war conditions, which have stimulated indus- trial enterprise in many parts of India. The papers on industrial science read at meetings of the Congress represent but a small part of the work which is being carried on in different parts of the country; those on pure science, on the other hand, record very nearly the whole of what is being done in Indian colleges, and one cannot help noticing their fewness. The causes of the _ paucity of research work were examined by Dr. J. L. Simonsen in his presidential address to the NO. 2475, VOL. 99] Chemistry Section. Lack of proper training in, past years, understaffing of colleges—resulting in a man’s whole time being taken up by routine work—and. inadequate pay in subordinate grades of the teaching profession were mentioned as among the most important; and to these must be added the absence of the research atmosphere | that is so marked a feature of the larger English educational centres. The Indian Science Con- gress constitutes at present the only means of remedying this situation effectively. It can, through the proper official channels, direct the attention of the Imperial and local Governments to those defects of the present system which it ig in their power to remedy; it can also provide once a year the research atmosphere and facilities - for discussion and criticism which are lacking. in the colleges, partly because the great distances. which separate them make the personal exchange of ideas almost impossible, and partly because, excepting a few agricultural research stations, not _ more than one or two men are working at the. same subject in any one place. Although the actual amount of research in pure. science is small, it is large when compared with what was being done four years ago. At the first meeting of the Congress in 1914 only twenty papers were read: the number this.year had in- creased to seventy-two. This year, too, a new. rule was in force, making it necessary for authors . to submit their papers to a referee. While in some of the sections—that of Zoology, for ex- -ample—the quality of the papers was excellent, this is not true of all. There were a number of papers from a certain quarter that appear to have | been inspired by a determination to produce the maximum quantity of “research” in a given time. Work of this type falls into its proper place in the course of the discussion and criticism which take place in the sectional meetings, and there is no doubt that the Congress is doing a good deal towards setting up a higher standard of work than exists at present. An interesting discussion took place, under the chairmanship of Sir Sydney Burrard, F.R.S., on scientific libraries in India, following some sug- gestions which had been made to the effect that research work hampered by inability to obtain references. It appeared from the contributions to this discussion, that the difficulty was felt chiefly by zoologists, to whom plates and diagrams were frequently of greater importance than the text of a paper (which . could always be copied and sent by post). But, the general feeling was that any lack of library, facilities in India could scarcely be considered a contributory factor in hindering research, and that the existing needs would be. adequately met by the preparation of a catalogue showing. the periodicals available in different places and the rules under which they could be lent or copied. . The remaining activities of the Congress may be briefly. mentioned.: Three public. lectures were delivered, and were attended by large audiences. The first was by Mr. C. Michie Smith on “The in India was sometimes. a ae ee a a | NATURE 109 E = 5, 1917] ”- and- this’ was” succeeded | by a lecture on <9 g Big ™ by Dr. E. H. Hankin, and one by Mr. F. L. Usher on “ Explosives.” The only social. Seon took place on the afternoon of January 11, when the members were received at the palace by H:H. the Maharajah of Mysore, to whose Government the Congress is indebted for the invitation to meet this year in Bangalore. On the following afternoon the members visited _ the laboratories of the Indian Institute of Science at the invitation of the director and staff. ~ At the concluding business meeting it was an- pounced that the Congress would meet next year in Lahore, under the presidency of Dr. Gilbert A toss E.RS. P.-EU: NOTES. We regret to learn from the Times that the death of Dr. E. von Behring, the discoverer of the curative effect of the serum of immunised animals in the treatment of diphtheria, is announced in the German _ Tue annual general meeting of the Chemical Society was held at Burlington House on March 29, Dr. Alex- ander Scott being in the chair. Prof. W. J. Pope was elected president, Col. Smithells and Prof. Sydney oe were the two new vice-presidents elected, and . C. H. Carpenter, Prof. A. Findlay, Prof. A. Harden, and Dr. T. A. Henry were elected as new . members of council. Dr. Scott delivered his ia MERSSS upon the subject of ‘‘The Atomic _ A new branch of the Ministry of Munitions has been established under Sir Lionel Phillips as Controller, to adel with the examination and development of such Cnet Kingdom (other than coal cr iron ore) in the United as are considered likely to be of value gra the purposes of the war. The of Munitions has appointed the following to act as an advisory committee on the development of mineral resources :—Sir: Lionel Phillips, Bt’ (chair- man), Mr. F. J. Allan, Mr. C. W. Fielding, Mr. R. J. oe Prof. F. W. Harbord, Mr. F. Merricks, : Ross Skinner, Dr. A. Strahan, and Mr. Edgar Taylor, together with a representative to be nominated by the Board of Trade. _ WE learn from Science that Prof. A. V. Stuben- rauch, professor of pomology in the University of California, died at Berkeley, Cal., on February 12. A graduate of the University of California of 1899, Prof. Stubenrauch was for ten years in the U.S. Depart- _ ment of Agriculture, resigning in 1914 his position as pomologist in charge of field investigations. to return to service in the University of California. He was the first to demonstrate that dates could be grown ‘with commercial success in the Imperial Valley, on the desert in southern California; and in association with Mr. G. H: Powell he developed the pre-cooling _ method, which has tly contributed to success in the shipping of fruit from California. A. KINEMATOGRAPH film of great interest is now being shown at the Philharmonic Hall, Great Port- ' land Street, by Capt. Campbell Besley. Capt. Besley, who is an ‘Australian, undertook an expedition. to the head, waters of. the Amazon at the request of the _ President of Peru.in co-operation with Mr. Bryan, then | Be: of State of the United States of America. | _ The chief objects of the expedition were to determine | ‘the source of the Amazon and to ascertain the fate of NO. 2475, VOL. 99| | the same slab. former explorers, who were supposed to have been. killed by hostile Indians. The ion, which was away two years, achieved its objects, but at con- siderable cost of life, for of the twelve white men who started only four returned. Several fell victims to the poisoned arrows of the natives. The de eal which are explained by Capt. Besley, show rivers, the vegetation, and animal life of the fi oa visited. They are an example of the great educational value of the kinematograph. The film is at’ present” shown ‘daily at 3 and 8 p.m. THE seventieth annual meeting of the Palzonto- graphical Society was held on March 30 in the Geo- logical Society’s rooms, Burlington House, Dr. Henry Woodward, president, in the chair: The report re- ferred to the felay of the publications owing to existing circumstances, but noted that there was no diminu- tion in the number of monographs offered. Instal- ments of the volumes‘on Pliocene Mollusca, Palzozoic Asterozoa, and Wealden and Purbeck fishes were. about to be issued. Dr. Henry Woodward, Mr. R. S. Herries, and Dr: A: Smith hte: bs were Pagers president, treasurer, and espectively, and the new members of council were Mr H. A H. A. Allen Mr. E. Heron-Allen, Rev. H. N. Hutchinson, and Mr. C. T. Trechmann. In a brief address the presi- dent mentioned that when the society was founded on March 23, 1847, it was estimated t the descri tion and illustration of all the British fossils. id be completed in twenty-five years. The long series of volumes published during seventy years, however, had proved to do little more than make a good beginning of the task. On Thursday, March 29, a representative assembly = the mire es Pg vi of the late Sir William uggins, and dy Hu met together in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cueaea te witness and participate in the unveiling and dedication of a medallion commemorating conjointly the achievements of a great astronomer and the inspiring efforts of a wife who, for some thirty-five years, identified herself with his aims and labours. Among those present were Sir Joseph Thomson, O.M., president of the Royal Society; Dr. A. Schuster and Mr. W. B. Hardy, secretaries R.S.; Sir Alfred Kempe, treasurer R.S.; . Sir Archibald Geikie, O.M.; Major MacMahon, presi- dent of the Royal Astronomical Society ; the Astronomer Royal; Sir W. Crookes, O.M.; Mr. H. F. Newall; Sir’ Joseph Larmor; Mr. E: B. Knobel ; Sir W. Tilden; Mr. E. W. Maunder; Mr. W. H. Wesley ; and the Rev. T. R. R- Stebbing. A number of. ladies were also present. After the memorial had been unveiled a short form of service was conducted by Dean Inge, with whom were Canon Simpson and Canon Alex- ander. In committing the memorial to the charge of the Dean and Chapter, Sir Joseph Thomson paid eloquent tribute to the scientific achievements of Sir William Huggins. Born and educated in London, and all his work having been carried on and issued from a London observatory, St. Paul’s appeared the fittest of destinations for a medallion. Major Mac- Mahon, referring to certain points in a great life, said that Huggins saw celestial chemistry looming in. front of him, and before many years had elapsed he was the pioneer of a new branch of science. The medallion of Sir William Huggins, it-should be noted, was the primary object of the memorial, but, on the death of Lady Huggins, it was decided to place her portrait beneath that of her husband, on Both are the work of Mr. Henry Pegram, A.R.A. The inscriptions run respectively : ‘William Huggins, Astronomer, 1824-1910 °’; “* Mar- garet Lindsay Huggins, 1848-1915. Lig IIo NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 Seconp Lieur, Cyrit Douctas McCourt, who lost his life while gallantly leading a bombing attack in France on October 8, 1916, was born in 1883, and educated at St. Charles’s College, North Kensington, whence he gained an institute scholarship at the City and Guilds of London Central Technical College, now part of the Imperial College of Science and Technology. After gaining the college associateship in chemistry, he served for a brief period as private assistant to Prof. H. E. Armstrong. In 1903 he was appointed chief chemist to the Morgan Crucible Co., Ltd., and during the six years that he held that post he carried out a number of valuable investigations bearing upon the manufacture and uses of various refractory materials, but the outstanding feature of his work was the part he played in the invention and subsequent development of the Morganite brush for dynamos and motors, This brush possesses exceptionally good lubricating and commutating properties, which are principally due to the comparatively low temperature at which it is burnt during its process cf manufacture, In 1909 Mr. McCourt resigned his appointment with the company in order to work out, in collaboration with Prof. W. A. Bone, in Leeds, the industrial applications of the phenomenon now known as “‘in- candescent surface combustion,’’ a field of technical research which strongly attracted him, and afforded him ample scope for turning to good account his considerable knowledge of refractory materials. This collaboration speedily resulted in the many important scientific inventions comprised under the ‘* Bonecourt ”’ surface combustion system, the value of which has been more appreciated in America and Germany, where already considerable developments have been success- fully worked out, than in the country in which they originated. Mr. McCourt. showed great versatility and ingenuity in all his experimental work, to which he was passionately devoted, whilst his frank and generous nature was highly valued by all with whom he came in contact. Shortly after the outbreak of war he abandoned his research work in order to join the Army, where he anticipated that his scientific training and experience ot the management of men would stand his country in good stead. His death is a real loss to science. Dr. J. W. Fewxes has reprinted from the Holmes anniversary volume an interesting monograph on the remarkable cliff-ruins in Fewkes Cafion, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. The author was deputed in 1915 by the Smithsonian Institution to continue the work of excavation and repair of these buildings. A report on the general results of the work was published under the title of ‘‘Excavation and Repair of the Sun Temple.’ In the course of the season’s work he also excavated and repaired a cliff-dwelling, called Oaktree House, the results of which are described in the present publication. A plan of this building, which cannot be called characteristic, but resembles that of Spruce-tree House and other cliff-houses in Mesa Verde Park, is given. In another building, known as the Painted House, a series of representations of men and animals was discovered. The monograph is com- plete and well illustrated, and gives much information on the religious cults of the builders. Dr. Mayniz R. Curtis continues (Biol. Bull. xxxi., No. 3) previous interesting studies in the ‘‘ Physiology of Reproduction in the Domestic Fow] ” with a paper on doubleeggs. From the observations given it appears that an egg, after having received its membrane or its membrane and shell, may be propelled up the oviduct instead of being laid.. In such case it may, on re-entering the terminal part of the duct, stimulate the secretion of another set of envelopes around those NO. 2475, VOL. 99| already formed, or, if it meets its successor, return along with it, and with it become enclosed in a com- mon set of envelopes, A USEFUL vegetation map of the United States by Mr. F. Shreve, of the Arizona Desert Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution, is published in the Geographical - Review for February (vol. iii., No. 2). The map, which is produced in colours, differs in some respects from previous maps, and shows eighteen vegetation areas. The basis of the classification is, as usual, grassland, and forest. Of these the desert and the forest are subdivided, but the natural grassland in The want of data has been left as a single region. local influence of soil has been ignored so far as. possible. between excessive detail valuable only to the botanist and wide generalisations which are a danger to geo- graphical research. A new method of expressing the representative fraction of a map is suggested by Mr. A. R. Hinks in a paper on British and metric measures in geo- graphical work in the Geographical Journal for March (vol. xlix., No. 3). Mr. Hinks proposes to take the fraction of the ‘million’? map, 1/M, as a unit and to write the representative fraction of all maps on a larger scale than 1/M as a fraction with M in the The map forms a valuable basis for geo- graphical work, and has the merit of steering a course — ~ denominator and the proper numerator; thus 1/125,000 would be written. 8/M, and 1/63,360 as 15-3/M. In maps on a smaller scale than 1/M the denominator would be expressed in M’s; thus 1/1,680,000 would be written 1/1-68M. Mr. Hinks proposes that this system should be given a trial by adding it as an alternative to the ordinary form. and easier to write than the large number of figures required in the usual representative fraction, Tue first part of vol. xvi. of the Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow (1916, price 7s. 6d.) contains a presidential address by Prot. J. W. Gregory that deserves to be widely read, on ‘‘ The Geological Factors Affecting the Strategy of the War and the Geology of the Potash Salts.’’ The careful annexa- — tion of the Lorraine ironfield by Germany in 1871, and the equally far-sighted occupation of the best French coalfields since 1914, are judiciously pointed out. A summary of Everding’s paper on the potash- salt area of Prussia includes sections not easily avail- able. and to these alunite might now be added. Now that the development of marine warfare has compelled every nation to look into its own resources, it is cheering to receive Mr. C. H. Clapp’s report on the geology of the Nanaimo map-area (Mem. 51, Canada Geological Survey), in which a promising report is given of the Upper Cretaceous coals on Van- couver Island, directly opposite the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Though the ash is often about 9 per cent., the seams provide “‘high volatile bituminous coals of fair quality ’’ and thicknesses of 5 ft. and 6ft. are common. Admirably produced topo- graphical and geological maps on the scale of I : 62,500 are provided with the memoir. Tue importance of a suitable site for the installa- tion of seismographs is illustrated in a recent number of the Georgetown (U.S.A.) University Publication. Two Wiechert seismographs were placed temporarily at the base of a tower 212 ft. in height, and the rocking of this tower by heavy winds affected the records of the instruments. These and other seismo-. graphs were then erected in a heat- and damp-proof It is certainly less inconvenient. Other sources of potash are usefully reviewed, NATURE II! ication referred. to contains the records of. these astruments for the whole of the year 1916, and Press notices of earthquakes which occurred during the me year in various parts of the world. The in- ence of the war is shown by the fact that all but n of these earthquakes were of American origin. Tue Department of Mines of the South Australian ernment has recently issued its first metallurgical xt. The author is Mr. J. D. Connor, the Govern- nent metallurgist, who has undertaken a visit to the Jnited States of America with the view of studying the recovery of copper from its ores by leaching and recipitation. His object was to secure such in- xrmation as might assist in rendering available for ealisation the mineral assets of South Australia, and particular the unworked oxidised copper ores of he northern mining fields. Too much stress cannot e laid on the absolut: necessity for exhaustive experi- mentation before any attempt is made to deal with the r of ling copper ores on a large scale. The le of insisting on properly controlled tests yefore a working plant is erected is applicable to ulmost every metallurgical proposition. Mr, Connor’s - was not so successful in its outcome as he had icipated. Although he travelled more than 10,000 2s, he saw only two leaching plants in actual opera- on, one of a capacity of 2000 tons a day, and the sther an experi plant of 40 tons per day. He id not visit the great plant at Chuquicamata, in hile, where 10,000 tons of ore are leached per day. His general conclusion is that the leaching of copper res is not being carried out in the United States anything like the extent that might have been nticipated considering the amount of literature on done ee = A great deal of experimental work has : in the past by very able operators backed large organisations. To a considerably less extent his work is going on now, but it has been completely ut into the background by the recognition of the ssibilities of the ‘“‘flotation’’ process (see NATURE, farch 22). That American metallurgists should have n so long in taking up this process is certainly urprising, but now that they have done so, and par- cularly after litigation difficulties have been removed, : is likely that great developments will take place. iS yet oxidised ores are not susceptible to treatment flotation processes. - In view of the movement for the establishment in france of a number oi national laboratories at which he scientific problems which arise in the industries aay be investigated, La Nature has commenced the Dlication of a series of articles dealing with the Doratories which have been founded in other ountries for the same purpose. On account of the rominent position the National Physical Laboratory t Teddington has made for itself in the short time has been in existence, it has been chosen as the rst of the series, and in the issue of La Nature for arch 10 a well-illustrated article giving an account f the foundation, method of management, and quipment of the laboiatory appears. ‘Tue British Journal Photographic Almanac for this ear has at length appeared. Present circumstances lave not only delayed its issue, but reduced its size ® little more than the half of what it used to be; it is a bulky volume of 780 pages. The maximum umber of pages allowed to any one advertiser having sen very much rediced, some manufacturers’ an- Duncements are a great deal more condensed than pretofore, but the advertisement pages remain a very ood guide to the various branches of the trade. The Epitome of Progress’ is curtailed chiefly with NO. 2475, VOL. 99| . ru 3 “excavated beneath the quadrangle. The Pub- | regard to kinematography, the literature of which published during the last year is very voluminous. The new British-made developers are included in the tables of formula. The section referring to sensitisers and dyes for colour-filters remains very much as before. The editor’s article treats in a lucid manner with the elementary principles of chemistry so far as concerns the practice of photography, and this, therefore, is an appropriate time to point out a chemical error that is of many years’ standing. The lengthy and useful table of chemical names, | symbols, and atomic weights of numerous com-. pounds has the atomic (or molecular) weights given described as ‘‘equivalent weights,’”? which, of course, they are not. : Tue Biochemical Journal for December, 1916, con- tains an important paper by Mr. H. Ackroyd and Prof. F. G. Hopkins, entitled “‘ Feeding Experiments with _ Deficiencies in the Amino-acid Supply: Arginine and Histidine as Possible Precursors of Purines.”” In. the authors’ experiments young growing rats were fed first on a diet composed of acid-hydrolysed caseinogen, potato-starch, cane-sugar, lard, butter, and ash from equal weights of oats and dog-biscuit, then on the same diet from which the arginine and histidine had been removed, and finally on this second diet plus arginine or histidine, or both. The neces- sary vitamine supply was given in the form of a protein-free alcoholic extcact of fresh-milk solids. In other experiments the tryptophane or the vitamine was absent from the diet. The results show that when both arginine and histidine are removed from the diet there is a rapid loss of body-weight of the rats, and a renewed growth when the missing diamino-acids are restored. Nutritional equilibrium is possible in the absence of one of these protein con- stituents, but not in the absence of both. The sug- gestion is made that this is because each of the two diamino-acids can, in metabolism, be converted into the other. If-botk arginine and_ histidine are removed from the food, the amount of allantoin excreted is much diminished, but the decrease is very much less when only one diamino-acid is removed When both are replaced, the excretion returns to the normal. When tryptophane or vitamine is removed from the food there is no decrease in the amount of allantoin excreted, although nutritional failure is then greater than when arginine and histidine are withheld. It is accordingly suggested that these two diamino-acids play a special part in purine metabolism, probably constituting the raw material for the synthesis of the purine ring in the animal body. Tue, registrar of the Institute of Chemistry is parti- cularly well situated to appreciate the important played by chemists in the war, since he has had control of the register of chemists available for Government and other services maintained by the Institute, This fact adds an enhanced interest to the article “Chemists in War ’”? which he contributes to the Proceedings of the Institute for February. The general community is probably at last beginning to know that the réle of the chemist in the manufacture of high explosives is all- important, but it is very doubtful whether it realises even yet. that his help is necessary in the production of all metals, cloth, leather, india-rubber, glass, food, pure water, and medicine—in fact, of practically every article of everyday life. Many chemists have been appointed to .commissions in the Royal Army Medical Corps, the. Army. Service Corps, and the Army Ordnance Corps, -whilst in order to fight the German with his own weapon, a special force of chemists was enlisted for the preparation and employment of poisonous gas at the front in. Flanders. The chemists employed in the 112 NATURE [Apri 5, 1917 Army have received the recognition both of Lord French and of Sir Douglas Haig. A large number of chemists have been engaged to work in the labora- tories and works of Government and controlled estab- lishments maxing munitions of war. The chemical staffs of Woolwich Arsenal and of the Government Laboratory have been largely increased, whilst uni- versity and college laboratories have in many cases become small factories for the preparation of drugs, antiseptics, etc. Finally, and perhaps most important of all, the Government has accepted the guidance of our most able and experienced chemists in the investi- gation of such problems—become acute by reason of the war—ds merit their special attention. At last the chemist seems to be coming into his heritage. ’ An interesting paper. on the subject of sulphur in petroleum oils was read by Dr. F. M. Perkin at a recent meeting of the Institution of Petroleum Technologists. Nearly all naturally occurring petrol- eum oils contain sulphur, some having only a very small proportion, others large amounts. Oils ob- tained by the distillation of shales also contain sulphur, the proportion depending partly upon the quantity present in the material distilled, and partly upon the form in which the sulphur exists in that material. The paper illustrates the numerous forms in which sulphur may occur in the oils by reference to the homologous thiophenes, thiophanes, and alkyl. sul- phides ; the probable origin of the sulphur in petroleum is also discussed. Be the origin what it may, as a constituent of petroleum oils sulphur is very objec- tionable. In petrol it gives rise to a .disagreeable exhaust; in Jamp-oils it causes.an unpleasant odour, decreases the luminosity, and tarnishes domestic orna- ments; in oi) fuel it vitiates the atmosphere of the stokeholds and corrodes boiler-plates and tubes. Hence the question of desulphurising the oils is one of much importance. We have in the Kimmeridge shales a considerable source of shale oil, but, unfortunately, the sulphur content is very high. If a practicablé method, of removing the sulphur could be. found, the Kim- meridge shale oil would be of immense value to this country. Many attempts have been made, but so far without success. of desulphurising which have been employed or pro- posed, and also outlines a new.process, which consists in the treatment of the oil at high temperatures with gaseous ammonia. [. these circumstances su!phur is eliminated from the oii in. the torm of hydrogen sul- phide. At present, however, the process is only in its initial stages, and not much information could be given as to its practical application. Tue eighty-third annual report of the Royal Corn- wall Polytechnic Society (vol. iii., part ii., 1916), just issued, is of more than local interest, because of the important scientific and industrial research papers included in it. A paper on ‘The Physical Condition of Cassiterite (Tin Ore) in. Cornish Mill Products,” by the late Mr. J. J. Beringer, contains a new theory to account for the loss of the tin mineral which present appliances fail to recover. It is explained by a thoughtful introduction. by Mr. W. H. Trewartha- James, who collated and ‘revised the author’s notes just before he died. This paper attracted wide atten- tion, and nearly all the mine managers in Cornwall were. present at the society’s meeting at Falmouth in 1915 to discuss the important conclusions. ‘The discussion ultimately. resulted in the decision of the Government Department of Scientific and Industrial Résearch to subsidise and establish a scheme of re- search in tin and tungsten minerals at the suggestion of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy in co- operation with the Royal. Cornwall Polytechnic Society. Other papers in the report are: ‘Tin and NO. 2475, VOL. 99] Dr. Perkin describes various methods. | Tungsten Minerals in the West of England,” by the~ late Mr. J. H. Collins; ‘‘The Prospects of Tin in the- United States,” by Mr. H, Foster Bain, presenting’ important facts with regard to the international: posi- tion of the tin industry; ‘The Development of Me- | chanical Appliances in China Clay Works,’’ by Mr. — J. M. Coon; ‘ Piskies,”” a Cornish folk-lore study, by the president, Mr. H. Jenner; and a lecture on the © fly problem by Mr. F. Balfour Brown. The report. can be obtained from the society, or from William. Brendon and Sons, Ltd., printers, Plymouth, price 5s. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Comet 1917a (MELLIsH).—The discovery of a new comet by Mr. Mellish, on March: 20, has been an- — nounced by Prof. Strémgren. It. was observed at. Copenhagen on March 22 in R.A. 2h. gm., decl.. 15° 1’N., and was rated at mag. 7-5. The comet is. situated in the constellation Aries, and is conse- quently only visible for a short time after sunset. D’ArrEst’s Perropic Comret.—On the basis of cor- rected elements for this comet, which has a period of six and a-half years and returns to perihelion this. year, the following ephemeris has been given by J. Braae (Ast. Nach., 4874) :— 1917 : RA. Decl. Log x Log A oS, . > - March. 29 22 41 59 —6 25:3. O103I° 03101: April 2 22 56 29 5 349 01027 0:3092” 6 23 10 52 4 438 o1030 03086 10 25 8 3.52. 01039 03084 14 39 14 3 04 01054 03086 18 23 53 11 2 89 of076° 0-3088> 22 o 6 58 117-9 O-1103. 03094 ' 26 20 34 —o 278 o-1136 03102 30 KEYS +0 2r2 O1I75° 0-313 May 4 047 9 1 88 oF218 . 03125 O89 +1 54-7 91266 0-3138 The date of perihelion passage is April 2. During the above period the comet will be about two hours west: of the ‘sun. Bricut Meteors 1n. Marcu.—Mr. Denning writes: Pray eee ee ee ee Te On March 14 at 10h. a meteor equal to Jupiter was — observed .at Totteridge and Stowmarket. It fell’ over the south-east coast from a height of 71 to 17 miles, On March 15 at 11h. 30m. a meteor as: bright as. Venus was observed by Miss G. Lewis from Droit- wich, and by several other persons in various parts of the country. The records of its flight are not, however, in good agreement, though the radiant point — was probably in the Lynx, and the position of the object nearly over Cheltenham at its disappearance. . On March ig at 7h. 32 m., a fine meteor was seen through clouds at Bristol, as it sailed almost vertically down the northern sky. On March 27 at 1oh. 17m. and toh. 43m. a pair of brilliant meteors were seen by Mrs. Wilson at Totteridge, and by Miss T. E. Gall at Hornsey, N. They were directed from a radiant low in the east near pw Libre, and pursued — nearly horizontal flights at heights of about 54 miles, and velocity 15 miles per sec. PHOTOGRAPHS OF JupITER.—Photographs of the planet Jupiter showing a large amount of interesting detail were obtained duying the recent apparition. by. Mr. J. H. Reynolds with.a 28-in. reflector at his observatory near Birmingham (Journ. B.A.A., vol. XXVii., p. 151). The telescope was adapted as a- Cassegrain with an equivalent focal length of 55 ft., and the image was further magn-fiea. from three to six times by a Barlow lens. At the opposition of 1916, the N. temperate belt, which was absent in I915, re- appeared with strength and size comparable with that « Aprit 5, 1917] NATURE 113 the: S. temperate belt, and the intervening zone nit and the N. tropical belt was occupied by a sable series of bright elliptical formations, _ accompanied by dark condensations on the > g side. These elliptical forms appear “the: aabscraphe taken during 1916, and are - to be perercted as representing cyclones. THE INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ie - ARCHITECTS ing meetings of the Institution of Naval A were held in the rooms of the Royal of Arts on March 28 and 29. In the unavoid- absence of the president—the Earl of Durham— 3 of Bristol took the chair and delivered _an address, in which he referred to the question of the formation of a council for co-ordinating the common interests. _of the various institutions representing en- professions. Such a council, in making seca would have the weight of the whole profession ind it. The Elgin scholarship has teen. awarded to Mr. R. J. ord the annual gold medal to Prof. T. B. for his paper on experiments to determine the resistance of bilge keels to rolling. A premium has been “espe to. Mr. A. T. Wall for his paper on some effects of the Bulkhead Committee’s report in practice. Hay! the disadvantages under which the institu- been placed owing to so many of its members engaged on work intimately connected with the sete papers were read and discussed. The \dard of the papers has in no way diminished, and contain matter of considerable scientific interest. Mr. D. B. Morison’s paper on standardisation as applied to the machinery for cargo-boats is of much inte -at the present time, when a strong effort is made to make good losses due to piratical sub- @ operations. A specification for such machinery being discussed now. by the North-East Coast In- tution, and an app2al was made for joint action by all the institutions connected with shipbuilding. An interesting feature of Mr. Morison’s paper is the many ferences to economic problems. It is futile for pital to expect that labour will consent to any great en in wages, and equaily hopeless for labour to ect the maintenance of the present high rate of es | without concession on its part. To render it ible to. pay high wages in the future and yet Bosintaint our trade, the requisites are (i) a candid “acknowledgment by labour of the economic law that al trade is dependent on maximum _ pro- ction, and (ii) capital must recognise that maximum eduction entails correspondingly high pay. Mr. J. Montgomerie contributed a valuable paper ving an account of experiments conducted at the West Ham Technical Institute on stress determination in a flat plate, In these exveriments the plates were bolted "in a very heavy frame, rectangular in plan, leaving a "surface of plate measuring 4 ft. by 2 ft. exposed to water-pressure. The object was to hold the plate ‘round the edges as rigidly as possible. Bach’s plates— "which constitute the only experimental work on the Pe : scale up to the present—were not held so rigidly ‘the edges. Crawford’s experiments on the same Beiect Were on too small a scale. Mr. Montgomerie experimented on several plates of various thick- ; the plate 0-75 in. thick alone is reported upon in ‘the paper, although the experiments on the other plats -have been completed. _ Measurements of deflection were made at many ations on the plate, and curves plotted showing the Retics-sections i in directions parallel to the edges. From these curves, by application of graphical methods, the stresses at the statia:.s were determined. Owing to NO. 2475, VOL. 99] the nature of the graphical methods employed, it was considered desirable that the strains in os plate should be measured directly, and for this purpose a strain- ‘meter was devised by Mr. J. Duncan and used in such a manner as to determine the principal axes of strain at the stations. The principal strains were then measured ‘at. each station, and from the knowledge thus obtained, together with the measured values of Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio for the material, the principal stresses were determined and the ellipses of stress drawn for each station. The results by these two methods show very fair agreement. The resulting diagram is very interesting, and shows the elastic behaviour of the entire plate. It shows that the maximum stress actually occurs at the centre of the plate and not at the frame ends of the short diameter, as has been supposed hitherto. There is no doubt that this fact is due to the elastic movements of the portion of the plate clamped in the frame, which permit the ‘‘ wall section ” to assume slope instead of remaining in the plane of the wali, as is assumed in the usual mathemati al theory - The effect of this behaviour is to diminish the bending moment at the plate edges and to increase that at the centre; the stresses, of course, alter correspondingly. Mr. Montgomerie has promised further information re- garding the other thinner plates tested, and his con- tribution must be regarded as a valuable addition to our knowledge of cases of complex stresses. Mr. Thomas Graham described an apparatus for interpreting stability for the use of shipmasters, whereby the stability of vessels under any ordinary conditions of loading can be shown graphically and easily interpreted. This instrument illustrates three features of stability which are of most practical im- portance, viz. :—{i) An automatic record of the varia- tion of the righting arm as the ship heels over from the upright to the vanishing angle. (ii) The approxi- mate angle of heel at which the freeboard deck edge becomes awash. (iii) The position of the. water-line throughout the range of moderate angles met with in practice. The appliance consists of a pivoted wooden lamina representing a cross-section of the ship, and having a pointer moving over a protractor showing angles of heel. A plumb line is hung from the posi- tion on the lamina corresponding to the known centre of gravity of the ship. A brass plate having a curved edge representing the metacentric evolute for the given draught and displacement is attached to the lamina, and another plumb line is arranged to pass over the edge of this evolute and to hang tangentially. The distance between the ‘wo plumb lines thus shows to_ scale the magnitude of the actual righting lever at all angles of heel, An additiona: feature is an arrange- ment for indicating the position of the water-line. Prof. W. E. Dalby read a paper illustrating the inner ‘structure of mild steel, and showing how its strength is correlated with this inner structure. This paper is one of the most readable produced up to date, and contains explanations which can be followed readily by reference to the many micrographs in- cluded. Load extension diagrams of all the steels have been obtained by use of the author’s well-known apparatus. Lieut. Walter A. Scoble contributed a paper on the design of pin joints based on ultimate strength. The author gives reasons leading to the conclusion that the maximum load carried is the best criterion for the strength of a pin joint, and describes in detail a method by which the calculations required in designing a joint can be made. Mr. J. J. King-Salter gave an account of some ex- periments on the inflrence of runnine balance of pro- pellers on the vibratiou of ships. Since the introduc- tion of turbines in warships, ee at a much higher 114 NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 speed than reciprocating engines, the necessity of seeing that the propellers were suitable not only as regards form, but also as regards theit being in proper mechanical balance, has received considerably more attention. Experiments have been carried out in two destroyers and a Town class cruiser built at the Commonwealth Naval Lockyard at Sydney. The paper describes experiments made by rotating the propeller at speed on spring bearings, noting the vibration and removing material from. certain parts of the blade and even the boss.. From subsequent observations on the ships it was apparent that there was a decided im- provement. The problem to be solved is by no means easy, since removal of material from the blades of a propeller has the effeci of altering the pitch, and naval architects, as a rule, have very stringent specifica- tions regarding the exactitude of the pitch of a pro- peller. Sir George Greenhill contributed a paper on the theory of wave-motion on water. In this paper the author discusses mathematically the trochoidal wave as treated by Rankine. Mr. John H, Macalpine gave particulars of marine applications of reduction gears of the floating-frame type. The success of this type of gear appears to be very marked. The first floating- frame gear was installed at Granite City, Illinois, in 1911; when examined on April 30, 1916, the scraper marks were still visible on the gear teeth. Originally these marks were of imperceptible depth. Messrs, P. A. Hillhouse and W. H. Riddlesworth presented a paper on la: nching. This paper contains an account of some interesting experiments made at the Fairfield Shipbuilding Yard. A model of the ship was constructed and arranged in all respects to be a reduced copy. Model ways were constructed and a tank arranged with water at proper tide level. By these means valuable information was obtained re- garding the motion of the ship during launching. The authors make an interesting suggestion whereby an accurate record of the complete motion of the actual vessel from start to finish might be obtained by means of the kinematograph. Two machines would be required, one placed near the stern of the vessel when on the slip, and the other somewhat less than the length of the vessel further aft. Both would stand at a convenient distance away from the vessel’s side, and would have their axes at right angles to the middle line of the berth. In the field of view of each, two uprights would be placed as near to the vessel’s side as possible, and on each upright a vertical scale of feet would be clearly marked in black and white. On the ship’s side would be painted a con- tinuous longitudinal white line crossed by short ver- tical lines numbered in succession from either end. As the vesse] moved the cameras would record con- tinuously the movements of the white line. in relation to the ship and to the water level and ground ways, and the whole motion could be reconstructed. If, in addition, there could be paced in front of each camera a large clock-face with seconds pointer, the two sets of photographs could be correlated and a record of velocities obtained. BRITISH FILTER-PAPERS. AS is well known to laboratory workers, in pre- war days the better kinds of filter-paper used in chemical operations were not produced in this country, They were imported chiefly from Germany and Sweden. In particular, the so-called ‘‘ashless ”’ filters, from whi.h most of the mineral matters have been extracted by treatment with hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids, had made the name of one German firm familiar in probably every chemical laboratory of importance throughout the kingdom. The out- NO. 2475, VOL. 99] texture which filters rapidly is prefera lent precipitates like ferric hydroxide, a close-texture break of war, however, stopped the supply of German filters, and British paper-makers turned their atten- tion to meeting the demand. ‘: The qualities required in filter-paper depend upon the purpose to which it is to be applied. Thus for certain technical operations, such as the filtration of oils and fruit juices, a soft paper of open texture is desirable. Further, as such paper is often used for — filtration under pressure, a high degree of elasticity is required in it to prevent fracture. In analytical work, on the other hand, whilst a pare with open paper is required for the retention of fine precipitates such as barium sulphate. Moreover, the proportion of mineral matter is important. cium and iron, frequently with a little copper, and sometimes silica and alumina, are the chief mineral impurities found in filter-paper; and for accurate quantitative work the amount of these should be smail. Indeed, it should preferably be so small as to be negligible except where a high degree of exactitude is. required. In any case, it should be definitely known, and ought always to be stated on the packets of filters by the makers. oN Se The ability to retain: fine precipitates, a minimum proportion of ash, and reasonable rapidity of filtra- tion are thus the chief desiderata in the best filters for chemical laboratory purposes. The tast alone is sufficient in many technical operations. Discussing” this question in the Analyst some months ago, Messrs. Bevan and Bacon indicated that for paper required to filter with moderate rapidity the ratio of the volume of the paper to that of its constituent fibres should be about 3-5 to 1. It does, in fact, as a rule vary between the limits 3 and 45 to I. “ Pin- holes? are sometimes found in paper having this ratio or “bulk” (as the technical term goes); they are attributable to faults in the milling. ; Some time ago specimens of the filter-papers now produced in this country were supplied to us by three manufacturing firms, namely, Messrs. W. and R. Balston, Ltd., Maidstone; Messrs. J. Barcham Green and Son, Maidstone; and Messrs. Evans, Adlard and Co., Ltd., Winchcombe. Judging by the reports fur- nished with certain of the papers, supplemented by tests applied in actual working practice, a number. of the samples compare quite well with the foreign filters which they have replaced. It is evident that a serious endeavour is being made to produce filters which will compare favourably in quality with even_ the best of those hitherto imported, and the efforts appear to have met already with a considerable measure of success. Naturally, it will take time and. careful study completely to outvie the foreign articles, which are the result of long specialisation. Uniformity of product is an important point to aim at, so that the user may know that he can rely upon the con- stancy of the quality. There is no obvious reason why British paper-makers should not, with proper technical advice, compete successfully with foreign manufacturers in this branch of industry, and, in fact, there is good reason to believe that they will do so. In this matter, as in so many others, we ought not to ‘have to revert to the status quo ante bellum. COMPULSORY CONTINUATION CLASSES. HE final report of the Departmental Cumunittee ~ on Juvenile Education in Relation to Employ- ment after the War has just been issued (Cd. $512, price 6d. net). ate The terms of reference of the committee were: - To consider what steps should be taken to make le for floccu- Compounds of cal- NATURE © 115 sion for the education and instruction of children and young persons after the war, regard being had particularly to the interests of those (i) who have been abnormally employed during the war; (ii) who not immediately find advantageous employment; who require special training for employment. pe twenty-three recommendations made by committee. are the following :— ) That a uniform elementary school leaving age fourteen be established by statute for all districts, and rural, and that all exemptions, total or a eters compulsory attendance below that age ) That steps be taken, by better staffing and other ‘improvements in the upper classes of elementary ‘schools, to ensure the maximum benefit from the ast years of school life. a Ee Sagthe be an obligation on the local education authority in each area to provide suitable continua- “tion classes for young persons between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, and to submit to the Board of Education a plan for the organisation of such a system, together with proposals for putting it into (4) That it be an obligation upon all young persons between fourteen and eighteen years of age to attend such day continuation classes as may be prescribed for them by the local education authority, during a number of to be fixed by statute, which should be not less than eight hours a week, for forty weeks in the year, with the exception of: (a) Those who ‘are under efficient full-time instruction in some other ma ; (b) those who have completed a satisfactory course in a school recognised as efficient by the Board of Education and are not less than sixteen; (c) those who have passed the matriculation examination of a British university, or an equivalent examination, and are not less than sixteen; (d) those who are under -time instruction of a kind rot 3 as unsuitable by the Board—of Education ‘and entailing a substantially greater amount of study ‘jn the daytime than the amount to be required by statute. (5) That all classes at which attendance is com- yh _ pulsory be held between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. {6) That it be an obligation on all employers of young s under eighteen to give them the necessary facilities for attendance at the statutory “continuation classes prescribed for them by the local _ education authority. _ (7) That where there is already a statutory limita- tion u the hours of labour, the permitted hours _ of labour be reduced by the number of those required for the continuation classes _ (8) That the curriculum of the continuation classes include general, practical, and technical instruction, and that provision be made for continuous physical training and for medical inspection, and for clinical treatment where necessary, up to the age of eighteen. _ (9) That suitable courses of training be estab- lished and adequate salaries be provided for teachers of continuation classes. _ (10) That the system of continuation classes come normally into operation on an appointed day as early - as - Board of Education haye power to make deferring orders fixing later appointed days within a limited _ period, where necessary, for the whole or part of . the area of any local education authority. _ (11) That the State grants in aid of present as _ well as future expenditure on education be simplified » and very substantially increased. NO. 2475, VOL. 99] RECENT PROGRESS IN SPECTROSCOPY." EN years ago the subject of Prof. Crew’s vice- presidential address was “Facts and Theories in Spectroscopy.” Since that time some notable dis- coveries have been made and some remarkable theories have challenged attention. It is my purpose to review a few of the more important experimental results and to discuss the relations of some of them to theories brought before you in two recent vice-presidential addresses on ‘“tAtomic Theories of Radiation” and “The Theory of the Nucleus Atom.” Inasmuch as it will be necessary to refer to them, I will restate the salient features of the theories which have attracted the most attention. Planck derived an expression for the spectral energy distribution of black-body radiation from the assump- tion that the radiation was emitted and absorbed by electric oscillators in definite quanta, each equal to the frequency of the oscillator multiplied by a uni- versal constant, h, the wirkungsquantum. - Later he modified this theory so far as absorption is concerned. Einstein and others went farther in assuming that these quanta preserve their identity in their propaga- tion through space, thus reviving a form of corpus- cular theory. This extreme view has been generally abandoned, but it has been found impossible to explain away the wirkungsquantum h. It appears in too many relations to be the result of chance. The work of Millikan in particular proves the exact validity of Einstein’s relation Ve=h(v-,) in the photoelectric effect, in which Ve is the measure of the emission energy of the electrons, v the frequency of the inci- dent light, and v, the minimum frequency which will cause emission of electrons. A similar relation appears to hold good in many cases of X-ray and light spectra. It seems probable that this constant depends upon atomic structure only, and affects radiation through space only in so far as emission and absorption are determined by atomic structure. The theory of the nucleus atom is likewise of fundamental importance in spectroscopy. The work of Rutherford and others leaves no escape from the conclusion that the nucleus of the atom is a concen- trated group of positive charges and electrons, with an excess of positive elementary charges approxi- mately equal to half the atomic weight, while the same number of electrons circulate about the nucleus in rings. The spectroscopist must try to fit his theories to these probable facts, but he is met at the outset with apparently insuperable difficulties in accounting for the stability of such atoms and for the manifold complexity of spectra according to accepted electrodynamical laws. Bohr cut the Gordian knot by supposing that the classic laws apply only to con- ditions of stability, when no energy is radiated, and that radiation attends the transition of an electron from one state of stability to another, the frequency being determined by the relation that h multiplied by the frequency is equal to the difference between the energies of the system in the two stable states. In the case of hydrogen, to which he assigns one radiating electron and one nucleus charge, it is diffi- cult to account for the existence of so many stable possible after the end of the war, and that the | states, for the failure to radiate while subject to | uniform radial acceleration, and for monochromatic radiation while passing between two positions of stability. Nevertheless, Bohr derived an expression | like that of Rydberg which locates accurately not only the Balmer series, but also an infra-red and an ultra- | violet series predicted by Ritz and found by Paschen | 1 Address delivered to Section B—Physics—of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the New York meeting, December, ro16 by the chairman of the Section, Prof. E. P. Lewis. 116 NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 and by Lyman, respectively. His attempt to apply the same method to helium led to results which are still in dispute, and will be’ referred to later. In reviewing recent progress we may begin with that field in which the United States has taken a leading part—that of astrophysics. This domain belongs as much to the physicist as to the astronomer. The heavenly bodies are laboratories on a vast scale, in which nature has provided conditions of temperature, pressure and electrical state which we may never hope to rival on the earth. The spectroscope gives us data from which ,it may be possible to form some idea of these conditions by comparison with our feeble labora- tory imitations of celestial phenomena, and conversely, the latter may aid in the interpretation of terrestrial phenomena. One of the most fruitful astronomical applications of the spectroscope is to the determination of veloci- ties in the line of sight, by the Doppler-Fizeau prin- ciple. A large mass of such data has been collected, from which some important generalisations have been derived. For example, Campbell has determined the velocity and direction of motion of the solar system through space, and has found a remarkable and as yet unexplained relation between the velocities of stars and their apparent age, the redder and presumably older stars and a class of nebule having in general the greater velocities. It likewise appears that two immense star streams are crossing each other in the Milky Way. Many spectroscopic binaries have been discovered and their orbits determined, and recently there have been found remarkable displacements and rotations in nebule which may throw some light on the nature, and destiny of these bodies. The spectro- scope has enabled astronomers to undertake the am- bitious task of tracing the course of stellar evolution. The most ingenious and fruitful device for studying the sun is the spectroheliograph, invented by Hale in 1892. With this instrument photographs of the dis- tribution of a given constituent of the solar atmosphere may be obtained by restricting the light falling on the photographic plate to the wave-length of one of the characteristic lines of the element. The configura- tion of the hydrogen clouds in the neighbourhood of sunspots led Hale to suspect vortical motions in such regions. In 1908 the study of a number of plates, which showed that hydrogen flocculi were actually drawn into these spots from great distances, proved without question that sunspots are cyclonic areas of enormous extent. Thus the long-disputed question as to the nature of sunspots was answered, but this was not all. Vapours which emit or absorb line spectra are ionised, and as the more mobile electrons would diffuse more rapidly to higher levels than the positive ions, Hale inferred that the immense whirls of electrified vapours in the neighbourhood of the spots must cause a radial magnetic field. If such fields are sufficiently intense, the longitudinal Zeeman effect should be produced. As a matter of fact, the spectrum of light from the spots is characteristically different from that of the surrounding photosphere, one of these peculiarities being the doubling of many lines. As Hale anticipated, an examination of the state of polarisation of such lines showed them to be circularly polarised, and the direction indicated that the whirling vapour was negatively electrified. Hale likewise sought for the more minute effects which might be expected from the rotation of the solar atmosphere as a whole. A study of the breadth of spectral lines at different latitudes and the detection of traces of circular polarisation at their edges showed that the sun possesses a magnetic field with polarity corresponding to that of the earth, but of much greater intensity. Although the atmospheric conditions on the earth are very different from those on the sun, NO. 2475, VOL. 99] it is possible that these investigations may assist us in solving the baffling problem of the earth’s mag- netism. One of the most impressive facts revealed by the spectroscope is the substantial identity of constitution of the heavenly bodies. Everywhere we find evidence of the existence of such elements as hydrogen, sodium, calcium, and iron. differences in the appearance of the lines, which we must attribute to differences of temperature, vapour density, pressure and electrical condition. It is sug- gestive to find that the spectrum of some stars re- sembles that of the arc, of others that of the spark. We may hope by comparing the spectra of these’ bodies with those produced in our laboratories under varied conditions to reach some conclusions regarding their physical state. The Mount Wilson physical labora- tory is doing much valuable work‘of this kind. — In the spectra of the solar corona and of nebulz and nebulous stars certain lines are found which do not belong to known elements. This need not indi- cate any fundamental differences between the life- history of such bodies and that of the older stars. Twenty-five years ago Lockyer’s views regarding the dissociation of elements in the stars were treated with levity by most physicists and astronomers. To-day such notions are held to be quite rational. The more elementary forms of matter would naturally be of small atomic weight, and hence would diffuse to higher levels than the heavier elements, and might ultimately escape into space. If it were not for the fact that it is held captive in‘ chemical combinations, we should know nothing of hydrogen. Helium first revealed itself to us through its solar lines, and would still be otherwise unknown to us were it not for its continuous production in radioactive processes. ‘The elements giving the spectra of the corona and of the nebulz are presumably of small atomic weight, and are possibly the units out of which more complex known elements are built, in later stages of develop- ment; or they may be, conversely, the results of the disintegration of such elements. It is not impossible that in the future we may detect traces of these elements on the earth or manufacture them by some powerful disintegrative process. Meanwhile, deduc- tions from known relations between frequencies ’ of the spectral lines, their breadth, and the atomic weight of the elements may give us some clue to their atomic weights. Nicholson has succeeded in constructing hypothetical atoms with given nuclear charges and electron ring systems which give with remarkable accuracy the positions of the lines of the corena and nebulez. Rayleigh showed from kinetic theory and Michelson proved experimentally that at low pressures the width of lines may be entirely due to Doppler displacements, which vary ‘directly as the square root of the absolute temperature and inversely as the square root of the atomic weight. Buisson and Fabry have verified this law and applied it to the study of nebula. The width of certain lines, deter- mined from the limit of interference, indicates that the temperature of the Orion nebula is about 15,000 degrees, and that two groups of lines are due to atoms of weights 2-72 and between 1 and 2 respectively. This is a remarkable confirmation of Nicholson’s previous conclusion that the emission centres are of, atomic weights 2-95 and 1-31. During the past ten years the boundaries of the known spectrum have been greatly extended in both directions. The difficulties of investigation in the infra-red ‘are very great, but by the methods of reststrahlen and of focal isolation Rubens, working - in succession with Nichols, Wood and von Baeyer, has isolated and measured certain regions of great wave-length. The longest wave-length measured is But we also find an infinitude of — we Se Ye Apa 5, 1917] NATURE 117 03 mm., while the shortest Hertzian waves so obtained are 2 mm. long. The study of line radia- n . this region is even more difficult, but Paschen I, the American Randall, have succeeded Many lines extending to about 90,000 from Sante. the ultra-violet Lyman has extended the region made known to us by Schumann to a wave- 2 of about’ 600 Angstrém units. t it is di 0, on account of absorption, the photographic plate, and all ‘reflecting power of speculum metal. Gratings ; et silicon and photoelectric detectors may enable to bridge the. gap between these waves and the ct shorter ones which may be examined with the ay. eas rin: e made the study of X-ray spectra possible. __ Of all the discoveries of recent years, that of the Wave nature ee the X-rays and of a practical method examining their spectra is the most remarkable and the most important, for it has revealed to us the most fundamental radiations of the elements and has _us a glimpse into the very heart of the atom. n quick succession Laue and his pupils demonstrated diffraction effects produced by crystals, the Braggs how reflection might be employed to isolate “of. different lengths by a principle similar to al colours of thin plates, but of far greater ivi iad power by reason of the greater number of tive reflecting surfaces, and Moseley photographed ny P aiaracteristic tra by an_ extraordinarily aple method. He found that the principal lines in he spectra ofa large number of elements were con- sted by a remarkably simple relation, namely that Foc apeit roots of the frequencies are proportional the ordinal numbers, which increase by one in wh +1 w oe ‘th When there are anomalies between the atomic t and the place of an element in a group, this ¢ disappears when the atomic number rather atomic weight is considered. This work pa extended by others, notably by Siegbahn Spee to include nearly all the known elements een sodium and uranium, inclusive, with the ‘that all the atomic numbers between hydrogen uranium are accounted for, with the exception of Six aoe As interpreted by Bohr’s theory, the ordinal umber which determines the frequency is the excess number of positive elementary charges in the nucleus, and these results are, therefore, in complete harmony vith the theory of the nuclear atom developed by herford, van den Broek, Soddy, and others. The parison, of the X-ray spectrum of lead obtained by iegbahn with the gamma-ray spectrum of radium B obtained by Rutherford and Andrade shows the iden- y of ten of the principal lines. This strikingly con- ism among accepted theory of isotopes, or elements of -atomic weights, which are chemically and etroscopically alike beause they have the same re- ultant nuclear charge. — > The positions of the principal lines are consistent with Bohr’s general formula, but~ perhaps this rela- tionship is purely formal. But whether or not this theory applies, apparently we cannot dispense with he tum. In addition to the character- > X-radiation of an element, there is a continuous m, with a sharply defined boundary on the side horter wave-leneths. The investigations of Duane, Haltand D. L. Webster have shown that this boundary s. accurately defined by Einstein’s relation Ve=hv Fagan up to 110,000 volts. Such a simple law -not hold for the characteristic radiations; but sbster has shown that they do not appear until the tage somewhat exceeds that demanded by the Ein- NO. 2475, VOL. 99] Beyond this | of, nature’s diffraction gratings, crystals which ing from one number of a periodic group to the. stein relation. The longest X-waves so far discovered. | by Siegbahn are about 12 Angstrém units in length, so that there is not a very great gap between them. and the shortest waves discovered by Lyman. The | investigation of this region is diffi edly means will be. found to attain success. Much | also remains to be done in the study of details of X-ray spectra, which contain many weak lines, and. possibly bands, which have not so far been carefully examined, During the past ten years great advance has been made in our knowledge of spectral series. Rydberg, Ritz, Paschen, Fowler and others have shown that a generalised form of the Balmer equation, with Ryd- berg’s universal constant and a few special constants, is capable of wide application. Different combinations of a few constants have been found to give a number of related series, and many new lines so predicted have been found. The common limit and other numerical, relationships between different series of the same element indicates that the different emission centres have some dynamic coupling and Rydberg’s universal. constant indicates a structural element common to all. substances. According to Bohr, this quantity is a. function of the electronic and atomic mass, the ele- mentary electrical. charge, and the wirkungsquantum_ h, and should slightly increase with increasing atomic weight. As it is-commonly assumed that it is an, absolute constant, careful measurements may furnish. a test of the validity of Bohr’s theory. The relationships of frequency to atomic number. found by Moseley. recalls that Ramage, Watts, Runge- and Precht and Hicks have found linear relationships- between the squares of the atomic weights and the frequencies or. frequency differences of homologous lines in the spectra of elements of the same group. Ives and Stuhlmann have shown that in some cases. the results are improved by substituting atomic numbers for atomic weights, but the relationship is: evidently not so simple as in the case of X-ray spectra., The discovery of the Zeeman effect and the ex- planation of its simpler forms by Lorentz was the first step toward a rational spectroscopic theory. The later discovered complexities and anomalies, while they may defy mathematical analysis, do not lessen our con- fidence in the theory, for they are what we might expect as a result of complicated atomic structure. _, The same intellectual satisfaction does not attend the: discovery of the analogous effect of an electric field, because the simplest cases are so complex that they cannot be adequately explained by any theory yet proposed. The possibility of such an effect had long been the subject of speculation, but Stark was the first to realise and attain the necessary conditions for its occurrence. Lo-Surdo also discovered it in the neighbourhood of the cathode in.capillary tubes. As in the case of the Zeeman effect, the phenomena are different when viewed transversely and parallel to the field. In each case the lines are split into a number of components, the number being different for different lines, even for those belonging to the ‘same series. In the transverse effect the components are plane- polarised in hydrogen and helium, the stronger central lines. vibrating at right angles to the field; and the stronger outer components vibrating parallel to, the. field. A remarkable relation is found for the. series. lines of hydrogen, helium and lithium. For each the number of principal normal components appears to, be equal to the ordinal number of the line in the series. | Higher dispersion shows that'in the-case of hydrogen. each component is. double. If this rule holds. good: throughout the series, the last known line, the twenty-- eighth, would have fifty-six such components, an equal number polarised at right angles to these, and a t, but undoubt- © 11s NATURE (APRIL ‘5, “1917 number of weaker components of ‘both kinds—truly a formidably complicated system. In general, the longi- tudinal components appear to be unpolarised, although Miss Howell has found some anomalies with lithium and calcium. In some cases the components are un- symmetrical both in position and in intensity. Of all the other elements investigated, mercury alone shows a slight broadening. It might be expected that the great nuclear charges of heavy atoms would diminish the effect of an external field. The inverse absorption effect has so far not been observed. Long before the Stark effect was observed Voigt showed that such results might be expected from quasi- elastic forces in the atom and the stresses produced by the field. Schwarzschild has attempted to explain it by the ordinary laws of electrodynamics, and War- burg, Gehrcke, Garbasso and Bohr by Bohr’s theory. Each attempt was successful in some respects, but each failed to account fully for all the components, their displacements and their state of polarisation, and all the theories assign the same number of components to each line of a series, whereas one of the most significant features is the progressive difference in number of components, displacements and relative in- tensities in passing from one line to another. Stark not only rejects them all, but is led by his study of the phenomenon to abandon finally the quantum and light-cell theories, because he considers that he has proved that the greatest possible energy which an electron can acquire in its orbit falls far short of one energy quantum. Moreover, he argues that it seems impossible to explain the phenomenon in terms of Bohr’s one electron. He concludes that a number of electrons must take part in the emission of a single line, each having the same frequency under ordinary conditions or in a magnetic field, but different fre- quencies when displaced unsymmetrically in an electric field. It is difficult, however, to understand why hydrogen has only one detachable electron if Stark’s view is correct. It has already been mentioned that at low pres- sures the width of lines may be ascribed entirely to the Doppler effect. The great broadening at higher pressures has never been explained, but it has been assumed that damping, collisions and rotations all play a part. Stark suggests that it may be largely due to atomic electric fields, which may exercise a large influence when the atoms are crowded together. It seems significant that the broadening increases with the ordinal number of a line in a series, is often un- symmetrical, and diminishes with increasing atomic weight in most cases, quite in harmony with the effects of an electric field. Nicholson and Merton have found that the broadening of hydrogen lines is in quantitative agreement with Stark’s suggestion. With changes in vapour density, pressure, tempera- ture or the mode of excitation lines belonging to one series may weaken or disappear, other lines may be strengthened, and new lines may appear. We must assume that different groups of lines are due to different emission centres. These differences must depend upon the size of the particles, or upon the number and arrangement of electrons. Any theory must take account of the molecular or atomic state or the elec- trical charge of the emission centres. In some cases we have rather definite information on these points. A number of elements emit band spectra under some conditions, line spectra under others. Oné conclusion which seems to be well established is that band spectra are emitted by molecules, line spectra by atoms. Universally, we find that compounds give band spectra, never line spectra. If a compound is dissociated by the discharge the line spectrum of one or both con- stituents appears. Elements give band spectra with feeble excitation, line spectra when the discharge is NO. 2475, VOL. 99] so intense as to cause dissociation. It seems reason- able to infer that the band spectra of elements is lilke- Wise associated with the molecular condition. In the case of monatomic elements which give both band and line spectra electrical conditions must determine the nature of the radiation. (To be continued.) UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. THE war has brought women students into pro- minence in Germany. They form a third of the actual number of students in residence at the twenty-— two universities of the Empire, and one-tenth of the total number of registered students. During the winter of 1916-17 there were more women than men at several German universities, e.g. Marburg and Minster; in Bonn, Frankfurt, Munich, Heidelberg, and Jena the women formed half the _ students, while they were in a minority at Strassburg, Leipzig, Breslau, and Giessen. Altogether, there were 5757 women undergraduates at the German uni- versities during the last term, distributed as follows :— Literature and history, 2789; mathematics and science, 1036; medicine, 1479; dentistry, 64; economics and agriculture, 225; law, 116; Protestant theology, 18; and pharmacy, 30. THE committee appointed to consider arrangements for post-graduate teaching in the Calcutta University has, we learn from the Pioneer Mail, presented a report dealing exhaustively with that subject. In summing up the recommendations the committee states that the proposals, in the main, amount to the acceptance of two fundamental principles: (a) an intimate association and co-operation between the college and the university staffs is imperative in the interest of all concerned and of the development of higher teaching; (b) it is necessary to constitute a suitable organisation within which. the teachers will be enabled by discussion among themselves efficiently to conduct the teaching and examination of graduates. Beyond this, says the report, the committee has been unable to go and has refrained from commenting on the wider problems which confront the University. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON, Royal Society. March 22.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- dent, in the chair.—J. C. Mottram and Dr. S. Russ: Observations and experiments on the susceptibility and immunity of rats towards Jensen’s rat sarcoma. Observations have been made upon the modes of growth of Jensen’s rat sarcoma following inoculation. There is a graduai transition from those cases in which the tumours spontaneously disappear to those in which they grow in a uniformly progressive manner. The experimental production of the immune condition can be brought about in several ways. Animals made refractory to the growth of the tumour. have been- given various doses of X-rays; the effect of such irradiation upon the blood was to cause a marked reduction in the number of lymphocytes. Over suit- able conditions of exposure it has been possible to destroy the immune condition and thus convert refrac- tory into tumour-bearing animals. There is a tendency for the immune condition to be restored. Histological and other evidence is brought forward which indicates that the failure of sarcoma cells to grow in an immune animal is due to ‘an active resistance thereto on the part of the host.—S. Pickering : Problems bearing on residual affinity. It has been ascertained that the E APRIL 5, 1917] NATURE 119 ali metals, like the other metals previously ined, form metallo compounds isomeric with ial salts, and that, therefore, these metals may assume a valency higher than that usually exhibited by them. A class of compounds intermediate between the metallo and normal salts also exists. These are termed metallato compounds. The possibility of most metals, other than carbon and hydrogen, assuming a valency value higher than that usually exhibited by them is shown to explain (i) the constancy in the heat of substitution of CH, for H as contrasted with want of constancy in the case of the substitution of OH or _ Ci for H; (ii) the fact that the heat of neutralisation of organic acids is lower than that of inorganic acids, -and exhibits certain. distinctive features when only partially effected; (iii) that all true acids must contain bly linked oxygen atom, and that the apparent ytions to the constancy of the heat of neutralisa- ‘are due to the acid not being a true acid; (iv) that the so-called normal salts of the alkali metals with organic acids are strongly alkaline, and that those with inorganic acids are feebly so ; (v) that the usual method of titration of an acid by an alkali, as well as the precipitation of the acid or base by usual methods, fails in the presence of an organic acid; (vi) that the actual value of the heat of neutralisation constant can ee Prot. E. Wilson and Prof. J. W. Nicholson: Residual magnetism in relation to magnetic ‘shielding. (i) The paper contains a further contribu- tion to the study of the problems presented by the “necessity for constructing a magnetic shield capable of reducing the earth’s field to an order as low as ooo C.G.S. unit in a large space. The’main problem not treated in earlier papers is that of residual mag- “netism in the various shells of the shield, and ‘this ‘problem is discussed in connection’ with exhaustive experiments in the presenc paper. (ii) It is found that the ordi process of demagnetisation of a mass of ‘iron fails to be completely effective if, during the operation of the current which is diminished by steps ‘and continually reversed, a constant magnetic field ‘such as that of the earth is present at the same time. ‘This phenomenon has escaped notice hitherto, probably On account of the smallness of the earth’s field, but ‘it becomes prominent in experimental work involving the measurement of fields so small as that specified in (i). (iii) This effect of the steady magnetic field is shown to be associated with a reversal of the residual an of hysteresis in iron when tested in the earth’s field by currents lying within a certain range in which they approximately annul the field. (iv) It has been found possible to ensure complete removal of irregular ' polarisation or previous magnetic history of the shells, provided that during the preliminary demagnetisation of the shells the earth’s steady field on them is annulled by a steady current of suitable amount enclosing the “whole shield. (v) The well-known fact that iron, polarised by a large force, and afterwards tested for ?p bility at a lower force. shows diminished per- “meability at the lower force, gives, in combination With these results, an interpretation of the increase of a bility manifested by iron wher tested within a “magnetic shield.—Dr. S. Chapman : The solar and lunar diurnal variations of terrestrial magnetism. _ Zoological Society, March 20.—Dr. A. Smith Wood- “ward, vice-president, in the chair.—E. P. Allis, Jr. : ‘The prechordal portion of the chondrocranium of “Chimaera colliei—D. M. S. Watson: A_ sketch- classification ot the pre-Jurassic Tetrapod vertebrates. ‘The classification introduced in this paper is founded ‘n a detailed consideration of all parts of the skeleton " of such old amphibia and reptiles as are at all well ‘iknown. In previous papers the author has analysed the features presented by many of these forms, dis- _ tinguishing between those which are common to all NO. 2475, VOL. 99] early reptiles and those which are restricted to definite stocks, the latter being divided into those dependent on “‘adaptive radiation ’’ and the more fundamental characters, especially those of the brain-case and ear, which are not to be correlated with any ial mode of life. These non-adaptive characte-s, which appear ™ typical forms even in early members of a stock, serve for the ordinal and superordinal grouping, adaptive changes being used for groups of lower order and the gradual loss of primitive structures giving horizontal dividing lines, Dustin. - Royal Dublin Society, March 27.—Prof. Hugh Ryan in the chair.—Prof. W. Brown : The change in Young’s modulus of nickel with magnetic fields. The change is smaller for alternating than for direct longitudinal magnetic fields. With transverse magnetic fields, both direct and alternating, the Young’s modulus first increases, then decreases; and the magnetic field in which the maximum value occurs is smaller the greater the constant load on the nickel wire. ; Paris. Academy of Sciences, February 26.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—E. Ariés: The entropy of perfect yases at the absolute zero of temperature. The entropy at the absolute temperature is not — ©, but fs in the indeterminate form of two infinite quantities of opposite signs. It is shown that for a gram-mole- cule of a solid, the increase in the entropy, when vaporising entirely at a low temperature as a perfect gas, tends towards the gas constant R, as the tem- perature approaches the absolute zero.—P. Vuillemin : Eurotium amstelodami, supposed parasite of man.— Henri Lecomte was elected a member of the section of botany, in the place of the late Ed. Prillieux.—G. Julia: Binary forms of any degree.—P. Gaubert: A new property of sphzrolites.—L. Gentil: The Upper Marine Miocene of West Algeria.—M. Stuart-Menteath : The interior basins of the Pyrenees.—M. Miége: New attempts at the disinfection of the soil. The anti- septics used included toluene, carbon bisulphide, hy- drogen peroxide, lysol, formol, potassium perman- ganate, copper sulphate, sulphur, bleaching powder, and wood charcoal. In large-scale experiments, tolu- ene and carbon bisulphide proved the most efficacious, as regards both increased yield and the health of the plants.—M. Weinberg and P. Séguim: Study on gas gangrene. B. oedematiens and anti-oedematiens serum. : i March 5.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.— A, Lacroix: The phonolitic rocks of Auvergne. A delicate case of interpretation of the chemical composition of felspathoid rocks.—G, Bigourdan - Some seventeenth-century | observatories in the provinces. Historical details are given of La Fléche, Le Maurier, Loudun, and Arles.—G. Giraud: Hyper- fuchsian functions and systems of total differential equations.—E. Cotten: Characteristic number and radius of convergence.—R: de Montessus de Ballore - Left algebraic curves.—E. Belot: The possible réle of volcanoes in the production of meteorites.—J. Guillaume: Observations of the sun made at the Observatory of Lyons during the fourth quarter of 1916. Observations were made on sixty-four days during the quarter, and the results are given in tables showing the number of spots, their distribution in latitude, and the distribution of the faculz in lati- tude.—A. Berget: A differential refractometer for | measuring the salinity of sea-water. The two liquids 5 getunienins to be compared are placed in a rectangular box separated into two parts by a diagonal glass parti- tion. An image of a slit, after passage through this double prism, is focussed in a microscope, and the 120 NATURE [APRIL 5, 1917 displacement of the image measured by a micrometer eyepiece. Densities can be indirectly determined by this refractometer to the fifth decimal figure with great rapidity——L. Abonnenc: The laws of flow of liquids by drops in cylindrical tubes. Vaillant has shown that .when a liquid falls in drops from the orifice of a cylindrical tube the weight of a drop 4s a parabolic function of the frequency of fall. An extension of these experiments to tubes of less than 2 mm. external diameter is given.—P. Gaubert: The rotatory power of liquid crystals.—-A. Guilliermond ; Vital observations of the chondriome of the flower of the tulip.—C. Vincent: The forms of phosphorus in Breton granitic soils. The amount’ of phosphorus found in these soils will be underestimated if the method of extraction by strong mineral acids is used in the analysis. ‘The organic phosphorus present in the humus may amount'to 50 per cent. of the total phosphorus, and this explains the effects of liming these soils. From these results a’rational method of manuring is deduced.—M. Herlant : The variations of the volume of the nucleus of the egg rendered active by butyric acid.—J. Effront: Achrodextrinase. Certain species of B.mesentericus, cultivated in a nitro- genous medium, secrete a diastase liquefying starch. The hydrolysis of starch by this ferment was studied in -comparative — experiments with malt extract, ptyalin, and pancreatic amylase. The behaviour of the mesenteric amylase was distinctive, and the name achrodextrinase is proposed for it. .Some _ practical applications in the textile industry and in the Jaundry are suggested.—M. Marage: Arterial pressure in cases of deafness caused by shell shock. Eighty-two per cent. of the cases examined showed arterial pressure above the normal, and insomnia generally accom- panied the hypertension. The pains in the head, usual in these cases, do not appear to be connected with the arterial pressure. The best treatment is d’Arsonvalisation.—M. Lautier : The treatment of cases of war-deafness: The Marage method is easy to apply, generally useful, and never harmful. Its general. employment in these cases is strongly re- commended.—M. Rappin: Antituberculous vaccina- tion. BOOKS RECEIVED. British Wild Flowers: Their Haunts and Associa- tions. By W.. Graveson. Pp. xv+320+plates 1. (London : Headley Bros.) 7s. 6d, net. The Tutorial Chemistry. By Prof. G. H. Bailey. ‘Part ii., Metals ‘and Physical Chemistry. Third edition. "Pp. viii+460. (London: University Tutorial Press, Ltd.) 4s. 6d. Météorologie du Brésil. By C. M. Delgado de Carvalho. Pp. xix+525. (London: John Bale, Ltd.) 25s. net. Chemistry for ‘Beginners. By C. T. ‘Kingzett. Pp. vi+106. (London: Bailliére, Tindall, and Cox.) 2s. 6d. net. Contributions to Embryology. Vol. iv.) “Nos, ‘10, II, 12, 13. Pp. 106+plates iv. (Washington: Car- negie Institution.) Carnegie Institution of Washington. Year book, No. 15. Pp. xii+404. (Washington: Carnegie Institution.) Studies on the Variation, Distribution, and Evolu- tion of the Genus Partula. The Species inhabiting Tahiti. By Prof, H. E. Crampton. Pp. 311+34 plates. (Washington: Carnegie Institution.) X Rays. By Dr. G.-W..C. Kaye. Second ‘edition, with illustrations. Pp. xxi+28s. mans and Co.) 9s. ‘net. Electrical Laboratory Course. By Dr. M. Maclean. Pp. "120. (London: Blackie and Son, Ltd.) 2s. net. NO. 2475, VOL. 99] (London: Long- By A. D.. Darbishire. A Short System of’ Qualitative’ Analysis. | By Dr. R. M. Caven. Pp. viii+162. (London: Blackie and Son, Ltd.) 2s. The Chemists’ Year Book. Edited by F. W. Atack, assisted by L. Whinyates. 2 vols. Pp. 1030 (London and Manchester: Sherratt and Hughes.) Studies in Insect Life, and other Essays. A. E. Shipley. Pp. ix +338. (London : Unwin, Ltd.) ros. 6d. net. An Introduction to a Biology, and other ‘Papers. Pp. Xvili +291. mn: Cassell and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. The Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid’and Alkali, with the Collateral Branches. By Prof. G. Lunge. ‘Fourth edition. Supplement to Vol. i., ‘Sulphuric and Nitric Acid. Pp. xii+347. (London: Gurney and Jackson.) — 15s. net. Bill’s School and Mine: a Collection of Essays on Education. By W. S. . Franklin. Second edition. Pp. vii+roz. (South Bethlehem, Pa.: Franklin, ‘By Prof. H. F. McNutt, and Charles.) 1 dollar. (New York: American Book Co.) T.. ‘Bisher Geology : Physical and Historical. Cleland. Pp. 718. 3.50 dollars. _ DIARY OF ‘SOCIETIES, THURSDAY, Aprit 12. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Nyleaves : a pie at Opticat Society, at 8.—light Filters for Eye Protection : Dr GA —Accuracy of Observation and Precision in Measurement Carse.—Some Methods of Analysi:g Lens Systems: S. D. Chalmers.—A _ Simple Proof of the Expre-sion for the Focal Power nF a Thick Lens» Cc. Cochrane. FRIDAY, Aprit 13- ‘RovaAL ASTRONOMICAL SCCIETY, at 5. CONTENTS. PAGE The Teaching of Physiology. By Prof." W.. M. MBaylise si .R:S. 305005. 6 Sc ee 101 Some Mathematical Text- books ofp Rothe tha cane einer 102 Gur Bookshelf... .. 1s SE 103 Letters to the Editor:— British Optical: Science.—James Weir French . 103 Floating Earths.—Dr. Cecil H. Desch . _ 104 Gravitation and Thermodynamics. — Sir. ‘Oliver : Lodge, F.R.S.; Dr. George W. Todd Thermionic Detectors in Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony. The Indian Science Congress. ig F. L. U, 18 my Notes : Pptaabere Bares i 109 Our Astronomical Column :— Fr Comet-ror7a(Mellish) ©. 2... 4 .. SHI D? Atrést’s Periodic Comet ./. 2) eee ieee 12 Bright Meteors in'March : .-. “5-4 Soe ea ee 112 Photographs of Jupiter...) S.Go eae 112 The Institution of Naval Architects. .°...... 113 British Filter-Papers +. ele aie tee ecean ones aan Compulsory Continuation Classes . . 114 Recent Progress in Spectroscopy. By Prof. E. P. ; Lewis .. og Sind RL University and Educational Intelligence ong: eee eee societies. and: Academies . . .. 25.72 6 aa ee ee 118 meouue Received: =... . es 120 Diaty of Societiés °°. a eee 120 Editorial and Publishing Offices: ; MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2 — Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the Publishers. } Editorial Communications to the Ediior. Telegraphic Address: Telephone ‘Number : Puusis, LONDON. -GERRARD 8830. By Dr. (With Diagrams.) ‘ bid ; MATURE 12] =» ~ THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1917. aS BY r ; F __ TWENTIETH-CENTURY CHEMISTRY. Chemical Discovery and Invention in the Twen- _ tieth Century. By Sir William A. Tilden. Pp. _ xvi+487. (London: George Routledge and _ Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. net. # fey book is an attempt to make clear to the general reader the nature of the work of the chemist. That ubiquitous person known as the “man in the street ’’ probably considers that he already knows, at least in general terms, what that work is. The business of a chemist, he would probably say, is to vend tooth-brushes, sponges, photographic appliances, perfumes, and other “leading lines,’’ drugs and poisons, and to make up prescriptions. He might add that _ the chemist is a person who seeks to combine the pretensions of a profession with the instincts of a shopkeeper. The object of Sir William Tilden’s book is to show that there are chemists and chemists. What our friend the “man in the street’’ regards as _a chemist is, strictly speaking, an apothecary or a pharmacist, and his business nowadays has little or nothing to do with that of the chemist properly so called. There was a time when the _ two occupations had much in common. We owe to the labours of old-time apothecaries, especially in Scandinavia, France, and Germany, many notable advances in chemical knowledge, but leaders in chemical science in this-eountry were, until a couple of generations ago, for the most part cultured persons of leisure and position, like Boyle, Hales, and Cavendish, or connected with teaching, like Black, Priestley, and Dalton. If _ the records of chemical discovery are searched, it will be found that the apothecaries in this country, unlike their fellows on the Continent, have contributed comparatively little to the common stock of chemical knowledge. _ It is not our present purpose to indicate the _ reasons for their comparative neglect of a science _ which constitutes the very basis of the business _ of pharmacy, or to show why so little advantage _ is taken by apothecaries, as a class, of the oppor- _ tunity it affords them for chemical inquiry. One ' reason, perhaps, may be found in the very dif- _ ferent professional position which the apothecary holds in this country as compared with his Con- _ tinental brother. But, be this as it may, our _ immediate point is to insist that our apothecaries _ have no moral claim to the title of chemist—a title, by the way, never assumed by their Con- _ tinental brethren, in spite of their superior pro- - fessional status. But, although this confusion in the public mind _ as to the true vocation of the chemist is practic- _ ally widespread, passing events have served some- _what to enlighten it. The newspapers have _ taught it that a chemist is a person concerned _ also with high explosives, noxious gases, dyes _ and certain drugs which the soi-disant chemist NO. 2476, VOL. 99] is unable to prepare. The. “man.in the street ”’ had begun to recognise, even before the advent of Sir William Tilden’s book, that there are chemists and chemists—chemists whose sole con- cern is, or should be, with pills, potions, and plasters ; and chemists who have merely a vicarious interest in these things, and then only as members of a suffering humanity. This growing recogni- tion of the divergent aims of chemists is mean- while somewhat unsettling; it is confusion worse confounded. The simplest way to end it would be to amend the Pharmacy Act of 1868, or take some other steps to induce the druggists and pharmacists to drop their assumption of the title of chemist. Pending such a consummation, we commend the book under review to the general attention of the public. A perusal of its interesting pages will serve to dispel any lingering doubts as to the proper function of a chemist. The author, in a short but suggestive introductory chapter, rapidly traces the change in the public atti- tude towards science, and in particular chem- istry, as an instrument of education. In spite of checks and hindrances due to conservatism and the opposition of vested interests, the record as a whole makes cheerful reading. Steady progress has been made during the past three or four decades, and the movement is progressing at an accelerated rate, largely through the impetus given to it by the crisis through which this country is passing. It is this circumstance which renders the publication of Sir William Tilden’s book so opportune. The lesson it seeks to convey is of the highest national importance. The author’s greatest difficulty is how best to convey it. The theme is lofty and inspiring, but the material is vast and complicated, and it has re- quired no small degree of skill and judgment to present it in an orderly and systematic manner, not overcharged with technicalities, and yet free from the ambiguities and loose statements of so- called popular writing. In this respect we think the author has been successful. There are, of course, certain sections which the lay reader who has lost the student-habit may have some little difficulty in grappling with. Questions of chemical constitution and representations of structural formule are, of course, beyond the range of even a well-educated man of to-day. Nevertheless, the author makes no assumption of previous knowledge on the part of his reader, but, with the skill of an experienced expositor, gradually builds up a presentation that with a little patient application becomes perfectly intelli- ible. 5s The main body of the work is divided into four parts. Part i. deals with chemical laboratories and the work done in them. The laboratories are classified as laboratories for general teaching and laboratories for special purposes. As types of the first class the author enumerates all the more important laboratories at home and abroad, and selects for special description the chemical labora- tories of the Imperial» College of Science and H I22 NATURE [APRIL 12, 1917 Technology at South Kensington, the Royal Col- lege of Science for Ireland, the Universities of Harvard, Illinois, and of Sydney, Australia, and gives photographs of their respective elevations and internal arrangements. As types of labora- tories for special purposes he describes, with illus- trations, those of the Brewing School of the University of Birmingham, of the Manchester Municipal School of Technology, and of the Berlin Technical High School. A _ full account is given of the appointments and work of the Government Laboratory in Clement’s Inn Passage, with numerous illustrations of the special ap- paratus employed there, as well as a digest of one of the annual reports of the Chief Chemist as illustrating the great variety of chemical work now needed by the Government. This section concludes with a short account of certain instru- ments and apparatus, with particular reference to the most recent appliances and developments. ' Part ii., comprising ten chapters, extending in all over 125 pages, deals with modern chemical discoveries and theories. A short sketch of the history of chemistry and of the development of its principles occupies about a dozen pages. This is necessarily highly condensed—a mere apercu done with the lightest possible touch. But no significant feature is left unnoticed, although some of the most momentous of new departures are dismissed in a dozen lines. The exigencies of his subject—chemical discovery and invention in the twentieth century—-together with limitations of space, have, no doubt, imposed what at first sight seems a certain want of proportion in the treat- ment of the subject-matter. The lay reader who desires to realise what is the work of the chemist is really as much concerned with the broad funda- mental truths upon which the science rests as he is with electrons and isotopes. But Sir William Tilden presumably has had to conform to the title imposed upon him by the circumstance of a companion volume under a somewhat similar title, and what his reader may lose in chap. iv. he gains abundantly in the rest of this particular series. In some eight or nine chapters he is treated to a full and clear description of those discoveries which have already made this epoch one of the most remarkable—perhaps the most remarkable up to now—in the history of science. The chapters on electric discharge in gases, on the chemical elements, on the discovery and properties of radium, and on the genesis and transmutations of the elements together deal with facts and theories which have shaken the very foundations of the science, and of which the out- come is not yet. The whole story has been put together in an admirable manner, and constitutes one of the most fascinating sections of the work. Part iii. deals with the utilitarian aspects of chemistry, particularly with some of the more interesting or more important of its modern ap- plications. The mass of material to be dealt with is necessarily very large, and in spite of the severest condensation, this section is the longest NO. 2476, VOL. 99] in the book. It ranges over such diverse subjects as the modern uses of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, the luminosity of flames, the incan- descent-mantle industry, petrol, coal-tar, syn- thetic dyes and drugs, perfumes, cellulose, rubber, and explosives. This section constitutes very attractive reading. It is excellently illustrated with well-chosen photographs, and has been brought up to date as regards processes and statistical information. Within the limits of 150 pages no more illuminating or instructive account of the trend of modern chemical application could be given. It is as full of meat as an egg. The last section of the book is devoted to a comparatively short account of modern progress in organic chemistry, and considering what modern organic chemistry has become, there is probably no section which has cost the author more trouble and thought. Of course, there are whole sections of this branch of chemistry which make no appeal to a general reader. Its problems are for the most part purely academic, and are not capable of being stated in terms intelligible to the lay mind. Sir William Tilden has, there- fore, wisely confined himself to certain special sections, some of which, like that of sugar, might equally have found a place in the preceding part. Still, the subject enables a short account to be given of the chemistry of sugars in general, and of the mutual relations and constitution of the members of the several groups. Other chapters are on the proteins, enzymes, and natural colours, in which, considering the restricted space, a sound and accurate statement of present-day knowledge is given. We congratulate the author on the production of a work as useful as it is accurate and interest- ing. The book is admirably got up and excellently illustrated, and constitutes a worthy and timely addition to popular chemical literature. BRITISH PLANTS AND BOTANICAL - TERMS. (1) Illustrations of the British Flora: a Series of Wood Engravings, with Dissections, of British Plants. Drawn by W. H. Fitch, with addi- tions by W. G. Smith. Fourth (revised) edition. Pp. xvi+338. (London: L. Reeve and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price gs. net. (2) A Glossary of Botanic Terms, with their De- rivation and Accent. By Benjamin D. Jackson. Third edition. Pp. xii+427. (London: Duck- worth and Co., 1916.) Price 7s. 6d. net. (1) ee figures prepared by W. H. Fitch for the original illustrated edition of Bentham’s “Handbook of the British Flora” have become one of the traditions of British botany. Remarkably compact, and for their size admirably depicting the} important features in habit and characters of flower and fruit, they have proved one of the most widely used aids to the identification of British plants. Mr. W. G. Smith, ~ Pr ee ee ope APRIL 12, 1917] NATURE 123 _who is responsible for the additional drawings _ mecessary to bring the book more into line with _ modern requirements, is well known for his power of depicting the salient features of a plant- subject. The new edition is of a similar handy size and form to the last, but some new _ features, to which reference is made in the pre- _ face, have been added with the object of increas- ing its usefulness. These comprise the reproduc- _ tion from the “Handbook ” of an “ Arrangement _ of Natural Orders,” with some of their distin- _ guishing characteristics, and the addition of a few synonyms and the English name below the _ scientific name by which each plant is known in the “Handbook.” In the matter of arrangement and nomenclature the “Illustrations” must naturally follow the companion ‘“ Handbook,” _ which is recognised as the most conservative of the British “Floras.” But it is to be regretted _ that an opportunity has not been found for re- arrangi in both “Handbook” and “Itlustra- . tions” the system of classification so as to bring _ it more into accordance with modern views. The _ Conifers still appear as the last family of Dicotyle- dons, and the catkin-bearing families are all 4 ped under the one family Amentaceez. The _ English names are still, in many cases, those _ invented by Bentham—that is, merely translations _-of the Latin name, and in no sense popular names. _ There is evidence of want of care in proof- _ reading in such names as Anacharis Alismastrum, _Spiranthes Romazoriana, and Orchis muscula; the first is quite a new name, and it will puzzle the _ editor of a future supplement to the““Kew Index ” to know to whom it is to be credited, as the book _has no author; the names of Messrs. Fitch and _W. G. Smith appear alone on the title-page, and _ the preface is anonymous. _ (2) A new edition of Dr. Jackson’s “Glossary of Botanic Terms” is always welcome, if only _ for the opportunity which it gives a reviewer of _€xpressing on behalf of botanists generally their _ gratitude for one of the most used and useful works of reference. Apart from the tremendous labour involved in the gathering and arrangement _of the material, there is the ever-present difficulty as to what terms are to be included and what omitted. The rise and development of a new _ branch of the science, such as cecology (which Dr. _ Jackson, following botanical custom rather than orthography, cross-references to ecology), with its almost startling fecundity in new terms, must _be viewed with consternation by the compiler of a _ glossary. Dr. Jackson has steered a safe course _ between unduly increasing the size of his book 'and omitting useful references, and _ there _ are few terms, apart from those which are self- explanatory, which the botanist will not find in- _dexed and explained in the new edition of the '“Glossary.” Botanists will be surprised to hear _of the extent to which their terminology has grown ; the total numbers included by Dr. Jackson amount » to nearly 21,000, though many of these are archaic or have never been generally accepted. ' Almost any page opened at random will reveal NO. 2476, VOL. 99] | | | | | strange or little-known terms, e.g. “drusy,” a term used by one author to express the appear- ance of the stigma of Orobanche caryophyllea, while on the same page we notice four variants for the familiar “‘drip-tip” of aleaf. “ Ennobling ” is an old term for inarching; and “entrance,” the outer aperture of a stoma, seems unnecessary; as also does “equilateral,” equal-sided—one wonders what other meaning this could have even in botany. Botanists can help Dr. Jackson in two ways: by informing him of any presumed omission from his “Glossary,” and by refraining from making new terms except when necessary. There are a useful appendix on signs and abbreviations, another on the use of the terms “right” and “left,” and a bibliography, the items in which are arranged chronologically. OUR BOOKSHELF. Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Sikkim. By L. S. S. O’Malley. (Provincial Geographies of India.) Pp. xii+317. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.) Price 6s. net. THE present volume is a valuable addition to this useful series, already represented by Mr. Thur- ston’s account of Madras, and that of the Panjab by Sir J. Douie. Special difficulties prevented the earlier issue of Mr. O’Malley’s volume. While the book was under preparation the re-shuffling of boundary-lines in t1g12 resulted in the obliteration of the artificial partition set up in 1905; Assam was again made independent, while Eastern and Western Bengal were constituted into a governorship, and Bihar and Orissa became a new province. The general reader, with his attention concentrated on Calcutta and Dacca, thinks of Bengal as a land of rice and jute swamps built up by the action of the rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra, occupied by an effeminate race best known to us in Macaulay’s classical description. But all Bengal, as now constituted, is not confined to the Sundarbans and the eastern districts. There are a hilly region on the south-east and the great Himalayan chain to the north, while Bihar, with its stalwart peasantry and its wide tracts of rice, maize, wheat, and barley, presents a startling contrast to the conditions of the Delta. Of this varied region, with its physical differ- ences, its many races and castes and religions, its history, archeology, social and industrial life, Mr. O’Malley gives a valuable account, illustrated by a fine series of photographs. The book adds new life and interest to the crude facts and statistics embedded in provincial gazetteers, census and administrative reports. The universal craving for litigation, the adaptiveness of the Bengali, the intensity of his religious life shown in the growth of new sects, the Mongoloid strain appearing in the east and combined with that of the Aryan to form the people of Bihar, the old-fashioned religious and social institutions of Orissa—of all 124 NATURE | [APRIL 12, 1917 these things Mr. O’Malley gives a_ readable LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. description. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for The book is sure to be largely used in English and Indian schools and should be in the hands of every young officer posted to India, while, studied by all who are interested in the progress of the Empire, it should remove many current misapprehensions and bring to the notice of home readers some idea of the weighty and complex problems which the Civil Service, patiently and without advertisement, has hitherto solved with conspicuous success. High-speed Internal-combustion Engines. By A. W. Judge. Pp. ix+350. (London: Whit- taker and Co., 1916.) Price 15s. net. Tuis book opens with a general discussion on the thermodynamic principles involved in the proper- ties of gases and mixtures of gases, followed by a chapter descriptive of experiments on rates of com- bustion, etc., in the engine cylinder. Working cycles and the conditions occurring in actual engines are then treated; this section has a useful collection of experimental data on the losses due to different parts of the engine mechanism and to the friction of gases flowing along passages. A section on pressures and temperatures follows, and has many references to well-known experiments. Chap. v. deals with indicators and indicator diagrams, and has useful descriptions of modern high-speed _ indicators. The remaining two chapters deal with the mechanics of the engine and with balancing. The volume is intended to form a companion to one upon the design of high-speed internal- combustion engines, and possibly this explains the absence of drawings descriptive of typical engines. We should hesitate to recommend the book to students until the opportunity arises of examining the proposed companion volume. The practical engineer will not much appreciate the almost total absence of reference to brake-horse-powers, and to the special methods of measuring them which have to be adopted in high-speed motors. There are several minor blemishes. Thus on p. 1 various heat units are defined, including the British thermal unit, and omitting the Ib.-deg.-cent. heat unit; J is given as 778 foot-pounds. But the Centigrade system is employed throughout almost the whole of the book. On p. 26 the symbols M and m conflict; M appears in the text and m in the equation. On p. 69 we read the loose state- ment that “1 cubic foot of petrol would require for complete combustion . . . 45°41 cub. feet of air’’; and on the same page: “The volume of the exhaust product . . . is 14°75 Ibs.” On p. 186 work is measured in “feet-Ibs.,” and elsewhere in “foot-lbs.”’ There-are no exercises for the student to attempt for himself, but there are a few worked-out ex- amples in the text. The book, however, contains a collection of matter which cannot fail to be of service to anyone studying problems connected with. the changes occurring inside the cylinder of internal-combustion engines. NO. 2476, VOL. 99| 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 Very Penetrating Radiation in the Atmospzere. Ir is noteworthy that English physicists have taken very little interest in the progress which has been made during the last ten years in atmospheric electricity. This is the more remarkable seeing that some oi the problems are problems in pure physics, and there is little doubt that they give evidence of phenomena of fundamental importance. To take one or two examples. There can now be no doubt that the earth is giving off a constant stream of negative electricity which passes at least into the upper atmosphere, and probably into. cosmical space. Are we justified in treating this result of innumerable observations in all parts of the world as something which will be explained in due time by the old laws of physics, or should we not recognise the possibility that we have here indications of a new pro- perty of matter? The earth is a huge insulated mass of matter moving unrestrained under cosmical forces, and therefore may very well reveal a relationship be-' tween electricity and the motion of matter to which laboratory experiments could give no clue. This phenomenon is well worth the consideration of the mathematical physicists who are at present throwing- all our preconceived ideas of electricitv, mass, motion, and gravity into the melting-pot. : Then, again, it is now no longer possible to treat ball lightning as a figment of the imagination caused’ by the bewilderment due to a near lightning flash. What are these balls of light which travel and react according to no laws of physics at present known? The results of Vegard’s and Stérmer’s work on the aurora are probably too new to have attracted wide-. spread notice, but here we have indications of true radio-active radiation penetrating our atmosphere and producing the same apparent results as if the atmo- sphere were being bombarded from outside by the a radiation which is at present under investigation in our laboratories. The object of this note is to direct attention to another phenomenon of atmospheric electricity which is of first-rate physical importance. Until quite recently the most penetrating radiation capable of ionising gases of which we have know- ledge is the y radiation emitted by radio-active sub- stances. Balloon ascents, however, made in Germany just before the outbreak of war have given almost in- contestable proof of a radiation entering the atmo- sphere from above which has ten times the pene- trating power of the hardest radiation sent out from radio-active substances. The method of experiment is to carry up in a ‘balloon a metal box of 3 mm. thick brass coated on the inside with zinc and hermetically sealed. The ionisation within the box is tested at each height by means of a central electrode connected to a Wulf electroscope. It is found that the ionisation within such a box decreases at first after leaving the ground and then returns to iis original value at about 1500 metres altitude, after which it increases ravidly to the greatest height reached. The most perfect set of observations was made by Kolhdrster in June, 1914; the most perfect in the sense that his apparatus had had all the defects removed which previous ascents had revealed, and the greatest height of anv ascent was reached. The results are shown in the following table, in which q is the number of pairs of ions generated ee nS ere f Se ee eee Pe Pa ek - APRIL 12, 1917| NATURE 125 . fies. -* sec.—!) in excess of those generated in the _ same box on the Aimee ; — ee Et ee ee q Oo -I'5 12 43 93 17°2 28°7 44°2 61°3 80°4 c the decrease in the first kilometre is due to the cutting off of the penetrating radiation from the radio- _ active contents of the ground by the lower layers of the 3 atmosphere. The great increase in the ionisation from 2 km. to 9 km. is clearly shown. Br The: war has naturally put an end to further observa- * tions in balloons, but not to the search for the origin of this amazing radiation. _ In a paper published in the Elster and Geitel Fest- schrift, E, v. Schweidler discusses several possible of the radiation, only to reject them all. He first calculates the absorption coefficient of the new radia- tion, assuming that it is penetrating vertically down- wards through the atmosphere, and finds .=7-46 x 10-° em.-* and »/D=5-77 x 1o-* cm.?/ gram (the correspond- ing values for y radiation from radium being given by Rutherford as 6-0 x 10-* cm.-! and 4-6 x 10-? cm.?/gram _ respectively). Applying these values to the observa- ' tions, he finds that on the confines of the atmosphere 3 535. ions (cm.-* sec.—') would be generated in air at 4 d density. Assuming, then, that the radiation is similar to that sent out by radio-active substances, he calculates that if all the new radiation came from the sun the latter would have to possess a specific activity 170 times as great as that of pure uranium. This he considers to be a quite impossible value. _ Schweidler then considers the possibility of the _ radiation being due to a radio-active gas in the atmo- _ sphere, and shows that if the gas obeys Dalton’s law, _ the rate of increase of q with height would be entirely _ out of agreement with the observed values. The only hypothesis considered by: Schweidler which 4 As. not entirely out of agreement with the observations _is that cosmical space is filled with_a radio-active gas. The calculation shows that, straige as it may _ seem, the radiation would be independent of the density of the gas, which would only need to have a specific activity 1/1200 of that of uranium to provide the rved ionisation. Needless to state, Schweidler does not favour this latter explanation. In the Meteorologische Zeitschrift for April, 1916, Linke attempts to solve the same problem. He shows that the observations fit in very well with the ionisation which would be produced by a layer of radio-active substance spread uniformly throughout the atmosphere _a height of 20 km. _In this case the rays would not penetrate only vertically downwards, but in all direc- ms. This alters the coefficient of absorption from =7-46x10—* cm.-—*, as calculated by Kolhorster, to _46xX10-°, as calculated by Linke. _ _ Linke concludes that there is a layer of cosmical _ dust in the stratosphere, which is strongly radio-active, _and supports it by the following considerations :— - (a) The presence of dust in the stratosphere is clearly _ shown by several optical effects—for example, tw ilight phenomena and Bishop’s rings. ___ (0) Dust which is present in the stratosphere cannot fall into the troposphere except with great difficulty, ' Owing to the temperature inversion, which is a w ell- _ known: trap for -dust. _ (c) There was a Ors he increase of this dust 4 Patter the earth had passed through the comet’s tail in _ May, i910. ' (d) On this occasion Thomson, in America, observed _ a sudden increase in the penetrating radiation "measured 4 ‘near the ground. __ Many more observations are necessary before Linke’s a h esis can be accepted, so it is no use considering q it in further detail. For es. however, the most NO. 2476, VOL. 99] © } interesting fact is that these observations leave little doubt of the existence of a new extremely penetrating r diation, which increases as one ascends in the atmo- sphere. G. C. Simpson. Airplanes and Atmospheric Gustiness. In a recent discussion of the action of an airplane encountering gusts, it is stated that a velocity of about six metres per second may be regarded as a mild gust. Making use of an exponential equation and starting from a condition of still air, increasing to a certain intensity, the value of the exponent is taken as determining the sharpness of the gust. With a value of 1, the gust reaches nearly its maximum value in one second, which would be a decidedly sharp gust. It is evident from the discussion that data for the natural conditions are meagre; in fact, it seems plain that the engineers have entirely under- estimated the velocities likely to be met with in the free air at low altitudes. And gusts do not as a rule begin from a still condition. Moreover, since the flow of the air may be upward, downward, inclined, or on the level, straight or rotary and super- imposed on steady or intermittent general motion, it will be difficult to express in a general formula the cgndition of flow in a gust; and possibly no two gusts will be alike. The problem of the stability of an airplane in a gusty atmosphere belongs without doubt to the aeronautical engineer; but there is another problem, that of systematically recording the general character of the air flow with regard to gustiness, which belongs to the aerographer; and it will be readily conceded that this latter problem is now one of some moment. The question is then, How shall gustiness be re- corded in the various observatories of the world? We are attempting at Blue Hill to record each day the number of hours during which aviation is con- sidered safe and unsafe. .Our method is doubtless crude, for we use the wind velocities indicated on an anemo-kinemograph, counting as safe those hours during which the average velocity does not exceed 1o m./s., and there is no variation greater than 50 per cent. in five minutes. For example, the records of March 2 and 5 (not reproduced here) illustrate days on which respectively there were 24 and o hours suitable for aviation. Incidentally we have been able with another instrument to obtain records showing a variability of 50 per cent. in three seconds; also velocities as high as 60 metres per second; and one true gust in which the total air flow was 370 metres in ten seconds, of which 300 metres occurred in five seconds. Since we have no International Committee—and let it be said, not in bitterness, but sadness, that it is quite unlikely that representatives of certain nations will be welcomed at any international conference for years to come—there is no way now open to reach an agreement unless the British Meteorological Office will be willing to formulate a definition. Under its progressive director it has become the leading and representative Service, and one the methods of which will be generally accepted. This particular feature of the weather has not heretofore received much notice, other than the record- ing of days on which gales occurred; but it is evident now that a more detailed record of the condition known as gustiness must be kept. Perhaps some of the readers of NaTuRE can offer suggestions ? ALEXANDER McADIE. Harvard University, Blue Hill Observatory, Readville, Mass. ~ 126 NATURE [APRIL 12, 1917 THE BEDROCK OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS. HE final Report of the Departmental Com- mittee on Juvenile Education in Relation to Employment after the War, a summary of the recommendations of which appeared in our issue of last week, is a welcome indication of the great change which within the last few years, and notably during the course of the present disastrous war, has come over the mind of the nation in respect of the importance and necessity of in- creased facilities for education for all classes of the people and the need for a more intelligent and generous estimation of its requirements. The committee, in entering upon the inquiry, set before itself a high ideal, realising, as the report shows, the great work of reconstruction which the war has imposed upon the nation in many spheres of. its activities—social, industrial, and commercial—in the suiccessful accomplish- ment of which it boldly asserts that “education, with its stimulus and discipline, must be our - stand-by.” The committee has taken full advan- tage of the terms of reference to review the condi- tions under which elementary education is administered in England and Wales, its range, quality, and purpose, especially in the later years _ of school life, and to lay bare in the report its shortcomings, no less than the grievous waste of the public resources arising from the ineffective preparation of the great mass of the children of the nation for the duties and responsibilities of life and for a satisfactory livelihood, due to the fact that so many of them are allowed to leave school at an untimely age and that no proper provision is made for the continuance of their education on entering into employment. The war, by the shutting down of commerce with the Central Powers, has revealed to all classes of the community the vast extent to which we were dependent upon them, and especially upon Germany, for the supply of many highly valuable manufactured products, essential to our well- being, and the fruit solely of the applications of scientific discovery: that she held the “key” to certain of our important industries, such, for example; as those of cotton and woollen textiles, which largely depended for their successful mar- keting upon the dyes and finishes manufactured by German chemical firms. Hence the grave un- easiness which has of late possessed the minds of -many of our leaders as to the state of our educa- tion, and as to the results of the large and grow- ing expenditure upon it since the Act of 1870, and now amounting, imperially and locally, to con- siderably more than thirty millions sterling annually. It is recognised, and it is a highly commendable feature in the report, that elementary education is the base of any effective educational organisa- .tion, and that the superstructure of secondary and university education rests of necessity upon it, so far as the means of selection of the best brains of the mass of the nation for the opportunity of advanced training is concerned. The first demand NO. 2476, VOL. 99] must therefore necessarily be that the course of elementary education shall be continued without any exemption whatsoever for every child up to the age of fourteen at least. The report shows a leakage in full-time attendance at the elementary . school of at least 33 per cent. between twelve and thirteen, and thirteen and fourteen years, at least in the period before the war, whilst for the years - beyond and up to the age of eighteen the number of young persons outside all vital educational influences reached the astounding number of 2,200,000, or 81°5 per cent. of the total number of juveniles at these ages. This vast number of young people are to be found neither in day nor in evening schools, and to them must be added the large number of half-timers who, chiefly in the textile districts, are receiving a scanty education, under “the present detestable system of half-time exemptions,’ between the ages of twelve and thirteen. - With this mass of meagrely educated and in- effectively trained young people physically, men- tally, and morally, how is it possible to maintain the position of this nation, with its enormous im- perial responsibilities, in face of the social, indus- trial, and commercial competition of the better instructed and trained nations of the Continent, whose recognition of the potentialities of science and the assiduity and the complete preparation with which they have pursued it have enabled the greatest of them, namely, Germany, to become our most formidable rival? Despite the warning's so strikingly set forth in the report of the Royal Commission on Technical Instruction of 1882-84, and of all the efforts which ensued thereon to establish throughout the kingdom technical schools and. classes, only a mere fraction of the industrial population has been reached, and because of the inadequate preparation of the large majority of the students who availed themselves of the facili- ties offered, which were chiefly in the evening, at the close of the day’s work, only a comparative few reaped the full benefit of the provision made. The truth is that we began at the wrong end, and we now realise in some measure the serious character of ourerror. We failed to perceive that no satisfactory technical instruction can be given except upon a sound basis of general, including scientific, training, continued throughout the full period of pre-adolescent life, and that such train- ing for those capable of receiving it—and they are a considerable percentage of the general mass— shall be further continued for whole-time pupils in suitably equipped and staffed secondary schools, in preparation for the highest specialised instruc- tion and training available in our universities and in the highest type of technological institutions. For those who must perforce—and they will be the great majority of those attending the ele- mentary schools—enter the ranks of bread- winners on leaving school at fourteen, the report makes a strong plea for provision for continued education for at least eight hours per week, taken from the ordinary working hours and continued for ten months during each year until the age of eighteen is reached. The course of education to NATURE 127 ; APRIL 12, 1917] be pursued in these compulsory classes would have reference to preparation for the duties of life, to the right and profitable use of leisure, to in- struction in the principles and practice of the occupation into which the young person had entered, and to the care and preservation of bodily health and vigour. To achieve this aim is a national duty of tremendous—of paramount—im- _ portance, and, having regard to the vast depletion of our young virile life by the operations of the fierce struggle in which we are engaged, of stern, unyielding necessity, no matter how great the cost, if the future of the nation is to be assured as one of the great civilising and freedom-inspiring forces of mankind. The task of the nation is enormous. It can only be accomplished by a spirit _of stern self-sacrifice. Readers of Nature will not need to be reminded that the findings of this—it is to be hoped, epoch- _making—report are consistent with its constant advocacy through many years of the policy of raising the school age, and of requiring regular 'attendance until the compulsory period of ele- -mentary-school training is completed, of due pro- vision in the curriculum for satisfactory training in the facts and principles of science, and of con- tinued compulsory education until eighteen years of age is reached of all young people entering employment at fourteen years of age It is also not out of place to remark that so long ago as 1914, before the advent of the war, the Education and Technical Education Committees of the British Science Guild had prepared a report em- ‘bodying the main points of the report now under review, and this has since been presented to the ‘Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Committee for ‘consideration in connection with schemes of educa- tional reconstruction. The Departmental Com- ‘mittee on Juvenile Education has had the advan- ‘tage of interviewing witnesses representative of “many varied industries, including both employers and employed, together with persons representing ‘the opinions of various educational bodies, and has found, speaking generally, a practical unani- 'mity of opinion in the reforms set forth in the ‘report; it is satisfactory also to find that the report ‘and its recommendations are signed by all the “members of the committee. It is to be hoped ‘that the principal recommendations may quickly be given legislative effect. _ SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF GLASSHOUSE ; CULTIVATION.! HE valley of the River Lea is the seat of some a of the most intensive cultivation in_ the ‘British Isles. The traveller along the Great ‘Eastern Railway line to Cambridge, which tra- ‘verses this district, begins to see great numbers ‘of glasshouses soon after leaving Enfield, and ‘still more near Enfield Lock, Waltham Cross, and ‘Cheshunt. It is estimated that in this district ‘there are no fewer than 1000 acres occupied by __ 1 Experimental and Research Station, Nursery and Market Garden “Industries Development Society, Turner's Hill,,Cheshunt, Herts. Second Annual Report, 1916. NO. 2476, VOL. 99} glasshouses, each acre representing a capital of approximately 1oool. The chief crops grown are cucumbers and tomatoes, but peaches, grapes, roses, palms, and other plants are also produced. The growers, as might be expected, are extra- ordinarily skilful: one sends peaches to New York in the proper season at fancy prices; another has even sent palms to Africa; but the great bulk of the produce is grown for the English consumer, and is put on the market at such prices as are within the reach of all. As might be expected, glasshouse cultivation presents special features marking it off sharply from outdoor work. The temperature and water supply, perhaps the commonest limiting factors on good farms, are under almost complete con- trol, and can therefore be eliminated as limiting factors ; but the light supply is often an important factor, while questions of manuring, the adjust- ment of temperature, and water supply are of enormous technical importance and great scientific interest. In addition, the special conditions lead to some remarkable soil relationships. Some of these problems were first studied three or four years ago at the Rothamsted Experi- mental Station, but it soon became clear that the only proper way of dealing with them was to found an experimental station ad hoc and to place it in the centre of the district. This was done, the money being found partly by the growers and the county councils, and partly by the Development Commission. The second annual report of the new station is now issued. It is pointed out in the report that the investiga- tions at the Experimental and Research Station must not follow too closely the lines adopted at the agricultural experiment stations, but must differ from them in taking more account of the qualitative factors which might affect the fruiting, and in recognising light, temperature, and water as factors influencing the growth and habit of the plants. For convenience of investigation the plant-growth is divided into three stages: the early stage, as seedlings and in small pots; the later stages in large pots or borders; and the fruiting stage. This division is justified not only on technical, but also on scientific, grounds. In the first stage—the seedling stage—probably the most important feature is the type of growth. Growers recognise a “hard” growth and a “soft” sappy growth, the latter being commonly considered of less value for fruit production. The conditions under which each can be got are well known to the grower, but it is very desirable that they should be better characterised than they are at present, and that the relationship between habit and conditions of growth should be studied. The habit of growth owes its import- ance to the two circumstances that “soft ” growth appears to be more susceptible to disease than “hard” growth, and that under certain conditions it is less conducive to fruiting. There are certain discrepancies in the observations so far, arising from the variations in the type of “softness,” and these are being studied. 128 NATURE [APRIL 12, 1917 In the later growing and fruiting stages the influence of fertilisers is under investigation, and also the effect of light, temperature, humidity, and other physiological factors. None of the artificial fertilisers produced any notable effect on the tomato crop; the withholding of phosphates caused some depression, but the withholding of nitrogen and potash had little, if any, effect. It must be remembered that the soil is virgin soil, and the results seem to be on a par with the old antagonism between vegetative growth and fruit- ing. Mr. Spencer Pickering obtained very similar results at Woburn in his manurial experiments with fruit trees and bushes. The result is con- trary to the usual experience, and indicates that a marked distinction must be made between virgin soils and soils that have been in use for some time. The reason for the distinction, however, is not clear. In the case of cucumbers, phosphates in some circumstances actually depressed the crop, as has been noted elsewhere with cotton and sugar-cane. The determining factor in the case of cucumbers under the conditions of the experiment was the temperature, and the experiments show in a striking way how easy it is for the leaves to be- come overheated in a glasshouse—a phenomenon already discussed by Francis Darwin. The cooler part of the cucumber-house gave.in the first year 25, and last year 9, per cent. more fruit than the warmer part. Proper appliances have been installed for the study of this important problem, and the results will be awaited with much interest. One: BS icant THE NEW FOOD ORDERS. ee reduction of the available supply of cer- tain articles of diet, especially of meat, flour, sugar, and potatoes, has had the effect of chang- ing to some extent the point of view. with regard to economy in diet. While until recently economy in all things was desirable, it has now become necessary to exercise, in addition, special economy in the case of the four things mentioned above. This is due partly to deficiency in means of trans- port, but, in the case of potatoes, chiefly to bad crops. It must also be remembered that the large proportion of the population serving in the Army or Navy require more than they had in their previous occupations. For these reasons, it has been recommended by some that those who are well-to-do should endeavour to utilise the more costly articles of food, leaving a greater supply of the less costly, but restricted, articles for those who cannot afford the former. With regard to the Army rations, there is some reason to suppose that the allowance of 16 oz. of meat per day is unnecessarily large, at all events for men in the trenches ; perhaps it may be the cause of certain diseases which are apt to occur, such as “trench nephritis.” This affection seems to have some relation to diet. The meat allowance might, with advantage, and probably with appreciation by the NO. 2476, VOL. 99] men, be exchanged for an equal energy-value in carbohydrate. The new arrangement of rationing by bulk, as applied to restaurants, is undoubtedly an advance. As the present writer has pointed out in another place, the old system of limiting the number of courses led to an undesirable increase in the con- sumption of meat, as compared with other foods. The present allowance of 12 oz. of meat per day gives about 70 grams of protein, in addition to that in bread and other articles—a perfectly ade- quate supply. It is, however, not quite clear why households should be allowed only about 6 oz. per head. In some cases, no doubt, the smaller consumption by children compensates. But it must always be kept in mind that children require more protein in proportion to their weight than adults, since they are forming new body-tissues, and it is only up to a certain age that children require absolutely less protein than adults. It would probably be correct to say that quite half the total number of households consist of persons requiring the protein ration of adults. Of course, meat is not the only source of protein; oatmeal especially is an excellent source, and, at present, the necessary energy-value can be made up with this, at the same time as the increase in protein. With regard to the materials to be added to wheat-flour, would it not be better to limit them to those not readily used by themselves, such as barley and rye? Beans, especially, seem to the writer an undesirable constituent of bread. If oatmeal, for example, is to be used in large quanti- ties for mixing with wheat-flour, is it not prob- able that the price will rise considerably ? The new Order with respect to hoarding of food is rather difficult to understand. Presumably, it is not intended to prevent the purchase of fairly large amounts at a time, provided that these amounts are made to last as long as if bought in small parcels; nor to prevent the storage of sugar for the purpose of making jam by the householder in the autumn. W. M. Baytiss. . A MINISTRY OF HEALTH. \ X ] ITH the terrible wastage of the lives of the best of the nation’s manhood in the European conflict, and with a birth-rate the lowest on record, if the country is to recover after the termination of the war and to maintain its place among the nations as a great and thriving indus- trial Power, it will be necessary for us to conserve to the utmost those lives which we possess and those which we may expect to be born to us. While it. may not-be practicable at present to anticipate a definite increase in the birth-rate, though it is to be hoped there will before long be a change for the better, it is possible to do much to reduce disability and loss of life from prevent- able disease. The campaign against venereal disease, the crusade against tuberculosis, the care now being taken of munition and other workers, and the medical consultations at infant welfare APRIL 12, 1917] NATURE #29 _-centres and at school clinics all aim at this and are _ valuable aids towards its consummation. _. The most serious item of loss of life is, and _ -always has been, infant and child mortality. For _ the years 1911-1914, 575,078 children died under _ the age of five years in England and Wales. It is true that infant and child mortality has de- _ clined during the last few years, but, even so, we __ are losing 100,000 lives or more annually, a large 2 ion of which could undoubtedly be saved _ to stock the country in the future. A broad and _ comprehensive scheme of national health service _ would accomplish much, and this is a problem to __ which the best energies of the Government should __-be directed without delay. There is reason to believe that the Bill dealing _ with health questions which it is the intention of __ Lord Rhondda, the President of the Local Govern- ment Board, to introduce, will provide for the _ creation of a Ministry of Health, in which the __ supervision of many of the public health and medi- _ cal services of the country will be concentrated. _-At present the national health is dealt with by _ several Government Departments—it is stated, by as many as fourteen! Thus, the general public health is administered by the Local Government _ Board, the health of workers by the Home Office, _ the health of school children by the Board of _ Education, the health of ships by the Board of __ Trade; and the Board of Agriculture, the National _ Insurance Committee, and other Departments _ share in various ways. Such a multiplicity of _ authorities naturally leads to much overlapping, _ want of co-ordination, and waste. The establishment of a Ministry of Health, with _ a Minister of Cabinet rank in charge of it, which _ would bring under its zegis the whole of the health _ service and administration of the country, would _ be a measure of the highest importance at the _ present time. Wisely conceived and wisely ad- _ ministered, such a Ministry would be welcomed _ by the medical profession and by health workers _ generally, the public would gain by increased _ efficiency and diminished waste, and the national health would be placed on a surer foundation of _ control than is at present the case. ad re NOTES. _ WE are informed that the South-Eastern Union _ of Scientific Societies will hold its twenty-second _ annual congress in the rooms of the Linnean Society, _ Burlington House, from Wednesday, June 6, to _ Saturday, June 9, under the presidency of Dr. W. ' Martin. Arrangements will be facilitated if those _ proposing to join the congress will communicate with _ the hon. treasurer, Mr. R. Adkin, 4 Lingards Road, ' Lewisham, S.E. The Wednesday evening will be _ devoted to the president’s address, and on the Thurs- | day evening the attendance of the congress at the ' “Hooker lecture’? by Prof. F. O. Bower will be in- ' vited by the Linnean Society. The union may be _ congratulated on maintaining its accustomed course _ ata time when the claims of science are being brought _ prominently before the public mind. WE learn from Science that the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia has, on the recommendation of NO. 2476, VOL. 99] | the council and the special committee on the award, voted the gold Hayden memorial geological medal to Prof. W. M. Davis, emeritus professor of geol in Harvard University, in recognition of his distinguished work in the science of geology. The medal, says Science, is awarded every third year “for the best publication, exploration, discovery, or research in the sciences of geology and palzontology, or in such par- ticular branches thereof as may be designated.” The award as first defined in 1888 took the form of an arnual bronze medal and the. balance of the income of the fund. The deed of gift was modified in 1900 so as to provide for a gold medal every third year. ; Dr. J. O. Hesse, director of the Associated Quinine Factories of Zimmer and Co., died at Feuerbach, near Stuttgart, on February 10, in his eighty-second year. Dr. Hesse devoted almost the whole of his scientific career to the extraction and examination of the active constituents of drugs, particularly of cin- chona bark, coca leaves, and opium, and was for many years the leading authority on the chemistry of quinine and other cinchona alkaloids. He isolated physostigmine from Calabar beans, cotoin, paracotoin, and other principles from coto and paracoto barks, ditaine from dita bark, and also the active principles from a number of other drugs. Many of his re- searches were published in the Journal of the Pharma- ceutical Society, of which he was elected honorary member in 1879. The value of his original investi- gations gained for him in 1891 the Hanbury gold medal, the highest honour that the Pharmaceutical Society can bestow. Tue death is announced of Mr. Arthur Brooker, joint-author of Slingo and Brooker’s “Electrical Engineering ’’ and of other works. From the Elec- trician we learn that Mr. Brooker joined the tele- graph department of the Post Office Service in 1878. In 1889 he became an instructor in the Telegraphists’ School of Science in mathematics and laboratory prac- tice, and the following year he was made chief in- structor. He was also on the staff of the People’s Palace and the Currie School of Engineering as in- structor in electrical engineering. His _ scientific attainments procured for him rapid promotion in the Post Office Service. He was largely responsible for the development of the present testing branch. It was his association in the production of Slingo and Brooker’s ‘Electrical Engineering” in 1890 which brought his name before the public. After the publication of the book the authors entered into journalism, and contributed largely to the pages of the Electrical Review. In 1898 Brooker severed his connection with the Post Office, and became works manager of the Peel works of the General Electric Co., where he spent seven years in organising the factory and devoting himself to the manufacture of telegraph and telephone appa- ratus. In 1906 he ioined the British Insulated and Helsby Cables, Ltd., and on the formation of the Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Co. in 1912 he became its general manager, a position he retained until shortly before his death. Tue March number of the Scientific Monthly con- tains a series of articles by well-known American authorities on the question of the metric system of weights and measures. During the last sixteen years the movement for the compulsory adoption of the metric system in the United States has made con- siderable progress, thanks, in great measure, to the stimulus given by the Bureau of Standards at Wash- ington. The €normous quantity of war material at | present being manufactured to metric sizes in America | is rendering the workmen as familiar with grams 130 NATURE [APRIL 12, I917 and centimetres as they are with the pound and foot. It is felt in many quarters that the present time affords an unusual opportunity for making metric weights and measures the official system of the United States. The allegation of the opponents of the system that its general introduction would render obsolete and useless large quantities of machinery and machine tools is being vigorously combated, and it is being made clear to manufacturers that no ordinary machines,. such as lathes, drills, shapers, etc., would have to be changed. The same tools would continue to make the same things, but the numerical values of the sizes made would be altered. Much attentior has been given to the question whether the expense and inconvenience necessarily incident to the ex- clusive use of the new system would be too costly, and it is generally conceded that these would be far outweighed by the national and international advan- tages accruing from the change. It is not proposed that a sudden transition from one system to the other should be sanctioned by Congress, but that ample time for preparation should be allowed. In this way price lists, catalogues, and sizes could be tabulated in advance in both systems, side by, side, so that the old numerical values could gradually be dropped. Ar the end of July last year, at the instance of the Advisory Council of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, a meeting of representatives of some of the larger firms engaged in the various branches of the cotton trade and others interested in textile research was called by the Lord Mayor. of Manchester to consider the possibility of establishing a scheme for the scientific investigation of the various problems presented by the cotton-using industries, and it was agreed that there is great need for research bearing on the cultivation and manufacture of cotton, and in the dyeing, print- ing, bleaching, and other finishing processes. It was also thought that efforts should be made to increase and to improve the system of textile education. A provisional committee was afterwards appointed, and this, in due course, was constituted a committee of the Advisory Council of the recently formed Govern- ment Department of Scientific and Industrial Re- search. This committee is largely representative of the various interests concerned. Its function is to formulate a preliminary scheme of a comprehensive character and to report to the Advisory Council, and then to lay before the trade, for its consideration, definite proposals for the establishment of a research association, eligible for recognition by the Government Department, and consequently for monetary grants from the National Exchequer. The committee has to consider the place for research in each branch of the cotton industry, whether in the cultivation of cotton, in spinning, doubling, manufacturing, knitting, lace- making, bleaching, dyeing, printing, finishing, or in the technology of cellulose. It has also to ascertain what facilities. now exist for the education of boys entering any of these branches, and what opportuni- ties are likely to be offered by the trade for the em- ployment of highly trained men. It will also formulate a scheme. doth for an institute to undertake research work in collaboration, so far as practicable, with ex- isting bodies and for an association of firms and individuals willing to make donations and subscribe regularly for a period of vears to promote research and improve technical training Any suggestions re- lating to the researches to be undertaken, or to any other matters coming within the scope of the pro- posed association, will be welcomed by the committee, and should be sent to the secretary, Provisional Com- mittee on Cotton Research, 108 Deansgate, Man- ~ chester. NO. 2476, VOL. 99] In the Archives of Radiology and Electrotherapy for March (No. 200) Mr. Hector Colwell gives a second instalment on the history of electrotherapy, in which the contributions of Priestley, Jallabert, Gal- vani, Volta, Aldini, Duchenne, and Marat are de- scribed. It is of interest that Marat, the French revolutionary, was a_ practitioner of electrotherapy. Articles on methods of jaw radiography and on abscess in bone are also included in this interesting number. y A SECOND report upon investigations in the United Kingdom of dysentery cases received from the eastern Mediterranean has been issued by the Medical Re- search Committee. In this report (No. 2) Drs. Rajch- man and Western discuss the findings in 878 cases of bacillary enteritis. Serological evidence of bacil- lary dysentery was obtained in 34-7 per cent. of the cases examined, of paratyphoid infection in 18-3 per cent., of mixed dysenteric and paratyphoid infections in 10-1 per cent., and of pure ameebic infection in 6-2 per cent. In every case of mixed. bacterial infec- tion, dysentery bacilli were the originally infecting virus, and a considerable number of purely bacillary cases of dysentery were detected. While not wishing to minimise in any way the ameebic factor, Drs. Rajchman and Western hold that the Mediterranean infection was essentially a mixed one. ; Tue Journal of the South African Ornithologists’ Union for December, 1916, has just reached us. In his observations on the birds of the district of Humansdorp, Cape Province, Mr. B. A. Masterman remarks that Kolb’s vulture ‘thas entirely disap- peared from that area, not one having been recorded for the last fifteen years,’’ where formerly it used to breed regularly. According to the farmers, this bird was exterminated from having feasted on the flesh of cattle which died of rinderpest during the great outbreak of that disease. The late Capt. Selous, it may be remembered, commented on the absence of vultures of this species from the battle- fields in Rhodesia during the Matabele campaign, and attributed it to the same cause. In the same issue the Rev. R. Godfrey has some interesting notes on the summer migration of 1915-16 as observed in the eastern districts of the Cape Province. A most admirable water Fishes,’’ by Mr. C. T. Regan, has just been issued by the trustees of the British Museum of Natural History. In the case of each species described the author gives its distribution not only in our home waters, but also outside the area of these islands. An added interest and value are given to his pages in that, as occasion offers, he pro- vides evidence, from the distribution of our fish fauna of to-day, of a remote connection between our river systems and those of the Continent. His account of the Salmonidz and of the various hybrid - forms which occur so frequently among the Cyprinidze will be especially welcome. An immense amount of information has been crowded into a very small space, yet nowhere has the reader cause to complain of a lack of interest or lucidity. Finally, the book is most profusely illustrated. : THE science of economic aviculture has probably reached a higher standard in the United States than in any other part of the world. This work is carried on by the Department of Agriculture, which, for years past, has spared no pains to enact laws and formulate schemes for the conservation of bird-life, whether for purely economic ends or for zsthetic reasons. As a consequence, it has now available ' a mass of evidence as to the status and value of ‘Guide to the British Fresh- © a yee ee a ee | APRIL 12, 1917 | j ' NATURE 131 species within its realms. The latest evi- | of its enlightened policy takes the form of | tin—No. 465—on the propagation of wild-duck _ foods. The haunts ard food values of no fewer than | nine groups of plants, comprising sixty species, , an described, together with instructions as to water in need of bait for these valuable , "ePhe characteristics of wild rice, wild celery, arrow-heads, chufa, wild millet, and | are all carefully set forth, and this jn- | is accompanied by carefully collected data their attractiveness in regard to particular species of wild ducks. Had we followed its lead wise of our native birds in relation to our food supply. _ The matter is of vital importance, and the clamour - for legislation is sometimes insistent. This war has done much for us already; perhaps it may yet bring _into being a bureau of ornithology, such as is to be now in many Continental States, as well as 3 in America. _ Tue new series of the Agricultural Journal of India _ which is inaugurated with vol. xii., part i. (January, _ 1917), contains several new features which should add _ to its value and interest. Selected short articles on a _ variety of subjects are included for the general reader, _ in addition to the original articles, which still remain _ the chief feature. A list of new books is also now _ added. Of the original articles a communication by _ Mr. and Mrs. Howard on leguminous crops in desert _ agriculture is of special interest. _ Butretix No. 65 of the Agricultural Research _ Institute, Pusa, contains an account by J. N. Sen of _ €xperiments on the assimilation of nutrient materials _ by the rice plant at various stages of growth. Deter- 'minations were made of the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in the roots, stems, leaves, and ears _ of samples of a uniform crop taken at six successive _ stages of growth. The results form an interesting ' series, and lead to general conclusions which are in _ close accord with those obtained elsewhere with rice ' and other cereals grown under widely different condi- tions. It is of interest to note that no evidence was _ obtained of any return of phosphoric acid and potash ' to the soil, such as has been deduced from earlier _ German experiments. Is Egyptian agriculture a very important réle is _ played by the berseem crop (Trifolium alexandrinum), ' which covers nearly one-third of the cultivated area _ of Lower Egypt. The success with which it is grown in the low salt country in the extreme north of Egypt _ has suggested its use in similar country in India, and ' experiments have been in progress there on the Sukker _ and Mirpur Khas Government farms during the past _ ten years. A summary of the more recent results is _ given by G. S. Henderson in Bulletin No. 66 of the ' Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. The results are uniformly favourable, and it would appear that _ the special merits of this crop as a cold-weather _ leguminous fodder crop that will grow in an alkali soil are likely to make it of the greatest value for _ wide tracts of land in the Government of Bombay and _ elsewhere in India. Tue Bulletin (No. 193) on calf-feeding experiments ' issued by Messrs. O. F. Hunziker and R. E. Cald- ' well, of the Purdue University Agricultural Experi- | ment Station, is essentially technical in character, but ' contains a feature of general interest in the excellent _ methods adopted for securing photographic records NO. 2476, VOL. 99] of the progress in growth of the animals. In each case the animal was photographed on a narrow raised platform with a & nd divided into six- inch squares. A black or white ba was used according to the colour of the calf. Difficulties | might be expected in inducing the animals to take up a satisfactory position with relation to the back- ground, but the photographs with which the bulletin is profusely illustrated indicate that these difficulties have been satisfactorily overcome, and the results cer- tainly furnish the feeder with a much better index in regard to the condition of the animal than tabulated figures alone could give. Tue Geological Survey of Scotland, in the develop- ment of its national work, has published the first of a series of memoirs on ‘The Economic Geology of the Central Coalfield of Scotland ” (1916, price 4s. 6d.). The district dealt with extends from Glasgow eastward to Salsburgh and Black Loch. The importance of marine zones as indicating horizons is pointed out, and maps are inserted showing by lines (‘‘isopachytes ”’) the thicknesses of selected seams in different parts of the areas which they underlie. A NEw contribution to the problem of the clouds of vapour emitted by volcanoes is made by Mr. F. A. Perret in a paper on the eruption of Stromboli in 1915 (Amer. Journ. Science, vol. xlii., p. 462, 1916). The author observed that, without change in the conditions of eruption, a cloud was absent from the crater on a fine day, accompanied by a dry state of the air, but was copiously present when a chill moist wind super- vened. A great cloud of vapour may thus be merely a condensation from the air on nuclei sent upwards by the volcano, and affords no indication of the condition of activity. Tue Geological Survey of New South Wales has published (1916) a ‘Bibliography of Australian” Mineralogy,’” by Dr. C. Anderson, arranged under authors, States, and localities within each State. To find the reference to dundasite, for example, it is necessary to remember that it comes from Tasmania, or to look for it under each separate State. The com- pleteness of the work is evidenced by the inclusion of Dr. Prio~’s paper, in which he compares this mineral with specimens from North Wales. Considerable selection, however, must have been exercised in dealing with references to Australian gold. Pror. Fitippo Erepta, of the Italian Meteorological Service, has recently issued a manual of instruction in the use of meteorological instruments and for the taking of meteorological observations. The work in general get-up somewhat resembles the ‘“ Observer’s Handbook” of our own Meteorological Office. A feature is the large number of illustrations, which are unusually clear and sharp. This manual of instruc- tions has been brought out to normalise the work carried on at the widely spread network of stations in Italy and her colonies. We are surprised to find on Fig. 24 a representation of Six’s thermometer, the defects of which are well known. Prof. Eredia has also sent an interesting pamphlet on the “Climate of Ghadames,” an oasis in the interior of Tripoli, 500 km. to the south of Tripoli, at a height of 340 m. above the sea. Ghaddmes is in lat. 30° 8’ N., long. 7° 10! W. The series of observations discussed comprise two sets, the first taken. from the middle of August to December, 1861, while the second embraces the period June, 1913, to October, 1914. Dealing with the later series, the mean temperature, brought to a true aver- age by comparison with Tripoli, is 23° C., the warmest month being August, with a mean of 338°, and the coldest January, with a mean of 11-19. As compared 132 NATURE [APRIL 12, 1917 with Tripoli, June is 92° warmer and December 26° colder. In the period under notice measurable rain fell on only five days, to.the amount of 20 mm., and on fifteen others a few drops fell. The maximum fall noted was 8 mm, on February 14, 1914, with a N.W. wind. The cases of precipitation noted occurred principally with winds from the north-west and south-east. Winds are fairly evenly distributed round the compass, there being no marked excess from any one direction. In the year there were 251 cloudless and only twelve overcast days, the latter confined to the months November to March. Tue theory of the immobility of the ether is ad- vanced by Prof. P Zeeman in a_ short article in Scientia for February (pp. 122-29). In addition to referring to the experiments of Fizeau and of Michel- son and Morley, the author mentions a recent re- determination which he undertook in 1916, using monochromatic light. The results fully confirm Fres- nel’s formula, as completed with Lorentz’s term, and the hypothesis of an immobile ether is in entire accord with the observed effects. : In contributing a paper on “‘Impact in Three Dimensions *’ to the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (xxxiii., Section A, No. 6), Prof. M. W. J. Fry has developed a subject on which a great deal evi- dently remained to be said over and above what is con- tained in Routh’s ‘‘ Rigid Dynamics.’’ Some of the results are almost at variance with preconceived ideas on the subject. For example, while the velocity of com- pression can only vanish once in the two-dimensional problem, it may vanish three times in an impact in three-dimensional motion. AN interesting note on the colouring matter of red torule, by Mr. A. C. Chapman, appears in the Biochemical Journal for December, 1916. Study of this colouring matter showed that it resembles car- rotene in being practically insoluble in water, in dissolving to a blue solution in concentrated sulphuric acid, and in the fact that its chloroform solution, when warmed and exposed to the light, quickly becomes colourless. But comparison of the absorption spectrum of the torule colouring matter with that of carrotene showed that the two are by no means identical. THE Journal of the Franklin Institute for March. contains the address delivered before the institute in October last by Prof. L. V. King, of McGill University, on the acoustic efficiency of fog-signal machinery. After a review of the work on fog signal- ling done by the committee of the Trinity House in this country and by the lighthouse boards of the United States and of France, he describes his own measurements made in 1913 in connection with the fog-signal plant at Father Point, Quebec. The sound- producer there is a compressed-air siren of the Northey type using air at 25 lb. per square inch and giving a note of frequency 180 per second, During the actual emission of the sound 100 horse power is used. By measurement of the temperature of the issuing air when sound was produced and when not, it was found that only about 2-4 horse power was converted into sound. Tests of the intensity of the sound received at points on the water up to eight miles from the source were made by means of the sound- meter of Prof. A. G. Webster, of Clarke University, which depends on the motion of a small mirror mounted on a mica diaphragm at one end of a resonator. Zones of silence were found, on both existence of these zones appears to be intimately connected with the direction of the wind and to a less extent with the weather. Pror. Martin KNUDSEN has recently described some interesting experiments on the condensation of metallic vapours on cold bodies (Oversigt Kgl. Danske Vidensk, Selsk. Forh., 1916, No. 4, p. 303). mercury vapour passes through a narrow opening into a large glass bulb containing a concentric smaller bulb tube with liquid air, most of the mercury vapour is condensed on the front of the smaller bulb facing the opening; a little passes alongside it on to the inner surface of the larger bulb, but no mercury is condensed on the back of the smaller bulb nor behind ~ it on the larger one. The bulb with liquid air casts, as it were, a shadow, and retains all the molecules striking it. If, on the other hand, the inner bulb is only cooled with ether and carbon dioxide, the greater portion of the mercury vapour is not retained by it, and is condensed on the front half of the larger bulb. From the weight of mercury so condensed on the latter in an interval of time during which the inner bulb has only acquired a deposit thinner than the (known) limit of visibility, it is calculated that the chance of a mercury molecule being retained at its first impact on a glass surface at —77-5° is less than I in 5000. Between this temperature and that of liquid air there is a critical temperature in the neighbourhood of —140° to —130°. Preliminary experiments with a simpler apparatus indicate that for zinc, cadmium, and magnesium this critical temperature lies between — 183° and —78°, for copper between 350° and 575°, ° and for silver above 575°. ALTHOUGH the principles that render colour kine- matography possible are so simple, there appears to be an inexhaustible field for inventors in the applica- tions of these principles, and not infrequently the details of ‘‘new’”’ processes appear to the student of science as disadvantageous complications, if not actual infringements, of the necessary conditions. However, prccesses stand or fall by their results, and the Scientific American of March 1o states that the last ‘new process,’’ as demonstrated at the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Academy of Sciences, seems to be ‘‘ perfection.’ The simple attachments necessary can be fitted to any apparatus. A single film is used, and the pictures are taken behind a revolving four-sector colour filter, arranged with two pairs of complementary colours— namely, blue and orange, and blue-green and red. The complete element consists, therefore, of four consecutive pictures taken through colour filters in the order just named. The colour filter for pro- jection has only two colours, red and blue, and has therefore to rotate at twice the rate of the filter disc used for taking the photographs. But each colour filter in the projector disc is subdivided into three sectors in such a way that each red and orange picture is projected through a red filter increasing in intensity in three stages, and each blue and blue- green picture in a similar way through three blue filters. The usual rate of projection is sixteen pic- tures per second, and Mr. G. A. Smith, in his ‘““Kinemacolor,’’ introduced in 1907, who used two consecutive colour pictures, found it necessary, as seems natural, to double this rate so as to maintain the same rate for each ccmplete element. In the present case, with a quadruple element, one might expect the rate to be increased to four times—namely, sixty-four per second—but the actual rate stated is twenty-four—that is, only six complete elements per sides of which the sound was distinctly heard. The { second. NO. 2476, VOL. 99] When e \ Wea | APRIL. 12,1917] NATURE 133 -.\ OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. ; tout 1917a (MELLISH).—Prof. Strémgren an- _ mounces that from observations made on March 22, _ 23, and 24 (Copenhagen) Mrs. J. Braae and J. Fischer- Pete: have calculated the following orbit and ephemeris — aya | _ T=1917 April 9°4463 G.M.T. Tae w=106° 51’ 66 ee = 92° 47732 (1917 Beet Me, Z= 22° 4892 log g=9°41464 Ephemeris: Greenwich Midnight. bf °F agKT 3: RA. Decl. Logr = Loga_— Mag. shen gue km. s. : 7 April 11 0 43 49 «+11 303 942905 98804 46 ote age 18 25.7 5 487 95150 99206 52 17 0 20 53 3 326 95672 99407 56 — Ig 018 45 +1 390 96172 99608 5:9 Tue Apru. Lyrips.—This shower of meteors, Es, occasionally offering a brilliant display, is, in _ the majority of years, very slightly visible. It is _ unfortunate that the period is not definitely known, t h there are indications that its best returns occur at intervals of a little more than sixteen years. This fes is by no means supported on conclusive _ evidence, but it is a point worthy of further investiga- tion. _ Abundant showers of Lyrids were observed in 1803, _ 1851, 1884, and rgo1, and it will be interesting to _ determine whether or not an unusual exhibition of _ these meteors is presented this year or in 1918. The _ time of maximum will possibly be at about midnight _ on April 21, and as there will be no moonlight to _ interfere, it will be easy to ascertain the character _ of the display should the weather prove suitable. If _ the meteors reappear at the time mentioned it will _ be important to observe the time of maximum and _ the horary number visible. The-position of the _ radiant is already well known, and it moves east- _ wards, like that of the August Perseids. Though _ the chief activity of the Lyrids seems confined to a _ few hours, yet there are occasional specimens cer- _ tainly seen between April 16 and 26, and possibly on _ dates still further removed from the night of _ maximum, . ' VArRIABILITy oF Uranus.—-Prof. E. C. Pickering has - announced an interesting discovery which has followed _ from a series of photometric observations of the light _ of Uranus, made by Mr. Leon Campbell with the _ primary object of investigating possible changes in the _ light-emission of the sun (Harvard Circular, No. 200). _ The observations revealed. a variation in the light of _ the planet amounting to about 0-15 magnitude in a _ period of 0-451 day, these figures being based upon _ 2960 settings. The period of variation agrees very closely with that of the rotation of the planet derived _ from spectroscopic observations by Lowell and Slipher, _ and Prof. Pickering concludes that the variation in _ light is due to unequal brightness of different portions ' of the planet. If the variations in brightness prove to _ be permanent, photometric observations will give the _ fotation period of the planet with a high degree of accuracy. _ Tue ‘‘ANNUAIRE ASTRONOMIQUE’’ FOR 1917.—The ' issue of this well-known publication for the current year contains the usuai astronomical information in a _ convenient and interesting form, together with a review of the progress of astronomy. work of reference for «stronomical data of all kinds, ne z order of their distances from the sun, a list of tem- | porary stars which have been visible to the naked eye, NO. 2476, VOL. 99] It forms a valuable | 1 | the metal is hot, just so long will this loss continue. | including a catalogue of minor planets arranged in the | a list of stars with large proper motions, and so on. Among the 140 illustrations we note a useful set of diagrams from which one can readily ascertain the visibility of each of the principal planets on any night of the year. M. Camille Flammarion is to con- gratulated on having so successfully conducted this publication for more than half a century. HEAT ECONOMY IN METAL MELTING. ‘THE outstanding feature of the proceedings at the annual meeting of the Institute of Metals, held at Burlington House on March 21 and 22, was a general discussion on metal melting, organised by the council. Whether it was chiefly due to the fact that this subject aroused an unusual amount of interest among the members, or that war problems in metal- lurgy have created a desire to discuss those problems more freely than hitherto, the fact remains that in the last three months the institute has added more new members than it did in the previous two years; that the attendance was very much larger than it has ever been at any other meeting in the course of its history; and that the discussions on the various papers contributed were of unusual fullness and value. ; Special appropriateness attached to the fact that Sir George Beilby, the president of the institute, in enter- ing on his second year of office, presided over a dis- cussion which must have been of considerable interest to him in his capacity of Director of the Fuel Research Board set up by the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industria! Research. Although coke constitutes the fuel most generally used in metal and alloy melting, only one paper was contributed dealing with its use. On the other hand, four papers were concerned with coal-gas, and these included one on the practice of the Royal Mint, and another on the applica- tion of the high-pressure gas system installed by the City of Birmingham Gas Committee. Of the remainder one paper dealt with producer gas, another with oil fuel, and a third with an electric resistance furnace. All these papers dealt with the melting of metals and alloys in crucibles, i.e, in quantities which seldom exceed 200 Ib. in weight. The one paper on the subject dealing with principles rather than practice was by Dr. Carl Hering, an expert on furnace construction, and was entitled ‘‘ Ideals and Limitations in the Melting of Non-Ferrous. Metals.’’ This, in many respects the most suitable for discussion, was not discussed by any of the speakers, and »vill be briefly commented on in this article. Dr. Hering enumerates the directions to which per- fection points as follows :—A reduction in (i) the loss of heat, (ii) the loss of metal, (iii) the number of bad castings, (iv) the consumption of equipment, and (v) the cost of labour and plant per Ib. of good castings. As these are not all independent factors, economy may sometimes result from increasing some if others are thereby reduced more greatly, e.g. increased plant cost may save more in labour cost, and an increase in bad castings may even be warranted by the great saving of heat and labour due to working faster With regard to heat losses, Dr. Hering points ouf that one of the first things to bear in mind in all high-temperature thermal operations is that insulation against heat loss is in practice at best very poor; that the ideal in this direction is the vacuum jacket of the Dewar thermos bottle, but that this. unfortunately, is impracticable for metal melting. Hence, so long as Heat losses. however, depend not only on the thermal | insulation, but quite as much also on the length of time during which they take place, so that reducing 134 NATURE [APRIL 12, 1917 the duration of these losses reduces them in proportion. To obtain economy in heat, therefore, the ideal is not only to insulate as well as practicable, but also to heat and cast the metal in as short a time as possible, and this ideal may be approached by having each lb. of metal heated for the shortest possible time. The total loss of heat per lb. of metal while it is hot is the criterion. From this point of view Dr. Hering states that the ideally perfect melting furnace, if such it can be called, is the electric fuse, in which the intended result is completed in such an exceedingly short time —a fraction of a second—that the heat losses during that time are vanishingly small, and hence the thermal efficiency is practically 100 per cent. With fuel heating, too great a rapidity of heating generally involves high chimney losses, t.e. a lower efficiency in heat transmission to the metal, and hence a limit to the speed is soon reached; but with electric heating there is no chimney loss, and the possibilities of rapid heating are therefore more encouraging. Electric arc heating involves high radiation losses from the arc itself, but in heating the metal by its own resistance the heat can be generated below the surface and in the metal itself, thereby eliminating all heat transmission losses. Extremely rapid heating then becomes possible, being limited only by the size of the heat-generating capacity provided, and in the case of brass or zinc by the volatilisation of the zinc in the part'in which the heat is set free. By the resist- ance method, therefore, the ideal represented by the electric fuse can be approached more closely than by any other known method. Small high-speed furnaces are therefore, from this point of view, an approach to the ideal, particularly as they involve the minimum of contamination of the metal being melted. In Dr. Hering’s opinion, it will in time become possible, for light castings at least, to be melted in an electric furnace about as fast as the metal can be cast, in which case the furnace would need to have a metal capacity of only enough for about two moulds. In that case it would be so small that it could be trans- ported to the moulds, thereby saving the usual large heat losses in the transporting crucibles, besides the heat losses in the crucibles themselves. Another factor, however, is involved, viz. the larger the amount of metal in a furnace, the less the rate of heat loss per Ib., because the larger the volume, the less is the surface exposed. In a large furnace with a hemispherical hearth the heat loss per lb. of metal through walls having uniform insulation is reduced to about one-half when the capacity is increased from 1 to 10 tons. Hence, for this reason, the larger the furnace the better. In choosing between these two apparently conflict- ing ideals the following considerations must be borne in mind :—(i) When melting is the only object, then the metal should be kept hot the shortest possible time ; hence there should be used as small a furnace as is consistent with the amount of metal required for one casting. (ii) When there are involved opera- tions such as refining, mixing, uniformity of alloying, the taking of specimens for analysis while melted, or any other process requiring time, the larger the furnace the better. LIQUID FUEL. oy. QUID Fuel and its Combustion ’’ was the title of a paper read by Prof. J. S. S. Brame, on February 20, before the Institution of Petroleum Technologists. Attention was directed to the in- creasing use of liquid fuel, and especially to its con- nection with those developments of the internal com- bustion engine which have so largely determined the NO. 2476, VOL. 99| progress of aviation and submarine navigation. Nevertheless he recalls the warning of Redwood (1905) that no oil supplies are in sight sufficient to replace anything like the bulk of solid fuel consumed. The use of liquid fuel for steam raising and indus- trial heating is the special subject of the paper, and the following considerations are brought forward. In constancy of chemical composition, whatever the source, and therefore of calorific value, mineral fuel oils compare very favourably with coal, and accord- — ingly physical considerations such as low viscosi and freedom from grit may decide the choice of oil fuels. Turning to our home supplies, it is gratifying to note that the heavy fractions of the Scotch shale oils are ideal in this respect; having been distilled they are clean, while their fluidity is very satisfactory. Another home product, which is deserving of the close attention of liquid fuel experts, is coal-tar, the supply of which must increase with the extension of coal carbonisation. Its production may outgrow its uses in normal channels,- and as a home-made liquid fuel its rational utilisation is a matter of high national importance. Nevertheless, for marine pur- poses tar (and tar oils) must remain inferior to petroleum, since a higher oxygen content and lower calorific value are inevitable, while a capacity for giv- ing off disagreeable fumes may make it objectionable in the confined space of a stokehold. Methods of burning oil are surveyed historically, leading up to the spray burners now almost invariably used which ““atomise’’ the oil. : . The method of spraying is varied, depending on the use of compressed air or steam, or on forcing oil alone’ under pressure through a suitable burner, a method specially adapted for use in marine boilers. On theoretical grounds air injection would seem to be most generally efficient; steam may propel oil satisfactorily into the fire, but afterwards its influence on combustion can only be of negative value. The general arrangements of the system for combustion have more bearing on the success of a plant than the choice of atomiser. It is too often overlooked that, compared with solid fuel, where burning is mainly confined to thé fuel bed, oils require a much greater volume of combustion space. : Looking to the future, Prof. Brame points out how much depends on the development of the internal combustion engine; for naval purposes he believes that oil firing with turbines will hold the field. jy. Wee RECENT PROGRESS IN SPECTROSCOPY.* zi, ADIATION is an_ electromagnetic process, and must be determined by the electrical state of the radiator. A molecule may be neutral or for a moment charged by the loss or gain of an electron. This type of ionisa- tion must actually occur, as indicated by the conduction of electricity through the vapour of a compound which shows no evidence of chemical dissociation. What causes the light emission? It may accompany the loss or gain of an electron by a neutral molecule, in which case the emission centre would be charged. It may be due to the shock of elastic collision with an electron or ion, or to the reunion of an electron with a posi- tively charged molecule, in which cases the emission centre would be neutral. Luminous vapours emitting band spectra usually appear to be neutral at the instant of emission, so that it seems probable that band emission is due either to elastic shock or to the 1 Address delivered t> Section B—Physics—of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the New York meeting, December, 1916, by the chairman of the Section, Prof. E. P. Lewis. Continued frem p. 118. _ causes a reduction of luminosity. In tems. 16 increased. The same is true of argon. j ~ APRIL 12, 1917] NATURE 135 “reco of a lost electron. It is to be remarked that as a rule band spectra are not subject to the Zeeman, ‘Stark or Humphreys-Mohler effect ; in the exceptional are subject to all. It would be of interest to examine these cases with reference to the nature of e the molecular charge. % nous vapours emitting line spectra appear, in many cases at least, to be positively charged. A x flame is attracted to the negative plate of a 3 tener. A metallic salt introduced near the cathode _ of a spark discharge colours the spark only in that ; if introduced near the anode, the b colour flashes entirely across the spark. The most & method of verifying such conclusions ap- to be by the study of canal or positive rays. 1 Sir Joseph Thomson, from a study of the deflections j . No molecule j 7 wake more than one positive charge. The atoms of few elements are found with a negative charge, _ but all ont la ean a e charges and many may be g ged. For example, krypton may have as many as five and mercury eight positive charges. _ Hydrogen never has more than one charge, which ' accords with Bohr’s view that it has but one detach- - able electron. Stark has reached similar ketene from a study the spectra of canal rays. In many cases the the line of sight gives a Doppler effect. an undisplaced line due to the stationary gas line due to the canal rays. A distinct 3 between the displaced and stationary lines _ shows that the canal rays cannot radiate until their _ kinetic energy reaches a threshold value, which Stark ted in favour of the quantum theory, but _ which he now believes to represent the-energy neces- _ sary for ionisation. There may be two or even three _ displaced ‘lines, with separations consistent with the _ view that the luminous centres are doubly or triply z . The radiation is evidently due to collisions, _ for a reduction of pressure in the canal ray chamber general, all Fulcher tagonistic states, is a suggestion of the enemy that has no real foundation in experience. A man may be a Greek scholar and a boor. A man may be unable to construe half a dozen words in Greek and have a beautifully trained and subtly refined intelligence. The case for the defence of the Greek obstacle consists largely in ignoring these facts. If scientific men who have not had the time to follow up this educational controversy closely wish to grasp its essential values, they cannot do better than weigh over the implications of this passage that follows, from an article by Lord Bryce in the current Fortnightly Review :— - I do not contend that the study of the ancients is to be imposed on all, or even on the bulk, of those who remain at school till eighteen, or om most of those who enter a university. It is generally ad- mitted that at the universities the present system can- not be maintained. Even of those who enter Oxford — or Cambridge, many have not the capacity or the taste to make it worth while for them to devote much time there to Greek and Latin. The real practical problem for all our universities’is this: How are we to find means by which the study, while dropped for those who will never -make-much.of it, may be: re- tained, and for ever securely maintained, for that percentage of our youth, be it-20 or 30 per cent. or be it more, who will draw stfficient mental nourish- ment and stimulus from the study to make it an effective factor in their intellectual growth and an unceasing spring of enjoyment through the rest of life? This part of our youth has an importance for the nation not to be measured by its numbers. It is on ‘the best minds that the strength of a nation depends, and more than half of these will find their proper province in letters and history. It is by the best minds that nations win and retain leadership. No pains can be too great that are spent on develop- ing such minds to the finestpoint of effici We shall effect a saving if we drop that study of the ancient languages in the case of those who, after a trial, show no aptitude for them.. Let the scientific man read that over carefully, and, if need be, re-read it. Let him note first the invincible conceit of the classical «scholar in I 142 NATURE [APRIL 19, 1917 the superiority of his particular education to any other, and his firm determination to secure the pick of -the available boys and the pick of the administrative posts for the classical training. Science and research are to have those rejected as unfit in this sublime progress of the elect. In- stead of our boys—I mean the boys destined for real philosophy, living literatures, science, and the study of actual social and political questions— having a straightforward, well-planned school course, they are to be tried over at Greek for just the most precious years education- ally, and our modern world is to have the broken fragments. This claim is pressed even more impudently by Mr. Livingstone in his re- cent ‘‘ Defence of Classical Education.” He insists that all our sons are to be muddled about with by the teachers of Greek up to at least the open- ing of the university stage, entirely in the in- terests of Greek scholarship. Prof. Keeble’s dream of “sweet reasonableness” is a mere dream. These classical people are absolutely ignorant of their own limitations; they can imagine no compromise; they mean to ram com- pulsory Greek down the throat of every able English boy they can catch, and they mean to load the scales in favour of Greek at any cost to science, philosophy, and national well-being. Against this strangle-grip of the classic-wor- shipping mandarins on our higher English education such a book as “Science' and the Nation” scarcely fights at all. Is it too much to suggest that scientific men should take a little more trouble collectively than they have hitherto done to master the essentials of this question, and to understand better what it is that really sustains the general contempt and. distrust of modern knowledge in Great Britain and blocks the -way to a widespread national support of research ? ; H. G. WELtts. THE WORLD CRISIS AND AFTER. Janus and Vesta: a ‘Study of the World Crisis and After. By Benchara Branford. Pp. xviii+ 316. (London: Chatto and Windus, 1916.) Price 6s. net. HIS is not a “war book,” but it makes a well- timed appearance, for in an England un- illumined and unchastened by these last terrible years it might have found few readers capable of perceiving its value. The author should now, however, be assured of a large company who will accept his invitation to read his work ‘backwards and forwards in the belief that it will repay careful study.” . To one at least who has done so it-seems a noble book, full of a wise and strong humanity, worthy to be classed with writings to which all men pay homage. Any scientific reader who will start with the chapter on “Science and Occupa- tion” and follow whither the clue leads will prob- ably reach much the same. opinion. es Mr. Branford is well known in the educational world as a divisional inspector of the London County Council. He was once a lecturer on mathematics in the Victoria University, and -was NO. 2477, VOL. 99] afterwards principal of the Technical College and. Director of Education in the Borough of Sunder- land.. In 1908 he published an admirable “ Study” of Mathematical Education,” which has been translated into German. In 1902,’ in conjunction with Prof. W. A. Bone, he issued proposals for’ a school of metallurgy, which recent unhappy experiences have shown to be as necessary as they were far-sighted. The statement of these facts will suffice to commend to scientific readers the views on educational reform that constitute a vital part of the present work; it should, nevertheless, be added that the author deals with all aspects. of the problem of education with quite remarkable insight and breadth of sympathy. His zeal for universal vocational training is the expression of no narrow ideal of “national efficiency,” but. springs from a profound study of the conditions. of development of the human spirit. It is, there- fore, in complete harmony with his passionate — conviction that a revival of university life (includ- ing a renaissance of the “wandering scholar ”’) is one of the most urgent needs of the time, being — necessary in order that the nations, old and young, ~ may not only rise to the full height of their spiritual possibilities, but also learn, through the intercourse and mutual understanding of their best minds, to compose their historical discords. In this connection Mr. Branford argues with much force that universities have, during the modern epoch, largely forgotten their ¢atholic mission, and have become, in many insidious ways, organs for the cultivation of national separatism and egotism. Asa remedy for this state of things. he presses the suggestion of a “world university,” neutral, as the Papacy is neutral, to be the guar- dian of the common spiritual interests of mankind, both Western and Eastern, as the Papacy was formerly the guardian of the common spiritual interests of the western European nations. : It is not possible in a short notice to follow in detail Mr. Branford’s diagnosis of the diseases of our age, or to indicate the remedies he proposes. It must be enough to say that whether he speaks of things temporal or things spiritual, his voice — has the authentic accent of the prophet. Like _ all true prophets, he shows not only the eager desire to know the things that belong to the peace of his own people, but also the depth of vision that reveals them sub specie aeternitatis. For this reason, though his ideas are often at first provocative, they are generally seen, on candid consideration, to be widely and solidly based. No oné concerned with the problems of our State, internal or external, can afford to neglect them. SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION AND REASONING. . Comptes Rendus of Observation and Reasoning. . By J. Y. Buchanan. Pp. xl+452. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.) Price 7s. 6d. net. R. BUCHANAN is a believer in original research in the full significance of the words, including originality in methods and point Apri 19, i917] NATURE 143 Se ne ae Me iw. as) - well as. in the subject dealt with. y Unlike his, former yolume of collected oceano- : _ graphical papers, this collection consists of a on many subjects, scientific and popular, d * several” reproduced from the pages of Nature. _ The strictly scientific memoirs deal with the rela- _ tion of ice and brine, steam and brine, calori- % metry, and the occurrence of ice in Nature, mainly _ in the form of glaciers. These researches grew _ out of Mr. Buchanan’s observations of melting sea-ice during the cruise of the Challenger in _ the Antarctic regions, and, as regards calorimetry, in part out of observations on solar. radiation _ during a solar eclipse in Egypt. The memoirs _ themselves form solid and informing reading for _ students; but they are rendered entertaining by + the extraordinarily copious analytical Table of _ Contents, which occupies thirty pages. In this = each paper is not only analysed and epitomised _ by the author, but also annotated, and some- times criticised. For example, the discussion 4 (reprinted from Nature, vol. Ixix., p. 293) of the _ system of the Royal Society (and, for that matter, _ of all scientific societies) of referring the papers of fellows to unnamed referees, who may suggest or insert alterations, is illustrated by a delightful _ reminiscence. In explaining how they manage _ these things better in France, Mr. Buchanan gives . Jonet pleasing picture of-an episode of his student yaa ies “t In the summer of 1867, while working in the _ laboratory of Wurtz in the Ecole de Médecine in ‘Paris, I made some investigations on the pro- _ ducts of the reaction of perchloride of phos- _ phorus on salts ,of isethionic acid. I collected the results in a short paper, and, with Wurtz’s _ approval, I proposed to offer it to the Academy. _ At that date Wurtz himself was not yet ‘ of the Institute,’ but there was a standing custom that _ papers by his éléves were presented by Balard, _ the veteran discoverer of bromine. Accordingly, _ I took my pap-r with me and made a formal call on M. Balard, «no received mé with the greatest _ kindness and courtesy in his study, wearing, as _ had been the fashion in his younger days, a black ' frock-coat, and a white neckcloth taken twice » round his neck. When I had expressed my ' desire that he would do me the honour to present "my paper to the Academy, he replied at once that _ he would have the greatest pleasure in doing so. _ T handed him the paper, he presented it the follow- ‘ing Monday, and it was published in the Comptes _ rendus of the next week.” x kage saags may be made to another annotated _ paper, the appeared originally in the “Antarctic Manual,” 4 eo for Captain Scott’s first expedition. a notes proved less useful than they should have been, as there was no trained chemist on the 4 ‘expedition, and the physicist who was appointed did not sail with the Discovery, and only joined her in Australia. Had there been a chemist of ’ Mr. Buchanan’s manipulative skill and keen in- ' sight the notes would have been most helpful, for he now tells us that he prepared them as memo- ' fanda for a worker by imagining that the worker NO. 2477, VOL. 99] | tion of research. was himself. Jn fact, we gather that. they are the instructions which thirty years of experience had shown would have profited him most had he himself received them when he sailed on the Challenger in 1872. They will stand, we trust, as inspiration for the chemist of some | future expedition. An interesting point about this paper is mentioned in the preface: “It was con- veyed to me through an old friend and former colleague that this contribution to the ‘ Antarctic Manual ” had done much to retard the standardisa- I took it as a compliment. To. standardise research is to limit its freedom and to impede discovery. - Originality and independence are the characteristics of genuine research, and it is stultified by the acceptance of standards and by the recognition of authority.” This expression of opinion is really a confession of faith, and Mr. Buchanan’s consistent accept- ance of it as a guide in his own work is apparent in every paper and article which he has written. It-is one of the curious instances of history repeat- ing itself, that in every age the really original thinker is treated as a heretic by organised bodies and conventional men, unless, or until, he can hold his own against all attempts at suppression, passive and active; then he becomes a prophet, whose disciples, in turn, exercise a like intoler- ance of the forerunners of the next advance. H. R..M. OUR BOOKSHELF. A Practical Manual of Autogenous Welding (Oxy- Acetylene), with a Chapter on the Cutting of Metals with the Blowpipe. By R. Granjon and P. Rosemberg. Translated by D. Richardson. Fourth edition. Pp. xxiit+244. (London: — Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 5s. net. Tue fact that three large editions of this English translation have been exhausted in less than three years is evidence of the value it has been to those interested in the special technical methods described. Owing to the special nature of the subjects dealt with, the chief demands for the book - must have arisen from workshops and factoriés . where the processes so fully described are in actual use. Although autogenous welding by means of the oxy-acetylene blowpipe has been largely used in this country, it has not received the same amount ‘of attention as it has in other countries, such as “Chemical and Physical Notes ” w hich France, for instance, where the Union de la Soudure Autogéne has done valuable work in the | encouragement of research and in the improvement | of the methods of application. The book deals with the properties and manu- facture of oxygen and acetylene, and with the erection, testing, and working of welding installa- | tions; practical information is given on the com- position of the metal welding rods and cleaning fluxes used, and on the preparation and execution 'of welds; and the autogenous welding of iron, steel, copper, brass, bronze, aluminium, and other | metals and alloys is considered i in detail. ' language. 144 ~ NATURE © [APRIL 19, 1917 A chapter is devoted to the important operation of cutting iron and steel by means of the blowpipe, in which illustrations of different types of cutting blowpipes are given, arid the application of the process to new work, repairs, and demolitions is considered. ’ The book contains a large number of illustra- tions of practical value and can be very’strongly recommended to all interested in the subject, especially as it contains a large amount of informa- tion not otherwise obtainable in the English C. O. BANNISTER. Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (Mythology). Collected and translated from the Hawaiian by W. D. Westervelt. Pp. xv+205.- (Boston, Mass.: Ellis Press; London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 6s. net. Many of us became first acquainted with Pele, the goddess of Kilauea, in the fascinating description of the Sandwich Islands by Miss Isabella Bird (Mrs. Bishop). The filaments of glassy lava, spun out by the wind from blobs thrown up into the air, have since become familiar to generations of students under the name of “ Pele’s hair.’? Mr. Westervelt now reveals Pele to us as a beautiful and wayward princess, warmly passionate, yet ready to consume her lovers, and dominating the long volcanic slopes with sheets and whirls of flame. The main interest of the legends lies in the evidence they provide of the constant and terrible menace under which the Hawaiians drew up their system of natural theology. . The insist- ence on Pele’s arrival from a distance suggests that the first settlers knew volcanoes elsewhere, but found Hawaii peaceful during their earliest years of occupation. The author has illustrated his charmingly pro- duced book by photographs of notable volcanoes, which greatly increase its attraction for the geo- logist, and include such rare scenes as the ideally shaped and _ snow-covered cone of Shishaldin, in Alaska. Mont Pelée of Martinique (p. 160) recalls, by an odd coincidence, the name of the impulsive and beautiful devil of Hawaii. Hfimane anthropologists will take some comfort from Hii-aka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, the youngest sister, who was literally incubated “in the bosom of Pele,” ‘G. Agee Fungoid and Insect Pests of the: Farm. - F. R. Petherbridge. Pp. vi+174. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1916.) Price 4s. net. Tue author tells us this book has been written for those who wish to acquire some practical knowledge of farm and _ garden pests. It naturally does not aim at dealing with all the numerous enemies which affect crops, but rather at giving an accurate account of some of the com- moner forms. It is a pity a great many more of the common pests were not included, especially amongst the Arthropods, for then it would have been of very considerably greater value. The accounts also of many of the pests treated in the book are far too short to be really helpful. NO. 2477, VOL. 99| Mount * By. dial: Part i. deals with fungoid diseases, including’ the potato disease, damping off, onion mildew, etc. Chap. iii. (pp. 35-47) describes the well- known finger-and-toe disease and the important — wart disease of potatoes. In other chapters the’ author deals with mildews, ergot and clover sick- ness, rusts and smuts. Altogether nearly half the book is taken up with fungoid pests. A chapter is given on moths and butterflies, which deals almost entirely with the surface caterpillars. To the diamond-back moth five lines are devoted, in which one is told how to try to destroy it, without the slightest hint as to how to identify it. Wireworms and turnip-flea beetles (chap. x.)' _are better dealt with, and also the chafers; errors. occur in the, references to the figure here. The chief flies mentioned are the frit and gout flies, — the Hessian fly, the cabbage-root flies, daddy- long-legs—the parents of leather-jackets—and the warble-flies. The last chapter deals with the eelworms, the accounts of which are far too short and vague to serve any useful purpose. There are fifty-four figures, most of which are good, but. not nearly enough of the Arthropods for the book to be of much help to “those who wish to acquire -some practical knowledge.” ; FRED. V. THEOBALD. 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.] . Adjustable Clock-dials. To gain daylight by adjustment of the clock is a brilliant practical idea, but the present method of realising it by moving the hands of the clock is’ grossly unscientific, and should, I think, be changed for the alternative one. y Let the circular disc of the clock-dial be put in place by screws. in curved. slots. In spring and autumn, when changing time, we should rotate the © dial backwards and forwards respectively, leaving the hands untouched. The advantages of this procedure are many :— (1) The zenith and nadir of the sun are the natural turning-points in the day. These would still occur, as they should, at the top of the dial, though the time would then be one o’clock (for summer time). (2) The times of rising and setting of the sun at the equinoxes are other natural points of time. These would occur, as they should, at the bottom of the ‘ One’s concepts of time in the day are conditioned by. the sun’s movements, and the adjustment of the clock as here suggested would at least give pride of place to Nature’s time signals; all the other points of time in the day could be varied without disturb- ance to one’s instincts. As we are doing at present, the top and bottom of the clock are losing their special significance, and they mean one thing for. several months and something different for the rest of the year. (3) Some clock hands—e.g. in strikers—cannot be moved back. Hence in autumn we should avoid the painful necessity of standing by the clock during” the. \ Apri. 19, 1917] NATURE 145 d waiting for seventy or more strikes. 4) When the clock is thus adjusted, one would see at a glance whether “summer” or normal time is __ being registered on his clock. At present we have no means knowing from the clock itself which time _ Clock-makers might be well advised to initiate this _ simple change. I, for one, would certainly choose a lock of the type suggested, which, used as I urge, _ would obviously be less liable than on the present - plan to injury at the bi-yearly adjustment. Bee tee E , P.-E. Suaw. ea ed © * _ AEROPLANES AND PROPELLERS. (~ONTRARY to its title, the first quarter _ \ of Lieut. Turner’s book is devoted to the aircraft of yesterday. The early mythical attempted or pretended flights attributed to such storical chafacters as Leonardo da Vinci, Dante Perugia, Besnier, Barthelémy Lourenco, and _ others have always afforded entertaining reading. _A book which starts with these exploits and traces the development of the airship and aero- plane past Montgolfier’s discovery of the balloon and the aeroplane experiments of Lilienthal, Pilcher, Chanute, and Wright down to the ' present war cannot fail to be of interest. __ It may safely be said that the author has been ' very successful in an attempt to concentrate the _ maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of space. Every page is full of facts, yet _ the book is quite readable and interesting. Much _ of the subject-matter will probably—be new even _ to the great majority of experts; for instance, the altitude charts of the first historic balloon journeys from London to Russia and Sweden. The chapter on meteorology, too, contains a number interesting tables of statistics relating to atmo- heric conditions at different altitudes. Modern aeronautical theory and practice may said to occupy about 130 pages of the whole book, and this section contains interesting chapters on “Learning to Fly,” “Sensations during Flying,” and “Sensations during Balloon- g.” The remainder of the book is mainly taken p with aircraft in war, and undoubtedly will do uch to enlighten the British public on matters hich everyone ought to know. For example, 2 ie: “Tn anti-aircraft weapons Germany led the way and had done so for many years. The French ere, however, in a strong position when the war | broke out. Great Britain had done little save ' feed on illusion until a few months before the war, and for many months after deficiency in this respect was only too conspicuous.” _ But the most notable feature of this section is _ the chronicle of thrilling feats and adventures in the great war. Bomb-dropping on railways and "on submarines, duels in the air, and seaplane _ adventures give some idea of the more exciting ' 1) “ Aireraft of lo-day: a Popular Account of the Conquest of the Air.” By Lieut. C. C. Turner. Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price ss. net. e : (2) “ Notions générales sur les Appareils 4 Réaction.” Par Paul Popovatz. Pp. 36. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, n.d.) NO. 2477, VOL. 99] i Pp. 315. (London: Seeley, Service and | contents of the book, while, on the other hand, thé possibilities and limitations of aircraft in war are subjects on which the author expresses well- considered opinions. ; An intelligent reader would not, naturally, turn to a book of such a character for information on the more theoretical aspects of aeronautics. It is, however, to be regretted that the few: refer- ences to the principles of mechanical flight. are so fragmentary and one-sided that it.would have been far better to leave them out altogether. The constantly recurring references:to stability cause that subject to -assume an “exaggerated degree of importance for which there-is no his- torical | justification, since inherent stability has played: no-part..whatever in the-practical evolution of the aeroplane except in its most recent im- provements. Moreover, the définition of stability _ (p. 299) is incorrect, and: on-p. 139 Mr. Turner confuses the centre of pressure with the area of maximum pressure. On the other hand, the author fails to-appreciate the fundamental import- ance of Langley’s work in showing that for small angles of attack the air-pressure on an oblique lamina is far in excess of what it would be accord- ing to Newton’s hypothesis. Had it not been for “Langley’s law” modern feats: of aviation would have been impossible. The-next step was the improvement of light motors:and. propellers, on both of which subjects fuller statistical in- formation would be of much more use than these scrappy attempts to discuss a‘ highly technical .question like stability. Moreover, we greatly doubt whether the systems figured as illustrating “inherent stability” -have ever been proved to satisfy the requisite conditions. Many of them were certainly designed long before the experi- ments at the National Physical. Laboratory rendered any such test possible. These remarks apply in particular to certain systems on the type of the “Dunne” aeroplane, in which the angle of attack is negative at the tips of the wings. These may very probably be inherently stable, but the performance of a circular flight without touching the controls is no test of - this property; sometimes the reverse. What is, however, evident is that the main effect of such an arrangement is to reduce the tendency to excessive banking in turning curves, and Mr. Bairstow, writing in the Aeronautical Journal, has expressed the view that a machine which turns without bank- ing is unnecessary and undesirable from practical considerations. i A very short concluding chapter deals “with . “Flying Developments in Sight.” It is interest- ing that no opportunity has yet arisen for testing the uses of the aeroplane in peace times. One application suggested by Mr. Turner is certainly promising, namely,~ exploration of unknown countries, and, in addition to the list of places which he mentions, we may not improbably live to see frequent air excursions to an hotel at the North Pole! : (2) M. Paul Popovatz’s paper on “Reaction Apparatus ” deals only with considerations of the TA NATURE [APRIL I9, 1917 146 ium. It . De 1°: o P| Pee s B35 28 2E) @ & pS a ee = ‘Brc TO YN ‘Sn -s OS a nanwk 2 av tee @ 5.08 2-5 75°, wm. 8 § es Oe O's E oq S& eas: 3 oO _ 2 Se ae er s's CSc Ess 9's a+ C85 8 u Led , eie8 hae Be.Sic azoO:% Sos 2S o a2 23 7 oO 88 Oe he aoe n SS9 5 bp © ioe So ge = Se - Se ~~ + ie) — Me Ss 1 © ee) “ oS , and in p or other propellers when kep most elementary character relat the surrounding med by recoil 2 ‘ . : : : A¥poy JO yeriny,, worg ‘uooleq-eiy y *6e ‘eqney y ‘gz. ‘euvjd doz oy2 ySnosyy puvmdn Suray un yar ynoos aurjdiq yodnain y *4e “ynods ouridiq 194xxOY W *9e *edAy ,, UIOY-J40YsS,, 242 JO ULUIEY OdIINYyY Y “Sz ‘ouidiq o1ay ‘d'y AWYSIG “be ‘JolaIeO-uNZ uISIOA “Ez “zajjadord ay} ysno1ys Suny und sstyyojop yA ‘ouvjdouow suviopy “ze —*ouvjdiq uoapned peulsus-om} y ‘12 -auejdououl peanouwy jowz]q ‘Of ‘oor ‘d-y oor Aq UdaALIp ‘JOL1Iv9-UNZ S1d4O1LA, "6x = -auejdiq inoos sazwas-a]suIs epAsuIyAeY PYT "gt “euLfdiq pouIsus-o[qnop ‘advjasnj-omy uvutied y “41 ‘oueldiq ssoueq;y Wiepow y “or ‘auydiq yxNVIAY. posuim-7qsiv.ys paepurys y ‘Sx ‘auxdiq oars & ‘UIsIOA 943 JO UOISIPA UBWIEY LUepY VY ‘Fr ”,,ouedotoe-ajiieq ,, soItas-a24y) UBWAD*y “EL ‘auoUd sdednosouow ‘dy oor & YIM pany ‘aur[diq «, MOIS ,, JIS Y “ZI *10}0UI sUOYY oT ‘dy og uv YIM pazy Ayjensn st suryoeU! sty y, ‘*auLjdouoUT , joseivg ,, aUBIOPY VW “II “92 “|g ey) Sutpaosad pure ‘z "yY-g 94) Surquases ‘f10708] Iesomry [eAoy oyi Jo jonpoid ev ‘ouyjdiq ge "yg YW ‘OL ‘auIBUua seppos9yy ‘dy Cor ‘oueydiq “g*Ay Ava uy “6 ‘suISue sa] UNeEq-ueLysny ‘d*y oz1 ‘aqney, youaq-ssjduny ¥ °8 “auydiq oSy uy *Z ‘sauZua sapzoi1eyq “d*y 001 Aq uaatap Aqyensn ‘auyfdiq “ya 'q VY °9 ‘ewWoUD ‘d'y og ‘ousdiq Ueuaeg™ Wuey] oy, “§ ‘ourjdouow uIssnpssdeq y ‘¥ *197¥9S-OM} ,, WopuL},, JoUIDIg ‘d*y og ayy, *€ «=‘auOUy ‘dey og uv YUM poayiy Ajjesguas ‘ouejdououl 1a}¥as-0mM} JAOdNIIN[ ay], *% . ‘ouiZua yyneuay *d-y of yim osuediq uvueg aouney; y AD) “ es 8 ors" —- —< ‘The author makes aratively small. his formule depend, amongst other things, on the screw is comp ’ y ren are all immediately intel- rinciples of momentum and energ 1€ pti tirely on tt beginner who has mastered the and the. formule giv ligible to any its mass per . issuing-jet, of the unit time, and the area or diameter of the final velocity mean cal notation, according to which, 2 NO. 247%. VOL. QQ] somewhat illo APRIL 19, 1917 | NATURE 147 1 section. These are all quantities of which the assumed values have to be. found experimentally, and one assumption, according to Renard’s results, is that the final diameter of the section is equal to the diameter of an air-screw. The method certainly leads to one class of conclusions, namely, those deducible by means of the principle of similitude. For the rest, the most useful feature appears to be that the paper can be read by a mechanic having no knowledge of mathe- matics and very little know- ledge of dynamics. RESEARCHES ON CERE- BRO-SPINAL FEVER. i By January, I1QI5, the Medi- cal Research Committee was consulted by the Director- General, Army Medical. Ser- vice, with regard to an out- break of cerebro-spinal fever which had occurred among the troops at home. Steps were at once taken to provide for the application of preventive mea; sures, and also for organised research work to improve our knowledge by which further administrative action should be guided. Dr. Mervyn Gor- don was appointed by the committee as bacteriologist to advise and superintend the scientific work; with him several other observers colla- borated. A _ special advisory committee analysed the various studies then completed, and their report was published in January, 1916. The present publication! contains the re- ports received from Lieut.- Col. Gordon and his co- workers, and two other re- ports upon closely related work. Cerebro-spinal fever is a dis- ease which varies greatly in its clinical aspect in different cases. A minute spherical bacterium, the meningococcus, attacks the membranes of the brain and spinal cord, causing inflammation, and the definite recognition of the disease is finally based upon the finding of this organism in the cerebro-spinal fluid. The meningococcus also occurs in t naso-pharynx of a certain proportion of contacts and well persons, constituting “carriers,” b) whom the disease may be spread, and an imp branch of all preventive measures is the searching 1 National Health Insurance. Medical Research Coma Report Series, No. 3. Bacteriological Studies Patho ventive Control of Cerebro-spinal Fever among the 1916. NO. 2477, VOL. 99] out and segregation of such carriers, the identifi- cation of whom is similarly based upon the finding of the meningococcus in the naso-pharynx. In the first paper of the present report Lieut.- Col. Gordon outlines the bacteriological measures taken to deal with the military outbreak of 1915. In the second paper, by the same observer, the discrimination of the meningococcus by means of agglutination is described. If an emulsion of a microbe be mixed. with blood-serum derived from a rabbit, which has _ received -ctions of the microbe in question, cells in the’ emulsion generally into masses; this is known as “agglu- The reaction is very specific, the serum it or of a rabbit injected with Catcu ies of microbes failing to agglutinate, an agglutinating serum is employed for ninating species of micro-organisms. By s of this test the meningococci of the 148 NATURE [APRIL 19, 1917 epidemic can be divided into four types (? varieties or species). The procedure was as follows: A series of méningocoeci from thirty-two cases of cerebro-spinal fever was collected, a rabbit was immunised with the first of them, and the agglutinating power of its serum tested upon all of them, with the result that nineteen of the strains showed good agglutination and the re- maining thirteen slight agglutination or none at all. A second rabbit was then immunised with the first of these thirteen meningococci negative td thé first’ serum, and agglutination tésts made with all the thirty-two strains; eight of the cocci agglutinised well. A third rabbit was_ similarly ptepared with one of the rémaining five cocci, and faur of -the strains reacted, leaving one strain which had failed to react with the three serums. | A; fourth rabbit was prepared with ‘this strain, and the serum tested on all the thirty-two strains; | the homologous coccus alone was agglutinated, but none of the others. «By the use of this test it’ has been faund that only; one typé of meningo- coccus exists in a particular case of the disease. of ini a carrier, and the types-have been found to remain quite stable and unaltered for a year. a Fic. 2.—Thé fine dots represent colonies of salivary bacteria; the heavy ; dots represent colonies of meningococcus. ‘Capt. Flack ~‘contributes an ~ exhaustive analysis on cases of ¢erebro-spinal fever in the London district. Lieut.-Col. Gordon and Capt. Flack detail experiments on the attempt to dis- infect carriers. | Chloramine-T in the form of spray was found to be the most efficient agent, afd ¢affiers' with a. scanty infection clear up qitickly under its influence, but cases with an abundant infection are far more difficult to “eure.” ; : - : Major Hine déscribes the organisation of a. supply department of the Central Laboratory for furnishing media and. other requisites for the bacteriological examination of cases and contacts. A motor laboratory was used in this connection (Fig. 1); it contained working bench, water supply, incubators, etc., all the equipment neces- sary for investigating cases on the spot. In a final paper Lieut.-Col. Gordon describes the inhibitory action of saliva upon the growth of the meningococcus. -It was found that meningo- cocci, mixed with saliva fail to grow on appro- priate media. If the saliva be diluted more and more, a stage is reached when the meningococci begin to grow, and as dilution proceeds the meningococci are finally unaffected (Fig. 2). This action of saliva in inhibiting the growth of the meningococcus was found to depend upon the presence of the salivary micro-organisms, for- NO. 2477, VOL. 99] if the saliva be centrifuged so as these it no longer inhibits. From this brief and incomplete summary it wilt be seen that the report contains matter of con= siderable ‘interest to ‘the bacteriologist and epidemiologist which should be of much value in the control of cerebro-spinal fever in the future. Site _R. T.. Hewett. NOTES. THE annual meeting of the British Science Guild to get rid of a See r will be held-at the Mansion House on Monday, April 30, at four p.m. The Lord Mayor will preside, and an address on ‘‘ National Reconstruction’ will be given by Lord Sydenham. Other speakers will be Sir William’ Mather, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, President’ of the Board of Education, and Mr. H. G. Wells. Ad- ~ mission. will be by ticket, to be obtained from the secretary, British Science Guild, 199 Piccadilly, London, W.1. i <4 Ir is a common conceit among: representatives of | | literary studies that attention to the natural sciences | in educational courses is detrimental to the develop- -ment.of the fioblest attributes of civilised life, and tends te produce a non-moral condition of mind. With complete disregard of the historical meaning of the “‘humanities,’’? they use this term to signify such sub- jects as languages, literature, and history, in contra- distinction to a déhumanised study which they classify as\“‘ science.’ Writers in the public Press may perhaps be forgiven a want of understanding in this matter “},but responsible leaders of thought should enlighten ‘the popular mind instead of deluding it by misrepre- sentation. ._When, however, we read a communication from Prof. Ramsay Muir, professor of modern history in the University of Manchester, to a -srecent®con- ference arranged by the Workers’ Educational Associa- tion at Liverpool, we begin to wonder whether repre- sentatives of letters and history will ever understand what are the true aims and motives of science teach- ing. Prof. Muir is reported to have written: ‘‘I am ‘mortally afraid of an over-emphasis upon natural Science, especially in the teaching’ of children under ‘Sixteen. . . . What is likely to be the effect of con- centrating all their attention upon the ruthless and non-moral laws of Nature? Something of the moral éffects of this we have seen, I think, in Germany. - The philosophy which has poisoned the national mind is a philosophy which tries to transfer the concepts and ideas of science to human life.” It is untrue that teaching children the elements of the natural sciences leads to ruthlessness and is dangerous to civilisation, and the suggestion that German bar- barity is the result of such teaching has its origin, not in fact, but in prejudice. The historians, moral — philosophers, statesmen, and diplomatists responsible for the war were not educated in scientific schools, but in the Gymnasien, where even less attention is given to science than in many of our public schools. The fact is that in our own schools there is already more science teaching than in any corresponding schools in Germany, and that if it leads to national degeneration, we should exhibit this character rather than the Germans. The attempt to father upon science the diabolical conduct of the war by our enemies is unworthy of literary learning, and a per- version of historical truth. Only an unscientific mind could lend-itself to the expression of conclusions so little supported by evidence, Tue food problem is one of those matters in which everyone may help the State by action, and by bring- ing influence to bear on others. A most important one . this Officers with great zeal ‘and efficiency. j _ Apri 19,1917] NATURE 149 fact j is the shortage of wheat in this insite. Putting it very shortly, at our present rate of consumption of wheat we cannot get through until next harvest. ae is everyone’s duty to try to realise, and get others to ale, what it means to have this country without and potatoes for a month or six weeks. The result would be starvation, and the remedy is to eat d less of bread per week per person than we at. t consume. Compulsory rationing is a ey to be avoided if possible; voluntary rationing Renee when weighed in the balances, be found want- _ There is an intermediate course, which may be % “persuasive rationing.” The distributors of 2 flour are comparatively few in number. These might a we instructed to reduce in every way ‘possible the rsuade each individual customer y bread allowance by the pound ee A. In order to make this easy, the wa Spek a oatmeal, - ‘barley meal, maize meal, rice, _. ete., should be made readily accessible to’ the baker = a millers and flour factors; the baker should -. fo ee to prepare from these a cooked substitute Even if this had to be a biscuit, like the old ship’s biscuit, it would be eatable, and a efficient bread substitute. Thé average _ person S G ins not like a helping of stewed rice when he wants a slice of bread, but a plain biscuit should be quite acceptable. The “persuasive ” baker could then, while _ docking the bread allowance, offer instead the equiva- lent in the form of biscuits (or similar articles), other ' wheat, as an alternative. It is believed that se would render it materially easier for the a Oo individual to lessen, his bread consumption. > with a a tific services of the Army. The author t t for the highest efficiency the Services must _ maintain contact with the civil professional organisa- 3 tions" and a practical connection’ with the varied _ national work in engineering. The present war has _ demanded the utmost knowledge, experience, and ——. from engineers in all branches of the pro- ES Engineers of all ranks have rendered invalu- able services attached to the Army in the field, in _ workshops at the base, in constructing railways, in Bc ee transport at home and abroad, and in Government departments. What the author _ most definitely suggests is that there should be a 2 permanent corps a Mechanical Engineers, organised — to, and attached to, the Royal Engineers, _ capable of performing such functions and ready for _ any future emergency. The difficulty is that in peace- _ time there is not scope for the acquirement of the _ mecessary varied experience within the range of mili- _ tary requirements. Col. Ward appears to think that _ . the corps he proposes should in peace-time largely a in civilian employment. There is somet thing _ to be said for such a view. The earlier irrigation _ works in India were executed by Royal Engineer i But now _ public works there are carried out by a civilian depart- ment, it is believed with advantage to India. Engineer- ing has become complex, and is best in the hands of ten who devote their lives to it or to a special branch of it, and who are not hampered by military duties or regulations. Still, no doubt the war has shown _ defects of preparation, and something in the direction 5 of Col. Ward's suggestions may be desirable. er. By- the death of Mr. Walter Baily, London, and E be particular the University of London, has lost one NO. 2477, VOL. 99 | of ‘the Aeronautical Institute on March te Col. B. R. Ward was presented, dealing e means of securing the best-_supply of officers + | | education. | who has played an. important ————— me part in connection with From a report in, ‘the Times of April 3 | we learn that after a brilliant academic career at Cam- _ bridge (Second Wrangler, Smith’s prizeman, and fellow _ of St. John’s College) he was appointed inspector of schools in the West Riding of Yorkshire. From 1893 to 1915 he. was. a member of the council (which, on the incorporation of the college in the University, be- came the committee) of University College, London, and from 1902 to 1906 the chairman of its committee of management. His scientific work reflected his early mathematical training, though it was combined with a keen interest in experimentation. The record of it is to be found mainly in the early volumes of the Proceedings of the Physical Society, of which he was for many years secretary, and afterwards a vice- president. One of the.most interesting of his experi- mental .researches consisted in a new mode of produc- ing Arago’s rotation. This is, in principle, an antici- pation of the two-phase motor: two electromagnets with their poles beneath the Arago disc, and in planes . at right angles to one another, having their polarity inverted by a commutator so that the fields have a phase difference of 90°. ‘His other papers describe an integrating anemometer of his own design, the vibra- tions of a film in reference to the phoneidoscope, an _ illustration of the crossing of rays, a map of the world on Flamsteed’s projection, a theorem relating to curved diffraction gratings, the construction: of a colour map (in which he advocated the use of rectangular instead of trilinear co-ordinates), and a mathematical explana- tion of the appearances presented by starch and un- annealed glass under the polariscope. : WE regret to record the death at Washington, D.C., U.S.A., of Dr. Hamilton Wright at the age of forty-nine. While at Cambridge University and at the Pathological Laboratory of the L.C.C. Asylum, Claybury, Dr. Wright made investigations: upon the nervous system, notably a number of experiments upon animals, with the view of demonstrating chromatolytic and dendritic changes in the neurones of the brain as a result of prolonged chloroform narcosis. He was next appointed by the Colonial Office to inyestigate beri-beri in the Straits Settlements, where he supervised the building and equipmentof an excellent erica. ieee laboratory at Kuala Lumpur. Here he conducted his researches on the causation of beri-beri. He came to the conclusion, both by experiments on animals and observations upon prisoners in the gaol, that the theory of rice being the source of the transmission of an organism to the human system was incorrect. .In his report he states that ‘‘beri-beri is due to a specific organism which remains dormant in certain localities, but, having gained entrance to the body by the mouth, it multiplies locally (in the stomach or duodenum chiefly) and gives rise to a local lesion, and produces a toxin which, gaining the general circulation, acts on the peripheral terminations of both afferent and efferent neurones to cause bilateral symmetrical atrophy; and that finally the organism escapes mm the faeces, to lie dormant again in places.” Although the absence of the vitamine in polished rice is now the generally accepted theory of the ‘causation of: beri-beri, it does not exclude the possibility of a secondary microbial toxemia acting as a coefficient. Dr. Hamilton Wright married the daughter of Senator Washburn, and took up work for the United States Government. He was appointed a member of the International Opium Commission, and prepared a Bill for the suppression of the opium trade, known as the Harrison Bill, which was passed by Congress. DurinG the Easter vaeation the Port Erin Biological Station has been occupied by about twenty senior 150 NATURE [ApRIL 19, 1917 | women students and post-graduate researchers—most of them: present or. future~ science schoolmistresses taking a course of practical marine biology, under the direction-of Prof. Herdman, Mr. Douglas Laurie, and Miss R. C, Bamber, and supported by a grant fromthe Liverpool Council of Education. The wintry conditions have been unfavourable for much work in the open; but plankton observations in the bay have: been made almost daily, and the vernal maximum of the Phyto-plankton (mainly Coscinodiscus and Chzeto- ceras spp. at present), which is probably affected more by the increasing sunlight than by temperature, is now (April 12) well marked. The fish-hatching is — going on as usual, and several millions of young plaice have already been set. free to the west of the Isle of Man. A point of considerable interest is that the second generation of young plaice reared in cap- tivity is now passing through the hatching-boxes. There are about eighteen: adult: plaice reared from eggs produced and hatched in the tanks in the season of 1914, and therefore just three years old, which are now spawning. One of these fish, which has been isolated in an aquarium tank and is now producing spawn, measures 27 cm_ in length (about* 103 in.). The average size of spawning female plaice in the Irish Sea is about 15 in., and the smallest previous record is about 13 in. The eggs produced from these three-year-old plaice are slightly smaller than those from older fish, but otherwise seem normat, and are developing into embryos and larve. A’ large shoal of grey mullet visited Port Erin Bay on April 11 and 12 —a very unusual occurrence at this time of year—and swarmed close in to the rocks and beach at high tide. More than 400 large fish, some of them weighing up to 7 lb., were caught in a seine net and sent to the Liverpool market. A copy-of an address by Prof. Murray Butler, de- livered at the annual dinner of the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce on February to last, has been received. Prof. Butler asks, and attempts to answer, the question: ‘‘Is America Drifting?”’ The general tone of the address would probably have been modi- fied had it been delivered after the entry of the United States into the war, but its appeal to thinking Americans to do all in their power to assist the ad- justment of American national institutions to modern- day needs and demands could scarcely have been more insistent. ‘‘I do not recall,” says Prof. Butler towards the end of his address, ‘‘that any great administrator has ever been chosen to be President of the United States, and few governors or mayors seem to take any interest in the improvement of ordinary adminis- tration, such as every manager of an industrial or business undertaking concerns himself with every day and every hour.’’ Americans, he states, are so con- cerned with their own personal affairs and immediate interests that they are letting America drift, and until every American feels his personal responsibility for the formulation of definite public policy at home and abroad, and for the businesslike administration of public affairs, the drifting will continue. There is, he insists, a call to Americans for national service and a preparation. for it which, so far from sharing the spirit of militarism, are only the voice of demo- ‘cracy conscious of its obligations and its duties, as well as of its rights and opportunities. ¢ ‘Tue Societa Italiana delle Scienze has awarded the gold medal of the physical section to Prof. W. H. ‘Bragg and Mr. W. L. Bragg in recognition of their distinguished work in physics, - Mr. ‘T. SHEPPARD, curator of the Hull Municipal ‘Museums, has-been elected honorary life member of NO. 2477, VOL. 99| / . the Selby Scientific Society, in vices since the society was founded. ° RECENT enterprises in connection with the prepara- tion.of food and the development of its concessions in West Africa and elsewhere have led, to the establish- ment of a research department by the Co-operative Wholesale Society, and Dr. Geoffrey Martin has just been appointed to direct its work. “This appointment marks a new departure in connection with the co- operative movement, and has been rendered necessary by the concessions acquired by the Co-operative Whole- sale Society in West Africa, Nigeria, and elsewhere, as well as by the development of fresh undertakings at home. Tue National Canners’ Association has offered Har- vard University, says Science, the sum of 4oool. annu- ally for a period of three years to carry on an investi- gation of ptomaine poisoning, with special. reference to canned goods. The offer has been accepted by the University, with the understanding that the investiga- tion shall be conducted and the results published with entire academic freedom. The study will be made at the medical school, under the direction of Dr. M. J. Rosenau, professor of preventive medicine and hygiene. The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences is supervising the investigations on this subject. Tue British Medical Journal announces the death, on February 27, of Prof. J. J. Dejerine, of the Uni- ‘versity, Paris, one of the leaders of contemporary neurology. He was born at Geneva. in 1849, and studied medicine in Paris, where he took his doctor’s degree in 1879. In 1901 he was appointed professor of the history of medicine, and afterwards trans- ferred to the chair of internal pathology. Finally, in. 1911, he became professor of nervous diseases and head of the clinic at the Salpétriére. He was. a member of the Académie de Médecine, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, which awarded him the Moxon medal. From the first he devoted -himself to the study of neuro-pathology, -and his published papers cover the whole field of nervous disease.’ His chief work is the ‘‘ Anatomie des Centres Nerveux,”’ written in collaboration with his wife, herself a doctor of medicine. At the fourth annual general meeting of the Institu- tion of Petroleum Technologists, the elections were announced of Mr. C. Greenway as president, Prof. J- Cadman as a_ vice-president, and Sir Frederick Black and Major A. Cooper-Key as honorary mem- bers. The vice-presidents and council for the ensuing year are :—Vice-Presidents: The Rt. Hon. Viscount Cowdray of Cowdray, Sir Thomas H. Holland, and Sir Boverton Redwood, Bart.; Council: A. C. Adams, H. Allen, Sir Robert Balfour, Bart., Capt. R. W. Barnett, H. Barringer, Sir George Beilby, E. R. Blundstone, A. Campbell, J. T. Cargill, E. H. Cunningham Craig, A. W. Eastlake, T. C. Palmer, Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin, and R. Redwood. mu In Southern Nigeria the wholesale destruction of ‘interesting cult-objects by the fanatical adherents of the prophet who called himself ‘‘Elijah II.” has robbed ethnologists of a vast amount of valuable mate- rial which can never be replaced. _It is fortunate that Mr. P. Amaury Talbot, while engaged in official work in these districts, has been able to form a splendid collection of ethnological specimens, and both the British Museum and the Oxford Museum have acquired by his generosity a number of valuable acces- sions. Among them Mr. Henry Balfour, in the April issue of Man, describes a rematkable carved and painted ceremonial paddle used by the Kalabari tribe. ~ recognition of his ser~ _ Balfour. — am _ f{vol. xivi., July-December, 1916} Dr. \ a ee = ’ ~ Apam. 19, 1917] — NATURE : ; 451 nis formed part of the paraphernalia of the aman- _ ingiu, or serpent, Juju, the serpent and the hippo- ramus ee ene Aerevcnted co Janus ile carv- ~on the back and front.. A similar rendering appears on a Kalabari wooden mask from. Abonnema, ‘which is also described in this article by Mr. Henry ne: ‘< S) 3 ep ‘ ae In the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Bronislaw ski contributes a paper on ‘“Baloma: The Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands,” which lie off the eastern coast of British New Guinea. Inci- dentally, he discusses the question, brought into pro- minence by Spencer and Gillen in the case of the Aus- F tralian Arunta, that the belief in reincarnation, a spirit child believed to enter the womb of the mother, excludes any knowledge of the physiological law of the of impregnation. That this ignorance exists is certain. The writer deals with this difficult sub- S 4 at _ the ing into much higher stages of development than it ject in a scientific and tactful way, and he arrives at the general conclusion that its prevalence among Melanesians of New Guinea is a condition extend- have seemed possible to assume only on the basis of the Australian material. Tue réle of the fiagellated protozoa in infective pro- ‘cesses of the intestines and liver (of animals) is the subject of Bulletin 166, Agricultural Experiment _ Station of the Rhode Island State College, U.S.A., by Dr. P. B. Hadley. Evidence is presented that a Tricho- _ monas is the causative organism of an almost invari- _ ably fatal cecal and hepatic infection in birds. _ pathol The ogical findings are described and the course of ‘infection and development of the parasite is studied. The paper is illustrated by three excellent plates. Ina further Bulletin (No. 168) the avenue and the develop- _ ment of tissue infection in intestinal trichomoniasis are discussed. The stages are, first, multiplication of the _ parasite in the cecal contents, then the flagellates * _ penetrate the goblet cells of the intestinal mucous _membrane, break through the basement membrane of _ the mucosa, and enter the sub-mucous connective _ tissue. Simultaneously, a marked invasion of the - base of the crypts occurs, and the crypt space becomes _ consolidated. As a result of this, the deep-lying cecal epithelium becomes to a large extent destroyed. _ Eleven plates illustrate this part of the investigation. a -Tue Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology ' for March (vol. x., Nos. 3 and 4) contains a series of _ papers by Prof. Noel Paton and Messrs. Findlay, Wat- _ son, Burns, Sharpe, and Wishart on the functions of | the parathyroid glands and their relation to the ai of the _ tetany. This effect is brought about by the influence ' known as tetany. It is shown that removal parathyroids induces a condition resembling of ee. carathyroids on guanidin and methylguanidin lism; these substances are increased in amount _ by removal of the parathyroids, and their artificial _ administration induces a condition resembling tetany. _ Tetany may therefore be regarded as being caused by an increase in the amount of guanidin and methyl- _ guanidin in the body, due to disease or disordered function of the parathyroids. In California Fish and Game for January a long e" re _and valuable history is given of the introduction of and game fishes into the waters of California. | of the fish-culture department of the California Fish _ and Game Commission, carries his survey from the " initiation of this work in 1871 to the present day. | << %: a ~ While he has many failures to record, as must always NO. 2477, VOL. 99] be the case in acclimatisation work, he has a long list of very striking successes. Among these are to be reckoned the introduction of the common -shad. Between 1871 and 1880 as many as 619,000 shad fry were imported from. the Castleton ha in New York and turned down in the Sacramento River, As a result, this fish is now one of the commonest in Californian’ waters. The introduction of carp, “which will probably become one of the State’s most valuable food fishes,’’ has been equally successful, though it has brought about the destruction of the Californian perch, a set-off against this, however, it is pointed out, it forms the chief food of the black and striped bass. The introduction of the black bass into California is regarded as ‘‘one of the greatest feats of acclimatisation of new ‘species of fish in the history of fish-culture.”” Loch Leven trout have also thriven. The introduction of the carp, we note, has’ given cause for repentance in one case, at any rate. Their ‘rapid increase -in- the Chautauqua Lake so fouled the water as to make it almost unfit for use. In consequence, pike and muskelunge were intro- duced to exterminate the carp, but the latter still remain in possession, the fish introduced to effect the work of extermination having themselves been exter- minated. An excellent coloured plate of the eastern brook-trout forms the frontispiece of this number. As a result of the shortage of cotton owing to the war, we learn from “Am Haiislichen Herd” (Ziirich, Pestalozzigesellschaft, xx:, 6) that an old industry is being revived in the cultivation of stinging nettles for textile purposes, both in Switzerland and Germany. In order to obtain fibres of the best quality, the nettles should be grown on rich soil and thinned out when necessary. In the spring, when they are about a foot high, they are to be cut down and the young tops may be eaten like spinach. The second growth produces much better fibres than the first, and the stems are cut down in June or-July, when they have reached a height of about 4 ft. Another crop is obtainable in September. In October the shoots can be used as fodder, and for this purpose they may be dried, when they will lose their stinging properties. They may also be chopped up for feeding poultry. It is much to be hoped that in our country a similar use will be made of the stinging nettles, which at present consti- tute such a pest in gardens and plantations. On the basis of Bohr’s theory, taking account of the magnetic and electrical fields of the atom, a general formula for spectral series has been deduced by Mr. J. Ishiwara (Proc. Tokyo Math. Phys. Soc., series 2, vol. ix., No. 2). .The formula may be written :-— a tae bo STE Ba gt oa nt py +a(A —») +HA—w)e) | tp) where v gives the wave numbers of lines correspond- ing to successive integral values of m, A is the limit of the series, and @ is the Rydberg constant, slightly varied according to the atomic weight of the element; u, a, and b are constants special to each series. The last term is a relativity. correction, and o has the numerical value o-ooo15908. As a test of the formula, the author has employed it in a re-calculation of the numerous series of enhanced lines of magnesium dis- covered by Fowler, for which the Rydberg constant | has four times the value appropriate to the arc lines. | The formula appears to be well adapted to the series author, Mr. W. H. Shebley, who is in charge | in question, and there are some curious relations ‘between the values of « for six of the series. Ow behalf of the Bureau of Standards, Dr..G. K. | Burgess, the head of the metallurgical department of 152 NATURE = the bureau, has.recently made a series of observa- tions-at steel works. in the. United States with: the object of determining the best methods to use in the measurement of the temperatures in Bessemer and open-hearth practice. He finds that. the present methods involve differences of temperature. between consecutive Bessemer teems and between successive melts in the-open-hearth furnace. which may exceed 50° C., and strongly advises the use of some form of optical pyrometer using monochromatic light, in order to introduce greater certainty in the conditions which determine the properties of the steel produced. In the complete paper, which ‘is to be issued by the bureau, details of the methods: adopted are to be given. At present information is available in abstract only in the Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, before whom Dr. Burgess gave an account of his work at.the New York meeting in February. : , Z Pror. McApir, the director of Blue, Hill Ob- servatory, proposes a new temperature scale in which the freezing point of water is to be taken as 1000, and the absolute zero ~—273° C.; as 0. He points out the objections to the present scales; and the suggested scale, if we could make a new start, would certainly have some advantages. For meteorological purposes the Centigrade degree is too large, since it is possible to express mean values of temperature with accuracy ‘to within a few tenths of a degree, and a difference of 1° C. in the mean summer temperature of a place, for example, makes quite an appreciable difference in the climate; but a quarter of this, about 1 on the suggested scale, would not be appreciable, so that it would suffice on it to express values to the nearest whole degree. The advantage of starting from the ab- solute zero is very great, especially to those who have to deal with radiation and to artillerists or airmen, who are concerned with the density of the upper strata, but the suggested scale would involve the printing of four figures, which is one too many. From an article contributed by M. Renouard to La Nature of March 31 it appears that in France the metric system has not yet ou8ted all the old customary denominations of measure in many trades, especially those connected with the textile industry. For example, in the hosiery trade, sizes of stockings for children are indicated in terms of the old Paris inch, while the numbers denoting the lengths of ready-made articles for grown-up people relate to the same ancient measure: thus, size “36” signifies a length of 36 in. Again, in the north of France the widths of cloths and linens are denoted by such fractions as 2/3, 4/4, 7/8, the widths being the corresponding fractions of the “‘aune”’ of 120 centimetres. It is true that traders are not always aware of the origin of the symbols they employ, and there is an amusing instance of this in .the case of certain silk stuffs invoiced ‘‘ 15/16,” which some shopkeepers from ignorance have repre- sented to their customers as “ fifteenth- and sixteenth- century taffetas.” Gold and silver fringes and ribbons are sold according to numbers which correspond to their widths in terms of the old Paris “line.” Numerous examples of the persistence of ancient or foreign systems of measure occur also in the lace trade and in the numeration of silk and cotton yarns. Although so many anomalies still exist as regards measures, the old customary weights, on the other hand, appear to have been completely superseded in France by metric denominations. THE appearance of the decennial index of the Bio- chemical Journal induces us to make a mental review of the biological chemistry of. recent years. Although first issued in 1907. it was not until five NO. 2477, VOL. 99| years later that this journal was taken over by the newly formed Biochemical Society, for which it has since been edited by Profs. W. M. Bayliss and A, Harden. According to. the original idea, opportuni- ties for chemists and biologists to forgather were to be provided by establishing a biochemical club. But the club, shortly after its foundation, was trans- formed, to the regret, perhaps, of many of its members, into the present Biochemical Society. ‘This society was instituted for the purpose of facilitating intercourse between those biologists and chemists who are interested in the investigation of problems common to both. The title ‘‘Chemistry of the Living Organism,’’ used in its widest sense, might be suggested to include all such problems. It will -be acknowledged that the society has attained its object to a marked degree, and the index of the Biochemical Journal is a witness to the valuable work which has been accomplished by the society — : through its members. The names of nearly all the well-known workers in biological chemistry are to be found in this index, and the subjects of their labours range from the distribution of maltase in plants to the treatment of trypanosomiasis. Those who ever have occasion to refer to the literature of biological chemistry will certainly find this index a valuable adjunct to their libraries. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Tue Pianet Mercury.—This object will be favour- ably visible to the naked eye on clear evenings during the remainder of the present month. considerably owing to change of phase, but with good conditions the planet shines more strongly than a star of the first magnitude. About an hour after sun- set it should be readily discerned above the W.N.W. horizon when the sky is clear. “It will set as under :— h. m. h. m Aprilig .... 9 1 p.m. | April25~ ... .9 19. p.m BO ver 6 20. ast h? QUAD 2t 9 10 2 a ae 22 9 13 28 aie a 23 9 16 29> Steet 29 24 9 18 30. : 5S enaig eae The planet will arrive at its greatest elongation on April 24, when it will set about 2h. tom. after the sun. The above are Greenwich mean times; for summer time one hour must be added. Comer 1917a (MELLISH).—Prof. Stré6mgren has cir- — culated the following revised elements and ephemeris, calculated by J. Braae and J. Fischer-Petersen from obsesvations on March 21 (Lick), March 25 (K6nig- stuhl), and March 30 (Copenhagen):— T=1917, April 10°6285 G.M.T. @ =120° 36°73 Q= 87° 2377 ao17 | z= 32° 23°57’ log g =9'28448 Ephemeris: Greenwich Midnight. 1917 4, BA Decl. Log + Log Mag. April 19 041 7 —1 269 95732 00132 52 21 44 32 3 78 96331 00340 56 23 48 31 4 28:9 96852 00529 60 25 52.47 = § 355. «97309. «070TH 27 957 9 . 6 313 97713 00858 66 29 5.231 7 19% 98076 ‘o-lo02 68 LaBoraTORY WorK IN AstROpPHysics.—An instructive account of the relation of laboratory investigations to astrophysical research has been given by Dr. A. S. King (Pub. Ast. Soc. Pacific, February). Apparatus re [APRIL 19, 1917 ~ E Its light varies _ ‘ ba a re ee eh ae : “ae Aa i, 1917] ne aiewye ~ ‘N ATURE 153 cinvestigations formed a babais pert ‘of the nent of atories in which the sets work hysics was ‘carried on, such as those of ockyer and Huggins, and Dr. King points out that there is a constantly increasing demand for this close 0-Ope: m between the laboratory and the observa- h much work of great value has been = Sx Eee laboratories, greater continuity in 3 Sats ion of extensive pieces of research is sible in a laboratory which is specially equipped, id prov “with a me having oe time to, devote » these problems. ypical exam of the experi- menta ‘work carried on at Mount Wilson are described and illustrated; the photographs showing the effect aes field on the sun-spot spectrum are striking. - value. ‘of most of the Chats gabe uCE = nebulz, a result recently obtained by s ‘Maanen with the 60-in. reflector at Mount Wi Wilson i is of considerable interest and import- _ Nat. Acad. Sci. Washington, vol. iii., pereier The nebula in question is N.G.C. 7662, a sharp stellar nucleus which gave measurable “ges ith Sp exposures of twenty-five minutes. The ; is given as 0-023", which would place the ee: at a distance of about 140 light-years. As the angular diameter of this nebula is 26", its linear diameter would thus bé of the order of nine- teen times that of the orbit of Neptune. & "THE RECENT COLD WEATHER. ~ Dr. Mill, the director of the Rainfall Organisation, in * letter to the Times of April 11, mentions that “the first ten days of April have been ‘colder this year than _ in any other,” according to the Camden Square record of temperature, which has been kept for sixty years. said to have occurred on every night but the. Camden Town records for 1888 frost / occurred every night but one, although the mean _ temperature for the period was slightly higher than ' in the present month. The Greenwich records for the past seventy-five years show that prior to the x year the greatest cold for the first ten days of Paget 0 occurred in 1888, when the highest night “tem- ire for the period was 32-1° on April 1. At South : the recording station of the Meteoro- cal Office, frost occurred in the open on thirteen “ni ts during the first fortnight of April this year. a cold has been even more severe over the “northern portions of the kingdom; and in the official reports from the health resorts, Southport is shown _ to have had a minimum shade temperature of 1 3° on “In the winter six months, from October to March 7 Be iecive. there was frost on seventy-three nights at Greenwich. During the last seventy-five years frost _ has only occurred more frequently in the six winter ' months six times, whilst the winter which has just closed has had a greater number of frosts than any _ winter since that of 1890-91, when there were seventy- ' six frosts. The highest number is eighty frosts, in the winter of 1887-88. ' The frequency of snow in London is dealt with in the Times of April 11, and records by a meteorologist “at Wandsworth Common for the last quarter of a ' century are referred to. Snow is said to have fallen on as many as thirty days this year prior to April 11, and since that date snow has fallen on four more ' days to April 17, so that snow has fallen on thirty- NO. 2477, VOL. 99] 2 < . Bx . four days since the commencementief January. This is three times the average for the first four months of the year, and is eleven more than in any correspond- with snow in an entire: year at Wandsworth for the past twenty-five years is thirteen, Mr. Mossman, in a communication made to the Royal Meteorological Society some years ago, showed that the average number of davs with snow was fifteen in’the course of the year, deduced from the observation of 100 years, and twelve of these. snowy days occurred in the first four months of the year. Snow has fallen in larger quantities during. the last few months over the northern portion of the kingdom than in the south, although the occurrence of the snow may not have been more frequent. In 1908 railway traffic-was much hampered in the south of England by a heavy fall of snow on April 25, and ordinary traffic by road: was completely stopped for a time. recent winters, and the total for the six months in London was 14-4 in., which is about 110 per cent. of the average. January and February were dry, little more than one-half of the average rain falling in the latter month. Sunshine has been deficient for months past over England, and in London there has been an unusual number of overcast and sunless da Cuas. HARDING. MEMORIAL TO SIR WILLIAM AND LADY HUGGINS. ApprEss BY Sir J. J. THomson, O.M., P.R.S. WE gave on April-5 (p. 109) an account of the unveiling of a memorial to Sir William and Lady Huggins in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The address delivered by Sir Joseph Thomson on that occasion has since reached us, and we are glad to be able to print it below. I have been asked, as ncegudant of the Royal Society, to commit this memorial of Sir William and Lady Hug: gins to the care of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, and also to say a few words as to the inception of the memorial. Shortly after the death of Sir William Huggins some of his friends were anxious to set on foot a proposal to obtain a memorial of him; this eame to the knowledge of Lady Huggins, and she expressed the wish that she might be allowed to defray all the expenses, so that no one except herself should be put to any expense in the matter. Before any arrangements had been arrived at Lady Huggins died, and it was found that in her will she had left a sum of money to provide for a memorial to Sir William. It seemed to those responsible for carrying out her wishes that in view of the long and active part she had taken in her husband’s work, and that some of the most important papers were published i in their joint names, no memorial to Sir William would be satisfactory unless it testified in some way to the part Lady Huggins had played in his work ; to effect this a small medallion of Lady Huggins had been added as a pendant to the one of Sir William. There can be no question as.to the claim of Sir William Huggins, the founder of astrophysics, as he has been called, to such a memorial, nor any doubt as to where it could most appropriately be placed. For no man of equal scientific eminence was ever more closely connected with . this city. He was | born in London, he was educated entirely m London, | he was in business in- London, and when he retired | from business to devote himself to astronomy he built his observatory in London; ing period since 1892. The average number of ‘days. Common Rainfall for the past winter was less than in many and in spite of the fact - - 154 NATURE [APRIL 19,° 1917 that the atmosphere of London is far from being an astronomer’s ideal, all the observations which led to the discoveries.on which his fame rests. were made in London, This great Cathedral seems the appropriate resting-place of a memorial to. one whose life and work were so linked up with this city. Sir William Huggins was a prominent example of | a type of man to whom English science owes much, the non-official worker. Like his contemporaries, Darwin and Joule, he never held any professorship or scientific appointment. When in 1858 he retired from business at an unusually early age, he seems to have been undecided as to whether. he should devote himself to the microscope or the telescope. The telescope gained the day, and he built an observatory at Tulse Hill; he began by making drawings of the planets, but ‘seemed to be losing interest and to be rather despondent, when Kirchhoff’s determination of the chemical elements in the sun by the aid of spec- trum analysis came to his knowledge. This was to him, he said, like water in a thirsty land, and he determined to attempt to find out the constitution of the stars by the same method. At the beginning of 1862 he persuaded Prof. Miller to join with him in the work, and in spite of the formidable difficulties due to the feebleness of the light, the mechanical diffi- culties of keeping the image of thé-star on the slit of the spectroscope, and the caprice of the London atmosphere, they were able to present to the Royal Society in 1863 a preliminary statement as to the spectra of some of the brighter stars, while in 1864 they published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society a general account of the spectra of about fifty stars, with a detailed study of some of the more important ones. They showed that the stars are made up of elements which, with few exceptions, afe found in the earth. In 1864 Huggins made a discovery of capital importance in connection with the evolution of the stars, for he discoyered a nebula the spectrum of which showed that it consisted: of glowing gas, and was therefore in quite a different state of development from the stars he had examined, the spectra of which showed that their physical con- dition was analogous’ to that of the sun. Huggins threw himself with characteristic energy into the study of the spectra of the nebula, and found that the nebulze were not all of one kind; some were stellar aggregates, while others were continuous masses of incandescent gases. ; The importance of these results and the interest they excited were recognised by scientific societies with a promptitude almost -without parallel. - Three years after beginning serious scientific work he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the next year he was awarded a Royal medal, and after ten years he seems to have been elected to almost every scientific society in Europe. The work which commenced with such brilliance was carried on with undiminished ardour for nearly fifty years; since 1875 with the active co-operation of his wife. It showed throughout the . characteristics so noticeable in the earlier work: the power to select the right problem to attack, the ability to devise the best way to attack it, and the industry to take boundless pains in overcoming the difficulties which sprang up at every turn. On behalf of the Royal Society, I record with grati- tude the help he gave to the work of that society, and especially to the distinction and dignity with which he for five years discharged the office of presi- dent. For the medallion we are indebted especially to Mr. Pegram, the artist whose skill has produced it, and to Miss Montefiore, who has borne the burden of the heavy work necessary to bring such a scheme to completion. NO. 2477, VOL. 99| THE DEVELOPMENT OF VEGETATION. — ONSIDERABLE scepticism is not infrequently ex- pressed by botanists who are not ecologists as so the possibility of formulating a. satisfactory natural - classification of vegetation, i.e. of plant communities ; and this scepticism is natural enough when we con- sider the ‘numerous attempts, largely inconsistent an contradictory, that have been made in this direction, especially in recent years. It is obvious that the ulti- mate test of validity will be general acceptance, and certainly we cannot claim that there is anything like agreement among ecologists as to a natural scheme or ,as to the principles upon which such a scheme should — it must be remembered ~ | that it took a very long time and constant efforts from be based, At the same time, many quarters to arrive at a natural system of classi- fication of species which commanded anything like general acceptance. The task of the classifier of plant communities is much more ‘difficult for many reasons, the chief of which is that the outlines of the classifi- catory units—the plant communities—are frequently vague and shifting, owing to the multiplicity of causes” and combinations of causes which determine their nature and limits. Some would doubtless go so far as to say that the units themselves are illusory, but — it is significant that this is not the yiew.of those who have seriously studied vegetation in the field. The natural system of species has been ‘ultimately — established on a phylogenefic—i.e. a developmental— basis, and any other was impossible once the principle of evolution had been accepted. Prof. Clements’s ‘fundamental contention in the volume under review is that the natural. system of plant communities must also be established on a developmental basis, and he includes in his purview not only present vegetation, but all the past vegetations that have come into exist- ence since plant-life first appeared on the earth. As the basis of this contention Prof. Clements claims that the plant formation—his basic unit—is an organism. Whether that claim can be admitted or not depends, of course, upon our conception of an organism. Start- ing with individual animals and plants, which are the typical, or, as some might say, the only, organisms, » itis clear that we can, if we so choose, extend the con- ception to human societies, for instance, which certainly have very many of the same characteristics, though they have not the close-knit spatial unity of structure and function of the individual plant or animal. If we extend the conception further to include plant forma- tions in Clements’s sense, we drop from our comcept one of the characteristics of the higher animal organisms and of human communities—the conscious co-operation of parts in pursuit of the ends of the whole, But neither is this a character found in the lower animals or in plants. Unless, therefore, we definitely restrict our conception of organism to individual animals and plants, we must concede Clements’s contention that plant formations are organisms, and if we do so restrict it we have perforce to admit that the plant formation has many of the characters of organisms, a fact which we may perhaps express by calling the vegetation unit a quasi-organism, : Prof. Clements’s plant formation is the plant com- munity in equilibrium with its climatic habitat, 7.e. determined and kept constant by the control of a dis- tinct climate. The type of such a’ formation is the forest of definite floristic composition which maintains itself indefinitely so long as the climate maintains its general character. Prof.. Clements points out that such a community has a definite organisation, 7.e. a fixed spatial and functional relation between the plants 1 ‘Plant Succession: an Analysis of the Development of Vegetation.” By Prof. F. E. Clements. Pp. xili+s512+61 photographic plates and 51 figures in the text. (Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1916.) 4 ’ “Aen ‘19, 1917] NATURE 155 : 4 cenipbing it and with: the substratum ; it regenerates ed and can reproduce. itself in new situa- finally, . it has a definite development or Me this last entire with which the present volume “is concerned. On bare ground or in water, within the & tic limits which determine the particular forest Z Genlen. there develops a succession of plant com- pute which ultimately gives rise to the forest. The ant populations on the habitat, which render it favour- E ie to particular ee invaders and less favourable to ‘ eacorger occupants. The final stage, or climax, is 7 when equilibrium is established and invasion possible. The earlier course of de- _elopment differs according to the -on which_ succession occurs, cba the later phases correspond whatever the origin of the succession. This has been amply estab- _ jished in the case of several of the great forest climax - formations of North America. As a particular instance _ W. S. Cooper has worked out in strikingly complete _ detail the successions culminating in the climax forest of Abies balsamea, Betula alba, var. papyrifera, and _ Picea canadensis on Isle Royale, Lake Superior. The _ primary successions in this case start from the bare rock shore or beach (xerarch successions), or from Gon st and delta swamps (hydrarch successions), and . h distinct series of definite and constant plant communities converge to’the climax forest. Secondary 3 successions are initiated by forest burns. If the ; humus is burned the resulting secondary succession _ is like the beach succession. When the humus is not burned the regeneration of the climax forest is much _ «shorter. In regions the climate of which does not permit of _ the establishment of forest the climax formations are of other vegetation types, such as desert or grassland ; _ and here the successions from bare soil o: water to the climax are shorter - because woody plants are not _ involved, Prof. Cleménts recognises the existence within the P formation of associations which are ‘‘ climax communi- _ ties associated regionally to constitute the formation,” and ‘are recognised chiefly by floristic differences.” _ He thus maintains the practice almost universally _ agreed upon among ecologists of making the associa- _ tion a subordinate unit to the formation. Successively F. - subordinate units of the association are designated as - consociation (dominance of a single species), society, and- clan. _ Parallel units are distinguished in the _ development series—i.e. those leading up to the forma- _ tion in succession. The author’s foible is undoubtedly the multiplication of terms, a , great number of which are proposed in Z _ this memoir. This is the concomitant of the compelling we necessity he feels to establish complete systems of con- ~ cepts logically worked out in every detail. Without entering upon a criticism of the validity. of the con- y. coptual systems themselves, which would occupy far _ More space than is at our. disposal, it may be pointed q out that the normal human mind invariably refuses to ‘ » accept new concepts and terms until the progress of _ our knowledge of the relations of phenomena compels | their adoption. It can scarcely be said that all ',Prof. Clements’s terms are essential to clearness of “thought and description. Some of them will no doubt | come into general use, as some of the terms proposed _ in the author’s “‘ Research Methods in Ecology” (1905) The present work shows a great advance in maturity as the result of a wider experience, and _ is notable as the first systematic account of a funda- Z mental phenomenon in vegetation. Its outstanding "merit is logical thoroughness and completeness. It is / NO. 2477, VOL. 99] - causes of succession are the reactions of the successive } nature of — impossible even to indicate the ground covered ‘within The an of a short ed : ; e numerous. photographs deserve: quite. Atpecitl praise. They are not Sale of uniformly high standard and excellently reproduced, but they are admirably chosen to illustrate the text.’ A. G. T. - THE. ZOOLOGY OF THE “TERRA NOVA” EXPEDITION. ~— Four further reports on the zoological, material collected during the British Antarctic. (Terra Nova) Expedition, 1910, have recently been issued by the British Museum (Natural History). Miss Massy (Zool., vol. ii., No. 7, pp. 141-176, 43 figs.) describes sixty-eight specimens o ‘Cephalopoda, which belong to seventeen species and twelve genera. Forty of the specimens belong to the Octopoda, the abundance ef the genus Moschites being noteworthy. The Decapod Crustacea, described by Mr. Borra- daile (vol. iii. -» No, 2, pp. 75-110, 16 figs.), comprise forty-six species, but only ee of these—all taken in the Ross Sea—are antarctic. In his account of Crangon antarcticus, Mr. Borradaile points out that the affinities of this antarctic shrimp lend some sup- port to the hypothesis of bipolarity. One of the most - interesting of the Decapods, a species of Porcellano- pagurus taken off the northern end of New Zealand, forms the -subject of a separate report (No. 3, pp. 111-126, 13 figs.). Mr. Borradaile points out that, Porcellanopagurus is one of the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab. This crab seems to have been evolved from an ordinary hermit-crab, and the method, followed was not only, asin other such cases, a broadening and depressing of the cephalothorax together with a reduction of the abdomen, but also a drawing out horizontally of the edges of the hard plate which roofs the fore part of the body of a hermit-crab. Mr. Borradaile traces” the relations between the various external features of Porcellanopagurus and those of a __ hermit- crab. He surveys other routes by which evolu- tion in the direction of “‘carcinisation”’ has pro- ceeded throughout the Anomura, and reaches the conclusion that there is in the constitution of the Anomura a disposition .or tendency to achieve that special formation of body which constitutes a crab. Whether the tendency be primarily one of morphology or of habits is another question, but, seeing that a similar form of body has been reached independently in circumstances which must have needed very dif- ferent changes in the habits of the animals, it would appear that a morphogenetic tendency is the primary factor, but that it can only be realised-in the event of the development of suitable habits. Mr. Borra- daile remarks that there are few better instances - than those afforded by “carcinisation ’’ of the fact that the organism is, after all, the dominant factor in evolution. In No. -4 (pp. 127-136, 7 figs.) Mr. Borradaile gives an account of the fourteen species of barnacles brought back by the expedition. The most interest- ing specimens described are some valves, referred to a new species of Hexelasma, collected in a glacier, 30. ft. above sea-level, in Evans Cove, Terra Nova Bay. It is-not possible to state from their appearance whether these valves are recent or fossil, but it seems scarcely probable that they are recent, for no trace of such a barnacle has been found in any collection from either the Ross Sea or elsewhere, nor ¢an any satisfactory suggestion be made as to the wav in which recent shells could have reached the pas in which these were found. If they be fossil,- i seems highly probable that they are, if not of rite age (their nearest known relation is H. aucklandicum 156 , NATURE from the Miocene of New Zealand), at least Tertiary, for they are quite unlike any Cretaceous barnacle. But there is the difficulty that no Tertiary rocks are known from the neighbourhood of the glacier, nothing later than Carboniferous having ‘been reported in this region, though it may be that the glacier is in contact somewhere in its course with Tertiary rocks. EDUCATIONAL REFORM. ME: T. H. J. UNDERDOWN, in his presidential ; address to the National Union of Teachers on April ri, revealed some deplorable facts as to the ‘pay of teachers. It appears that more than forty-two thousand certificated teachers are paid less than tool. per annum, and that the pay in many other cases is little short of scandalous.: It is not surprising in the face of these facts to know that the supply of teachers has been failing seriously in recent years, and that the provision of a sufficient number of qualified men and women to carry out the educationa! aevelopments contemplated in the programmes recently put forward is one of the most important practical problems to be solved. The precedent to reform, as Mr. Underdown pointed out, must be a fundamental change in the attitude of the nation as a whole towards its schools, colleges, and universities, and towards those who labour in them, both teachers and taught. The recent Departmental Committee, as well as bodies like the Association of Directors and Secretaries for Education, the Association of Technical Institu- tions, the Workers’ Educational Association, the British Science Guild, the Education Reform Council, and, lastly, the National Union of Teachers, whose programme of educational progress is now be- fore us, are all practically at one in the demand for a reorganisation, to come into force as soon as possible, of the means and methods of national edu- cation, especially in their application to the domain -of elementary instruction, and for the proper equip- ment of the schools in respect of practical training, the provision of . playgrounds, and other means of physical education, together with proper measures for medical treatment for all children requifing it. There is, moreover, a strong agreement amongst all these bodies that measures shall be taken for the due and effective training of all the teachers engaged in the schools and the payment to them of adequate salaries. There is some hope that this consensus of opinion may induce Parliament to take into serious considera- tion, despite the exigencies and demands of the war upon the energies of the nation, the measures of educational reform proposed with a view to their early adoption. We cannot too soon, having regard to the dreadful wastage of our young, virile life, ~set about instituting provisions whereby we may effec- tively train the youth of the present generation for the responsibilities which surely await them. To neglect such measures will be fatal to the nation’s best interests. All the bodies above named are agreed that all exemptions interfering with full-time attendance up to fourteen years of age, including half-time, shall be abolished ; that due provision shall be made whereby all young persons entering into employment between four- teen and eighteen years of age shall continue their edu- cation on general and specialised lines, in their working hours, which shall not exceed forty-eight per week, during about forty weeks of the year; and that it shall be the duty of the employer to give facilities, according to the circumstances of the locality, for the due observance of these conditions. The foregoing authorities further agree that the fullest facilities shall be. given for all duly qualified young persons to pra- ceed to institutions for higher education on such con- NO. 2477, VOL. 99| ditions. as shal] ensure their adequate maintenance in such institutions. simplification of the payment of public grants in aid of education, so as to ensure that local authorities shall give adequate encouragement to all. forms of education essential to the well-being of their respective areas, ' ‘3 The subjoined extracts from Mr. Underdown’s- address show that there can be little hope of any of these educational reforms being carried out until the pay and prospects of teachers are improved. The most urgent and pressing reforms awaiting enactment by Parliament are: (a) The abolition of half-time,’ and other forms of wage-earning, child labour. (b) The prohibition of street trading b sons under the age of sixteen or eighteen. (c) The raising of the statutory minimum leaving age from twelve to fourteen, accompanied by powers under local by-laws to enforce attendance to fifteen or six- teen. It is little use to attempt to extend the super- structure of higher education provided by secondary, technical, and continuation schools, urgent though these extensions be, until the foundations in the primary schools are truly and firmly laid. . The reforms I have indicated are of supreme im- portance, yet every attempt to set them afoot is fore- doomed to failure unless accompanied by immediate steps to secure an adequate supply of quali teachers. Every single project catries with it an added demand for further teachers. For example, the raising of the leaving age to fourteen would retain an additional 250,000 children for at least a year, which on a basis of forty children per teacher—not by any means a liberal standard of staffing—would require an addi- tional 6000 fully qualified teachers. But the supply is failing, apart from the fact that of the 20,000 teachers on war service many will either remain in the Army or Navy, or find other posts with brighter prospects. The number of intending teachers in 1906 was 11,901, and this fell to 5679 in 1912, and although a slight increase to 6938 is shown in 1916, the im- provement is quite inadequate to warrant any con- fidence for the future. From these numbers must be deducted a large percentage who fail to qualify. Figures given by the Board of Education in 1915 show that in a recent year only 63 per cent. of the bursars and 53 per cent. of the pupil teachers afterwards pro- ceeded to a training college to complete their quali- fications. Thus only a few more than half the 6030 entrants, the average number for the last six years, are likely to become fully qualified teachers. This supply of 3000 per annum is totally inadequate, as the wastage amongst teachers has been estimated at 7ooo yearly, due to loss by death, superannuation, breakdown in health, transfer to other more lucrative walks of life, and to marriage, which was found over a period of twenty years to account for 75 per cent. of the removals of women teachers from the pro- fession. Here are the facts relating to the salaries of full- time certificated teachers as shown by the latest in- formation published by the Board of Education in 1915, In England and Wales, out of nearly 106,000 cer- tificated teachers, two headmasters, one headmistress, one certificated assistant-master, and 218 certificated assistant-mistresses received less than 5o0l. per annum —that is, less than 19s. 3d. per week. The facts are: ” Certificated _ Certificated Less than Less than masters mistresses Ve $2 ; 3 va 219 oe 50 = I9} per week ae eee 1,135 ats 60. = 230. eae 315 4,568 ha 7O = 27 re see) 758 13,020 80 = 30 55 4 [APRIL 19, 1917 4 “4 Suggestions are also made for the q per- oe? oe | Aprit 19, 1917]. NATURE 157 a | few ed in another’ way :— et Srttego te te: 4 ne ~~ 468 headmasters | ee Re, ee Received less than ; : | tool. a year = less 4,847 headmistresses | week 38s. 6d. per 32,013 certificated | week. _ “assistant-mistresses outputs aes =) ; | } Total 42,111 certificated teachers _ al. 8s. for women are deducted every year towards an _ €qually meagre superannuation aillowance. These thousands of professional, educated men and women, _ selected by the State, medically examined at more = one. stage of their academic preparation and _ professic pining. tested by his Majesty’s inspectors of schools as to fitness over and over again—these men and women are disgracefully and shamefully aid. These are strong words, but not too strong in ace of the facts, whether viewed in their individual incidence or in-bulk—i.e. 42,111 out of 105,930 fully _ certificated teachers employed in 1915, or about per cent., received less than 38s. per week. Further, these figures take no account of the salaries of 41,000 - not more than so per cent. of those for the certificated teachers 2 “5 above mentioned. : . It may be ar by some that these low salaries are limited to Sy tee members of the pro- fession. It is not so, as will be shown. The 42,000 Certificated teachers receiving less than tool. per annum are, as a body, not inexperienced, for they paper at least a ten-years’ supply. This line. wi ich I have drawn at tool. a year should be, in my. Opinion, the minimum salary permitted by the Board _of Education. It should be the basis of the teachers’ contract clause. Below that standard; no man or Woman, having passed through the full training course, and commencing a professional career at _ twenty or twenty-one years of age, should be engaged. ‘Any product not worth tool. a year ought not to be Wit with the vital work of teaching children. With 2501. as a minimum wage for a medical prac- titioner upon the body, surely even 1501. is not an ambitious or unreasonable starting salary for a newly _ trained teacher, a fully qualified practitioner upon the _ child’s mental, moral, and physical development. That _ Tipe experience and long service do not always carry a. fuller reward is shown by the following cases ‘collected a few months ago by the National Union of _ Teachers ao _ (a) Headmaster in eastern county, ‘appointed thirty “years ago at 87l. per annum, present salary 96l. Durin ing these thirty years he must have satisfied the Board of Education, or he would not have held his st. His reward for thirty years’ service is an imcrease of ol. per annum. _ (b) Headmaster in eastern county, appointed more than forty years ago at 7ol., now receives 95I., with “no imcrease during the past seven years. _ (€) Headmistress, county. near metropolis, com- -menced service in present post thirty years ago at | 48il., and now receives 7ol. _ | (dj Headmistress, neighbouring county, appointed at 23s. per week thirty-five yeats ago, has never received a farthing increase during the whole time. __ (e) Headmistress, a Welsh county, salary was gol. for twenty-six years without revision. __ (f) Headmistress, a Welsh county, has held post for thirty-three years, and advanced in salary from gol. to 97l. tos. _ (g) Headmistress in East Anglia receives 7ol. after eighteen years of service. : NO. 2477, VOL. 99| From these meagre sums, 3l. 12s. for men and’ _uncertificated teachers and 13,000 supplementary. _ teachers, in which classes the salaries are probabiy = as (h) Headmistress in the broad-acred county. receives . salary of 8ol. after service of seventeen years. These are but typical cases. They throw a search- ing light upon the conditions of rural teachers. Small wonder is it that some county authorities advertise scores of vacancies for teachers, posts they can never hope to fill again at the wretched -salaries offered. Another aspect of | problem is the opening up to young educated people of other avenues and walks of life which are more attractive in pr , Jess costly in training, less exacting in the daily task, and more substantially remunerative. The bank success- fully competes with the classroom for the services of the educated woman. The counting-house, the in- surance office, the engineering works, to say nothing of the other professions, provide far brighter prospects. for the youth than he can hope to realise as a teacher. Thus the teaching profession stands to lose its fair Proportion of the supply of the best brains the nation produces. The only sources of supply likely to remain permanently are the few vocationally called to the labour, and those who find themselves eliminated from other more coveted positions by the sieve of com- petition. ‘ i Those already in the service find themselves cramped, barred, and chained by small prospect of promotion to higher posts, both professional and ad- ministrative, and by the narrow limits of the scale © of salaries. The class-master of to-day has in most large towns only a 1 in 100 chance of promotion to a headmastership, and this for the fortunate few rarely takes place before they’ are forty-five years of - age. His position is therefore practically permanent, and his salary stationary, until the end—his retire-- ment at sixty-five years of age. If the fully qualified class teacher is to survive as a professionally living force in the schools, the outlook must brighter and the position such as will provide for an educated man or woman a satisfactory career in itself and within its own confines. The present salaries fall ‘far short of such prospects. Inadequate retiring allowances further accentuate the check upon the supply of teachers. The maximum pension for a master retiring now at sixty-five years’ of age, after forty-five years-of service, is 69l., and for a mistress 60l. Further, the Teachers’ Superannua- tion Act of 1898 applies only to service in State-aided primary schools. Service in a secondary, technical. or other school does not count. - This places an obstacle in the way of that free intercourse from one type of. school to another whichis so essential for the life and vigour of our educational system from the kinder- . garten to the university. A pension scheme embrac- ing all sections of the profession is long overdue.. The retiring age of sixty-five is far too high, and retirement should be optional at sixty. The fact that the premiums paid (3l. 12s. per annum for men and 2l. 8s. for women for possibly forty-five years) are non-returnable in the case of death before pension age is unsatisfactory. This basis may have been justified in the early years of the scheme, when fewer premiums were paid in by those reaching pension age, but as time goes on this system becomes more and more speculative, and indeed approaches the nature of a gamble. Scotland has granted to the whole of the teaching profession a pension scheme without ‘these defects, and what Scotland did yesterday England can do to-day. If the same careful forethought, the same skilful plans and designs, and the same generous. consideration which are used to cajole young persons into the profession were applied to schemes for the improvement of. the teacher’s prospects in his riper years and old age, a permanent and ample supply. of excellent material for the teaching staff of the nation’s schools would follow as the dawn follows the night. be made’ 158 NATURE [APRIL 19, 1917 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL | INTELLIGENCE. Tue Duke of Richmond and Gordon has been elected Chancellor of Aberdeen University in succes- sion to the late Lord Elgin. Ir is announced that Mr. Henry “Musgrave pro- poses to contribute a sum of 10,0001, to Queen’s University, Belfast, to endow a chair in connection with Russian language and literature. New buildings for the arts faculty, the library, and the general museum of the University College of North Wales were put up on a particularly fine site in the city of Bangor a few years ago, and were opened by his Majesty the King on’ July 14, 1o11. The funds, a large proportion of which had been contributed by the rural districts of North Wales, ‘did not suffice for the re-housing of the science depart- ments. These, including agricultere and forestry, which are of the first importance in the neighbour- hood, have remained in buildings of a purely tem- porary character, which were adapted for the purpose some thirty years ago. A*movement has now been initiated by Mr. R. J. Thomas, of Holyhead, to erect buildings for the science departments on the new site, as a ‘“‘memorial to the men of North Wales who have fallen in the war.’? Mr. Thomas has started the fund with a gift of 20,o00l., and it is hoped to raise at least 150,000l. minence will be given to agriculture and forestry, which are, or will be, the main industries of the northern counties of Wales.. Other branches of science —physics, chemistry, geology, botany, zoology, and so forth—are provided for in the scheme. It is the intention of the authorities to erect laboratories on what may be termed a modern university scale. The high ability for science, as well as for literature, which so often appears in the remote rural districts of North Wales will in the new- laboratories find fuller opportunity than heretofore. It is a_ pleasure to record that his Majesty the King (the Chancellor of the University), H.R.H: the Prince of Wales, and the Prime Minister have each expressed their approval of, and their sympathy with, the scheme. _ Wir the growing advances in technical education it is very desirable that teaching connected with the building trade—one of the largest trades in this country—should be properly organised. The “‘ Memor-— andum on the Teaching of Building in Evening Technical Schools,’’ recently issued by the Board of Education (Circular 978), is intended to convey sug- gestions as to organisation, accommodation, equip- ment, and methods of instruction to teachers and those responsible for arranging building classes. At the same time, we are glad to see it stated that these suggestions are not designed to stereotype methods of procedure, which must vary with the needs of different localities. Most technical institutions possess some classes suitable for students interested in build- ‘.ing, but in many cases these are inadequately cor- related with other courses which it is desirable a ’ student should take in addition, and the memorandum urges the desirability of ‘‘ grouped’ courses which shall give the worker a sustained interest and pro- vide him with an adequate time-table. Further, it is pointed out that such courses should ‘be arranged to form a continuous scheme from quite junior to ad- vanced work, and that for those whose field of opera- tions or whose intelligence is too limited to render a full course suitable a parallel restricted scheme of work should be arranged. It is impossible here to enter into the detailed suggestions given in the fifty pages of this publication, which’ cover not only the NO. 2477, VOL. 99] In the new buildings especial pro- ordinary building trades proper, but also surveying and’ office work; it may be noted, however, that a laudable effort has been made to show in what manner mathe- matics and pure science can be brought to bear upon the direct needs of the builder.. In.conclusion, some comments on the material requirements of these sub-_ jects, in the wav of lecture-rooms and. laboratories, oi are given, which include plans of a combined lecture- _ and drawing-room found to be satisfactory, and of a building laboratory showing the arrangement of the various fittings. pitt > = SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Aristotelian Society, March 5.—Dr. H. Wildon Carr, president, in the chair.—Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan: Fact and truth. We may start with facts of appearance, as a convenient point of departure. A fact of appear- ance is always relational in structure, and it is this relational structure which is of the very essence of fact. All facts of appearance are facts for knowledge, but we need to distinguish facts for knowledge and facts of knowledge. We may winnow out from the multiplicity of facts for knowledge certain facts of knowledge which have a privileged’ status, and we © may speak of a fact of knowledge as accordant with a privileged fact of appearance without denying that accordance may merge in identity. We may then further distinguish between “ the sphere of knowledge” and ‘tthe sphere of the knowable’’—a fact of know- ledge as an item of content on ‘the sphere of know- ledge may be said to be correspondent to a knowable fact, when the radii of the two spheres in contact are in the same right line. And here again corre- spondence may merge in identity—the difference be- tween knowable fact and fact of knowledge being a difference in context. The relation between any know- able fact on a non-contact radius of the sphere of the knowable,:and any imagined fact on a non-con- tact radius of the sphere. of knowledge, is given in practical determination by the nature and amount of - rolling of the spheres requisite to establish right-line | contact. Right-line contact is that of direct acquaint- ance when the knowable and that which is then and there factually known are one. Fact is always par- ticular, always a ‘this’? or ‘“‘that.’? dateable and placeable. But owing to the enormous amount of repetition in the total fact-structure of the knowable world, truths as well as facts of knowledge enter into the structure of the sphere of knowledge. There is (a) truth in thé structure of the knowable work, rs truth in the structure of knowledge, and (c)- truth as correspondence of these two structures. Royal Anthropological Institute, March 27.—Sir Her- cules Read, president, in the chair.—Miss M. Edith Durham ;: South Slav customs as seen in Serbian ballads and tales by Serb authors. Until quite recent times justice,in South Slav lands, was administered by the headmen of the district, who sat before the ‘church and considered the evidence and judged accordingly. The number of headmen summoned depended upon _ the gravity of the case. In the case of a blood- feud twenty-four was the usual number. They made — an account, balancing one dead man against one dead on the other side, and reckoning the value of the wounds at so many ‘“‘bloods’’ apiece—each blood to be paid for. Peace was made by members of the opposing families or clans swearing blood-brotherhood, and by a member of. the injured family standing godfather to an infant of the other family. Godfatherhood was reckoned as blood-relationship, and the two families ‘were thus united. Vuk Vrchevitch, who collected and ’ a Apnii 19, 1917]. — 2 laa ac aatin a ‘ NATURE 159 . téd local customs between 1835 and. 1889, has ‘re- corded many curious verdicts given by the *‘ Council os f Good Men,”’ as it was called: Much information about local customs is obtained from ‘the ballads of _the land. In the poems of Voyvoda Mirko, the father _of the present King of Montenegro, we get much detail about the practice of head-hunting. The Monte- ape were great head-hunters. He describes the zg setting of heads on stakes around a village as lately as 1857; also the plundering and stripping of the _dead and the sharing of the booty. It was all pooled _and distributed by the chieftain. Geological Society, March 28.~—Dr. Alfred Harker, president, in the chair.—F. Dixey and Dr. T. F. Sibly: The Carboniferous Limestone Series on the south-eastern margin of the South Wales coalfield. _ The outcrop dealt with extends from the valley of the _ Ewenny river near Bridgend (Glamorgan) to ‘that of the Ebbw.river at Risca (Monmouth), a distance of F about nineteen miles from west-south-west to east- 'nmerth-east. It is traversed by the rivers Ely, Taff, and Rhymney. Traced north-eastwards along this out- “atten the Carboniferous Limestone Series suffers much (dail nigh 3 ae attenuation and becomes mainly dolomitic, as shown by the officers of H.M. Geological Survey during the recent re-survey of the coalfield. The outcrop now _described supplies a key to the remarkably attenuated development ‘of the Carboniferous Limestone Series which is known to prevail on the eastern and north- eastern borders of the coalfield. Overstep and actual ‘thinning are both operating in a north-easterly direc- tion to produce great attenuation. A detailed descrip- _ tion of the lithological and faunal succession is given. The physical features of the outcrop are described, and attention is directed to the remarkably perfect adjust- ment of minor drainage-lines to geological structure. _ The paper is illustrated by maps on which the zonal divisions are indicate, by horizontal and_vertical sec- _tions, and by photographs which depict-some of the most interesting features of the scenery. ; __ Royal Astronomical Society, April 13.—Major P. A. MacMahon, president, in the chair:—Rev. J. G. _Hagen: Missing B.D. stars. Some stars, recorded in the Bonn Catalogue, are now not found in the sky. In a few cases it appeared that, through bad focus, faint stars close together had been observed as one Star, and in six cases the R.A. of one star had been accidentally combined with the declination of another. —Prof. S. D. Tscherny: Observations made during the partial eclipse of the sun of January 22, made at Rostow-on-Don, Russia.—Dr. L. Silverstein: The motion of the perihelion of Mercury, deduced from the classical theory of relativity. It was well known that the motion of the perihelion of Mercury was greater than could be caused by the perturbations of the other planets, the excess being now found to be nearly 43” per century. - Einstein’s. most recent “* generalised theory of relativity’? had yielded for this excess its full value. It therefore appeared worth while to investigate if the excess would not also be accounted for by the old theory of relativity, retaining 'the constancy of the velocity of light, and its inde- endence of the -gravitational field.—Prof. H. H. urner: Note on possible attraction between photo- _ graphic images. Cases occurred in which the image of a bright star appeared to distort a réseau line near it, -and he had found a similar effect produced when réseau lines, twice copied on the same plate, crossed each other at small angles: Mr. Bellamy had ex- amined the measures of double stars in the Oxford Astrographic Catalogue, and found the same order of error for distances less than 7”, though nothing sensible beyond this.—Prof. A. Fowler and J. Brooks- bank: The third line spectrum of oxygen. Spectra NO. 2477; VOL. 99] a’ had been obtained with feeble, moderate, and strong discharges, and slides from the photographs were shown. The stellar lines, which can identified with the third line. spectrum of oxygen, are not numerous, but it is of interest to find in oxygen another example of the occurrence in the earliest type of stars of lines which we can only obtain by em- ploying the strongest discharges. This may indicate that in stars of early type we are presented with phenomena resulting either from powerful electric action or from extremely high temperatures. Paris. Academy of Sciences, March 26.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—P. Appell: Short report of the Com- mittee on Ballistics —E. Bompiani: Deformable hyper- surfaces in a real Euclidean space of n>3 dimensions. —E. Kogbetliantz: The summation of ultraspherical series.—E. Belot: The possible origin of star clusters. The vortex theory in cosmogony, which has already explained the laws of the solar system and the forma- tion of spiral nebulz, can also define the very special conditions under .which a star cluster can arise, and : gives an exterior distribution very nearly exponential, —-M. Fayet : Observation of Mellish’s comet made at the Observatory. of Nice.—J. Pellissier: Some geo- metrical properties of a bundle of X-ray tubes. Appii- cations to the localisation of foreign bodies in the organism. An application of the principles: of an- harmonic ratios and of homography to X-ray problems. __J. Fromentin: A rapid radioscopic method for the localisation of projectiles —Em. - Bourquelot and A. Aubry: The biochemical synthesis, with the aid of emulsin, of a second galactobiose. On working up the residues from the preparation of the galactobiose described in an earlier paper, with the view of obtain- ing an increased yield, a new sugar, isomeric with the first, has been obtained. Its physical and chemical properties are given.—P. Bonnier: Incontinence of urine. An account of the application to sixty-two cases of the method of cauterisation of the branches of the trigeminal nerve in the nose previously de- scribed. Thirty-eight cases were ‘cured and nine im- proved.—aA. Paillot : New parasitic micro-organisms of the caterpillars of Lymantria dispar.—J. Danysz : The treatment of some. dermatoses by bacteriotherapy.— Ed. Delorme: The operative methods applicable to wounds of nerves by projectiles. Wasuincton, D.C. National Academy of Sciences (vol. iii., No. 1, January). __E. Thomson : Inferences concerning auroras. Auroras consist of vertical streamers which, seen from different points of perspective, give the various optical effects observed.—H. F. Osborn: Application of the laws of action, reaction, and interaction in life evolution. In each organism the phenomena of life represent the — action, reaction, and interaction of four complexes of physico-chemical energy.—P. W. Bridgman: The re- sistance of metals under pressure. Twenty-two metals are examined up to 12,000 kg.—A. Forbes : The rate of discharge of central neurones. The normal frequency of nerve impulses discharged from the ganglion cells in voluntary contraction must lie between 300 and 5000 per second.—Ethel B. Harvey: A physiological study of Noctiluca, with special reference to light production, anzsthesia, and specific gravity. These animals are able to regulate their specific gravity.. Anzesthetics seem to attack the mechanism of the utilisation of oxygen, in the absence of which light is not produced. __N. M. Fenneman: Physiographic subdivision of* the United States. The basis of division shown on the map is physiographic or morphologic. There are twenty-four major divisions, some with six to ten sub- . 160 NATURE a [APRIL 19, 1917 divisions.—S. Hatai: The composition of the Medusa, Cassiopea xamachana, and the changes in it after. starvation.—H. Shapley : Studies of the magnitudes in star clusters, iv. On the colour of stars in the galactic, | clouds surrounding. Messier. 11.. The. frequency-curve. for colours shows great diversity of colour index and, general. resemblance: to the curve for the brighter stars. A. striking: pro- in the neighbourhood of the Ne] : ; rig’ tness is shown. gression of colour with decreasing. te 8 H. Seares : determined~by the method of exposure-ratios, The |, colours of the polar standards, brighter than the 13th | magnitude, have been determined to about the same precision as was reached in the investigation of the magnitude scale, with an expenditure of time and labour perhaps a tenth of that in an earlier investiga- tion.—C. Keyes: Terracing of bajada belts. The fea- ture of desert bajada-terracing, when explained upon a strictly aqueous basis, cannot but lead to complete misinterpretation.. It is far more largely the result of wind-action.—C, D. Perrine: Relation of the apex of solar motion to proper motion, and on the cause of the differences of its position from radial velocities and proper motions.—Brig.-Gen. H. L. Abbot: Hydro. | logy of the Isthmus of Panama. Extensive tables for rainfall, outflow, evaporation, etc., aré given ‘and discussed.—C. P. Olivier: The meteor system of Pons- Winnecke’s comet. The elements of the meteor’s orbit are determined from more-than 1600 observations.— T. W. Richards and H. S. Davis: Improvements in calorimetric combustion, and the heat of combustion. The improvements are: means of effectively closing the bomb with less risk to the lining and cover; means of burning volatile liquids without loss; a method of automatically controlling the temperature of the en- vironment; means of evaluating the incompleteness of combustion. - The heat of combustion of toluene is determined as 10-155 calories (18°) per gram.—R. C._ ' Tolman and T. Dale Stewart ; The mass of the electric. carrier in copper, silver, and aluminium. A continua- tion of experiments on currents produced by accelera- tion in metals.—E. B. Rosa and G. W. Vinal: silver voltameter as.an international standard for the measurement of electric current.. A summary of eight years’ experimental work which has shown how the voltameter can be used’ as a trustworthy current standard and as a means of checking i constancy. of the value of the Weston normal con. ~ BOOKS - RECEIVED. . Guide ‘to Materials for American cpa in Russian Archives. By Prof. F, A. Golder. 185. (Wash- ington: Carnegie Institution,) 1 dette: Théorie de la Contre-Evolution ou Dégénérescence par VHérédité Pathologique. By" Dr. R. Larger. Pp. xiv+4o5. (Paris: F.. Alcan.) 7 frances. Dairy Farming. By Prof. C. H. "Eclcles and Prof. G. F. Warren. Pp..xv+309.. (New York: The Mac- millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 5s. net. Air Power: Naval, Military, Commercial. By C. Grahame-White -and -H. Harper. Po. 262+20 illus- trations. (London : Chapman and Hall, ae ve 6d. net. DIARY OF: SOCIETIES. THURSDAY. Apri 19. Royat InstiruTion, .at.3.—Industrial Finance after the War; The Character of the’ Industrial Struggle of To-day: Prof. H. S. Foxwell. MATHEMATICAL SocrEty.' at 5.30.—A Liquid Gyrostat: Prof..W. Burn- side.—The Integral. ‘Formula’ ‘for ‘Generalised Legendre Functions : G, N. Watson.—A Substitution Permutable with the Transposed Substi- tution : Prof. H. Hilton. LinnEAN Society, at 5.—The Heteranziums of the British Coal Measures : Dr. D. H. Scott. —Hvpophysis and Premandibular Cavities; a Sug- gestion: E. S. Goodrich.— Wooden Scratching Tools made by an African Parrot: Miss N: Layard. NO. 2477, VOL. 99] The colour of the standard polar stars | The. INSTITUTION OF MINING AND feed es yao vp oa Ki eae hyte,—Platinum in” « Spain : F. Gillman, J re e Mutual R20. - Part vite Heat of Reaction, Equilibrium Constant, and ii pans ve : from the Point of View of the Kadiation Hypothesis: W. C. McC. Lewis. —Note on the Isolation of Methylnonylketone from Palm Kernel Oil: A. H, Salway.—Metallic Derivatives of Alkaloids: J. N, Rakshit. Roya Society or ARTS, at 4.30.—The Industrial and Economic Develop- nent of Indian Forest Products: R. S. Pearson, FRIDAY, Apxit 20, Rovat Ts INSTITUTION, at 5.30.—The Future of Wheat-growing in England : rof. R. H. Biff imen. INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—Presidential Address: M. Longridge. SATURDAY, Apri 2t. es tia INSTITUTION, at 3.—Principles "of Aerial Navigation : Pet GC. H. ryan. : MONDAY, Arrit 23. ARISTOTELIAN Society, at 8. ~_ Symposium : Ethical - Principles of Social Reconstruction: Principal L. P. Jacks, G. Bernard gnc C. Delisle Burns, and Miss H. D. Oakeley. TUESDAY, Apri 24, ‘Rovay INSTITUTION, at 3.—Russian Development—The Rise of Moscow : Prof. C. R. Beazley. - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25. Roya Society or Arts, at 4.30.—Flour and Bread : ‘Sir Fre rancis Fox. : THURSDAY, APRIL 46: +Rovat Instirotion, at 3.—Industrial Finance after zee? War: Prof. H. S. Foxwell. INSTITUTION OF lap ge oe ENGINEERS, at 6. Higitension Overhead Transmission Lines: G. V. ‘I'wiss. i FRIDAY, APRIL 27 Rovat INSTITUTION, at 5.30.—The ‘Organs a “Hearing in clativlh to a9 War : Dr. Dundas Grant. SATURDAY, Apri 28. Roya IvsTiTuTION, at 3.—Principles of Asrial Horicatinn: Prof. G. H.° * Bryan. re CONTE NTS. PAGE Education and Research. By H. G. Wells ... 0. 34F The World Crisis and After ... 142 Scientific Observation and Rene " By H! R.M. 142 Our Bookshelf . i i - soe pte okey Spade se meaty Letters to the Editor:— - ; Adjustable Clock- dials.—Dr. P: E. Shaw .. aa 144 Aeroplanes and Propellers. (J///ustrated.) . 145 Researches on Cerebro-spinal Fever. (Mustrated.) ‘ By Prof.'R. T. Hewlett’ .. > 0 0°. ee Bytes Po ie Notes .. ME a. Our Astronomical Column :— th ge The:Planet Mercury : . 2 2%. =. Fg eee ee Comet 1917¢ (Mellish) a. 6A See Wy Sara ee a ete Laboratory Work in Astrophysics wets Sires hee ee Parallax of a Planetary Nebula .... - Poet | The Recent Cold Weather, By Chas.. Harding | meee TX Memorial to Sir William and Lady Huggins. is Address by Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., P.R.S. . . 153 | The Development of Vegetation. By A.G.T. . . 154 The Zoology of the ‘‘ Terra Nova” ‘Expedition ape 8 Educational Reform | kee University and Educational ‘Intelligence “4 158 Societies and Academies . «es a Magee dete att aaias eRe Books Received ©. |... so Re eas ee Diary of Societies yy ; ey, ee Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., ea ST. Haney 's STREET, LONDON, W.C. 2 —_ Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the Publishers. ’ Editorial Communications to the Editor. Telegraphic Address: Puusis, Lonpon. Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. NATURE 161. ee SS ee ee | _ THURSDAY, APRIL, 26, 1917. ' MEMORIES OF SIR DAVID GILL. li Gill, Man and Astronomer. Memories of Sir. David Gill, K.C.B., H.M. Astronomer _ (1879-1907) at the Cape of Good Hope. Col- lected arranged by George Forbes, F.R.S. Be xi+418. (London: Price 12s. net. an volume publié par Sir David Gill en 1913 décrit son ceuvre essentielle, mais ne rendeigne pas sur l’homme méme. Aujourd’hui, _ une plume autorisée fait connaitre sa vaste intel- - Tigence, son caractére, son désintéressement, ses _ qualités du cceur. Un de ses amis, M. G. Forbes, en a peint un portrait dont les astronomes lui -seront toujours reconnaissants. C’est la lecture _ de la correspondance largement reproduite dans ce livre qui l’a mis en ¢tat de pénétrer cette per- _ sonnalité si ouverte et si franche. Gill était trés réservé, et peut-étre seule une femme con- —nait le bien qu'il a fait, révélé par des lettres dont la publication est impossible. _ La formation, J’ceuvre, le charme d’un véritable astronome, telles sont les trois parties _ de Vouvrage. - Le livre est d’une lecture entrainante. Gill a fait tant de choses, et si _ bien, que le lecteur non averti pourrait se croire en face d’une ceuvre d’imagination. Mais c’est bien Gill que nous fait connaitre M. G. Forbes. _ Nul doute qu’en France 1’Amiral ‘Mouchez et ses _ successeurs auraient donné 4 ce livre leur plus compléte approbation. ' David Gill naquit 4 Aberdeen, le 12 juin 1843, dans une maison d’horlogerie trés prospére. Il _ y succéda 4 son pére en 1869. Sa famille était trés estimée. Sa mére, trés intelligente, d’esprit large, active, enthousiaste, était fire de lui. II ladorait. — _ Ecolier, David, joyeux camarade, n’était pas un enfant prodige. C’est a Dollar, a quatorze ans, _ que se révélérent ses aptitudes scientifiques. De - 1858 & 1860, il assista A Aberdeen aux lecons de 'g James Clerk Maxwell qui le distingua. Puis il -parcourut en Suisse, en France, en Angleterre les centres horlogers, devenant un trés_ habile _ artiste et se familiarisant avec la langue francaise. ‘ De 1863 a 1872, il resta dans: la maison de son John Murray, 1916.) - Son mariage avec Isobel Black fut 1’événement Peaeteat de sa vie. Dés la rencontre, en 1865, il en fut _€perdument épris. - Il avait vingt-deux ans, : elle seize. M. Forbes a pu recueillir les premieres _impressions d’elle sur lui. Nous ne pouvons ni _abréger, ni tout citer. . Voici la derniére ligne: “Tt is ‘the sound of a voice that is stil!’ which haunts my memory every hour.” Mariés en 1869, les jeunes époux s’établirent 4 Aberdeen, ot: Isobel comprit que, passionné pour l’astronomie, David ‘ne -pourrait passer sa vie dans les affaires. Mais quel miracle lui permettrait de réaliser son réve? ‘En 1872, le miracle s *accomplit et ‘il passa dans ” sa terre de Chanaan.” Elle ne savait pas 1’astro- - nomie; “pas un mot, Dieu merci,” répondit un No. 2478, VOL. 99] jour Gill, mais elle n’hésita pas 4 laisser tout pour sa gloire. Gill, apte aux études les plus diverses, débuta en astronomie a King’s College, en installant un instrument pour donner I’heure, et un équatorial. Entre temps, lieutenant au corps des volontaires, ils exer¢ait au tir. Sans gofit pour le commerce, il s’y appliquait par devoir. Ayant monté, en 1867, dans le jardin de son pére, un excellent miroir en verre argenté, il observa des étoiles doubles et prit, en 1869, une trés bonne photo- graphie de la Lune. L’ayant vue chez Huggins, Lord Lindsay obtint, en 1871, que son pére prit Gill pour directeur de l’important observatoire qu’il projetait de créer dans sa résidence 4 Dun Echt. Pour Gill, c’était la réalisation de son réve. Avec un entier désintéressement, sa femme et lui acceptérent. De haut intérét sont le tableau de cette collaboration oi les deux jeunes hommes publiérent tout en commun, le récit du voyage de Gill en Europe pour la commande des_ instru- ments, celui du voyage de Lord Lindsay et de Gill & Maurice pour déterminer la parallaxe du Soleil par le passage de Vénus et par Junon; au retour, le levé de la grande pyramide, Joffre d’engagement par le khédive. Mais, revenu a Dun Echt, Gill recevait des visites des plus grands astronomes. Pour Lady Crawford, mére de Lord Lindsay, les conditions du contrat étaient changées; Lord Lindsay et Gill durent se séparer, mais restérent étroitement amis. Suivit le voyage 4 l’Ascension, en’ 1877, dont un récit a été publié en 1880 par Lady Gill sous le titre “Six Months in Ascension.” Aprés des peines infinies, Gill fit une série splendide d’ob- servations de Mars; la question de la parallaxe du Soleil était résolue. Lauréat de I’Institut de France, médailliste de la Royal Astronomical Society, Gill était classé parmi les astronomes illustres. Il eut la médaille d’or en 1908 pour la seconde fois, pour ses contributions 4 l’astronomie de l’hémisphére sud. En 1879, il succéda 4 Stone au Cap; il apprit. sa nomination par Lord Lindsay dont l’appui sur- ~ monta cet obstacle: Gill n’était pas un mathé- maticien de Cambridge. On m’excusera d’ajouter qu’aux fétes du 250° anniversaire de la Société royale, Sir G. H. Darwin me dit combien grand encore était cet obstacle pour un astronome. Les chapitres x. & xx. contiennent un tableau saisissant de ce qu’a fait cet homme de grande intelligence, qui savait bien ce qu’il voulait. Dés son arrivée, sa déférence vis-a-vis des _ re- présentants de l’Amirauté lui permit de‘commencer des travaux géodésiques qui ont abouti 4 cette extraordinaire entreprise: larc de méridien du Cap au Caire. En attendant un héliométre de sept pouces, -il achetait de ses deniers celui de Lord Lindsay et, avec Elkin, mesurait des paral- laxes stellaires. Il voulait un grand télescope ; Newall offrait de lui préter le sien; on refusa; en 1894, F. McClean offrit a V’Observatoire du Cap le magnifique télescope Victoria. I] n’eut qu’en 1897 un cercle méridien retournable, mais c’est, sans doute, l’instrument le plus précis. K 162 NATURE [APRIL 26, 1917 existant. Il avait employé l’héliométre de sept pouces a déduire la parallaxe du Soleil de mesures d’Iris, Victoria, Sappho, par cette magnifique coopération de vingt-deux observatoires et d’astro- nomes tels que Newcomb et Auwers. Les accidents comme ceux qui avaient failli détruire les instruments avant le départ pour Maurice et 1’Ascension ne troublaient Gill que quelques minutes; il y remédiait d’urgence. De hasards heureux, tels que l’offre de Lord Lindsay, ou l’obtention d’une remarquable épreuve de la comeéte 1882 avec l’objectif d’un amateur, il profitait. Voyant sur cette épreuve nombre d’étoiles, il an- non¢a que l’on allait pouvoir photographier les cartes stellaires. Ce fut l’origine de la C.P.D. pour laquelle il eut la joie de recevoir l’éffre de collaboration de Kapteyn. L’Amiral Mouchez avait appuyé 4 1’Académie des Sciences l’affirmation de Gill concernant les cartes stellaires. On sait par quels efforts et avec quel succés P. et Pr. Henry construisirent des objectifs qui, en 1884 et 1885, leur donnérent des clichés admirables qui furent tirés en héliogravure. En apprenant d’Huggins “in enthusiastic terms ” ces importants résultats, Gill, le 23 décembre 1884, puis le 18 janvier 1885, demanda des renseignements a l’Amiral Mouchez, qui lui envoya, le 22 janvier, une €preuve ordinaire et une épreuve hélio- gravée, l’informant qu’il avait commandé un grand appareil spécial et ajoutant: “Je crois que nous allons obtenir la solution compléte des cartes célestes par la photographie.” Le 23 février, Gill répond a |’Amiral une longue lettre non publiée ot il insiste sur les ‘‘splendides efforts faits a Paris’’: dans cette lettre, il est question de la C.P.D., des cartes écliptiques de Paris, des amas, de la voie lactée, travail & entreprendre sur un plan soigneusement préparé, et aussi de photo- graphies d’aires uniformément distribuées. mai, l’Amiral disait Aa l’Académie: “M. Gill - m’a adressé immédiatement un projet pour établir une entente entre divers observatoires afin d’entreprendre ensemble le plus tét possible la Carte du Ciel qu’il serait facile d’exécuter ainsi en six ou huit années.’? Nous n’avons pu retrouver la lettre méme de Gill; mais ces indica- tions suffisent pour établir la part qui revient a initiative de Gill et de l’Amiral Mouchez, 4 la science et a l’extraordinaire habileté de P. et Pr. Henry, dans cette magnifique entreprise.. On sait le reste. En 1909, au sixiéme Congrés, les Frangais ont été heureux de proposer pour Gill le titre de président d’honneur, voté d’acclamation. M. Forbes s’étend sur les difficultés que Gill eut ensuite 4 surmonter; mais, depuis vingt ans, avec la France et huit autres nations, Greenwich, Oxford, le Cap, les colonies anglaises collaborent. Gill, Mouchez, P. et Pr. Henry ne sont plus; le travail n’est pas terminé; le travail d’Eros, tant a l’honneur du Comité Permanent et dont le résultat donné par A. R. Hinks est si glorieux pour Gill, a pris trois ans; et la guerre déchainée par l’Allemagne le retarde encore; mais l’influ- ence des initiateurs n’est pas éteinte; ce qui n’est pas fait se fera. Le Président du Bureau du NO. 2478, VOL. 99| Le 11° Comité international Permanent n’a, au sujet de Vachévement rapide de_ |’entreprise, aucune crainte. Gill était un organisateur; il s’intéressait aux arts, aux affaires générales. Au Cap, il présidait maintes réunions et son knighthood fut en partie la récompense des services qu’il y rendit & Empire. Sa maison était ouverte aux artistes, aux marins, aux visiteurs distingués. Causeur plein d’entrain, il avait établi au Cap, avec la discipline d’Airy, la cordialité de Poulkowo. Son influence s’y fera longtemps sentir; il fut heureux du choix de son successeur. Rentré a Londrés, | il eut un réle important dans les sociétés savantes et, sur le continent, dans les entreprises inter- nationales. Il semblait toujours heureux de. revenir 4 Paris, et non moins de fairesles hon- neurs de son flat, a Londres. ; Il aimait le peuple, sympathisait avec ceux qui — souffrent. Il n’eut pas d’enfants, mais a la mort de sa sceur, Mrs. Powell, il en adopta les trois fils. . et les emmena au Cap. Dans la guerre déchainée par l’Allemagne, 1|’ainé, capitaine Harry Powell, fut tué prés d’Ypres; le second, major Fred . Powell, deux fois blessé en Asie et décoré de la croix militaire; le troisitme, Bruce Powell, in- génieur dans |’Afrique du Sud, vint & Londres. offrir ses services et obtint une commission dans l’artillerie. C’est probablement aux obséques de Sir Robert Ball, le 6 décembre, 1913, que Gill prit le germe de la maladie a laquelle ilsuccomba. Treés. religieux, fl avait choisi dans les ruines de l’an- cienne cathédrale Saint-Machar, a Aberdeen, l’emplacement de son tombeau. age Heureux directeur sur qui l’on a pu é€crire um volume entier d’anecdotes toutes 4 son honneur. Gill, comme Tycho-Brahé, comme Bradley, 2 fait progresser l’astronomie de précision. . En dehors des théoriciens, il fut sans doute le premier astronome de son temps. Je n’oublierai pas erm quels termes M. Paul Cambon m/’avait promis de — demander que le Roi l’autorisat 4 recevoir la cravate de commandeur, de la Légion d’honneur. Gill en © fut heureux; c’était de notre part un témoignage de profonde reconnaissance. B. BAILLaup, SUGAR AND THE TINNED FRUIT INDUSTRY. ag hes: i (1) A Handbook for Cane-Sugar Manufacturers: and their Chemists. By Dr. G. L. Spencer. Fifth edition, partly rewritten and enlarged. Pp. xv+529. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 15s. net. (2) The Canning of Fruits and Vegetables Based’ -on the Methods in Use in California, with Notes on the Control of the Micro-organisms Effecting Spoilage. By Justo P. Zavalla. Pp. xii+214. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., Captp.) Price tos. 6d; net, <7 (1) {Bigs SPENCER has largely rewritten this handbook, and it is now well adapted for the use of those in charge of the large central factories which have become such a marked G Aprit 26, 1917] NATURE 163 feature of the cane-sugar industry. As most sugar _ factories in the tropics have chemists in control, _. or at least managers ‘who have some knowledge _ of chemistry as applied to sugar manufacture, the ' author seems to have been unnecessarily generous _ in devoting space to the description of common % eaten and customary methods of analysis. E opportunity might have been taken to direct attention to new sources of supply of apparatus __ which have become available since the war. No _ ¢hemist, even in a neutral country, can wish to return to the pre-war dependence on one country for supplies of these materials. | Heating ap- ” pliances for laboratory use are often a difficulty in ‘the tropics, but the author only refers to elec- ps trieally: heated plates and to an alcohol burner. Where current is available, electrically heated -water-baths of the type readily obtainable in this country are often preferable to hot-plates, and where current is not available, petrol-air Bunsen _ burners are probably the best substitute. There must be few parts of the tropics where petrol is not obtainable, and there are _ machines for producing the petrol-air mixture _ which are being used with success in laboratories “in the West Indies, Mauritius, and elsewhere. ___ As regards materials used in sugar manufac- _ ture, it is disappointing to find no adequate dis- _ cussion of the physical properties of sand and _ kieselguhr, on which the filtering value of these _ materials depends. _ Beyond the statement in a table_on 5 that _ the sugar-cane contains 0-2 per cent. of ‘fat and ‘wax, there is no reference to sugar-cane wax, although this may become an important by- 3 product of the sugar-cane industry in the future, _ and is, in fact, already a commercial article. _ Another useful addition to the handbook would be a résumé of recent work on the improvement of _ sugar-canes, on which so much work has been _ done in recent years. _ Some of these omissions are bch ips due to the _ fact that although the book appeared in 1916, it _ seems to have taken at least a year to pass _ through the press. The book is well produced on good paper, but it is difficult to see why I5s. __ net should be charged for a book of this size. _ (2).Mr. Zavalla’s book deals. with one of the _ chief industrial uses of sugar, viz. the “canning” a of fruits. It is provided with an introduction by _ the Dean of the College of Agriculture of the _ University of California, who begins by saying E that “human beings may be traced in almost any part of the globe through the tin cans which they Teave behind them,” and ends with the hope that » the labours of the author will contribute to “the ' tealisation of a uniform and satisfactory food _ supply for the human race.” Probably no one _ but a citizen of the United States could take the _“‘canning ” industry so seriously as all that. Mr. - Zavalla describes the processes:and plant used in _ preserving fruits and vegetables in California, ' trom the making of the cans to the construction of the wooden cases in which the tins of pre- “served fruits and vegetables are shipped. ' ae, ne epg zr eo British _ | | Principles ” also discusses and gives a good deal of useful information on the micro-organisms which are found in spoiled tinned goods. This portion of the book would be worth separate and more fundamental -treatment by a competent biologist who has given special attention to the subject. The book will, no doubt, bé useful to those engaged in this industry, which i is rapidly assuming large dimensions and bids fair to become of great importance in British tropical and sub- tropical colonies. OUR BOOKSHELF. Herbert Spencer. By Hugh Elliot. (Makers of the Nineteenth Century Series.) Pp. vi+330+ 1 portrait. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1917-) Price 6s. net. THIS is a vigorous and discriminating account of Herbert Spencer’s contributions to modern in- tellectual development. It is written by one who saturated himself with Spencer’s doctrines (and read all his works) when on service in the South African War, and has had the endurance to re- peat the experience since 1914, with the bitter conviction that if Europe had followed Spencer the present war could never have occurred. ‘‘ The spirit of Treitschke has triumphed over the spirit of Spencer—the metaphysics of Ger- many over the common sense of England.’ Mr. Elliot’s earlier discipleship has lost its dog- matism, but his admiration remains strong for the last of the great nineteenth-century apostles of reason and liberty. As is well known, Spencer expressed the larger and better part of his per- sonality in his works, as an artist might in his paintings, and Mr. Elliot recognises this_in his. biographical sketch. There is a convincing unity —hbetter, we think, than heretofore—in the _pic- ture which the author gives us of the synthetic philosopher. “Evolution and Liberty are the two guiding stars of Spencer’s philosophy,” and in his exposition Mr... Elliot develops the thesis that Spencer was a man of very strong natural pene- tration, who formed his theories first and estab- lished, or sought to establish, them by induction afterwards—which is, truth to tell, a very common mode of scientific procedure. For much that Spencer achieved, for instance, in making the evolution-idea organic in all our thinking, a new generation is already for- getting to be grateful; many of his argu- ments, as this appreciation - (which has the true Spencerian spirit) well shows, have lost their cogen¢gy; some of the foundation- stones, such as the transmissibility of individually acquired somatic modifications, have not borne the weight of the superimposed structure. But we share with the author of this effective and in- teresting book the hope that one of the rhythms of intellectual opinion spoken of in the “First may bring many—especially those whose thinking needs vertebration—back to a Spencerian study of Spencer’s works. A good He | introduction is here to hand. 164 NATURE [APRIL 26, 1917. A Sylow Factor Table of the First Twelve Thousand Numbers, giving the Possible Number of Sylow Sub-Groups of a Group of Given Order between the Limits of o and 12,000. By H. W. Stager. Pp. xii+120. (Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1916.) ‘Price 4.50 dollars. THE main object of this publication is to answer the question : Given n, the order of a group, what are the possible orders of such Sylow sub-groups as it contains? This amdunts to finding all divisors of n which are of the form p (kp+1), where p is prime. For each n up to 11,999 the table gives the complete resolution of n into its prime factors, and the values of k (other than o and 2, which do not require entering) corresponding to each prime factor. Each prime value of n is entered in the body of the table in the form ?;; for instance, the entry pg, under, 4639 shows that the latter is the 627th prime in order of magni- tude, taking p,—1. It is obvious that, apart “from its special purpose, this table will be very useful to arithmeticians ;. every reasonable precau- tion seems to have been taken to make it accurate, and fortunately the table is of such a kind that every single entry can be tested with very little trouble, and any misprint almost certainly detected, unless a number n has been entered as prime, when really composite. Cases where p (kp+1)=n, and not merely a divisor of n, are noted, such numbers are called Ps by the com- piler—for instance, 1074=3 (3.119+1), so 1074 is a P. On pp. xi and xii is a list of these num- bers (1-12,229) in their natural order; and there are interesting tables and graphs'on the distribu- tion of P numbers and primes. Supposing that. ¢(n) means the number of primes not exceeding n, and y(n) the number of P numbers not exceed- ing n, the tables suggest that when n—>o the ratio ¥(n)/¢(n) converges to a definite limit not very different from e; of course this is a mere guess that might occur to anyone, but at any rate to find a formula for ~(n) analogous to Riemann’s for ¢(n) would be an interesting problem. It may not be superfluous to add that the table does not profess to enumerate actually existent Sylow sub- groups for different values of n. 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.]| — Aeroplanes and Atmospheric Gustiness. _ THE question which Prof. McAdie raises in his letter in Nature of April 12 is how to. measure the un- ‘steadiness of the air as it affects an aeroplane. Among those connected with flying the term ‘ bumpi- ness’’ is used to express the unsteadiness of the air as it affects an aeroplane, and, in the absence of a better word, this may be used here. The problem is, then, to measure the ‘“‘bumpiness” of the air by meteorological means. As Prof. McAdie points out, gusts may occur in any direction, but gusts in different directions will not equally affect an aeroplane, those in a vertical direc- tion having the greatest effect. There is evidence to — show that the fluctuation in velocity of any individual portion of air is, on the average, roughly the same in any direction, so that, in view of the greater effect of vertical gusts, the fluctuation of the wind, as given by an anemometer, may give entirely erroneous in- dications of the ‘‘bumpiness.’’ The best example of this is in the middle of a hot summer day, with a light wind, and sky partly covered with small cumu- lus clouds (themselves an indication of vertical cur- rents). Under these conditions, the variation shown by an anemometer may be less than three metres per second, but the air will be very “bumpy” for an aeroplane. On sunless days, with strong winds, the air is “‘bumpy”’ on account of the eddy motion set up by friction with the surface of the ground. If the con- ditions be the same, the fluctuation is roughly pro- portional to the mean velocity of the wind, but under different conditions—e.g. between night and day—the fluctuation may be very different for the same strength of wind. When it is remembered that the mean velocity of the wind does not in itself affect an aero- plane when flying (except as regards getting from place to place), it will be seen that the mean velocity of the wind should not enter into measurements of the ‘“‘bumpiness” of the air. Further, the gustiness of the air near the ground is of little importance,~ except in getting off and landing, and also it cannot be taken as an indication of the “bumpiness”’ of the air at a height. To obtain satisfactory information, it would be necessary to measure the fluctuation of velocity in three directions and at yarious heights. Several methods have been devised for obtaining the vertical velocity, as well as the horizontal velocity and direc- tion, near the ground; to obtain such data at a height is very much more difficult. : The ‘‘bumpiness’”’ of the air might be measured by an accelerometer carried on an aeroplane; but this would not be satisfactory to the meteorologist, since it would be difficult to discriminate between vertical currents and horizontal gusts. It may be pointed out that by the use of both a gravity-controlled and a spring-controlled air-speed indicator, this is at least theoretically possible. ee ’ If we suppose a satisfactory means of measuring the ‘“‘bumpiness’’ to have been devised and standard- ised, it would be possible to compare the average. ‘‘bumpiness,”’ say, at one place with that at another, from which, no doubt, some useful information could be obtained. But to make real advance in this part of meteorology, it is necessary to go further and endeavour to find the real structure of the atmosphere and the causes which may give rise to this structure. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the work of meteoro- logists interested in this branch of the subject may be devoted more and more to these fundamental problems of cause and effect, rather than to the making and tabulation of -routine observations, other than those made with the definite object of throwing light or some particular problem. GorDON Dopson. + Farnborough, April 16. ‘In reply to Prof. Alexander McAdie’s request (Nature, April 12) for a means of recording gustiness, I venture to throw out the suggestion that this might be done by observing what in German is called ‘* wim- mern.’’ ‘* Hoert [hrs wimmern hoch vom Thurn? Das ist Sturm.’’ This variation in the sounds heard from church bells during gusty weather is due to. the irregular velocities in the atmosphere. That part of - Apnt 26, 1917] NATURE 165 a whirl of 2 air which moves in the same direction as the sound will increase the pitch of the note heard, and vic2 versd. If an instrument could be devised for a be Soe rapid but slight changes of pitch of musical ; , a fairly accurate estimate of the irregularities ic velocities could be obtained. C. E. STROMEYER. aed West Didsbury, ‘Sas 15. eras ‘Gravitation and Thermodynamics. . As pointed out by Sir Oliver Lodge in Nature of Apel 5, the case I cited of a disc pivoted about its _ centre of mass and started in motion does not lead - t@ perpetual motion in the ordinary sense. But, as motion. On rotating the disc by a small angle, the half will gain, and the ascending half _ will lose, heat. A turning-moment will arise, and will increase until the angle turned is z/2. lt will 3 ‘then decrease until, when the angle turned is z, the - moment Pig a This ea gon the condition, } ir Oliver e, of thermal symmetry Goes tic vertical diameter of the disc. As the disc ; continues to rotate, due to its momentum, a moment in a reverse sense will be set up, so that when the whole rotation is nearly 27, the rotation will be re- versed. We shall thus obtain an oscillatory motion, : om sustained if small friction is involved. In the ion the disc will have rotated from its suited position by angle x. Such a result would be : “eager ns since the mere act of rotating the disc _ by an infinitesimal angle would, in effect, convert a condition of neutral, into one of unstable, equilibrium. Dr. Todd has suggested that this peculiar effect - would not arise if /Or is positive. We should then _ have the remaining uae effect, viz. a condition of neutral equilibrium would by a rotation be con- _ verted into one of stable oo Will this pro- ’ pro satisfy philosophers ? P. E. Suaw. I sent Dr. Leaf’s letter on ‘‘ Floating Earths” baiiross, March 15) to M. Salomon Reinach, and ee ais his answer, which, I think, partly explains matter. OFFORD. 94 eanmentex Road, South Kensington, S.W.7. Dear Me. OrrorD,— You won’t build on uncertain texts. Dr. Leaf translates “in the case, of an islet in Tyrrhenia,” _feading mois, which is corrupt ; I prefer y7 res (Corey), a certain variety of earth in Tyrrhenia—the remainder 4 concerning natural science, excepting 7 +4 dpyvpepara By words which I take in the “trivial —Yours truly, S. ReEtNAcH. ~ Musée National, Saint-Germain, Le 4 avril IgI7. The New Food Orders. In my article in Nature of April 12 there were in- : livertedtiy omitted, probably by myself, some words Which make one of my suggestions an absurdity. In reference to the meat ration of the Army, what I Meant to say was that “a part of the large meat allowance might, with advantage, be replaced by its €quivalent in enerpy-value of carbohydrate.” a, W. M. Bavytiss. _ ~— NO. 2478, VoL. 99] ~ | it seems to me, there will be long-sustained, oscillatory, - EMPIRE DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANISA- TION. T= final report of the Royal Cocatitininn on the natural resources, trade, and legislation of certain portions of his Majesty’s Dominions has recently been issued and presented to both Houses of Parliament. The commission came into being in consequence of a resolution passed by the Im- perial Conference in 1911. The members were appointed in April, 1912, six representing the United Kingdom, and one each the self-governing Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and Newfoundland. India, the Crown Colonies, ‘and the Protectorates were not included. The sittings of the commission ended, as they began, in London. In, the interval the. commis- sioners made four tours: the first to New Zealand and Australia, the second to the Union of South Africa, the third to Newfoundland and eastern Canada, and the fourth to central and western Canada. They visited every capital of every, State or Province in each of the Dominions, and took evidence in all the most important cities. They say :— In the course of this period we have travelled far many tens of thousands of miles to, through, and from the self-governing Dominions of your Majesty’s Empire. In every district of this vast area we have done our utmost, collectively and individually, to make ourselves acquainted with its characteristics, its his- tory, and its aspirations, as we hope, and indeed believe, not without success. We have also had the opportunity of hearing personally the opinions of every section of its population upon the problems upon which we have been engaged. It is therefore with a certain confidence as to their value that we present our unanimous conclusions for your Majesty’s con- sideration. It is to be noted, however, that in May, 1915, the Government of the Commonwealth of Aus- tralia withdrew its representative from the com- mission, and the final report does not contain the signature of any representative of that Dominion. No reason is given for this action on the part of Australia. The main object of the commission was to in- quire into, and report upon, (a) the natural re- sources of the five self-governing Dominions and the best means of developing them ; (b) their trade with the United Kingdom, each other, and the rest of the world; and (c) their requirements and those of the United Kingdom in regard to food am} raw materials, together with the available sources of supply. Broad) as the scope of this inquiry was, it could not be kept within the pre- scribed limits. The commissioners say :— During the whole course of our investigations . . . we have been conscious of two strong and impelling impressions. First, for Empire purposes no survey can be com-” plete without including India, the Crown Colonies, and the Protectorates. In themselves, and even as now developed, they form too vital and important a part of the Empire ‘to be left out of present calcula- tions. But it is plainly evident that their poten- tialities, measured by any.fair standard, are immense, 166 NATURE [APRIL 26, 1917 and that their future contributions to the Empire’s strength and greatness will far surpass those’ of the past. These parts of your Majesty’s oversea posses- ‘sions are vitally linked with the. self-governing Dominions; the destinies of all are interwoven. Secondly, we have been equally strongly impressed by the almost infinite variety of Empire domain, the extent of its area, the inequality of distribution of its population, and the disconnected character of its governing and directing machinery. In other words, the only practicable subject of investigation turned out to be the British Empire itself. | Successive interim reports on the five Dominions, ‘following on the four tours under- taken by the commission, have already appeared. The opening chapters of the final report are historical and descriptive, and show the leading _ characteristics of the Dominions and the, develop- ‘ment of their trade. ,They analyse briefly their chief resources and prospects of expansion. The survey falls under five heads, viz. agricultural ‘and pastoral resources, minerals, forests, fisheries, , and water-power. They describe also some of the chief measures for controlling and utilising ‘natural resources for the common benefit which have been taken by the Governments concerned during the war, and lead up to two’chapters out- lining a policy in respect of the scientific develop- ment of natural resources for the future. Migra- tion and its intimate bearing on the problems of development of the Empire forms the subject of the next chapter, succeeded by three dealing with Imperial communications. In the first of these stress is laid on the need for deeper harbours and the co-ordination of, harbour depths in order to facilitate cheap, speedy, and efficient transport. Recommendations for developing fast. Imperial services on several of the most important trade routes of the world are made. Ocean freight rates and the respective liabilities of shipowners and shippers under bills of lading come under consideration. In’ the second the handling of produce brought to, and distributed from, the ports of the United Kingdom is passed under review, while in the third cable and wireless ser- vices between the United Kingdom and Dominions are discussed and suggestions made for their improvement. Questions of commercial import- ance form the subject-matter of the next two chapters, and in the final one the commissioners criticise the past and existing deficiencies in Im- perial organisation and outline a scheme for the creation of an Imperial Development Board, charged with the duty of undertaking and pro- moting the development of the natural resources, trade, and communications of the Empire. As a preliminary to considering. the conserva- tion and development of natural resources in the future, the commissioners point out that before any adequate measures can be taken towards this end a preliminary survey is needed of the relation between Empire production and Empire: require- _ ments throughout the whole range of the articles required for the sustenance and well-being of the people, for the maintenance of industry, and for _ the production of munitions of war. As they say NO. 2478, voL. 99} truly, no such survey has ever been undertaken. They go on to point out that it should divide the necessary materials of trade and commerce into the following three main categories :— (1) Materials of which the world’s requirements are mainly or wholly produced within the Empire. — As instances, it may be mentioned that Canada produces much the largest proportion of nickel, cobalt, and asbestos, and, in conjunction -with India, of mica. the only supply of kauri gum and’ phormium fibre. The Union of South Africa has a virtual monopoly of diamonds and ostrich feathers. India has a monopoly of jute, while the West African Colonies yield the major portion of the world’s supply of palm-nuts and palm-kernels, and the Eastern Colonies of plantation rubber. British Empire produces from 40, to 45 per cent. of the world’s total supply of wool, and more than ° 60 per cent. of the world’s output of gold. To take one instance only of how little a valuable mineral is worked up into a manufactured article in the country of its origin, it may be mentioned . that, although Canada is practically the only pro-: ducer of raw asbestos in the world, the United Kingdom is largely dependent on outside sources, especially the United States, for the manufactured asbestos which it requires, dnd that even Canada imports manufactured asbestos to the average value of 70,000l. per annum. New Zealand produces practically _ The | (2) Materials of which’ the Empire’s require- — ments are approximately equalled by Empire pro- duction. Examples of products falling within this category are wheat, butter, cheese, and wool. In certain cases, instances of which are zinc, tungsten, and monazite, the commissioners indi- cate the necessity for special action in order to secure the control and utilisation of Imperial sup- plies for the Empire’s use. i (3) Materials of which the world’s require- ments, and with them those of the Empire, are mainly produced and controlled outside the - Empire. Most careful inquiry is obviously needed in regard to substances of this kind, in- stances of which are cotton, petroleum, nitrates, and potash. Investigation should take two direc- ‘tions: (a) the possibility of finding new sources of supply within the Empire, and ‘(b) the possi- bility of finding substitutes within the Empire. Means of preventing waste in existing sources of supply of all minerals should also be investigated. The commissioners recommend that the respon- sibility for a survey and investigations. on. the lines indicated should be entrusted to a new Im- perial Development Board. They say :— We believe the time has come when a body should be created which could be referred to at any time and by any of .he Governments, in order to smooth the path of Imperial development. There is, indeed, both scope and need for a new Imperial Development Board, which, without displacing any existing. body, would devote its energies and experience to a con- tinuous. survey and consideration of Empire resources — and opportunities and to a study of the best means — of co-ordinating Empire effort for the development of these resources, for the extension of Imperial trade, i, & i Fe :. ‘reached by the | commissioners. _ doubted whether so favourable an opportunity : for giving effect to them by legislative enactment SMe 26, 1917] NATURE 167 and foe the strengthening of Imperial lines of com- cher eer It would be impossible to exaggerate significance and influence of such'a board, com- plas as it should be, of men possessing an intimate iedge of the. Empire and its resources, in con- ~ stant consultation and collaboration, on the watch for ty, and alive to every possibility. _ The primary condition of this new board must be that it should not encroach upon the political or admini- _ strative machinery of any of the self-governing parts of the Empire. In other words, it should be purely in its initial stage. We are not prepared to that at its inception any specific administra- tive functions should be assigned to it, but equally we P tecutate to restrict the future activities of a new and, to some extent, experimental organisation. If, at _ some future time, the Government of the Empire * should, either through the Imperial Conference « or otherwise, desire to delegate any administrative duties _to it, we see no inherent difficulty in giving effect to such a wish. With regard to the constitution of the new ; tion, the commissioners recommend that its numbers should be kept as low as possible, with the view of increasing its efficiency, and that its members should be required to give their whole time to the work. They suggest seven _. representatives for the United Kingdom, India, _the Crown Colonies, and the Protectorates, and one each for the five self-governing Dominions. | They recommend further that the board should _€arry out the research work required for the survey in the following manner :— (a) In respect of the United Kingdom, through _ the recently formed Department for Scientific and Industrial Research, the National Physical Labo- ratory, etc. (b) In respect of the self-governing Dominions, through the now existing scientific departments and the committees for research which are being set up in the Dominions. (c) In respect of India, the Crown Colonies, . and the Protectorates, through the local scientific | ha and the Imperial Institute. Finally, they say :— - The unanimity which is shown in all our reports, _ and has been maintained throughout the deliberations _ f the first Royal Commission comprising: representa- _ tives of all the self-governing communities of your Majesty’s Empire, is, we venture to think, of hopeful yg augury. We make ‘bold to assert, after five years : experience throughout the Empire, that the spirit of _ o-operation, so splendidly demonstrated in war, will _ be succeeded, after peace is declared, by absolute concord in the great task of reconstruction and _ development. . It is quite. certain that no Blue Book of such 5 _momentous importance as this is to the develop- _ ment of the resources of the British Empire as a i _ whole has ever before been published. Great as _the preoccupations of the Government must be at the present time, they should not be allowed | to prevent the most weighty consideration being | number of scholarships, with due maintenance | grants, enabling duly qualified children to pro- Pacvited to the recommendations ananimously It may be will ever occur in the history of the Empire _ again. 2 / HC. He C. NATIONAL REFORMS IN’ EDUCATION. N enthusiastic welcome was extended to the speech of the President of the Board of - Education, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, on introducing the Education Estimates on Thursday last. Whatever be the motives which prompted it, whether they arose merely from considerations relating solely to the industrial and commercial _ equipment of the nation, or from the need for more. effective military preparation, or from a tardy conviction that the essential well-being of the people demanded a much more adequate provision for the due training of all the children, they are a gratifying index of the changed attitude of Parlia- ment on this vital subject, and a sign, we hope, that the Presidency of the Board will always be occu- pied by someone familiar with educational pro- blems*and not be a purely political appointment as formerly. - However distasteful the thought may be, there is lying at the back of men’s minds the conviction that the industrial, commercial, and military position of Germany is‘due in the main.to the sedulous cultivation, through many genera- tions, from the days of Humboldt downwards, of the intellectual life of the nation, and that though we do not desire slavishly to imitate her methods or to pursue her ideals, yet we have arrived at last at the convictidn that we cannot any longer, if we would preserve and advance our pride of place in the world, afford to ignore and waste the most. vital asset of the nation, namely, the due cultivation, bodily, mentally, and spiritually, of its child life among all classes. We are, according to Mr. Fisher, spending annually from all sources, public and private, some forty million pounds sterling on the educa- tion of the people of England and Wales (which large sum contrasts strangely with the first Par- liamentary grant for education of 20,000. in 1834, ¢ continued annually until 1840, for the building of elementary schools); and yet we are not provid- ~~ ing effectively for their adequate training. Many more millions need to be spent before that pur- pose is fully assured, and so the President of the Board comes forward with a demand for nearly four millions in advance of the Estimates of 1916-17, which are to be applied chiefly to remedy the low and uneven remuneration of the teachers, both elementary and secondary, throughout the country, and to establish a scheme of pensions for secondary-school teachers; and measures are de- vised so that this important object may be secured with the willing co-operation of the local authori-~ ties. Itis strongly felt that it will be impossible to secure any effective measures for the improve- ment of education unless the supply of suitably trained teachers can be adequately maintained. It is further the purpose of ,the Board. to encourage the establishment of a much larger ceed to higher stages of instruction in secondary schools and aniversiaae and also to provide advanced courses in central schools for children ' remaining at school until the elose of the legal ' age of attendance. is, § 2 ‘168 NATURE [ApRIL 26, 1917 All these urgent reforms can be instituted under the regulations governing the policy of the Board, and require no special legislative sanction. They appeared to receive the warm assent of the House, but it was the closing sentences of Mr. Fisher’s statement which aroused the deepest attention, wherein he adumbrated the lines of a Bill for ‘the reform of education, of which the . measures he had already indicated were but an instalment, which he hoped shortly to introduce. He proposed in this measure, having regard. to the deplorable waste of child life, to make provi- sion in nursery schools for children under five; to secure for every boy and girl a full period of in- struction until the fourteenth year; to provide for more satisfactory education, in rural areas; to secure the proper co-ordination of every type and grade of school throughout the country, and to réquire county authorities, either separately or in combination, to make complete and progressive schemes of ’ education for their areas; to make better and more complete provision for adolescent education so as to ensure for young persons engaged in employment a fuller intellectual, moral, and physical discipline; and, finally, as soon as occasion serves, to consider the problem of the universities with the view of meeting the urgent need for promoting free and independent_ post- graduate research and the higher forms ‘of learn- ing in the universities of this country, together with a liberal provision of scholarships with this object. We must await the introduction of this Bill before we can discuss fully the actual means proposed to give effect to these measures of reform, but it is well that a man speaking with the high authority of the President of the Board of Education and with the full knowledge of his. colleagues in the Government is bold enough to set them forth as ideals to be shortly attained, and his effort demands the fullest and most earnest support of every enlightened authority through- out the kingdom. Not until the whole fabric of education is brought under review and each department of it made effective and duly related _ can its full value be ‘realised and the highest forms of education be ensured on sound and satis- factory lines. pane ae CO-OPERATION IN ~- RUSSIAN AND BRITISH SCIENTIFIC UNDERTAKINGS. DURING the past year the question of a closer relationship between British and Russian savants has been the subject of several meetings of different learned bodies in Russia, chiefly in Petro- grad. Particulars cannot here be given, but a short account of the more important developments likely to give some positive results may be of interest. In April, 1916, the Minister of Public Instruc- tion invited a number of universities to state the measures which, in their opinion, would lead to the promotion of closer intercommunication between the Russian and the British scientific worlds. The council of the University of Petro- grad discussed the matter in May, and stated in NO. 2478, VOL. 99] reply to the Minister in June last that a closer relationship would be desirable not. only with. British, but also with French men of science and those of other allied countries. This object could be best attained by forming an international asso- ciation of universities and academies of sciences, which would promote mutual knowledge of scientific work and. activity, the organisation of international scientific undertakings (expeditions, publications, etc.), and the dissemination of the languages of the members of the association. Such an organisation could easily undertake to bring about such measures as: (a) delegation of professors and academicians to the chief universi- ties of allied countries to give courses of lectures in the language of the country (not their own) and to promote personal intercommunication with foreign men of science; (b) mutual admission of _students of science to the universities and scien- tific institutions of allied countries for the purpose of advancement of their scientific studies and the acquaintance with the scientific world of a given country ; (c) organisation of congresses in separate branches of learning for deliberating on questions of international scientific and inquiry under- takings, and of pedagogy; (d) organisation of yearly reports on the scientific literature of a given country, to be printed in special periodicals; (e) reports on the scientific activities of different insti- tutions and of persons working in these institu- tions. To promote the foundation of the Inter- national Association it is necessary first of all to form an association of Russian scientific bodies, which should undertake the necessary steps to- begin the publication of yearly reports on Russian scientific literature in special periodicals. It is also necessary, as a second preliminary measure, to create at the Russian Legations abroad and at- the British, French, and other Legations in Russia some sort of scientific attaché, who would be at the disposal of men of science. The matter was then taken up by the Sopeetad Academy of Sciences, which considered the whole question at a plenary meeting: on October 15°'(28), 1916, after it had been reported upon by a com- mittee composed of the permanent secretary of the Academy, S. Oldenburg, and the academi- cians N. Kondakov, P. Vinogradov, and P. Walden. The report of this committee was adopted at a plenary meeting, and was afterwards presented to the Minister of Public Instruction. It laid great stress on the necessity for mutual cognisance of scientific work and scientific under- takings of Russia and Great Britain. To this end the academy formed a committee of specialists charged with the editing of two scientific periodicals devoted to physico-mathematical and biological sciences, printed in Russian and French. These periodicals will contain a summary of scientific work of Russian savants. It is pro- posed further to make more accessible British scientific publications and books, which it is very difficult to obtain at present,’ by way of new 1¥For instance, only znxbound books are now allowed to enter Russia, whereas British books are always sold bound. I am obliged to order them with the covers torn off. Ape 26, 1917 | NATURE 169 , ations and perhaps subsidies to leading book- Ee: The other measures proposed are iden- tical with those contained in the memorandum of the University of Petrograd. _ The Academy of Sciences proposes further to Zz alt ‘together soon a special congress of. repre- _ sentatives of universities, learned societies, and other: learned bodies in order to discuss the prac- - tical ways and means-towards promoting a closer _ scientific relationship with Great Britain. _ B. MEnscuutTKIN. a + aS Set NOTES. ef Tae secretary to the Reconstruction Committee has Mitecheey us with the following list of the members _ of thecommittee : The Right Hon. the Prime Minister " (chairman) ; the Right Hon. E. S. Montagu, M.P. (vice- ct i); Prof. W. G. S. Adams; Mr. J. R. Clynes, -P.5 Sir A. M. Duckham, KO B.; Mr. Richard Hazleton, M.P.; Major J. W. Hills, M.P.: Mr. 5 ; Jones ; Mr. P. H. Kerr; Dr. Marion Phillips; _ Mr. B. Seebohm Rowntree; the Most Hon. the Mar- eae K.G., G.G.V.O.; Mr. Leslie Scott, : oph Sa Fee Stevenson, Bart. ; Mr. J. H. » M.P.; and Mrs. Sidney Webb. ‘ A suMMaRy of Sine Rioseteller * hooretee grants for contained in a. pamphlet published in New & Yorke ‘on March 19. The total amount of the grants 4 e during the year was 1,649,820l. The largest = were sora th war relief, and these reached 518,o00!. ag: e waking 836,400l. since the beginning of the To the National Health Board 122,3001. was Bese: chiefly for the relief and control of ‘“Hook- ‘m”’ disease in the southern States, several Latin- countries, and in certain British colonies. e has also made a Survey of the principal en - foci of yellow fever, and experiments for the control of malaria. The China Medical Board received g the year 213,6301. for the promotion of medical cc ation in China. Among the largest of the single butions of the Foundation to outside agencies the gift of 200,0001. to the New York Palisades : Park Commission towards the sum neces- sary for the enlargement and improvement of the sades Interstate Park. - ; _ Pror, inno Ss e ice Emit von BEHRING, whose death was ced in Nature of April 5, was born at Hans- in 1854. He received his professional education the Army Medical College, Berlin, obtaining his ctor’s degree i in 1878. He afterwards served in the Army, and in 1889 was appointed assistant at the Institute of Hygiene, Berlin, being transferred later, er to a corresponding post in Koch’s Institute nfectious Diseases. He there commenced his hes on immunity in diphtheria, culminating in in the discovery and preparation of diphtheria antitoxin. For this work he received prizes from the bs cadémie de Médecine of Paris and the Institute of x peence, In 1894 he received the title of ‘‘ Professor ”’ Panes of his scientific work, and was appointed to the chair of hygiene in the University 0} f Halle. In the following year he accepted a call to = g, where he held the post of professor and “director of the Institute of Hygiene. In 1895 the title SOF Medical Privy Councillor was conferred upon him. Although Behring’s name is best known in connection ' with the discovery of diphtheria antitoxin, he also 4 t i out researches on tuberculosis, ascribing the majo Sal of tuberculosis in children to infection om tuberculous milk, and prepared a form of tuber- - NO. 2478, VoL. 99] = lard culin, “ tulase,” by-the action of chloral on tubercle bacilli, which, however, does not appear to have more value than other forms of tuberculin. In 1913 he published an investigation on diphtheria _ bacilli carriers, and proposed to treat these with a mixture of diphtheria antitoxin and diphtheria toxin. With Léffler and Ehrlich, who have also died during the course of the present war, Behring must be regarded as one of the band of pioneers of modern bacteriology and immunology. THE permanent committee for the study of the natural resources of the Russian Empire, formed by the Petro- grad Academy of Sciences in 1915, has begun to pub- lish the great work ‘Natural Productive Forces of Russia,’’ which is intended to give, so far‘as it is at present possible, a> complete review of the natural wealth of Russia, destined to play an important part in the future economic development of the country. This work will form six volumes—about 2400 pages large octavo—and is being printed in the Government printing office. ' The contents of the volumes will be as follows: Vol. i., ‘“ Utilisation of the Force of Wind.’ This volume is being prepared by a special sub-committee (president, M. A. Rykaéev), and will be devoted to (1) the necessary meteorological data; (2) wind-motors, their best types, cost, and uses. Vol. py “White Coal”; a sub-committee under the presidency eh ee Vernadskij will give (1) a geological and hydrological description of different regions of Russia; (2) characteristics of separate: rivers and data for the utilisation of their water-power. Vol. iii., Waters,” by a sub-committee presided over by N. T. Andrusov. Contents . (1) Geological data in connec- tion with water-bearing strata of different regions of Russia; (2) artesian bores gees in existence and “rt future ‘possibilities. Vol. ““Useful Minerals,” prepared by the eeolowibad iranhiiies and edited by K. T. Bogdanovié. It will give trustworthy informa- tion about the occurrence, localities, quantities, and properties of different ore deposits _and important minerals of Russia. Vol. v., ‘ Plants,” edited by a sub-committee of specialists ‘under T. P. Borodin: botanico-geographical review of the Russian Empire and a description of all the cultures of different regions in plants. Vol. vi., ‘‘Animals,”’ edited by V. K. Brazni- kov and E, F. Liskun: (1) Systematic survey of the “ Artesian — relation to agriculture and the utilisation of _ animal representatives, wild and domestic; (2) utilisa—\ tion of wild and domestic animals. The edition is limited to 5000 copies; the subscription price for alf the six volumes is 10 roubles (=14s. at the present rate of exchange). The committee for the study of the natural resources of Russia has also edited during 1916 twelve monographs, under the title of “ Materials for the Study of the Natural Productive Forces of Russia,” dealing with ore deposits of different metals, medicinal plants, clays, etc.; and about a hundred more are in course of printing and preparation. These monographs are published by the Imperial Academy of Sciences: Tue Hanbury gold medal for 1917 has been awarded to Prof. H. G. Greenish, professor of pharmaceutics to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Tue Fothergilliam medal of the Medical Society .of London for 1917 has been awarded to Sir nard Rogers, of the Caleutta Medical College, for his work on “dy senteries, their differentiation and treatment. Tue treasurers of the Middlesex Hospital have re- ceived a donation of toool. from Sir John and Lady Bland-Sutton and 25o0l. from Mr. G. Vaughan Morgan in response to the appeal on behalf of the research fund of the pathological institute of the hospital. ~ 170 NATURE [Aprit 26, 1917 THE seventh May lecture of the Institute of Metals will be delivered at the Institution of Civil Engineers on Thursday, May 3, at 8.30 p.m., by Prof. W. E. Dalby, on ‘‘ Researches made Possible by the Auto- graphic Load-extension Optical Indicator.” Tue Jacksonian prize of the Royal College of Sur- geons of England for 1916 has been awarded to Mr. E. W. H. Groves for his dissertation on ‘“* Methods and Results of Transplantation of Bone in the Repair of Defects caused by Injury or Disease."’ The sub- ject for the Jacksonian prize for 1918 is ‘‘ The Injuries and Diseases of the Pancreas and their Surgical Treatment.”’ Tue death is announced, in his seventy-fourth year, of Dr. H. B. Cornwall, professor of applied chemistry and mineralogy at Princeton University from 1873 to ig1o. -He previously held posts on the faculty of Columbia - University, and was for a short time the superintendent of a mining company in Mexico. He was the author of a manual of blow-pipe analysis and other. works. hee TuE next informal meeting of the Chemical Society will be held at Burlington House, W., on Thursday, May 10, at 8 p.m. Owing to ill-health, Dr. Horace, T. Brown will be unable to deliver, on May 17, his lecture entitled ‘‘The Principles of Diffusion: Their ‘Analogies and Applications’? as previously announced. The lecture has been postponed for the time, and the . usual ordinary scientific meeting will be held on that day. : ; WE learn from the Morning Post-that Mr. W. P. Fraser, plant pathologist, of Macdonald College, has been appointed to investigate the problem of grain rust on the prairie provinces of Western Canada. The Canadian Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Martin Burrell, has béen devoting special attention to the problem, and two well-equipped laboratories have been built on the experimental farms at Brandon and Indian Head. etieat Tue death is announced of Sir Albert J. Durston, Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy from 1889 to 1907. We learn from the Times that Sir Albert was born in 1846, and was educated privately, in Portsmouth Dockyard, and at the Royal Schooi of Naval Archi- tecture, South Kensington. He entered the Royal Navy in 1866, became chief engineer in 1877, chief inspector -of machinery in 1893, and chief engineer at Sheerness and Portsmouth in 1881. During his administration of the engineering department there were introduced the water-tube boiler, the turbine system of propulsion, and the use of oil fuel—all in- ventions which made for the increase in engine-power and the speed of the ships of the Fleet which has been so noticeable and valuable during the war. WE learn from the British Medical Journal that Surgeon-General Sir William Taylor, K.C.B., late Director-General, Army Medical Staff, died at Wind- sor on March to, aged ‘seventy-four. In 1898 Sir William was appointed principal medical officer to the British Army in India and held that post for three years, until he became Director-General of the Army Medical Service. on December 3, rx901, in the late stage of the Boer war. On August 21, Ig01, he was gazetted honorary physician to the King, and in 1902 received the K.C.B. His Alma Mater, the University of Glasgow, bestowed upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. forty years’ service in the Army, during which he had served in six campaigns, and had risen to the highest position open to a medical officer. NO. 2478, VOL. 99} ‘ He retired on December. 2, 1904, after. Ar the annual general meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers held on April 17 the result of the ballot for the election of officers was declared as follows: President: Mr. W. B. Worthington. Vice-presidents: Mr. J. A. F. Aspinall, Mr. H. E. Jones, Sir John P. Griffith, and Mr. J. A. Brodie. Other Members of Coun- cil: Dr. C.C. Carpenter ; Dr. Dugald Clerk; Col. R.E. B. Crompton; Mr. M. Deacon; Sir Archibald Denny, Bart.; Mr. W. H. Ellis; Sir R. R. Gales; Mr. A. J. Goldsmith; Sir R. A. Hadfield; Brigadier-General B. H. Henderson; Mr. R. W. Holmes; Prof. Bertram Hopkinson; Mr. G. W. Humphreys; Mr. Summers Hunter; Dr. W. H. Maw; Mr. C._L. Morgan; Mr.. Basil Mott; Sir H. J. Oram; Mr. F. Palmer; Capt. H. P. R. Sankey; Sir J. F. C. Snell; Mr. E. F.C. Trench; Mr. W. F. Tye; Sir Philip Watts; Mr. E. J. Way; and Sir A. F. Yarrow, Bart. The council has made the following awards for papers read and dis- cussed during the session 1916-17: Telford gold medals to Messrs. G. W. Humphreys and J. B. Ball; George Stephenson gold medals to Messrs. P. V. O’Brien and John Parr; Telford premiums to Messrs. P. V. O’Brien, J. L. Hodgson, W. Brown, and P. M. Crosthwaite; and a Crampton prize to Mr. F. J. Waring. Mr. Apert Cuapman, in the Scottish Naturalist for April, demolishes the contention that there are two distinct sub-specific forms of the Brent goose, both of which, according to the most recent text-books, are © to be found in the British Islands, The one is sup- posed to have a light-, the other a dark-coloured breast. Mr. Chapman is of opinion that these differ- ences merely indicate dimorphism. And it would seem that the ornithologists who made the ‘‘sub-species’”? — to which he objects have come to the conclusion that Mr. Chapman’s interpretation is the right one. THE extreme severity of the weather since January has told heavily on our native birds. One of the first records of this fact is that by Mr. H. M. Wallis in British Birds for April. During the February frost, in West Cornwall, he remarks, lapwings haunted the town rubbish-heaps and tiny grass plots in front of suburban houses; finally, they came to the windows for food, but eventually most of them seem to have died from starvation, their dead bodies, dreadfully emaciated, being picked up in gardens, beside roads, and in almost every field. After the lapwings, golden plover, gulls, thrushes, and starlings seem to have suffered -most, though many other species are enumerated in his list of dead. Tue British Museum .(Natural History) has just issued, in pamphlet form, some ‘Instructions for Collectors,” dealing with the preparation of mammal skeletons in the field, with special notes on the collec- tion of specimens of Cetacea. Since the skin of the latter cannot be successfully preserved, special em- phasis is laid on the need for careful notes and measurements of carcases before dismemberment. Attention is also directed to the importance of very careful notes as to the colour of the ‘*whale-bone”’ in baleen whales,-and the number and position of the teeth in the ‘‘toothed’’ whales. In all cases, it is remarked, sketches or photographs of the external appearance of a Cetacean should be made before the work of preparitig the skeleton-is begun. These “Instructions” have been carefully drawn up by Dr. S. F. Harmer, the keeper of the department of zoology, and should prove very welcome. THE insects attacking stored wheat in the Punjab are described, with admirable coloured illustrations, by J. H. Barnes and A. J. Grove in the Memoirs of the . A . 5 ae NATURE 171 Pepertonent of Agriculture in India (vol. iv., No. 6). ey ‘paper is especially noteworthy for a discussion _ of the effect on the insects of inert gases and varia- the respiratory function.. Hydrogen kills beetles more nitrogen, and nitrogen than carbon ; an increase in temperature causes a shorten- . A ‘ Ir is thirty years since Profs. Tracy and Goff estab- lished in the United States the value of tarred paper _ discs in preventing the access to cabbage-roots of the m4 e-fly (Phorbia brassicae) for the purpose of egg-laying. Although the maggots of this insect are among the most destructive farm and garden pests known to us in these islands, British and Irish cul- ‘tivators who have heard of the American preventive measure have usually derided it. They may perhaps ‘be convinced by the “ Report on a Trial of Tarred Felt Discs for Protecting Ca and Caulifiowers,” __ which Mr. J. T. Wadsworth publishes in the Annals “3 ee et (vol. iii., 1917, pp. 82-92). From aay research, carried out for the Manchester University Department of Agricultural Entomology, it appears _ that 63 per cent. of unprotected cauliflowers and 13-2 per cent. of unprotected cabbages are lost, as against 5-1 per cent. and o-2 per cent. respectively of : ts provided with cards. We understand - thata merchant is now putting effective discs on _ the market. _ Tue grading for stock-feeding purposes of the various “‘offals*” produced in the milling of wheat has always been a source of much confusion to the _farmer and his advisers. It is a common. experience for offals sold under a particular name in one district to differ ‘widely, both in general character and in chemical composition, from materials sold under the ‘same names in other districts. The confusion is ‘mainly due to local variations in milling practice, and little success has attended past efforts at standardisa- tion. A substantial advance should now be possible, however, in the light of observations made by Messrs. . B. Wood and R. H. Adie, which are recorded in the March issue of the Journal of the Board of Agri- culture. Their results indicate that, excluding the ex- _ treme fractions, flour and bran, milling offals may be ‘classified into three “‘pure grades’, (fine middlings, ‘coarse middlings, and pollards) coming from the mills where the intermediate offals are most completely separated, and three “‘mixed grades” coming from ‘mills where the offals are not so completely divided. _ The number of samples examined by Messrs. Wood ' and Adie, though not large enough to establish _ Standard compositions for the “pure grades,” was ‘sufficient to demonstrate that these grades are charac- terised, not only by a limited range in the size of ‘their particles, but by a definite chemical composition. ‘It is suggested that millers should adopt a uniform “system of grading and naming their offals, and a simple method of achieving the latter object, whilst ‘retaining the local trade names, is indicated. ' Messrs. StanrorD have just issued a new and en- arged edition of No. 17 of their large-scale war maps; "it includes Tournai, Cambrai, and the environs of ' St. Quentin on the east, and shows-the defensive line _ held by the enemy from the date of the Marne defeat until the opening of the Somme battle; and it also ‘shows the line to which the enemy had been driven by April 17 during the battle of Arras. An interesting NO. 2478, VOL. 99] feature of this series is the diagrammatic way in ° which the. levels of. the land are shown; tints of brown colour distinguish the land lymg between sea- level and 125 ft. above, between 125 ft. and 250 ft., .| 250 ft. and 500 ft., and 500 ft. and 1000 ft. above sea- level; this gives the map-reader an excellent idea of the lie of the country. In a Bulletin issued by the Department of Chemistry, Adelaide, the director, Dr. Hargreaves, discusses the practicability of manufacturing cream of tartar in South Australia. Grapes, the source of tartar, are largely grown in the country, but at present all the tartaric acid and most of the cream of tartar used in South Australia are imported from Europe. Experi- ments showed that a quite satisfactory process was available. The wine lees receive a prelimi roast- ing at a temperature of 120° to 150° C., which is high enough to decompose the albuminous and organic colouring matters without injuring the cream of tartar; this much facilitates filtration. The cream of tartar is then extracted with hot water, filtered, and crystal- lised out. There is not a promising field for a large industry, because .the total possible production, it is calculated, would not be sufficient to supply the needs of the country. Nevertheless, the available tartar should not be allowed-to go to waste as at present, and a start has-been made with the manufacture. — WE learn from the Geographical Journal ior April (vol. xlix., No. 4) that,.at the request of the As- tronomer Royal, the Royal Geographical Society is collecting information about possible observing stations for the total solar eclipse on May 29, 1919. The eclipse passes over the Amazon basin, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Congo basin to Tanganyika. Possible stations are suggested in the State of Ceara in Brazil, the Island of Principe, the neighbourhood of Libre- ville in the French Congo, and on the western escarp- ment of Tanganyika. Between Libreville and Tan- ganyika the forest conditions preclude the possibility of a station The essential conditions for an eclipse camp are the good chance of clear weather; reason- able accessibility, with means of transport for heavy instruments; available local labour and materials for the construction of huts and the foundations for in- struments; and a good supply of pure water for photography. The society will be grateful to any correspondents who may be so good as to send advice in these matters. In fulfilment of the international scheme of which it is the centre, the Meteorological Institute of the Netherlands has recently issued copies of a number of records of magnetic disturbance obtained during 1914 and 1915 at De Bilt Observatory. In all, twenty- three magnetic storms are dealt with—twelve from 1914 and eleven from 1915. Im each case the record includes thirty consecutive hours, declination, hori- zontal-force, and vertical-force traces being shown on the same sheet, referred to a common base or time line. The base-line values and the scale values of the ordinates are marked in each case. The disturbances selected afford excellent examples of “‘sudden com- mencements,” ‘‘bays,” slow and rapid oscillations, and isolated tooth-like protuberances on the curves. The tendency in the vertical force to be above its normal value during late afternoon hours in times of disturbance is conspicuous in the majority of instances. One or two of the storms selected for 1915 were of considerable size, especially that of June 17-18. The sensitiveness of the horizontal-force and vertical-force magnetographs is unusually high at De Bilt. This enables details of moderate movements to be more readily recognised, but increases the risk of loss of trace during large movements, and: makes it more 172 NATURE [ApriL 26, 1917 difficult to prevent interference of traces when three elements are included in a single sheet. Only great care and resourcefulness could have dealt with the difficulties as satisfactorily as has been done in the present case. In addition to the high prices and short quantities of printing paper flow available, strawboard, which is necessary for the binding of books, has risen enor- mously in price, whilst a famine in that commodity threatens soon to deprive the publishing trade alto- gether of the power to bind books in cloth. At no distant date, therefore, it is probable that we shall see English books issued with paper covers, a state of things which may continue indefinitely, depending not so much upon the cost of this essential material as the length of time which must elapse, even after the war, before there are again sufficient supplies available. It is clear that in the very near future publishers, binders, and booksellers will have, in re- gard to the majority of books, to adapt themselves to a new order of things, and the public will have to be satisfied with books issued, as is so widely the custom on the Continent, in paper covers.. Mr. Joun Mourray’s new list of announcements con-— tains, among others, ‘Collected Essays and Ad- dresses,’ by Sir F. Darwin (some of the subjects. dealt with are ‘‘Sir Francis Galton,’ “Sir George Darwin,” ‘‘The Movements of Plants,’’ ‘‘ The Educa- tion of a Man of Science,’ and ‘‘The Teaching of Science"’); a new and revised edition of ‘‘The Book of the. Rothamsted Experiments,” edited by Dr. E. J. - Russell, containing a chapter by A. D. Hall on the secondary. effects of manures on the soil, and one by Dr. Russell on the production of plant food in the soil;, and ‘‘A. Regimental Surgeon Prison,’’ by Capt. R. V. Dolbey. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. A New Comet.—In a message to the Times of April 20, dated April 19, it is stated that a comet of marked brilliancy had been observed at Sydney. It was seen in the eastern sky at dawn, and Prof. Cooke | is said to have described it as a new comet. position of the comet had not been determined. Comet b 1916 (WotF).—The following continued ephemeris, for Greenwich midnight, is given by Prof. Crawford in Lick Observatory Bulletin No. 289 :— The 1917 R.A. : Decl. Log A Bright- homer 4s. . 4 ness . April 26° 20 21 28 +11 12-2 01994 2:81 27 23:55 » 2 2OO 28 26 22 Il 45:9 0°1943 29 28 49 I2 23 30 31 16 19°6 01892 3°01 May 1 33 43 36-4 2 36 9 12 53:2 o-1841 3 38 36 13 99 4 41 2 26-6 o-17gI 3:21 5 43 28 43:2 6 45 55 13 598 01742 7 48 21 14 16-4 8 50 47 329 1694 3-42 9 53. 13 14 :@9'3 10 Skigpe GaIS ey 0: 1646 II 20 58 4 21-9 12 21 0 29 38-1 0-1599 3°63 The unit of brightness if that on March 5, and the figures given in the last column should be multiplied by 17 to reduce to the unit of brightness on 1916 May Io. The path of the comet during the above period is NO. 2478, VOL. 99] ‘leaving. streaks. in ._War and through the constellation Delphinus. On May 1 the comet rises about 10.45 p.m. G.M.T. It is now an interesting object in the telescope, but it has been disappointingly faint, and it does not seem very prob- able that it will become visible to the naked eye. The distance of the. comet from the earth on April 30 will be 144,000,000 miles, and on May io 136,000,000 miles. Tue Aprit Lyrips.—These meteors appear to have been more active than usual this year, and the maxi- mum occurred on April 21. On April 20 Mr. Denning watched a beautifully clear sky at Bristol, and recorded twenty-one meteors in three and a quarter hours; of these, six were Lyrids. On April 21 the sky was over- cast at Bristol, but Mrs. F. Wilson reports from Totteridge that the firmament cleared at about 11 p.m. G.M.T., and that thirty-five meteors, chiefly Lyrids,. were observed in the two and a half hours up to 13.30 G.M.T. Others must have been missed while the paths of the brighter objects were being registered. The radiant point was at 272°+34°, and precisely the same as found independently at Bristol on the previous night. One fireball was observed at Totteridge, ‘and the Lyrids were recorded as very swift and as usually On April 22 the weather at Bristol was very favour- able after 9.30 G.M.T., but a watch for meteors main- tained for about two and a quarter hours yielded only six, half of which were Lyrids; = The conclusion that this important meteoric. stream recurs under a very plentiful aspect at periods of about sixteen years is confirmed by this year’s observations. STELLAR SPECTRA OF Crass. R.—The second volume of the publications of the Detroit Observatory, which has recently been issued by Prof. Hussey, fur further_evidence of the energy- and thoroughness with which astrophysical investigations are carried on in America. The chief subjects dealt with are stellar _|-spectra of type B. containing emission lines, by R. H. Curtiss; observations of stars of class Md, by P. W. Merrill; the spectrum of ¢ Urs Majoris, by L. Had- ley; and the spectra of stars of class R, by W. C.. Rufus. In each case a review of previous work is a valuable feature, and the volume 4s enr Br numerous beautiful reproductions of spectra. While all the contributions add considerably té previous knowledge, that on the stars of class R calls for ‘special notice; as there has been much doubt as to — the place of these stars in the’ stellar sequence. The peculiarity of class R spectra is that they include rays of shorter wave-length than is the case with the ordinary fourth type (N) stars. Ten of the sixty-six known members of the class have been studied in great detail, and six spectra of class N were also photographed for comparison. Mr. Rufus finds that the strength of carbon absorption is not a distinguish- ing feature between classes R and N, and that the real criterion for differentiating them is the intensity of the continuous absorption in the violet. The out- come of the discussion is to suggest that stars of class R form a connecting-link between the solar type and class N, and that the evolutionary sequence divides at the solar type, classes K and forming one branch, and classes R and N constituting the other. The alternative possibility that classes M and K may belong to an ascending branch of the tempera- ture curve, as would be the case in Lockyer’s classi- fication, does not appear to have been considered. Fhe radial velocities of the ten class: R stars range from —49 to +25 km. per second, and give an average of 14:9 km. when corrected for the solar motion. The average colour-index is 1-7, as compared with 2-5 for class N. po eee eae 8 e eee ene jp a 2 De Bee — ApRIL 26, 1917] NATURE 173 BEN NEVIS AND GLEN COE. being pre-glacial, cannot be due to the glacial en- "y d largement ‘of the main valleys. . Genet 53 of the map of Scotland comprises the | Mr. Bailey adopts the view that the main north- especially interesting area around Ben Nevis, | west to south-east valleys are due to a pre-glacial Glen Coe, and Loch Linnhe. This district includes | river systerg, and that they were broken by cross the highest summit in the British Isles; it presents | valleys into.segments separated by secondary water- * geological problems, both tectonic and petrologic, of | sheds. In the development of these river valleys he | “unusual variety, and it has a most instructive and | admits that earth movements played an important diversified physiography. It is described in a memoir | part, though he considers that the fractures which § which is a most valuable contribution to Scottish | determined the valleys remained latent until opened ; geology. This work has been mainly written by Mr. | by river action. He compares the valleys to the E. B. Bailey, and is characterised by its high literary | Zambezi gorge, which. though admittedly guided by quality, its originality of view, its happy. expressions | fractures in the rocks, lacks the features indica- and apt comparisons, and its sympathetic summary | tive of the structural origin of these Highland valleys. . of previous work on the district, beginning with | Mr. Bailey attributes many of the valleys to erosion . ee ee ED eh ee Ree POPE ON ee ne ae i Fic: r.—Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis Gorge. By permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office. Macknight and Macculloch at the beginning of the | along shatter-belts, _which were attributed by. Dr. » last century. The problems in the Ben Nevis district | author of the term, to the crushing of a of most general interest are those connected with the cks along an oscillatory fault that may In 4 physiography of the Scottish Highlands. The High- | final displacement of the rocks beside it. : land glens have been often attributed to glacial | ption of shatter-belts in the memoir (pp. erosion, and some of their most conspicuous features | gives no clear evidence as to their origin. ; to the glacial deepening of the valleys. Mr. Bailey, | > are bands of broken rock along ordinary faults ; = however, submits ample evidence that the valleys | > later than the last of the Cainozoic dykes, and ; were pre-glacial, that Glen Nevis, for example, has | are therefore geologically modern. So far as can be not been glacially deepened, that some of the gorges | judged from the scanty ev idence given in the memoir, have escaped any serious glacial modification, and these formations may be bands of rocks shattered be- 4 that the much-quoted hanging valleys of the district, | "Wee" P arallel ruptures due to tension during the eleva- ; el on Nevis and Gle tion of the country into broad, low upfolds. “Mr. Bailey - Coe, and the Surrounding Country.” lh ne ets oti 8 58 54 39 13 10-2 rt 182 9 17 35 40 35 93 38... 262 Io 0 40 42 13 IL-0 48> a) Sue 10 25 29 46 3 8-8 Sq<: 43,044 2,071,230. 228,500 9,849 131,245 1,513 2,513,765 30,977 5 These grants will be distributed by a Committee of ae Privy Council, on the recommendation of an Ad visory Council, to promote the ment of scientific and industrial research in the-United Kingdom, and will be Acc ge to such conditions as the committee may t 6 This grant in aid will be paid to the account of the I the Encouragement of Scientific and Industrial Research. of the Trust will be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, bu hink nec Trust for iture any balance remaining on the account will not be surrendered at the close ce financial year. Grants will be made by the directions of a Committee of the Privy Council over an agreed period to approved trade associations for , to supplement the funds of the associations, and payments in such grants will not be liable to surrender by the grantees at the end of the financial year. ¢ ’ ee ee en ee - ak: NATURE 177 a eee Ireland. Ireland, Peas . Bee Ee re Pupsitic EDUCATION. ’ Public Education be fas ase one 1,818,018 eae eo ‘ ify Intermediate Education (Ireland) Sow “~~ 40,000 Waricitstrati Era “ an 32,167 | Endowed Schools Commissioners ... ats 850 Seidacedtaed nts, tas Beis ae ah 49,094 | National Gallery is Ae and nee 1,330 Tisawnie wg Re ne .- _ 62,713 | Science and Art +38e% oF age ba aibi SEQ 2IS a 8) ¥ ae a te rn 3,891 | Universities and Colleges ... a Ago; ARID ROD _ National schools Fa = eh eae > 1,591,580 B . see : ee instruction ... 12,415 Total it. is -- 21,412,175 - Teachers’ residences 3700 Be eo pene etc., of teachers (grants ir in Net increase... rie z 60,158 Petar: Estimate for Board fi; Education, te: Sern 1s ets", Gross seal 1,818,718 : A We = : sf 700 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL ts ‘Ppt — ; INTELLIGENCE. i Net total 1,818,018 Giascow.—The ay tte degrees of doctors of science : : were conferred on April 24:—H. H. Green: Thesis, Pf Net decrease 173,566 | ‘Note on the Estimation of Potassium in Urine; Investigations into the Nitrogen Metabolism of Soil ; INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION. Batis of se Pips; ae. the Composition and f y lut ; Arse D TTowside elas of tcckers, incocing | 100 cy, oui, Solutions: Areca De cost of administration see eee 407000 Thesis, ‘‘ Functions of a Complex Variable.” W. R- eu Schools Commissioners... 850 | Smellie: Thesis, “Contributions to the Geology of 7 eS es ee the West of Scotland: The Sandstones of the Upper Bao otal... 49,°5° | Red Barren Measures to the East of Glasgow; The 3 Fae ‘ 4 Cowal ‘ Landslip’ of August 5, 1912; The Tertiary cae SCIENCE AND ART. £ Sen tle te. Rap da 2 The Igneous Rocks of Saige aes ¢ ute.” ‘Lean mpson: Thesis, “‘ Studies in Institutions of meee and art 47:95° | Floral Zygomorphy: I. The Initiation of Staminal Schools of eee and art, etc. 103:53° | Zygomorphy; The*Anatomy and Affinity of Deparia Geological Survey... SS Vaaes 1,588 ; United Kingdom and England. Board of Education ; - 15,159,750 a _ British Museum : 128,595 - National Gallery 11,421 _ National Portrait Gallery 3,631 _ Wallace Collection 2 4,031 London Museum s ‘. 2,300 E Scientific Investigation, etc. . 100,006 Department of Scientific and Industrial ___ Research «-- 1,038,050 _ Universities and Colleges, Great Britain, and Intermediate Education, Wales 321,200 Scotland. blic Education ate ote es ssa 3,813,705 ational Galleries sat a a ne 3,980 NO 942k (UTOT. Oana! _ Examinations in courses of instruction yz conducted in technical schools + 650 eet Gross total. 153,738 -- Deduct— Appropriations in aid ... 1,520 . Net total i Hise 152,218 Ss UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. Grants— & zeen’s University of Belfast aa 18,000 University College, Dublin ... a 5 2, Beeea? College, Cork 9 oe 20,000 niversity College, Galway 12,000 "National University of aielatid and Univer- sity College, Dublin 28,500 - Additional grant to University College, “es anny Ts 2,000 Total 112,500 SUMMARY. Moorei, Hook; The Anatomy and Affinity of Platyzoma microphyllum, R.Br.” In an article on technical education in the Elec- trician for April 6 Mr. F. M. Denton outlines the proposals made by Viscount Haldane and by Sir Trevor Dawson for the improvement of education in this country, and makes some further suggestions. In-general, he agrees with Lord Haldane that history, literature, language, and science should be taught to: each boy, and that early specialisation should be dis- couraged. He points out that both Lord Haldane and Sir Trevor Dawson distinguish between what he calls the “applied humanities,” which give a man knowledge of human nature and enable him to under- stand his neighbours, and the ‘‘tiseless humanities,’* the dead languages. With Lord Haldane he advo- cates the substitution of thought-stimulating work like the study of scientific phenomena for the mere memory exercise involved in the ordinary study of dead languages. Sir Trevor Dawson thinks the tech- nical engineer should leave school at fourteen, enter a works as a half-timer, devoting the rest of the day to study at a technical school, and if he passes success- fully through a five years’ course should proceed to the university. Mr. Denton thinks half-time schemes inadequate, and stigmatises evening classes for boys who have put in a day at the works as “State sweating.” He urges the State to undertake the education of each boy from fourteen to eighteen at a secondary school, and from eighteen to twenty-one at a technical school, as a good investment likely to advance the nation’s welfare. THE number of programmes of educational reform issued by associations competent to speak on the sub- ject of our national education continues to increase, and fortunately an examination of the proposals made by them reveals a growing unanimity as to the essential changes which must be made in our sys- tem of education if national efficiency is to be secured. 178 NATURE [ApRIL 26, 1917 One of the most recent-of these programmes is that issued by the National Association of Head Teachers, which has a membership of nearly 6000. Among out- standing recommendations of the head teachers are the following: The age of exemption from full-time attendance should. not be lower than fourteen; the leaving age should be raised to fifteen and then to sixteen, so soon as the necessary arrangemefits van be made; no class should exceed forty on the roll, and steps should be taken immediately to reduce them to that limit, and there should be a fully qualified teacher, trained and certificated, for each class. The head teachers urge that a committee of competent educationists should decide what subjects form a necessary and basic part of every curriculum, up to, say, twelve years of age, and the amount of time per week which should be devoted to them, and what subjects should be added in later years, attention being directed to the needs of particular localities. They insist, too, that the curriculum of every school should include an amount of practical work sufficient for the needs of the locality, and that a special room for such work should be attached to each school. They ask for a sufficient and suitable supply of | secondary schools of varying type and character, and that every child with the requisite ability and inclina- tion should be able to proceed to them. In large elementary schools where children remain beyond the age of fourteen, provision, the programme states, should be made for instruction in drawing, music, science, language, handicraft, and domestic economy.. So far as continuation schools are concerned, the head teachers suggest. that the employer ot any per- son under eighteen should be required to enable him or her to attend day continuation classes for not less than eight hours a week, for which the employee should be paid the ordinary rate of wages, and that, in addition to this attendance at school; the hours of labour per week should not exceed forty-eight. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. ; Lonpon. Royal Society, March 29.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- dent, in the chair —Sir William Abney: The fourth colourless sensation in the spectrum sensation curve when measured in the centre of the retina. At the end of the last’century the author carried out a large series of observations on the luminosity of spectra of very low density, but only recently has he had an opportunity of working someof them out. Some time ago he published in the Phil. Trans. the three-colour sensations which apparently suffice to account for all the spectrum colours. There was a Coubt if in the mixture of the sensations to form these colours some account ought not to be taken of the colour sensation which appears when a_ coloured ray is diminished in intensity for all colour to be absent and only a colourless residue is left. The author confines himself to the colours received on the centre of the retina, for on the periphery other conditions exist. which was employed, and, discussing the results, the author comes to the conclusion that the admixture of the colourless sensation with the three-colour sen- sations is so small as to be inappreciable, and that the sensation curves given in his paper, to which reference has been made, need no correction on this account.—G. W. Walker: Magnetic inertia. It is shown that a magnetised body may be expected to possess magnetic inertia just as an electrified body possesses electric inertia. radius a@ and magnetic moment m the inertia for acceleration parallel to the magnetic axis is NO. 2478, VOL. 99] The paper shows the method of observation | In the case of a sphere of | | 2/5m?a-*C-*, and for acceleration perpendicular to the magnetic axis 4/5m?a-*C-*. (C is the velocity of radiation.) The order of magnitude of this inertia “is considered in an astronomical as well as in: an atomic connection.—F. Tinker: The selective proper- ties of the copper-ferrocyanide membrane. In the present paper the selective properties of copper-ferro- cyanide have been studied by measuring. the change in solution concentration which takes place when the dry colloid is immersed in cane-sugar solutions of various stréngths. It is found that the sugar solu- tions become stronger, owing to the fact that the water and not the sugar is taken up selectively by the ferrocyanide. The experimental results lead to the hypothesis that a colloidal hydrate, Cu,FeCy,.3H.O, is first formed, and that this colloidal hydrate then takes up still more moisture by adsorption. The amount of adsorbed moisture taken up by the colloid decreases as the strength of the solution in- creases. It is also shown in the paper that the side of a membrane in contact with pure water has a greater moisture content than the side in contact with sugar solution. This fact supports the hypothesis— first advanced by Graham on experimental’ grounds— that osmosis across a membrane takes place because pure water induces a greater moisture pressure and concentration inside the membrane than the solution does._-C. M. Williams: X-ray analysis of the crystal- structure of rutile and cassiterite—Dr. J. G. Leathem : Discontinuous fluid motion. The subject of the paper is the flow, with free. stream-lines, of infinitely ex- tended fluid past a finite obstacle with a sharp prow and curved sides. The methods of Levi-Civita, Cisotti, Villat, and Levy are compared with the writer’s own method, and translated into formulations by curve- factors. : Zoological Society, April 3.—Prof. E. W. MacBride, vice-president, in the chair—R. H. Burne; Notes on some of the viscera of an okapi (Okapia johnstoni, Lankester). The author described the anatomy of the soft parts of various portions of this animal. Royal Meteorological ‘Society, April 18.—Major H. G. Lyons, president, in the chair—E. G. Bilham: The diurnal variation of atmospheric pressure at Benson, Oxon., during 1915. By means of hourly measure- ments of traces from the Dines float barograph at. Benson Observatory, the mean diurnal inequalities for each calendar month of 1915, and for the year, have been obtained and submitted to Fourier analysis. With the exception of the amplitude of the 24-hourly oscillation, the mean results for the year are in good agreement with the normal values for Kew and Oxford. A discussion of the probable errors to which the results are liable leads to the conclusion that the tirst order term is the most susceptible to casual error due to non-periodic changes of pressure. on local meteorological and geographical conditions, so that considerable fluctuations are to be expected. Comparing the Benson results for individual months with the normal values for Kew, it is found that relatively high values of the diurnal range are asso- ciated with high values of the amplitude of the 24- hourly oscillation. The second and third order ampli- tudes show similar seasonal variations at the two stations.—Lieut. C. D. Stewart: Atmospheric elec- trical phenomena during rain. A preliminary investi- gation has been made into the values of the potential gradient occurring during rain. It is found that maximum values occur in summer and minimum values in winter. The maximum fine-weather values occur in winter. The form of the diurnal variation of rain potential gradient is still uncertain, although It is, more- — over, well known that this term is largely dependent’ NATURE 179 | Apri 26, 1917] it appears to have only one oscillation in twenty-four _ hours, as compared with the double wscillation in fine | weather. In most cases rain depresses the potential _ gradient. Mean depressions have been compared with their nding mean hourly rainfalls. The de- 5 -was found to be a function of the rate of 1 of rain. At Kew the potential gradient is measured directly in volts per metre by taking the | potential in volts at the heightof a metre. This method _ density only where the electrical charge in the air is a og This is the case in fine weather, but prob- ab: during rain. The possible errors have been _ calculated for different potential gradients; in the case _ of very fine rain the error may be some hundreds of F volts per metre. : hy aa. oS 4 Paris. _ Academy of Sciences, April 2.—M. d’Arsonval in the _ chair.—G, Bigourdan: The position and co-ordinates of the observatory of the Montmartre gate.—Ch. Lalies : Time on board ship. It is pointed out _ that with the method at present in use for fixing _ true time at'sea, it is possible that two vessels, coming _ from opposite directions, and noting at the moment of _ their meeting the time of the same phenomenon, may _ differ in their record by as much as 100 minutes, and _ it is impossible to deduce the true time. It is proposed _ by the Bureau des Longitudes that as soon as cir- cumstances it the true time shall be substituted, _ the time of the universal system of hour-zones, already ' in use on land in most civilised countries. From _ March 25 this plan has been adopted in the French _ Navy and on mobilised vessels.—M. Emile Picard was & permanent secretary for the mathematical _ sciences in the place of the late G. Darbonx.—J. _ Renaud: The influence of the Hermelles on the régime _ of the bay of Mont Saint Michel. An adverse criti- _ cism of the views recently published by MM. Galaine _ and Houlbert relating to the formation of the Her- melles reefs.—L. Tribondeau and J. Dubreuil: New microscopic stains derived from methylene-blue. De- _ tailed descriptions are given for the preparation of _ methylene-violet and methylene-azure from methylene- _ blue. The preparation of three staining fluids from _ these colouring matters is also given.—Ph. Glangeaud : _ The peat bogs, the lakes, and the ancient glacial _ lakes of the Mont Doré volcanic massif. P. Wasuincton, D.C. _-National Academy of Sciences (Proceedings, No. 2, _ vol. iii., February).—C. Schuchert ; Atlantis and the per- _ manency of the North Atlantic Ocean bottom. The _ 4AXzores are Volcanic islands and not the remnants of a _ continental mass. The tachylites dredged up from _ north of the Azores were probably formed where they ' now are. No known geologic data prove the existence _ of Plato’s Atlantis in historic times.—G. H. Parker: _ The responses of hydroids to gravity. The geotropic _ response in- orpha is the result of activity of _ the neuromuscular sheath and not of the core cells.— _ E. P. Allis, jun. : The lips and the nasal apertures in ) the Gnathostome fishes, and their hamologues in the _ higher vertebrates—_J. Lipka:. Natural and isogonal _ families of curves on a surface.—G. H. Hardy and _ J. E. Littlewood: Some problems of Diophantine ap- ' proximation: the series, e(A,,) and the distribution of _ the points (A,a)—H. S. Uhler: Moseley’s law for X-ray spectra. The law, that the square root of the _ frequency of the lines is a linear function of the _-atomic numbers of the radiating elements is found to _ depart from the observed facts far more than the _ €xXperimental errors, and an additional term is sug- gested which yields a formula agreeing with the facts. The order of magnitude of the high-frequency NO. 2478, VOL. 99| i the time value as. obtained from the surface : radiations of elements of small atomic number the spectra of which have not yet been obtained is dis- cussed.—J. R. Mimer: A note on the fitting of para-— bolas. Pearson’s formula for fitting parabolas by the method of moments assumes the origin at the*mid- point of the range. Similar formule are developed by the author when the origin is assumed one unit below the first ordinate, as in least squares—F. G. Pease and H. Shapley: Axes of symmetry in globular clusters. The axis of symmetry of Messier 13 appears to be independent of magnitude, length of exposure, and distance from the centre. An elliptic distribution of stars is not confined to the Hercules cluster.— E. G. Conklin: The share of egg and sperm in here- dity. The author discusses assumed ‘equivalence of inheritance of both persons, egg differentiations which persist in embryo and adult, Mendelianism of in- heritance through the egg cytoplasm.—J. P. Iddings and E. W. Morley: A contribution to the petrography of the island of Bawéan, Netherlands Indies. Six- detailed analyses are given.—W. M. Wheeler: The phylogenetic development of subapterous and apterous castes in the Formicidz. An array of facts bearing on the question of. continuous variation versus mutation, with the conclusion in favour of the former.—C. Barus: Refractivity determined, irrespective of form, by displacement interferometry.—J. P. Baumberger : The food of Drosophila melanogaster, Meigen. The food of the larve is yeast; the insect depends upon these cells for its proteins. Adult flies do not need proteins, but survive much longer on sugar agar than upon yeast agar.—E. Huntington ; Temperature optima for human energy. The optimum temperature ap- pears to be very nearly 63° F., and largely indepen- dent of race or locality.—A. van Maanen : The parallax of the planetary nebula N.G.C. 7662. The value. 0-023" is obtained, placing the nebula at'a distance of 140 light-years with a linear diameter of nineteen times that of Neptune’s orbit (see Nature, April to, p- 153).—C. T. Brues: Adult hymenopterous parasites attached to the body of their host. VICTORIA. : Royal Society, December 14, 1916.—Mr. J. A. Shep- hard in the chair.—F. Chapman: New of little-known Victorian fossils in the National Museum, part xx. Some Tertiary fish-teeth. The occurrence of the genus Carcharoides (C. totuserratus, Amegh., and C. tenui- dens, Chapm.) affords an additional link in the evi- dence for the contemporaneity of the South American (Patagonian) and the Victorian (Janjukian) ‘series. Odontaspis elegans, Ag. sp., Myliobatis moorabbinen- sis, Ch. and Pr., and Sargus laticonus, Davis, are now recorded from undoubted Janjukian (Miocene) beds, the latter being hitherto known only from the Oamartt beds of New Zealand. Rostral teeth of Pristis allied to the Mediterranean species, P. anti- quorum, occur for the first time in the southern hemisphere, in the basal Kalimnan at Beaumaris. Pristiophorus (the side-gilled shark of Hobson’s Bay), hitherto known only from the molasse of Wiirtemberg and the Upper Cretaceous of Mount Lebanon, is repre- sented by a rostral tooth from the same beds, and the author shows Davis’s Lamna lanceolata from the Oamaru series of New Zealand to belong to that genus, and conspecific with the Victorian form.— A. J. Ewart: Contributions to the flora of Australia, No. 25. The author notes the sudden appearance of aliens belonging to the genera Brach ium and Orthocarpus. Other plants recorded as being estab- lished in Victoria are Ceratogyne, Digitalis purpurea, Erica arborea, and two species of plantain.—Elinor Archer: A disease or malformation of lucerne. The proliferation discovered in this plant was investigated 4 180 NATURE [ApriL 26, 1917 for traces of parasitic fungi and malformation caused’ by insects, but with negative results. The provisional inference is drawn that this malformation was caused more or less directly through malnutrition of the plant, which was growing in droughty country.— E. W. Skeats: The age of the alkali rocks of Port Cygnet and the D’Entrecasteaux Channel in the south-east of Tasmania. The previous evidence of the age of the alkali rocks of this district pointed to the Permo-Carboniferous or Trias, since they did not appear to intrude the diabase. Fresh evidence is now recorded which shows, .at Kettering, that these rocks cut the diabase, and are therefore referred to a Cainozoic age.—A. D, Hardy: Teratological notes on Victorian plants. The author described a number of abnormal occurrences as affecting root, stem; branch, and fruit of indigenous flora, chiefly of the genus Eucalyptus. Fasciation in Exocarpus gracilis and spiral torsion in Casuarina stricta were noted. BOOKS RECEIVED. La Réforme Rationnelle de 1’Heure. By E. Désor- tiaux. Pp. 14. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars.) Seven Doubts of a Biologist. By S. A. McDowall. Pp. 64. (London: Longmans and Co.) 1s. net. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. Vol. xxxix. Pp. 892+70 plates +50 figures. (Adelaide: The Society.) 21S. British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-9. Reports on the Scientific Investigations. Geology. Vol. ii., Con- tributions to the Palzontology and Petrology of South Victoria Land. By W. N. Benson and others. Pp. vii+269+38 plates+18 figures; also index to vols. i. and ii. (London: W. Heinemann.) 3 guineas net. The Causation of Sex in Man. By E. R. Dawson. Second edition. Pp. xiv+226+illustrations. | (Lon- don: H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. Bacon’s New Series of Physical Wall Atlases. British Isles. (London: G. W. Bacon and Co., Ltd.) 26s. ' DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Aprit 26. . Rovat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Industrial Finance after the War: Prof. H. S. - Foxwell. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 6.—High-tension Overhead Transmission Lines: G. V. Twiss. z 3 Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—A New Series of Economic Maps: G. Philip. FRIDAY, APRIL 27. a Roya. INSTITUTION, at 5.30.—The Organs of Hearing in relation to the . War : Dr. Dundas Grant. SATURDAY, Aprit.28. RovaL INSTITUTION, at 3.—Principles of Aerial Navigation: Prof. G. H. Bryan. . : Prysica Society, at 5.—Note on the General Equation for Wave Motion in an Elastic Medium: Prof. J. A. Fleming-—The Effect of Stretching on the Thermal Conductivity of Wires: A. Johnstone.—Cohesion: Prof. H. Chatley. . MONDAY, Aprrit 30. Roya Society oF ARTS, at "4.30.—The National Shortage of Iron Ore Supplies. I.: Available Home Supplies of Iron Ore: Prof. W. S& Fearnsides. : TUESDAY, May t. Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Tetanus : Prof. C. S. Sherrington. Farapay Society, at 8.—Discussion: Osmotic Pressure: Opener: Prof. A. W. Porter.—Papers: The Colloidal Membrane: Its Properties and its Function in the Osmotic System: Dr. F. Tinker.—Osmotic Pressure in Relation to the Constitution of Water and the Hydrates of the Solute: W. R. Bousfield. RONTGEN SOCIETY, at 8.15. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30. ‘ Roya ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at §.—Some Human and Animal Bones, Flint Implements, etc., discovered in Two Ancient Occupation- levels in a Small Valley near Ipswich: J. Reid Moir. WEDNESDAY, May 2. AS GxotocicaL Society,’ at 5.30.—Supplementary Notes on Aclisina, De Koninck, and Aclisoides, Donald, with Descriptions of New Species: . Longstaff.—The Microscopic Material of the Bunter Pebble Beds of ottinghamshire, and its probable Source of Origin: T. H. Burton. — Rovat Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Herb-growing in the British Empire: Its Past, Present, and Future: J. C. Shenstone. ENTOMOLOGICAL Society, at 8. NO. 2478, VOL. 99] InstTiruTion oF Civit ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—James Forrest Lecture : The Standardisation of Engineering Materials, and its Influence on the Pros- . perity of the Country: Sir J. Wolfe Barry, K.C.B. Society or Pustic Anatysrs, at 8.—The Estimation of Phenacetin and Allied Compounds by means of Hypochlorous Acid: A. D. Powell.—A | Rapid Method for the Determination of Nickel and Cobalt in Ores and leg 5 Dr. W. R. Schoeller and A. R. Powell.—Note on Opium Poison ing Cases: J. Webster. f : THURSDAY, May 3. Rovat Socriery, at\4.30.—Croonian Lecture: The Excitation Wave in, the Heart: Dr. Thomas Lewis. 4 Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—Pagan Religion at the Time of Coming of | Christianity: Prof. Gilbert Murray. MATHEMATICAL SocIETY. at 5.30. , i Tron anp Steer INSTITUTE, at 10.30 a.m.—Steel Ingot Defects: J. N. Kilby,—Influence of Surface Tension on the Properties of Metals, ~ Especially of Iron and Steel : F. C. Thompson. INSTITUTE OF METALS, at 8.30.—Seventh May Lecture : Researches made Possible by the Autographic Load-Extension Optical Indicator: Prof. W. E. Dalby. . f FRIDAY, Mav 4. * . ‘ easyer INSTITUTION, at 5.30.—Some Guarantees of Liberty :-H. Wickham teed. : " Tron AND STEEL INSTITUTE, at 10 a.m.—The Penetration of the Hardening Effect in Chromium and Copper Steels: L. Grenet.—Cementation by Gas under Pressure: F. C. Langenberg.—Origin and Development of the Railway Rail: G. P. Raidabaugh.—Case Hardening of Iron by Boron: | N. Tschischewsky.—Determination of the Line S.E. in the Iron-Carbon Diagram by Etching Sections at High Temperatures zz vacuo: N. Tschischewsky and N. Schulgin. i : GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION, at 7.30.—The Correlation of the Inglertonian Slates: J. F. N. Green.—The Landslips of Folkestone Warren and the Thickness of the Lower Chalk and Gault near Dover : C. W. Osman. SATURDAY, May 5. Roya InsTiruTION, at 3.—The Electrical Properties of Gases: Sir J. J. Thomson. Memories of Sir David Gill. CONTENTS.. PAGE ‘ By B. Baillaud, Director of the Paris Observatory. ....... 161 Sugar and the Tinned Fruit Industry ...... 162. Our Bookshelf . .___.. 3 tel oe aS cra ee ee Letters to the Editor:— Aeroplanes and Atmospheric Gustiness.—Gordon Dobson; C. E. Stromeyer... . . aon abe Gravitation and Thermodynamics.—Dr, P, E. Shaw 165 Floating Earths.—J. Offord; S. Reinach > apie s The New Food Orders.—Prof. W. M. Bayliss, a Hea aes OE Empire Development and Organisation. By HCH. CC. .. s . e S National Reforms in Education. ... ori Cay Co-operation in Russian and British Scientific Undertakings. By Prof. B. Menschutkin .... 168 Notes win fon recs oops pt eS e gh el al a tee Our Astronomical Column :— A New Comet... 5... ditehsd oo Comet 6 1916 (Wolf) .o.0 2. oe star oa eee ae The April Lyrids ... «.....:.er=0 4) =: 9) ee ee Stellar Spectra of Class R . . ; 172, Ben Nevis and Glen Coe. (J//ustrated.) By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. ... Pe res The Genetics of Silkworms , IS 2 ee ee New Determinations of Proper Motions of Stars. By Dr. Andrew C. D. Crommelin . . 0... 2). 875 Civil Service Estimates for Science and Education 175 University and Educational Intelligence ..... 177 Societies and Academies. ...........- 178 Mooxe Rectived.-..... ss eee eee wemeem Ov mocieties, 2. 2/4. avs Awe 180 Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., — ‘ ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 2 - Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the Publishers. Editorial Communications to the Editor. Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LoNpoN. Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. NATURE | 181 we _. ‘PHURSDAY, MAY 3, 1917. = ; THE PROBLEM OF HEREDITY. A Critique of the Theory of Evolution. - By Prof. T.._H. Morgan. Pp. x+197. (Princeton: University Press; London: Oxford University Ss, 1916.) Price 6s. net. ne “HE title of this little volume of four lectures + delivered at Princeton University is likely to cause some disappointment. The book is almost entirely an exposition of certain facts as to in- heritance. ascertained by experiments with the fruit-fly, Drosophila ampelophila, and “a review of a long series of researches as to the nature of the hereditary material.’’ The author claims that “‘the mechanism of heredity has been discovered ” and that “the problem of heredity has been solved.” He holds that “the mechanism of the chromosomes offers a satisfactory solution of the traditional problem of heredity.” “ Whilst all credit is due to Prof. Morgan for his long and careful investigations—which have been published elsewhere and are here summarised with 3 excellent diagrams—it cannot be admitted that the demonstration of the numerical relations of the chromosomes distributing to the germ-cells the hereditary factors carried by the parents is of the importance which he supposes. The “traditional problem of heredity ” cannot be cor- rectly described as limited to the inquiry as to what are the carriers of the factors of heredity and their relations to one another as carriers. The _ questions as to how the factors arise and how they influence the development of the embryo cannot, as Prof. Morgan somewhat arbitrarily states (in so many words), be excluded from a solution of the real, traditional, and actual pro- blem of heredity. The fact seems to be that the knowledge of what is called ‘‘ Mendelian inherit- ance” and the relation to it of the chromosome mechanism does not take us much further into _ the “problem of heredity” than we had already got when, after. Darwin had stated the facts ~ known to him and the views they suggested in his “Animals and Plants under Domestication,” Edouard Van Beneden. and other histologists first unravelled the chromosomes and gave us the classical records of their visible activity in fer- tilisatior.’ - .We have not got _ days, but there is no doubt that some facts of interest have been added to the stock of know- much further since those ledge by those who have confirmed Mendel’s ex- ‘periments. When we look to the present sum- mary for some statement of what important rogress in our conception and understanding of inheritance is to be reported, we are reluctantly _ driven to the conclusion that what Prof. Morgan’ _ calls “a satisfactory solution of the traditional _ problem of heredity ” is only a restatement of the ‘problem in terms of invisible “factors” asso- _ ciated with the chromosomes. _ such “factors” isnot a new inference, but has - been a feature of theories of inheritance both The existence of NO. 2479, VOL. 99] before and since Darwin’s treatment of the subject. Mendel contributed to knowledge the solid fact that in certain easily observed cases (if not universally) a pair of opposed or contrasted fae- tors—present one in one parent and one in the ‘other—do not really “blend” in cross-breeding, but in successive in-bred generations of the hybrid offspring (of intermediate or mixed character) become separated out in two pure races, each identical,-so far as the factor selected: for study is concerned, with one of the original cross- bred parents. That observation and its extensive confirmation are important steps in the study of the nature, origin, and possibilities of the -“ fac- tors.” So also is the demonstration of their close association with the chromosomes, which ~ was suggested as soon as the activity of those struc- tures in the process of fertilisation was’ first observed. This is, however, only a_ beginning: it remains to be seen how far the application of these results to the actual facts of inheritance as stated by Darwin in the successive chapters of his ‘Variation of Animals. and Plants - under Domestication ” helps us to explain or understand those facts. So far the application has not been made—-so as to obtain any result beyond a re- statement of the facts in other terms and language—nor does there appear to be any immediate prospect of progress in that direction. An important suggestion is made by Prof. Morgan, namely, that the “factors” themselves may vary or fluctuate. He says: “I do not know of any a priori reason why a factor may not fluctuate, unless it is, as I like to think, a chemical molecule.” He, however, proceeds to give evidence opposed to such fluctuation. It seems that the line of investigation pursued by Prof. Morgan and other recent experimenters who have developed Mendel’s original observa- tions into an imposing volume of~ detail has disappointed expectation. It will, we believe, be of service, but’ it has, to . the regret of -all, not led. into the fruitful region anticipated by those who entered upon it with so much enthusiasm and energy. In-order to gain a deeper understanding of the magy remarkable facts of organic heredity a new departure is necessary, pew inductions suggesting new and untried lines of observation and experi- ment. So -far as the title of these lectures,- “A Critique of the Theory of Evolution,” is concerned, there is very little said in them which justifies it. Prof. Morgan objects to the use of the word “evolution ”’ as employed by Herbert Spencer, cn the ground that it is “rather an. empty generalisation to say that any kind of change is a process of evolution. . . . What has,” he asks, “the evolution of the stars, of the horse, and of human inventions in common?” This seems to be somewhat unnecessary, since no one has said that “any and every kind of change is a process of evolution,” and the instances of evolution which he cites have, as-such, well-recognised features in common. Attempts to correct flagrant misuse L . 182 NATURE [May 3, 1917 of words are often of. great value; but a writer may. bring -his: own ‘qualities of judgment and understanding into discredit by erroneously sup- posing that a misuse requires correction where no such misuse exists. We are also. unable to admit the validity of Prof. Morgan’s assimilation of the “artificiality ” of the conditions under which humanly selected breeds are produced and studied to the “arti- ficiality ’” of a spectroscope or a galvanometer (p.. 84). The justification for reserve and caution in generalising in the former case is not that these breeds are “artificial,” but that the essential and significant conditions of the phenomena they pre- sent are not clearly ascertained, whilst in regard to _ the instruments known as spectroscope and galva- nometer those conditions are accurately estab- lished. The point of greatest interest at the present moment in a critique of the theory of organic evolution by a capable and accomplished investi- ator of the facts of inheritance—such as -Prof. organ—is his answer to the question: “Does nafural selection influence the course of evolu- tion?” . (p. 187). carefully worded answer in the affirmative. He says: “If through a mutation a character appears that has a beneficial influence on the individual, the chance thatthe individual will survive is increased, not only for itself, but for all of its descendants that come to inherit this character. It is this increase in the number of individuals possessing a particular character that might have an influence on the course of evolution.” He goes op to say: “The causes of the mutations that give rise to new characters we do not know, although we have no reason for sup- posing that they are due to other than natural processes. Evolution has taken place by the incorporation into the race of those mutations that are beneficial to the life and reproduction of the organism. Natural selection as here defined means both the increase in the number of individuals that results after a benefi- cial mutation has occurred (owing to the ability of living matter to propagate), and also that this preponderance of certain kinds of individuals in a population makes some further results more prob- able than others. More than this natural selec- tion cannot mean, if characters are fixed and are not changed by selection.” We do not know of anyone who maintains that factors are changed by selection. Darwin certainly did not make such a misuse of the word “selection.” But there is a great field of inquiry still’ to be’ undertaken which is indicated by the words “if factors are fixed.” We are a long way from possessing knowledge that would justify the conclusion that they are fixed—as Prof. Morgan is careful to point out (p. 166). ‘Darwin held that they are subject to influences which cause them to vary, and-it is by research in this area that we may ‘hope for future advance in the understanding of gs complex web of the phenomena of heredity. ; E. Ray LANKESTER: NO. 2479, VOL. 99] Prof. Morgan gives a very | ‘ferent. advanced . methods—for GENERALISED CO-ORDINATES. ; An Introduction to the Use of Generalised Co- ordinates in Mechanics and Physics. By Prof. W. E. Byerly. Pp. vii+118. (Chicago and London: Ginn and Co., 1916.) Price 5s. 6d. HIS. work is sure to be welcomed, because Prof. Byerly has undoubtedly the gift of appealing successfully to the average student. Moré than that: in its small compass it includes a wide scope because, starting with the notion of generalised co-ordinates in its abstract ana- lytical form, it proceeds to the discussion of such things as the Hamiltonian equations, the principle of least action, the ignoration of co-ordinates, and the proper use of the modified kinetic-energy function. For a teacher the book is*cheap, if * only for the example (d) on p. 21, and the subse- quent discussion of the same example on pp. 98— 103. We have not seen a more illuminating example within the range of an ordinary student; it shows admirably the difference between abstract dynamics, where all necessary data are provided, and practical physics, where the data are experi- mental, and need by no means correspond with the actualelements of the problem. In this case it is a question of guessing at the simplest explana- tion of an unseen “control’’ of a mechanism on which we can make experiments within a certain range. . Among the many merits of this book we may signalise the following: the examples are almost. all instructive and free from artificiality; we have some where the same result is obtained by dif- instance, pure Lagrange, pure Hamilton, and Hamilton plus Routh (with a modified function), and these are compared with previous solutions by elementary methods. Asa matter of notation, we may direct attention to the symbol Mos for the energy- function modified with respect to the position- co-ordinates g,7. The meaning of partial deriva- tives is so variable in this connection that we | should like such symbols as T(q?), T(p2), T(pq). introduced throughout for the velocity-forms, momentum-forms, and “mixed” forms of T whenever there is any risk of confusion. The fact that, in a. certain sense, the Lagrangian function ‘L. means T-V (strictly T(q?)—V), and the Hamiltonian function means T+V_ (strictly T(p?)+V), is extremely baffling to a beginner. In particular, the “canonical ” equations of Hamil- ton imply a special representation of the energy- function. Prof. Byerly’s book is so good that it deserves * a much more searching criticism than the present reviewer can pretend to give; but a few remarks may be ventured here. The example (p. 18)-about the dog running down a plank is all right as it stands, but it tacitly implies that the dog’ is re- duced to.a mere machine applying a constant frictional force to the plank parallel to the in- clined plane. . Students who try to solve “ animai’” problems by Lagrange’s method may make some fearful howlers. Another point (p. 72) is the question how far we can treat @, 5, 3 occurring * 3 E Saigneddtiney. we may note that ¢2cos @ is much clearer than _ cos $7 (and so in many other cases). _ answer (p. 9) on the simple pendulum (ex. 2) it th hay May 3, 1917), NATURE ° 183 in T as: if ‘ghey’ were - 9 ys w. referred to fixed | ~ axes; here Prof. Byerly is not so clear as Routh, and: ‘although he makes no mistake (the chapter ‘is on impulsive forces), he may mislead his reader “As a mere matter of typography In the _ would be well to reduce R to a configuration ex- _ pression (R=(3cos@—2cosa)mg); on p. 18 read “mg the weight of the dog ”; and there may be 4 other. trivial blemishes of the same sort. _ It may be added that there are proofs of Thom- 2 ‘son’s and Bertrand’s theorems in the proper dualistic form, examples taken from ~ hydro- _ dynamics and electrodynamics, and two appen- _ dices—one on dynamical formule, the other on _ the calculus of variations. We hope that Prof. 4 s rey Ss book | ‘will have the full success which it e ab be bce” Agriculture. _ mess man, and agricultural student.’’ mext breath the agricultural student is dismissed < G. B. M. TROPICAL AGRICU LTURE. By Dr. E. V. Wilcox. Pp. xvili+ 373. (New York and London: D. Appleton and Co., 1916.) Price 1os.. 6d. net. “HE selection of a title is sometimes not an easy matter. “Tropical Agriculture ’’, has been given as the name of the book before us, written by Dr. E. V. Wilcox, of the States Rela- _ tions Service of the U.S. Department of Agricul- ture. The book deals very briefly with nearly _ every product of the tropics, whether agricultural or otherwise. In this case the title is, therefore, a misleading. But in the preface the author-speaks _ of “tropical products,’’ and one wonders why he _ did not give his book that name. It would have _ been fully descriptive and appropriate. ‘The author tells us that his book was “written from the standpoint of the general reader, busi- But in the _and- ‘the book is then said to deal with tropical e in the commercial sense. Moreover, Wilcox regards the literature of his subject as: abounding in exaggeration—rather hard on the _ authors of the numerous publications enumerated " by him in the appendix. Still, it is satisfactory _ to be assured that our author, knowing the short-: comings of his predecessors, will not likely err in _ overdrawing his pictures of the wonders and ‘resources of the tropics. a The opening chapters on tropical climate, soils, agricultural methods, etc., advantage be carefully revised and reconsidered. _ The assumption, for example, that the inhabitants of tropical countries were ignorant of agriculture “until the “white race’? invaded their country is very nearly an entire misconception. It is cer- nly not true of India, China, and Japan. The ystems and methods these peoples are now fol- foeine came down to them through countless ‘ages. It is quite uncalled for and, moreover, * 8 | ‘relevant to say that “the native races are obvi- NO. 2479, VOL. 99] =" might with great | | needs drastic revision. supposed rights to property in tropical countries must yield to the superior demands of the white race.’’ It would be more correct to affirm that the closer we study native conceptions and prac-— tices—the evolutions of centuries towards environ- ment—the more readily’ and completely shall we. attain to the higher flights of tropical industry.. So much for the speculations of our author. Turning over the pages of his book cursorily, the reader is disappointed to note a lack of propor- tion, an utter disregard. of uniformity in treat- ment, and an entire absence of method—qualities — essential in a book of reference. The plates serve a pictorial rather than a practical purpose. Facing p. 144, for example, a hand is seen to thrust the rhizome of an aroid into view. Below the illustration has been printed “‘ Dasheen Tuber, © Trinidad Variety.’ There is no number to the plate (nor, in fact, to any plate), so that the reader has to turn to the index to find the text—some eleven pages farther on. But in the text no ‘refer- ence is made to the plate, so that, after perusing the book through, the reader may remain ignorant. thatthe “dasheen ’’ has been illustrated. _The book has twenty-one chapters, as well: as an appendix and an index. Turning to chap. xii., - which deals with fibres, it is found that two pages. have been devoted to cotton, three-fourths. of. a* page to jute, four pages to sisal, and so on—no attempt at proportional spacing to importance of subject. But in the twenty-one lines given to’ jute the writer manages to inculcate three egregious errors. He speaks.of the flowers being “rather conspicuous,’’ which they most certainly are not, gives the Indian area of the crop at half what it is, and speaks of a yield at. very nearly four times the record production of the crop. -On p. 70 it is observed that tea has been cultivated in India. since 1875, whereas it was extensively grown in _ that country thirty to forty years before that date. ° A photograph of Japanese hedges of the tea plant is given, apparently as being illustrative of the: great tea cultivation from which the supplies of commerce are drawn. Nothing could~ be> less accurate. The geography of our author is often startling, as, for example (p. 141): “Large quan- tities of pistachio-nuts are shipped from Afghan, istan to India.’ The book, as it stands, cannot become a text- book for either the merchant or the student. It . OUR BOOKSHELF. | Science and Education: Lectures delivered at the Royal Institution gf Great Britain, Edited, with an Introduction, by Sir E. Ray Lankester. Pp. 200. (London: W. Heinemann, 1917.) Price: 1s. net. | Tuese lectures were given at the Royal Taetstntion 4 in Faraday, isly inferior to the white race, and that their | 1854, and the lecturers were Whewell, the famous Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Latham, the philologist, Daubeny, then professor of chemistry and botany at Oxford, Tyndall, James Paget; the eminent surgeon and “184 ‘ [May 3, ‘1917 pathologist, and W. B: Hodgson, who became professor of* political economy in Edinburgh Uni- versity. They should be read by everyone inter- ested in education,» and this convenient little volume at the cost of one shilling will enable them to do so. : ; Sixty-three years have elapsed since these stimu- lating and powerful discourses were delivered, and some of the illustrative references to the scientific ‘views as well as to the popular superstitions current at that time require explanation or modifi- eation. This is provided by a series of useful notes inserted by the editor after each lecture. The lectures are not occupied with denunciations of the “elegant imbecility of classical learning,”’ but with an exposition from various points of view of the advantages to education of the observation of natural phenomena and the scientific study of language. In 1854 there were not more than two or three schools in England where natural science” was taught, and in the universities such subjects were almost ignored except where they formed an -integral, though subordinate, part of the medical curriculum. We have moved on since that time. All the large schools and some of the small are ‘provided with laboratories and teachers more or ess competent. The time given to experiment and observation is, however, quite insufficient, and until . headmasters with purely literary qualifications and sympathies are got rid of progress will still be. slow. Some .Questions of Phonetic Theory. By Dr. _ Wilfrid Perrett. Pp.. vi+ 110. (University of _ London Press, 1916.) Priée 2s. 6d. : Tus. book forms a notable contribution to the literature on the science of speech. The first chapter exposes some current misconceptions as to the position of rest of the organs of speech. In the remaining three chapters (entitled “ Willis on Vowel Sounds,’’ “The Wheatstone Test,’’ and “The Compass of the Mouth ’’) Dr. Perrett deals with the intricate subject of vowel-pitches. He gives examples of the hopelessly divergent results. which have been arrived at by different authorities on acoustics, and endeavours, in our opinion with success, to bring some order into — the chaos. ~ Naturally the work of those who have contributed to bring about the chaos comes in for strong criticism. . Upon Helmholtz Dr. Perrett \is particularly severe; he shows that “wherever it bears upon phonetics Helmholtz’s book has no right to be considered authoritative,’’ and states that even in other branches of the theory of sound Helmholtz attained a reputation to which the quality of his work did not entitle him. The Helmholtzian harmonic overtone theory of -vowel-quality is shown to be untenable by simple experiments described on pp. 79, 81, and 107—experiments which may be performed with- out difficulty by any phonetically trained person. ‘The methods by which Dr. Perrett arrives at his interesting table of vowel-pitches (p. 98) appear. to us to be sound. ‘We commend the work to the notice not only of those interested in the science of speech, but also of students of sound generally. D: J. NO. 2479, VOL. 99] NATURE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. - [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for . opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts ‘intended for this or any other part of Nature. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. ] Science Teaching and National Character. I was asked to address a Workers’ Educational Association meeting; was prevented by illness; and wrote a long letter to the chairman. Phrases from this letter, referring to the teaching of science, very much abbreviated, appeared in the newspapers. Now Nature (April 19) flagellates me for what I am sup- posed to have said. And, indeed, if I’ had meant anything so grotesque as you naturally inferred from the disconnected phrases you saw, I should have deserved all your strictures. What I did say, briefly, was that we had seriously neglected science, not so much in schools as in higher work and in practical life; that we were realising © this; but that there was a danger of our trying to mend matters in the wrong way, by cramming too much science into the schools,+where, certainly up to the age of sixteen, the boy would profit most from an education in the ‘‘ humanities,” even if he intended to devote himself to science later. By the “humanities” I meant the studies which deal with — . the thoughts and actions of man: I . added that there was another danger, quite. distinet in character, attaching to our new-found reverence for- physical science, and this was that we might be tempted to imagine that we could apply its concepts and methods to the totally different problems: pre- sented by human life. I do not remember whether on this occasion I used an illustration which I have used at other times: that of. the older political economy, which, in trying to become an exact science setting forth unalterable laws, had lost touch with the realities of socia! life. But I did give an illustration from Germany, where, I urged, the attempt to apply the Darwinian theory (misinterpreted) to the life of that strange justice-loving animal, man, had produced the hideous political philosophy of Treitschke and. modern Germany, and had largely contributed to bring about the war. I did not say, or mean, or think anything so absurd as that science caused the war, or that Germany’s soul had ‘been poisoned because she took science more seriously than we. But it is possible that some of my phrases, hurriedly - written from a sick bed, may have cgnveyed that impression. If so, I am glad that you have directed attention to them. Ramsay MUIR. | Manchester, April 23. WE are glad to know that the published extracts from Prof. Ramsay Muir’s letter do not fepresent his views as to the influence of science upon national character. Prof. Muir need not fear, however, that too much attention will be given to science teaching in schools, or that British men of science are likely to leave the working of the human spirit out of con- sideration because this has been done by German historians and philosophers. All that the most ad: vanced reformers of school curricula ask is that the - natural sciences (with geography) shall be, given approximately the same amount of school time as three other main groups, namely, languages and literature, English and history, mathematics and other subjects, and that up to the age of about sixteen years all these subjects should be fairly represented as essential parts of a general educational course. May e% eel: 3 NATU RE 185 a She 3 is no. intention of Se genstibeas too much science - into the beonigel but a strong case can be made out against the present cramming of classics, whether 4 me _as a means of mental development or a region for life. The assumption that science is a special study, to be taken up after the age of six- toe Ge so, while what are called fhe “humanities,” but are chiefly dead languages and literature, are not is a fallacy which advocates of literary sible that a “perverted view of Darwinism t forward in Germany in justification of the “frightfulness,” but naturalists as a body must not be held responsible for this concep- _ tion, which was, indeed, repudiated completely by Huxley in his * Evolution and Ethics.” The ancient and histories studied in schools and colleges Mainly concerned with wars and dynasties, and _ it is to these ‘‘humanities’’ rather than to science _ that we must look for the origin of the German mental Soigidition and the conduct of the present conflict.— ane Nature. _ The Frequency.of Snow in London. ; past winter, distributed as follows: November, 1; December, 3; January, 20; February, 4; poeioe Il; April, 8; out of which forty-three belong to 1917—a figure nine in excess of that quoted by Mr. Harding. I do not think the discrepancy is due to Hampstead’s height some three or four hundred feet above the more central parts of London, inasmuch as a difference of altitude of this small order tells _ more effectively upon the length of time snow lies _ on the ground than on its frequency of falling; but I suggest it may arise from the omission of days of _ very slight snowfall, of days with sleet, or, possibly, _ even from a failure’ to recognise uncommon varieties of snow. Eowhich I heard gm observers pain “sleet,” : eu of the fact that the precipitation was entirely 4 ees frozen. drizzle composed of. fine crystalline particles, gradually whitening roofs and open- spaces ' _ with a thin layer having the appearance of ordinary snow. Now, if the physical criterion of rain is the _ spherical drop of water, of hail the stone, pellet, or ule of compact ice, and of snow the individually z crystal of ice, whether it falls alone, or stuck 9 ‘together with others in large flakes, or broken up _ by wind into powdery fragments, it is clear that the : Bee settation of January 20-21 had the essential ter of snow, and was not a transition form een snow and rain or between snow and hail. am L. C. W. Bonactna. ; 30 Parliament Hill, Hampstead, N.W.3., . : April 28. = Scarcity of Wasps in Kashmir in 1916. _ Reapinc the correspondence in Nature on the ) scarcity of wasps in England, and the interesting _ arti _ article by Prof. Carpenter (NaTuRE, January 25), sug- | gested to me that it might be worth while to record _ — NO. 2479; VOL. 99] : my experience in Srinagar, Kashmir, during the no 1915 and 1916, because of the curious analogy. During the autumn of 1915 two species of ‘wasp were observed, one of these somewhat resembling Vespa vulgaris, and the other larger and more like a hornet. These were both excessively abundant in and around the house F occupied. The large suspended © nests of both species, covered with active workers,. were in almost ev and attached to the walls of the house, and it was only by repeated efforts that we could prevent the insects starting new colonies on the ceilings uf the rooms in the house. The abnormally dry season in Kashmir beginning in May, 1915, may have been specially favourable for the development of these wasps, but if so it is not easy to account for their subsequent scarcity. As in England, the year 1916 was remarkable for the rare- ness of wasps. Fhe winter was mild and dry, and the shortage of rain persisted through the spring. Scarcely a single wasp of the smaller was seen d the summer and autumn following. The only nests. of {the larger kind I saw were two very small ones suspended from the woodwork of” the heliograph, where I could daily watch the process of construction. This, however, was a most tedious operation, for after several months the nests were no larger than 1} in. or 2 in. in diameter—that is, about a quarter the size attained in 1915—and instead: of swarms of active workers, only one or two rather sluggish insects were seen on the nests. The apparent despondency of the wasps in 1916 was in strong contrast with their energy during the previous season. Yet, so far as human beings could judge, the two seasons were equally inspiring as regards clear blue skies and brilliant sun. Is it a mere coincidence that wasps of different species were one year abundant, the next year scarce, in such widely “distant localities as England and Kashmir? J. EversHeEp. The Observatory, Kodaikanal, South India, March 14. Ceratonia Siliqua and the Carat Weight. Ir is usually stated that the carat weight of jewellers and diamond merchants is derived from the hard seeds of the locust tree, Ceratonia siliqua, which were anciently used as weights. Having had occasion to obtain some of the beans, I weighed several of the seeds to see what sort of error would be incurred if they were used as weights. Out of forty-four seeds, four were shrivelled and obviously abnormal, weighing from 0-037 to0-064 grm. each; the remaining’ forty seeds varied from 0-120 to 0-268 grm. The average weight of a seed was 0-2004 grm., with a probable variation of +0-0235. The median was 0-207, and the modal average o-204. The variations were not well dis- tributed. The old diamond carat, of which 1513 made I oz. troy, would weigh o-205 grm.; the decimal carat now in use is 0-200 grm. It would appear, therefore, that the carat weight could be recovered with some approach to accuracy by weighing a number of seeds of the locust bean. It is also evident that the use of such seeds as weights must have given opportunities for fraudulent dealing in the precious co: ities gauged by means of them, since deviations of from 30 to 40 per cent. from the average may occur. The variations in weight due to varying humidity. of the air are not great; twenty-five seeds exposed to the air of a room for twenty-three hours in rainy weather gained 0-06 per cent. in weight, and after thirty-six hours over sulphuric acid lost. 1-71 pers cent. in weight. - Coste, Utopia; Teddington, April 23. bush and shrub near the house _ 186 NATURE [May 3, 1917 ‘THE BRITISH .SCIENCE GUILD, $ Bars eleventh annual meeting of the British Science Guild was held at the Mansion House on Monday, April 30, when the Lord Mayor presided. After the meeting had been welcomed by the Lord Mayor, Sir William Mather, president of the Guild, opened the pro- ceedings, alluding briefly to the part taken by the British Science Guild in the encouragement of . applied science during his tenure of office. He explained also the proposal of the committee of the Ramsay Memorial. Fund to raise 100,000l. with the view of founding a chemical laboratory . and a series of fellowships in memory of Sir William Ramsay at University College, London. -In con- clusion,. Sir William Mather announced his retirement and the nomination of Lord Sydenham to succeed him as president of the Guild. The election of. Lord Sydenham as president, of the Lord Mayor as a new vice-president, and of the executive committee was moved by Sir Boverton Redwood and seconded by Prof. R. A. Gregory. The’ motion, which was carried unanimously, also included the: adoption of the annual report. Sir Boverton Redwood referred to the valued services of Sir William Mather during his four years of office, and both speakers directed attention to the exceptional -progress in the organisation: of science during the past year. Prof. Gregory referred to the great step forward represented by the establishment ‘of the Department of Scientific ‘and Industrial Research, and pointed out that this action -had led to similar developments in Australia, Canada, and the United’ States. In fact, many of the aims for which the Guild had been working were’ now in course of realisation. The annual report contained a summary | of the chief ‘scientific and ‘technical committees which are working in connection with various Govern- ment Departments, and a note on the report: recently issued by the Board of Scientific Societies | on “National Instruction in Technical Optics.’’ “An account was also given of the proceedings of the Metric System Committee, which is engaged in preparing two draft Bills such as would pave the way for the introduction of a metric system of weights and measures. Two appendices dealing with the work of the Canadian and South Austra- lian branches of the Guild~ contain interesting accounts of the steps being taken in these countries for the encouragement of applied science.. Under the title “The Promotion of Scientific and Industrial Research’’ the report also contains a particularly useful analysis of the various movements in this direction in this country, in France, and in the United States. Following the adoption of the annual report, the chairman calléd upon Lord Sydenham to deliver “his address on “National Reconstruction, *” the main part of which appears ni teva in this issue. Lord Sydenham’s address Sonate many illustrations of the results of neglect of scientific knowledge and method, not only as regards. omis-. NO. 2479, VOL. 99| sion to-utilise directly the scientific resources of the country, but also in respect of a failure in‘ the grasp and foresight such as sound scientific train- ing would confer. Attention was ‘directed to. some latent sources of power in the British Isles. await- ing development, and to the great, resources of the Empire, which can not only produce all the great food staples and raw materials-ofievery kind, but has almost a monopoly of some of.the rarer metals and earths utilised in industry. » While emphasising the paramount importance of allotting to science a larger. place in, national education, | Lord Sydenham also. expressed the hope that one result of the war would be a wider. and loftier out-— look on national problems and a greater willing- ness to sink individual claims in concerted” action: for the good of the community... ©. Mr.:H. A. L. Fisher, President: of the ‘Board. of Education, then addressed the meeting. Referring to the present methods of.teaching science in our schools, Mr. Fisher said that he believed that such teaching was often quite efficiently conducted ; and yet experience showéd that: we had not been successful in conveying the instruction in such a way as to grip the imagination of the children, and lead them to follow up. and utilise scientific knowledge and method in later life. This. was an old country, with old-established busi- nesses, following traditional lines of development and having palpable defects. » In the future it would be necessary for cachigtreaed to be organised on a far greater scale, and with a fuller degree of co-operation between those interested; and also for science to be applied to these businesses in a. much more complete manner than hitherto. __ He had noticed a. tendency to assume. that scientific and technical instruction was. necessarily divorced from the ‘humanities,’ and even inferior in its results from the point of view of making good citizens. He did not believe that there need be any such antagonism between these dif- ferent branches of national instruction. It should ‘be possible to give young people a scientific or technical training which, if conceived on broad and imaginative lines, would produce a sense of discipline and a development of character quite- equal to that ascribed to the older discipline of orators and poets. Forms of technical training which did not equip the whole man were bad forms. In conclusion, Mr. Fisher remarked that outside. criticism, while sometimes needful, should be applied with discrimination and knowledge. An instance he had in mind of uninformed criticism: was the charge not infrequently levelled against workers of slackness.. No one who had not first- hand knowledge of the conditions under which work was being done at the present-time should make such criticisms. He believed a great deal of harm had been done by workers being urged to efforts which were excessive and pro of - overstrain. Mr. H. G. Wells, who followed Mr. Fisher, said that he had long been an enthusiast for edu- cation, on which any attempt at reconstruction: a a ee eee - May 3 1917] NATURE - 187 Ifthe education was Mais: ultimately: be: based. - He-had fol- * ight: everything else would follow. thirty years;.and he was ‘satisfied that all was not well’ with ‘education in England.-. -To defective education’ was*due the general neglect of science ‘ahd the ‘habit of “ ‘muddling through.”’ _ The radical. defect, ‘both in the schools.and in the _ umiversities, was the undue predominance of clas- ‘sical studies. ~ In the school the classical side had - received almost all the encouragement, obtained the best masters, and was allotted the best boys. There was no room for science, modern languages, or knowledge of potential industrial value when ‘so many hours were allotted to Latin and Greek. The effect was constantly perpetuated by the 3 ement given to classical studies in. the form of scholarships, and the greater opportuni- ties given in the public service to men trained -in classics. As a result those responsible for the country’s destinies were mainly without knowledge -or appreciation of science. When one con- _ sidered that during an average youth’s period of education he could not get in more than 5000 hours of. real solid educational work, the - « importance of utilising these hours judiciously was . oo pnt. Mr. Wells did not underrate what was wise and beautiful in Latin and Greek and _ ancient philosophy, and he regarded it as unfortunate that such knowledge was needlessly barred from the ordinary man by the insistence of pedants that it could be obtained only through the vehicle of the ‘Latin and Greek languages. It was this. in- sistence upon the rigid study of ancient languages which had raised a barrier between scientific and _ tended to be separated into two camps, neither able to sympathise with or appreciate the aims of the other. A vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor and the speakers closed the proceedings. THE PUBLIC SERVICES OF INDIA. ee is just thirty years since a Commission last reported on the Public Services of India. ‘They have been years of remarkable social and - intellectual progress, years in which the self-con- sciousness and political aspirations of educated Indians have developed surprisingly. It was time, _ doubtless, that a fresh stock-taking should be -. made. _.. The present report (Ca. 8382, price 4s. 2d. net) ' deals with all public posts carrying a salary of _ 2001. or thereabouts and upwards. These posts are roughly 10,000 in number, and since they all require a knowledge of English, they have to be tain British control or required because Indians _ have not yet sufficient technical aptitude, and the 1? millions of Indiaiis who have had an English education. Some 235 millions must, as matters at present stand, go without any share of the Official: loaves and fishes as represented by the ' NO. 2479, VOL..99] literary studies so that men of ‘science and scholars | shared between the Englishmen needed to main- | | towed the ‘course.of education in England. for | 2ool. limit, because they are.illiterate in English. On the other hand, there is keen competition - among them for the minor posts in which a know- ledge of English is still not always required. After ali, 2001. a year, in spite of a 30 per cent. rise in prices in ten years; is a comfortable com- petence in rural India. The problem to which the Commission has: pee dressed itself is that of giving a larger proportion than at present of the 10,000 better-paid posts to natives of India, including domiciled descendants of Europeans. It is a little surprising that, in dealing with the grievance that a large share of the official prizes falls to foreigners, the Commis- sion has not noted the point, which any anthropo- logist would grasp at a glance, that the classes who, by their knowledge of English, share the 10,000 higher posts with Britons are, in fact, Indian cosmopolitans. They . call themselves “Indians,” not Parsis, Bengalis, Gujaratis, etc. They use English in their communications, with one another. English, for instance, is. the lan- guage of the - National Congress. But in their intercourse with the 285 millions they must needs, like, English officials, use the local languages. These, it must be remembered, are many more in number than the languages of Europe, and, unlike these, belong to five wholly separate families of tongues. It follows that an Indian serving out of his native province is every whit as much a foreigner, and, with regard to local observances and customs, may have as much to learn, as an Englishman. In the case of the semi-barbarous tribes of the hills and the N.E. frontier, educated Indians have ‘been admittedly less successful than Englishmen in dealmg with the people. To. put it in another. way, it were surprising, surely, if Europe were governed by benevolent Martians, that Englishmen should assert a claim to admini- strative posts; say, in Serbia or Bulgaria on the ground of their proficiency in Martian literature! It must be admitted, on the other hand, that of the 10,000-odd better-paid posts only 42 per cent. are held by Indians. As the salary (and the _ responsibility) rises the proportion of Indians diminishes. At 5ool. a year it dwindles to 19 per” cent.; above Sool. it is only 10 per cent. This, put thus statistically, may seem a somewhat serious grievance. But the Commissioners them- selves assert, as the result of two years of inquiry, that in, the case of the Indian Civil Service (1411 posts) and the Police (926 posts) it is necessary to maintain a high proportion of Europeans in order to ensure the maintenance of British policy and prestige. They might have added, without exces- sive indiscretion, that a large part of the -work of the Civil Service and the Police is precisely the protection of the mute millions from the classes from which the English-speaking Indians are drawn. Others of the twenty-four services into which the administration is divided, such as sur- vey, railways (in the engineering branch), assay and mint, ete., are still chiefly recruited from. the. West because Indians with adequate technical training are not available... It must be remembered, too, that the 10,000 ¢ 188 \ NATURE coveted posts are: divided between the Supreme ° Govertiment and nine great provinces, each larger ° than most Europeati States. This would give an average of 1000 posts to each, and an allowance of 500 or 600 Europeans to’Delhi and each of the nine subordinate Governments does not seem ex- cessive, especially when we recall the fact that there-is a large European population in the great cities and in the planting and mining districts. It is well to give. every scope, in reason, to the ambitions of the 1}. millions. But the security and tranquillity of the country at large have to be considered. The figures given by the Commissioners as to the rapidly extending amenities of life in India, of prosperity and education, are very striking. In twenty-four years the railway mileage had in- creased from 15,245 to 33,599 miles; the passen- gers carried from 111 to 437 millions; the freight tonnage from 22} millions to 87 millions: A deficit in earnings had been converted into a com- fortable net profit of 4,750,000l. In twenty years the number of post offices had grown from 8349 to 18,789. In twenty-six years Indian exports jumped from 60,000,000]. to 166,000,000l.,* and imports (a better guide to the spending powers of the people) from 43,500,000l. to 127,000,0001. So, in twenty-five years, the pupils in schools rose from 34 millions to'7 millions, and girl students from 278,000 to 1,000,000. Other branches of national life show the same marked and sustained progress. The point for consideration is simply that the spread of prosperity and education tends to mul- tiply the candidates for Government employment so enormously that the resulting feeling of griev- ance would not be wholly removed even if no im- ported agency were employed. The Commis- sioners have, however, suggested the recruiting of 25 per cent. of the Civil Service in India itself. With regard to the many services (smaller, of course, in their numbers) in which there is no questiqgn of maintaining British authority, and from which Indians are at present excluded only by want of scientific or technical training,. the Commissioners have rightly said that the training should be supplied in India. But the means thereto, now that India is fairly prosperous and on the way to be more so, is to import well-paid European teachers under satisfactory conditions of service and pension. Men of the best type will be neéded at home, and if they are to give their services to India, they should receive a. sufficient wage. It will be money well spent in the long run, and, in fact, is the only feasible means of. creating a large body-of scientific technicians and experts in India. THE NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF FARM VERMIN. ; LQWLY but surely the public mind is awakening to the fact that the knowledge that"has been obtained through long years of study and observation upon the life-history and habits of animals of all kinds that are injurious NO. 2479, VOL. 9Q| ‘vividly even to to crops is of real 54 aie and is likely «dur- ing the next few months to be brought home very the most‘ casual. Scientific workers have for long pointed out that all facts hitherto unknown elicited from Nature were of | value. Prof. Tyndall nearly fifty years» ago told us to keep our sympathetic eye. upon the originator of knowledge, but until quite recently such advice has been ignored, if mot openly flouted. : itl te For many years past it has been pointed out that the so-called balance of Nature was being disturbed by the thoughtless and ignorant action of certain individuals who openly destroyed owls and kestrels, sparrow-hawks, and other raptorial ~ birds; in like manner the unrestricted increase \ . : of such birds as the wood-pigeon, house-sparrow, rook, starling, and blackbird was not only entail- ing a cruel hardship upon the farmer and fruit- grower, but these very same depredators were reducing the number of our beneficial or insect- eating birds to an alarming extent. ee, At last we have begun to realise that a laissez-faire policy is a mistake, and although somewhat late in the day, the different county, rural, and urban councils are endeavouring to ° take concerted action to destroy injurious birds and mammals. Excellent as such a move- ment is, if it has to have a permanent and bene- ficial effect ‘a mandate from the Board of Agri- culture or some other Government Department is needed that will not only permit of the destruc- tion, but, what is equally important, compel the preservation, and to this end much more severe penalties are desirable for those destroying owls, kestrels, lapwings, and the truly insectivorous species of wild birds.’ mere In view of the present shortage of food, which is likely to continue, in probably a lesser degree, for at least a year or two, it is highly important that we should realise the financial loss occa- sioned by the different species of wild birds and mammals. A recent writer estimates that the loss due to the house-sparrow reaches the in- credible figure of 8,000,0c00l. per annum. We shall be well within the mark if we allow double: that sum for the depredations of wood-pigeons, rooks, starlings, blackbirds, and other injurious species. It has been computed that the brown rat entails an annual loss to the United Kingdom of upwards of 15,000,o00l. The losses due to voles and mice are difficult to arrive at, except in particular years, but it must be considerable. Indeed, it cannot be regarded as an outside estimate if we place the total losses due to the above pests at something like 40,000,0001. annually. | Now it is patent to any thinking man or woman that we are not doing all that we might, or even anywhere near what we might do, to lessen the enormous national loss. So long as wanton destruction of known beneficial animals is per- mitted, the unrestricted increase of known and proved injurious species ignored, and an apathy and indifference accorded by the powers that be- to those who are endeavouring to awaken the Mav. 3K 1917) NATURE 189 - -. public mind ‘on such matters, this enormous waste will contin nue, and in all probability increase. a: ais Le aa ‘escape observation that for many. past farmers, fruit-growers, and others have. Re tecnioces action, but it would seem that : = people who should have been primed with. information, and able quickly and f i aeviacr to have remedied the situation, are 4 - disabled than qualified for work of this acter, which is of vital importance to the nation, and c calls. for immediate action. oe “WALTER E. COLLINGE. ese aa Che $5 8 NOTES. = We learn from the “Political Notes” in the Times that Lord Balfour’s Committee on After-War Trade _ has been strengthened by the addition of Sir William Pearce, Sir Charles Henry, Sir Archibald Williamson, and Sir William Priestley. The committee is now in- ‘the question of the possible introduction of - weights, and measures. _ “Wuite the wastage of the Yorkshire cliffs is to be | and antiquary. Recently, in the vicinity of SS h, -a fall of the cliff has revealed a hoard of twenty bronze weapons, which consisted of battle- axes, spears, chisels, gouges, portions of a sword, __ ete. Twelve of the axes, of the socketed type, are ect. One shows the unusual feature of a rivet- e in | pags of a loop for secure hafting; another a portion of the original wood shaft. Some of the axes are in the rough state, as if just turned out of the mould; others have obviously been in use. Five ion evidently formed the stock-in-trade of _ a metal-worker of the Bronze Age, at least a thousand % before the Christian era. Mr. T. Sheppard, who has made a special study of the relics of this _ period, is figuring and describing the specimens, which have found " a permanent home in the museum at Hull. BX. ~ Unt recently our supplies of acetone, of which __ enormous quantities are now required in ‘the manu- facture of propellent explosives, have been largely obtained from foreign countries, where cheap supplies _ of waste wood were available for destructive distilla- , tion for acetone production. Since the outbreak of ‘war, however, this position has been radically altered, and acetone is now produced in this country on a large scale by the distillation of wood and in other _ ways. The question is also being taken up in other _ countries of the Empire; it is proposed, for instance, 4 to erect a factory for this purpose in Natal, where | wattle wood will be used as a raw material. The possibility of similarly utilising the wattle wood accu- _ mulated in connection with the wattle bark industry | of the Easf Africa Protectorate is also under con- _ Sideration, and at the Imperial Institute an exhaustive & Series of trial distillations with this wood, and also q _ with olive wood from the same protectorate, used ~ locally as fuel, has just been concluded. The results - show that the yield of acetone and acetic acid from _ both woods is satisfactory. A good yield of acetic _ acid is also being obtained in Ceylon from the distilla- _ tion of coconut shells and various_local woods. Atten- j ‘tion is also being given to the subject in the Indian _ State of Mysore, and it seems likely that in a short vt Se ice ale lt and acetic acid it requires. NO. 2479, VOL. 99] the metric and decimal systems for our . coinage, the result is sometimes of advantage to the. _ time the Empire will be able to produce ail the acetone ' | Tue death is announced, in his seventy-ninth year, of Dr. H. B. Wheatley, eho was clerk to the Royal Society from 1861 to 1879, and assistant secretary to the Royal Society of Arts from 1879 to 1908. WE regret to see in the Morning Post of April 27 - the announcement of the death of Sir Marc Ruffer, president of the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine, Council of Egypt, ‘and formerly director of the British Institute of Preventive Medicine—now the Lister Insti- tute, : Tue Nieuwe Courant announces the dint of Prof. Morjan Raciborski; professor of botany in the Univer- sity of Cracow, and formerly for many years engaged in work on sugar-cane and tobacco in the Buiten- zorg Botanic Gardens, Java. ' Tue valuable material collected by the special com- mission appointed to investigate the flora, fauna, and hydrology of Lake Baikal is to be published by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Petrograd, in one. volume, of which an edition of five hundred copies will be issued. WE regret to note that Engineering for April 27 records the death of Mr. Andrew S. Biggart, in Glas- gow, on April 26. Mr. Biggart was associated with the late Mr. William Arrol for thirty-four years, and took a prominent part in the construction of the plant used in connection with the Forth Bridge. He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and was noted for his interest in his workers. His death: will be regretted by many who have benefited by his philanthropic schemes. At a meeting held at the Institute of Chemistry on_ April 27, the president and council presented a silver rose bowl to Mr. R. B. Pilcher, registrar and secre- tary, in appreciation of twenty-five years’ faithful service. The meeting was well attended, and the pre- sentation was made by the president, Sir James Dobbie, principal of the Government laboratories. Mr. Pilcher, who joined the staff of the Institute as clerk in 1892, was appointed assistant sécretary in 1894, secretary in 1895, and has held the joint offices of registrar and secretary since 1900. Ir is announced that the next triennial prize of 300. under the will of the late Sir Astley Cooper will be awarded for an essay or treatise on the subject of ‘‘Gunshot Wounds of the’ Lungs and Pleura.” Candidates (who must not be members of the staffs’ of Guy’s or St, Thomas’s Hospitals, or- their relatives) must send their essays, written in English, addressed to the physicians and surgeons, Guy’s Hospital, London, S.E., on or before January 1, 1919. Full particulars concerning the conditions of the competi- tion are obtainable from Mr. C. H. Fagge, Guy’s Hospital. THE sixteenth biennial Dutch Congress of Natural and Medical Sciences was held at The Hague on April 12 and following days. In connection with this; the geography section had organised an interesting his- torical exhibition, mainly of the work of Mercator and the Dutch cartographers of the seventéenth century. The chief general lecture was delivered by Prof. H. A. Lorentz, of Leyden, on “Einstein’s Gravitational Theory and Fundamental Ideas in Physics.” From a discussion, in one of the sections, on chemical indus- try in Holland, it appears that the manufacture of aniline and other intermediate materials for. the ‘dye industry was started in 1916. * Tue annual meeting of the members: of the Royal Institution was held on May 1, the Duke of North- ’ 190 | NATURE [May 3, 1917 umberland, K.G., president, in the chair, The annual report of the Committee of Visitors for the year 1916, testifying to the continued prosperity and efficient management of the institution, was read and adopted. Sixty-two lectures and nineteen, evening discourses: , were delivered in 1916. The following gentlemen were unanimously elected as officers for the ensuing’ year :—President,, the Duke of “Northumberland; Treasurer, Sir James Crichton-Browne; Secretary, Col. E. H. Hills; Managers, H. E. Armstrong, Sir W. Phipson Beale, Bart., C. V. Boys, J. H. Balfour Browne,, J. Y. Buchanan, W. A. B. Burdett-Coutts, Sir J. Mackenzie. Davidson, D. W. C. Hood, the-Rt. Hon. Viscount Iveagh, Sir Charles Nicholson, Bart., the Hon..R. C. Parsons, Sir James Reid, Bart., Alex. Siemens, S. West, and the Rt. Hon, Lord Wrenbury ;. Visitors, Ernest Clarke, J. F. Deacon, E. Dent, Lti-Col. H. E. Gaulter, J. Dundas Grant, W. B. Gibbs, W. A. T. Hallowes, H. E. Jones, H. R. Kempe, F. Legge, J. Love, R. Pearce, Sir Alex. Pedler, H. M. Ross, and J. Shaw. . Tue British Medical Journal announces the death on March 30, at sixty-two years of age, of Count Karl A.-H. Mérner, professor and rector of the Royal’ Karo- linska Medico-Chirurgical Institute,’ Stockholm. We learn that Count Mérner matriculated in 1872, and, after studying at Uppsala and Stockholm, qualified as a practitioner of medicine in 1884. Two years later his thesis on the pigments of melanotic tumours gained him the doctorate of medicine, and at the same time he was appointed professor of chemistry and pharmacy at the Karolinska Institute. In 1892 he was appointed rector of the institute in succession to Keys, and it was as the central. figure of the institute that he was best known to the Swedish public. As rector he par- ticipated in drawing up regulations for-the Nobel Prize - Committees, and he was president of the Nobel Medi- cal Committee. ; RES nie “WE regret to learn that Major Alasdair C. B. ‘Geddes, R.F.C., a young naturalist of great promise, eldest son of Prof. Patrick Geddes, of Dundee, was Killed in action in France on April 19. Mr. Geddes was commissioned in 1915, and gained very rapid advance- ment. He was recently awarded the Military Cross. His naturally-fine powers of observation, cultivated by a singularly varied and active education, stood him’ in good stead in the discharge of his military duties. Alasdair Geddes kept up the tradition of the wander- ing student, learning at Montpelier and Paris, as well as at Dundee and Edinburgh, accompanying Dr. W. S. Bruce to Spitsbergen and his father’s town- planning exhibition to India. He was keenly inter- ested in botany and zoology, but perhaps geography held his heart. He graduated B.Sc. in Edinburgh in ¥914, and was awarded the Vans Dunlop scholarship as the most distinguished science graduate of his year. He was passionately fond of music and the open country, and had an extraordinary power of compelling affection. All sympathy will go to his parents, who are in India, where Prof. Geddes has been doing Government’ work for three years in connection with town-planning. Major Geddes was only twenty-five years of age. 'Dr. S. Totver Preston, whose death took place in March at the hospital at Altona, near which town he had resided for many years, was educated at the University of Aberdeen, and while serving his articles with a London firm of engineers was employed on one of the Atlantic cable ships. He soon after retired from..the, profession, and -in..-1875 . published his: “Theory. of the- Ether,’ ..in «which: he -attributed the. NO. 2479, VOL. 99] ‘to the subject again and again. gravitational attraction between two bodies to ie oscillations of their molecules, which interact wi the ether and set it in oscillation in turn. From ay id this period he appears to have lived abroad, chiefly ig Germany, and-in: 1894 took~-his: doetor’s degree at -Munich- witha dissertation on:the theories of gravi+ tation. During this period he wrote: several papert dealing with the kinetic theory of gases. He was thé first to point out the. possibility of obtaining work from a porous piston, separating hydrogen and oxygen at the same pressure from each other in a cylinder, -by the more rapid diffusion of the hydrogen through the piston. ‘Later papers dealt with cosmicai physics. In one he pointed out that a rotating plastic solid -would take a planetary form, and ‘that it is not neces- sary to assume that the planets have at any time been liquid or gaseous. pee. ; Dr. GEORGE CuristlAN HorrMann, formerly assis- tant director, chemist, and mineralogist of the Geo- logical Survey of Canada, died in Ottawa on March 8. From an obituary notice contributed to Science by Dr. H. M. Ami, «we learn that Dr. Hoffmann was born on June 7, 1837, in London, and studied at the Royal School of Mines. He spent several years as chemist in research laboratories of England, and later. worked in Natal, Mauritius, and Australia. In 1872 he joined the technical staff of the Geological Survey © of Canada, Montreal, under Dr. Alfred R. C. Selwyn. He was a fellow of the Institute of Chemistry, of the Royal Society of Canada, and of many other distinguished bodies. While in Australia he devoted considerable time in the phyto-chemical labora- tory attached to the Melbourne Botanic Garden in Victoria; inquiries into the tanning properties of the barks of native trees; investigation into the amount of potash in various indigenous trees, besides experi- ments in reference to various acids, tar, and other products. His bibliography contains valuable reports and papers of analyses and determinations of Canadian ores, minerals, and economic products characterising the rock formations of Canada and elsewhere, in- cluding rare and new species. WE regret to learn from the. Revue générale des Sciences of the death of M. Henri Bazin. Born at Nancy in 1829, M.. Bazin was among the earliest of modern investigators into the phenomena of hydraulics, and his name is inseparably associated with the mathe- matical enunciation of the laws of fluid flow. In collaboration, at Dijon, with his chief and colleague, M. Darcy, and later, on the premature death of the latter, alone, he engaged in the preparation of a monu- mental memoir dealing with the flow of water in open channels and with the movement of waves. This was _ completed after seven years’ labour, - submitted to the Académie des Sciences, and published in 1865. It was his best and most prized work, and he returned In 1886, whilst still engaged at Dijon, he commenced experimental observa- tions in connection with weirs, which lasted over a- period of ten years. The results appeared in a series of communications to the Annales des Ponts et Chaussées. Nor did he content himself with applied science alone; in 1868 he found time to translate Salmon’s treatise on algebra. Bazin enjoyed a great and well-deserved reputation as an experimentalist of the first rank; he was patient, indefatigable, and thorough. The science of hydraulics, in the note- worthy development which it has undergone during the past fifty years, is indebted to him for careful and painstaking explanations of many of those contra- dictory :features::in hydraulic phenomena which are the despair of the engineer, and”render itso difficult 4 Mae 3.97) NATURE “gi = eS eS — =— i a ctoril . 1 servation. ee also a special, meeting at Moscow on 16-19, 1916, and its organisation was then mpleted. The following officers were elected: cre President, A. S. Famincyn; President, I. P. rodin; Vice-Presidents, V. 1. alladin and S. G. Nav: n; Chief Secretary, N. A. BuS; Treasurer, V.N. ‘Suchaéey’ Members of the Council in Petrograd, Vi _ Komaroy, S. P. ‘Kostyéev, and V. A. TranSel. In 5 following were elected on the council as cities containing a minimum of_ five ee pf tlie society: M. I. Golenkin (Moscow), E. F. , ¥..M. Arnoldi (Charkov), B. B. Grine- Odessa), V. V. Sapoznikov (Tomsk), -Ja. S. Modukdev (Tiflis), and V. M. Arcichovskij (Novoéer- kassk). The number of the acting members of the - society now exceeds 280. Notwithstanding the present unfavourable conditions, more than eighty members aon _ attended the four days’ meeting in Moscow, and, in F , y q A : 4 # ; _ drawn from the facts of physical geography. af - British workers with a limited linguistic aptitude. _ addition to the discussion and- settlement of various questions of organisation, sixteen scientific teports were read. The next extraordinary meeting is fixed _ for December, 1919, again in Moscow. Thanks to a subsidy of 3000 roubles received fromthe Ministry of Public Instruction, it was possible towards the end of ‘the year 1916 to proceed with the publication of the Journal of the Russian Botanical Society, and the first issue (Nos. ‘I-2) was placed before, and approved by, the Moscow meeting. The second issue (Nos. 3-4) is _ in the press and finishes the year 1916. For this year _a subsidy of 10,000 roubles is being applied for, and it is int to publish eight numbers of four to five sheets each. us. the scientific amalgamation of Leeann botanists, for which they have long striven, be considered as achieved, and the formation the auspices of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of the first: all-Russian learned society is an accom- plished fact. In the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute I. xlvi., July-December, 1916) Sir James Frazer’s uxley. memorial lecture, ‘‘ Ancient Stories of a Great _ Flood,”’ is published. This subject was suggested by _ Huxley’s article, ‘‘ Hasisadra’s Adventure ”’ (‘‘ Collected __ Essays,’’ vol. iv.; London, 1911). He deals first in detail with the Babylonian and Hebrew versions of the story, _ and then passes on to consider the Greek myth of -Deucalion. . In regard to the last, he advances the __ interesting suggestion that the cleft in the Thessalian _ mountains, which is said to have been rent by Deuca- _ lion’s flood, was no other than the gorge of Tempe. _ Indeed, it seems probable that the story of this flood was suggested by the desire to explain the origin of this deep and narrow defile. If this conjecture be _ accepted, the Thessalian story of Deucalion’s flood, _ like that of Samothrace based on the tradition of the _ vast Ponto-Aralian sea and its desiccation through the _ piercing of the dam which divided it from the Medi- _ terranean—in other words, through the opening of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles—was an inference In short, th were what Sir Edward Tylor has called ‘‘ myths ‘ of observation ” rather than historical traditions. In the Review. of Applied Entomology (vol. iv., A and B, parts xi. and xii.; vol. v., A and B, parts i. ii.) useful summaries of recent papers continue be published. Those extracted from Russian and Scandinavian sources will be especially valued by ' Dr. AnGEL GALLARDO continues his studies of ants a _im the Anales del Museo de Historia Natural de Buenos NO. 2479, VOL. 99] the results of theoretical: et ee inad asian Botanical Society held its. eh rms Sc i destrip- Aces (vol... Xxviii. it), contributing syptematic, the Attinz of’ the Argentine, and. a’ special account -of. Trachymyrmex pruinosus, tions of observation nests. eg Two recent numbers of the Bulletin of Entomo- logical Research (vol. vii., parts ii. and iii.) are note worthy for some further papers by the Rev. Jas. Water- ston on tropical chalcids; some of the new forms de- scribed are parasitic on injurious scale insects. There are also valuable papers by Dr. J. W. Scott Macfie on ‘‘West African. Mosquitoes,” of which one on the © changes observed in the four larval stages of Stego- myia fasciata is of general interest to entomologists ; the author points out the practical importance of trust+ worthy characters for the determination of. such disease-carrying insects in the larval stage. A veERY useful pamphlet on the destruction of the rodent - pests of the farmer has been issued by the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey. The rodents of North and Middle America include about 1350 forms; but of this number only a few species are actually troublesome to the farmer. When these pests become unduly numerous trapping is found impracticable, and the use of poison has to be resorted to. Careful instruction as to the employment of this is given. But the protection of hawks and owls, as well as of — non-venomous snakes, is strenuously "advocated. A number of photographs afford the reader a vivid idea of the widespread havoc these creaturés may cause, if allowed to increase unchecked. British farmers might read these pages with profit. In the Journal of the Franklin Institute for March Prof. Ulric Dahlgren contributes a further instalment of his studies on the “Production of Light by Animals.” He.treats now of the Lampyride, known in this country as “ glow -worms,”’ but. which Prof, Dahlgren calls “‘ fire-flies,"”” a term reserved by British coleopterists for another family, the Elateridz. ‘Both larval and adult forms are described in regard to their powers of luminescence, and the suggestion is made that the light-producing powers are dependent on the trachez, controlled by the nervous system, a con- clusion already arrived at by Wielowiejski, of whom he makes no mention... Nor is the work of Dubois, who studied the luminescence of. the ‘true fire-flies, referred to. The last-named author believed that the light was evoked by the emission of blood, charged with “‘luciferine,”” to the luminous organs, where it combined with “luciferase,” an enzyme formed in the luminous organs. themselves. THE current’ number of the Quarterly Journal a Microscopical Science (vol. Ixii., part ii.)-contains an interesting paper by Dr. S. F. Harmer. on_that hitherto very imperfectly known member of the British marine fauna, Phoronis ovalis. This species was described so far back as 1856 by Strethill Wright, in the same papers in which the.genusPhoronis was first estab- lished, a genus which has since given rise to an immense amount of discussion on account of its very © problematical relationships. Curiously enough, up to the date of publication of Dr..Harmer’s memoir, the species in question had never again been recorded, and considerable doubt had been thrown upon its validity. Its mede of life, rather than its rarity, is probably responsible for its having escaped re-discovery for more than half a century, for it inhabits burrows in the shells of mollusca, along with numerous boring animals, such as Cliona and Polydora. The original spec imens came from the Firth of Forth, those ex- amined by Dr. Harmer from the Northumberland coast. A detailed description of the anatomy is given, with numerous illustrations, and stress is laid upon 192 NATURE — 1 [May 3, 1917) the striking powers of regeneration and multiplication by transverse fission. It is suggested that Actino- trocha pallida, found at Heligoland and Wimereux, is the larval fornt of Phoronis ovalis. — Tue trustees of the British Museum have just issued the fourth report on Cetacea stranded on the British coasts. This is the work of Dr. S. F. Harmer, the keeper of the department of zoology in the British Museum (Natural History), and contains the records for r916. In his preface Dr. Harmer tells us that the number of stranded Cetacea reported has continued to be adversely affected by the war, but it has reached twenty-nine, which is one more thanin 1915. With the exception of a Sowerby’s whale, from Lincolnshire, all the most interesting specimens have been obtained from the western, or south-western, coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The value of these reports-is beyond dispute, and it increases annually, since by the accumulation of such records an immense amount of material will become available, both as to the character of the Cetacean fauna of our seas and in regard to the migrations of these animals. Already it has become apparent that Cuvier’s whale (Xiphius cavirostris) is not, after all, a very rare visitor to our seas, and what seems to be the first record of a specimen of this species recorded from the English coast is registered in this report. It was stranded in June last, at Watergate, Cornwall. A Sowerby’s whale (Mesoplodon bidens) from Lincolsi- shire, a white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) from Co. Mayo, and a young sperm whale (Physeter catodon), with uncut teeth—apparently a ‘‘ sucker ”’— from Co. Galway, are other subjects of importance in this report. Finally, mention must be made of tHe stranding of a huge grampus, Orca orca, in the Sol- way Firth .in May last. were of enormous size, and have been secured for the museum, where they heve been dissected and casts, for exhibition purposes, have been made from them. They show many surprising structural peculiarities, which are to be described in detail in the near future. Mr. W. BickerRTON, in the Transactions of the Hert- fordshire Natural History Society (vol. xvi., part iii.), records some interesting facts about the feeding habits of the greater-and lesser spotted woodpeckers, which, during the months of December, January, and Keb- ruary, haunt osier-beds for the sake of feeding on the larve of some small fly which lives in burrows ‘in the~stems of willow twigs. To obtain these the bark is stripped from the twigs, enabling the larva to be extracted by the invader’s tongue. So far the species to which this larva belongs is not known, but the authorities of ‘the British Museum (Natural History) are said to be investigating the matter, from materials supplied by Mr. Bickerton. He believes that in this habit of bark-stripping we have an indica- tion of the significance of the extreme density of the horny sheath of the woodpecker’s beak. That is to say, this is not due in the first place to the needs of hewing tunnels through sound wood to secure a nesting-hole in hollow trees. Two other papers in this number will repay careful perusal. One of these’ is on the ‘Hertfordshire Bourne in 1916,” by Mr. John Hopkinson, the other on the ‘“Satyrid Butter- flies of Hertfordshire,” by Mr. A. E. Gibbs. Tue Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club, with the assistance of the Rev. H. I. Riddelsdell, is making good progress in the collection of material for the compilation of the flora of Gloucestershire. instance of the new material collected up to the present, it may be noted that the chairman of the committee, the Rev. Walter Butt, announces, in vol. xix., part ii. NO. 2479, VOL. 99] The flippers of this animal: -carbon-steels. As an of the Proceedings, that a collection of violets from the county was sent to Mrs. Gregory, of Cambridge, the: leading authority on this flower, with the result that twelve new varieties were established for Gloucester-_ shire, including, it is believed, Viola rupestris, Schmidt, the rarest violet in Great Britain, hitherto found only in Teesdale. .Mr. Charles Bailey, who has recently - resented his splendid herbarium to the Manchester niversity, has examined the list and describes it as “amazing.”’ gis Tue Danish Meteorological Institute has published its annual survey of the state of the ice in Arctic seas for x The publication, as usual, is in both Danish. and English, and is supplied with charts for every month from April until August. the year were received from the Bering Sea, Beaufort Sea, north of Siberia, or Hudson Bay. Information is also wanting for ‘he Kara Sea, despite the fact that a British steamer crossed it last summer. The ab- normal conditions of the Spitsbergen ice, already noted in NATURE, were closely related with the conditions: in the Barents Sea. After an abnormal westward exten-. sion of the ice, the pack receded in April almost to - the coast of Novaya Zemlya, but advanced again in May and June. Even in June there was ice in the White Sea, and it was not until August that the \Barents Sea was clear of ice to Nova Zembla and Hope Island. On the other hand, Iceland was un- usually free of ice throughout the year, except during June and July. The Danish Méteorological Institute has also issued, as a separate publication, a useful summary of the ice conditions for the last twenty-one years in the Kara, Barents, Greenland, and, Bering Seas, Davis Strait, and Baffin Bay. Charts are in- cluded for the months from April to August, showing the average limits, together with the maximum and minimum limits of the ice, and tables are given of — the fte-covered area in the Barents and Greenland Seas for each of those months throughout the series of years. be ACCORDING to a paper published in the Bulletin des usines de guerre, the change in volume produced by hardening (quenching) steel is small if the hardening temperature is kept below a certain limit. Hardening” in oil gives less variation in volume than harden- ing in water. Special. metals, such as _ nickel- steel, show less diminution in volume than the Eutectic steels ‘‘ crack’? more frequently than carbon-steels, which latter undergo considerable changes of volume. Finally, from experiments carried out, in flat »ieces the tension is distributed uniformly in every direction, while in cylindrically shaped pieces the ends contract and become hollow, the piece bellying out. Dr. JouN AITKEN’s well-known papers on ‘** Dust, Fogs, and Clouds’’ and on ‘ Dew,” originally pub- lished in the Transactions of the Royal Society of: ‘Edinburgh (1880, 1887), have been re-issued as one: pamphlet by the council of the Royal Society of Edin- burgh. The steady demand by the scientific world for copies of these papers having almost exhausted the parts of the Transactions in which they were pub- lished, the council felt it a duty to reprint them to- gether as one pampHlet with the original paging. The importance of these papers has long been recog- nised by all workers in meteorology. They form together a pamphlet of ninety quarto pages, and copies may be obtained through the society’s publishers, Messrs. Robert Grant and Son, 107 Princes Street, Edinburgh, and Messrs. Williams and Norgate, 14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.2, at a cost of 7s. 6d. No observations for —— 3 Mav 3, 1917], oe — NATURE ’ stg 3 Ee aN Scientia for January Mr. - Philip E. B. Jourdain _ discusses the function of symbolism in mathematical fic. He maintains that until comparatively recently, ymbolism in mathematics and the algebra of logic d the sole aim of helping reasoning by giving a ly thorough analysis of reasoning and a condensed m to the analysed reasoning, which should, by sug- sting to us analogies in familiar branches of algebra, make the process of following the thread " deduction ; but that, on the other hand, a great a: rt of what modern mathematical logic does is to crease our subtlety by emphasising * differences * oncepts and reasonings instead of ‘analogies. pints ‘out the confusion of thought which has led to believe “that mathematical logic seeks to the free spirit of discovery or invention in ti! se: form nathemat and the misunderstanding of the par- ‘icul: r form of “economy of thought” used throughout aathematics and symbolic logic. He then deals with nction of this kind of economy and the neces- : We ig received from the Cambridge Scientific Company List 134, which describes a ene microscope for workshop use which can be arranged to measure horizontal or vertical lengths up tog em. with an accuracy of o-ooor cm. List 191 a thermo-couple potentiometer capable of reading up to go millivolts with an accuracy of a mic crovol . List 912 describes the various forms of re ding and index thermometers reading up to 540°C. They depend on the expansion of mercury vocepe ag ina Patek bulb, a fine bore flexible steel tube, spiral which actuates the pointer of ent. 8 Ceeicsrey and Technology of Oils and Fats,” . P. ‘J. Fryer and F. E. Weston, and ‘‘ Naval Architec- _ ture,” J..E. Steele, are in the press for appearance in the Cambridge Technical Series (Cambridge University Press). The following works are in preparation for inclusion in the same series: ‘‘ Architectural Building Construction,” W. R. Jaggard and F. E. Drury, vols. and iii.; ‘Electrical Engineering,” Dr. i ee nillie, vol. ii.; “Automobile Engineering,” A. G. Clark; ‘‘Electro-Technical Measurements,” A. E. -and F. Shaw; “Paper: Its Uses and Testing,” S. Leicester ; “ Mining Geology,” Prof. G. Knox and Ss: Ratcliffe-Ellis ; «Textile Caiculations—Materials, Yarns, and Fabrics, ” A. M. Bell; ‘‘ Laboratory Note - Book for Applied ‘Mechanics and Heat Engines,” a Boulden; ‘‘ Elements of Applied Optics,” W. R. r; “Electric Installations,’ C. W. Hill; “Accounting,” J. B. Wardhaugh ; “Chemistry for eg Students, » B. North and N. Bland; “Dyeing Cleaning,” F. W. Walker ; “* Experimental Build- pagel L. Manson, vol. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. __ PERSISTENT Aurora.—By taking advaniage of the sensitive poe ene method -of detecting faint a . M. Slipher has obtained further evi- hee a. he aah illumination of the night sky » Pecaingee light (Popular Astronomy, vol. xxv., p. 274). A large percentage of the luminosity is concentrated yellow-green line about 45572, and exposures of only a few hours were sufficient’ to’give impressions With the small spectrograph employed. From June, NO. 2479, VOL. 99} Be direct ie ncra 3 or the pen of the recording form | qttiisite detail, 1915, to November, 1916, upwards of fifty exposures were made at Flagstaff on different parts of the sky, and the characteristic line appeared in all the photo- graphs. The observations suggest that the auroral light is more intense towards the horizon; and sibly towards the sunrise and sunset points of the sky, but more extensive observations are necessary in this connection. A New CatacocugE or Dovusre Staxs.—An im- portant catalogue of the double stars discovered visually since 1905 has been published as vol. Ixi. of the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. The author is Mr. Robert Jonekheere, a well-known op- server of double stars, who was director of the observatory of the University of Lille until the events of the war drove him to England as a refugee in October, 1914. The exile thus abruptly for upon him has given Mr. Jonckheere the opportunity of completing the present catalogue. Most of Mr. || Jonckheere’s own observations were made at Lille with an equatorial refractor of 14-in. aperture, but since his arrival in this country he has made extensive use of the 28-in. refractor at Greenwich. The cata- logue, however, is not exclusively devoted to the author’s discoveries and measurements. It includes all the double stars to the year 1905 which were not included in Burnham’s general catalogue of 1906, and all the pairs discovered from that date to the end of 1916, the term ‘double star” here being applied only to those of separation less than 5". The limit of N.P.D. is 105°, and the positions are given for the epoch 1920. ‘The total number of entries is 3950. The catalogue is conveniently planned, and will doubtless greatly facilitate the work of double-star observers. Report oF Mount Witson Osservatory.—Prof. Hale’s report on the work at~Mount Wilson during 1916 records new and significant advances in several departments, many of which we have already noted. The first place is naturally given to the spectroscupic “method of determining the distances of stars, which is now considered to be established as a fundamental contribution to practical astronomy, and has already afforded valuable confirmation of the conclusions of Russell and Hertzsprung regarding the existerice of giant and dwarf stars. Scarcely second in interest is the investigation of periodic spectral changes in the Cepheid variables, which must have a significant bear- ing upon the interpretation of stellar types as well as upon the nature of the variables of this class. The use of the new 13-ft. spectroheliograph has revealed the vortex structure about sun-spots in ex- and certain other investigations have suggested that the forms recorded represent hydro- dynamic phenomena rather than lines of force of the magnetic fields underlying the spots. No trustworthy evidence of the Stark effect in the sun has yet been obtained, but further work on the general magnetic field of the sun has confirmed the conclusion that the magnetic axis does not coincide with the axis of rotation; it is inclined at an angle of 52°, and revolves in a period of 31-51 days+o-62 day. A new map of the sun-spot spectrum has been completed for the region 16450 to A6000, and the large scale of i cm. to the Angstrém is sufficient to show the chief Zeeman phenomena. Important results have also been obtained in studies of star clusters and nebulz, and in laboratory investi- gations. Good progress has been made with the 1oo-in. re- flector, and it is hoped that this giant instrument will be in actual use in the near future. 194 | NATURE [May 3, 1917 THE PAY AND SUPPLY .OF TEACHERS. *HE striking facts and figures given in the presi-" dential address’ recently delivered: “by Mr. T. H. J. Underdown to the National Union. of ‘Teachers, and published in Nature of April 19, show that the whole fabric of our primary educational sys- tem is seriously threatened with disaster. Unhappily, the secondary and technical schools of the country are faced with the same danger from precisely the same causes. The systematic underpayment of the teachers and the resultant shortage of the supply must cause grave misgivings-to all who have a real conception of the value of a good secondary educa- tion and its necessity, if success is to be achieved in the future in the various branches of commercial and scientific activity. Our national efficiency depends to a large degree upon the quality of our secondary education, and any such education worthy of the name will be impossible unless the present conditions of service obtaining in the teaching profession are radically and speedily altered. Regie It is characteristic of our national indifference to- wards education that, not merely the man in the street, but apparently also’ the leading members of ‘scientific and commercial circles, have no knowledge of the utterly insufficient salaries paid to those upon whom the important duty of training the future generation falls; or, at best, if they have cognisance, they throw the responsibility upon the local county or borough authority, and wash their hands of the whole business. A sufficient proof of the inability of the local authorities to manage education under pre- sent conditions is evinced by the figures quoted by Mr. Underdown, and by the fact that the average _ salary paid to the assistant-masters in the aided and "maintained secondary schools of the country, as shown by an inquiry made by the Incorporated Association ef Assistant-masters just prior to the outbreak of war, is 1751. ros. If the nation expects to continue to get highly trained, competent teachers, necessarily men of culture and education, who have laid out a large amount of ability and close study, to say nothing of money, for 31. 7s.. 6d. per week, the nation is making. a huge blunder. Like any other business concern, it will get, in the long run, just what it pays for. Much has been written during the past year concerning the lack of science and_ scientific training in secondary schools in general, but is it to be expected that a really able and scientific expert . will take up teaching with the above figures before him? The difficulty is accentuated by the ever- increasing demand for these experts from the ’ various branches of manufacture and industry, and by the migration of teachers generally into more re- munerative and less arduous spheres of work. A large number of authorities and schools make no provision for systematic increase, while the follow- ing tables show the inadequacy of the scales that do exist :— England Wales County County * Published” Maxima Councils Boroughs Schools Above 250l. ite see {dee ae | de _ 2011.~250l. % i Oe 5 5 2ool, yh Sys ae 12 II 2 Above 180l. and below 2001. aS aS ard 6 2 I 18ol. and below ... a 14 26 10 Notes —(i) Figures for July, 1914. , Ae ° (ii) Special cases excepted as being outside the range of the ordinary qualified assi-tant. To quote a typical case, the maximum for honours graduates after sixteen years’ service is tgol. Another NO. 2479, VOL. 99] | has 6ol, as the ultimate reward for ‘ten years’ ser- — vice. Other ‘scales’? have Gilbertian’ maxima, «Two are as low as 130l., and five ate below rgol. ts The actual salaries received will show that our educational experts have been trying to ruin education upon the principles of lowest tender and cut prices. Some seven or eight university graduates receive less than 1ool. a year. One Oxtord M.A., after fifteen years’ service, gets 1201. Only 18 per cent, of ‘the masters receive more than 200l. ph oe The grudging and meagre response.to the demands of the teachers for a war allowance affords a glaring insight into educational administration and its reac- tion upon its employees. To quote, or, rather, mis- quote, from one of our most successful and popular teachers : ‘‘ Those who polish the floors and those who survey the roads can be ‘generously treated, but those who polish the brain are asked to wait for more opportune times, or are put off with a dole equal to an office boy’s increment of wage—forsooth, because they are so many and the rates must be kept low!” We note with pleasure and endorse thoroughly the recent statement of the President of the Board of Education that ‘the calling of second- ary-school masters has yet to be made reason- ably attractive to a_ really able man.... Somehow or other we must attract these men” —and may we add “keep them”? The proposed remedy—an addifional grant of 433,900l., of which a part is to be handed over to the authorities and schools, of which a part again is to be allocated to | more or less spasmodic increments of salary—will cover only a portion of the recent increase in the cost of living. The sum is admittedly only a beginning, but the situation demands methodical measures even more urgently than it does money. Before it is too late, the country should insist upon the establishment of a regular and national system .of payment, if the prospects and status of the profession are to be raised to such a level that ‘it can fairly compete with the other professions for the best intellects from all classes and spheres of life. Experience shows that the majority of the local authorities fail to realise the national unity of education. The average councillor thinks in terms of bricks and mortar, and so long as he regards educa- tion as one of the branches of architecture, so long will the real management remain in the hands of highly paid clerks and_ secretaries, who, however zealous they may be, work in watertight compart- ments, and have no interest in making education a national concern. Efficiency in education ‘stands or falls with the man who actually teaches, and no amount of expensive inspectorial or administrative officialdom will compensate for the cheeseparing policy of underpaying the teachers. : Amongst the multiplicity of reforms rightly being advocated at present are included the extension of the school-life and the expansion of the facilities for secondary education. Official figures show that there are only 84,000 pupils between the ages of fourteen and eighteen in England attending grant-earning secondary schools, of which merely 21,000 remain at. school to an‘age beyond sixteen years—an age of expanding receptive faculties, at which moral training is of inestimable benefit. It has been estimated that an army of 20,000 teachers of the secondary school - type will be required, in addition to the 10,000 already available, to staff. the secondary schools proper, the junior technical schools, the day continuation schools, and the part-time trade schools of the near future. A great part of this number must have expert scientific knowledge combined with training. Under the ex= isting conditions, the. supply of teachers is quite NATURE Ce 295 : inadequate and is-rapidly diminishing. The supply of teachers in» grant-earning schools is at present largely derived from the~pupils passing from the primary schools to the secondary schools, there to be maintained out of public funds almost entirely throughout their scholastic career. Education authorities, in their en- deavours.to obtain the necessary staffs, have adopted the: doubtful policy of attracting pupils to the pro- fession by the offer of educational facilities and in- ‘creased maintenance allowances, in some cases despite the moderate standard of ability displayed. However anxious the Government may be to em- bark on far-reaching schemes, it will-fail unless the supply of the men who are to carry out those schemes _ is present; and the supply of men of the right type will not be forthcoming unless (1) a national minimum salary scale of really adequate terms is established for all teachers in secondary schools; (2) teachers are _ free to move from one area to another without loss of introduci of position, salary, and pension rights. : “sich a-system would do away, once for all, with the present enormous disparity in the salaries of different men with the same qualifications engaged in the same work and in similar areas. The present time affords an excellent opportunity a system obviously necessary and long overdue. It is to he hoped that the Government will ‘not adopt the futile policy of trying to patch up here and there, but will_lay the foundation of.a national structure in which every child shall enjoy, as a birth- right, the most suitable and valuable education com- patible with its- capability. ap ee ; G. D. DunKertey. f ALEX. BLADEs. SSS ee ee SOIL AERATION IN AGRICULTURE. GOME time ago (Nature, February 24, 1916, vol. ~— xcvi., p. 716) We directed attention to a paper by Mr. and Mrs. Howard, of the Agricultural Research Institute, -Pusa, on the ventilation of Indian soils. **More air and less water’ was then set before the native cultivator as the secret of successful crop pro- duction. With characteristic enthusiasm for his sub- ject, Mr. Howard has since developed this idea in a lecture given during a meeting of the Board of Agri- culture at Pusa, and now published as Bulletin No. 61 once to the improved aeration. the cost of this treatment, or if it can be applied cem- ) of the Agricultural Research Institute. Although dis- cussed chiefly in relation to Indian conditions, and particularly the alluvial soils of the Indus and Ganges valleys, the subject in its broader aspect is of universal importance to agriculture. The heavy rains of the _ monsoon falling on these soils, which consist largely of small particles of fairly uniform size, cause the surface to run her and form a crust; the soil loses its porosity and aeration is impeded. The remedy | advocated is the incorporation with the first foot of soil of thikra (tile fragments) at the rate of 50 tons per acre. Leguminous plants like gram respond at mercially over considerable areas. Java indigo is another leguminous plant of special _ interest, and about this Mr. Howard has a great deal _ country with rice iz the valleys between. During the | to say in relation to soil aeration. variable dyeing power which has greatly handicapped the natural indigo in competition with the synthetic product of the German factories is due to defective | The indigo plantations of | and irregular aeration. Bihar lie on the higher ground of an undulating _ monsoon all the country becomes more or less water- logged except the crest of the ridges, and occasionally NO. 2479, VOL. 99] Nothing is said as to | He holds that the | ly | some of these go under.. The high-water mark is, said to be rising at the rate of 3 in. a year, Owing to in- , creasing interference by embankments (canal, rail, and road) with the natural: drainage of the country. r. Howard suggests that ‘“* when a railway has to run | across a broad, shallow drainage line, it might pay to | lay it flat and to let the water run over it, At most_ the interruption of traffic would not be a very long one.’” It would be interesting to hear what the per- . manent-way departments and traffic superintendents of the Indian railways.think of this idea. Whatever - | the cure, it is evident that the activities of the civil © | engineer have been harmful to agriculture in some — ways, and a good case is made out for a thorough | study of the drainage systems of India from this point of view. With regard to water supply, the author goes even further than in his previous paper, and suggests that some of the money now wasted on over-irrigation might more profitably be spent on aerating stations for the supply of oxygen to the insufficiently aerated water of the rice swamps. In this connection a sharp dis- tinction is drawn between rice and other plants which’ is difficult to follow. It is said that while the former takes up its oxygen in the dissolved state from .the swamp water, other plants, e.g. wheat, assimilate it as free oxygen. As the root-hairs of the wheat plant must be in contact with moisture if they are to function properly, it is probable that oxygen, like other plant foods, passes in solution through a film of-water sur- rounding the roots. Wheat, barley, and peas all grow well in water culture so long as the nutrient solution is kept aerated. If the supply of dissolved oxygen falls off, the plant suffers at once, even if the roots haye access to free oxygen. -The distinction between swamp rice and wheat seems rather.to be that the former requires much water and relatively little oxygen, while the latter needs a moderate amount of moisture and much oxygen. Under favourable condi- tions wheat obtains this by the-rapid passage of the gas through the water films surrounding the roots and soil particles. ae “sey Turning homewards, the variation in the quality — of malting barleys grown on different British soils is shown to be due to soil aeration. The best. malt comes from the light land where natural aeration is good. One effect of the expensive organic manure crease the aeration of the soil and encourage root development. It is suggested that.a permanent aerator like the Indian thikra might achieve the same result at a lessened annual charge for manure. We have only touched on a few of the many in- teresting points raised in Mr. -Howard’s lecture, which deals with one of the most important factors in crop production. Although the necessity for soil aeration has been unconsciously recognised ever since man first | drove a spade into the earth, because of its verv | obviousness agricultural science has scarcely given | the subject the attention it deserves. E. H.R. THE INDIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE CULTIVATION OF SCIENCE. | | HE genetic relation between the serious pursuit. of natural science and the profession of medicine | is nowhere better illustrated than in British India, and | in British India nowhere better than by the Asiatic Society of Bengal (the original “ Asiatick Society *’), | and by its autochthonous congener, the Indian Asso. ciation for the Cultivation of Science, founded in 1876 of the Indian Association for the 1 Report ar 191 (Calcutta, 1916.) O14. Cultivation of Science for the ear used by market-gardeners and hop-growers is to-in- _ 196 NATURE [May 3, 1917 by Dr. Mohendro Lal Sircar, a practitioner of, medi- cine in ‘the Indian quarter of Calcutta... At a time when Indian universities were the purely examining bodies so dear to the Philistine soul, when secondary education in India was mainly bookmongery (to call it ‘literary *’ would be a fault to heaven), and literary gentlemen were brought from England to feed raw Indian youths with husks of commentary laboriously ground from the English classics, Dr. Mohendro Lal Sircar, a medical man immersed in the anxieties of a private practice, was probably the only educated Indian in Bengal whose. ideas. of education were approximately those held generally to-day by men of science in Great Britain. Dr. Sircar, being beyond his learning and accom- plishments a man of great sagacity and urbanity, did not agitate or make a noise, but, with single-minded devotion to higher issues, he set a-going in a con- venient part of his native town, and for many years carefully fostered, a society much of the style of the Companies of Friends of Natural History, the aim of which, to begin with, was, and. had to be,. generally _ educative. This society was appropriately called an association for the cultivation of science. By degrees, and by the accretion of laboratories for particular studies, the institution, while retaining an educational character, advanced to the differentiated technical stage; and now, beyond its educational purpose, it has become a well-organised and well-equipped institution for original experimental research. The report for the year 1914, lately received, shows that in addition to the seven regular courses of lec- tures on different branches of science delivered to students, there emanated from the association ten original papers—four on physico-mathematical sub- jects, five chemical, and one biological. NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION.! SS san British Science Guild, during the twelve years of its existence, has earnestly endeavoured to pro- mote the public and official recognition of scientific research and of scientific organisation and methods as essential factors in national progress. Our journal and our annual reports show the matters to which we have striven to direct attention. It is not our object to secure the advancement of any particular branch of science; each has an association created for that purpose. We seek to provide what may be called a clearing-house of progressive thought, in order that activities which are mutually dependent may be har- monised for the welfare of the State and the Empire, | and that the application of scientific knowledge not only to industries, but also to every department of public life, may become a reality. We believe that thus only can our future national advancement and the well-being of our people be placed upon a sound and an enduring foundation. These are objects which in the past have powerfully appealed to men of science whose vision extended be- yond the horizon of their labours to the conception of a State in which research was not only encouraged as a primary necessity of progress, but the results were quickly applied to the direction of energy, the pre- vention of waste, and the conservation of the forces on which the prosperity of mankind mainly depends. Before the war, these were voices “crying in the ‘wilderness.”” Governments and Parliament, which is supposed to control and inspire them, cared for none of these things. In our great public offices. science was apt to be regarded as an abstruse mystery which 1 From the presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of th British Science Guild, held at the Mansion House, London, on April 30: by the Right Hon. Lord Sydenham, F.R.S. NO. 2479, VOL. 99] possibly concerned business men and might sometimes * obtrude itself inconveniently upon public attention, but had no part or lot in the administration, Speaking broadly, we have been ruled by men for whom scien- tific conceptions and scientific methods had little or no interest; and partly from this cause our industries were being stealthily undermined and were passing into the control of another people which had laboriously organ- ised all its public and private activities, had been carefully trained quickly to turn scientific discoveries— __ largely borrowed—to material advantage, and had be- come obsessed with the mad ambition of imposing its theorres of life and conduct by force upon the world. ; The war has had the effect of turning a strong searchlight upon the innermost workings of our national life. Our weakness and our potential strength stand plainly revealed. We can see how severely we have suffered and must still suffer from our neglect in the past ; and if we strive to ascertain causes, we cannot fail to reach the conclusion that our lack of apprecia- tion of all that science, using the term in the broadest sense, could have conferred upon us lies at the root of many present difficulties. When the question of con- traband was being considered, science could have told us what was vital to the prosecution of war by an enemy, and what, therefore, we should use every effort to exclude from his territories. Sir William Ramsay, whose loss, as one of our greatest leaders of scientific thought, we deplore, pvinted out the gross fallacies which were permitted to mislead our policy in regard to cotton. Lard was assumed by: one of our rulers to be innocuous, because he was unaware that its use for the manufacture of glycerine was an old discovery. The painful revelations of the Dardanelles Commission establish the facts that a fateful decision wds arrived — at by methods which flagrantly violated scientific prin- ciples, and that a complete misunderstanding as to some elementary artillery matters was allowed to exist. And now in the handling of the difficult question of man power there is an evident want of the grasp which sound scientific training can confer. ' It would be easy to multiply instances of the ways in which the absence of scientific habits of thought have prejudiced the conduct of the war; but there is another side which must not be forgotten. If we have too often failed in foresight and in the application of orderly methods to the direction of policy, the national genius for improvisation has been strikingly manifested. _ On the basis of a small Army, the best we ever possessed, we have built up, transported across the seas, equipped, and supplied vast national forces which have shown fighting power unrivalled in our military annals, and have determined the final victory of the cause of the Allies. And further, under the stress of war, we brought science to bear on military require- ments in such a wavy as not only to overtake, but to surpass, German appliances laboriously prepared in years of peace. On a different plane, the war savings propaganda is a good example of well-conceived and successful effort. Nothing can be more certain than that we possess organising capacity, which, if turned to full account, can perfectly respond to the future needs of the Empire. Reconstruction is now beginning to occupy the minds of all thoughtful men and women. After-the-war pre@blems are being widely discussed, and amid their baffling complexities some great principles stand out. as signposts along the path which we must follow. The material prosperity and the financial stability of the country can be restored only by an increase of pro- duction and interchange. This implies the creation of new industries and the economic development of those which exist, combined with a firm hold on old markets : j P hy . ‘ , : , = - - Mav'3, 1917], » ee : tion in the ; NATURE. 197: = her and the development of new ones. If our national sources were exhausted, we might well despair of the uture; but the resources of the Einpire are almost inexhaustible, and their utilisation is only beginning. é ire can produce all the great food staples— grain, meat, sugar, and fats+—sufficient for-the supply of a far larger population than it now contains. The fish s could be very largely increased from Ireland and the banks of Newfoundland. Raw materials of every kind, coal, and mineral oil abound. The Empire has almost a monopoly of some of the rarer metals and earths of which science is making more and more use. We have first to make certain that never again shall Germany obtain control of our raw materials and our key ucts, and then to ensure that our materials are, so far as possible, manufactured within the Em- pire. Before the war, almost the whole of the Imperial production of palm kernels went to Holland and Ger- part of | sources of the Empire amply suffice for the rebuilding of our national prosperity, if by the unstinted applica- of science in the laboratory, in the workshop, and ‘direction of commerce and industry so Bacee turned to the fullest account. * treatment. We now have a Board of Fuel Research, which, in co- operation with the British Assciation, is investigating economics, and already an annual saving of fifty million tons of coal is known to be possible. Mr. Newlands estimates that in Scotland more than 1,000,000 electrical horse-power could be obtained from water, and he points out that, in Switzerland, one electrical horse-power obtained from water costs il. 198. pér annum, as compared with 4l. 11s. 8d. in England from coal. The economic advantage of em- _ ploying water power, wherever practicable, is mani- fest, and in parts of India, as elsewhere within the Empire, there are resources which need to be turned to account. In matters of such broad importance as power, lighting, and heat, research on the widest scale is necessary, and when conclusions have been reached their application scan be secured by the active co- operation of the interests involved assisted by intelli- gent legislation. _ ‘In trade, the first requisite is sound information kept ‘up. to date, to which the Germans owe much of their success. We now have four Trade Commissioners representing the Dominions, and India must be simi- _ Iarly provided; but the whole system of consuls and commercial attachés in foreign countries requires com- » plete reorganisation, which Government can carry out only by seeking and following the advice of experi- enced leaders of commerce. and efficient transport between Imperial ports. ‘The Dominions Commission has shown the immense resources of. the Empire, and in its final report it directs attention to the importance of cheap, speedy, Some years ago I proposed the establishment of an ‘“‘ Impe- tial Maritime Council,”’ composed of fifteen representa- tives of the various parts of the Empire, and financed bya IT Per’ cent. ad valorem surtax upon all foreign _ imports into Imperial ports, which in 1ro04 would have provided an annual income exceeding 43 millions. The council was to deal with all matters relating to the Maritime communicztions of the Empire, to build up inter-Imperial transport, and to ensure ‘close study of the means of developing Imperial trade as a whole. NO. 2479, VOL. 99] | ‘ The Dominions Commission ‘has now recommended the formation of an Imperial Development Board for’ these and other analogous purposes. This would. be’ a great step in Imperial reconstruction, leading to far-. reaching results, provided that the board were execu- tive, amply provided with funds, and completely severed from politics at home and overseas. : We have now a Department of Scientific and Indus- trial’Research with a State endowment of one million, which will be able to exercise some of the functions of the Board of Science that the British Science Guild has strongly advocated. Each of the Dominions and India will require the same machinery, and Mr. _ Hughes has undertaken that Australia shall be thus provided, while the Canadian Government has ap- pointed an advisory council to advise a committee of the Cabinet on ali matters relating to scientific and industrial research. We have also a Board of Scien- tific Studies which is carefully investigating our re- quirements. Systematic and co-ordinated research on a large scale is a primary need, and waste or duplica- tion of effort can be prevented only by such general direction as to ensure that problems are attacked in the localities most favourable to their solution. Special attention must be given to chemistry, which has many: important secrets to vield. ‘‘The country,” said Sir William Ramsay, ‘which is in advance in chemistry will also be foremost in wealth and general pros- perity.””. We have certainly fallen behind Germany in~ this vitally important branch of science, not in the ability and insight of our chemists, but in numbers and in the application of chemical discoveries to in-- dustry. It is upon chemistry, the use of power, and_ co-operative methods that agriculture must mainly de- pend for advancement. National reconstruction will require in the future” the sustained stimulus which education alone can sup- ply.. In our public schools and colleges science must take the place to which it has been long entitled. While trained specialists will always be relatively few. all who are destined to play a part in national affairs must réceive such a grounding in the natural sciences as to ensure that physical laws and facts wili appeal to them, and that scientific methods of thought will become habitual. For this reason, the British Science Guild has strongly urged that a knowledge of science > should be reauired of all candidates in examinations - for the Civil Service. There need be no conflict with | what are not well described as “humanistic studies.” A broad general education is the best foundation for science training, and in so far as literary studies develop breadth of vision and clearness of style, they ~ ate valuable helps to the future specialist. Conversely, such subjects as history take new form when they are _ approached in a scientific spirit. A Parliament or a Government composed of special-~ ists would be unsuited to its duties; but both need an — intelligent appreciation of the relation of science to national life which is now consvicuously lacking. “Mankind,” writes Prof. Dewey, of Columbia Univer-~* sity, “‘so far has been ruled by things and by words, not by thought. . . . If ever we are to be governed” by intelligence, not by things and by words, science must have something to say about what we do and not merely about yow we may do it more easily and ~ economically,” : age Avart from what we understand by science teaching, there is the technical training which is needed by fore- men and workers in industries, which should be such as to help the abler man to rise. The Denartmental Committee on Juvenile Education and Emplovment ° has recently revorted. and its main proposals are the ° retention at school of all children up to the age of fourteen, with attendance at continuation classes of ° 198 NATURE | [May .3, 1917! at least eight hours a week up to eighteen, These, classes are “to include general, practical, and tech-. nical education,” and they will probably. in many cases take the form of trade schools carrying on the educa- tion of young workers who have found employment. The advantages of manual training in primary schools are not sufficiently emphasised in the report. Manual dexterity can be acquired at an early age, and boys might thus gain a truer conception of the dignity of hand labour, while experience shows that technical. or elementary scientific knowledge, if attained by prac- tical work, becomes a permanent possession. Greater differentiation between the work of rural and of urban schools is another pressing need. No one can maintain that our system of primary education has. been a_ failure. As the Presi- dent of the Board of . Education . pointed out the other day in his admirable speech, we owe to it, in part -at least, the mew armies which have brilliantly upheld our national honour on many stricken fields. But we believe that education can do more in the future in developing moral strength and in inculcating the sense of duty and good citizen- ship.. Mr. Fisher has laid down as the ideal of his | office that it should build the foundation -‘‘for a patriotic and social education worthy of the genius of our people, and a: fitting monument to the great impulse which is animating the whole people in the war.’’. We ‘all hope’ he will be spared to realise that high ideal. ; ' faa ' In the tremendous tasks which lie before the nation, Government can play an important part. Statesman ship worthy of the name must lead, inspire, direct, and. initiate. In guiding education, assigning defined func- tions to experts carefully selected for special purposes, exercising their enormous patronage with a single eye to- knowledge and efficiency, as well as'in encouraging the progress of applied: science, and guarding against legislation which mav hamper trade and industrial activity, there is ample scope for the action of Govern- ments. Interference in the management of business enterprises will usually be harmful, since, for well- known: reasons, the conduct of business affairs. by officials in democratic countries is rarely efficient. Some tariff adjustments may be found desirable; but the idea that national prosperity can, in the long run, be assured by fiscal devices is baseless. In so far. as tariffs. can stimulate the operation’ of natural laws, they mav. be beneficial... When they aim at pro- ducing artificial conditions in defiance of law, they usually defeat their ends. Thev may.be used legiti- mately, and we have been told that they will be used - to.further the development of the resources of the . Empire, and the object having been attained, they can be dispensed with. I-have only dealt with reconstruction in the material sense, which cannot alone guarantee the purer and happier national life which we all earnestly desire. That can be reached only if the whole nation will. in the difficult times that lie before it, follow the shining examples of duty, discipline, and self-sacrifice which. have been set by our heroes on the seas, in the field, and in the air. The men who have constantly faced death and shared in dangers and hardships will come back with a new outlook on life. In the trenches there have been no party divisions, no attempts to set class against class, but only shared efforts which are bring- ing certain victory to a sacred common cause. May we not hove that the great lessons learned by our best manhond in the storm and- stress of war will react upon the nation as a whole and render the forms of politics to which we have srown accustomed impos- sible in the future? The strife of parties and of indi-. viduals contending for office and power, the intrigues NO. 2479, VOL. 99] and also to lessen drunkenness. which have not wholly ceased during this crisis in our _ fate, the machinery by which party chests are filled | and constituencies are manipulated, the false discipline which, by préventing men from voting according to their knowledge and conscience, vitiates the decisions - of Parliament upon vital issues, the triurnph of words over experience and powers of action—all these chings — and more have had their day, and we begin to realise the inevitable results. ash ad Reconstruction in the highest and fullest sense can be achieved only by a great national party, seeking solely the welfare of the commonwealth, examining every public“question from the view-point of the interests of the community as a whole, and choosing leaders irre- spective.of class or party, who can be trusted to bring a lofty patriotism and trained intelligence to bear upon the vastly. complex and far-reaching problems with which we are now. confronted. If these are only visions, then I see no certain prospects of restoring the shaken fabric of the State, of rebuilding our pros- perity on a broader and an enduring foundation, of healing the open wounds in our body politic, and of wresting lasting good from the gigantic evils of war. n UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. | St. AnpREws.—The University museum has just received the entire collection of local: and other birds, - many very rare, made by Misses Baxter and Rintoul (of Largo and Lahill), for years known as authorities on ornithology, and joint editors of the Scottish: Naturalist. They have, moreover, in interpolating ‘these, « gone » over the entire University collection of birds and -re- arranged and labelled them. Accompanying this note- worthy and valuable gift, for most are exquisite ex- amples of the taxidermist’s art, are eight cases. with drawers containing named ‘collections: of the eggs of | birds and of Lepidoptera and other insects, as well as a few skulls and stuffed mammals. Dr. P. Marie has been appointed to succeed the late Prof, Dejerine as professor of clinical neurology in the University of Paris. FrauLein A. M. Currius, recently appointed léc- turer in French by the philosophical faculty of Leip- zig, is, according to the Nieuwe Courant, the first woman on the staff of a German university. ‘THREE research fellowships in, respectively,. patho- logy and bacteriology, medicine, and surgery have been endowed: in the University of Chicago by Dr. F. R. Logan, who has given a sum providing an income of 600]. a year -for the purpose. ; % In his presidential address to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on April 20, Mr. Michael Long- ridge considered the provision in this country of ‘tech- nical education for engineers. Many persons, he said, still fail to understand that the manual training which enabled an apprentice to become a master craftsman in times gone by does not suffice to turn a schoolbov into an engineer to-day. Differentiation is needed now in the training of the various classes of engineers and workmen, agd it is this lack of differentiation which seems to be one cause of the inefficiency of our technical education relatively to its cost. The educa- tion available for the higher ranks of engineering is fairly satisfactory in Mr. Longridge’s opinion, but that provided for the workman, both general and technical, is most unsatisfactory. ‘‘ Yet the workman must have better education to qualify him to rise if capable, and to give those who have not the ability to rise some interests outside their daily work and football matches. The need will become _ by Sir James J. Dobbie on March 1. ny RY , May 3,:1917] ey ee NATURE 199 greater as repetition work and automatic machinery eplace varied jobs and manual skill. Unless an anti- dote be provided, the monotony of this kind of work will crush initiative and mental vigour, and instead of skilful ~ craftsmen : we shall breed incompetent machines.”” The address insists that either the school- leaving age must be raised or a system of part-time instruction during working hours of engineering ap- prentices must be introduced. - - ' Tue April issue of the Proceedings of the Institute of Chemistry contains the presidential address delivered In it is dis- cussed at length the question of the general education of chemists. Sir James defines the aim of education on its intellectual side as the evenly balanced training of all the faculties of the mind, and claims that this aim can never be attained by the study of science exclusively on one hand, or of the subjects commonly classed as the humanities on the other. At the same time, science must form part,of every person’s educa- tion. Dealing with the question what science subjects should be taught in schools, he lays it down that the one way to obtain satisfactory results is to concentrate on a limited number of subjects, carefully selected with reference to the pupil’s age and stage of mental development and to their suitability to serve as an introduction .to further science studies. He selects as most suitable subjects for study the facts and princi- ples of biology and those of physics and chemistry as lying at the root of all the other sciences, The study of the properties of matter and of mechanics should, the address maintains, precede the study of the special branches of physics and the study of chemistry, Any scheme of science teaching would be unsatisfactory which does not make some provision for chemistry, and the study of chemistry should be taken next after -mechanics. Work such as this should, Sir James Dobbie thinks, be supplemented by wide reading in other branches of science so as to widen the interests of the pupils and to extend their knowledge. AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. SOCIETIES Zoological Society, Apel 17.—Dr. A. Smith’ Wood- ward, vice-president, in the chair.—t. rieron-Allen ; The mussel-fishery and Foraminifera of Esnandes (La Rochelle), and the early work of Alcide d’Orbigny. A series of slides was exhibited illustrative of the early studies of Alcide d’Orbigny at Esnandes (near La Rochelle), and the mussel-fisheries established there since the year 1035. The experiments of Prof. W. A. Herdman on the west coast of England were referred to, and those of Prof. A. Meek at Holy Island on the east coast. A further series was shown illustrating some of the notable d’Orbignyan species found in the _ neighbourhood, not recorded from there by d’Orbigny in 1826, but recorded from other localities at that date, and from distant seas between 1839 and 1846. A third series of slides illustrated well-known species from the locality which had been recorded and described by earlier authors, but were not apparently identified by d’Orbigny from the neighbourhood of La Rochelle. Linnean Society, April 19.—Sir David Prain, presi- dent, in the chair—Dr. D. H. Scott: The Heter- angiums of the British Coal Measures.:-Heterangium, | Corda, is a genus of Carboniferous plants, based on specimens with the. structure preserved, and now classed with the Pteridospérms. roup H. shorense, H. ‘tiliaeoides, and H. Lomaxii of which H. cylindricum*is only 4 form) in a new \ ! ; _ Subgenus, Polyangium. It is probable that the Upper |! » NO. 2479, VOL. OG | Coal Measure species from Autun described by Renault also fall under this subgenus, while most of the very interesting Silesian species, of Millstone Grit age,’ recently discovered by Dr. Kubart, appear to belong - to the simpler’ type which may. be called Eu- heterangium.—E. S. Goodrich: The development of © Hatschek’s pit and the ciliated organ on the roof of the buccal cavity in Amphioxus from the left anterior coelomic sac and from an ectodermal preoral pit in ~ the embrvo and larva. Following Bateson, the author compared the opening of Hatschek’s pit with the - proboscis-pore of ‘Balanoglossus and water-pore of Echinoderms.—Miss Nina F. Layard: | Wooden scratching-tools made by an African parrot. Notes have been taken by the author of the behaviour of a grey African parrot, first in choosing out natural tools, such as pointed seeds and quills, for. use as poll-scratchers, later in pointing up a match for the same purpose, and finally shaping up wood in such a way as to appear to warrant the bird’s chim to be described as a tool-maker. The contention is that if it can be proved that the parrot, requiring an imple- ment that would penetrate the feathers to the scalp, purposely produced.a point with this object, then the border-line between the mere tool-user and the tool maker has been crossed. : Paris. ‘Academy of Sciences, April 1o.—M. A. d’Arsenval in the chair—H. Le Chatelier: The National Research Council in the United States.—P. Puiseux and B. Jekhow- sky: Study on the general form of the lunar globe. The moon appears to be slightly elongated in the direction of its axis of rotation. A tetrahedral deforma- tion cannot be regarded as definitely proved.—J: Bergonié : The superiority. of agricultural work medi- cally prescribed and controlled to the physical thera- peutic treatment of the hospitals in the treatment of after effects.of war wounds. The results of a prac- tical comparison of the two methods taken over a period of thirty months prove the superiority of the open-air natural treatment to combinations of eléc. - trotherapy, mechanotherapy, thermotherapy, kinesi- therapy, mechanical and manual massage, hydro- therapy, etc. The superiority is especially marked in the case of men employed on the land previous to the war. Even in non-agricultural workers the supe-— riority, although less marked, is still considerable.—G. Julia: The reduction of forms to indeterminaté, con- jugated non-quadratic- forms.—G,. Arnaud: The family of the Microthyriacez.—A. F. Legendre : The structure: of the Sino-Tibetan massif. ‘ April 16.—M, A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—A. Lacroix : The hatiyne lavas of the Auvergne and their homogeneous enclosures.—H. Le Chatelier: The syn-- thesis of ammonia. The author gives extracts from his patent of September, tg01, for the synthetical pre- paration of ammonia from its elements, work taker up seven years later by Haber and now made use of: on the large scale in Germany.—A. Gautier: Increase in the curative properties of quinine and of mercury’ by the organometallic compounds of arsenic..’ The” joint administration of arrhenal and quinine chloro-: hydrate cures cases ‘of malarial fever which™have re-- sisted large doses of quinine alone. ~ The’ association’ ot arsenical compounds with’ salts of mercury enables | effective cures to be produced with much reduced doses } of mercury, and cases of svohilis respond: rapidly -to | this treatment.—E. Ariés: The coefficiénts of thermo- | elasticitv at low temperatures and Nernst’s hyoothesis: It is ‘proposéd to | i % : | of anv number whatever of imaginary variablés.—M.- —M, Riquier: A property of the analytical ‘functions Mesnager: The representation of concentrated charges by trigonometrical seriés--C. E. Guye and 'C: a 2CO NATURE [May 3, 1917 Stancescu; Explosive potential in carbon dioxide: at high pressures. ‘Experiments with carbon dioxide. at. pressures between five and forty-five atmospheres, and with striking distance between the plates (d) varying. between 034 mm. and 2-24 mm., proved that the. explosive potential V=F(md), where m is the number, 6f molecules in unit volume of gas.—P. Woog and J. Sarriau : A method of observation and measurement of rapidly periodic magnetic phenomena. An application of the Koenig manometric capsule.—M. ‘Trabut : The hybrid origin of :cultivated lucerne.—A. Guilliermond :, The alterations and the characters of the chondriome: in the epidermal cells of the tulip flower.. ~BOOKS RECEIVED. “The Secretion,of Urine. By Prof. A. R. Cushny. Pp. xit+241. (London: Longmans and Co.) 9s. net. The Borderlands of Science.’ By Dr. A. T. Schofield. Pp. viii+255. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd.) 6s.: net. : ~The Distribution of Attention. By E. N. McQueen. Pp.. vi+142. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) s. net. : S Electric and Magnetic Measurements. By C. M. Smith. Pp. xii+373. (New York: The Macmillan’ - €o.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) tos. 6d. net. Science Francaise Scolastique Allemande. By Prof. G. Papillault. Pp. 154. (Paris: F. Alcan.) 2 fr. 50. ' Theophrastus : Enquiry into Plants, and Minor Works. on Odours and Weather Signs. With an English -translation by Sir A. Hort.’ (Loeb Classical Library.). 2 vols. .Vol. i., pp. xxviii+ 474; vol. ii., pp. ix+499. {London : W. Heinemann.) 5s. net each vol. ’ Stresses in Wire-wrapped Guns and in Gun Car- fiages. By Lt.-Col. C. d’H. Ruggles. Pp. xi+259. (New York : J. Wiley: and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chap- man and Hall, Ltd.) 13s. 6d. net. * The Chemistry of Dyestuffs. By M. Fort and Dr. L. L. Lloyd. Pp. xi+311. (Cambridge: At the University Press.). 7s. 6d. net. ‘The Mexican Indians North of Mexico. By W. H. Miner. Pp. xi+169. (Cambridge: At the University Press.) 35. net. Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians. ‘By. W. W. Robbins, G. P. Harrington, and B. Freire-Marreco. Pp. xii+124. (Washington: Government Printing Office.) DIARY OF SOCIETIES. — e' ae THURSDAY, May 3. Rovat Socirtry, at.4.—Election of Fellows. At 4.30.—Croonian ‘Lecture : - The Excitation Wave in the Heart: Dr. Thomas Lewis. : Royat InsTITUTION, at 3.—Pagan Religion at the Time of Coming of Christianity ? Prof. Gilbert Mu ray. MATHEMATICAL SocIETY at 5.30. Sir George Stokes and the Theory of Uniform Convergence: G. H. Hardy.—A Symm trical Condition for ~ w-Apolar Triads on a Cubic Curve: Dr. W. P. Milne. _ Iron AND STEEL INSTITU -E; at- 10.30 a.m.—S'eel Ingot Defects: J. N. Kilby.—Influence of Surface. Tension on the Properties of Metals, especially of Iron and Steel : F. C. Thompson. INsTITUTE OF METALS, at 8.30.—Seventh May Lecture: =a ge ach thé Autographic Load-Extension Optical Indicator: Prof. - &. Dalby. . Linnean Society, at 8.—A Monograph of the Genus Fumaria: H. W. Pugsley.—The Flowers of the Ma*ua, Bassia latifolia, Roxb. : G. M. Rvan.—An. Autograph. of Vice-Admiral Bligh (1754-1817): C. D. Sherborn.—Two Critical Plants of the Greek Flora: C. C. Lacaita.—, (x) Paracubaris, a New Genus and Sp-cies of. Terrestrial Isopoda from sritish Guiana: (2) The Oral Appendages of Certain Species of Marine Isopoda: Dr. W. E. Collinge. 428.4 CHEMICAL Society, at 8.—Researches on Asymmetric Nitrogen Com- {.! pounds. “I. :-5-Aminosalic‘ lic Acid and Related Compounds ; II. : Some - ,.Nitrated Oxydiphenviamines; III. : Oxyphenyglycine: The. late R. “Mel ola. H.: S. Foster, and R. Brightman.—Contributions to the Penny of Caramel. I.: Caramelan: Miss M. Cunningham, and C. oree. ; FRIDAY, May 4. ; : see INSTITUTION, ‘at 5.30.—Some Guarantees of Liberty: H. Wickham teed. : fron AND STEEL INSTITUTE, at 10 a.m.—The Penetration of the Hardening NO. 2479, VOL. 99| Researches inade? Effect in Chromium and Copper Steels: L. Grenet.—Cementation by Gas under Pressure: F. C. Langenberg.—Origin and D velopment of the Railway Rail: G. P. Raidabaugh.—Case Hanacaae! of Iron by Boron: N. Tschischewsky.—Determination of the Line S.E. in the Iron-Carbon Diagram by Etching Sections at High Temperatures 7x vacuo: N Tschischewsky and ‘N. Schulgin. GEoLocists’ AssociATION, at 7.30.—The Correlation of the Ingletonian Slates: J. F. N. Green.—The Landslips ot Folkestone Warren and the Thickness of the Lower Chalk and Gault near Dover : C. W. Osman. SATURDAY, May 5. Roya. InstiruTion, at 3.—The Electrical Properties of Gases: Sir J. J. Thomson. MONDAY, May 7. Vicrorta InstiTUuTE, at 4.30.—The Pre-requisites of a Christian Philosophy : Rey. Dr. Whately. : ARISTOTELIAN Society, at 8.—The Basis of Critical Realism: Prof. G.. Dawes Hicks. : Royat Grocrapuicat Society, at 8.30.—Race and Nationality : Dr. Marion Newbigin. Rovat Society or Arts, at 4.30.—The National i wee of Iron Ore > Supplies. Il. : Oversea Iron Fields which Supply the British Market: Prot. W. G. Fearnsides. , : Society oF ENGINEERS, at 5.30.—The Goods Clearing House System Explained : Lord Headley. ee TUESDAY, May 8. Rovat INnstiTuTION, at 3.—Rhythmic Action in Muscle and in Nerve: Prof, C. S. Sherrington. WEDNESDAY, Mav 9. eet Rovat Society or ARTS, at 4.30.—Works Organisation and Efficiency: Prof. W. Ripper. THURSDAY, May to. Te Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Prvbable Papers: Permanent Periodicity in Sunspots: Sir Joseph Larmor and N. Yamaga.—The High-frequency Resistance of Multiply Stranded Insul ited Wire: Prof. G. W. O. Howe. Coming of Rovat InstrruTion, at 3.—Pagan Religion at the Time of the Christianity : Prof. Gilbert Murray. ; FRIDAY, May 11. Royat IwstiTuTION, at 5.30.—Radioactive Haloes: Prof. J. Joly. ROovAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. f tint’ SATURDAY, Mav 12. eae) _Rovat Instirution, at 3.—The Electrical Properties of Gases: Sir J. J. Thomson. ; x CONTENTS. PAGE The Problem of Heredity. By Sir E. Ray Lankester, _ /C.B..F:R:S.. . |. . soc eee | Generalised Co-ordinates. ByG. B.M. ..... 182 Tropical Agriculture . « 2 0 aise gue ess ORSie nae Our Bookshelf . : 2 <0 resis dieleteduat patentee eee eae Letters to the Editor:— eae Science Teaching and National Character.—Prof. Ramsay Muir; The Editor. ........ 184 The Frequency of Snow in London.—L. C. W. Bomacina. .. ... . 205. aoe eee Scarcity of Wasps in Kashmir in 1916.—J. Evershed, F.R.S. . 02 2 e/ariel alee en _ Ceratonia siligua and the Carat Weight.—J. H. Coste 185 The British Science Guild ....,.....- - 186 The Public Services of India oS oe oe The National Importance of Farm Vermin. By Dr. Walter E. Collinge . . sss 2s eee a be earn tho kts is deem Our Astronomical Column :— Persistent:.Aurora’...... > >. 5.:0 . NATURE ‘ [May 17, 1917 NOTES: § 84-4: ‘A Famous American, who did much’ to promote friendly relations’ between Great Britain’and the’ United States, died in New York on Tuesday, May 15, in the person of Mr. J. H. Choate, United States Ambassador to Great Britain from 1899 to 1905. His. eloquence and his influence during this term of. office made enduring impressions upon the British people, who will always associate him with Anglo-American goodwill. Mr. Choate was a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Honorary degrees were con- ferred upon him by many universities, among them being Edinburgh and Cambridge (1900), Oxford and St. Andrews (1902), and Glasgow (1904). | - Tue death is announced, at seventy-four years of age, of Prof. L. J. Landouzy, professor. of ‘clinical medicine in the University of Paris, and author of ‘Les Sérothérapies”’ and many other works. ANNOUNCEMENT has been made already of the deci- sion of the council of the, British Association not to hold the usual annual meeting this year, on account of travelling restrictions and difficulties of accommoda- tion at ‘Bournemouth, caused by conditions of war. It is necessary, however, to hold a formal meeting in order to bridge over the gap between the meeting at Newcastle-upon-Tyne last year and that which it is hoped to hold at Cardiff in 1918. Arrangements have been made, therefore, for meetings of the council of the association, the General Committee, and the Com- mittee of Recommendations to be held in London on Friday, July 6, in order to make appointments, receive the report of the council for the year, and transact other necessary busir.ess. A FEW days ago a correspondent of the Deily Mail resuscitated a well-known quotation from George Gissing’s ‘‘Private Papers of Henry- Ryecroft,” in order to associate science with the horrors of the pre- sent wat. The words are as follows :—‘‘I-hate and fear’ science’ because of my conviction that, for long to come, if not for ever, it will be the remorseless enemy of mankind. I see it destroying all simplicity and gentleness of life, all the beauty of the world; I see it restoring barbarism under the mask of civilisa- tion; I see it darkening men’s minds and hardening their hearts; I see it bringing a time of vast conflicts, which will pale into insignificance ‘ the thousand wars of old,’ and, as. likely as not, -will whelm all the laborious advances of mankind: in blood-drenched chaos."" We have on several occasions pointed out that it is merely pandering to popular prejudice to make science responsible for German barbarity ‘or tor the use of its discoveries*in destructive warfare. Chlorine was used as a bleaching ¢gent for much more than a century before the Germans first employed it as a poison gas; chloroform is.a daily. blessing to suffering humanity, but it is also used for criminal purposes; potassium cyanide may be used as a poison or to extract precious metals from their ores; and so with other scientific knowledge—it can be made a bless- ing or a means of debasement. The terrible sacrifice of human life which we are now witnessing is a conse- quence of the fact that the teaching of moral responsi- bility has not kept pace with the progress of science. As in medieval times all new knowledge was regarded as of diabolic origin, so even now the popular mind is ever ready to accept such views of the influence of science as are expressed in Gissing’s work. The pity of it is that the public Press does nothing to dispel illusions of this kind by urging that what is wanted is not less scientific knowledge, but a higher sense of human ‘responsibility in the use of the forces dis- covered. NO. 2481, VOL. 99] - _ French Minister of War, Mr. Haroip. Fietpinc-Hatt,- who. died-on-.May.5 was a coffee-planter in Burma, and. later, .a, distin guished political officer in-that province.’ ‘He -was,an, ardent student of Buddhism from the idealistic poin of view, and his chief work, ‘‘The Soul of a People,””. did much to encourage the study of Buddhism in; Europe and America. But, in the opinion of practical’ observers, its tendency was to ignore the popular and’ less admirable development of the faith in) the East, - - while insisting on the value of its philosophical aspects. : - Tue Government Central Control Board has ap- pointed an advisory committee, consisting of Lord. D’Abernon (chairman), Sir G. Newman, Dr, A. Rv Cushny, Dr. H. H. Dale, Dr. M. Greenwood, jun., Dr. W. McDougall, Dr. F. W. Mott, Dr. C. S. Sher-’ rington, and Dr. W. C. Sullivan, to consider the con- ditions affecting the physiological action of alcohol, particularly the effects on health and _ industrial. efficiency produced by the consumption of bever-. ages of various alcoholic strengths, with special refer-. ence to the recent orders of the Central-Control Board, - and further to plan out and direct such investigations as may appear desirable with the view of obtaining more exact data on this and cognate questions. At the general meeting of the members of the Royal. Institution on May 7 a letter was read from the dis- tinguished mathematician, M. Paul Painlevé, the-— After thanking the members for electing him an honorary member of the Royal Institution, an honour which has been conferred on few Frenchmen, M. Painlevé went on to say :—‘*Ce qui me fait, ensuite et surtout, attacher un prix par-- ticulier 4 l’honneur d’avoir été choisi par vous pour. faire partie de votre Assemblée, c’est que ce choix s’est manifesté en pleine guerre alors que nos deux pays combattent cédte A cdte le combat du droit. Puissent ainsi toutes les forces intellectuelles et toutes les ressources scientifiques de l’Angleterre et de la France hater la victoire de nos armes et assurer pour jamais dans le monde la suprématie de la pensée sur la violence.”’ ; THE seventh annual report’ of the Illuminating Engineering Society was presented at the annual meet- ing on May 15. The society, dealing with scientific and industrial aspects of a wide subject, unites on common ‘ground electrical engineers, gas engineers, manufacturers of lasnps and shades,- physicists, oph- — thalmic specialists, -architects, and surveyors, . . This branch of engineering has been recognised by. the: appointment, under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, of a Joint Committee on TIllu-. minating Engineering. The successful union of these various interests is largely due to the efforts of the hon. secretary, Mr, Leon Gaster, during the last: ten years. Mr. Gaster is a British. subject. of Rumanian origin, and is thus doubly associated with the cause of the Allies. All the male members of his family in Rumania and in England who are of military age are fighting for this cause, and one of his nephews was recently killed in Rumania. Se CONSIDERABLE progress has, we learn, been ‘made with the proposal to establish a national memorial to the late Capt. F. C. Selous, D.S.O., who, it will be recalled, was killed in action while leading his men in an attack on a German post in East Africa early in January last. An influential and representative committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the Rt. Hon. E. S. Montagu, M:P., with Mr. E.. North Buxton and the Hon, W. P. Schreiner, C.M.G., as vice-chair- men. Among: others who have joined the committee are Viscount Buxton, G.C.M.G., the Earl of Coven- NATURE. *' pee 234 - David Feaiiasie of Rusty), Lord Des- 1K ¢-Y. - British ies Union, *the Sora Colonial In- ‘stit te, and thé British South’ Africa Company. The com se has decided, with the permission of the o stees of the ‘British Museum, to place a mural _ tablet in the Natural History Museum, where many of Selous’s finest trophies are exhibited, but the very eat ae response which has been received to the for a national memorial of the great hunter, er, and naturalist indicates fhat there is a al desire that some additional form of perpetuat- ing his to. should be established. Several sug- & ex have been considered, and it is hoped that at will be possible to found a Selous scholarship at. eee. is old school), for the sons of officers, rin those who have fallen in the war. The ca ls to-the: Memorial Committee is Mr. E. tions should be sent to Mr. C. E. Fagan, hon. treasurer, Selous Memorial, Natural History Museum, ; gage Kensington, London, S.W.7. . We learn with regret that on April 30 Arnold Lock- E tart Fletcher died in a Red Cross hospital at Rouen _ f wounds received some jays earlier at the front. . J. Joly writes :—Arnold Fletcher was born in ; , He was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and obtained the degree in civil engineering in 1909. 2 Shon afterwards he was appointed research assistant ent artment of geology and mineralogy in int College. In 1910 he took part in communicat- Te, per on ‘“Pleochroic Haloes” to the Philo- Magazine. In the same year he commenced MM on the radium content of rocks. - He dealt suc- . os with the rocks of the Transandine tunnel _ (Phil. Mag., July, 1910) and with the Leinster Granite Mag., January, 1911). also made determinations of thorium content. In the latter materials He ‘between the quantities of the two radio-active _ families present, a peculiarity since noticed in other ‘eases. The Antarctic rocks followed (Phil. Mag., ane, 1911). Finally, he undertook a very complete examination of the secondary rocks (Phil. Mag., cot Ig12). In this research the fusion method and the utmost care taken to eliminate Tre eee work is entitled to rank as the best that ee been done on these materials. Fletcher con. eed a paper on sublimates, obtained at high tem- tures, to the Royal Dublin Society in 1913. In same year an account of a method of finding the Feat content of radium-rich minerals by fusion on a carbon hob appeared in the Phil. Mag. This last . 2 ose ‘was done in the Royal College of Science for d. In 1913 Fletcher entered the service of the a Department of Agriculture and Technical In. struction as inspector, an institution of which his —Mr. George Fletcher—is assistant secretary in respect of technical instruction. Shortly after the war broke out Arnold Fletcher applied for a commis- Sion, and was gazetted in the Leinster Regiment in ec 1915. At the time of his death he was attached to a machine-gun corps. Fletcher possessed qualities which contribute to success in scientific work: 2 patience, enthusiasm, . manipulative skill, determina- _ tion, and the power of overcoming experimental diffi- _ culties. In his brief life he did work which must _ find permanent record among the data of science. _ Along with this claim, the claim of his sacrifice to his country must for ever remain. NO. 2481, VOL. 99] Stuart Baker, 6 Harold Read, Norwood. Subscrip- special attention to the remarkably uniform . over men of sciencé should see to it that some national memorial to such lives be raised. Tue National Geographic Magazine _for Februncy publishes a well-illustrated article by an anonymous writer on “‘Our Foreign-born Citizens,’ in which the past and future of emigration into the United States are discussed. The literary test recently imposed will turn back one-fourth of the Armenians, two-fifths of the Serbians, Bulgarians, and Montenegrins, more than a fourth of the Jews and Greeks, more than half the South Italians, more than a third of the Poles and Russians, and a fourth of the Slovaks. More than 33,000,000 of people have already crossed the Atlantic, of which Great Britain and Ireland have contributed 8 ,500,000 and Germany more than 6,000,000. Ireland with more than 4,000,000, Great Britain with about 4,000,000, and Scandinavia with 2,000,000 have, together with Germany, contributed more than half the emigrants since the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It is estimated that the United Statés will have a population of nearly 500,000,000 in 2217, or approximately 166 to the square mile. But there is little danger of congestion, as statisticians estimate that the country has a sus- taining power of 500 to the square mile, and assum- ing that one-third of the country is occupied by waste land, it will, on this basis, have room for a population of 900,000,000. Mr. Edwarp CLopp contributes to the Fortnightly Review for May an interesting article on Dr. John- son and Lord Monaboddo. An attractive picture is given of the active-minded judge, who, in his “* Origin and Progress of Language” (2773-92), was one of the first to suggest man’s relationship with tHe higher apes. There was considerable absurdity in Lord Monboddo’s statement of his theory, but that it was — a flash of genius is indubitable. Laughed at by his contemporaries, and ridiculed by- the conservative Johnson, Monboddo was far ahead of his time. ‘*Some of his speculations were anticipations of dis- coveries which have revolutionised thought and opinion in all directions; his was the creeping of the dawn when old things were passing away and all thin were to become new.’ There is something fine in the conclusion of his long exposition of the resemblances between man and the apes: “That my facts and arguments are so convincing as to leave no doubt of the humanity of the orang-utan, I will not take upon me to say; but this much I will venture to affirm, that I have said enough to ma2ke the philosopher consider it as probiematical, and a_subject deserving to be inquired into. . . .” Mr. Clodd shows the natural- ness of Johnson’s attitude to Monboddo’s subversive views. ‘But that attitude should convey the lesson to keep an open mind towards all matters, y those that collide with our prejudices and contradict our ‘certainties.’’’ As a wise Frenchman said, “ Be- cause science is sure of nothing, it is always advanc- ing.’ Mr. J. Harorp Witiams contributes a study of heredity and juvenile delinquency to the Eugenics Review for April (vol. ix., No. 1). Twelve family - ‘histories are considered, and indicate the extreme importance of heredity in delinquency. At the same time, even in feeble-minded children delinquency is directly a product of environment. In nature and nurture, therefore, not separately, but collectively, must we look for an improved social being. The dis- cussion on the disabled sailor and soldier and the future of our race, celebrating the Galton anniversary on February 16, is also included in this issue of the When the war is ! review. 232 ‘NATURE [May 17, 1917 Tue National Clean Milk Society has issued a report of an investigation into the hygienic quality of the milk supplied to babies attending certain schools for mothers. The milk was supplied by twenty-seven dealers, and a sample from each was examined. Only six of the samples ‘contained not more than 500,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre; one contained more than 100,000,000. Two of the samples contained tubercle bacilli. Hints are also given how to inquire about the domestic milk supply, and details are given of the milk supply in certain American cities. The National Clean Milk Society (2 Soho Square, W.1) is doing good work and national service in trying to raise the standard of our milk supply. Its member- ship is open to all, and additional members are much needed. cn A BEE disease entitled ‘‘Sacbrood”’ is described by G. F. White in Bulletin 431 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is mot a new disease, but appears to have been included by bee-keepers under ‘pickled brood,’ a term which has acquired a very | comprehensive meaning. ‘‘Sacbrood” attacks the larvze in various stages, and is shown by the author to be transmitted in a “‘filterable virus’; no definite micro-organism can be detected. A COMMUNICATION has reached us from Mr. Timmler, a civil servant in British conquered territory, German East Africa, New Langenburg, on the subject of the destruction of tsetse-flies. It is the somewhat sur- ‘prising one of “gassing” the flies with a gas pre- ferably innocuous. to man, but fatal .to the flies, or if deadly to man and flies, the use of masks, etc., would become imperative while operations were pro- ceeding. The suggestion is that the monsoons would carry the gas across the fly-infested areas. We regard the proposal as impracticable, but an experiment would be better than any expression of adverse opinion. Aw interesting lecture by Mr. Govindam, Deputy Director of Fisheries for Madras, is published in the “Book of the Madras Exhibition, 1915-16.” Huge quantities of the Indian ‘‘oil sardine” have always been available on this coast, and formerly these fish “were converted into a manure by simple drying on ‘the beach. An intolerable nuisance, described as “the first line of coast defence,’? was the result, and the fertiliser produced was poor in quality. In 1909 the Fisheries Department introduced a simple method of expressing the oil and drying the resulting fish-cake to form a kind of guano of. value as a fertiliser, since it contained little oil. The method was extensively copied by the natives, with the result that the value of the oil obtained rose from Rs.52,630 in 1910-11 to Rs.2,29,014 in 1913-14, while the corresponding values of the fish guano produced wete Rs.13,648 and Rs.4,03,787. Up to the present this year we have only received the first number of the Kew Bulletin, and it contains articles mainly of importance for the Colonies and India. There is a long systematic account of the fungus flora of the Uganda forests, which is the first attempt to give a comprehensive account of the fungi. of this region, and is a useful step in the direction of the preparation of-a fungus. flora of tropical Africa. As regards India, several new species of plants are described by Mr. Gamble, which will be incorporated in his ‘‘ Flora of Madras,” now in course of publica- tion. Tue fungus diseases of Para rubber, Hevea brasili- ensis, appear to be assuming rather large proportions, NO. 2481, VoL. 99] ~ and are occupying the attention of mycologists in the East to a considerable extent. The species of Phyto- phthora which attacks the tapped areas of the stems forms the subject of a paper by Mr. J. F. Dastur in the Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India (vol. viii., No. 5, 1916). The fungus which is known as ‘black. thread” causes black stripes on the tapping area, and is a serious disease in preventing thread of Burma appears to be distinct from the _ disease of the same name recorded from Ceylon, which bad cocoa disease, and this fungus not only occurs | as a canker on the stems, but also badly affects, the seeds of Hevea. Remedial measures are discussed for the Burmese species, but the most efficacious measure appears to be to abstain from tapping the diseased trees during the rainy season. Accounts published of other fungus diseases of Para rubber in the rubber industry may cause some anxiety. ‘Tue council of the Royal Agricultural Society has just issued the first of a proposed series of ‘*t Occa- sional Notes,’’ by means of which it is hoped that the members may be kept more or less continuously in _ touch with the work carried on by the scientific officers of the society. The first number includes a note by Sir John MeFadyean on joint-ill in foals; notes by Prof. Biffen on seeds, eradication of weeds in meadow- land, and the spraying of potatoes for the prevention of ‘blight’; notes on insect pests by Mr. Cecil War- with fertilisers and feeding-stuffs by Dr. J. A. Voelcker. 2 J The matters dealt with are such as have | previously been dealt with only in the annual reports of the officers, but through the medium of these . periodical notes a more rapid and timely dissemination ‘|.0f information and advice will be secured, and the efficiency of the society’s advisory work correspondingly increased. Reference may also be made to an excel- lent leaflet on the ox warble-fly, or bot-fly, which has | society. AN interesting report by Prof. V. H. Blackman and Mr. I. Jorgensen on the results obtained in 1916 in discharge upon crop production appears in the April number of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture. The experiments, which are a continuation of those A uniform field of nine zcres was used for the pur- pose, one acre being selected as the electrified area and two half-acre plots as controls. Im comparison closer together, so that the intensity of the discharge received by the crop was much increased. Oats were sown on Maych 27, and by May 16 the erop on the electrified area had established a marked lead, which it retained to the end. The discharge was ied for 848 hours during the season, being used = in the daytime and discontinued during actual rain, The final results showed for the electrified area the astonishing increases over the average of the control areas of 49 per cent. in grain and 88 per cent. in straw, the increased value of the crop. being éstimated at 6l, 7s, per acre. The cost of the current used, if taken at id. per unit, amounted to only 141s. The further mteresting observation was. made of a marked “after-effect ’’ on the electrified area used in the pre- vious year the clover crop which succeeded the oats N the proper healing of the tapped surfaces.. The black. is due to Phytophthora Faberi, also the cause of a — ~ the Federated Malay States show that the future of — burton, and on certain points of interest in connection — been drawn up by Mr. Warburton’ and issued by the field investigations into the effect of overhead eléctric © initiated by Prof. J. H. Priestley, were carried out, as — in previous years, at Lincluden Mains Farm, Dum-— fries, under the supervision of Miss E. C. Dudgeon. — with previous years the charged wires were lower and NATURE 2) SS May 17, 1917] ag much better on this area than on the rest of the d. It is pointed out in conclusion that many points till remain to be investigated before the use of the verhead electric discharge can be definitely recom- led as a soufid extension of agricultural practice. E growing of magnesite as a refrac- material and for use in magnesian cement has led , exploitation at the mining township of Bulong, he N.E. Coo ie Goldfield of Western Australia R. Feldtmann, in Ann. Report Geol. Surv. of W. fia for 1915). The material requires picking ‘the serpentine in which it occurs, but veins up . in thickness have been traced. In this, as in ‘tances, the magnesite is held to have been r waters containing carbon dioxide per- decomposing igneous complex of basic VE have received from Mr.: David Currie a letter lating to the article on ‘Empire Development and (ganisation ? which appeared in our-issue of April He directs attention to the fact that, although is by far the largest producer of raw asbestos, ja mines a substantial amount of this mineral, Rhodesia is being developed as an important field. regards the statement that the United Kingdom is largely dependent on outside sources, especially the United States, for its manufactured asbestos as in- t, affirming that the imports from the States “insignificant and even less than our exports to . States, in spite of the prohibitive tariff.” The hority for tar, NO. 2481, VOL. 99] eee 2 , ad < ‘ & 7 Waitine in the Scientific American for April 21, Mr. Ellwood Kendrick deals with recent chemical develop- ments in America. He points out that in treating metals the manufacturer has gone ahead’by leaps and bounds, the reason being that, beginning with Andrew Carnegie and the Pittsburgh ironmasters, the chemist ‘has been called in. He has also been welcomed in > the petroleum indusfty, in the making of explosives, and latterly in the manufacture of coal-tar and other products. In other fields the chemist has not’ been wanted; the dread of the theorist has kept the doors of certain industries closed to him, with consequent waste and loss. After reference to the growing use of. ferments and bacteria in chemica! industry, Mr. Kendrick. deals with a recent article on nitro-starch as an explosive. The difficulties with this nitro product have been, in the first place, lack of stability when made by any practical method, and, secondly, difficulties in nitration owing to clotting, etc. It is claimed that the problem of producing a permanent nitro-starch has now been solved. By working up 80 to 85 per cent. with nitroglycerine a suitable explosive is obtained, and comparison is made between it and dynamite. Nitro-starch is claimed to.be the cheapest of all high explosives. With present food problems, however, it can have no immediate interest for Europe. It is also stated that a licence has been granted in Switzerland for the manufacture of alcohol, primarily for industrial purposes, from calcium carbide. The works will be built at Visp. THE annual general meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry is provisionally fixed to be held at the University of Birmingham on July 18-20. The following papers are promised :—* Chemical Porcelain,” H. Watkins; ‘“ Duro-Glass,” Dr. M. W. Travers; “British Sources of Sand for Glass: and Metallurgical Work,” Dr. P.G. H. Boswell ; * Refractory Materials,” W. C. Hancock; ‘ Synthetic - Nitrates,” E. K. Scott; “ Nitrates from the Air,” Dr. Maxted ; ‘Low-temperature Distillation Fuel,’’ Prof. O’Shea ; ‘Industrial Fuel from Gas Works,” E.~ W. Smith ; “‘Calorific Value of Industrial Gaseous Fuel,” W.. J. Pickering; ‘‘High-pressure Gas for Industrial Pur- poses,’ Mr. Walter; ““Some Sources of Benzot and Toluol for High Explosives,” T. F. E. Rhead ; “ Arti- ficial Silk,’ L. P. Wilson; ‘‘ Activated Sludge Pro- cess,” E. Ardern; “‘Organisation of Industrial Re- search,”” H. W. Rowell; “Scheme for Co-operative Industrial Research,” H. W. Rowell: “ Vulcanisation of Rubber,’ Dr. D. F. Twiss. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.- ‘Comet 1917a (MELLISH).—The following revised ephemeris for this comet, based upon a new orbit calculated from observations made on March 21, April 4 and April 20, has been received - from Copen- agen :— Deck 1917 Log a Mag h. m. s. May 27 I 56 28 —I2 56-2 0-2236 7-2 June 4 27:28 14 11-5 02419 = 7-5 12 16 53 I5 318 02559 - 78 20 24 45 16 59:8 0-2666 80 “28 aF is 18. 37:3 0-2748 8-2 July 6 35 46 20 25-6 0-2810 8-4 14 38 46 22 24-2 0-2859 8-6 22~-. 239 54 +24 335 o290r - 87 The comet is now too far south for observation in Europe. It was apparently this comet which was observed in Australia on April 19, and described as a new comet (see Nature, April 26, p. 172). 234 NATURE | [May 17, 1917 : DISPLACEMENTS OF SOLAR LinEs.—In continuation of previous work on iron, Dr. Royds has recently made an extensive series of comparisons of the spectra of the sun and arc for nickel and titanium, and has also investigated the displacements at the negative pole of the arc in the case of these elements (Kodaikanal Bul- letin, No. 81). | Unsymmetrical lines of nickel and titanium, as indicated by their behaviour at the nega- tive pole, and by records of their appearance under pressure, were found to be very numerous, and it was only possible to confirm to a limited extent the con- clusions arrived at from the lines of iron. It is con- - sidered, however, that the new results are not incon- sistent with the conclusions deduced from iron by Mr. Evershed, namely, that the displacements at the centre of the sun’s disc, and at the sun’s limb, are Doppler effects due to descending motion in the line of sight, and that the solar pressure is of the order of three- quartérs of an atmosphere. The spectrograph em- ployed in these investigations has been provided with a new Anderson grating having 75,085 lines on a ruled surface of 9-7X 12-8 cm. Tue ProsLteM oF SpiraL NeBuLa&.—The view that spiral nebulae may be distant galaxies, or “island- universes,” is discussed in an interesting article by Dr. Crommelin in the May number of Scientia. In recent years this hypothesis has received considerable- support from the discovery that a large proportion of the non-gaseous nebulz are of spiral form, and by the accumulation of evidence that our own system has a somewhat similar structure. One of the chief difficul- ties with regard to it is the fact that such nebulz are mainly concentrated in the vicinity of the galactic poles, thus suggesting a connection with our system, but Dr. Crommelin considers that this apparent avoid- ance of the galactic plane by the spirals may be ex- plained by assuming the existence of patches of obscur- ing matter which become more numerous as the galac- tic plane is approached. Moreover, if the spirals were inside our system, ‘their ~rouping would probably be about an axis through the centre of the galaxy, and not about an axis through our sun at right angles to the galactic plane. The alternative view that the spirals may be emanations driven out of our system by some agency seems to be rendered untenable by the recently discovered fact that their radial velocities are greatly in excess of any velocities which have been observed within the system. Dr. Crommelin con- cludes that most of the evidence seems to favour the extra-galactic position of the spirals, and if this view be adopted, it follows that they are of dimensions com- parable with those of our galaxy. They are probably at a comparatively early stage of development, much of their matter being still scattered and diffused in clouds which reflect some of the starlight. ELIAS ASHMOLE, F.R.S., FOUNDER OF THE FIRST PUBLIC MUSEUM $OF © NATURAL HISTORY. M4Y 23 next wiJl be the three hundredth anni- versary -of the birth of Ashmole, antiquary. herald, and“man of science. He included among his . interests not onlv the entire world of Nature, but, like some physicists of the present day, he delighted to explore the regions of the preternatural. He has often been blamed, and we think unjustly, for devoting so much time to astrology and alchemy, which were the “scientific ’’ pursuits in fashion at that period; but we should dwell upon what has lasted of his work rather. than upon what was trivial and ephemeral. So far as science is concerned, the outcome of his lifework will always be memorable, for he became the founder of the first public museum of natural history in Great NO. 2481, VOL. 99] Britain; next, he must be regarded'as the founder of the first university chemical laboratory; and}; thirdly, he founded the first chair of chemistry in Oxford: Ashmole was torn at Lichfield, and-received his early education at the local Grammar School. At. the age | of twenty-seven circumstances brought him, in_ the character of a commissioner of excise; to Oxford, where he continued his education in physics and mathe- matics as a member of Brasenose College, and imbibed from a Capt. George: Wharton that taste for the study of astrology and alchemy which led him to give these subjects so much of his time. In October, 1646, he moved to London, and there for the next ten years eagerly assimilated the experimental facts and vision- ary lore of Lilly, Booker, and Martin Backhouse. He vigorously pushed forward his studies in astrology, chemistry, and botany; was a guest at “the mathe- | matical feast at the White Hart"; edited Dr, Dee’s writings; published the ‘‘ Theatrum Chemicum,” and, to quote Selden, “was affected to the furtherance of all good learning.” ; Ashmole lacked the teuchstone of modern training which renders a student competent to discriminate between false and true learning; it was beyond the power of any one man to investigate every recipe for the philosopher’s stone, and discover for himself the futility of this and similar quests. But during those years of research in London Ashmole arrived at the best method of stimulating interest in scientific matters, knowledge which wa3,put to the best use some years later. We will not therefore regard him as a scientific observer nor as a, successful experi- mentalist, but as the prcmoter of one of the’ most effective methods of primary scientific education, which aims at awakening and developing the intellectual activity of the young by putting before their eyes re- markable objects of natural history. Prof. Tyndall well expresses the essentials of the method in his ad- dress on “The Importance of the Study of Physics as a Branch of Education for all Classes’’; he points out the great value of the incentive that the exhibition of natural objects and phenomena. supplies in the stimu- lating of mental activity :—‘tAs the nurse holds her glittering toy before the infant she would encourage to take its first step, so it would appear as if one of the ends of the Creator, in setting those shining — thingsin heaven, was to woo the attention and excite the intellectual activity of His earth-born child.’’ With- out going so far as the distinguished physicist, in attributing motives to the Creator, we would insist that the more strongly the senses of the observer can be arrested by objects or phenomena of curious or unusual nature, the more vivid are the images of thought which are conjured up in the mind. When objects become commonplace, or operations a part of our everyday life, they lose this power of. stimulation. Impressions arising from accidental circumstances often exercise so powerful an effect on the young as ~ to determine the direction of a career. Humboldt re- lates that his early. desire to visit tropical countries sprang partly from seeing some pictures of the shores of the Ganges in the house of Warren Hastings in London, and from the sight of a colossal dragon- tree in the old tower of a botanic garden. To a mind susceptible to impressions of this kind such object- lessons have the greatest educational value. And it is for this reason that Ashmole, as the founder of the first public museum of natural history, has the greatest claim to our consideration. The oldest specimens in his museum had been col- lected by John Tradescant the elder (died 1638) during his travels in Holland, Russia, and Barbary, about the end of the sixteenth century. He left the collection to his son John (died 1662), who enriched it by adding new specimens collected on‘ his travels in Virginia, rset ¥ 17, 1917] | NATURE peared under Tradescant’s name, allusions in ce and the more definite statement of John , “printed in his page by Mr. Ashmole,” ‘e it almost certein that Ashmole was not only the tor but also part compiler and -editor of this, t English, catalogue of ‘a natural history m. The keen interest Ashmole took in the col- s would explain why Tradescant should have up a deed of gift in 1659 making over the cabinet of rarities at his death to his friend, in 1674, after twelve years of controversy and Hion with the widow, moved the collections to house in South Lambeth, where they: were so ar and methodically preserved as to elicit praise Izaak Walton. 1677 Ashmole offered the whole collection, with idditions he had made to it, to the University of ford, on condition that a suitable building was pro- for their display. His offer was accepted, a nuseum was built, the rarities were ‘“‘ put up in cases,” ad on March 14, 1683, the last loads “‘ were sent to > barge” for transport to Oxford, and Ashmole ‘elapsed into the gout.” The preamble to his statutes, orders, and rules for governance of his museum shows clearly that his tion was to provide the University with a museum tural history, which should be primarily a scien- fic institution and not a ‘‘knick-knackatory,”’ or a col- mn of historical relics and antiquities, such as has come to be exclusively associated with his name the New Ashmolean Museum, of which Sir Arthur is was the practical founder. The advancement itural knowledge was Ashmole’s first object; the mulation of objects of art was not his purpose ept in so far as those art objects served to illustrate application of natural products. The preamble as follows :— ; : cause the knowledge of Nature is very necessarie umaine life, health, and the conveniences thereof, because that knowledge cannot be soe well and ly attain’d, except the history of Nature be mowne and considered; and to this is requisite the spection of particulars, especially those as are extra- dinary in their Fabrick, or usefull in Medicine, or lyed to Manufacture or Trade: I, Elias Ashmole, of my affection to this sort of Learning, wherein selfe have taken, and still doe take, the greatest ght; for-wh cause also, I have amass’d together eat variety of naturall Concretes and Bodies, and be- wed them on the University of Oxford, wherein my fe have been a student, and of which I have the 4 to be a Member. Lest there should be any mis- ction of my intendment, or deteriorating of my mation, I have thought good. according to the Acts Convocation, bearing date Jun:4:A° 1683 and pt : 19: An° 1684, to appoint, constitute, and ordaine follows.”” Then follow eighteen orders. Order 6 is an example of his judicious foresight. It acts ‘“That whatsoever raturall Body that is very are, whether Birds Insects, Fishes, or the like, apt to putrefie and decaye with tyme shall be painted in a aire Velom Folio Booke, either with water-colors, or at least design’d in black and white, by some good Master, with reference to the description of the Body “itselfe, and the Mention of the Donor inthe Catalogue ; wth Booke shall be in the Custody of the Keeper of the Musaeum under Lock and key.” _In these days of cheap photography the execution f this order would be a simple matter. provides for the exchange or donation of duplicates, and by Order 8 old specimens are to be removed to cupboards. _ _ NO. 2481, vor. 99] Order 7 | ct i : | thus proclaims itself, not abreast, but in advance, of : 235 under .the persuasion of Ashmole, published a | The new building was constructed so as to include a 2 of the whole collection. Although this cata- | lecture-room and a chemical laboratory, and for morethan a century anda half it was the centre of scientific life in Oxford. For the further advancement of science Ash- mole founded the first chair of chemistry in Oxford, and Robert Plot was appointed first Ashmolean pro- fessor, and also keeper to the museum. Unfortunately the founder’s schemes for the adequate advancement of his favourite subjects were longer than his purse, and he did not live long enough to collect sufficient capital endowment to put the new professorship upon a per- manent footing. Ashmole is nor likely to be forgotten in Oxford, yet the destiny that so often militates against just recogni- tion in science has brought it about that his name, the museum and officers he created, are no longer used in accordance with his original ordinances. The museum in which he took so much pride no longer exists as such; even the knick-knacks to which his name is attached can no longer be seen in the building which he persuaded the University to provide; the old Ash- molean building, sadly in need of repair, is degraded to class-rooms, offices, and book stores; the greater part of the scientific specimens which he so greatly valued have been destroyed, and the few fragments that remain distributed ; and Ashmole’s keeper, relieved of the duties that were put upon him by the founder in respect of the natural history collections, is now in charge solely of the few curiosities which did not in Ashmole’s opinion constitute the central feature of his museum. A fitting commemoration of his name is to lay stress upon the fact that he was one of the pioneers of scien- tific education in England, that he earnestly endeav- oured to promote learning, and that it is only by an error that his name has survived as a collector of curious antiquities. Of the old Tradescant and Ash- mole collection some score or two of zoological speci- mens have survived from the seventeenth century. It is to be hoped that they may once more be brought together in accordance with their donors’ wishes and their great historic value. 5 R. T. GunTHER. PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND NATURE STUDY. THE unusual interest attaching to the report of the Rugby School Natural History Society for the year 1916 warrants our directing attention to the great service which our public schools may render to the cause of natural science. It is the jubilee number and in addition to the usual features contains much other matter of exceptional interest: Special mention may be made of the racy and valuable paper by Canon Wilson, of Worcester, in which his personal reminis- cences of the early history of the society, and, indeed, of the prehistoric period, are set forth with much humour and enthusiasm. . Though the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the society was celebrated in March last, thus carry- ing us back to the year 1867—the tercentenary of the school—yet we learn that work on similar lines to those which the society follows to-day was carried on for some years previously. The geological museum dates from the time of Dr. Arnold. Canon Wilson went to Rugby as a master in 1859, and found a large collection of dusty and unnamed specimens in the Arnold Library. But one goes back yet another decade, and finds the year 1849 specially worthy of note. It was | then that Dr. Sharp, a resident medical man, gave the first lectures on natural philosophy. Rugby School blic opinion in regard to the position which natural science ought to occupy in liberal education. 236 NATURE ‘ 4 [May 17, 1917 In 1847 the British Association met in Oxford. Shortly afterwards a memorial was drafted for. pri senting to.the University urging greater facilities for the study of natural history and science. It was, however, strangled in the birth, even so great an advocate of science as Buckland refusing to sign it. ‘Some years ago,’’ he wrote, *‘ I was sanguine, as you are now, as to the possibility of natural history making some progress in Oxford, but I have long come to the conclusion that it is utterly hopeless.” We shall agree that it required some courage on the part of Dr. Tait to start the teaching of science at Rugby in the face of the almost universal condemna- tion of the study as frivolous and dangerous. ; Between the years 1859 and 1864 Canon Wilson and others did some good voluntary work in geology. &. this time a Royal Commission recommended &that every: boy should receive instruction in one or other of the sciences, and Dr. Temple engaged a science master from Birmingham with the view of carrying out the recommendation at Rugby. But Hutchinson could not enter on his duties till 1865, so Canon Wilson and Kitchener, who two years later became the first presi- dent of the Natural History Society, undertook to teach botany. Sir J. D. Hooker planned a course,of study, and as the masters were not experts in the subject, they devoted their holiday to a six weeks’ course at Barmouth, with Henslow as their coach. Such enthusiasm merited the reward it received. The way was thus prepared for the inauguration of a society which should undertake the voluntary study of Nature, independently of the school -curri- culum, and on March 23, 1867, the Natural History Society was founded by a little group of eight boys and one master. The portrait of the master, Kitchener, is given as frontispiece to the current report. Some idea of the good work which the society has since accomplished: may be obtained by reference to the pages dealing. with natural history which give such value to the ‘‘County History of Warwickshire,’’ in which the annual reports of the school are laid under frequent contribution. ; Most young people probably have an inherent love of Nature, but it depends largely on early environ- ‘ment whether it will die or develop. More. than one old Rugbeian has, in the course of the last half- century, made his mark in one department or other of natural history. Thus Longstaff, whose delightful book on ‘‘ Butterfly Hunting in Many Lands ”’ carries us round the world, writes: ‘“‘As long as life lasts I shall be grateful to Mr. F. E. Kitchener and Canon Wilson for the substantial addition to my happiness that their instruction provided.”?- Dr. Lucas, F.R.S., whose death last October was so greatly deplored, was another Rugby boy, and acted as curator and sectetary in 1898, while the report for 1896 contains a paper by him on photomicrography. Worthington, whose interesting papers on ‘‘The Splash of a Drop ” won for him election to the Royal Society, first de- veloped his love for this subject while at Rugby. And what shall we say of that famous Nimrod of modern times, Capt. Selous, ‘whose ‘African Nature - Notes ’’ and other books reveal the perfect naturalist? His obituary, with an excellent photograph, finds a place in this report, but we owe to Canon Wilson a most romantic story of his successful attempt to ob-. tain eggs from a heronry at Coombe Abbey, and the price he had to pay for his daring. We regret that we cannot find space to repeat the |anecdote, with others of a similar kind. : That the work of the society is well maintained, and that the interest does not flag, is shown by the original papers as well as by the sectional reports. Without being invidious, we should like to direct - special attention to the work of Greg and Bevington NO. 2481, VOL. 99| pre-. ; in ornithology. Such studies are of inestimable value. to young people. They develop the powers of observa- tion, teach patience, sympathy, endurance, and kind- ness, divert the mind from base pursuits, open. out a fairy realm of beauty and delight, which cannot fail to ennoble, as well as entertain, those who pursue them. Any public scliool not already 4n the posses- sion of such an institution may be heartily recom- mended to follow the example of Rugby. _ Hi.peric FRIEND. AN INSTITUTE OF APPLIED OPTICS FOR FRANCE, Sgighs aN SCHEME is on foot in Paris to establish an In- stitute of Applied Optics, with the object. of securing closer co-operation. between theory and practice in the optical trade. It has been suggested, according to an article in La Nature, that the scope of the institute should fall into three sections, .viz. (i) a college of optics, providing a thorough theoretical — and practical training for opticians, and promoting among its students a taste for optical research; (ii) a central optical laboratory, where tests of glasses ‘and optical instruments would be made for men of science, public bodiés, and manufacturers, and research work of general interest carried out; and (iii) a special trade school in. which the. students could obtain a il training in the practical branches of the trade. It is proposed that the institute should publish trans- actions in a form following, say, the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde, aes , The students of the college of optics would be re- cruited from the educated classes—Army and Navy officers, students or ex-students of the universities and technical colleges, astronomers, illuminating engineers, manufacturers of optical instruments, and doctors interested in physiological optics. There would be two distinct branches of instruction, viz. general optics and instrumental optics. The courses would be supplemented by lectures on all modern optical ques- tions. The period of study is suggested as one year. The central laboratory would serve as a test ears. tory for manufacturers of optical instruments and for glass manufacturers, as a practice laboratory for the students, and as a research laboratory for the college staff, The professional, or trade, school would take youn people for three years and give them a thorsene training in (i) glass-working, and (ii) construction and fitting up of optical instruments. - Eis The scheme has received the favourable considera- tion of various Government departments and of cer- tain scientific and learned societies in Paris; indeed, the publication of the transactions of the institute is already assured. ; While it would be difficult to install the machinery and plant necessary for the trade section of the in- - stitute, it is suggested that the programme of the | courses should be considered and the principal courses - commenced in the school year 1917-18. E. S. Hopeson. BS res THE MAN OF SCIENCE IN THE COM- MUNITY OF TO-DAY. — ‘el is not too much to say that for the first time in the history of the British Empire Science is com-. ing into her own. It is no doubt humiliating to have to confess that it was the misapplied science of our enemies which demonstrated to us how inferior was the place we had given science in our own national 1 From an address delivered to the Nova Scotian Institute of Science on November 13, 1916, by Prof. D. Fraser Harris. NATURE 237 , Harvey, Newton, James Watt, Jenner, Fara- larwin, Kelvin, and Lister had to be shown by ponents of. science prostituted that science was theless worth cultivating for its own sake. __ Possibly nothing less terrific than this irruption of onic brutality would have shaken the British race cut its comfortable mental inertia. But having awakened, let us thankfully admit that our rulers now doing something towards recognising the all- t importance of science in the national life. mmittees of various learned societies have been ormed; the British Science Guild is taking action; e Royal College of Science has recently ‘presented petition to Lord Crewe to have men of science ade- jately recognised; and the Government from early the war has been consulting men of science on a large mumber of economic problems. Quite recently J. J. Thomson has been elected chairman of an tant committee to study the position of science secondary schools and at the universities and its ons to trades, industries, and professions which cannot be denied that science, as science, has only y recently been allowed to have an independent mee in our national intellectual system. The 2 is within the memory of some of us when the ttempt to introduce laboratory teaching into the hiversity of Oxford was met with a furious resist- ce; and when at length studies in practical chem- ‘were instituted they were alluded to as “stinks.” ory was repeating itself; for Leo Africanus, writ- ithe chemical society of the learned Arabians Pees “ oa here i is a most stupid set of men who con- iman existence ; pet we not to (at with it lly, as it is called? Has not the time come to that science is as important as it really has me ; for the existence of something and the official ssion that it exists are two different things? Why iid not not science be taken under the care of a Cabinet Minister? It is no longer vulgar, it is no longer neath the attention of the aristocratic intellect; it is -preponderating usefulness to the nation, and it is alevolent only when divorced from common sense common morality by the obsessions of self-hypno- d Prussians. It is within a very little of being na “ serperscsewie Why not recognise the pursuit of ng which is almost a respectable profession ? not have the official interests and the economic spec ts of science presided over by someone who ws something about them? need to make science the keynote of our public rvice and university system, as Humboldt did early the nineteenth century, when Prussia was as yet er the heel of Napoleon. The peremptory neces- ty of better scientific organisation is apparent; it is va question not only of our prosperity, but also of - existence. Science, in short, must have a Department, a Government office, before the public will fully accord Constitution that nothing can be done, or should be | behind it. But the official recognition of science | Cannot wait until the public has seen fit to render _ stience the homage it deserves. To.begin at the top, let there be NO. 2481, VOL. 99] it its place. of honour. We may regret that this sort | _ of thing has to be, but our regret will not change | 4 public opinion ; and it appears to be part of the British | ; soever, done, without a very large body of public opinion | F a Minister of Science and a Ministry of | _ Science with just as much prestige accorded it as the | | War Office, the Birches Office, or the Home Office. The duties of the Minister of Science would be arily to foster science in every way possible, to further: its interests, to administer its affairs somewhat in the manner in which the Board of Trade looks after trade, and the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries after agriculture and fisheries. ; “By friendly and intelligent co-operation with the universities, technical colleges, and the leaders amongst the manufacturers, the relations of science to the State could be adequately safeguarded; scien- tific men would be known, encouraged, subsidised, promoted, rewarded, and pensioned. For why should State recognition, encouragement, promotion, and rewarding be reserved for sailors, soldiers, diplomatists, and lawyers? Why should it be so entirely correct to be paid for legal opinion, and such “‘bad form” to be remunerated for scientific advice? Because, you may rely, the law is an ancient, respectable profession, and science is so modern that it is not a profession at all. But this medieval state of affairs cannot go on indefinitely; ic was all very well for the day when there was no science to foster, and men quarrelled so much that lawyers were kept very busy, but now “‘nous avons changé tout cela ’’—or at least the earlier part of it. One need not here and now draw up an exhaustive list of the duties of the Minister of Science, but may merely remark that much that falls under the super- vision of the Home Office could be transferred- to the Department of Science. Had there been such a depart- ment, Edward Jenner, for instance, would not have had to struggle against every kind of obstacle and misrepresentation for so long a time as he did, or have had to wait so long as he had for the official. recogni- tion of what he had done for suffering humanity. Not from. his own private house, but from. a Government department would the vaccine have gone forth to eager Europe. He truly called himself “‘ The vaccine clerk of the whole world.” The first concern of the Science Office would be the: place of science in the schools of the Empire. And here we come up against the still burning question of the rival claims of science and the classics. Of course, it ought to be perfectly possible to instruct boys in as much of Greek and Latin as would make them know the origin of the words in English derived from those languages, without necessarily the boys read entire Greek and Latin authors in the ori- ginal. The practice in the past of educating boys as though they were all going to be teachers of the classics is analogous to the teaching of physiology to. niedical students as though they were all going to be. professional physiologists. Owing to our national physiological momentum, -the teaching of boys has been continued on the same lines as those laid down by the educationists of the Revival of Learning in the sixteenth century. What Erasmus. Linacre, and Dean- Colet planned was: ad- mirable for the day when America and- printing had only just been discovered, but is possibly not so well adapted to the country which lights its cities by. electric energy, speaks to America without wires, flies in high heaven like the eagle, and descends to the abyss like a sea monsfer. The Science Office will see to it that science receives official recognition in all entrance examinations what- and that it is not handicapped by receiving fewer n narks than the classics or any other subject. e must have its place in the curriculum, not on -ance or by-your-leave, but by right and in virtue ts inherent dignity and usefulness. Science cannot longer be the under-fed maid-of-all-work ; Science queen herself coming into her kingdom. s the 238 NATURE [May ‘17, 1917 Science is no longer to be merely permitted, tolerated, apologised for; she must preside at the council board because she already rules the lives of the people. The academic precedence of the faculties, in which theology, arts, and law come before medicine and science, may still be tolerated at the old universities as an interesting and significant relic of earlier times; but in all modern universities (as in the University of Birmingham from its foundation) science is the premier faculty and takes the first place. The world advances, not because of Church history or Homer or Virgil, but because of James Watt and Stephenson ‘and Dalton and Faraday and Harvey and Jenner and Darwin and Kelvin and Lister, Better fifty days of Faraday than a cycle of Aristotle. Why is a knowledge of science so useful to the modern community? Apart altogether from the way in which science makes for technical efficiency, it is a means second to none in the training of the intel- lectual powers. It trains us in accuracy of observa- tion, in the power of drawing trustworthy conclu- sions, in habits of precise thinking generally; and these are not small things. 5 Science, the true, is the patient, loving interpreta- tion of the world we live in; it is a striving to attain not merely to an understanding of the laws whereby the world is governed, but to the enjoyment of the beauty and order which are everywhere revealed. And | the minds of men capable of attaining to such heights of appreciation, and the evidences around us of an all- pervading personality, are only. so’ many additional phenomena to be apprehended as constituent elements - of that vast, sublime, age-enduring cosmos which we call the universe. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, LIvERPOOL.—The council has appointed Dr. P. G. H. Boswell as first holder of the George Herdman chair of geology. Prof. Boswell graduated with first- class honours in geology in the University of London, and obtained the degree of D.Sc. in 1915. He has for some years past been lecturer in geology at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, and has published many original contributions to geo- logical science. The establishment of a chair of geo- logy in the University has been long delayed, and is now- possible owing to the generosity of Prof. and Mrs. Herdman, who have endowed the chair as a memorial to their son, the late Lieut.-George Herd- man. Prof, Boswell will enter upon his duties in October next, “ Pror, C. R. Ricaarps, since 1911 professor of mechanical engineering in the University of Illinois, and head of the department, has been appointed dean: of the College of Engineering and director of the Engineering Experiment Station of the University, to succeed Dr. W. F. M. Goss, who has resigned to become president of the Railway Car Manufacturers’ Association of New York. Unpber the will of the late Mrs. Denning, of South Norwood, property of considerable value has been. left to form a “‘ Frank Denning Memorial,” with the object of promoting the application of modern scientific know- ledge to the business life of the community. Mrs. Denning survived her husband only twelve months. The late Alderman Frank Denning was Mayor of Croydon at the time of his sudden decease, and was one of the leading directors of Welford’s (Surrey) Dairies, Ltd. He was also a director of colliery com- panies in Gloucestershire.. For some time befere his death he was a governor of the Stanley Technical NO. 2481, VOL. 99] Trade Schools at South Norwood, and his interest had been aroused in the good work being done at these schools. It is not known at present how the terms of the trust will be carried out, but in view of the success of these schools, it is ‘possible that some developments along the Jines already laid down may be looked for. Mr. Denning was a business man before anything else, and the terms of the bequest seem to show that technical education is aimed at, and that pure science as a study had no large place in his mind, . _ Tue report of the Vice-Chancellor on the work of the University of London during the year 1916-17 shows that the total number of commissions granted from the outbreak of the war to December 31, 1916, co cadets and ex-cadets of the University contingent of the Officers Training Corps, and to other graduates and students of the University recommended for com- missions, was not fewer than 3111; and the honours and distinctions conferred upon officers and cadets during the same period included one Companionship of the Bath, two awards of the Victoria Cross, six of the Distinguished Service Order, 157 of the Military Cross, one of the Distinguished Service Cross, and 199 mentions in despatches, besides from the French ‘Government three awards of the Croix de Guerre and one of the Médaille Militaire. It is recorded that 284 former officers and cadets of the contingent, and | thirty-three other officers recommended for commis- sions by the University, have made the supreme sacri- fice for their country. About 21,000 members of the ‘University are, or have been, serving with H.M. Forces. The research work normally conducted in the laboratories attached to the University has been to an increasing degree directed to the assistance of Govern- ment departments or other agencies concerned with the requirements of the war. In addition to the response made by teachers and qualified students at the medical schools of our hospitals to the demands of the War Office for physicians and surgeons, con- siderable services have been rendered to the Govern- ment in the departments of physics, chemistry, physio- logy, pharmacology, bacteriology,. metallurgy, and civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON, ey: Geological Society, May 2.—Dr. Alfred Harker, presi- dent, in the chair.—Jane Longstaff (née Donald): Sup- plementary notes on Aclisina, De Koninck, and Acli- soides, Donald, with descriptions of mew species. Since the publication of a paper by the Geological Society on Aclisina in 1898, knowledge has been gained of the species there described, and six others new to science have been discovered. The diagnoses of these are given. The total number of species of Aclisina is brought.up to twenty-two... The genus is best re- presented in Scotland, where the specimens are gener- ally well preserved. A table is appended giving the range and localities in the British Isles and Belgium. A small variety of Aclisina pulchra, De Koninck, ap- pears to have continued for the greatest Jength of time. Additional observations are also made on Acli- soides striatula, De .Koninck.—T. H. Burton: The microscopic material of the Bunter pebble-beds of Nottinghamshire and its probable source: of origin. As shown by th: distribution of the heavy minerals, combined with (a) tne direction of the dip in the cross- bedding, (b) the evidence adduced by boreholes and ‘ shaft-sinkings, a main current from the west is indi- cated. A large quantity of the material is derived from metamorphic ‘areas. The source of the bulk of the material is probably Scotland, and the westward NATURE 239 ning vanished land, from rocks similar in the to those of the metamorphic and Torridonian ; known in that country. The material was trans- means of a north-western river and its tribu- es, flowing into the Northern Bunter basin. Dur- certain flood-periods this river overflowed across byshire, carrying its load of sediment, much of was deposited in the pebble-beds of Nottingham- _ Linnean Society, May 3.—Sir David Prain, president, the chair.—H. W. Pugsley: An giceaecetion of the ; of Fumaria, section Spherocapnos. The author d to Shakespeare’s mention of ‘“‘rank fumiter ”’ i Lear.”? The earliest known references date to Dioscorides in the ‘first century, under the 2 of xazvds, smoke; the elder Pliny spoke of two es, one apparently our Fumaria officinalis. The ern generic name first appears in Bock (Tragus), fuchs and Mattioli. Gerard, in his ‘“‘ Herball,’’ in- ides the common fumitory as “‘ Fumaria purpurea,”’ t Gerard’s description was altered and not improved his later editor, Dr. Thomas Johnson. The enu- eration in Ray’s ‘‘ Historia ’’ was confined to the ‘the Sloane Herbarium, and the Dubois herbarium Oxford, prove to be a rampant form of F. officinalis. 2 true F. capreolata, an uncommon British plant, s added to our flora in 1859, when Prof. C. C. Bab- on read his paper on the genus before the Linnean ‘Society. The F. capreolata of ‘‘ English Botany ”’ and Curtis’s “Flora Londinensis ”’ is Jordan’s F. Boraei. ith Vaillant’s species, F. Vaillantii, there were six ‘species distinguished before the time of Linnzus. In ‘Species Plantarum ” of 1753 the latter author is but two species of Fumaria; the remainder .are w reckoned in Corydalis and other genera. The hor then referred to works on the genus by Hand- uch (1832) and Parlatore (1844), and especially the asterly monograph by Olof Hammar in 1857, the Sis of recent work; a. later monographer, Hauss- echt, in ‘‘Flora,’’ 1873, relied upon leaf-characters ather than the sounder characters afforded by the wer and fruit—G. M. Ryan: The flowers of the ahua, Bassia latifolia, Roxb. The tree and its pro- ducts were described.—Dr. W. E. Collinge: (1) Para- baris, a new genus and species of terrestrial Isopoda trom British Guiana. (2) The oral appendages. of cies of marine Isopoda.—C. C. Lacaita: wo critical plants of the Greek flora. E EDINBURGH, Royal Society, March 19.—Dr. John Horne, president, in the chair—Dr. J. Aitken: Some nuclei of cloudy condensation. By means of an improved apparatus for producing a series of definite expansions of a given - volume of saturated air, the author studied the cloud- ‘producing qualities of dust particles of different sizes Obtained in various ways. After the air was cleared of the largest particles by one or more applications of a 2 per cent.- expansion, cloud-producing particles of smaller sizes were removed in succession by expansions * 4 per cent., 6 per cent., 8 per cent., and so on up to ‘by such means as flames, electric sparks, chemical ions being by themselves efficient nuclei for cloudy condensation. The view that the nuclei of cloudy con- densation produced by heat are ions discharged at high ' produced at much lower temperatures than that at which ionic discharge from heated bodies occurs; and No: 2481, vor. 99] ‘ee species given by. Gerard, but all the specimens ~ _ 20 per cent. if necessary. The particles. were produced | action, and. heating of solid substances; and the | general conclusion was that in no expansion lower | s : than 25 per cent. was there any evidence of electric — Tachydromus. Tachydromus is a genus of Lacertide ' temperatures is not supported, since such nuclei are | = even at this higher temperature spectroscopic examina- | tion shows that some chemical or disintegrating action takes place i with the discharge of the ions.— W. L. Calderwood: Note on the salmon of the River Lochy as shown by a collection of scales made in 1916. The purpose of the paper was to compare the scales and weights of two groups of fish, distingfished as groups A and B. The members of group A had spent two years’in the sea and one in the river, while the members of group B had spent two years in the river and two in the sea. Tne average weight of the 4ormer was the greater. Thus the actual number of lines of growth as determined bythe. examination of the scales cannot be taken as a true index of the weight of the salmon. The condition in which the smolt leaves the river after only one year and commences a period of rich feeding in the sea may lead to a greater increment of weight than in the case of fish which are a year older but have spent the more normal period of two years’ early life in the river. are Paris. Academy of Sciences, April 30.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—J. Boussinesq: Fundamental hypotheses of. the mechanics of pulverent masses.—General Sebert = Can violent carnonades produce rain? Comments on a recent note by M. Deslandres on this subject. There is some evidence that the rainfall produced may not be all local, but that effects may be observed at con- siderable distances from the front. Sudden changes of weather have occurred without previous barometric changes, heavy rainfall. suddenly following on fine weather without any previous indication of the change- _C. Richet, H. Cardot, and P. Le Rolland: Regular and irregular antiseptics. Studies-in lactic fermenta- tion in presence of various antiseptics show that when large numbers of trials are made under condi- tions apparently identical, the resulting acidities are not constant, but deviate considerably from the mean. This deviation varies with the nature of the antiseptic present. Thus sodium fluoride is very regular in its action, and the average deviation is smaller than that given by the control tvbes. Mercuric chloride, on the other hand, added in equal quantities to each tube, gave surprisingly variable results, the average devia- tion being ten times that of the controls.—Ch. and L. Joleaud: The marine Quatern deposits of the region of Béne and of La Calle (Algeria). Guichard : The O networks of Monge in space of any order.—M. de Sparre : Hammering in a conduit formed of three sections of different diameters, for which the duration of propagation is the same.—R. Ledoux-Lebard and A. Dauvillier: Contribution to the study of the L series of elements of high atomic weight.—M: Ménard: The treatment of hzmorrhoids by high- frequency currents. High-frequency currents (d’Arson- valisation) are of high value in the treatment. of hzemorrhoids, and in many cases have avoided a surgical operation which would otherwise have been necessary. The results of the application of the method in six cases are given in detail; the cure was complete and permanent.—M. Marage: The duration of cases of deafness due to sheil-shock. CALCUTTA. Asiatic Society of Bengal, March 7—Dr. G. A. Boulenger: A revision of the lizards of the genus characteristic of the Far East, and the only one of the family that extends eastward of the Bay of Bengal. Owing to insufficient material, the relations of the various species have hitherto been very im- perfectly understood, and the revision which Dr. Boulenger has now prepared was in consequence badly needed. Eleven ‘species are recognised in the genus 240 NATURE Vibe d LG, oe and a key provided for their ready determination. Two forms hitherto placed in Tachydromus have been transferred to the new genera Platyplacopus and Apeltonotus.—Dr. J. Stephenson: Zoological results. of a tour im the Far East: Aquatic Oligochzta from Japan afd China. In this paper Dr. Stephenson: gives an account of certain’ Oligochate worms obtained by Dr. Annandale in Japan: and China. The. speci- mens were all found in fresh water and comprise five | species, three species and one genus being described as new. Criodrilus bathybates was found in Lake Biwa at the remarkable. depth of 180 ft.—Dr. N. Annandale: Zoological results of a tour in the Far. East : Hydrozoa and Ctenophora. The Hydrozoa dealt with in this paper are mostly from the Tale Sap, in Lower Siam, where they were found living in brackish water. way that he would speak of the “flue” of a , and not, as the translator has done, of a smoke-pipe.’’ Unless the reader of this un- tisfactory translation himself knows German, 1e would be hard put to it to discover that what translator calls the hard cast-iron .“ covers” of ing rolls are really chilled iron roll-shells. No purpose can be served by further extending list of blunders; enough has been said to ' that the reader must be on his guard ghout the book, and will have to use his ity in order to arrive at the author’s real aning in many unintelligible passages. ‘Messrs. Griffin and Co. have earned for them- s a high reputation for their splendid series technological publications, which have been ctive of the utmost benefit to our industries, it is a matter for grave regret that the present xlume should fall so far below the high standard | excellence of these works. It is sincerely to be oped that if a translation of the second volume Prof. Franke’s book is in hand, they will take » to have the proofs revised by someone able of doing justice to the original. HH. 4. PROBLEMS OF BEHAVIOUR. What is Instinct? Some Thoughts on Tele- pathy and Subconsciousness -in Animals. By C. Bingham Newland. Pp. xv+217. (Lon- don: John Murray, 1916.) Price 6s. net. Studies in Animal Behavior. By Dr. S. J. es. Pp. 266. (Boston: Richard G. jadger, 1916.) Price 2.50 dollars. 4 HESE two books deal with the same subject— -* animal behaviour; but they could scarcely more sharply contrasted, for the one is scien- tific and the other is not. (1) Mr. Newland, as sportsman and _ field turalist, has many interesting facts to submit | personal observations to relate, which is all the good; but he has ventured on a line of terpretation where verification is impossible. _ His study of adaptive behaviour has led him to _ the conclusion that “the marvellous precision and _ fitness of these actions can only be attributed to Mniscience manifesting in the creature.” In ite of the abundant illustrations of “trial and “error” procedure to be found’ among animals, he tells us that “the creatures involved make no ‘tentative experiments, but the perception of how ‘and when to act comes to them subconsciously.” “But it is not exactly their own subconscious mind that operates; it is a ‘subconscious principle directly transmitted from the ‘ mainspring ’—All- _Mind.”’ The life-principle (soul) of the insect _ Or other member of the animal world is a centre f subconsciousness, temporarily set apart, but “ever “in touch” with the All-Conscious. Hence their infallibility! Mr. Newland ‘is altogether “too metaphysical. : NO. 2482, VOL. 99} ~ 4 (2) We breathe a different atmosphere in Dr. Holmes’s careful study, which adheres to scien- tific methods and verifiable formule. The book begins with an historical sketch which shows how the pendulum has swung many times between the extremes of generosity and parsimony, reading the man into the beast and reducing the animal to an automatic machine. The second chapter pictures the stages in the evolution of parental care, which is regarded as an extension of repro- ductive processes'and as the foundation of social instincts. It is long, however, before it becomes necessary to insist on the psychical aspect of behaviour, which, objectively considered, cannot but be described as very efficient parental care. © The next three chapters deal with tropisms, which are prominent among lower organisms, and enter as components into the more complex activities of higher animals. While there are many orientations that may be described as trop- isms and regarded as inevitable reflex effects, there are in other cases sundry complications which suggest more than the involuntary reaction of a “reflex machine.” There is apparent selec- tion of random movements, and there are modifi- cations of routine which are consequent on experi- ence. An account is given of the widespread phenomenon of the reversal of tropisms, and the variety of causes by which it is induced. In regard to “learning” Dr. Holmes writes: “Given the power of forming associations be- tween responses, the animal acquires new habits of action by repeating those responses which arouse instinctive acts of a congruous kind, and by discontinuing those responses which arouse instinctive acts of an incongruous kind.” “The new things an animal learns to do are done be- cause they have been assimilated to its instinctive activities.” “The securing of any advantage through the. method of trial and error presupposes congenital modes of response which are adapted to secure the welfare of the individual.” Blunder- ing into success. would be of no service unless the organism were capable of turning to advantage its fortunate trial movement. “In order to do this the organism must be provided for the situa- tion by its inherited endowment.” “It is inherit- ance that affords the means by which inheritance is improved.” - We cannot do more than. refer to the author’s suggestive discussion of the way in which behaviour may help to mould form, of the analogy between behaviour and development, of the twofold origin of “feigning death,” of the diverse modes of sex-recognition, and of the réle of sex in the evolution of mind. The last chapter gives a charming account of a study of a bonnet monkey’s mind. The whole book is vividly interesting, and while the author flies a number of kites, he is careful to distinguish between fact and theory. He shows true scientific caution in stating his own views, and fair-mindedness in his criticism of those which he rejects. A distinctive feature -of his method is the- combination of analytic and genetic inquiry. J. As T. 244 NATURE | [May 24, 1917 , OUR. BOOKSHELF, Studies in Insect Life, and Other Essays. By Dr. A. E. Shipley. Pp. 1x+338. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 1917.) Price 1os. 6d. net. Ir is Dr. Shipley’s gift to write scientific essays artistically, using many-coloured lights from reading and experience to illumine and humanise hard grey facts. He has humour and a light touch, and things are so interesting to himself that they become interesting to us. Not that we pretend to explain his style, which permits of luminous, dignified discourse on lice and fleas, - as well as on fisheries and grouse. “Le style,’’ said Buffon, ‘“‘est comme le bonheur; il vient de la douceur de 1’4me.”’ . The book, based on previously published essays and lectures, has eleven chapters, dealing with insects and war, honey-bees, humble-bees, wasps, the depths of the sea, fisheries, Sir John Murray, grouse-disease, zoology in the time of Shakespeare, the revival of science in the seven- teenth century, and hate. We have seen no more successful rapidly drawn picture of a haunt of life than is to be found in the chapter on “The Romance of the Depths of the Sea.’’ Another jfine picture of a very different kind is that of ‘Sir John Murray. It is very interesting to have Dr. Shipley’s lively summary of his own investi- gations on what is called ‘“grouse-disease,”’ of which, adapting Sydney Smith, he says: “ Little stoppages, food pressing in the wrong place, a vext duodenum, and an agitated blind-gut, and there you have ‘ grouse-disease.’ ” In the essay on hate an exposition is given, after Cannon and others, of the part the secretion of the supra-renal capsules plays in ‘the bodily changes which occur in. states of extreme pain, fear, or rage, and serve to place ‘un enragé’ In an eminently favourable state for wreaking his passion on his opponent.’’ It has been suggested that the use of golden mice in connection with emerods may have implied some awareness of the correlation between rodents (with their fleas) and bubonic plague; Dr. Shipley wonders whether the ancient Hebrews knew anything about the potency of the supra-renal capsules, because they were so very particular in their burnt offerings to offer up “the fat upon the kidneys.’? We have but one fault to find with this entertaining volume, that it comes to an end too soon. The Tutorial Chemistry. Part ii., Metals and Physical Chemistry. By Dr. G. H. Bailey. Edited by Dr. W. Briggs. Third edition. Pp. viiit+ 460. (London: W. B. Clive, Univer- sity Tutorial Press; Ltd., 1917.) Price 4s. 6d. Tue general character of this widely known text- book was described in the review of the first edition which was published in Nature for April 14, 1898 (vol. Ivii., p. 559). In the present issue the second half of the section of the book dealing with physical chemistry has been com- pletely recast by Mr. H. W. Bausor. The whole text has been revised, and the pages concerned with crystallography have been transferred to an appendix. NO. 2482, VOL. 99} LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible opinions expressed by his correspondents. Nei can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.] ; The Stability of Lead Isotopes from Thorium. SINcE my recent letter on the subject-of * thorium ’’ lead (NaturE, February 15, p. 469) 1 have had some | correspondence with Dr. Arthur Holmes, who, in agreement with Boltwood, had previously concluded from geological evidence that lead could not be the © end product of thorium, because thorium minerals often contain so little lead in comparison with what is to be expected from their age. He pointed out that the age of Ceylon tkorite as determined from the ratio of lead to thorium was curiously anomalous. Taking, as preferable, Rutherford’s values for the periods of uranium and thorium, 0-72 and 1-9 (x 10" years) respectively (in the ratio of 1 to 2-6, instead of 3-2, the figure used in the previous letter), the pro- portion of the thorite lead derived from the thorium would be 95-5 per cent., and from the uranium 4-5 per cent. The quantity of thorium lead gram of thorium would be 0-0062. The rate of growth would be 4-72 x 10—-'? gram of lead per gram of thorium per _ year, and the age of the mineral 131 million years. A Ceylon pitchblende (U=72-88 per cent., Pb = 4-65 per cent.) has a ratio of lead to uranium of 0-064, giving the age as 512 million years, and Dr. Holmes con- siders that this is likely to be of the same geological age as the thorite, and to be, of all the Ceylon results, the most trustworthy for age measurements. It must be remembered that there are two end products of thorium, both being isotopes of lead with the same atomic weight. Thorium-C, an isotope of bismuth, disintegrates dually, 35 per cent. of the atoms expelling first an a and then a B ray, and 65 per cent. first a 8 and then an a ray. More energy is evolved in the latter mode than in the former, and although the two isotopes have the same atomic mass and the > same chemical character, there may be a difference in stability. From analogy with the uranium series, where the same thing is true for radium-C, except that. all but a minute fraction of the atoms follow the second mode, it is the 65 per cent. isotope of thorium _ lead which should further disintegrate, for it is analogous to radium-D. f On the supposition that only the 35 per cent. isotope is stable enough to accumulate, the age of the mineral calculated from the data given would become 375 million years, in nearer agreement with the pitch- blende. But the most interesting point is that if we take the atomic weight of the lead isotope derived from thorium as 206-0, and that from thorium as~ 208-0, and calculate the atomic weight of thorite lead on this basis, we get the same value, 207-74, which I obtained from the density, and Hénigschmid obtained for the atomic weight (207-77). é The question remains, What does the unstable isotope change into? Clearly the rate of change must be ~ excessively slow to account for the apparently complete decay of the radiation of thorium-C. A f or an a ray expelled would result in the production of bismuth or mercury respectively, elements of which I could find no trace in the lead group separated from 20 kilos of mineral. But an @ and a 8 change would produce thallium, which is present in the mineral in amounts that sufficed for chemical as well as spectroscopic identification. On this view, then, this particular lead ‘should give a feeble specific a or B radiation, in addi- tion, of course, to that produced by other lead isotopes present. Circumstances do not permit me to test the ¥ 24, 1917] NATURE 245 but I understand Prof. Stefan Meyer may be ' some examination of the radiations of the , and the results he obtains will therefore be great value in deciding this point. eae FREDERICK. SoODDY. en, May 14. letter in adyance, I should like to take the nity of directing attention to the geological age 10rium minerals of Ceylon, and to a few further cs bearing on the suggestion that only 35 per f thorium produces a stable isotope of lead. indebted to my friend, Mr. E. J. Wayland, late mineral surveyor of Ceylon, for the follow- visional classification (in order of age) of the rocks of the island :-— : Newer pegmatites and quartz reefs. (5) Welipatanwila series of sediments. roxenites. : de, zircon, and other pegmatites of the ia series (source of thorite and thorianite). nde and crystalline limestones (?) arnockite series (pyroxene granulites). er rocks of the basal complex, including $, with monazite and zircon, pegmatitic secre- and dioritic intrusions. classification clears up much of the mystery h the. thorium minerals of Ceylon have hitherto shrouded. It was thought at first that they be- d to two distinct periods (Nos. (1) and (3) in the indicate, the belief was curiously supported by /U ratios. However, it is now fairly estab- that thorite and thorianite do not-occur in the rocks of the basal complex, and therefore the lead-ratios are misleading fér age measure- The only lead-ratios of any value for this pur- those of uraninite and zircon, the former of the same age as the thorium minerals, while er belongs to the pre-Charnockite zirconiferous and is therefore very much older. a the following table I have recalculated the lead- ; on the assumption that 35 per’cent. of thorium lead as a stable end product; or, in other words, weight for weight, thorium produces in any given one-seventh as much lead as uranium. orreee U percent. Th percent. Pb/U Pb/(U+o*r4 Th) 2: 10-4 67-1 0-26 0-133 2-30 IVt 60-3 o-21 OII7 2-10 o5 63-7 0-22 o-TIO 2-36 II-4 69°5 O21 o-110 2-42 128 694 O19 0-102 2-76 21-0 4471 0-23 0-100 1-28 46 62-8 0-28 0-094 2-78 230 550 O-I2I 0090 2-70 238 55°9 O114 0-085 1-87 1371 67-3 O-14 0 082 216 248 549 0-087 0-066 2-38 278 5r-7 0-086 = 0-066 o-78 3-5 59-2 0-22 0-065 036 1-62 54-4 0-22 0-045 — — —_ o-18 0-09 465 72-88 7-7 0-064 0:063 o09g2 + 0-56 O-Or o164 0-164 or references see Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. xxvi., 3 Pee 1915.) Ree te. _ The recalculated ratios approach ,that of uraninite _M™ueh more closely than do the simple Pb/U ratios, id thus they support Prof. Soddy’s suggestion better might have been expected from analyses of m minerals. st), and as the figures in the table given below . I have elsewhere pointed out the unsuitability of thorium minerals for age determination or correlation, .and this is particularly so in the case of minerals from the Palzozoic igneous rocks of Langesundfjord, Nor- way. Mr. Lawson and myself based our former con- clusion that lead: could not be the end product of thorium largely on analyses of these minérals. How- ever, I have now recalculated the ratios on the assump- tion that thorium has one-seventh thé lead-producing power of uranium, and it is satisfactory to find that, when thorium is less than five times as abundant as uranium, the ratios agree as closely on this calculation as do the simple lead-ratios. When thorium is more than five times as abundant as uranium neither set of ratios gives any approach to agreement, although the minerals from anv one locality agree among them- selves. (For the analyses referred to, see Phil. Mag., vol. xxviii., p. 832, 1914; and Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. xxvi., p. 302, 1915). Thus, having found from experience that the pernicious and irregular behaviour of thorium minerals is apt to be very misleading, I must admit that their evidence is worthless in the absence of atomic weight determinations. An atomic weight determination bv Richards and Lembert on tead from Ceylon thorianite may be used (in the same way as Prof. Soddy has used his own and Hénigschmid’s measurements) to test the question of end product. The thorianite referred to contained 60 per cent. Th and 20 per cent. U, and therefore if the whole of the thorium disintegrated into lead, the atomic weight should be 207-32; whereas if-only 35 per cent. of the thorium formed lead, then the atomic weight should be 206-73.. Remembering that the pre- sence of original lead is implied by the high lead-ratios of the above table, and that such exogenous lead would raise slightly the latter figure, one finds with pleasure that the atomic weight actually found was 206-82. Prof. Soddy’s suggestion thus afferds a happy compromise as to the end products of thorium; there is already accumulative evidence in its favour, and as yet there is none against it. In particular it is satis- factory to observe that if the suggestion should receive decisive demonstration, then the estimates of geological time already based on lead-ratios are not appreciably affected. ARTHUR HoLMEs. Imperial College of geet and Technology, S.W.7, May 16. THE SUSPENDED PUBLICATION OF THE “KEW BULLETIN.” : WE learn with astonishment that it appears to have been decided to suspend the publica- tion of the Kew Bulletin. We say “appears,” because it seems almost incredible to anyone with a sense of proportion of the issues involved that such an unfortunate step can really be seriously contemplated. It is, however, announced that the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office (the publisher) has been instructed to form a priority list of printed books and to defer the publication of everything which is not essential, that it has been ruled that the Kew Bulletin is not essential, and that its publication has therefore been sus- pended. It would be of interest to know what | steps were taken to enable a considered judgment | to be arrived at as regards this useful publication, and to what extent those responsible for its dis- continuance are competent to form a just opinion on the merits of what is mainly a technical journal. The objects served by the Kew Bulletin since 246 NATURE [May 24, 1917 its inception in 1887, partly as the result of a suggestion made in the House of Commons, are manifold and far-reaching. Not only does it serve as the official organ in which the results of scientific activity at Kew are largely given to the world; it also serves the very important function of placing at the disposal of the economic and scientific gardens in India and the Colonies the latest facts in economic botany that may be of importance to them. . . It must be remembered that Kew is the central institution of a great system of smaller institutes established in every region of the Empire, and that these institutes exist to further the material prosperity of the countries in which they are situated. The principal sources of wealth in most of our foreign possessions consist for the most part of vegetable products, and it is difficult to overrate the importance of keeping the botani- cal stations, remote as they mostly are from the main channels of current scientific work, con- tinually informed on relevant matters which from time to time reach the great clearing-house at Kew. It must be evident to everyone that any action which tends to lower the efficiency of these institutes of economic botany must operate in a manner detrimental to the material interests of the country or countries thus affected. It is difficult to believe that either the India Office or the Colonial Office, which are both concerned with the functions that only Kew is in da position effectively to discharge, can have been consulted ; in the matter, or, if they had been so consulted, that they could have approved of a step so un- sound alike on economic and financial grounds. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that Kew receives a good deal from other countries by way of exchange for the Bulletin, which it is now proposed to suspend. We understand that enemy countries, although their colonial interests are as nothing compared with our own, have, nevertheless, not seen fit to interfere with the continued publication of their own corresponding journals. In fact, the same official lack of appreciation of the importanct’ of scientific inquiry and research which was a matter of common knowledge amongst our competitors before the war still continues to sap the foundations of our recognised claims to our foreign possessions, which should largely rest on the encouragement of their material development on sound economic, and therefore. on scientific, lines. It is earnestly to be hoped that the action apparently taken may be reconsidered before we allow ourselves, as a colonial Power, to be made ridiculous, and as a business people to stand com- mitted to the policy of penny wise and pound foolish. Unless we learn in time the lessons which this war is enforcing on every side, namely, that the way of prosperity in the future lies in promoting scientific knowledge and in utilising the results of scientific investigation, it will make but little difference in the long run whether we win the war NO. 2482, VOL. 99| or not. For we should assuredly lose in the far more serious conflict that is certain to follow it, « conflict in which the claim for. superiority will be inexorably decided against any nation which re- fuses to take full advantage of that knowledge which is power in a sense far more real than ever before. % is ee» Pa’ °F CONSERVATION OF WILD LIFE IN ~ : CANADA. By Spite of the energy with which the Canadians are devoting themselves to the prosecution of the war and its successful conclusion, the neces- sity of conserving our natural resources is not being forgotten. Not the least important of these resources is the wild life of the Dominion. The economic value of the wild life to the country is fully realised by the Canadian Government. On this account it is taking steps to conserve, while it is still able to do so, the wild life upon which many of its economic interests depend. The necessity of greater protection for the species of migratory birds which are important to agriculture as insect destroyers was mainly responsible’ for the conclu- sion of the recent international treaty with the United States for the protection of migratory birds in Canada and the United States. This. treaty is undoubtedly the most important and far- reaching measure ever taken in the history of bird protection. The full text of the treaty and the circumstances responsible for its consummation are given in an article by the present writer in the Agricultural Gazette of Canada for December last. Inaddition to the protection of insectivorous. birds, the treaty provides that no species of migra- tory wild-fowl, such as ducks, geese, or shore- birds (plovers, sandpipers, etc.), shall have a longer open season than three and a half months, and the open seasons are so restricted as to prevent the killing of the birds in the breeding season. Close seasons for periods of several years are provided for certain species of birds the continued. existence of which has become seriously menaced. In the north-west: territories the fur-bearing animals and such larger animals as the harren- ground caribou and musk-ox constitute the only available natural resources, and the existence of the present and future populations of large por- tions of that unorganised territory largely depends on the presence of such wild life. Steps are there- fore being taken to ensure the conservation of the northern wild life by improved legislation. In order that this problem may be carefully studied with a view to the adoption of an adequate policy for the protection and use of the wild-life resources of the country, the Canadian Government has recently appointed an inter-departmental Advisory Board on Wild Life Protection, consisting of the following :—Mr. James White, Assistant to the Chairman of the Commission of Conservation (chairman); Mr. D. C. Scott, Deputy-Superin- tendent of Indian Affairs; Mr. J.* B. Harkin, Commissioner of Dominion Parks; Dr. R. M. Anderson, in charge of mammals in the National NATURE 247 “May 24, 19 17] um ; and the present writer, who is secretary The Dominion and Provincial Governments been active in the establishment of animal :s for thé protection of game and non-game _and birds, and many thousands of square ss of territory have now been reserved as imal refuges, where hunting is absolutely ne, successful effort of the Canadian Govern- in preventing the extermination of the can bison, or buffalo, is noteworthy. The al herd of 750 buffalo that the Government ased in the United States in 1907 and placed special enclosed buffalo park of 168 square 's at Wainwright, Alberta, has now increased to e than 2400, and altogether above 3000 buffalo now under Government protection, including wild herd of about 500 head in the Peace River ion south-west of Great Slave Lake. With view of ascertaining the possibilities of the mm tment of Agriculture is now carrying on sriments in crossing the buffalo with domestic , as the cross-bred animals, like the.buffalo, ‘so admirably suited to withstand the most us conditions of a northern environment and luce excellent beef and superior robes. ation on the fishes, birds, and game of Canada year gives an excellent account of the manner which these problems are being dealt with in a. Constituting as Canada does, the last hold of the big-game animals of the North can continent, it is hoped and believed that @ shall be successful in preventing the reduction ‘the point of extermination of the many forms wild life of interest and importance alike to settler, the sportsman, and the zoologist. ‘s C. Gorpon HEwiIrTT. PROF. JOSEPH RIBAN. ROF. JOSEPH RIBAN, honorary professor ' of the Faculty of Sciences of Paris, who just died at the ripe age of eighty, was one a type of French chemists which is fast dis- pearing. Born at Montpellier, he was iginally destined for a career in medicine, but under the influence of Balard, the discoverer of omine, he was led to interest himself in oblems connected with pharmacological emistry, and took up the study of the toxic inciple of redoul (Coriaria myrtifolia), which ' found to be a glucoside and named corian- yrtine. _. His work on the physiological, chemical, and physical properties of the new substance occupied him during the greater part _ of 1864, and the results appeared in a couple of _ memoirs which were published in the Journal de __ Pharmacie and in the Bulletins of the Chemical _ Society of Paris. Although he continued to _ follow medicine, Riban was more and more _ attracted to chemistry, and his nomination as ! Ratiges of chemistry and technology at the 3 le Normale of Cluny eventually settled his NO. 2482, VoL. 99] alo in relation to agriculture, the Canadian ‘ ‘report published by the Commission of Con-— career. In 1869 he joined his old master Balard at Paris as préparateur of his course at the Collége de France. : poets The Franco-German War interrupted his chemical studies, and during the siege of Paris he was a zealous collaborator of Alphonse Guérin at the military hospital in the Rue des Récollets. On the termination of hostilities he was able to resume his chemical work, and a number of papers appeared in rapid succession, on the products of the condensation of valeric aldehyde, and on aldehydes condensed by the elimination of water, known as aldanes, on the terpenes and their chlorohydrates, on terebene, and on camphene. Riban’s investigations in what is confessedly one of the most intricate and difficult fields of organic chemistry attracted con- siderable attention at the time of their publica- tion. They gained for him his degree of doctor of physical sciences, and eventually, in 1875, the Jecker prize. The first samples of synthetic camphor arising out of these researches were shown in the Exhibition of 1878. Riban now became associated with Berthelot at the Collége de France, and was transferred to the Sorbonne, where he became assistant-profes- sor of quantitative chemical analysis. He practically abandoned inquiry in_ organic chemistry, devoting himself more particularly to general problems of applied chemistry, especially to questions of hygiene. In addition to his work as director of the analytical laboratories at the Sorbonne, he lectured at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts, and was named a member of the Conseil d’Hygiéne. These various public duties left Riban little time for original research, but he published a number of notes and minor com- munications on compounds of phosphine and on the decomposition of metallic formates and acetates in presence of water, as well as some papers relating to eudiometry and analytical chemistry. He was an active contributor. tothe “Encyclopédie Chimique’’ and to the “Dic- tionnaire de Chimie,’’ and. in 1899 published a treatise on electrochemical analysis which enjoyed a considerable reputation. Riban became a vice-president of the French Chemical Society in 1898, and a vice-president of the Conseil d’Hygiéne in 1899. He was a careful, conscientious teacher, distinguished for the clarity and simplicity of his exposition, and a painstaking and accurate experimentalist whose work rests upon a solid and durable foundation. NOTES. Tue valuable article on rhubarb which appears else- where in the present issue was prepared for the Kew Bulletin, the publication of which has been suspended on the ground of shortage of paper. When we see the waste of paper used in Parliamentary Reports, National Service propaganda, and by Government de- partments generally, and place this by the side of the amount required for the continued publication of such a periodical as the Kew Bulletin—Imperial in its scope and influence—we begin to despair that our State 248 NATURE A [May 24, 1917 — officials will ever possess true standards of value in matters pertaining to science. The subject is dealt with in an article on another page; and all we wish to say here is that we are glad to accord the hospitality of our columns to a contribution intended for the Kew Bulletin, and that we earnestly hope action will be taken to secure the continuance of a publication which is more essential now than ever it was. So many misleading statements have recently been made about rhubarb that such an accurate account of the plant as is given in the present article, if made widely known to the public, should save much suffering and needless loss of life. WE notice with much regret the announcement of the death on May 18, at seventy-eight years of age, of Sir Alexander R. Binnie, past president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and from 1890 to 1902 chief engineer to the London County Council. Tue late Lord Justice Stirling’s herbarium, consist- ing chiefly of about 6000 varieties of mosses and liver- worts from many parts of the world, has been pre- sented by Lady Stirling to the Tunbridge Wells Natural History Society. Tue Canadian Government has recently appointed Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt to be consulting zoologist, in addition to his duties as Dominion entomologist and chief of the entomological branch of the Department of Agriculture. The duties of the office will be to advise in matters relating to the protection of birds and mammals and the treatment of noxious species. Tue death is announced, in his eighty-fifth year, of Dr. Ephraim Cutter, a distinguished American microscopist and inventor of many surgical and gynecological instruments. He was a pioneer in American laryngology, and had studied the morphology of raw beef since 1854. In 1894 he discovered the tuberculosis cattle test. He was an expert in food values, and was the author of more than 800 contribu- tions to the literature of medical science: AN association having the title, Society of -Indus- trial Chemistry, has. recently been formed in France. The honorary president of the new society is Prof. Haller, of the Institute, and its object is the develop- ment of the chemical industry in France in order that it may be given that prominence which will be neces- sary in the. after-war struggle. The society comprises manufacturers, engineers, and chemists. The head- quarters of the society are at 49 rue des Mathurins, Paris. Frantdin THE medal of! the Franklin tute, Philadelphia, has been awarded to Dr. H. A. Lorentz, For.Mem.R.S., president, Royal Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, and _ pro- fessor of mathematical _ physics, University of Leyden. The Franklin medal has also been awarded to Admiral D. W. Taylor, Chief Constructor, Chief of Bureau of Construction and Repair, United States Navy. The medals were presented on May 16, when an address was given on ‘“‘ The Science of Naval Archi- tecture ’’ by Admiral Taylor. At the annual meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on Monday the medal awarded to Mr. G. G. Chisholm by the American Geographical Society was presented to him by Mr. Page, the United States Ambassador. The Royal medals and other awards announced in Nature of March 22 were presented by the president, Mr. Douglas W. Freshfield. The presi- dent referred to work being done by geographers in different parts of the war area, and he remarked :— NO. 2482, VOL. 99| Insti- ae “In a hero of the recent sea-fight against odds off Dover—a fight that recalls the glorious traditions of the days of Queen Elizabeth—we are proud to recog- nise an Antarctic explorer, the second in comm of Capt. Scott’s last expedition, Capt, Evans. It is the same energy and spirit that lead men to face the Antarctic blizzard or the foe that walks in darkness off our own coasts.’’ Sir Thomas H. Holdich has been elected president of the society in succession to Mr. Freshfield. : WE learn with deep regret that 2nd _ Lieut. H. E. O. M. Dixon, Seaforth Highlanders, has died of wounds in France. The son of the Rev. J. Murray Dixon, of Smithland Rectory, Loughborough, he was born in 1885. His ambition, which showed itself when he was quite young, was to excel as an artist, . and birds formed the favourite theme for his pencil. Though he modelled his work largely on _ of Archibald Thorburn, for whom he entertained an immense admiration, he showed promise of developing a style of his own. He was especially keen on birds, but wildfow!l of all kinds fascinated him, and -he was never so happy as when tramping the hills of Scotland after grouse and deer. His many friends will read with pride the comments of his Colonel : ‘* He was a brave and cool leader of men.’ He fell on — April 9,.when rallying his men for the attack on the German second line of trenches, shot down by machine-gun fire, to die of his wounds on the follow-— ing day. By his death ornithology has lost a devoted disciple, but his work and his memory will ever be cherished among us. THE appointment is announced of a Civil Aerial. Transport Committee, to inquire into civil aerial com- — munications after the war; the committee is constituted as follows :—Lord Northdiiffe (chairman), Major Baird (deputy-chairman), the Duke of Atholl, Lord Montagu, Lord Sydenham, Mr. Balfour Browne, Mr, A.° E. Berriman, Mr. G. B. Cockburn, Mr. G. Holt-Thomas, Mr. Claude Johnson, Mr. Joynson-Hicks, Mr. F. W.. Lanchester, Lieut.-Col. M. O’Gorman, Major-Gen. Ruck, Mr. J. S. Siddeley, Mr. I. Sopwith, Mr. H. G. Wells, Mr. H. White-Smith, Mr. W. Tyson Wilson, Sir Laurence Guillemard, Col. J. W. Pringle, the Earf of Drogheda, Mr. G. E. A. Grindle, Mr. G. E. P. Murray, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, the Rt. Hon. W. P. Schreiner, and Capt. Vyvyan. Brig.-Gen. Brancker will represent the R.F.C. The Meteorological Office — has also been asked to name a representative, and one or two additional names will be announced later. Mr. D. O. Malcolm will be tne secretary of the committee, and the offices will be at Winchester House, St. James’s Square, eR. As already announced, the annual cong-ess of the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies is to be held this year in London, in the lecture hall and rooms of the Linnean Society, on June 6-9. Dr. William Martin, focmerly general secretary of the union, is the president for the year, and will take for the subject of his address on June.6 ‘t The Application of Scientific Method.’”’ Among the many interesting items in the programme of the congress, the following papers and addresses may be mentioned. On June 7 Dr. A, Smith Woodward, ‘‘ Vertebrate Remains from London Excavations.’”’ and Mr. E, A, Martin, “Some Skulls and Jaws of Ancient Man, and his Imple- ments.’”’ On June 7, too, members of the congress are invited to the Hooker lecture of the Linnean Society by Prof. F. O. Bower. On June 8 Prof. E. W. MacBride, ‘‘Are Acquired Characters Inherited?” ; Dr. G. A. Boulenger, “ Reptiles in Captivity”; and Dr. B. Daydon Jackson, ‘Notable Trees and Old Gardens of London.’’ On June 9 Dr. J. S. Haldane; NATURE 249 mal Atmospheres and Means of -Combating as and Prof. G. S. Boulger, at the Chelsea Garden, “The Associations of the Garden with story of Botany.” During the meeting there several visits to places of scientific interest. criptions ea ite sent direct to the hon. secr. secretary, Norman Gray, Com- | Road, London, E.1. as regret to record the death of Mr. Benjamin Blyth on May 13, in his sixty-eighth year. An of his career appears in Engineering for May m which we take the following particulars. aa Nae his pupilage to civil engineering B. and E. Blyth in Edinburgh, and in became. a member of the firm of Messrs. Blyth Sunningham. The work undertaken by this firm very: rapidly—between® 1871 and 1877 Parlia- y plans for work estimated to cost 6,000,000!. through its hands. Mr. Blyth joined the tion of Civil Engineers in 1877, became a mem- the council in 1900, and was elected president . He was consulting éngineer to the Cale- the North British, and the Great North of d Railways. He was responsible for the two stations, the Central in Glasgow and the Waver- Edinburgh. Mr. Blyth was also engaged in ig and improvement at Grangemouth both these docks are fully equipped the latest’ appliances for handling material. He Seis upon to advise the leading corporations in and, and was much in demand as an expert wit- both 3 in Scotland and at Westminster. He con- i East Lothian unsuccessfully three times. He chairman of the Edinburgh and District Tram- ‘Company, director of the National Bank of Scot- and of the Edinburgh Life Insurance Company, ‘governor of the Merchiston Castle Schools and of Royal Hospital for Sick Children. He is survived ar daugiiter. . SICAL science has suffered a serious loss through death of Ruth Holden, an American botanist of 5 Ere . Miss Holden was born at Attle- gh, Massachusetts, in 1890, and graduated M.A Harvard in 1912. She took up palzobotanical re- h under Prof. Jeffrey, of Harvard, and in 1913 to this country as a travelling Harvard fellow in todevote herself more particularly to the anatom- estigation of Mesozoit Conifers. She became -graduate student of Newnham College, and was wards elected to a fellowship. Impelled by her ‘3 of strenuous work and by her strong conviction of the. justice of the cause of the Allies, Miss Holden orarily relinquished her scientific career at the bridge Botany School and threw herself with char- feristic energy into nursing. In December last she at to Russia with the first of the Millicent Fawcett dical units, and earned the “unstinted praise of the im trator of the unit by her self-sacrificing work Petrograd, Kazan, Galicia, and in various parts of ssia. After partially recovering from an attack of id fever, she died from meningitis at Moscow on il 21. Miss Holden had published several papers : palzobotany, both in America and England, and hortly before her departure for Russia she completed ; account of a new Cordaitalean genus from India. ES She was an exceptionally keen and able investigator, ciated by her outspoken candour, her sense of humour, d her. wonderful power of overcoming difficulties, both in the way of fulfilment of her plans of scientific work and in in surmounting obstacles which confronted her in her endeavours to obtain employment as an erican citizen with a British medical unit. No. 2482, VoL. 99] | to apoplexy, _ who endeared herself ta all with whom she was asso- | Mr. J. V. Duprt, whose death we regret to record, had a distinguished scientific career, and did much valuable work in connection with explosives. After leaving Merchant Taylors School, he took the three years’ course in engineering at the City and Guilds of London Technical College, South Kensington, and gained the college diploma. After leaving college he worked for about a year in the laboratory of the late Dr. A. Dupré, F.R.S., where he gained his first experience of explosive work, in which he evinced the greatest interest.. He then obtained an entrance into Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., and went through their shops at Erith, afterwards working for six years in their drawing office at Westminster. During the whole of this time he lived with his brothers, then chemical advisers to the Explosives Department of the Home Office, having succeeded their father in this position, and thus kept in closest touch with explosive chemistry, practical and applied. He then went to Canada, where he worked as . chemical assistant to Dr, Lynde, of the McGill- University, at St. Anne’s. Soon after the outbreak of war he obtained an appointment in connection with the Explosives Department of the Munitions Board, -Canada, and superintended the erection and working of a number of explosives factories in various parts of Canada. In all this work he showed such a grasp of his subject that in October, 1916, he was appointed chief chemical adviser, and finally technical adviser also, posts he filled with the greatest success. During January of this year he had a serious breakdown owing to overwork, and on convalescence was sent by the board to Old Point, Comfort, Virginia, to re- cuperate, but caught a chill on the journey, which developed into rheumatic fever, and finally into pneu- ‘monia, which ended fatally on March 13. Frew men were so well Known in pharmaceutical circles, and few so highly respected, as Mr. Peter Mac- Ewan, who died on May 16, in his sixty-first year, and for the past eighteen years had held the responsible post of editor of the Chemist and Druggist. Mr. MacEwan received his pharmaceutical training in Scotland, and evinced very early in his career a, dis- tinct inclination towards the scientific side of phar- macy. When only twenty-six years of age he was appointed secretary in Scotland of the Pharmaceutical Society, and in that capacity found time and scope for the development of his scientific tendencies and ability for organisation. After a comparatively short time he joined the editorial staff of the Chemist and Druggist in London, succeeding the late Mr. A, C. Wootton in 1899. He published oe papers dealing chiefly with the chemical aspect of pharma- ceutical problems, and also devoted much attention to pharmaceutical politics. His judgment was keen and accurate, and his criticisms of the prevailing~ policy were frequently advanced with remarkable vigour. There was scarcely a branch of pharmacy in which he did not possess some special knowledge, and, being one of the kindliest and most generous of men, an appeal to him for assistance in any subject was seldom made in vain. He was a constant attendant at phar- maceutical meetings, and his contributions to the dis- cussions almost invariably threw new ‘light on the subject under consideration. | His health had been for some time indifferent, but his death, which was due was sudden. The funeral, which took place on Saturday last at Marylebone Cemetery, Finchley, was attended by many well-known phar- macists, including the president and registrar of the Pharmaceutical Society, and also by representatives of other learned societies, By his “death pharmacy has sustained a distinct loss. and his absence from ; pharmaceutical gatherings will be painfully felt. 250 NATURE [May 24, 1917 -~WE are indebted to the Lancet for the. following extracts from an obituary notice of Prof. Landouzy,’ whose death, on May 10, after a long illness, we announced last week. Louis T. J. Landouzy was born at Rheims in 1845, the son and grandson of medical men. Beginning his studies in the place of his birth,“he went to Paris in 1867 to complete them, becoming hospital resident in 1870, and __ steadily ascending the professional ladder until his appointment as. physician to the Hospital Laennec in 1890. Three years after this he accepted the chair of therapeutics at the faculty of medicine in Paris, bringing with it the membership of the Academy of Medicine. In 1907 he was chosen by the faculty to be its dean, and in 1912 he was elected a member of the Institute. “His most recent honour was the award of a gold medal for his work on infectious diseases by the Ministry of the Interior. Landouzy had long become one of the familiar figures of contemporary medicine both in France and abroad. Endowed with a great capacity for work, associated with remarkable physical activity, he accomplished a very large amount of scientific: work bearing on a variety of important questions. But it is in connection with tuberculosis that his name will be best: remembered. the front. He was delegate to the several inter- national congresses on tuberculosis, and at. Washing- ton in 1908 expressed the belief that the centenary of Pasteur would witness the final extinction of tubercu- losis. If he had lived to complete it, his-last work would have been devoted to the organisation of an anti-tuberculosis campaign in the Army and to the invaliding of the tuberculous soldier. He was present in London at the last International Medical Congress of 1913, when ‘he read a paper on thermal treatment: and spoke as the official delegate at the dinner given by Lord Beauchamp on behalf of the British Govern- ment. DurinG the winter months, as Mr. Miller Christy has stated in a recent paper (Quart. Journ. Roy. Meteor. Soc., vol. xlii., 1916, pp. 269, 275), the sound of gun-firing in Flanders and France is rarely heard in the south-east of England. The conditions are now becoming favourable to audibility. According to a correspondent of the Times (May 14), the air-waves resulting from the heavy bombardment of Zeebrugge on the morning of May 12 were heard and felt to an unusual degree at Dover, Deal, and other places on the south-east coast. Dover lies eighty miles to the west of Zeebrugge, and there was a light north- easterly wind at the time. Yet ‘residents in villages several miles inland were awakened by the noise, the houses on the higher ground especially feeling the vibration.”” We have also received dn interesting letter from Dr. H. C. L. Morris, of Bognor, in which he states that the ‘sound of distant gun-firing was heard at that place, while he was out of doors, from II to 11.30 p.m. on May 13. He describes the sound as “‘a continuous rapid vibratory percussion, coming ‘up from the south-east. . : . The sounds varied in in- tensity, and as near as I could judge a hundred distinct reports. were heard to the minute. There was a very light land breeze from the north-west at the time.”’ The sound-waves evidently came from a very distant source, possibly from the neighbourhood of Arras, which is 160 milés from Bognor. On April 2, 1916, shortly after 2 p-m., a great explosion occurred ,in a munition factory at Faver- sham. Several references are made to this explosion in the descriptions ‘of the East London explosion of January 19. The observations. are all from places to the north of Faversham. The sound of the explosion NO. 2482, VoL. 99] In the struggle against. tuberculosis as a social disease Landouzy was ever to Governments was heard at Maldon (30 miles), Dunmow (45 miles), and Little Bardfield, near Braintree (49 mules)—all places.in the silent zone of the East London. explo- sion; also at Diss (75 miles) and. Norwich (92 miles). The .air-waves shook windows. at: Little Bardfield, Felsham (60 miles) and Elmswell (64 miles). near — Bury St, Edmunds, and Newmarket (68 miles)—in the silent zone of the East London explosion; also at Ufford, near Woodbridge (60 miles), Diss, Wrening- ham (88 miles) and Haddiscoe (89 miles) near ‘Nor- wich, Norwich, and near Aylsham ccs miles). There is no evidence of a silent zone in this explosion, but the number of observations summarised above is, of course, too small either to prove or to disprove its existence. “oatge ¥ It appears from the annual report of the Decimal. Association for 1916, which has just been received, that considerable progress was made during the’ year in the movement for the decimalisation of the coinage and weights and measures. Numerous representative public bodies have passed resolutions in favour of the proposals; as, for example, the executive council of the County Councils Association, which has expressed the view that it is desirable in the interests of educa- tion, commerce, manufactures, and trade that the decimal system of coinage and weights and measures should be as speedily as possible brought into general ~ use in the United Kingdom, and that the system should be introduced into the curricula of the various schools as a necessary part of arithmetic. In this connection it may be mentioned that’ the Incorporated Association of Headmasters has also invited its members to sup- port the proposals, and that the Lancashire’ and Cheshire division of that body has formed a committee for the purpose of suggesting ways of discovering and overcoming existing objections to the introduction of the metric system. British consuls abroad have con- tinually directed attention to the necessity of adopting the metric system, and to the loss of orders and con- tracts involved in the retention of our present weights and measures. The recommendations of the Dominions Royal Commission were very sympathetic as regards the metric system of weights and measures and decimal coinage. The Commission was of opinion that the termination of the war would bring with ‘it an unequalled opportunity for securing this much- needed reform, and that the Imperial and Colonial should then co-operate to establish throughout the Empire a uniform coinage based on the decimal system and uniform weights and measures based on the metric system. THE Philadelphia Museum has recently acquired a collection of specimens of the arts and crafts of the Bagobo, a people inhabiting the mountains of Man- danao, between the crest of the range which cul- minates in the volcanic Mount Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines, and the waters:at the western side of the head of the Gulf of Davao. This is described by Mr. R. W. Hall in the Museum Journal, vol. vii., No. 3, for September, 1916. In Decertber, when Orion appears in the sky, there is a magical ceremony intended to promote the growth of rice, their staple food. Though the fact has been questioned, there seems little doubt that at this sowing rite a slave victim was bound and his body hacked in pieces by the celebrants. It does not appear that, as in the Khond rite described by Sir J. Frazer, the flesh was actually buried in the fields. But this was possibly part of the rite in its primitive form. In the Indian Journal for Medical Research for January (vol. iv., No. 3) Capt.- Knowles and Capt. Cole publish a study of the entamocebic cysts of in- NATURE 251. May 24, 1917] ta forms associated with both .E. coli and E. Sto gn Where the prevalent type of organism as E. minuta it was commonly in association with nucleate cysts, and resembled E. coli. We believe these “different species’” are all one and the organism.- The paper is illustrated with two t coloured plates. _ Tue method of measuring a small electric current, as, for example, the ionisation. current through a gas, by the rate of leak of the charge on an electrometer through a known high resistance, has proved so ‘convenient that many experimenters will welcome a paper by Dr. W. F. G. Swann and Mr. S. J.,Mauchly ‘on a method of constructing a high resistance of the 3ronson type, for which Ohm’s law is applicable, whi s in the March number of Terrestrial “Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity. A small “quantity of ionium, which was chosen as the most ‘suitable radio-active material, is placed in a shallow ‘depression in the upper face of a brass plate and covered with sheets of mica and silver foil. The plate rests on the bottom of the ionisation chamber, through ‘the top of which an insulated tube carrying a circular electrode projects. Through this tube a rod passes which carries a smaller plate, and the distances of ‘both plates above the ionium plate can be varied. ‘The metal surfaces within the chamber are all silver- plated. When the upper plate is 4-6 cm. and the lower ‘I em. above the ionium plate, the resistance of the ¢ell is constant up to a potential difference of 4 volts, “ewing to the usual decrease of conductivity being ‘compensated by the action of the 3 rays from the In the adoption of any scheme which runs counter to habits and: prejudices, and with which obvious advan- tages and disadvantages are connected, as in the sub- ‘stitution of ‘Summer Time” for the normal and uni- form method of time reckoning, many suggestions ‘will be made with the view of improving the ‘mechanism and diminishing the inconveniences. M Désortiaux, of Tulle, a retired French engineer, is early in the field with a phiet, ‘“‘La -Réforme rationnelle de |’heure” (Gauthier, Villars), urging some « ic proposals that seem calculated to make con- fusion worse confounded. He objects to the abrupt alteration of the clock-hands twice a year, involving ‘sudden interruptions of time-reckoning, and recom- ™mends a number of small alterations, the maximum ing seven minutes, which he thinks could be intro- ‘duced imperceptibly and without dislocation of our habits, by arrangement with the railways and other public indicators of time. In each week of January ‘the clock is to be advanced five minutes. On two days of each week in February, April, and May the clock will be accelerated six minutes, and in March seven minutes. In June there will be no alteration, and in the second half of the year there will be re- tardations of similar amount, to restore the clock time to normal condition in January.. The alteration effected by these small increments is far more considerable than in the plan that has obtained legislative sanction. The accumulative - effect at-maximum is 3-57 hours, No. 2482, VOL. 99} one object of the ingenious proposer being to make the watch indicate approximately the same hour at sunrise. This arrangement discloses one weakness of the plan. It takes no account of latitudé, and though the author admits the necessity of agreement between countries that have conterminous borders, he does not consider that the inhabitants on the Belgian border would be differently affected from those on the Italian. Again, it is strange that one who clearly perceives the annoyance caused by the sudden change of an hour, with its tendency to disarrange transport services, can suppose that a long-suffering public would endure a series of irritating interruptions twice a week for many months of the year. But having sanctioned a tampering with the uniform record of time, many utterly impracticable methods will be proposed with the benevolent intention of reducing the inconvenience to a minimum. In the April issue of the Quarterly Review will be found a well-informed article by Prof. W. J. Ashley on German iron and steel treated from the point of view of its commercial as distinct from its technical develop- ment. The syndication movement in Germany began to achieve continuous and substantial success when in 1892 the pig-iron producers came together, and in 1893 the Westphalian Coal Syndicate was formed. This example was followed by various branches of the steel trade. These combinations began with a mere price agreement; then they had to apportion the sale; and afterwards they concentrated the marketing of their. commodity in a*common selling organisation. Prof. Ashley then traces the further development of these “cartels” and their amalgamation into the “ Stahl- werksverband,”’ the great Steel Syndicate, which has commanded. the whole position ever since. In order effectively to regulate price it limits each of the con- stituent concerns to a prescribed quota of a defined total cutput and concentrates all the sales in a central office. The growing cost of plant makes it very diffi- cult for new competitors to start up from outside. In . Germany the experts consider that no new steel works can profitably be put down which have an output capacity of less than 400,000 tons. Finally, the system of bounties payable to home manufacturers in respect of their export trade is explained. Tue formation of ** ground ice,” or “anchor ice,” at the bottom of running streams occurs sometimes in this country, and forms. the subject of an article in Engineering for May 11, by Mr. J. MacAlister, assist- ant engineer at the Greenock Waterworks. Ground ice has been experienced at Greenock in the ** Cut,” an open aqueduct some five miles long and situated about 500 ft. above sea-level. The water has a velocity of about 3 ft. per second, and ice sometimes forms at | the bottom, thereby raising the surface-level of the water. Careful watching is required, as the slabs of ice sometimes take up such positions during the process of release as lead to overflow of the water. Despite other theories. Mr. MacAlister is inclined to think that the formation of ground ice in this chanriel, which has a rough bottom, is due to the cooling of the whole mass of water and the ice first forming in the com- paratively still wate- encountered in the lee of stones, etc. The process may be, and probably is, accelerated by radiation, as the portions of the aqueduct where the ice usually forms first are situated at comparatively open spaces, and have low banks. Towards the end of January this year, for the first time in the history of some of the reservoirs. the formation of ground ice was general throughout the Greenock Waterworks. The author describes the various measures taken to remove the consequent ice blockages. 252 NATURE [May 24, 1917 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. . Two Ec.ipsinG VARIABLE STARS.—The eclipsing vari- ables RV Ophiuchi and RZ Cassiopeiz have recently been investigated in great detail by R. S. Dugan (Contrib. Princeton Observatory, No. 4). In RV Ophiuchi, which is of spectral type A, the brighter star is found to emit five times as much light as the other, though having only two-thirds the diameter of the fainter component. During the total eclipse at primary minimum the star is 2-03 mag. fainter than at maxi- ‘mum, while the loss during the annular secondary minimum amounts to 0-11 mag. On the supposition of equal masses, the densities of the brighter and fainter components are respectively 0-24 and 0-06. In RZ Cassiopeiz, which is also of spectral type A, the eclipse at primary minimum is not total, only eight- tenths of the smaller brighter component being covered by the larger fainter component, the star then being 1-59 mag. fainter than at maximum. secondary minimum the loss of light is 0-06 mag. The smaller star emits. seven times as much light as _ the larger, and its surface brightness is twelve times as great. The distance between the centres is three and a half times the radius of the fainter star, and probably’ between five and six times the radius of the sun. The brighter component is from two and a half to six times as dense as the fainter. The new elements for the occurrence of eclipses in the two stars are:—RV Ophiuchi, 1913, Feb. od. igh. 33-4m.+3d. 16h. 29m: 27-75s. E—2m. sino-22° E; RZ Cassiopeiz, 1906, May 24d. 1oh. 6-0m.+1d. 4h. 41m. 9-6s. E+10m. sin(12°+0-068° E). _ , Mr. Dugan points out that every eclipsing variable which has been observed with sufficient care and per- sistence shows a measurable secondary minimum, indi- cating that the companion is always a luminous body. New ZEALAND Time Service.—Mr. C. E. Adams, the Government Astronomer for New Zealand, has recently issued particulars of the new arrangements which have been made for time-signals at the Hector Observatory. Accurate time-signals are given by three electric lights mounted vertically on the observa- . tory flagstaff; the lowest light is green, and is: 3o ft. above the ground; the middle light is red, and is 36 ft. above.the ground; the highest is white, and is 42 ft. above the ground. The green, red, and white lights are switched on at fifty minutes, ten minutes, and five minutes to the hour respectively, and the signal is given by extinguishing all three at the éxact hour. The signal is given in this way at G.M.T. 2oh., 21h., and 22h., corresponding to New Zealand civil mean time 19h. 30m., 20h. 30m., and 2th. gom. Arrangements have also been made for providing time- signals by telephone, telegraph, or wireless telegraph. StonyHurst CoLLecE OpssrerRvaTory Report.—The results of the astronomical, meteorological, and mag- netical observations made at’ Stonyhurst College Ob- servatory during 1916 have been issued in the usual form by the Rev. Father Sidgreaves. The various observations are conveniently tabulated, and interest- ing comparisons with previous records are given. The- solar surface was observed on 215 days, and the mean disc area of the spots, in units of 1/5000th of the visible surface, was found to be 4-52, as compared with 4-51 for 1915, a-82 for 1914, and 0-04 for 1913. Detailed drawings of facula were made on twenty- nine days during the summer, and it is hoped that- these may be of value fer comparison with spectro- heliographic records in hydrogen and calcium light. The spectrum of o Ceti was photographéd at the two maxima which occurred during the year. The dura- tion of bright sunshine was 205 hours short of the yearly average. NO. 2482, VOL. 99] At: CONTINUED AND SPECIALISED EDUCA. TION IN ENGLAND AND- WALES. THE. Board of Education has taken advantage o: the widespread interest in education awakened by the events of the war to consider in what measure by a reconsideration and a revision of its regulations. it can encourage a much fuller development of further education in its various forms, especially ir those which fall outside the sphere of the secondary school and of the university. ; The Board has accordingly had under review the facilities for further education which, since and priot to the Education Act of 1902, including the results o: the Technical Instruction Act of 1889, which wa: almost entirely responsible for the establishment of technical schools in the kingdom, have been providec by the local authorities, and it has accordingly issued < “Draft of Proposed Revised Regulations ’’ upon whict suggestions and criticism are invited. The draft em. bodies the experience and results of what in large measure is already to be found in successful opération. especially in the vigorous industrial centres of the North, where already in several of the large county boroughs there exists in full and successful activity the chief feature of the scheme set forth in appendix i. of the draft, entitled ‘‘A Suggested Plan for Further Education in a County Borough.” The draft gives an admirable résumé, especially ir its four appendices, of the measures it is desirable tc adopt to meet the educational necessities of not only the county boroughs, but also of other areas, such as the smaller towns and the urban and rural areas, and having regard to the different conditions, agricultural. industrial, and commercial, which prevail, including the provision of facilities ‘‘for disinterested studies making for wise living and good citizenship.” The draft foreshadows a more liberal policy on the part of the Board in respect of the administrative working of the measures for further education and of larger subsidies from the taxes. It is high time that the Board left a larger freedom in the hands of the local authorities by the removal, as it would appear is the intention of the Board, of many vexatious restric- tions in their regulations, which entail a vast expendi- ture of time, both locally and centrally, upon the authorities out of all proportion to any advantage to be gained. eee _ The proposed grant per teacher-hour instead of per student-hour is a most desirable reform, as is the sub- stitution of inclusive and block grants in lieu of grant per student or per subject; and of much simpler methods of registration. It is, moreover, a wise proposal that in the future the local education authority is to have full responsi- bility, as indeed the terms of the Act of r902 require, for the educational efficiency and the proper and effec- tive administration of all the facilities for further edu- cation within its area, whether rate-aided or not, and upon it is to devolve many matters of detail hitherto undertaken by the Board. Provisions are made whereb¥Wmeighbouring local education authorities are ™. to co-operate in certain educational as to avoid waste of money and effort. and position of the larger and more ad- Is, as is now the case with a few, are to be more fully fecognised by the Board under the new title of local colleges, and instead of being aided piecemeal in respect of the different courses of work undertaken by them, the colleges will be paid in regard of all their work by a block grant, and be recognised as “the centre and crowning limit of the local system of further education.”” The Board, it is of importance to note, ‘‘is fully satisfied that if any material advance is to be made it is only equitable that an increased NATURE 253 n of the cost, both of much old work and of elopments, should fall upon ‘the grants.” nportant changes set forth in the draft await, in their main propo: the close of the war, . regard to the admitted fact that more than os of the adolescent population between thir- eighteen years of age cease to avail them- all ities of further education, no will be really effective for the future educa- young people until all exemptions from at least fourteen years of age are removed sion made for continued education within hours‘until eighteen years of age. It is to be » the Board desires, that the experienced ad- areful consideration to this important mani- recently published ‘Statistical Notes on the s”’ (No. 5, March, 1917) issued by the onal Institute of Agriculture must be regarded ing situation as a cane of more than interest, representing as it does the most information obtainable as to the results of last corn harvests throughout the world. Pre- nar} estimates issued from time to time have ated with lamentable uniformity to a serious short- corn supplies as compared with recent years, final record fully bears them out. Interest ‘specially in the yield of cereals available for ational trade, which excludes enemy countries, s invaded by the enemy, and countries the uninvaded portions of Rumania and Russia,’ export from which is prevented war. The total yield “Gf wheat from “sources shows a decline of 27-7 per cent. as with the excellent harvest of 1915, and 16-9 -as compared with the average of the fiye S$ 1911-15. The rye crop shows corresponding icies of 2-9 per cent. and 4-1 per cent.; barley, cent. and 4-1 per cent. ; oats, 6-9 per cent. and 3-2 . ;and maize, 15-9 per cent. and 12-1 per cent. re- ely. Taking wheat and rye together as the staple orn crops, the total deficiency as compared with is 26-3 per cent., or 16-1 per cent. below the - average, whilst the total of the three ‘ fodder- crops shows corresponding deficiencies of 15-5 nt. and 8-8 per cent. respectively. Now that all has become bread-corn the grand total is of in- and this shows deficiencies of 19-6 per cent. and - cent. respectively. ‘der to get a true picture of the balance between tion and consumption it is necessary, however, e further into the account the “carry-over” ‘previous: seasons’ crops, which fortunately in the of wheat, oats, and maize was large. Even then, ver, the available supplies fall short of estimated al consumption for every crop except oats. In case of wheat the whole supply of crop and reserve to meet normal consumption by roughly 2 per whilst the total supplies of grain of all kinds a deficiency below consumption requirements of 3 per cent. These deficiencies may appear to be » but it must be remembered that they intolve entire consumption of the remaindér left on hand the superb crop of 1915 and leave absolutely no of imsurance against a further unfavourable the current season. When we make allowance for the large quantities of corn which must en lost on the high seas, it must be admitted case for a drastic reduction in cereal consump- has been proved beyond challenge. of the various authorities and the teachers. TESTS FOR GLANDERS IN ARMY HORSES. LJNDER the title “‘The Value of the Intra-dermo Palpebral Method of *Malleinisation,”” Major Hobday has recorded in the Veterinary Journal for December, 1916, his-experience concerning the value # _ ap age test for glanders in horses, as em- ployed in the French Army Vet.-Major e, Prof. Douville, and M. ll: Mics & eae exten- sive application of the test, he is very favourably impressed with it, claiming several advantages for it as compared with the subcutaneous test carried out in the region of the neck more widely resorted to in this country. The chief advantages claimed are especially not- able where large numbers of horses have to be speedily tested, and are summarised by Major Hobday as follows: (1) The greater convenience of transport (since the required dose is so much smaller) ; (2) the ease and rapidity of administration; (3) the great advan- tage of visibility (since swelling in the region eyelids is so much more perceptible than swelling in the subcutaneous region of the neck); (4) that the reaction is more violent and more rapid, and no time is wasted by taking temperatures, which is unneces- sary; and (5) that the cost is less, owing to the smaller dose used. For the test concentrated mallein is used, and two minims are injected with antiseptic precautions “ intra- dermally in the under-eyelid, about the centre, but slightly inclined to the inner canthus.” The eyes are inspected in about twenty-four hours, and again in about thirty-six or forty-eight hours, after injection. A positive reaction: consists of a discharge of mucus from the inner canthus, and a characteristic swelling of one or both eyelids, closing up the orbit to a greater or less degree, and being excessively tender. The swelling, which persists for three or four days, extends downwards over the submaxillary region, and there may be a cording of the lymphatics extending to the submaxillary gland, which ‘is swollen and tender. This test for glanders is undoubtedly of great’ value when large numbers of horges have to be speedily inspected, but whether it will proye as efficient or as generally: trustworthy as the older subcutaneous test, in which the local reaction is accompanied by a thermal reaction which serves as a check, remains to be proved. RHUBARB. 3 is is the interest of Mankind that all persons should be caution’d of advent’ring upon unknown herbs and plants to their prejudice.” These words, written . by John Ray more than two centuries ago, and quoted by his distinguished contemporary, John Evelyn, in his “‘ Acetaria,” are seasonable still, and, indeed, in view of the recent “advent’ring” with regerd to rhubarb-leaves, have to-day a special significance and interest. Were our famous countryman of Stuart times living at this hour, it is quite conceivable that, great experimentalist as he was, and endowed with more than the usual share of the “interest of Man- kind,’ he would lave devoted himself with energy and skill to the solution of some of the problems that confront us now, and some pertinent remarks on the question of utilising rhubarb-leaves as a vegetable would have been likely to appear over his signature in the columns of the daily newspapers. Had he in such circumstances recorhmended them, we can well imagine that his recommendation would have been accompanied by a warning similar to that quoted above, or more cogent, and printed in large clarendon capitals or italics. of the ~ 254 NATURE An appeal has been made to history to supply an_ authority for consuming rhubarb-leaves now, and some prominence has been given to the statement which reposes in sume books of considerable authen- ticity that they were used as a pot-herb in Queen Elizabeth’s time. If they really were-so used, and even with perfect safety, and Were then “considered to be superior to spinach or beet,’’ it is poor comfort to offer to those who in 1917 are suffering the tortures of poisoning arising as a consequence of eating them. That numerous cases of more or less serious illness, and at least one fatality, as reported within the last few weeks in the daily Press, have followed the eating of rhubarb leaf-blades, is accepted, as a fact which should leave no doubt in one’s mind that they form to many people an unwholesome and even a dangerous food. In inquiring into the use of rhubarb, mainly with the view of getting evidence from the records of the past as to the use of its leaves as a vegetable, and what were the opinions held regarding such a practice by those who have gone before, some notes which here and there may contain fragments of interesting and useful information have been accumulated, and may be worth putting on record in a collected form. It is not intended to go far into the botany of rhubarb. The vexed question of the’ source, or sources; of medicinal rhubarb has led to much con- troversy. That does not concern us here. The rhubarb used for culinary purposes to-day appears to have originated from more than one species. Some writers attribute its origin to Rheum Rhaponticum, Linn., and there seems no reason to doubt that it was this species that was first used in this country for culinary purposes, as well as being the first grown in England for its medicinal root. Moreover, it was the first species introduced into cultivation here, and from early times has .been known as Eng- lish rhubarb. Another species believed to be the parent of culinary rhubarb is R. undulatum, Linn., introduced in 1734, while R. hybridum, Murr., which, according ‘to. Aiton, was introduced in 1763 by Dr. John Hope, F.R.S., who had a garden at. Upton, . West Ham, is claimed by some authors as the original source of the common garden rhubarb of to-day. All three, and probably other species, are involved in its parentage. For many years it has been cultivated in many varieties differing in size and colour of leaf- stalks, flayour, and in degree of earliness, Evelyn did not appear to know the rhubarb plant. He does not allude to it in his ‘‘Acetaria.’”” Nor can we get any evidence from other writers of his time to support the reiterated statement that Rheum Rhaponticum was introduced in 1573, and our inves- tigations induce zs to say that whatever else flourished in this country in Queen Elizabeth’s reign no species of Rheum had any chance at all, for none was in the gardens of her day. Whatever delights and good times the Elizabethans had, they owed nothing to a dish of stewed rhubarb or a rhubarb-tart, and what- ever bad times—whatever pains they endured—could not be laid to the charge of rhubarb-leaves in any form. The delights arising from the former were re- served for a much later, if not more fortunate, genera- tion, and the tort-ires arising from the latter for our more immediate forefathers in some degree, but chiefly for ourselves. We have suggested that the statement that rhubarb- leaves were used as a pot-herb in Queen Elizabeth’s time cannot be trusted. It is apparently based on a mistake which origirated out of a confusion of terms. John. Gerard described and figured a certain plant in the first edition (1597) of his famous ‘‘ Herball,”” under the name of Hippolapathum sativum, Patience, or Munkes (Monkes) Rubarbe, the last name ‘ bicause NO. 2482, VOL. 99] [May 24, 1917 as it should seeme some Monke or other have used the roote heereof in steede of Rubarbe.”’ | This, he says, ‘‘is an excellent, holsome potherbe,"’ but “it is not so pleasant to be eaten as either Beetes or Spin- age.’ There is no doubt whatever that this plant is not a true rhubarb, but is a dock, and has been rightly referred by careful writers to Rumex Patientia, Linn., Herb Patience, a native of Southern Europe and the Orient. The name, ‘‘ Monk’s rhubarb,” has also obtained currency in many works, including Syme’s edition of ‘‘English Botany,’ for Rumex alpinus, Linn., a dock with large, roundish, radical leaves, found occasionally in this country, presumably as an escape from cultivation. This plant was known to’ Gerard, who included it in his ‘“* Herball’’ under the name of Hippolapathum rotundifolium (Bastarde Rubarbe); and he cultivated it in his garden:in Hol- born. Both these docks were evidently in gardens of the sixteenth century, and possibly long before, and were cultivated as pot-herbs, or the latter, accordin to Gerard, as a medicinal plant. Medicinal rhubar was known to Gerard, but evidently only in the form of the dried root, which he figures. No evidence has been discovered to prove that any species of the true rhubarb (Rheum) was in cultivation in England before early in the. seventeenth century, when John Parkinson, some time (probably not many years) be- fore 1629, obtained a plant of what is now regarded as Rheum Rhaponticum, Linn. This he cultivated, and it is figured and described in the first edition of his ‘‘ Paradisus Terrestris,” 1629, under the name of Rhaponticum verum seu potius Rhabarbarum verum. Of it he wrote:—‘‘I have'a kinde of round leafed Dock growing in my Garden, which was sent me from beyond Sea by a worthy gentleman, Mr. Dr. Matth. Lister, one of the Kings Physitians, with this title, Rhaponticum verum, and first grew with me, before it was ever seen or known elsewhere in Eng- land.”” After some reference to the character and medicinal properties of the roots, he continued :_‘ The leaves have a fine acide taste. A syrrupe therefore made with the juice and sugar, cannot but be very effectuall in dejected appetites, and hot fits of agues; as also to helpe to open obstructions of the liver, as divers have often tryed, and found availeable by experience.” By some curious blunder Monk’s rhubarb has also keen identified with Rheum Rhaponticum; hence in many works it is stated’ that this plant was introduced in 1573, apparently on no better evidence than is sup- plied by the fact that Tusser included the name “rubarb”’ in his ‘‘ Five Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry’’ of that date. In the edition of 1672 this name, without any qualification whatever, occurs in a list under the heading, ‘necessary herbs fo grow in the Garden of Physick, not rehearsed before.” This ‘“‘rubarb”’ is probably Rumex Patientia, or R. alpinus—in ‘‘English Botany” it is represented as the latter. It is practically certain that it was not Rheum Rhaponticum, : It will be noticed that Parkinson refers to the fine acid taste of the leaves of the rhubarb which he culti- vated. It is not clear whether he was alluding to the leaf-blade or leaf-stalk, but apparently he viewed this plant only as medicinal, and it seems impossible to determine the approximate date when rhubarb “was first used for culinary purposes as we use it to-day. The practice of so using it was known to Philip Miller in 1752, for in the sixth edition of his ‘“ Gar- deners’ Dictionary’? he wrote :—‘ This sort [Rheum Rhaponticum] is frequently cultivated in the gardens, and is call’d English Rhubarb. The roots of this enter as an ingredient into several compound medi- cines; and of late years, the footstalks of the leaves have been used for making of tarts in the spring of . a a pass “s art ee aa : / ~ NATURE 255 , as these may be had before goosberries are for that purpose. These footstalks we their outer skin peel’d off, otherwise they ‘very stringy: when this is done, the pulpy bake very tender, and almost as clear as the and having an agreeable acid flavour, is by pe estezmed for this purpose.” _Rhaponticum has been cultivated in the rhood’ of Banbury, mainly for the sake of its > about the year 1777. W. Bigg, writing harm. Journ., vol. vi., p. 75) on its cultiva- re, said:—‘‘Of the leaves, I believe no use 7 made, ot Aas use common to all vegetable inuring. | -leaf-stalks are now very parti- for the table. In former years, the sale- of stalks formed a part of the trade, but it can > said to do so now. Wine has been occa- made of them, but not to any important . The leaves were some years ago in de- have reason to think) for the adulteration of 0, or the manufacture of cigars, but. ere not stated in Loudon’s Gardeners’ 2 eee tle | Oa , that poor people in the neighbour- cee were inthe habit of using rhubarb- as a remedy for, or for the relief of, tism. Heated leaves were applied to the parts Al) there was anything like a general appreciation of b as a substitute for fruit about the middle eighteenth century it must have’ declined so in favour as to have beea little used at the ling of the nineteenth, for it is recorded that oseph Myatt, of Deptford, about the year 1810, his two sons to the Borough Market with five 2s of rhubarb, and of these they succeeded in only three. But he persevered in his efforts e a market for the vegetable, raised improved rieties, and before many years had elapsed rhubarb s a culinary plant was established in public favour. ecording io *s Gardeners’ Magazine, vol. iv., 245, at the beginning of June, 1828, the demand rhubarb in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne market was considerable that. 100 sticks sold for 5s. In 1831 ‘cit., vol. vii., p. 682) the culture of tart-rhubarb int so rapidly about Edinburgh that one ywer for the market, who a few years before found tt difficulty in selling forty or fifty dozens of hes of stalks in a morning, sold from three to hundred dozens of bunches. The common price f tart-rhubarb in the Edinburgh market at that time as 2d. a bunch of a dozen stalks, while in Glasgow he Same quantity was sold for 3d. e are informed that Myatt obtained his first roots Isaac Oldaker, gardener to Sir Joseph Banks, Oldaker had brought them from St. Petersburg, ng been gardener to the Emperor of Russia. They esented a finer and earlier kind than those pre- sly cultivated in English gardens. Several papers in the Transactions of the Horticul- Society of London show that in the second and third decades of last century a great deal of attention is paid to the forcing and blanching of rhubarb. 1824 Mr. James Smith, gardener at Hopetoun ase, was awarded the society’s silver medal for evising a simple, effectual, and economical mode of forcing the plant. It appears that the method of ching was discovered by accident in the Chelsea L aise ea) in 1815 (Trans. Hort. Soc. Lond., . li., p. 258). It was long ago realised that the use of rhubarb ; food was attended with some risk to health. Lind- (‘Vegetable Kingdom,” 1846, p. 503) remarked that oxalic atid is copiously formed in both docks and that the ‘!atter also contain an abund- 2482, VOL. 99] ie 3 y ance of nitric and malic acids. While these give’ an agreeable taste to the stalks of rhubarb when cooked, . he regardéd them as being ill-suited to the digestion of some persons. The “Penny Cyclopedia,” 1841, - warned persons subject to calculous complaints against eating tarts made from rhubarb leaf-stalks, owing to the presénce of oxalic acid, and that “the formation of the oxalate of lime, or mulberry calculus, may be the consequence of indulgence.” — A note in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1846, p. 5, by Alexander Forsyth, who was gardener to the Earl of Shrewsbury at Alton Towers, Staffordshire, has been recently referred to in newspapers as showing thar — rhubarb-leaves were in use about that time for culi w purposes. Forsyth wrote:—‘*We have been in the habit of eating the leaves of the rhubarb-plant for many years, and seeing that the fruit-stalks of this vegetable were counted as waste, I thought it very likely that they were the better part of the plant, and . I now find that the pouches of unopened flowers bear the same relation to the leaves of rhubarb that cauli- flowers do to cabbage-leaves, and may be obtained in xreat abundance, and that at a time (April) when all _ kirds of vegetables are valuable.’ He refers to using the young inflorescence, which he called Rhaflower, ““as a boiled vegetable. to be used like broccoli.” The meaning of his statement abuut eating the leaves of rhubarb was not clear then, but in a subsequent note (Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1847, p. 325) there is no doubt at all that by leaves he meant the leaf-stalks, and not the blades, for he wrote :—‘‘I have no experience in the eating of the leaves, and think them nauseous to the taste and unpleasant to the smell, and it seldom happens that any article is good for food when all the three senses of sight, taste, and smell reject it; it is not a good green-colour. I tasted them boiled,- and they did not appear to me to have one redeeming quality to keep them _an instant from the dung-heap.” In the latter note Forsyth again referred to eating the cooked flower-heads of rhubarb, and stated that he. and others had done so without experiencing any ill- effects. But he directed attention to the fact that during the season (spring, 1847) there was a general complaint against the eating of the stalks of rhubarb- leaves, as violent relaxation had resulted. Another correspondent to the Gardeners’ Chronicle (1847, p- 325) suggested that illness from eating rhubarb— apparently he meant the inflorescence—may have been due to the variety, and stated that a medical man whom he knew had a plant of rhubarb in his garden which was particularly early, and which, used in tarts, invariably caused illness in those who ate it, while other plants growing in the same bed, but which were a little later, were quite wholesome. The same effects had been observed for several years, until at length he destroyed the- offending plant. A reference to the Gardeners’ Chronicle (1847, pp- 283, 341, 357) will show the varying results of eating the young inflorescence, producing no ill-effects in some cases and serious illness in others; and in the same journal (1847, p. 283) a case is recorded of a Chelsea woman who boiled rhubarb-leaves as a sub- ~ stitute for spinach, and all three of those who ate of the dish were attacked with sickness, one of them, a boy, being also afflicted with swellings about the mouth. An editorial comment on this mms as follows :—‘* We are not aware of any similar instances of serious consequences following the use of rhubarb, but it is by no means surprising that a plant which forms so much oxalic acid should be unsafe, and we recommend the subject to serious chemical inquiry. It is quite conceivable that the leaves should contain some principle which the stalks are deficient in, as indeed is proved by the different manner in which the juice of the leaf-stalks and leaves is affected by the 256 NATURE [May 24, 1917 same reagents; but until there shall have been time for a careful inquiry into the organic products of these two parts we can only warn the public against em- ploying for food any part of the rhubarb except that which experience shows to be harmless.”’ The Garden (1872, vol. i., p. 197) contains an extract from an American paper which shows that a woman residing between Oneida and Durhamville, New York, died from the effects of eating as greens the leaves of rhubarb, or pie-plant as it is known in the United States, her death taking place after three weeks of suffering. ‘‘The leaves are poisonous, and should never be eaten,”’ concludes the paper’s announcement of the fatality. Judging from published statements (Gardeners’ Chronicle, ser. 3, vol. xv., Ppp. 340, 353, 384, 400), there was a revival of interest in the question of eating rhubarb-leaves in 1899. One correspondent wrote (p. 384) :—‘‘ Rhubarb-spinach has been for many years a favourite dish with us”; but the Secretary of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society com- municated the following \warning (p. 400) .—‘*The Gardeners’ Chronicle for May 27 is at hand _ this morning and the note on ‘ Rhubarb-leaves as a Vege- table’ prompts me to say to you that instances. have been known here where their use as ‘ greens’ has caused fatal results owing to the excess of oxalic acid. A horticultural friend told me many years ago that he had raised many seedlings, some of which (I assume that the usual part was cooked in the usual way) caused vomiting as certainly as ipecacuanha.” A curious case is reported in the Pharmaceutical Journal (1901, vol. Ixvi., p. 639) as follows :—** At an inquest held at Ashstead on Friday, May 3, concerning the death of John Lintott (thirty-nine), a scaffolder, it was stated that on the previous Monday deceased complained of violent pains and a doctor prescribed for him, having found that he was suffering from a gastric attack. After the doctor left the patient some cooked rhubarb-leaves were given to him as medicine, it being stated that the leaves were used as a vegetable in parts of Hampshire. The man died next day, and the doctor expressed the opinion that death was due to excessive vomiting, causing exhaustion, produced by eating rhubarb-leaves. The coroner expressed surprise at hearing that stewed rhubarb-leaves were used as a medicine or as a vegetable. A verdict was returned of ‘Accidental death, caused by eating rhubarb- leaves.’ ”’ g sea In rot, vol. Ixxxvi., p. 8, the same journal contains the following, extracted from the British Medical Journal of December 31, 1910:—‘‘The author [Dr. W. E. Burton] mentions. two cases of rhubarb- poisoning to which he was called, the symptoms being similar in each case, and refers to the death from the use of rhubarb which was the subject of a coroner’s inquest. at Catford some weeks since. Rhubarb, although rightly regarded as a wholesome food and an excellent substitute for fruit, does not agree with everyone. It is possible that the presence of oxalates in the urine and the severe intestinal irritation indicate oxalic acid as being one of the agents responsible for the toxic action. Oxalic acid and oxalates, chrysophan, chrysophanic acid, and phaoretin are all found in rhubarb-root, and are of an irritating nature.” In a discussion’ on rhubarb-wine (Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1853, p. 406), the observations of one writer seem to have especial interest as a possible explana- tion of the cause of the variable effects produced by eating rhubarb:—‘‘However good the wine made from rhubarb may be, I take the liberty of advising your readers not to drink it. It is well known that the acidity of rhubarb-stalks is owing to the presence of an acid salt—the binoxalate of potash—a combina- NO. 2482, VOL. 99] { tion of the poison oxalic acid and the alkali potash. This salt does not exist in sufficient quantity in the rhubarb-stalks to produce its poisonous effects, and the same may be said of the wine. But there is another danger attending its use in the form of wine which ought not to be overlooked. All hard water contains lime, and when mixed with the juice of the rhubarb-stalks the binoxalate of potash is decomposed and an oxalate of lime is formed. Now this oxalate of lime is the constituent principle of the mulberry calculus, and there is a peculiar condition of the human body known to medical men as the oxalic diathesis, which depends upon the presence of this oxalate of lime in the blood (I use the word blood for obvious reasons). This oxalic diathesis has been proved by Dr. Golding Bird to be much more common than it was supposed before this gentleman brought the microscope to assist him in his pathological researches. Such being the case, it is obvious that any article of common use which contains this oxalate of lime, or even the oxalic acid or its salts, must be more or less injurious to health, more particularly to those in whom there exists a predisposition to assume the oxalic diathesis. It must be borne in mind that oxalic acid is formed in the human body by the decomposition of sugar, urea, etc., and the diathesis is net uncommon from this cause. If it is thus easily produced in- directly, a fortiori it is still more likely to arise from the direct means of rhubarb-wine. Therefore I say to your readers, eschew the doubtless very agreeable beverage which has entered, through the medium of your columns, into competition with genuine ‘ Sillery be mousseaux. . The eminent physician and chemist, Dr. William Prout, F.R.S. (1785-1850), regarded rhubarb as likely to be a dangerous food owing to the large amount of oxalic acid present in the leaf-stalks. Having analysed wine made from the stalks, he considered it a most _pernicious drink, and that its frequent use was likely to produce stone in the bladder. He expressed the opinion that an Act of Parliament ought to be passed, if necessary, to prevent the sale of so dangerous a poison (Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1853, p. 438). There is possibly something in the suggestion that the chemical composition of rhubarb varies to some extent according to the variety and also according to the soil on which it is grown. A writer in the Gardeners’ Chronicle (1853, p. 357) stated that the amount of water present was less when the plants were grown on poorer soil, while the acid principle was more abundant. . Mr. Edward Solly, F.R.S., published in the Trans- actions of the Horticultural Society of London, ser. 2, vol. iii., 1848, pp. 35-92, the results of his experiments on the inorganic constituents of plants. Among the numerous plants on which he experimented were several rhubarbs. In the case of each of these he gives the respective amounts of water, organic matter, and inorganic matter found both in leaves and leaf- stalks. In every case, as he shows by figures, there was considerably less water present in the leaves than in the leaf-stalks, but in most cases almost double, in a few more than double, the amount, always very considerably more, of organic and inorganic matter was present in the former. It is therefore natural to assume from the results of his investigations that oxalic acid, or whatever is deleterious in the rhubarb- plant, is present in greater proportions in the leaf- blade than in the leaf-stalk. It mav be left to the discretion of those who chance to read this article to decide whether or not it is advis- able to eat cooked rhubarb-leaves or rhubarb in any form. For at least a century the consumption every year of the leaf-stalks as a substitute for fruit has NATURE 257 normous. It is well known to be usually a me, and certainly a useful, food. Compared - extensive use, the cases of illness charged t may be regarded as negligible. The in- ace has also been tried, but evidently not very n, and with diverse results. The consumption ie leaf-blades has apparently never been general sonsiderable, by no means comparable with that of -stalks, but the baneful effects of doing so are y so marked that it may be said decisively that . leaf-blades cannot be recommended for use as a food. While experiments in such are desirable, carelessness in recommending enviable position than those of whom it has d, ‘Happy from such conceal’d, if still do lie, and herbs the unwholsom luxury’’; and the ous experiment in eating insufficiently tested of food may lead one to “discover their ty in dangerous and dreadful symptoms,” UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL joe. 12 ENTELLIGENCE. -— RD.—The eighth Halley lecture will be delivered at the University Museum on Tuesday, June 12, at “p-m., by Prof. Arthur Schuster. The subject is “Terrestrial Magnetism : Past, Present, and Future.”’ On May 22 Congregation passed the preambles of 4 series of statutes reconstituting the boards of elec- > various professorships, and establishing a com- for advanced studies. ~ annual report of the visitors of the Uni- - Observatory has been presented to Convo- . In it the visitors express their sorrow at the of the late Prof. Esson, who-acted as secretary le visitors durine’ the whole forty-two years of the of the observatory. Several lectures to military have been given by the director (Prof. H. H. *), including lectures in France and in the camps Salisbury Plain. Research has gone forward in lite of unavoidable drawbacks, and many papers = been -published by members of the staff and im the course of the year. These include valu- memoirs by Prof: Turner, Miss E. F. Bellamy, M. A. Blagg (on Baxendell’s “ Variable Stars”’), r. R. J. Pocock. Bowen Cortuurst has been appointed prin- of the College of Agriculture, Hoimes Chapel, : The college is connected with the Univer- “of Manchester, and is fully equipped for thorough ing in practical and scientific agriculture. ‘ influential deputation of London members of arliament and of the London County Council Educa- jon Committee and officials waited upon Mr. Fisher at the Board of Education on Tuesday to ask the d for an increased grant for education purposes London. In reply Mr. Fisher said he was prepared Tecommend to the Treasury that an increased grant Should be made. The grant would probably amount to something above 1,000,000l., but it would be given the distinct understanding that the money should used for education purposes only, and not for relief Present rates. ; é ‘Tue Elementary, Education Sub-Committee of the pndon County Council has had under consideration 1¢ following resolution passed by the Central Con- Eg iltative Committee of Headmasters :—‘* That the time “now ripe for the compulsory introduction of the fic system.” The sub-committee is of the opinion the time has now arrived when, in order to in putting them into practice may place one are often necessary, and, if attended with | obviate the waste of time which is caused in the schools by the present system of weights and measures, and to facilitate ‘commercial transactions, his Majesty's Government should be asked to make the metric system compulsory. The Education Committee of the council is in agreement with these views, and has recommended :—‘‘ That the council is of opinion that the time has arrived for the compulsory introduction of the metric. system; that a communication to this effect be conveyed to his Majesty’s Government; and that the council be recommended accordingly.” A BOOKLET describing the facilities for study pro- vided by the various departments of the Imperial College of Science and Technology can be obtained on application to the secre of the college. The guide was drawn up in the first instance specially for _ headmasters and science masters of schoo's and for col- leges. It has been re-issued to provide persons anxious to have information as to the industrial careers for young men to which the Imperial College is specially direct- ing its attention. The number of posts of an indus- trial character, in which high scientific education is of great importance, is constantly increasing through- out the Empire, and the Imperial College should after the war attract an ever-increasing number of students. We have also received separate parts of the calendar of the Imperial College, giving complete prospectuses of the associated colleges of the Imperial College, namely, the City and Guilds (Engineering) College, the Royal College of Science, and the Royal School of. Mines. In August of last year the London County Council resolved that, subject to the establishment at the Im- perial College of Science and Technology of a depart- ment of technical optics under a separate head; to the Government grant to the college being increased in respect of such department; and to certain other con- ditions, the council’s grants to the college be in- creased in respect to technical optics by an amount proportionate to the increase in the Government grant as 1:3; provided that the increase in the council’s equipment grant shall not exceed 75ol., and that the increase in the council’s maintenance grant shall not exceed 1oool. a year. ‘The governing body of the Imperial College has now informed the council that it has adopted the recommendation of its Technical Optics Committee—which is also the Advisory Council for technical optics—that Mr. F. J. Cheshire be ap- pointed director of the department of technical optics for a period of five years commencing June 1, 1g17, at a salary of toool. a year. The Education Com- mittee of the council, at a meeting held yesterday, recommended that this appointment be approved. WE have received from the office of the Field and Queen, Breams Buildings, London, E.C.4, a copy of the English edition of “ British Universities and the War: a Record and its Meaning,” a little book com- piled at the request of several correspondents in the. United States who expressed the wish to have some permanent record of the response by the universities of the United Kingdom to the country’s call for volun- ° teers. The sixteen brief contributions by the vice- chancellors, principals, and masters representative of the various universities form an inspiring record of noble endeavour on the part-of our university men; and to these unadorned statements of patriotic sacrifice and accomplishment Mr. Fisher, the President of- the Board of Education, has contributed a gracefully appropriate preface. “No line,” says Mr. Fisher, ‘“can be drawn between student and teacher, between young and old. Many of the most brilliant teachers in the country have given their lives on the battlefield ; many a bright star in the firmament of science has tiic \ - transient anomaly. ‘the war is noteworthy. 258 NATURE ‘ [May 24, 1917 been prematurely eclipsed.’’ This generous esti- mate of the part men of science have taken in “It has been a war of chemists, of engineers, of physicists, of doctors. The professor and lecturer, the research assistant, and the research student have suddenly become powerful assets to the nation. Whatever university you may choose to visit, you will find it to be the scene of delicate and recondite investigations, resulting here in a more deadly explosive, there in a stronger Army boot, or again in some improvement to the fast-advancing technique of aerial navigation.’”? The brochure de- serves to be widely read. Its price is Is. net. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Royal Society, May 10.—Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- dent, in the chair——Sir Joseph Larmor and N. Yamaga: Permanent periodicity in sun-spots. A dis- cussion of the more sharply marked phases of the curve of frequency of sun-spots, since 1750, led New- comb, in rgo1, to strong confirmation of the prevalent view, previously verified by Wolf and by Wolfer, that sun-spots are governed by some permanent periodic agency of period determined very closely by him as 1I-134+0-02 years, and more recent independent dis- cussions, by Wolfer in 1902 and by Schuster in 1906, have led them to conclusions nearly identical. The form of this periodic component is here extracted by semi-graphical methods, such as are appropriate to a permanent unbroken period, and also provide a further check on the degree of validity of the result: The periodic feature is found to be strongly and definitely present, provided the records for the two sun-spot cycles from about 1776 to 1798, which would largely vitiate it, are rejected as untrustworthy, or else are almost wholly assigned to some strong but The residue of the sun-spot curve, when this periodic part is removed, seems to be acci- dental and sporadic, showing no other permanent periodicity of comparable period. The. periodogram analysis of Schuster had, in fact, already led him to the result that the record is not homogeneously con- stituted even in the wider sense appropriate to natural radiation. The Fourier series here determined for the periodic part is found to be composed of sines only within the limits of attainable accuracy; thus the graph of that part is made up of anti-symmetrical undulations, a feature which may form a clue to its physical origin in the sun.—Prof. G. W. O. Howe: The high-frequency resistance of multiple-stranded insulated wire. The conductors employed in radio- telegraphy are frequently made up of a large number of fine wires separately insulated and stranded or plaited together in such a way that every wire occupies in turn the same relative position in the multiple con- ductor. In this wav the total current is forced to distribute itself equally between all the wires, even at high frequencies. The object of this is twofold, viz. to make the inductance independent of frequency and to reduce the resistance at high frequencies. It is shown in this paper that the second object is rarely achieved because of the eddy currents induced in the wires by the magnetic flux within the conductor. It is shown also that the loss due to this cause is so great that the effective resistance of the stranded conductor is. in manv cases, greater. than that of the solid wire which could be put in its place. In the first part of the paper formulz are deduced on the assumption that the eddy currents in the fine wires do not appreciably affect the distribution of magnetic flux within them. In the second part this assumption is not made and formulze are deduced ‘which take into account the NO. 2482, VOL. 99] screening effect of the eddy currents. It is proved, however, that the assumption is permissible in nearly all the cases considered. A number of tables are given showing the ratio of the high frequency to the continuous current resistences of straight and coiled conductors of different sizes made up of fine wires of three alternative diameters. These formule and tables enable one to see at once if any advantage is to be gained by using such a stranded conductor in any given case, and, if so, the best number of wires and space-factor to employ. The paper shows con- clusively, however, that the extended use of such con- ductors in radio-telegraphy for the purpose of reduc- ing the resistance has no a se justification. ‘Physical Society, April 27.—Prof. C. V. Boys, presi- dent, in the chair.—Prof. J. A. Fleming: A note on the derivation of the general equation for wave motion in an elastic medium. The paper explains a simple method of arriving at the general differential equation for wave motion, viz. A ry ap, ap ,d —— 2 — ——"- —— qe ( dc dy? + gee, where c is the velocity of propagation of the wave. The method described may be epitomised by say- ing that the differential equation is obtained. by equat- ing the product of strain-acceleration d?o/dt? and density to the static measure of the stress expressed as the space variation of the product of the elasticity the ee), which is the proper Pia and strain slope ( measure of the stress at the point considered.—A. Johnstone : The effect of stretching on the thermal con- ductivity of wires. For all the wires used (copper, steel, nickel, aluminium, brass, zinc), stretching pro- duced a slight increase in thermal conductivity. The most satistactory experiments showed an increase of about o-5 per cent. for a tension of about o-7 of the elastic limit. After-the tension was withdrawn the conductivity returied approximately to its original value.—Prof. H. Chatley : Cohesion (third paper). The objects of the paper are:—(a) To re-state and add - further evidence in favour of an electrical theory of cohesion. (b) To provide tentative empirical formule for the expression of intermolecular forces. The ‘author defines cchesiom as the net attraction (i.e. balance of attraction over repulsion) between molecules which are relatively chemically saturated, at distances not greatly exceeding the molecular diameters, and the following formu!a is proposed for this attraction :— 4,= Gm?/d@+440l4, wnere G is the Newtonian constant of gravitation, m the molecular mass, d the molecular interval (centre to centre), ard d, is the molecular diameter. Royal Astronomical Society, May 11.—Major P. A. MacMahon, president, in the chair.—Dr. J. L. E. Dreyer: The origin of Ptolemy’s Catalogue of Stars. For more than a century it had been the prevailing opinion that Ptolemy had borrowed all his star places from the catalogue of Hipparchus, merely adding a ~ constant quantity to the longitudes to bring them up to his own epoch. It was contended that this opinion was ill-founded; that the catalogue of Hipparchus could aot have contained more than 850 stars, so that Ptolemy could not have borrowed from Hipparchus the whole of his catalogue of 1025 stars. There appeared no reason for disbelieving Ptolemy’s. statement that he had himself made extensive observations of the fixed stars.—Dr. S. Chapman : (1) Convection and diffu- sion within giant stars. Prof. Eddington had shown that -in a giant star of low density the temperature and pressure gradients towards the centre must be much less than formerly supposed, the influence. of gravity being largely counteracted by radiation pres- May 24, 1917] _ NATURE f 259 = Sure. An attempt is now made to determine the rela- tive importance of convection and diffusion. Some of the heaviest elements appeared at high levels, not only in the sun, which is a dwarf star, but also in some _ the giant stars. It is probable that convection ‘tends to a considerable depth within the star, rais- z some of the heavier elements to the surface (2) Thermal diffusion and the stars. It is ound that the thermal effect is far outweighed y pressure diffusion, which tends to produce stratifi- tion into layers of increasingly heavy elements to- ds the centre. It is theretore probable that -the E _ of elements of widely different atomic weights in the solar atmosphere is mainly due to con- _ vection.—G. J, Newbegin: Solar prominences, 1916. ewer observations than usual had been made, owing ) the bad weather in January and December. The observations were plotted on a diagram, which was 10wn on the screen. A growth of activity all round the limb was indicated; even the polar regions were ore filled up than in 1915, and the general bright- ness had increased. Dark absorption bands had been bserved on thirty occasions. Royal Meteorological Society, May 16.—Major H. G. yons, president, in the chair.—J. E. Clark and H. B. : Report on the phenological observations for 916. The year as a whole was rather warm, exces- sively wet, deficient in sunshine,.and phenologically isastrous. This arose mainly from the peculiar dis- : tribution of wetness and warmth. January- was dry in most parts, but February and March among the wettest on record, the precipitation largely as snow. ze February was colder than January, March than _ February, and in Ireland and England, S.W., April than January. Cold nights with frosts continued well into July, the former half of which and June __ Were so disastrously cool that the-mean was lower _ than in May, with a minimum of»sunshine. Many _ days were cooler than many in January. The winter warmth developed abnormal premature growth, Ua Seriously damaged by the early spring-winter. The _ extreme wet of that time almost stopped farm and YW: fer. ence i oe arden work; the cold nights later ruined much of the fruit crop, and the cold summer greatly lessened the _ quality of the harvest, being also largely responsible _.for the serious failure of the potato crop, combined _ with the most abnormal rainfall of the ripening-off and liiting time in late October and November. The tables largely retiect the above conditions, especially in the earliness of the hazel (two weeks), bringing it well into January (26th), perhaps for the first time; also the long range in date of the hazel, znemone, and blackthorn, averaging ninety-seven days com- pared with forty-six days for the late spring and early summer flowers, hawthorn, ox-eye, daisy, and dog- -rose. This long range is due to colder districts giving dates after the cold spring break, and the earlier some records preceding it. A very important aspect has so far not been worked out, namely, the areas of equal date of appearance, which may be suitably denoted as isophainal zones. In Great Britain the earliest, before April 29, appears to include South-West Wales, Cornwall, Devon, a tongue stretching up from Hants to Worcestershire, East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. All the rest south of the Mersey and Humber, except a large East Anglian area round the Wash, falls in the zone between 120 and 130 (May 9). The third zone to the 140 isophain covers the rest of England except Northumberland and Scotland ‘bordering on the Sol- way. Northwards, dates later than May 19 prevail. In Ireland we get the 130 isophain from near Limerick to west of Dublin, and so on towards Newry, that of 140 passing from Clew Bay to Belfast Lough, with a southward bend round Lough Neagh. NO. 2482, VOL. 99] Paris. Academy of Sciences, May 7.—M. d’Arsonval in the chair.—J. Boussinesq: The orientation of the principal pressures in the state of slip (by plane deformations) of a heavy sandy mass with a rectilinear upper profile. —General Sebert: Further observations concerning the . possible influence of violent cannonades on the fall of rain. The Central Meteorological Bureau has con- tinued to publish its bulletins throughout the war, but with a delay of one week. Observers on the con- nection between the weather and gun-fire should bear this fact in mind if they make use of the bulletins.— L. Mangin: Chaetoceros criophilus, a characteristic - species of the Antarctic seas.—G. A, Boulenger: Batrachians connected with the genus Euproctus : their ethological and phylogenic relations——M. Balland : Some experiments in bread-making in view of the continuation of the war. A study of the effects of mix- ing various proportions of. barley, maize, rice, and other. materials with wheaten flour for the preparation of bread. In case of necessity up to Io per cent. tO — 15 per cent. of barley, oats, maize, rice, or manioc , may be added to wheat flour, barley being preferable. —M. E. Fournier was elected a member of the section of geography and navigation, in succession to the late M. Guyou.—M. Petrovitch : Some remarkable numerical expressions.—B. Jekhowsky : The development in series of various algebraical expressions by means of Bessel’s functions of several variables.—M. Mesmager: Solution of the problem of the thick rectangular plate, sup- ported at its edges, and loaded with a single weight at its centre—MM. Fayet and Schaumasse : Observa- tions and provisional elements of the comet 1917b (Schaumasse). The observations were made on April 25, 26, and 27. On April 25 the comet appeared to be of 9-5 magnitude, showing a slight central condensa-’ tion.—M. St. Procopiu: Thé concentration of electro- lytes in the neighbourhood of the electrodes.—Ed. Chauvenet : The fluorides of zirconium and the zirconyl fluorides..—_R. M. Gabrié: The commercial utilisation of fumaroles and hot springs. Calculations on the energy obtainable from steam jets issuing from the soil and from hot water of geysers.—J. de Lapparent : A Foraminifer from the chalk of the Alps and. Pyrenees.—A. Pezard: Regression of the erectile organs, resulting from post-puberal castration in the Gallinacee.—Marie Goldsmith: The acquisition of a habit in the octopus.—E. Kayser: Contribution to the study of apiculate yeasts——M. Cazin: Total helio- therapy in the treatment of men wounded in the war- An account of the results obtained by the sun treat- ment of wounded. Very favourable results have been obtained.—Ch. Lambert: A method of writing and reading easily accessible to the blind, and specially use- ful to blind persons who have lost the hands or fore- arms.—J. Damysz: Anti-luargol. Experiments are de- scribed proving that a preliminary injection of luargof provokes in the organism the formation of a precipi- tating antibody.—H. Vincent : The infection of wounds by the pyocyanic bacillus. Causes and treatment. SYDNEY. pe Linnean Society of New South Wales, March 28.—Dr. H. G. Chapman, president, in the chair--R. J. Tillyard: The morphology of the caudal gills of the larve of zygopterid dragon-flies. Three main types of gills, according to the form of their cross-sections, are recognised—(a) the ,saccoid gill-type, presented by the Epallagine and the Protoneurine; (b) the Triquetro- quadrate type, occurring cnly in the Calopterygine ; and (c) the lamellar type characteristic of the Lestidz and most Agrionidz. There is also a reduced (non- functional) type, of which the gills of Agrion asteliae. Perkins (Hawaii), furnish a good example. Onto- 260 NATURE [May 24, 1917 genetic and phylogenetic questions will be discussed in a later paper.—Dr, J. M. Petrie: The occurrence of hydrocyanic acid in plants. Part iii. treats of five in- digenous and seven cultivated cyanogenetic plants. - Detailed experiments were made with a number of Alocasias, and a description of the distribution of the glucosides in the different parts of the plants is given. —Dr. J. M. Petrie - The chemical investigation of some poisonous plants in the N.O. Solanacez. Part iv., the chemistry of the Duboisias. This important group of endemic plants includes the pituri-tree of Central Aus- tralia and the cork-tree of New South Wales. The former is the only nicotine plant known other than the Nicotianas; and the latter contains the atropine-group of alkaloids, including the new nor-hyoscyamine. A third species, resembling the cork-tree, was also found to contain the same constituents. A complete historical account is given of the numerous chemical researches on the first two of these plants; and the contradictory evidence has been settled definitely by new €xperi- mental data. The proximate composition of the plants is compared and the investigation of their alkaloids described. PETROGRAD. Academy of Sciences, February 1.—E. S. Fedorov: A new descriptive geometry.—N. Kulagin: The ovary of the elephant.—V. V. Zalenskij: The segmentation of the ovum of Salpa bicaudata. First period.—E. Busch ; Ericaceze (Arctostaphylos, Arctous, Vaccinium, Cal- luna) of Siberia and the Far East.—A. M. Nikoliskij: Coluber (Vipera) sachalinensis, Czar., and its history. —G. J. Verestagin : The basins in the vicinity of Lake Baikal.—V1. N. Snitnikov : The reptiles of the province of Semirétje—N. M. Krylov: Application of the method of W. Ritz toa system of differential equations. HISTORICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL SECTION, January 25. | —P. A. Falev: Account of an expedition in Trans- caucasia and to Azerbeidzan in the summer of 1916.— N. Ja. Marr: (1) The Georgian epic, ‘‘The Hero in the Panther’s Skin,’ bv Sota of Rustav, and a new problem touching ancient Georgian culture. (2) A source of new information concerning the history of the Cau- casian peoples.—I Ju, Kratkovskij: Description of the collection of Korans brought by F. I. Uspenskij from Trebizond. BOOKS RECEIVED. A Pocket Handbook of Minerals. By Prof..G. M. Butler. Second edition. Pp. ix+311. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 11s. 6d. net. British Universities and the War: a Record and its Meaning. Pp. xv+88. (London: Field and Queen.) RS.- Het: Actions Physiologiques et Dangers des Electriques. By J. Rodet. Villars.) 3.25 francs. : ; Differential Calculus. | By Prof. H. B. Phillips. Pp. v+162. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 5s. 6d. net. ~ Lessons in Pharmaceutical Latin and Prescription Writing and Interpretation. By H. C. Muldoog. Pp. vii+173- (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; Lon- don: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. met. Studies in Primitive Looms. By H, Ling Roth. (Halifax: Bankfield Museum.) 2s. Staying the Plague. By N. Bishop Harman. Pp. viiit120. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd.) Is. net. Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14. Scien- tific Reports. Series C. Zoology and Botany. Vol. iv., part 1:—Mollusca. By C. Hedley. Pp. 80+9 plates. (Adelaide: R. E. E. Rogers.) 8s. 6d. NO. 2482, VOL. 99} Courants Pp. 87. (Paris: Gauthier- DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May 24. tet a Roya Society, at 4.30.—The Influence of Vibrations upon the Form of Certain Sponge-Spicules : Prof. A. Dendy and Prof. J..W. Nicholson.— . The Lateral: Vibrations of Bars of Variable Section: Prof. J.. W. Nicholson. Roya InstTiTuTION, at 3.—The Chromosome Theory of Heredity and the Alternatives: Prof. W. Bateson. : P Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—The Resources and Future of. British Columbia: Dr. J. F. Unstead. y Linnean Society, at 3.—Anniversary Meeting. ArrRonavurTicaL InsTITUTE, at 8.—The Testing of Materials for Aero-' nautical Construction : Edgar A. Allcut. wees, INSTITUTION OF MINING AND MEYALLURGY, at 5.30.—Shall Great Britain and America Adopt the Metric System?: W. R. Ingalls. FRIDAY, May 25. Roya InstituTIon, at 5.30.—Breathlessness : J. Barcroft. _ ; PuysicaL Society, at 5.—An Investigation of Radium Luminous Com- pound: C. C. Paterson, J. W. T. Walsh, and W. F. Higgins.—The Resistance to the Motion of a Lamina, Cylinder, or Sphere in a Rarefied Gas: F. J. W. Whipple.—The Effect of Stretching on the Thermal and Electrical Conductivities of Wires: Dr. C. H. Lees. : q SATURDAY, May: 26. Rovat InstiTuTION, at 3.—The Electrical Properties of Gases: Sir J. J. Thomson. TUESDAY, May 20. Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Movement of Glaciers: Prof. W. W. atts, THURSDAY, May 31. ‘ Rovat INsTITUTION, at 3.—The Art of the Essayist: A. C. Benson. FRIDAY, June x. Z Rovat INSTITUTION, at 5.30.—The Brontés; A Hundred J. H. Balfour Browne. . Geotocists’ ASSOCIATION, at 7.30.—The Post-Pliocene Non-Marine Mollusca of Ireland: A. S. Kennard and B. B. Woodward. SATURDAY, Jone 2. : Roya InstrruTion, at 3.—The Electrical Properties of Gases: Sir J. J. Thomson. é Years After: ; » CONTENTS. PAGE © Engineering Aerodynamics .......+.+.+.4-. 241 The Briquetting of Fuels. By H.L........ 242 Problems of Behaviour. ByJ.A.T........ 243 eur meoomenelf oie se a a ee vitaliel uae Letters to the Editor:— . The Stability of Lead Isotopes from Thorium.— Prof. Frederick Soddy, F.R.S.; Dr. Arthur Holmes Slee! opie leer - 244 The Suspended Publication of the “Kew Bulletin.’ By Te Boi oe Bg ae ta MUL pee dea sole 245 Conservation of Wild Life in Canada, By Dr. C ayor@on Hewitt 2°. 6s 2. ak ee ee 246 hegs...qeepn Ribam. 200. Sen ieee eee ee . 247 ReCe Sol... eid we Soe? Sh eels hae ee 247 Our Astronomical Column :— Two Eclipsing Variable Stars... si e°s 2 Se es 252 New. Zealand Time Service . .. . . 0 a eae” alee 252 Stonyhurst College Observatory Report... .-. - 252 Continued and Specialised Education in England ao 2 RES peer eee mee yy gO gee 2 Seren are os 252 ene supply of Cereals . 2. iN ee ee 253 Tests for Glanders in Army Horses. ...... 253 Meter 2 a a eee University and Educational Intelligence ..... 257 Societies and Academies. ...... ae eee 258 Books Received: . 2.5.5.3 ‘te eens 200 mary of Societies: . 2. SS dS «+ eaeoeee 260 Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 2 Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the Publishers. : Editorial Communications to the Editor. Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. . G) Algae. tn West.’ ad NATURE 261 _\ THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1917. NEW. ‘BOTANICAL HANDBOOKS. Vol. i., Myxophyceae, Peridinieae, Bacillarieae, ' Chlorophyceae, - together with a Brief Summary of the Occurrence and Distri- bution. of Fresh-water Algae. By Prof. G. S. (Cambridge Botanical - Handbooks.) Pp. viii + 475. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1916.) Price 25s.. net. 2) The’ -Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants. By ‘Muriel Wheldale. Pp. x+318. — (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1916.) © Price 15s. net. —&) A Text-book. of. Botany for Colleges.. By Prof. W._F.. Ganong. Pp. xi+4or.. (New York: ‘The Macmillan Co.; ‘London : Macmillan and Co.,. Ltd, 1916.) | ‘Price 8s. 6d. net. AY. “A: SPECIAL interest. attaches. to. Prof. G.S. West’s volume-on! Algee, as it- is _ the first of a series of botanical handbooks which will be issued by the Cambridge University Press - under the editorship of Prof. A. C. Seward and Mr. A. G. Tansley. -The series has been designed to meet the need-of books by specialists on different groups of the vegetable kingdom, and > the present volume will, be followed by others on Lichens, Fungi, and Gnetales, by Miss Lorrain Smith, Dr. Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, and the late Prof. W. H. H, Pearson respectively. Except for a faulty trimming of the pages (which, perhaps, is _ confined to review copies), the “get-up’’ of the book is excellent. An elegant cover, a clear text with numerous well-displayed figures, and a good index give promise of a series which, in the _ matter of production, should be Sieairablc. The pares opens well with the present volume, which is a biological account of the Alge, both fresh- water and marine, included in the Myxophycez (or eee Peridiniez, Bacillariez (Diatoms), and Chlorophycee (green Alge). The: greater patt of the work deals with the: green Algae, a group to the investigation of which, especially the fresh-water forms, the author has devoted many years of thorough and _ painstaking research, and on the taxonomy of which he is one of the first authorities. The general struc- ture, cytology, life-history, and biology of the Various groups, of their subdivisions and more important genera, are described in considerable detail, and their classification and phylogeny dis- _ cussed. Matters of controversy, such as the presence of a nucleus in the Myxophycez, or the _mechanism of the movement of the Oscillatoriez, are treated. at some length with an impartial presentation of various opinions. As regards the nuclear question, the author decides in favour of its being an “incipient nucleus.’’ There is also a valuable and expert discussion on the phylogeny and classification of the Chlorophycez,. and the system adopted, which differs in detail from pre- _ vious systems, is based on a critical review of the large amount- of- recent’ work and the wide experience of the author himself: The conclud- - ing chapter on the occurrence and distribution of NO. 2483, VOL. 99] fresh-water Algex forms an introduction to their ecological study. ; (2) It is not usual to begin a notice of a book with a reference to the bibliography, and it is in no sense disparaging to the value of the subject- matter of Miss Wheldale’s account of the anthocyanin pigments of plants that we do so. But the admirable classified bibliography of 645 items, occupying seventy-six pages, indicates the wideness of the field and the variety of the points of view from. which the study of the colouring matters in plants has been approached, from the investigations of Nehemiah Grew, towards the end of the seventeenth century, to the present day. . It also supplies the motive for Miss Whel- dale’s, book, which is a critical account of the various investigations which have been made upon the anthocyanin pigments along botanical, chemical, and genetical lines. The author is one of a number of recent workers who have raised the study of the colouring matters of plants from an empirical chemical examination of their nature and reactions, or somewhat hypothetical con- siderations of their biological meaning, to an important: position in the study of inheritance. The development in plants of many and various anthocyanin pigments affords an almost unlimited supply of material for this study. “We have now, on the one hand, satisfactory methods for the isolation, analysis, and determination Of the constitutional formule of these pigments. Or the other hand, we have the Mendelian methods for determining the laws of their inheritance. By a combination of the two methods we.are within reasonable distance of being able to express some of the phenomena of inheritance in terms of chemical composition and structure. There-can be little doubt that exact information of this kind will be helpful for the true understanding of ‘the vital and important subject of Heredity.”’ Miss Wheldale’s work forms a text-book of an interesting and fertile branch of botany. The subject-matter is divided into two parts. Part i. is a “General Account,’’ including an intro- ductory chapter, or general survey, and chapters on the morphological and histological distribution of anthocyanins, their properties and reactions, isolation and constitution, the physiological conditions and factors influencing their formation, the reactions involved. in their- formation, .and finally their biological. and- physiological signifi- cance. The second or special portion deals with anthocyanins and genetics. (3) Prof.. Ganong’s ‘published work on the teaching of botany is well known, and_his apology for the issue of another text-book of botany is that his careful study of the psychology of the student has indicated that such a one is neces- sary. Introductory courses in botany are, he says, largely adapted to a preparation for a pro- fessional botanical career, whereas in the case of nearly all college students it forms part of a general education. “Knowledge is valuable to the specialist in the proportions of its objective imovortance, but-to the general student in the pro- portions of its bearing on the actions and thoughts P 262 NATURE [May 31, 1917 of mankind.’’ His book may be described as an attempt to present and interpret the humanly important aspects of plant nature in the light of our modern scientific knowledge, and the test of its value will be found, “not in whether my colleagues consider it a well-proportioned com- ' pendium of botanical fact, but in whether it leads students to pursue the subject in. an interested and spontaneous spirit.’’ Structure is treated before function, because that is the more practicable way, even though the reverse is more logical. The present volume is Part i. of the whole work, and. is entitled “The Structures and Functions of ‘Plants.’’ Part ii., “The Kinds and Relationships of Plants,’’ containing the descrip- tion of the groups of plants and comprising about 125 pages, is delayed, but is expected to be ready shortly. The subject-matter is divided into chapters which deal successively with the various organs, namely, leaves, stems, roots, flowers, fruits, and seeds. A summary of the treatment of the leaf will indicate the author’s plan. The distinctive characteristics are first noted, the “green colour, flat form, and growth towards the light ’’; their function consists in the exposure of green tissue to light, under the action of which the plant forms its food out of water and minéral matters drawn from the:soil and a gas received from the air. After a short account of general structure an experimental account of photosyn- thesis is given, which leads-on to the study of the cellular anatomy and the characteristics of protoplasm. and other cell-contents. | Transpira- tion is then considered, and next the adjustments of green tissues to light. | Various forms of foliage-leaves are described in association with various habitats, and in the following section the forms and functions of leaves othet than foliage, such as leaves for storage, the insectivorous habit, climbing, bud-scales, and stipules. A section on the nutrition of plants which lack chlorophyll includes, besides phanero- gamic parasites and saprophytes, a reference to the fungi. Sections on the autumnal and other coloration of leaves, and their economics and treatment in cultivation, are followed by a final section on the uses of photosynthetic food, which deals briefly with the various classes of sub- stances found in the plant and their use to man. It is evident from this sketch that Prof. Ganong’s treatment is somewhat unconventional. The text makes easy reading, and is facilitated by a large number of good figures; but there is sometimes a suggestion of scrappiness. PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. A Text-book of Thermochemistry and Thermo- dynamics. By Prof. Otto Sackur. Trans- lated and revised by Dr. G. E. Gibson. Pp. xvi+ 439. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.).° Price 12s. ‘net.’ . . T the present. time, when considerable ‘atten- tion is being given'to the industrial import- ance and value of chemistry, it is very necessary to NO. 2483, VOL. 99| ‘purely descriptive. operation rests not only on whether the process adapted for the needs of the chemist. emphasise the factors which not alone place chemical technology on a scientific basis, but are — absolutely essential for real industrial progress. That much has been accomplished by more or less empirical methods is undoubted, and in cer- tain cases, as a matter of fact, “theory” lags considerably behind “practice.” This, however, is not an argument for relegating theoretical prin- ciples to the background. . Empiricism, which is unavoidable when an industry is in an un- developed state, is ultimately the greatest bar to further progress. Modern synthetic chemistry, in its widest sense, includes much more than the The success of a chemical can be carried out at all, but also on the careful elucidation of the best conditions under which to carry it out. The discovery of these conditions does not, or, rather, should not, be merely a matter of trial and error. - The rational control of a process is determined by considerations of a wide and general nature applicable to processes of the most varied kind. To take an illustration... The prob- lems of rapidity of working, of yield and effi- ciency, are intimately bound up with such general considerations as reaction-speed and its depend- ence upon concentration, temperature, pressure, and the catalytic effects of the surroundings, with the question of the equilibrium state as defined by the equilibrium constant, and the variation of this quantity, with temperature and_ pressure. Problems such as these represent some of the technical applications of the principles of physical chemistry. To go no further, it is evi- dent that the technical chemist must be acquainted with the principles of chemical kinetics and chemical thermodynamics, especially the latter. In these circumstances a good text-book of chemical thermodynamics, such as the late Prof. Sackur’s “Thermochemistry and. Thermo- dynamics,’’ is an asset not alone for chemical science, but equally so for chemical technology. The book itself. is an exceedingly lucid exposition of the principles of thermodynamics, specially In addi- tion to covering the ground which we now regard as Classical, it introduces us to those newer ideas which mark some of the more recent advances in physical chemistry. ‘The problem of chethical. affinity, which is all-important for chemical opera- tions, is particularly well done. One is impressed by the essential unity of purpose underlying the ’ most diverse considerations and fields of investiga- tion. In the old days it would scarcely have been conceived that properties so very “physical” as specific heats and vapour pressures, for example, were ever likely to play any important part in determining the direction and extent of chemical change, but in the light of Nernst’s heat theorem: and the recent work on the quantum theory we are able to appreciate the truly chemical import- ance of these and other physical properties. The experimental material with which Prof. Sackur illustrates the conclusions arrived at is ample and well chosen. Certain ‘subjects, such as liquid mixtures and: fractional distillation, the May 31, 1917 | NATURE 263 | [Se significance of the mass-action - equilibrium constant, Helmholtz’s method of. cal- culating the E.M.F. of a cell, the meaning of _ thermodynamic probability in relation to entropy, _ the laws of radiation, and many other problems, by no means simple in themselves, are here _ treated in an exceptionally clear and convincing manner. Prof. Sackur’s book, regarded as a _ whole, is a. demonstration of the truth of the _ words with which the introduction commences : _ “Everyone will admit that a thorough understand- tne of physical chemistry, and of the success of its applications i in science and in technology, can only be obtained on the basis of thermodynamics. . __ It only remains to add that Dr. Gibson’s trans- “lation is thoroughly satisfactory. W. C. McC. Lewis. OUR BOOKSHELF. The Borderlands of Science. By Dr. A. T. _ Schofield. Pp. viii+25 55, (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 6s. net. ~ Dr. ScHOFIELD tells us in the preface that his object in writing this book is “to present to the reader an entirely new outlook on the subject with which it deals. The word ‘borderland’ has hitherto been practically confined. to a study _of psychic phenomena; but here the meaning is so 2 as to cover all that is obscure and -unproved in any science.’’ The world of con- -erete and abstract things is pictured as a huge _ disc, in the centre of which is God, “the first great cause (though Himself uncaused), dwelling | perfect light ’’ (p. 3); and round the edge of disc stand “the scientists’? in a crowded on. studying the disc by feelers which each _ mind possesses and “by the light of their own reasoning powers’”’ (p. 4). There are patches of the disc only half illuminated by either the human light or the Divine light, and these patches form the “twilight ’’ regions—the border- lands of science (p. 6); and also there are patches “which we should know and need to know, but which science now clearly sees cannot be penetrated by its lights’’ (p. 7). “The goal of all human knowledge . . . is in touch with the Light itself, although to scientists at the circumference, who use only their own lights, it may appear to be impenetrable darkness’’ (p. 4). The Central Unity is also the God of revelation (p. 40); “as we leave the clear though limited light of science we become conscious of a vague remonition or prescience of the spirit world ’’ 63), and ‘“‘there are some few districts of t ht which are illumed neither by science nor by religion’ (p: 62). One would like to know how Dr. Schofield _ knows all this about the Central Unity. There ‘seem to be some sensible and tolerant views on _ the borderlands of psychical’ science, and it is ~ mostly the fundamental parts that seem self- _ contradictory. But there are also somewhat con- ; tradictory statements about the functions of _ science and philosophy (p. 10 and p. 12) and what makes up “mathematics”? (p. 240 and NO. 2483, VOL. 99] p. 246). We read on pp. 33-34: “According to. Myers, Socrates originated the idea of material sciences; but Swedenborg first attempted to introduce a science of the unseen, and his most illustrious follower in-this particular direction has been Sir William Crookes.”’ fo) The Pruning-Manual. Being the Eighteenth Edition, Revised and Reset, of the Pruning- Book, which was first Published in 1898. By L. H. Bailey. Pp. xiiit+4o7. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 8s. 6d. net. Tus book deals with an important side of the care of fruit trees. The author considers that “the habit of growth, mode of flowering and fruit-bearing, and response to manipulation *’ may be grouped under the heading of pruning, and this wide view of the subject gives a special value and interest to the book. ~ In the earlier chapters the descriptions of the growth and branching of the more important fruit trees are remarkably clear, and should prove useful not only to fruit-growers, but also to teachers of botany and Nature-study. The later chapters deal with the general - principles of pruning, ‘and give directions for the treatment of the various fruit trees and ornamental shrubs grown in America. Prof. Bailey lays great stress on the necessity for the continuous good care of orchards as regards both pruning and tillage. An interesting chapter on the care of street trees may be mentioned; instructions are given for the repairing and preservation of old trees which, on account of their position or association, may be specially valuable. This manual is intended by. the author to bring together the results of long experience in pruning “as handed down from gardener to gardener, fruit-grower to fruit-grower, and as recorded in many books.’’ ‘As early as the latter half of the sixteenth century the subject was dealt with by Heresbach in “Foure Bookes of Husbandrie ”’ (1586), and also by Mascall (1575 The numerous references in this book, invever, are chiefly to works published in the last twenty years, and especially to the reports of the valuable experimental trials which have been carried out at Woburn, at Wildpark (Germany), and in Utah, California, and Missouri. It is unfortunate that the author has not added a short bibliography, as the references are scattered in the text or in footnotes, and in one or two cases no date is given. H. A. The Aviator and the Weather Bureau. By Dr. Ford A. Carpenter. Second edition. Pp. 54. (San Diego: Chamber of Commerce, 1917.) Tuis small book gives a brief history of American aviation as it is associated with southern Cali- fornia, and contains a considerable number of interesting illustrations. It points out the advantage of the climate of California for avia- tion studies, and gives in chap. iii, an account of an ascent made by the author over the city of San_ Diego. 264 NATURE [May 31, 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.] Plated Teeth of Sheep. Twice in recent years I have had brought to me by different people, as great curiosities, teeth of sheep or lambs, some of which were -partly covered with a bright yellow metallic-looking film, which was thought to be gold. One of the persons referred to, as a foreign meat purveyor, had had a large experience with car- cases of sheep, but had not observed the peculiarity before; and none of the farmers whom I questioned about the matter had ever seen or heard of it. whether it is actually so rare a phenomenon as the above remarks suggest is doubtful, for the Rev. John Morton, in “The Natural History of Northampton- shire,” published in 1712,.p. 50, says :— ‘Whether it be owing to some accidental uncommon Property in the Soil, that the Teeth of certain Sheep, and Cows, are tinged with a Golden, or rather Brazen Colour; whereof thev have had instances in Stafford- shire, as also here in this County, and of which I have.now by me a pretty remarkable Sample that I met with at Oxenden; or whether it be owing to the feeding of Cattel upon yellow-flower’d Plants or to some other Cause, I shall not now stay to examine.” Actually, of course, the yellow film referred to con- sists of iron pyrites, and seems to require for its formation the concomitants of ferruginous matter, sulphates, and anaerobic bacterial action. Bacteria in the decomposing organic matter on or around the teeth may be supposed to reduce the sulphates with |. evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen, which latter reacts on the available iron to form the iron pyrites, FeS.,, a well-known chemical reaction commonly occur- ring in Nature under anaerobic conditions. It is con- sequently reasonable to suppose that the particular sheep, etc., exhibiting the characteristic spoken of, that of plated teeth, had been drinking water charged both with iron and sulphates. Now most chalybeate waters are bog waters, where humic acids have first dissolved the iron, and then on oxidation deposited it in the form.of the hydrated peroxide of iron, when sulphates may or may not have been present. But some chalybeate waters (including some bog waters), besides depositing iron, yield abund- ance of sulphates of iron, or calcium, or both; then obviously the original source of. the. iron was iron: ’ pyrites, probably marcasite. It would appear that this latter class of water would especially lead to the plating of the teeth of animals using it. ; I should be rather glad to know of any instances where the result referred to could be actually traced direct to its cause. BrEBY THOMPSON, 67 Victoria Road, Northampton, May 19. J. E. B. Mayor and Todhunter. THE review of Dr. MacFarlane’s ‘‘ Lectures on Ten British Mathematicans’’ in Nature of May 17 closes with a quotation about Todhunter. The words cited are attributed to Prof. Mayor, but a note of interrogation seems to imply some uncer- tainty as to which of the two brothers Mayor it was who- wrote them. The quotation is from the late professor of Latin, John E. B. Mayor. On the death of Todhunter Mayor wrote an “In Memoriam” notice of his old friend.. It appeared in three consecutive numbers of the Cambridge Review NO. 2483, VOL. 99| But. ‘amelioration of normal conditions.” for 1884. The first instalment, appeared in the number: for March 5. The quotation in NaTURE is'‘from the number for Mores 19, p. 262, col. 1. 2 mht eB tae Todhunter was not only a mathematician, but also a linguist. ‘‘ Besides most European languages (includ- ing Russian, of which he learnt enough to master a mathematical treatise), he had studied Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit. He was a sound Latin and Greek scholar” (loc. cit., p. 229). are Unlike his great master, De Morgan, who is said to have been a skilful performer on both the organ and . the tin whistle, Todhunter lacked the musical faculty. ‘*He used to say he knew two tunes; one was ‘ God save the Queen,’ the other wasn’t. The former he recognised by the people standing up” (p. 261, foot-. note). EDMUND SyMES Payne. 27 Constitution Hill, Clifton, May 21. THE REMOULDING OF NATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS. Ex the recently issued third annual report (1916) of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, and fifteenth annual report (1915-16) of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, there is evidence of the deeply adverse influence which the heavy hand of war has exerted in directions usually the most remote from strife and rancour.’ The width of the influence is very evident, too, for these reports deal with subjects so diverse as higher education, scientific and literary research, music, church organs, libraries, ete. In the case of the former trust it is remarked that, “while the past year may confidently be said to have seen progress made with the work of the trust, the war and its reactions on the ordinary activi- ties of the country have necessarily hampered any rapid development of schemes which are not directly concerned with its prosecution. A philanthropic trust is peculiarly subject to the difficulties of the moment, especially. when its efforts must be entirely devoted towards the In the case of the latter trust it is remarked that “the opera- tions of the trust under the Research Scheme stilt continue to be considerably affected by the European war.” Fellows and scholars of the trust “have been engaged on military duty,” and some ‘fare among the fallen.” ‘The influence of the war . . . is seen in the diminished number of candidates for fellowships and scholarships, and still more, in the fact that of those elected one half either did not avail themselves of the awards or resigned in the course of the session to engage in other work. It is also seen in the altered character of the research work of the beneficiaries, which, except in one or two cases, instead of following the usual lines, was directed to the, solution of definite problems arising out of the war.” One can remember readily the time when ap— plications were received by the universities fron America, but never from the United Kingdom,. for honours graduates to direct the labours of, e.g., cotton manufacturers or gardening firms. That the war has made this old condition an im- possibility for the future became forcefully clear in the recent report of the Advisory Council of ‘ bam. _ May 31; < Tgt7T NATURE 265 a Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The report of the Uni- _-versities Trust exhibits the effective response of _ the universities to recent calls. The report of _ the Council makes very evident the need, long Fe recognised by scientific men, of change—drastic e—in the methods of industry, and the need om collaboration in endeavour. It makes also _ ‘very evident the need for the theorist to direct _ and expedite the’ labours of the practical man; = and, more satisfactory still, it shows that the ctical man is now recognising it widely under es _ the stress of war. ' The future age is to be the age of specialisa- “tion and co-ordination. An interesting example of co-ordination appears in the reports of the “I eae Council and the United Kingdom Trust. ~ The former body gave grants to the Stoke School of Pottery in order to aid “a threatened indus- try.” The latter acquired the - unique Solon _ Ceramic Library and presented it to the Stoke School in the hope that it might “help to We _ strengthen -the high standard of a national _ industry.” _ The specialisation and the co-ordination are to ‘be directed towards the placing of national efforts on the fittest bases and in touch with the fittest _ methods. It is largely isolation and the lack of _ specialised scientific control in commercial and _ industrial endeavours that have led to the critical _ conditions upon which the war has focussed atten- _ tion. The Committee of the Privy Council has already done much towards the removal of some _ of these conditions, and has proceeded tentatively _ to the inauguration of means to remedy widely the lack of co-ordination and the neglect of spe- cialised control. The constitution of the ma* _ chinery of the committee for the effective attain- _ ment of its national aimS is very ideal. The committee itself includes the heads of the various governmental departments concerned, and _ its Advisory Council and very large Standing Com- -mittees are formed of working scientific and tech- _ nical experts, whose decisions must obviously be determinative. But there exist many pre-war Siroinistrations _—hboards, trusts, etc-—on a smaller scale, and | many post-war administrations will arise also on | a smaller scale, yet, nevertheless, dealing with | | Trusts that great weight is attached to expert matters of importance to the nation. In the case of the former there must be revision, in the case | of the latter there must be supervision, in order — that the fittest constitution may be framed and | followed. In matters of business the framing > should be moulded on business lines, and not, for | example, on legal lines, though a slight admix- | ‘ture of legal opinion might be desirable. matters of education the administrators should mainly be trained educationists, and not, for example, business men, though a slight propor- tion of these might be of advantage when the administration deals also with its own funds. In a mixed body it is not infrequently found that the best business-member is one who never had In | safely guided only by a trained specialist. On the other hand, it must also. be recognised that the lines of success in a trading firm or a manu- facturing firm are fundamentally different from those in an educational institution. Trade and ordinary business are-of the nature of a war with tendencies, which may be, and often are, success- fully combated, towards selfishness and hardness. And this tendency might easily develop into a national curse. In not very remote history a subordinate body, composed mainly of business men, intending to be well-intentioned, byt misled ~ by a mischief-maker and to some extent under - the influence of the heritage of old feuds, worked behind the back of a superior body ‘and almost involved both bodies in an utterly ruinous litiga- tion. In that process they attacked, also behind his back and without his knowledge, a man whose life, in connection with the matter regarding which they attacked him, could easily challenge that of any one of them; for it had, in that very matter, been one of absolute innocence. Such a performance could scarcely be imagined in the case of a body of jurists,-whose training begets sensitiveness to justice; or of a body of scientific’ men, whose training begets sensitiveness to accu- racy and truth; or even of a body of literary men or artistic men, whose training confirms the sense of beauty. In every case the scientific test of fitness must be applied. In pure business, the’ business man ; in pure technics, the technical man; in technical science, the practical man and the man of science equally, or the latter preponderantly in cases of doubt; in education, the trained educationist, must have the determinative voice. So also in other matters. It is no less an important point that the specialists must be men actively engaged in the work which is their specialty. Under no other conditions can the fullest efficiency be attained. Nor can it be attained with certainty unless these men are in the majority as regards either numbers or, at least, the weight effectively attached to their views. When proved by these tests, of the three ad- ministrations here specially considered, only that of the Committee of the Privy Council seems to be of quite the fittest type. Although there is full internal evidence in the reports of the Carnegie advice, possibility should be changed into visible certainty. Nevertheless, one ought not to take cognisance of this condition without at the same time acknowledging, with full appreciation, the height of the aims ‘of these trusts and the great- ness of the results to which they have attained. W. PEppIE. ANTISEPTICS,-AND THE TREATMENT OF INFECTED WOUNDS. pa the beginning of the war the Medical Research Committee has paid special atten- | tion to the important subject of antiseptics in the a special business training; nevertheless, there — _ are certain aspects of business which can be © NO. 2483, VOL. 99] treatment of wounds. The part taken by - Sir Almroth Wright and the. bacteriological depart- 266 NATURE | [May 31, 1917 ment of the ‘committee is well known. At the same time’‘the committee has supported inde- pendent inquiries in other ee which fall under two main heads. e first group com- prises the studies of the properties of hypochlor- ites and their derivatives. ..At Edinburgh Profs. Ritchie and Lorrain Smith produced and investi- gated the solution now widely known and used as -“Eusol,” in which the prefix is not Greek, as might be supposed, but stands for Edinburgh University. Simultaneously, Dr. Dakin, working in collaboration with Prof. Cohen, of the Uni- versity of Leeds, and Dr. Carrel, in France; brought forward the now well-known “Dakin” hypochlorite solution, used widely for the French Army, for the British Army in France, and in America. Later, Dr. Dakin, working for the committee in its biochemical department, inves- tigated the properties of paratoluene sulphochlor- amide, prepared earlier for him in Prof. Cohen’s laboratory by a modification of Chattaway’s original process. This antiseptic has already ob- tained wide use in England and France, under Dr. Dakin’s name, “chloramine-T,” and in America under the name “chlorazene.” Being non-toxic and less unpleasant than hypochlorite solutions close to the nose, it has been specially useful in mouth and jaw cases, and from its property of ready adsorption by textiles, it provides anti- septic gauzes of far higher potency than those previously available. aie ; The second group of inquiries supported by the committee has been concerned with benzene de- rivatives, and chiefly those already known to the synthetic dye industry. At a very early stage in the war, Surgeon-General Cheatle, with Drs. Fildes and Rajchman, investigated for the com- mittee a series of compounds, of which they brought forward malachite green. as having high value in the treatment of infected wounds. More recently, Dr. Carl Browning, working in the Bland-Sutton Institute of the Middlesex Hospital, who had previously worked with brilliant green and other synthetic dyes as weapons in the tech- nique of bacteriological discrimination, has ex- amined for the committee other synthetic dyes. Much interest has been taken in his statement of the antiseptic properties of what he proposes to call “flavine.”” This is an acridin derivative pre- viously prepared and actually patented in Ger- many; to which Ehrlich gave the name “trypa- flavin,” on account of its trypanocidal properties. Owing to the war, supplies of this substance were unobtainable, but Dr. Barger, in the bio- chemical department of the Medical Research Committee, prepared “trypaflavin ” for the pur- poses of Dr. Browning’s investigation, with the results already published. This, now called “fla- vine,” Dr. Browning found to have, in addition to high bactericidal potency, the very remarkable, and at present wholly unexplained, property of gaining, instead of losing, in potency in the pre- sence of serum, and it has the further valuable property of appearing to leave undamaged the activities of phagocytes in dilutions which still have high bactericidal power. NO. 2483, VOL. 99] The committee has arranged for the manufac- ture of “flavine” upon a commercial scale for Government purposes, and as the new supplies become available it is hoped that complete clinical trials may be made of its value in the treatment of wounds. The preliminary reports already received from surgeons, based upon the first results of the laboratory manufacture, are most encouraging. Paonia BS HOME-GROWN . SUGAR. S ae announcement in the Times of April 19 that the Treasury has sanctioned a grant of 125,000l. by way of loan from the Development Fund towards the purchase of an estate for the purposes,of sugar-beet growing and sugar manu- facture marks an advance of the highest importance towards the establishment in this country of this valuable industry. For many years an active propaganda directed towards this end has been carried on, and much valuable preliminary investigation has been com- pleted. Numerous experiments in different parts of the country have shown conclusively that over wide areas sugar-beet crops fully equal in yield and quality to those of the Continent can he grown, and the ground has been effectively cleared for putting the possibilities of the industry to practical test. For several reasons, however, previous efforts to establish the industry have met with but scant success. On one hand the uncertainty as to national policy in relation to the once vexed ques- | tion of sugar bounties has been a potent inhibiting factor, whilst on the other the necessary establish- ment of sugar-beet growing areas round the factory to give an assured supply of beets has also presented the greatest difficulties. Repeated efforts to obtain State assistance have encountered the obstacle that such assist- ance could be given only to enterprises from which the element of private profit was entirely eliminated. At long last, however, the efforts appear to be within sight of fruition, and with the more clearly realised need for the establish- ment of the industry and the closer consideration ‘given to the solution of the difficulties involved, a scheme has been devised which Lord Selborne’s committee in its interim report felt able to endorse as well thought out and sound. - ' This enterprise for which Treasury support has been obtained is to be carried out by the British Sugar-Beet Growers’ Society, Ltd., an organisa- tion not trading for profit, and created specifically for the purposes of the scheme, with Capt. Beville Stanier, M.P., as chairman, and an influential and representative committee, with expert advisory assistance. Through the vice- — chairman, Mr. E. Jardine, M.P., an estate of 5600. acres has been acquired at Kelham, near Newark, where it is proposed to grow a large area of sugar-beet and to erect a factory for its manufacture into sugar. The estate is very favourably situated for both and canal rail _ May 31, 1917] NATURE ' 267 4 isport, and would appear to be well adapted sry way for the purpose. - enterprise, when fully developed, is ated to cost 500,0001., but, for obvious ns, only a very limited development is pos- at present. With the large acreage at its sal, some of the difficulties which have beset r enterprises are obviously greatly reduced. scheme also presents other features which e confidence in its ultimate success, and the = ess of this important national experiment be watched on all sides with the paresest eon. SIR A. R. BINNIE. GREAT engineer, Sir Alexander Richard- son Binnie, born in London in 1839, died y 18 at the age of seventy-eight. He the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1865, 1905 became ‘its president. He was a - of the Institution of Mechanical srs, the Geological Society, and other Ss, and contributed to their Transactions valuable papers. . Always interested in al studies, he sketched in an address to tituition of Civil Engineers the progress of cience and engineering during the eighteenth nineteenth centuries. Sir Alexander served a pupilage to Mr. T. W. gan and John F. La Trobe Bateman, and t first engaged on railway construction in s. After a short period of practice in ondon he went in 1868 to India, and as execu- ? engineer in the Department of Public Works | engaged in coal exploration, on railways, in carrying out schemes of ~water-supply. ; most important work in India was the con- iction of a reservoir for the supply of the of Nagpur. In 1875, when in England on irlough, he was consulted-by the Bradford Cor- ‘poration with regard to difficulties which had arisen in the water-supply of ‘that city. He ecame the water engineer of Bradford, a posi- tion he retained for fifteen years. From 1890 _ to 1901 he was the chief engineer to the London _ County Council, and greatly assisted in the re- _ forming activities of that time. He completed the _ sewa works at . Barking and Crossness, _ and directed the construction of the Blackwall _ Tunnel, the Barking Road Bridge, and the High- _ gate Archway. In 1897 he was knighted. During this period he studied a scheme for the supply of water to London from North Wales. _He surveyed a watershed in the valleys of the Wye and Usk capable of discharging 415 million gallons daily after allowing for losses. The _water was to be brought to London by two con- _. duits, 150 to 170 miles in The scheme _ Was very carefully worked out, but its cost was _ deemed prohibitive, and London was content bad a supply from less pure sources nearer at hand. ; _. When in India Sir Alexander investigated _ questions of rainfall, evaporation, and flow off ie, NO. 2483, VOL. 99 | ae the ground, as to which for tropical countries there was not much information at that time. He was specially interested in tracing a conneéc- tion between sun-spot periods and the fluctua- tions of rainfall. ; Sir Alexander had great kindliness and courtesy and was greatly respected by all who knew him. He was an excellent witness before Parliamentary Committees and in the law courts, where his great knowledge, clear statement of his case, and obvious honesty gave weight to his evidence. =" Cen NOTES. THE memory of the late Prof. Raphael Meldola is cherished with affection by workers in many scientific fields. It is to be hoped that a worthy memorial will eventually be established as a national tribute ‘to his work and influence, but it is thought that the present is not an appropriate time for a public appeal with this object in view. Moved, however, by a desire to preserve a permanent impression of his features, some of Meldola’s friends are arranging to present his portrait to the Royal Society and to the Institute of Chemistry, and subscriptions varying from halt a guinea to ten pounds have already been contributed by those who have heard of this intention. There are doubtless others who will welcome the opportunity of taking part in this modest expression of esteem, for Meldola was known to students of widely different branches of science, and ‘it is feared that some of them may have been overlooked when the invitation to subscribe to the memorial was sent out. We are glad to assist in repairing any such inadvertent omission by directing attention to the Meldola Portrait Fund, for which an account has been opened at’ Messrs. Barclay and Co.’s Bank, Oxford, Banbury Road Branch. In these columns. it is unnecessary to dwell upon Meldola’s scientific achievements, the breadth of his intellectual sympathy, or the patriotic zeal with which he wore himself out in his country’s service—his friends. knew these qualities fully, and it is they who wish to show appreciation of them by the presentation of his por- trait to the two societies mentioned, both of which will gladly welcome this memorial of him. Mr. Solo- mon J. Solomon, R.A., has consented to paint- the portraits, and has, entered into the scheme in a most generous spirit. Contributions for the fund should be sent to Prof. E. B. Poulton, Wykeham House, Oxford, Dr. JorGEN BrRuNcHORST, Norwegian Minister in Rome, who died in that city on May 20, was in his early days a botanist. Born at Bergen on August to, 1862, he was assistant to the professor of botany at Tiibingen, and took the degree of Ph.D. at Heidel- berg in 1885. He studied chiefly the physiology and diseases of roots, and published several papers on those subjects from 1884 to 1888. Appointed conservator of Bergen Museum in 1886, he soon took part in com- munal life by publishing a practical book on the diseases of the economic plants of Norway (1887). The age of D. C. Danielssen threw much administra- tive work on Brunchorst, who was first the museum’s secretary, and succeeded to the post of director -in 1go1. It was he who took the lead in all public lec- tures to students and to the public, the editing of the popular periodical Naturen, the planning of the Botanic Garden, and the establishment of the Bio- logical Station. Further than this, he strongly sup- ported co-operation with the other northern nations | and with this country in the fisheries invéstigation of 268 NATURE [May ‘31, 1927 ‘tthe North Sea.. He was delegate to the Fishery Con- gress at Dieppe, and to the second conference on the International Catalogue of Scientific.Literature held in London in. 1898. ——-Virile and straightforward in manner, of keen intelligence. and wide sympathies, Brunchorst will be much regretted by those friends in this country from whom.he has been taken at an age _ so unexpectedly early. ENGINEER REAR-ApMiIRAL G. G. Goopwin, C.B., has been appointed Engineer-in-Chief of H.M. Fleet, with the rank of Engineer Vice-Admiral, in succession to gd Vice-Admiral Sir Henry J. Oram, K.C.B., Dr. C. D. Watcort, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has been elected president of ‘the U.S. National: Academy of Sciences, in succession to Prof. W. H. Welch, of the Johns Hopkins University; and Dr. A. A. Michelson, of the University of Chicago, has been elected to succeed him as secretary of the academy. - THE annual meeting of the Institution of Gas Engineers is to be held on Tuesday, June 5, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, when reports will be presented of the research committees on, respectively, Refractory Materials, Gas Lighting, Heating and Ventilation, and Life of Gas Meters. Lord Moulton, F.R.S., has*been nominated for election as president of the institution for the year 1917-18. At the monthly general meeting of the Zoological Society of London, held on May 16, his Grace the. Duke of Bedford in the chair, it was announced that, in comparison with the corresponding period in 1916, there was a decrease in the number of visitors of 75:353, and a decrease in the receipts of 17561. The additions to the society’s collections during the month amounted to 130, of which special mention may be made of a female chimpanzee from West Africa, two _ pandas (Aelurus {ulgens) from Nepal, and a Demidoff’s galago (Hemigalago demidoffi) from Ashanti. WHILE we are glad to know that it has been decided to establish a National War Museum, we are not a little alarmed at the many impracticable and sometimes fatuous suggestions as to the nature of the objects which should find a place there. We do not, for example, consider that ornaments made of chewed bread, even though they were made by prisoners of war in internment camps, are worthy of a permanent place in such a collection. As well might we add a lump of mud from the wheel of a limber in Flanders! The writer of .a long article on this theme in the Museums Journal for May expresses a hope that the -Tower of London may be used as the repository of this collection, and.there are even people who seem to agree with him. But if a tithe of the things he proposes to admit are collected, an annexe several times the size of the Tower will have to be provided. By all means let us have this museum, but let a little judgment be exercised in its formation. Ir is announced from New York by the Exchange Telegraph Co. that the members of the Crocker Land Expedition are safe at Etah. The expedition sailed for the Arctic in July, 1913, under thé auspices of the American Museum of Natural History of New York, to explore the land supposed to lie north-west of the line of islands stretching from Grant Land to Prince Patrick Land. Two years later, however, Mr. Donald B. Macmillan, the leader, sent a message which, after recording several misadventures which the expedition had encountered. announced that Crocker Land did not exist. He and his companions have since remained in the Arctic, mapping uncharted coast lines and carrying on other scientific work. NO. 2483, VOL. 99] “Tue fifteenth annual session of the South Africam Association for the Advancement of Science will be held at Stellenbosch, from Monday, July 2, to Satur- day, July 7, -inclusive, under the presidency of Prof. J. Orr. The sectional committees and their presidents will be as follows:—A: Astronomy, - Mathematics,. Physics, Meteorology, Geodesy, Surveying, Engineéer- ing, Architecture, and Irrigation, Prof. W. N. Rose- veare; B: Chemistry, Geology, Metallurgy, Minera~ logy, and Geography, Prof, M. \M. Rindl; C: Bac- teriology, Botany, Zoology, Agriculture, Forestry, Physiology, Hygiene, and Sanitary Science, J. Burtt- Davy; D: Education, History, Mental Science, Poli- tical Economy, General Sociology, and Statistics, Rev.. Prof. N. J. Briimmer; E: Anthropology, Ethnology, Native Education, Philology, and Native Sociology, Rev. N. Roberts. The local secretary is Prof. B. van der Riet, Victoria College, Stellenbosch. THERE lately passed away a notable publie servant in | the person of Mr. Alexander Gibson, late Senior Chief Cartographer at the Admiralty. The public hears much of some of its prominent officials, but is un- aware of the existence of many highly technical ser- vices that are silently rendered to the State, without | public recognition, and sometimes without much official encouragement. Mr, Gibson was, however, well known in that circle of scientific interests concerned with geographical and. cartographical work, and had ‘been a distinguished occupant of the official position referred to, from which he retired in 1914, after forty years’ service at the Admiralty. When the war com- menced he was recalled to continue his services, and was at work until a few days before his death. Mr Gibson’s long and continuous service at the Admiralty had made him an unequalled authority upon the charts of the coasts and waters of the world, both British and foreign, and with his great capabilities for critica? examination and research he contributed many impor- tant records of high value to the work of accurate chart construction. Dr. GEORGE SARTON will be known to many readers of Nature as the editor of the excellent quarterly, Isis, which was published near Ghent until the war stopped | publication. Dr. Sarton is at present lecturing at Harvard University, and is continuing with his usual vigour his important work in organising the history and use of science in civilisation. In Science for March 23 last he published a very interesting proposal for an American Institute for the history of science and civilisation, which appeals “to those interested in placing before American students advantages not only greater than are now offered in this country (America), but greater than those offered abroad.” ‘“* Science,” says Dr. Sarton, ‘‘is the strongest force that makes for the unity of our civilisation, and it is also essen- tially a cumulative process, and hence no history of civilisation can be tolerably true and complete in which the development of science is not given a con- siderable place.” Particularly interesting among the activities of the proposed institute is that of publishing two journals, one of a popular nature, and the other of the highest scientific character. The scientific journal might be a series of editions of important scientific manuscripts, or a journal of the type of Isis, which should record the world’s work on the subject. It may be added that perhaps this scheme might fit in with the admirable suggestion made by Prof. Rignano — in Nature of January 25 last of a quadruple scientific ““Entente.”” Now America has jointed the. Entente, our. scientific future is certainly rosier. Dr. Sarton’s note concludes with an imposing list of American men of science who are in sympathy with his’ project. At the May meeting of the Society of Glass Tech- nology Prof. Herbert Jackson gave a short account ® May 31, 1917] NATURE : 269 of the valuable work accomplished in glass research ince 1914 at the instigation of the Institute of Chem- _istry and the Ministry of Munitions. One outcome of this work has been the placing of at least fifty new experiment with, to adopt, and to improve. ngst the most important formule available may entioned batches for resistant and ordinary chem- ware; soft glass for lamp work; combustion tub- §; various types of glasses for X-ray work; opal asses; thermometer glasses; and optical glasses. show the widespread nature of the researches eady carried out upon glass, he said, the effect of jost every known element has been tried, and many sses with interesting properties are now available ‘he present and post-war use. By fostering re- th in many directions and by the admission of 2 in its most advanced form into their industry manufacturers have ensured the progress of the ry in the’future. The enthusiasm of the manu- er is refiected in the founding of the Society of Technology, and the interests*of the whole glass y are being well served by the glass technology tment of the University of Sheffield, and by the ierous representative committees set up by the Min i The glass industry, in fact, is a. strike ng example of ‘the co-ordination. of the ' manufacturer and man of science at its best. The st meeting of the Society of Glass Technology will 1 June, at the University of Sheffield, when a joint ussion on refractory materials has been arranged | the Faraday Society. _ the May issue of Man Mr. E. W. P. Chinnery scribes the use among the coast tribes of Papua ‘the conch shell and’ wooden trumpet as a mode of jailing. This is usually performed by males, but i sometimes use these instruments, and in the ikori River delta women beat a kind of tattoo with cks on the sides of their canoes to announce the killing of men and pigs, while the males sound calls on the conch shell. This account is supplemented by a note contributed by Dn A. C. Haddon, with a good biblio- raphy, in which he describes the distribution of similar wooden trumpets in Netherlands New Guinea and on the Sepik River. Bet in a airaerigae of the ree peteciogionl Society, N.S. (vol. vii., i.), Sir P. I. Hamilton _ Grierson discusses the Sadie of fosterage, not as a _ chronicle of phenomena, but as a process of evolution. ___ By fosterage he means the rearing of a child, under- __ taken at the request of its parents by someone who is neither its father nor its mother, for a limited time, _ with the result that a bond is created between the to of all kinds- of electrical instruments. Among : may be mentioned the Kc ence for a ine Ministry on new types of storage battery for in submarines, and standard tests on electric lamps the Navy. Investigations have been made for i on meters, etc., used in gunpowder also check tests on standard meters used by iy in its own specification tests. The labora- ertakes for the Ministry of Public Instruction ine Arts the verification of lightning arrester ons on public buildings. On the research y be mentioned the important researches pub- y M. Ch. David on the arious grades of used for dynamo brushes; M. Jouaust’s re- on the magnetic properties of iron, its mag- cosity, andits permeability at high frequencies ; [. Laporte and de la Gorce’s researches on the t strength of insulating materials under con- and alternating tensions and at varying fre- In 1914 the laboratory had in hand re- (which will be continued) on the Violle plati- standard. MM. Broca and Laporte have ten experiments on the action on the human various artificial sources of light, while Dr. d M. David: have studied the mechanism of m high-tension alternating currents. The re Central represented France at the inter- experimental work carried out at Washington as the result of the- International Conference cal Units and Standards held in London in has published papers on the subject. Se _—— Cuaston CuapmMan’s lecture on.‘‘ Some Main Advance in the Domain of Modern Analytical 7” delivered before the Chemical Society in is been reproduced ‘in the Journal (vol. iii., Attention is- directed to the increasing er being -now supplemented by the refracto- > electrometer, and a wide range of electro- > re _In the same-way the use of de- of hydrazine as qualitative and quantitative / in organic i has been extended by lorogiucinol to precipitate furfural in estimat- toses and pentosans, of digitonin to estimate , and of picric and picrolonic acids in identi- ‘bases as arginine, histidine, lysine, and . Organic compounds have also been intro- reagents in inorganic chemistry, notably in imetric estimation of nitrates and nitrites. cipitation occurs, however, when benzidine ide is used to precipitate sulphates, or nm” to precipitate nitrates, the latter reagent ting for thé first time a method for the gravi- estimation of nitric acid. The separation of ULILIO]) haracteristic of a considerable group of separations hich can now be effected with remarkable ease and y by making use of complex organic com- is. Biological processes, such as the selective rmentation of sugars by different species of yeasts, nd the use of the “ precipitin” reaction to distinguish d of great value in the analysis of foodstuffs. a conclusion, the lecturer urges the desirability of ing in this country professorships of analytical istry, Similar to those which exist already on the nent and in America. .. — [essrs. J. WHELDON aND Co., 38 Great Queen et, W.C.2, have just issued a catalogue (New NO. 2483, VOL. 99] aico-che: ical methods, the spectroscope and el from cobalt by means of dimethylglyoxime is _ yveen albumins from different sources, have also | Science in all its Branches”) which should be of in- ‘terest to many of our readers. It is conveniently Series, No. 79, ‘‘ Books and Papers on ical arranged under the headings :—Bacteriology, Para- sitology, etc., Diatoms, Entomostraca, Foraminifera, Fresh-water Algze and Desmids, Infusoria, Micro- Entomology, Micro-Fungi, .Petrography, Crystallo- graphy, etc., Protozoa, Rotifera, Zoophytes, Biology, Histology, Physiologv. and General Works on the Microscope. Many of the works catalogued, being published in enemy countries, are difficult to obtain at the present time. The list is to be had upon written application. THE following works are in preparation for appear- ance in the ‘‘Cambridge Public Health Series” (Cam- bridge University Press):—‘*Ticks as Carriers of Disease,” Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall; ‘Serum Diagnoses,”’ Dr. C. Browning; ‘“‘The Purification of Water in Sedimentation, Filtration, and Precipita- tion,’’ Dr. A, C. Houston; *‘ The Purification of Water by Ozone and Chlorine; and Domestic Filters,’’ Prof. G. Sims Woodhead; “‘The Principles and Practice of the Dilution Method of Sewage Disposal,” Dr. W. E. Adeney ; ‘‘ Disinfection,’”” Dr. C. W. Ponder; ‘* Hous- ing in Relation to Public Health,’ Dr. C. J. Cole- , man; “School Hygiene,” Dr. E. T. Roberts; “Soils, Subsoils, and Climate -in Relation to: Health,” G. Walker ; ‘‘ Meat Inspection,”” Dr. W. J. Howarth and T. D. Young; ‘Vital Statistics,’ R. Dudfield and G. U. Yule; and ‘“‘ Foods, Sound and Unsound,” Dr. H. C. Haslam. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Comet 19170 (SCHAUMASSE).—From observations of this comet made on April 28, April 29, and May 4, the following elements and ephemeris for Greenwich mid- night have been calculated by J. Braae and J.: Fischer- Petersen :— - T=1917 May 18'2946.G.M.T. w= 119° 1190) §3= 9° 37°25 1917 i=158° 42"°87) log -g =9°88304 1917 R.A. Decl. : as Log A he ae . ain? May 31 8 25 32 +38 30-2 9:7 109 June 1 83514 36 27 g9QI0I* 9-7375 2 8 43 12 33 502 - 97636 3 8 49 52. + 31 508 ~ 9-7889 . 85529 30 34 9°8133 5 9 016 +28 26-7 99255 98369 FIREBALLS IN JUNE.—Mr. Denning writes :—The- twilight prevailing during the nights of the month of June is not favourable for-meteoric work, but fireballs are often numerous and easily seen. During the first week of June many large meteors have appeared from a radiant in Scorpio at about 252°—22°, and they have had unduly long flights and slow motions. There are other striking radiants in Ophiuchus and Antinous._ This year a special effort will be made by observers near the end of the month, with the object of ascer- taining whether there is any repetition of the rich shower which occurred on June 28, 1916, and was presumably connected with the periodical comet of Pons-Winnecke. On that date the rich cluster of meteors through which the earth passed must have been more than 600 millions of miles from the cometary nucleus, so that the meteors are distributed along a very considerable section of the orbit, if indeed they do not form a complete elliptical stream. a7 9 used for the purposes of land or buildings. _ There are fifty-two stations which receive grants - under the two Acts, the total amount granted being ,oool. The annual revenue of these stations from sources is 748,o00l., including 515,000l. from the Governments, making a total revenue of ly Bt naticaal system of agricultural extension work was provided by Congress by the passing of the co- operative Agricultural Extension Act of 1914, com- _ monly known as the Smith-Lever Act. This Act pro- _ vided that each State receiving’ the benefits of the Morrill, Hatch, and Adams Acts should inaugurate icultural extension work in co-operation with the _ Federal Department of Agriculture. cs For that purpose a sum of 2000]. per annum was and in addition a sum beginning at 120,000l., and _ increasing over a period of seven years to 820,000l. i annum, is allotted annually to the respective States _ by the Secretary of Agriculture in the proportion which tural population of each State bears to the total rural population of all the States. But no payment of es additional appropriations can be made until the = e or local authorities have appropriated an equal ‘sum for the maintenance of co-operative agricultural _ extension work. All the States have agreed to co-operate under the provisions of the Smith-Lever Act, and formal agree- ments between the presidents of the State agricultural colleges and the Department of Agriculture have been signed defining the duties and functions of the two parties. In the fiscal year 1915-16 a sum of 216,000l. was allotted to the States under the Smith-Lever Act. In addition, direct appropriations amounting to 240,000l. were made by Congress for extension work. The total Federal contribution thus amounts to 456,o00l. This is supplemented by 530,000l. from the States. This sum includes 120,000l. to offset the equivalent allotment by the Federal Government under the Exten- _ sion Act. The total from Federal and State sources is, therefore, approximately 1,000,000l. 4 The Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. _ The Forest Service has charge of the administration and protection of the national forests, and also pro- -: motes the practice of forestry generally through \ investigations and the diffusion of information. The _ national forests are administered in seven main dis- _ tricts, each with its central office in charge of a __ district forester. The annual expenditure for adminis- _ tration and protection is about 950,000l., the expendi- ture on permanent improvements 120,000]., and the _ total receipts 490,000l. _ In the year 1915 the investigational work of the Forest Service was brought under one direction by the _ establishment of the branch of research. During _ previous years the various investigations were corre- lated wpa of investigative committees, but the _ establishment of a Separate branch was deemed advisable to make such correlation more complete, and at the same time to segregate investigational NO. 2483, VOL. 99] granted to each State (a total of 96,o00/. per annum), work in accordance with ‘the policy established for the whole department. The activities transferred to the new branch were :— (i) Sylvicultural investigations conducted at eight forest experimental stations to determine the best methods of forest management to use in handling the national forests. (ii) The Forest Products Laboratory established at Madison at a cost of approximately 50,000l., with an annual appropriation which has been increased for the year 1916-17 by 15,000l., making a total of 42,o00l. a year. The technical sections of this laboratory are (a) timber physics, (b) timber tests of mechanical properties, (c) wood preservation, (d) derived products, (e) pulp and paper, and (f) pathology. It is stated that the results obtained at this laboratory are of great industrial value. d a (iii) Economic studies of the lumber and other wood- using industries. (iv) Fire protection studies, and (v) Statistical investigations. The Reclamation Service (Irrigation). This service was organised in 1902 as a branch of the Department of the Interior, to carry into effect the provisions of the Reclamation Act of that year. The Reclamation Act, 1902, provided that all money received from the sale of public lands in sixteen of the western States (except 5 per cent. of the proceeds of sales, already set aside for educational purposes) should be reserved as an official fund to be known as the ‘‘ Reclamation Fund,’ and to be used for the con- struction and maintenance of irrigation works in the States specified. The Secretary of the Interior was empowered to locate and construct irrigation works, and to reserve from sale lands required for public purposes. The acreage of the allotments must be such as in the opinion of the Secretary may be reason- ably required for the support of a family, and the charges over a period of ten years must be sufficient to return to th> reclamation fund the proportionate cost of construction. In this way a.‘ revolving ”’ fund, which now amounts to about 18,000,000l., has been accumulated. The Bureau of Standards, The total number of employees in the bureau is about 400, of which 300 are scientific and technical men. The junior scientific men are ordinarily uni- versity graduates, who begin on.a salary of from 20ol, to 2501. a year. Laboratory assistants and associate physicists and chemists receive from 4ool. to 6ool. a year,. and physicists and chemists from 6ool. to 8o0l. It is stated that these salaries are too small. The bureau is frequently losing able men whose place can only be filled by those who are inex- perienced. In ror5 the Eastman Kodak Company took six men from the bureau, and the General Electric Company took three. Some men, however, prefer to remain in the bureau even when offered large increases in salary from outside. It should be observed that the loss of men in this way is a defect only from the immediate point of view of the bureau. From the broader industrial aspect it is a distinct advantage to have a Government institution- which trains men in research work to go out and take positions as experts in industrial enterprises. The laboratory grounds cover an aréa of sixteen acres near Washington, D.C. .Experience has shown that the efficiency of the work of the bureau is greatly- increased by the location of the laboratories in a section free from the ordinary disturbances of city life. The cost of the land and buildings is approxi- mately 200,0001., and of the equipment about 85,000. _ The annual expenditure is about 125,000. 276 NATURE | [May 31, 1917 The Bureau of Mines. The Bureau of Mines was established as a separate foranch’ of the Department of the Interior in 1910. Its aims are: (a) to bring about greater efficiency and the prevention of waste in the extraction, prepara- tion, and utilisation of mineral products, and (b) to secure the safety and health of workers in the mining industries. pres In its work the bureau seeks the co-operation of all interested persons, and welcomes the assistance and advice. of . workmen’s | organisations, of technical societies, and of State officials and State Governments. It maintains an experiment station and mine at Pitts- -burgh, where research work is carried on, and where investigations are made .as to mining explosions, wminers’ lamps, and mining equipment, and the effici- ency of mine rescue apparatus. ! The bureau has given special attention to investi- gating the causes and methods of prevention of coal- “mine explosions, and to safeguarding the lives of coal miners. In addition, coal and other mineral’ fuels ‘belonging to or for the use of the Government of the United States have been analysed and tested with the view of increasing efficiency in their utilisation. Investigations have been undertaken with the view of ‘increasing the efficiency and preventing waste in the ‘metal-mining and miscellaneous mineral industries, _and a considerable amount of research and experi- ‘mental work in regard to metallurgical problems has ‘been carried out. The expenditure of the bureau is about 120,000, per annum. The Public Health Service. The Public Health Service now ‘consists of 450 medical officers and fifty pharmacists, in addition to professors, technical assistants, and other officers. The total staff numbers about 2000, while the annual ex- penditure is now about 600,0001. In the United States public health matters within the limits of any one ‘State are reserved to the States themselves, but the Federal Public Health Service has a broad field of _activities, inasmuch as it is responsible for preventing the importation of disease and the spread of disease from State to State, and for assisting the States in the solution of various public health problems. Through. the Public Health Service, the Federal “Government co-operates with the health authorities of the States individually and_ collectively; collects current information of the prevalence and geographic -distribution of disease; is responsible for the adminis- tration of the inter-State quarantine laws and regula- tions for the prevention of the spread of disease from “State to State; suppresses epidemics; carries on re- search work in matters pertaining to the public health; maintains the national quarantine for the pre- -vention of the importation of disease from abroad ; performs the medical’ examination of emigrants; regulates the manufacture and sale of vaccines, serums, anti-toxins, and analogous products in inter- State traffic; and furnishes medical care and treatment to various branches of the Government service and to the seamen. of the merchant marine. The Division of Scientific Research controls all matters relating to investigations of contagious and . infectious diseases, and matters pertaining to the public health wherever made. In the field it is repre- sented by the Hygienic Laboratory, with its four pranches—(a) the Plague -Laboratory in San Fran- cisco, (b) the Leprosy Investigation Station in Hawaii, (c) the Pellagra Investigation Station at Savannah, and (d) the Station at Wilmington for the investiga- tion of the parasites of man—and by officers engaged in investigations of typhoid fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and other diseases. NO. 2483, VOL. 99] The Smithsonian Institution, Washington. This institution was founded in 1846' under the terms of a private bequest, by which a sum of approxi- mately 100,000l.. was donated to found ‘‘an establish- lishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”’ With a view to the increase of knowledge, the institute aids investigators by making grants for research and exploration, supplying books, apparatus, laboratory accommodation, etc. It occasionally pro- vides for lectures, whch are published. It has initiated numerous scientific projects, some of which have been turned over to the Government, and resulted in the creation of independent Government bureaux. It advises the Government in many matters of scientific importance, especially in those that have an inter- national aspect. It co-operates with national scientific bodies, such as the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Historical Association, etc. The parent institute has the administrative charge of several branches which grew out of its early activi- ties, and are supported by Congressional appro- priations. These are the National Museum, including the National Gallery of Art, the International Ex. change Service, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the National Zoological Park, the Astrophysical Observatory, the Langley Aerodynamical Laboratory, ‘and the United States Regional Bureau for the Inter- national Catalogue of Scientific Literature. : STATE INSTITUTIONS. Re Universities, A large amount of research work is carried on in the universities and other higher educational institu- tions in the United States in respect both to pure science and to industrial problems. A great part of the research work conducted in these institutions is of a purely scientific nature, and is on the same general lines as that carried out in English and Australian universities. In the ‘‘State ’’ universities in America there is, however, a greater tendency for the research work to be more directly associated with the industrial needs and progress of the community. These State universities were established from the revenue derived from land grants, and are maintained partly by means of these grants and partly by means of special taxes on rateable property. In so far as the agricultural and engineering experiment stations - are concerned, research work has already been linked up with industry, and proposals have recently been made for the establishment of a National University: at Washington, which would serve to organise the work of existing universities on lines more closely related to industrial interests. Experiment Stations. Agricultural Experiment Stations.—Reference has already been made to the agricultural experiment stations established under the Hatch and Adams Acts, and to the relations between the Federal and State authorities with respect to these stations. The re- search work of the stations covers the whole field of scientific agriculture. Engineering Experiment Stations. — Experiment stations have been established at several of the uni- versities in the United States. These stations have special staffs of officers who are free from ordinary instructional work. Their most important activities are generally in relation to engineering problems, but several of them are also engaged partly in investiga- tional work connected with mining and other special industries. The engineering experiment station at the University of Illinois may be taken as typical of . eS May 31,1917] © NATURE 277 7 ‘best organised and most highly developed of these Oo AS Te + ; : ‘he Lllineis experiment station was organised in for the purpose of conducting investigations of ‘tance to professional engineers and to the manu- ring, railway, mining, and building interests of State. One important factor which led to the iblishment. of the station was the success which attended the agricultural experiment station at same university. It was thought that its estab- 1ent was justified in view of the need for scientific rch and the application of science to industry. 2 cost of maintenance of the Illinois station is 30,0001. a year. : ; __. -PrivaTtELy ENDOWED INSTITUTIONS. _ The Carnegie Institution, Washington. e- Carnegie Institution of Washington was ded by Andrew Carnegie in 1902, when he gave board of trustees an endowment of registered of the value of 2,000,0001.; to this fund he later the sum of 2,400,000l. ; so that the present ment of the institution is 4,400,000l., yielding al interest of 220,000!. ne articles of incorporation- of the institution eclare in general “‘ that the objects of the corpora- tion shall be to encourage, in the broadest and most liberal manner, investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of mapeeee to the improvement -mankind.”? Three principal agencies to. forward ‘objects have been developed. (a) The first of : involves the formation of departments of research the institution itself, to attack larger problems iring the collaboration of several investigators, il equipment, and continuous effort. (b) The ad provides means whereby individuals may under- take and carry to completion investigations not less aportant, but requiring less collaboration and less ia! ones (c) The third agency, namely, a ion devoted to editing and printing books, aims publication of the results of research coming the first two agencies, and, to a limited extent, for valuable works not likely to be published sr other auspices. ; The Mellon Institute. Mellon Institute of Industrial Research and of Specific Industries is a privately endowed on, and is unique in its organisation. It was lished with a twofold object, viz. (a) to solve lems submitted to it by those engaged in industry, (b) to train young men successfully to prosecute rch work. e institute is worked on a system yn as the ‘Industrial Fellowship System.”’ ing to this system, an individual or a company _a problem requiring solution may become the ¢ of a fellowship by contributing to the institute a definite sum of money, for a period of not less than One year. This money is used to pay the salary of man or men selected to carry out the investigation ed, and the institute furnishes such facilities as > for the conduct of the work. The sults obtained belong exclusively to the donor of > fellowship. ; he ie The em was inaugurated in 1911, in the Depart- ent of Industrial Research of the University of Pitts- gh, and the working of the scheme began in a tem- ~ t913 the present institution was established on a per- manent. basis by a private endowment of about 00,0001. While the institute is an integral part of the University of Pittsburgh and works in close con- ection with the .University, it- possesses an endow- . NO. 2483, vor. 99] ‘the solution of some other allied problem. y building erected at a cost of about 2000!. In. ment. of its own and is under its own management. The present annual expenditure for salaries and main- tenance is more. than 30,000l. - eee The Rockefeller Testituts, New York, - The scheme of organisation of this institute is of special interest, as it is regarded by many as ideal for a scientific institution established for a specific field of research. The work of the institute began in 1901, © when Mr. J. D. Rockefeller promised the sum’ of 40,0001. per annum for ten years for the purpose of’ **medical research with special reference to the pre- vention and treatment of disease.” The endowments. were greatly increased in ensuing years, and by 1907 reached a total of 7o0,000l. for land, buildings, and equipment, and a fund of 2,100,000l. for maintenance. In addition, 200,000l1. has been given for the equip- ment and endowment of a department of animal pathology, 100,0001. for a pension fund, besides other sums for specific investigations. The experience of the instituté in regard to research. work is that the best method is to map out a field in’ which the more pressing problems arise; then to obtain. the best man available in each branch, and to allow him to associate with himself assistants and collabora— tors and attack the problems in such ways as he may think fit. All that is necessary in the way of super— vision is that some broad policy should be agreed upon, i.e. as to the general lines of the work and the most important problems, the solution of which is considered feasible in view of the existing state of scientific knowledge. Having decided these broad lines of policy, it is best to allow the persons selected for the research to work the problems out in any way and at such times as they like. It-is quite probable, for example, that in attacking some one problem discoveries may be made which will lead directly to: In the Rockefeller Institute the greatest freedom is allowed to the members in charge of the various laboratories. They know what it is desired to accomplish, but whether to pursue any particular line, or to continue in that line, is left to their discretion. Two things: are considered essential in research work, viz. :— (a) To secure the best men available to undertake the research work, and to allow these men- to choose their own associates. (b) To give the men appointed the greatest freedom: in the prosecution of their researches. - Public pressure is- frequently brought to bear upon the Rockefeller Institute to solve particular problems, but the question as to which problems are to be investigated must depend very largely on the state and’ progress of knowledge in the .particular branch of: science involved. For example, the institute has often been asked to investigate “‘hay-fever,’? but it has re- fused, as it sees at present no likelihood of solving” the problem. In regard to the separation of research from instruc-’ tional work the experience is that the best teachers’ are undoubtedly those. who do research work, but it does not by any means follow. that the best research, men are those who also do*instructional work. . The- question is largely one of temperament. INDUSTRIAL LABORATORIES. A large amount of research work having a direct- industrial objective is done by private firms in the United States of America. Many large industrial concerns have established their own laboratories and staffs for research work, and in this respect consider- able developments have taken place during the past ten vears. It is stated by Mr. A. P. M. Fleming, of 278 NATURE - [May 31, 1917 the British Westinghouse Company, Ltd. (who visited | the United States in the year 1915 for the purpose of inquiring into the organisation ot industrial research), that there are probably more than fifty industrial concerns which have established research laboratories on an extensive scale, and that many of these labora- tories expend from 20,000/. to 60,0001. a year on research work. The Eastman Kodak Company.—tThe laboratories of this company at Rochester, N.Y., are maintained at an annual cost of about 20,000/., and are generally considered to be among the finest in the country. The Mulford Company.—This company, founded in 1894 at Philadelphia, atfords an excellent illustration of what can be accomplished by the adoption of stientific research and the application of science to industry. The company now has a capital of 400,000l., it employs 1400 persons on wages, and its scientific staff comprises about sixty graduate chemists, pharma- cists, bacteriologists, and physicians. The company manufactures drugs, and specialises in thé production of serums, anti-toxins, and vaccines. The American Rolling Mill Company.—This com- pany, which has a number of factories, is a large producer of sheet iron and steel. The laboratories comprise works laboratories in- which routine testing and the elimination of manufacturing troubles are dealt with, and a separate research laboratory, estab- lished in 1910 at.a cost of 10,0001. The Detroit Edison Company.—This company main- tains a small research laboratory, partly ior the purpose of investigating troubles incident to the smooth working of the technical side of the enterprise, _ and partly for investigating the utilisation of electrical energy for special purposes. The National Electric Lamp Association.—This association comprises about twenty electric lam factories in different parts of the States. The researc ‘laboratories, at which there are about 200 employees, comprise fifteen separate laboratories, in addition to a model lamp factory, in which the results of laboratory investigations are tested and developed on a manu- facturing scale. Another laboratory is maintained for. testing and standardising the products of the factories. There is also a separate department which specialises in the development of automatic tools for lamp making. The scientific and technical members of the staff are drawn almost entirely from the universities. The Pennsylvania Railway Company.—This com- pany has an extensive research laboratory with a staff of more than 300. The investigations are connected mainly with materials utilised in railway work, and elaborate chemical, physical, and electrical equipment is provided. There is also a laboratory on a workshop scale used for the development. of results obtained in the research laboratories. The National Cash Register Company.—The re- search laboratory of this company at the works at Dayton, Ohio, is equipped for chemical, physical, and microscopic investigations. The staff of the laboratory numbers fifteen, about two-thirds of whom are uni- versity or technological college graduates. But little work of:a purely scientific nature is undertaken, the investigations being directed mainly to the elimination of manufacturing troubles and improvements in the materials used. at The General Electric Company.—This company organised a. department of chemical and physical research in 1901, with an initial capital expenditure of about 3o0ool., and an annual expenditure of 6ool. The investigations undertaken were connected directly with the field of electric. engineering. At the present time the capital exnenditure on the laboratory exceeds 100,0001., while the annual expenditure is about 50,0001. The staff comprises about 200 men. NO. 2483, VOL. 99| UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. od. Lonpon.—An offer from: the Rhodes’ Trustees to subscribe sol. a year for three years for the provision of secretarial assistance for the Standing Committee of the Imperial Studies Committee has been accepted by the Senate with thanks, i The thanks. of the Senate have been accorded to the Society of Antiquaries for the renewal for a further period of five years of the Franks studentship founded by them in memory of Sir A. Wollaston Franks, K.C.B., for the promotion of the study of the archzeo- logy of the British Isles in its comparative aspects. The following doctorates have been conferred :— D.Sc. in Psychology: Mr. E. N, McQueen, an_ in- ternal student, of University College, for a thesis. entitled ‘The Distribution of Attention”; D.Sc. in Botany: Miss Lilian J. Clarke, an external student, for a thesis dealing with various experiments in botany gardens, and other papers; Mr. R.C. Knight, an ex- ternal student, for a thesis entitled ‘‘ The Interrelations of Stomatal Aperture, Leaf Water-content, and Trans- spiration Rate,”” and other papers; and Mr. S. G. Paine, an external student, for a thesis entitled *‘ The Permeability of the Neash Cell,”’ and other papers. As was explained in these columns at the time, the eS ee ae Board of Education in July, 1914, proposed in Circu- lar 849 to institute two annual examinations, a lower ~ and a higher, for grant-earning secondary schools, to be conducted by university examining bodies in close co-operation with the Board of Education. In January, 1916, the Board announced that the pro- posals must be considered to be in abeyance, as the necessary financial aid was not forthcoming. The Board of Education now announces in Circular 996 the formation of a Secondary Schools’ Examinations Council, the main function of which, we learn from the Times, will be the co-ordination of the numerous examinations to which secondary schools at present submit their pupils. The new council is to consist of eighteen persons, appointed by the universities and other bodies, including four by the Teachers’ Registra- tion Council. Tue Appointments Board of the University of Lon- don has issued a pamphlet describing its aims and work. Founded eight years ago, it has had its own secretary for the last six years, and has dealt with 2500 students and graduates, for many of whom it has found posts. While a large proportion of the posts filled have been in the teaching profession, the board is endeavouring to induce a greater number of gradu- ates to enter business houses, and, on the other hand, is pointing out to employers the advantages of having well-educated men and women on: their staffs. The present pamphlet gives no hint to intending clients as to the directions in which business openings are most likely to be found, but in a recent report of the board to the Senate of the University it was stated that a great demand exists at the present time for men and women with a scientific training in engineer- ing, physics, or chemistry, and that this demand would probably continue after the war. The supply of such men and women is altogether too inadequate, and it seems to be the duty of our universities to increase the supply as;soon as possible. If the experience of the Appointments Boards of the other universities is in any way like that of the London board, the fact is of great interest to the parents of future university students, and should not remain buried in the minutes of* university bodies, but should be made known to the public without delay. 2a ; ; ; { ' 4 May 31, 1917] fee ee > epee eee NATURE | 279 We have received from Mr. Gilbert H. Richardson, ‘of The Gables, Elswick Road, Newcastle-on-Tyne, a “Declaration concerning the Need for Standardising Auxiliary International Language,” which he invites the readers of Nature to sign: The declaration states t there is need for an international language, that = should be only one such language, and that at sion should be appointed and financially supported the Governments of the Powers for the purpose Settling ali questions relating to the grammar, a iry, orthography, and pronunciation of the auxiliary international language. At the present time there are two such languages, ‘‘ Esperanto,” founded by the late Dr. Zamenhoff, and ‘‘Ido,” which was pro in igor as a simplification of Esperanto. It is now proposed that there should be a commission to examine both these languages, with power to impose its decisions upon those who wish-to employ an mternational language. Should the commission in favour of either Esperanto or Ido, report would promote the use of the language ommended. In the event, however, of yet a third guage being drawn up by the commission, it is ibtful whether Esperantists and Idists would be repared to adopt this new tongue. The verdict of the commission would depend largely upon its com- osition. We suppose that the French, Italian, and JVOSECC Spanish members would vote for Ido, while members of the Slav nationalities would sup- ort Esperanto. The terminations ‘‘aj,’’ ‘‘ oj,” and “uj,” constantly occurring in Esperanto, are dis- certing to English readers, who will certainly sr the general appearance of Ido, which, when ited, looks remarkably like Italian. The circum- K accents over certain consonants, which make eranto difficult to print, are discarded in Ido. On whole, we think that of the two languages Ido uld be the more easily aequired by an Englishman. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Geological Society, May 16.—Dr. Alfred Harker, sident, in the chair.—T. Sheppard: British geo- cal maps as a record of the advance of geology. Geo logical changes were often indicated on old topo- graphical maps; consequently, old plans and charts Some maps, dating from Elizabethan times, show that 4m the Humber area great changes have taken place; large tracts of land have been denuded, and many ‘towns and villages have disappeared; and large retches of reclaimed land marked places where water ace stood. Writers of 1595 were familiar with litho- gical differences in various parts of the country. Strachey (1719) and Packe (1743) produced some re- markable geological sections and plans. The first Systematic series of maps, illustrating the geological tures of the counties, was issued in the reports of the eld Board of Agriculture, and dated from 1793 to 1822. One of the earliest attempts to prepare geo- _ logical maps was by Prof. Jameson, who read a paper in 1805 ‘‘On Colouring Geognostical Maps” _ (Wernerian Nat. Hist, Soc., vol. i., published 1811). ‘4 first strictly geological map was apparently that made by W. Smith in 1799, showing the geological Structure of the Bath district. The first geological map of England and Wales was a small one, also by Smith, and it was presented to the society when the first pstiaenag medal was awarded to Smith in 1831. : society’s collection includes geological maps of _ Scotland and Ireland, some of Pa Sihre jae: his- NO. 2483, VOL. 99 | ‘close of the’ war a’ permanent International Com-. ¢ of use in connection with geological inquiries. - | torical interest. As examples of ,privately published maps, those by Sanders of the. Bristol. Coalfield, Jor- dan’s ‘London district, and Elias Hall’s Lancashire area were described. MANCHESTER. «1. Literary and Philosophical Society, “May 8.—Mr. W. Thomson, president, in the chair.-R. F. Gwyther: The specification of stress. Part v.. The formal solu- tion of. the statical stress equations, and a theory of displacement as consequent on stress. The first por- ~ tion of this paper is intended to show how the stress equations, given in part iv: and part iv. continued, are capable of simple general solution. Particular inte grals are supposed to be dealt with separately, and no attempt has been made to treat of any specific problem. The aim has: been to establish a basis’ for a theory of dealing with stress and displacement by continual steps of approximation, developed in the second part of the paper. In the second part the theory and method proposed are described.—Dr. E. Newbery: Recent work on overvoltage. The over- voltages, cathodic and anodic, of a number of elec- trodes have been measured in acid, in alkali, and in certain solutions of metallic salts under varying condi- tions of time and. current density. Elements in the same group of the periodic system show the same cathodic (hydrogen) cvervoltage. Overvoltage is due to the high solution potentials of compounds of. the electrode material with the discharged ion, or with a product of the discharged ion.. These compounds (hydrides, higher oxides, etc.) . form solid solutions in the electrode substance, and are usually stable only under the influence of high pressures or high tem- peratures. Metal overvoltages (during deposition or dissolution of the metal) are due to the presence of the same compounds which produce gas overvoltages, and are in most cases very-low compared with gas over- voltages. Iron, nickel, and cobalt are exceptions to this rule. Changes of overvoltage are produced (a) by changes of constitution of the above compounds, and (b) by changes of concentration of the solid solu- tions formed. Passivity is due to the insolubility and good electrical conductivity of the above compounds, which form a-protective coating over the attackable metal surface ; Paris. | Academy of Sciences, May 14.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—J. Boussinesq: Solutions of the problem of thrust, resembling that of Rankine and Maurice Lévy for sand, and sustaining walls of rectilinear profile. —H. Le Chatelier and F, Bogitch: The refractory pro- perties of clay. From a study of the melting points, it would be concluded that refractory clay bricks ought to serve for the construction of industrial furnaces in steel works. This is not found to be the case in prac- tice, silica bricks being exclusively employed. It is shown that the gradual softening of the clay bricks and loss of resisfance to pressure are the causes of this difference, and experiments on the altera- tion of shape by pressure at increasing temperatures are given. The results are in general agreement with the work of Mellor and Mpore.—H. Donvillé: The geology of the country to the west of the Pyrenees chain.—L. Mangin: Arctic forms erroneously described under the name of Chaetoceros criophilus. The Arctic form belongs to a quite different species, and is allied with C. peruvianus, with which it has often been confused.—E. Ariés : The absolute value of entropy and . energy.—E, Kogbetliantz: The summation of ultra- spherical series.—M. Pétrovitch : Arithmetical theorems on Cauchy’s integral.—J. Guillaume: Observations of comets made with the coudé equatorial at the Observa- tory of Lyons. _ Observations of Wolf’s comet (1916b) 280 NATURE [May 31, 1917 on April 26, 27, 28, and May 2, and of Schaumasse’s comet .on April 27,28, and. May 2.—MM. Garvin and. Portevin ; Experimental study: of the cooling of various metals by water. A description of experiments on the determination of the cooling curves of metals and alloys suddenly immersed in cold water.—J. de Lap- parent; The breccias of the Cretacean age in the neighbourhood of Hendaye.—L. Bordas; Some points on the anatomy of Tortrix viridana.—E, Sollaud ; The post-cephalic appendages of the Branchiopods and their morphological signification.—A. Frouin and R. Grégoire ; The action of metallic tin and oxide of tin ‘in staphylococcus infections. Tin can be absorbed by the digestive apparatus, from metallic tin and: from oxide of tin without poisonous effects. The thera- peutic value in experimental staphylococcus infections was proved. —R. Wurtz and R. Van Malleghem : Grave cattacks in the so-called benign tertiary fever. . BOOKS RECEI VED. The Advanced Atlas of Physical and Political Geo- graphy. By Dr, J. G. Bartholomew. Pp. 96+ general index, pp. 31. (Oxford: University Press.) ds. Od. net. Annual Chemical Directory of the United States. _Edited by B. F.. Lovelace. Pp. 305. (Baltimore: Williams and-Wilkins Co.) 5 dollars. Treatise on Hydraulics... By M. Merriman. Tenth edition. Revised, with the assistance of T. Merriman. Pp. x+565 (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 18s. 6d. net. A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies, with an Introduction to the Problem of Three Bodies. By Prof. E. T. Whittaker. Second edition. Pp, xii+432. (Cambridge: At the Univer- sity Press.) 15s. net. British Forestry, Past and Present. By Prof. W. Somerville. Pp. 19. (Oxford :, University Press.) 6d. net. ‘ Radiodynamics : the Wireless Control of Torpedoes and other Mechanisms. By B. F. Miessner. Pp. v+ 206. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.) 4s. net. i. dee ea Building Science. By J. L. Manson. Vol. Pp. viit+210. (Cambridge :-At the University Presa 6s, net. Refractory Materials." Pp. Faraday Society.) 12s. 6d. net. “Advanced Text-Book of Magnetism and , acre, By R. W. Hutchinson. Two vols. Vol. i., pp. vii+ 372+xii- Vol. ii., pp. vit+ 468 + xii. (endoes Univer- sity Tutorial Press, Ltd.) Two vols., 8s, 6d. The Causes of Tuberculosis: together with Some Account of the Prevalence. and Distribution of the Disease. By Dr. L. Cobbett. Pp. .xvi+707: (Cam- bridge: At the University Press.), 21s.. net. Reports of the Progress .of. Applied Chemistry. Issued by the Society of, Chemical, Industry. Vol. i., 189. (London: The 1916. Pp. 335. (London: Harrison and: Sons.). Magnetism and. Matter. By Kétar6é. Honda. Pp. 320+4+3. (Tokyo: Syékwabo.) One Hundred: Points in Food Booman: By 1G, Ramsay. -Unpaged. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 1s. net. } DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May.31. ‘Rovat InstiTUTION, at 3.—The Art of the Mapp yint : A. C. Benson. FRIDAY, June x. RoOVAL InstiTUTION; at: 5.30. or The) Brontés; A Hundred Years After: Jo HH. Balfotr Browne. : ‘GEOLOGISTS’ AssocIATION, at 7.30.—The Post-Pliocene Non- peal Mollusca of Irelarid: A. S. Kennard and B. B. Woodward. NO. 2483, VOL. 99] | Socrety oF Pusiic ANALYSTS, at 8,—Some E: ae SATURDAY, June 2. 1 Fm Rovat INsTITUTION, at 3.—The Electrical Properties of arta me Thomson. MONDAY, JUNE 4. es Roya GeoGrapuHicaL Society, at 8. 30.—British Honduras: Brigadier *y General Sir Eric Swayne. i Victoria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Some of the Relations between Science and | Hh Wace as affected by the Work of the last Fifty Years: The Very Rev. Wace. TUESDAY, June 5. © Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Flow of Ice aida Rock: Prof. W. W. atts. Roya nar CLOnICAL INSTITUTE, at 5.—Links of North and South : Prof. W. M. F. Petrie. ZOOLOGICAL SociETYy, at 5.30.—Exhibition on behalf of Messrs. Rowland | Ward of Two Zebra-sking showing Abnormal Pattern: R. I.’ Pocock.— The Poultry Exhibition : D. Seth-Smith. ROGNTGEN SOCIETY, at 8.15.—Anhual General Meeting. sion; The Future of the British X-Ray Industry : WEDNESDAY, June 6. GEoLocicat SociFTy, at 5.30.—The‘ Geology of the Old: Radnor District, with special reference to Algal Development in the Woolhope Rocks : Prof. E. J. Garwood and Miss E. Goodpaatee Contribution to. Jurassic Chronology : S. S.. Buckman. —Resumed D omg ptain R. Kno riences in the Use of © Copper Sulphate in the Destruction of Alge: G. Embrey.—(1) A Com-~ bined Reichert-Polenske and Modified Shrewsbury: Kna p Process ; (2) The Differentiation between Coconut and Palm Kernel Oils in- ‘Mixtures : G. D. Eisdon.—Orange Pip Oil: Dorothy G. Hewer.—The Estimation of Theobromine: Norah ai and G. Brewer.—Rapid Estimation of the — Strength of Sulphuric Acid: H. D. Richmond and J. E. Merreywether. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at a THURSDAY, June 7. Royat INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Art of the Bicgraphen: A. c ‘Benson: FRIDAY, JuxeE 8 Roya INstITUTION, at 5.30.~—Industrial Applications. of vam wea Sir omson. RoyaL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5. SATURDAY, June, 9 Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3--The Electrical Phoperttea of esas ‘Sir J. Je omson. ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY, at 8.—(At Cambridge.)—The Conception of a Cosmos: Prof. J. S. MacKenzie. SUNDAY, JUNE to. : ARISTOTELIAN Society, at 8.—(At abel) a e Are .% Materials of Sense Affections of the Mind?: Dr. 2 aga Prof. G. Dawes Hicks, Prof. J. A. Smith, and aProt aeicet Ward. CONTENTS. ‘PAGK New Botanical Handbooks . 261 Physical Chemistry. By Prof. w. ¢. ‘McC, ‘Lewis 262 Our Bookshelf . ee Op Sgt gap ah ries Letters to the Editor:— Plated Teeth of Sheep.—Beeby Thompson ate) .s! J..E. B..Mayor and Todhunter.—Edmund Symes Payne . 264 The Remoulding of National Administrative Insti- tutions. By Prof. W. Peddie - 264 Antiseptics, andthe Treatment of Infected Wounds 265 Home- aps alloted By C, c. «epic a’ tes go Sere ata SitA.R; Binnie 595.44 oe aii a Pig whe kel als Scien aaa ae Sidie’”. ret retig: oy ae 6a ae gh Woe poh ane Our Astronomical Column:—° See fae. Comet 19176 (Schaumasse) <5 >. ete eee 271 Fireballs in June opiate at 271 Kodaikanal Observatory Report. oe South Georgia. (J//ustrated). By Prof. Gregory, F.R.S. . Sources of Nitrogen Compounds J. W Research Institutions in the United States ; . . ° . . . . ° . of . BE : x > University and Educational Intelligence ... 278 Societies. and meedetaies Peru a, rea 279 Beoks Received . .:. 060°. Ai 280. Diary of Societies ....... 5) ose ake heraeane 280 Editorial and Publishing Offices: ' MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C. 2 “Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the. Publishers. - Editorial Communications ‘to the Editor. — Telegraphic Address: PHusIs, Lonpon. Telephone’ Number: GErrarp* 8830.) o ous —<— NATURE 281 BOOKS ON CHEMISTRY. . (2) Elementary Qualitative Analysis: A Labora- 2 es Guide. By Prof, B. Dales and Dr. O. L. . Pp. vii+205. (New York: John me and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and ‘Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 5s. 6d. net. | Laboratory Manual of General Chemistry, with ” Exercises in the Preparation of Inorganic Sub- stances. * By A. B. Lamb. Pp. vi+ 166. (Cam- idge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 36.) Price 1.45 dollars: ) A Text-book of Organic Chemistry _ for udents of Medicine and Biology. By Prof. Shar McCollum, Pp. xiii+426. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmil- — dai and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price ros, net. fs), -LTHOUGH the value of instruction in qualitative analysis is. far more de- ent upon the teacher than upon the text- cS provided for the students’ guidance, much seful assistance is to be gained from the latter they are based upon a sound method of experi- - and observation. From this point of view e “Laboratory Guide to Elementary Qualitative sis” by Prof. Dales and’ Dr. . Barnebey its F the: attention of teachers in this country. - book is designed for the use of students who we done a year’s work in general chemistry. : principles of qualitative analysis as. based al with in an introductory chapter, which d prove helpful to-students in bringing their perimental work into line with their training in 1e details: of qualitative analysis is that the re- : ions of the several- groups of bases and acids 2 studied comparatively with each of the re- ents employed, instead of by the more usual T ethod in which the tests for each base’ or acid = dealt with separately. This method of treat- Sot has distinct advantages, especially as a ining in the methods of ‘observation. The p-tables for bases are similar to those usually sloyed, but the scheme for the detection of Is is somewhat new and is based upon the recipitation of the silver salts in distinctly acid d in neutral or’ slightly acid solution respec- The instructions are clear, concise ex- anatory statements’ add considerably to their alue, and the purpose of qualitative analysis as basis for the further practical study of chemistry very satisfactorily explained. _ (2) The object of Prof. Lamb’s “Laboratory Manual of General Chemistry” is to widen the : n of study of first-year university students a have had a previous training in chemistry a secondary school, and at the same time to timulate ‘their further interest in important Peteralications of the science by means. of experi- ments of a less familiar kind than those with which they have been previously acquainted. : With these aims in view a number 6f quantitative _ €xperiments are described requiring warying de- -..NO: 2484.-VOL: 90] the theory of electrolytic dissociation - are al chemistry. An outstanding feature of | grees. of previous knowledge and experimental skill, together with a series of semi-quantitative experiments ‘in the more elementary portions of physical chemistry. The directions for each ‘ex- periment comprise suggested reading from some standard text-book, a discussion of the general. principles involved in the experiment, directions for the actual manipulation, tests and questions. Appended to each of the instructions is a blank sheet for laboratory notes; these are to serve as the basis for a full and connected account of the work done, which is afterwards to be written up. Such attempts to combine instruction in theory — with details of experiment and series of questions | in a laboratory text-book are seldom satisfactory’ in actual practice... They are apt to stereotype the teaching, to take too little account of the in- dividual difficulties of students, and to absolve the teacher of his real responsibilities. The selec- tion of the experiments and preparations is for the most part sufficiently. wide to provide a useful curriculum, but the descriptive headings and dis- cussions are in many cases considerably more advanced than the actual laboratory experiments. Also, a number of’ the exercises, such as the determination of the electrical conductivity of a jsolution, the preparation of -hydrazine sulphate and of chloropentamine cobaltic chloride, are much beyond the knowledge and manipulative capacity of an average first-year student in this country. (3) The. importance of organic chemistry to students of: medicine and biology fully justifies the publication of an additional text-book if it ‘serves their special requirements satisfactorily and stimu lates their interest in the’ subject. - These objects are very successfully achieved by Prof. McCol+ lum’s book. -The subject-matter: is: presented in a clear and attractive form, the sequence of the compounds described is chosen with care and with an advantageous departure from the usual order, and suitable prominence is given to the methods of preparation, properties, ‘and syn- thetical relations of substances of biological and physiological importance. Details in regard to laboratory and technical processes are intention- ally restricted. Whilst this is not necessarily dis- advantageous, the danger of introducing “paper chemistry ” is not altogether avoided, as in the scheme of oxidation of alcohol to oxalic acid (p- 201), in which the stages of oxidation represented are not in accord with experimental methods. Theoretical studies such as stereochemistry are developed as individual compounds come under consideration, a method of treatment which should appeal to the interest of students, although it necessitates a considerable use of cross-references. The prominence given to Nef’s views on divalent carbon is somewhat out of proportion to the space allotted to other and-more fully established views on the structure of organic compounds. Refer- ences to recent work are very seer introduced, and the more special chapters included in the book, such as those on fats and waxes, the ureides, the pyrimidines, pyrazines, and purins, and the carbohydrates, are well. adapted to their purpose. Cua. K. (@) 282 NATURE. [June 7, 1917 THEOPHRASTUS. Theophrasius: Enquiry into Plants, and Minor - Works on Odours and Weather Signs. With an English translation by Sir Arthur Hort, Bart. (Loeb Classical Library.) In 2 vols. Vol. i., pp. xxviili+475; vol. il., pp. ix+ 499. (London: W. Heinemann; New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1916.) Pe NGE Ios botanists are under a great debt of obligation to Sir Arthur Hort for this edition of some of the principal works of Theophrastus, and they are also greatly indebted — to Sir William Thiselton-Dyer for his labours in the difficult task of identifying the various plants named by the Greek botanist. Death alone pre- vents our adding another name to whom thanks are due, for the enterprise owes its origin to the suggestion of the late venerable Canon Ellacombe, who took the greatest interest in the preparation of the work. It is to be hoped that hereafter the other writings of Theophrastus will follow in a similar edition. The primary classification of plants by Theophrastus is into four divisions, namely, trees, shrubs, under-shrubs, and herbs. There are other categories under which he gathers his species—some of a very artificial character, such as pot-herbs and coronary flowers. There are also glimpses here and there of his recognition of natural groups, and he is conscious that the grasses are closely related to one another. He knows the leguminous plants as a group, to which he frequently refers, and, what is remark- able, he is acquainted with the fact that a crop of such plants enriches the land. He recognises the conifers as a group and mentions them under that name. The book contains a large amount of informa- tion, often of a vague and discursive and hear- say character, as to the localities where trees and plants grow, and the different effects of climate and situation. Theophrastus is often content to rest upon the reports of others, and many statements are introduced by such phraseS as “They say,’’ or “The men of Mount Ida say,’’ or “The men .of Macedonia say.’’ One is inclined to think that he listened to reports from his numerous students and accepted them with little or no investigation. The account of the collection of myrrh and frankincense and the other Arabian gums is very curious. Incidentally the work throws considerable light on the traditional lore of the Attic gardeners, who were probably a pretty numerous class. They seem to have grown a large variety of pot- herbs, as well as flowers. The work also throws a curious light on the arts of carpentry and joinery, on the conversion of reeds into pipés, and on the development of the knowledge of drugs and the art of poisoning as well as of the administration of antidotes. According to Theophrastus, the druggist is not far removed’ from the poisoner :— NO. 2484, VOL. 99] Price 5s. net each vol. | Thrasyas of Mantineia had discovered, as he said, a poison which produces an easy and painless end; he used the juices of hemlock, poppy, and other such herbs, so compounded as to make a dose of con- veniently small size, weighing only somewhat less than a quarter of an ounce. For the effects of this compound there is absolutely no cure, and it will keep any length of time without losing its virtue at all. He used to gather his hemlock, not just anywhere, but at Susa [probably a place in Arcadia] or some other cold and shady spot; and so, too, with the other ingredients; he also used to compound many other poisons, using many ingredients. ... Now these: things seem to have been ascertained better in recent than in former times. And many things go to show that the method of using the various drugs makes a. differ- ence; thus the people of Ceos formerly did not use hemlock in the way described, but just shredded it up - for use, as did other people; but now not one of them would think of shredding it, but they first strip off the outside and take off the husk, since this is what causes the difficulty, as it is not easily assimilated; then they bruise it in the mortar, and, after putting it through a. fine sieve, sprinkle it on water and so drink it; and their death is made swift and easy. (Vol. ii., IX. xvi. g.) In dealing with the sea-plants, there seems to be a suggestion of correspondence with plants on the land. This is implied by the names “sea- fir,’’ ‘“‘sea-oak,” “sea-vine,” and “sea-palm,’’ and a “kind like dog’s-tooth grass.’’ There is a distinction between the sea-plants found near the shore and those of deeper waters, and these again are distinguished from plants which grow in rivers and marshes and lakes. : In conclusion, we can heartily recommend the — book to all who are interested in the history of botany, or in the details of Greek life three hundred years B.c. | a ep, OUR BOOKSHELF. = Rivers as Sources of Water-Supply. By Dr. A. C. Houston. Pp. vi+g96. (London: John Bale, Sons, and. Danielsson, Ltd., 1917.) Price §s.. net. A “COUNSEL of perfection’’ is for every com- munity to obtain its water-supply from a’ source which, like Czsar’s wife, should be “above suspi- cion.’’ But many communities have to depend upon a supply which falls short of this high standard. This is more particularly the case with reference to the London water-supply, which is drawn mainly from the rivers Thames and Lea; and it is with this supply that Dr. Houston deals in the | book under review. The observations and experiments he records appear to establish the fact that considerably polluted river-water can be | purified, on a large scale, to a _ satisfactory standard of safety. This finding is of prime importance, for, as the writer sets out, rivers are likely to be used to an increasing extent as sources” of water-supply, seeing that other available sources of supply are limited; and that there is a considerable economy in the selection of river- water. age ' The subject-matter of the first three chapters. NATURE 283 ° ‘this work formed three lectures which were recently delivered at the Royal Institute of Public Health, and the fourth chapter is upon the subject of sterilisation. This term is restricted in its yplication to the destruction of microbes causing mic water-borne disease; and the methods set out embrace the “excess lime ’’ treatment {which is Dr. Houston’s own suggestion) and the “chlorination ’’ of water. Some persons may consider that Dr. Houston akes too sanguine a view with regard to the safety of rivers as sources of water-supply. There tan be no doubt, however, that the large amount if experimental work he has undertaken; notably hat which illustrates the prime value of storage S a means of reducing the risk of water-borne fisease, justifies his sanguine views. After all, where London has succeeded other towns can ilso succeed, always provided that in these other owns the same careful working is maintained y a well-trained personnel as is the case with -ondon,-and that a’similar constant and scientific sontrol of the state of the water is maintained. he danger is that these provisions may not ways be made. . ‘23 fhe American Indians North of Mexico. By _W. 4H. Miner. Pp. x+169. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.) Price 3s. net. Tue literature connected with the North American ndians is so extensive that a readable summary of it in a popular form was much ‘needed for the st _ European anthropologists commencing le study. In America, particularly among the escendants of the hardy frontier men, the ques- ion is attracting increased attention. This want is well supplied in this book. The advanced tudent will depend not only on the classical works of Bancroft, Schoolcraft, and Catlin, but iso on the monographs published by the Bureau f American Ethnology and other societies which ave been summarised, with the addition of much lew matter, by Mr. F. W. Hodge in his excel- nt “Handbook of American Indians North of exico.’’ The questions connected with the gin of these tribes still form the subject of froversy. The writer remarks that the al consensus of opinion during the last cen- ty is to the effect that, “ with the exception of the iskimo, the natives of America are wholly of one ace and descendants from early emigrants from rth-eastern Asia, and especially of Mongolian ock.’’ But the movements of these people hin the American continent have as yet not €en definitely settled. The importance of hguistics for the settlement of these problems 4s fully recognised. The book, after a summary account of the environment, discusses the dciology of the tribes, and gives details of some members of the Plains Indians and those of the _ South-west. The culture of the Pueblos forms the ‘Subject of an interesting chapter. There is a _ S00d bibliography, and the book may be com- Spe as a satisfactory popular introduction to the study of a remarkable people. NO. 2484, VOL. 99] 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 Origin of Flint. May | ask you to publish the following notes. on the origin of flint? I understand that a discussion of the subject has been initiated by those interested in the chemical and physical aspects of geology, and think that the facts cited below may. be of interest at this moment. I understand by the term ‘the origin of flint’ an account or reasonable explanation of the formation of the nodules of black flint which occur so abundantly in stratified layers in the Upper Chalk of this country. Some seventy years ago the view was put. for- ward by the well-known ‘naturalist Bowerbank—who was a special student of the sponges—that the flint nodules of the chalk were formed in situ in the depths of the sea by the silicification of sponges which already contained abundant siliceous spicules, and were, as it were, solidified by attracting to themselves additional silica from the sea-water. Silicification of wood—as in the case of some wooden piers erected in shallow seas —was, known. The segregation of silica by the attraction for it of organic matter was a recognised fact. Similar segregation and formation of “concre- tions’’ of other chemical substances by other attractive nuclei was recognised. Thus lumps or small. masses of clay were shown to have the power of attracting phosphate of lime, and so to give rise to those ‘“‘phosphatic’’ nodules found at the base of the Red and Coralline Crag, and also at the base of the Cam- bridge Greensand, and in other positions where the yones cf animals were accumulated and furnished phosphate of lime, which was first dissolved by the sea- water and then removed from it and held by the clay nodules. From time to time other views were put forward as to the formation of the flint-nodules of the chalk after the deposit of the chalk yet whilst it was still beneath the sea and permeated by sea-water. It was held that the organic remajns deposited in strata in the chalk sea-bottom exercised an attractive influence on the silica dissolved in sea-water, and so led to the replacement of the organic remains by solid silica. Later it became fairly certain that, as is the case with the Atlantic ooze, the chalk deposit contained origin- ally about 1o per cent. of colloid silica in the form of spicules and skeletons of minute organisms, and it was held that this silica was dissolved by the permeating sea-water (whilst the chalk was still beneath the sea), and was then separated and deposited in the cavities occupied by sponges and other organic remains in stratified layers in the chalk. It is difficult enough to find a parallel for this sup- posed deposit. when the solid, fairly (though not com- pletely) homogeneous character of the black chalk flint is borne in mind. It is remarkable that the flint deposited in these cavities shows little or no trace of onion-like concentric layering, such as characterises the agates formed in geodes of igneous rock. We also are met with a striking fact, namely, that the black flint is apparently micro-crystalline in structure, and that its behaviour when ‘‘ weathered” is such as to lead to the inference that, although homogeneous ‘to the unaided eye, it yet consists of minute particles of quartz (that is to say, crystalline silica of the same nature as rock-crystal) cemented by colloid ‘silica, which latter dissolves to a certain extent in alkaline 284 NATURE [JUNE 7, 19t7 water containing CO, in solution, and thus gives rise to the white crust of “*decomposed’”’ flint which forms the outer ‘‘cortex’’ of all chalk flints. (1) A fact of capital importance, which must affect any theory as to the origin .of flint, is that in many localities where a chalk escarpment can be ‘studied it is found that extensive fissures traverse the stratified layers of chalk and flint nodules at a sharp angle, and are filled. with a con- tinuous sheet of black, tabular flint. Such fissures may be seen in the cliffs at Rottingdean, near. Brighton, often cutting through a thickness of 40 ft. or 50 ft. of the stratified chalk obliquely to the plane of the strata, and from these fissures sheets of flint 3 ft. square and 4 in. to 1 in. in thickness can be readily removed. The size of these sheets of flint in situ is apparently limited merely: by the vertical height and inward ex- tension of the fissure. The occurrence of these deep and extensive fissures—mere cracks in so far -as their width is ‘concerned—filled with a continuous deposit of black . flint, makes it certain that the flint was deposited after the fissur- ing of the chalk, and therefore, almost-certainly, after the elevation of the chalk, and probably through the operation of fresh-water of atmospheric origin peneé- trating the porous mass of chalk after its: elevation. It is improbable that the nodules of flint in the chalk have an origin different from that of the “tabular” flint of the fissures. forward any parallel case of the filling of extensive cavities and fissures in a sedimentary rock by a dense chemical deposit. The formation of ‘“septaria”’ ‘in clay is a parallel.on a very small scale. The student of mineral veins and deposits may perhaps be able to throw some light on the matter. (2) A further fact of importance to any theory of the origin of flint is that the black colour of flint— yellowish- or greenish-brown in thin splinters—is prob- ably due to carbon, though no explanation has been offered of the uniform association of this element with flint. The existence in the Upper Chalk of oblong cylindrical nodules of perfectly colourless transparent quartz, occasionally showing blue or orange-brown patches or *‘ floating clouds” scattered in the clear colourless silica, is also well known. A fine collection of these has been bequeathed to the Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge, by the Rev. Marmaduke Lang- dale. _They are deposited in cavities once occupied by peculiar sponges (Choanites and Ventriculites); But why they are free from carbon—if carbon is the cause of the black colour of black flint—is not explained. In the spring of 1916 a combustion analysis of black flint was made in the laboratory of the Royal Institu- tion at my request, under Sir James Dewar’s direction. The result pointed to the presence of minute quantities of carbon in the flint. But a very remarkable result was also obtained which it is necessary to re-examine by employing black flint from various localities in such combustions. A definite quantity of arsenic was deposited in the combustion tube in the form of the well-known arsenical mirror. Care was taken to check this startling .result by exclusion of the possi- bility of accidentul impuritv in the material used. But I have not been able myself to pursue the matter further, and mention it now under all reserve, in the hope that some expert chemist will inquire into the subject. I am afraid that Sir James Dewar, to whose kindness I owe this initial examination of the chemical constituents, of black flint, will not be able to give ‘the necessary time to it. I may add that another matter inquired into at my suggestion was as to the amount of removable water present .in normal chalk flint as quarried, and the per- centage of its. own weight of water, which carefully dried black flint ¢an absorb, and the rate at which NO. 2484, VOL. 99] I am not able myself to bring | ‘records in the water is absorbed; further, the variation in, these amounts caused by variation of temperature, and the question as to whether a sudden raising or lowering of temperature causes the fracture of wet flint more readily than of dry flint. Experiments were also made as to the form of fracture caused by thermal changes in flint, with the view of determining whether the conchoidal fracture can be produced in flint by thermal change alone, without the previous creation of struc- tural strain by a blow. Although I am not able to report the results of these experiments, I wish to bring the desirability of a thorough chemical and- physical examination of black flint to the notice of others who may have facilities fot carrying through such an examination which I do not possess. I trust that some such fortunate experimentalist will take up the chemical and physical investigation of flint, with- out delay, as a serious task. It will take perhaps years to complete, but will yield results of the highest value to geology and to other branches of science. rae The occurrence of arsenic in chalk flints may be due to its presence in minute quantities in sponges, the - peculiar,smell of which in the living state is suggestive of the presence of an organic compound similar to the strongly odorous gas known as diethylarsine. = = May 25. E. Ray LANKESTER, . Plated Teeth of Sheep. : Tue subject of Mr. Beeby Thompson’s letter (NatuRE, May 31, p. » 264) has been noted in various parts of Great Britain. Writing in 1684, Andrew Symson, minister of Kirkinner, his ‘Large Description of Gallo- way” that ‘“‘in this parish [Glasserton] there is a hill called the Fell of Barullion, and I have been told, — but I give not much faith to it, that the sheep that — feed there have commonly yellow teeth, as if they were guilded.”’ . ce In this matter the worthy minister was unduly sceptical. The Fell of Barhullion is on my property, — and jaws of sheep fed thereon have been brought to me with the teeth thickly plated with iron pyrites. The rock of the district is Lower Silurian; in the softer parts (Moffat Shales) large nodules of iron pyrites are found. . As there is wet peaty soil on parts of the fell there is no lack of humic acid. i HERBERT MAXWELL, - Monreith, June 2. ze ; The Stability of Lead Isotopes from Thorium. t Pror. Soppy’s view (Nature, May 24, p. 244) in=— -volves the disappearance from the 20 kilos of thorite (with which he worked) of some 150 grams of unstable lead and its conversion into (probably) thallium. There should be present in the thorite thallium to the amount of about o-o12 gram per gram of thorium, — Such a quantity should be easily measurable. If found to be present, support would be given to Prof. Soddy’s suggestion. We are told that the thallium was present in amounts “that sufficed for chemical as — well as spectroscopic identification.” “ay There is some difficulty in understanding how two- thirds the ionisation of a ray, additional to the seven — a rays which go to generate the thorium halo, can have left no trace upon the halo. But the range may have been such as to render this pos-— sible. It is improbable, however. that a further q a-ray transformation of thallium can have occurred” without affecting the ionisation curve to an extent j which would be detectable. when the halo is compared — with the curve as determined from the seven known” rays. Zs ; j. Jory. .@ Trinity College, Dublin, May 29. a 4 ; J ; F ; 3 ’ i : 2.5 | mi - ie ait 53 aa: >. er / Jone 7, 1917} NATURE 285 ANALYSIS OF THE MECHANISM OF SPEECH, - «Begs impetus which recent events have given to the study of spoken languages has brought with it a renewed interest in the scientific analysis of the mechanism of speech. He who wishes to learn how to speak a foreign language must _ necessarily devote much of his time to the acquisi- _ tion of the pronunciation, and he will most easily | learn to become proficient at this difficult art if he can ascertain precisely what he has to do with his speech-organs in order to speak correctly. The need for accurate information about speech move- tube is fitted (A) a mouthpiece (into which the observer- speaks), or (B) a nasal olive (which fits into one nostril), or (C) a “larynx capsule ”’ | (which is pressed firmly against the outside of the | larynx). These appliances are shown in Fig. 2. The complete apparatus is shown in Fig. 3, | which is an illustration of a small portable kymo- ments has led to the development of that branch S te Bites Fic. —A Marey tambour. M M, the membrane; §S, the style. of science known as experimental phonetics—the branch of science which has for its object the accurate analysis of speech by mechanical means. Among the numerous instruments which have been devised for spetch analysis there is one of particular importance, known as the phonetic kymograph, and it is the object of this article to ive a brief description of the nature and use of _ this apparatus. _ The phonetic kymograph is essentially an appli- ation of the Marey tambour to linguistic pur- ‘poses. The principle of this tambour is well ‘Known, and’ it is not necessary to describe it in detail. It will be sufficient to recall that it is a AN Fic. 2.—A, mouthpiece ; B, nasal olive ; C, larynx capsule. _ mechanism by which vibrating air is communicated _ to an elastic membrane, and the vibrations of this membrane are in turn communicated to a very light needle or style (Fig. 1). tions of the style are generally recorded on a | The vibra- tevolving drum covered with smoked paper or some similar contrivance. Tambours may be of various sizes and materials. A very useful type is one in which the membrane is made of perished rubber, and measures 3 cm. in diameter. Air vibrations set up by speech may be commu- nicated to the tambour in three principal ways: (1) from the mouth, (2) from the nose, (3) from the outside of the larynx. A rubber tube is attached to the tambour, and at the end of this NO. 2484, VoL. 99] , graph. The diagrams in this article were made on the large kymograph in the laboratory of ex- a Fic. 3.—A small portable kymograph. perimental phonetics at University College, Lon- don; the cylinder of this nrachine has a circum- ference of one metre and a maximum surface speed of 70 cm. per second. The most useful single tracings ‘that can be made on the phonetic kymograph are those which result from speaking into the mouthpiece. More detailed information may, however, often be ob- tained by taking nose and mouth tracings, or mouth and larynx tracings simultaneously, or by taking tracings of all three kinds at the same time. Fic. 4.—Mouth-tracing of potato. The accompanying illustrations show the nature of kymographic tracings and the deductions which can be made from them. Fig. 4 shows a mouth- tracing of the English word potato.* The hori- zontal parts of the line show the places where no air issues from the mouth, i.e. the “stops ” of the consonants p, t, and t. The three steep rises in the line mark the plosions of these consonants. The small waves are caused by the air set in vibration by the vocal chords when “voice” is produced; in this diagram they represent the — vowels. The regular wavy line figuring in this and other illustrations is a time-measurer showing hundredths of a second. Various features of pronunciation may be 1 The lettering appearing in this and other diagrams is a phonetic ttan- scription of the pronunciation (International Phonetic system). : 286 NATURE [JUNE 7, 1917 studied from: such a tracing as this. Such are: (1) the extent of “‘aspiration”’ of the plosive con- sonants (shown by the distances between the ver- Fic. 5.—Mouth-tracings of dse, bead, bean, bat, bid, bin, bit, showing lengths of vowels and final consonants. tical lines 1 and 2, 4 and 5, 7 and 8); (2) the lengths of the vowels (shown -by the distances between the vertical lines 2 and 3, 5 and 6, 8 and 9g). The variations in the pitch of the voice may also be calculated to any degree of . accuracy by measuring a the voice vibrations in suc- A cessive small intervals. Fig. 5° illustrates the B variations in length which English vowels undergo Mee nay under certain conditions. The first four tracings show variations in the length of the English sound of ee as exhibited in the words bee, bead, bean, beat, and the remaining three tracings show similar varia- tions in the length of the so-called “short 7” in the words bid, bin, bit. It will be seen that the Fic. 7.—Simultaneous nose, mouth, and larynx tracings of good morning (as said on parting). vowels in bean and beat differ from that in bead in somewhat the same manner as the vowels in bin and bit differ from that in bid. It will also be observed that the so-called “short” vowel in | NO. 2484, VOL. 99] word the long as it lengths of the various sounds, tracings we may gather information as to the extent to which nasal consonants exert a nasal- ising influence on neighbouring vowels. bid is just about the same length as the so-called “long” vowel in beat. that the vowels in words like beat, late, are much (Ignorance of the. fact shorter than those in bead, laid, - is the cause of noticeable mis- pronunciation on the part of many foreigners.) Fig. 6 shows (A) ‘a ‘mouth- tracing. of the word play said by the writer, (B) a mouth-tracing of the same word said by a Flemish-speaking Belgian with a bad accent. It will be’ noticed that the Belgian mispronounced the’! by making it completely voiced; in normal English this 7 is partially devocalised, i.e. the vibration of the vocal chords does not begin until an appreciable time after the explosion of the p. Fig. 7 is a record of good morning (as said on parting), in which tracings of the nose, mouth, larynx, and a_ time- measurer have been taken simul- taneously. The points at which the various sounds begin and end are clearly seen from the nose and mouth tracings. (This is where kymographic tracings have an advantage over enlargements of talking-machine — records.) The distances between the vertical lines show the Fic. 6.—A, mouth-tracing of play as said by the writer ; B, mouth-tracing of the same word mispronounced by a Flemish-speaking Belgian. ——Sewe From the nose- The larynx-tracing. shows vibration- waves throughout, since every sound is voiced; this would be the most convenient curve to use for the purpose of calculat- ing pitch. Fig. 8 shows mouth-tracings of the English buckle and the French boucle. Two import- ant differences will be noticed in regard to the consonants: (A) the English I is voiced, whereas the French 1 is not; (B) in the French k-sound is held on about twice as in the English word. The smallness of the voice-waves in the French | Jone 7, 1917] NATURE 287 to the fact that the record is of a word is due lady’s voice. . The above short account of the phonetic kymo- graph will give some idea of the scope of the apparatus. It will be seen that the instrument is ae ee at ee *Fic. 8.—A, mouth-tracing of English 4uckle (male voice); B, mouth-tracing ot French doucte (female voice). chiefly useful (1) for detecting the presence or ' absence of voice, (2) for detecting the presence or " absence of nasality, (3) for measuring the lengths - of sounds, and (4) for calculating the pitch of the voice. DANIEL JONES. A UNIVERSITY DEGREE IN - HORTICULTURE. 7 A HE University of London has, at the sug- gestion of the council of the Royal Horti- ‘cultural Society, established a B.Sc. degree in "Horticulture. Syliabuses for internal and ' external students have been drafted, and the University has under consideration the recogni- tion of the Royal Horticultural Society’s school ‘and research station at Wisley as a school of the University. There can be no question that, if university.| they now spend with microscopes and micro- _ degrees are to be given in. technical | subjects, "one; for horticulture connotes not only ‘an "industry and an art, but also an applied science. _ First of all, however, it is a craft, and, like all Crafts, it depends for its successful pursuit on the exercise of practical skill. Therefore, an academic recognition of proficiency which does Mot carry with it a sure indication of craftsman- “ship is not only useless, but also perniciou% The proposed degree in horticulture, if the Spirit of the regulations which govern it is observed, makes adequate provision for the re- quirement of technical expertness. A candidate for the internal degree, besides matriculating and passing the Intermediate Science Examination, must pass the Preliminary Examination for the National Diploma in Horticulture before he pro- ceeds to the Final Examination. tion, established by the Royal Horticultural Society with the approval of the Board of Agri- culture, is an adequate elementary test of prac- tical knowledge and_ ability. Furthermore, during the final course candidates ‘are required to perfect their knowledge of practical horticulture, NO. 2484, VOL. 99} ' ; | tomes, they the case for a degree in horticulture is a good | This examina- | and the sciences which are prescribed in the course of study are to be taught with definite reference to horticulture. If, therefore, a student follows this course at a horticultural college, there is but little danger. that general ‘science, botany and chemistry and entomology, will divert unduly the student’s interest. from. horticulture. The Bachelor of Science in Horticulture would ‘thus — be possessed of a fair knowledge of science, and - would also be a proficient practical horti- culturist, able to dig and trench, plant and prune, bud and graft at best as well as the average gardener. If this prove, in fact, to be the case, both science and horticulture will gain. For at. presént there is a deep: gulf fixed between the: science and: practice’ of horticulture. - The well-trained man of - science, say the:Part II.- Tripos- man, has- become too specialised: in habits of -work, too much a victim of the laboratory habit, to be willing to spend a year or so working with his hands on the land. ; For these reasons it may be hoped that the establishment of a degree in horticulture will be of no less benefit to potential botanists and agri- cultural chemists than to professional horticul- turists. In the case of botany, at all events, it may reasonably be asserted that much of the botanical ritual observed in our university laboratories is outworn; and although we are not confusing botanists with gardeners, we are con- fident that, if botanical students were to spend half as many hours working in the garden as would become better botanists. From yet another point of view the degree in horticulture is to be welcomed. Tropical horti- culture is in many cases more akin to horticulture than to thé agriculture practised in this country. The Empire has great need of men to aid in developing its resources. The old class of administrator—the man who could administer anything about which he knew nothing—has been found out. The war has weighed him in the balances and. proved him. wanting. The new class of administrator must be a new kind of practicat man—‘“‘a hewer, not a_heaver, of things.” By providing a course of training in the practice and science of ‘horticulture, the University of London has* made a contribution towards meeting the need ‘for ‘this new class of practical men. This will only be the case, however, if the University insists upon satisfactory practical training for all candidates for degrees in horti- culture, and not from internal students only. Unfortunately, the regulations for the external degree in horticulture provide for no training in practical horticulture, nor, to bé fair, does it 288. . NATORE [June 7, 1917 provide for training in anything else, This omission can satisfy only those who believe that ability to pass an examination is_ sufficient evidence of training. External students are required to pass an examination in practical hor- ticulture. The test lasts one day only, whereas not fewer than two days, and preferably three, should be spent by the student in demonstrating his skill in practical horticulture. Unless the examination is so arranged as to secure that every recipient of the degree has a sound know- ledge of practical horticulture; the establishment of a degree in this subject will do more harm than good. CONTINUATIVE EDUCATION IN FRANCE. . FNGEAND is ‘not the only Allied country that ‘ is thinking of putting its educational house in order, even before the end of the war. Our good neighbour France is engaged on a similar project. Thanks to the kindness of M. Maurice Roger, one of the leading specialists on tech- nical education in France, the present writer is able to give a brief account of the French pro- posals, which, in the light of Mr. Fisher’s some- what tantalising treatment of the subject, cannot fail greatly to interest the English public. The Bill before the French Chamber is essentially a consolidating measure, while at the same time it introduces the principle of compul- sion, the attempt at voluntary continuative educa- tion having failed to produce adequate results.: Hitherto commercial and technical education have formed the subject of one law, agricultural of another, and physical training of a third. All three laws have passed one or other of the two Chambers. The new proposals will co-ordinate the three laws in one in order that the education of the future student may be similarly co- ordinated. 3 The aim of the education will be alike economic and civic, and the physical education will, in the case of the male student, lead up to military training. The unskilled, as well as the skilled, employee must attend these schools, which are not to be schools for workmen, but schools where workmen, especially the unskilled, may increase their economic productivity. It is signi- ficant to note that, in spite of the centralising traditions of French education, the classes are to be organised in accordance with local (or | regional needs, under the guidance of local com- mittees for each commune. mune is a large town like Paris or Marseilles, the unit chosen seems very suitable, but in the case of the small village it is certainly not large enough. Such committees are to be composed of town and district councillors, doctors, official members, representatives: of chambers of com- merce and agricultural societies (very strong and influential bodies in certain parts of France), and delegates from associations of employers and trade-unions and various other important local NO. 2484, VOL. 99] When the com-. societies. Above them will be a county council committee, and at the top a central committee to’ exercise a general oversight and control. Two stages of study are mapped out; the first is up to seventeen for boys and sixteen for girls. Curiously enough, the recent English Depart-- mental Committee on Juvenile Education in relation to Employment after the War also recommended two stages, but the first in. the. English proposals extends only to sixteen years of age. the obligatory subjects are French, history and geography, physical exercises, science applied to agriculture, industry, commerce, and navigation, or domestic economy, comprising practical work in each case. A: minimum of fifty hours is assigned to. general education, 150 to profes-— sional, and 100 to physical, the last being allotted to Sunday. This makes 300 hours, as against 320 suggested by the English committee, which proposes a minimum of only about fifty hours a week for physical exercises. ©. © | The second stage is from seventeen to twenty years of age for young men and sixteen to eighteen for girls, compared with sixteen to eighteen for English students. French, con- ferences on history, geography, civics, common law, and political economy. are assigned a minimum of 100 hours, and the same amount is to be de- voted to gymnastics and the preparation for mili- tary service. For girls the place of the latter is taken by manual work, hygiene, and some notions of medicine and child-rearing. Bee i Existing technical, commercial, and higher elementary school buildings are to be utilised so far as possible for giving continuative education. The more technical subjects will be taught by pro- . fessional teachers, but elementary-school teachers will be largely used for the’ more general parts of the course. To enable them to give the extra time out of school, the ordinary day-school hours will be shortened by half an hour, and the sum- mer holidays increased to two months. than 200 teaching hours of continuative education are required of them they are to receive extra It is very significant to note that private — schools will be allowed, under certain conditions, — to provide continuative education. pay. CLOUDESLEY BRERETON. NOTES. Tue list of honours conferred on the occasion of the celebration of the King’s birthday on June 3 includes © the following names of men known in scientific © circles :—Baronets : Sir Thomas Elliott, Deputy-Master and Comptroller of the Mint (retiring); Sir Robert Hadfield, F.R.S., past-president of the Iron and Steel Institute and of the Faraday Society; Mr. James Knott, formerly president of the Institute of Marine Engineers ; Sir Philip Magnus, representative in Parliament for the University of London since 1906; the Right Hon. T. W. Russell, Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland; . Dr. Frederick Taylor, president of the Royal College of Physicians. Knights: Prof. W. J. Ashley, pro- fessor and dean of the faculty of commerce at Birming- In this first period in the French scheme If more. ee ee Foy ey NE 7, 1917] NATURE : ees 28g University ; Mr. Graham Balfour, secretary to the ‘dshire Education Committee; Mr. F. H. for his work in the development and adop- the Parsons steam turbine throughout the prin- countries of Europe; Prof. T. Kennedy Dalziel, r of surgery, Anderson’s College, Glasgow; >. Gregory Foster, the provost of University ‘e, London; Dr. R. T. -Glazebrook, F-.R.S., irector of the National Physical Laboratory since 899; Mr..Robert Jones, lecturer on orthopedic sur- ry, Liverpool University, and inspector of military nopzedics,, A.M.C.; Mr. William Peck, director of City Observatory, Calton Hill, Edinburgh; Prof. Stirling, professor of physiology in the Univer- f Adelaide; Mr. H. F. Waterhouse, dean and ‘rf On anatomy at Charing €ross Medical School. B.: Dr. H._F. Heath, secretary of the Depart- - of Scientific and Industrial Research. K.C.M.G.: . A. Falconer, president of the University of . C€.M.G.: Mr. R. C. Allen, Director of Sur- nd Land Officer, Uganda Protectorate; Mr. T. , Director of the Medical and Sanitary Service, a; Mr. F. E. Kanthack, Director of Irrigation, of South Africa. C.J.E.: Lt.-Col. D. W. Sutherland, principal, and professor of medicine, Medi- tal College and School, Lahore, Punjab; Mr. Taw ein Ko, superintendent, Arehzological Survey, i. Kaitsar-i-Hind Medal: Capt. R. H. Bott, of surgery, Medical College, Lahore, Punjab. 2 woke announce the death, on June 2, of Dr. sant, F.R.S., fellow of St. John’s College, ige, in his eighty-ninth year. ‘notice with regret the announcement of the on May 29, at seventy-five years of age, of iam D. Niven, K.C.B., F.R.S., late director es, Royal Naval College, Greenwich. ORDING to the Electrician it is proposed to change 2 of the Canadian Society of Engineers to h ian Institution of Engineers, and to enlarge a€ scope of the society by the admission of electrical, al, mining, and-mechanical engineers. 73 ‘ nadia STEPHEN Pace is collecting notes for a book on we life and work of the late Sir Victor Horsley, and ¢ asks friends, colleagues, and patients of Horsley © send him any letters which may be used for the urposes of the book. Great care will be taken to n all letters, which should be sent to Mr. Paget Ladbroke Square, W.11. %. J. Ramssottrom, of the Department of Botany, sh Museum, has been appointed protozoologist to medical staff at Salonika. The trustees of the eum have accepted Miss Lorrain Smith’s offer to as temporary assistant in charge of the fungi dur- ¢ Mr. Ramsbottom’s absence and to deal with in- es relating to this group of plants. Miss Lorrain mith has: been associated with the department for y years, especially in connection with the revision id completion of Crombie’s ‘* Monograph of British ens,” the second volume of which (by Miss Smith) peared in 1911; the second edition of vol i., which il ong the whole work up to date, is now almost a? PARAGRAPH has appeared generally in the daily ‘ress relating to a new and wonderful explosive of rican origin “so powerful that five grains, its ventor claims, would blow the largest building -in world to pieces.” One must conclude that the lent which led to the discovery yielded only minute No. 2484, VoL. 99] oy quantities, or the United States might have been dis- integrated! Sensational statements of this descrip- tion may appeal to the public imagination, but it must be remembered that some of the most highly explosive _ substances are inapplicable by reason of the difficulties and risks of manufacture, of their sensitiveness, and of our inability to control the explosion. If the new ‘“‘Terrorall’’ is even one-thousandth as powerful as stated it- by no means follows that it will prove of service in the war. At the aniversary meeting of the Linnean Society on May 24 the following were elected, officers and une for the ensuing year :—President: Sir David rain. Dr. B. Daydon Jackson, E. S. Goodrich, and Dr. A. B. Rendle. Council (in addition to these officers) : Mrs. Agnes Arber; E. G. Baker;-Prof. W. Bateson; E. T. Browne; R. H. Burne; Sir Frank Crisp, Bart-; A. D. Cotton: J. Groves; Miss G. Lister; Gerald Loder; Prof. G. E. Nicholls; Prof. H. G. Plimmer ; Dr. D. H. Scott; Dr. A. E. Shipley; and Lt.-Col. J. H. T. Walsh. The presidént handed to Mr. T. G. White, secretary of the Agent-General for New South Wales, the Crisp award and medal to be forwarded to Dr. Robin John Tillyard, of Sydney University; and _ presented to Mr. H. B. Guppy the Linnean gold medal awarded to him for his services to biology. IN a recent note (Nature, May 24, p. 250) we directed attention to the renewed audibility in the south-eastern counties of the gun-firing on the Western front. We have © received another acéount from Dr. H. S. Allen, who, from the porch on the south side of Créssington Church, Surrey, heard very distant gun-firing at 11.30 a.m. on May 28. “The church is two miles south of Surbiton, and stands on a slight eminence from which an uninterrupted view of the North Downs is obtained. - There were light, variable breezes from the south-east. The reports followed one another at irregular intervals, but the average time between successive reports was about, three seconds.”’ Accord- ing to Sir Douglas Haig’s report, there was “con- siderable artillery activity on both sides during the day south of the Scarpe and in the Ypres sector.” By direction of the War Cabinet, Dr. Addison, the Minister of Munitions, has made arrangements for the appointment of an interdepartmental committee to pre- pare a scheme for the establishment in London of an Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau :—(a) To collect information in regard to the mineral resources and metal requirements of the Empire, and (b) to advise what action, if any, may appear desirable to enable such resources to be developed and made available te meet requirements. The members of the committee are as follows :—Sir James Stevenson, Bt. (chairman), Mr. C. L. Budd, Sir A; Duckham, Prof. W. R. Dun- ~ stan, Mr. C. W. Fielding, Mr. J. F. N. Green, Rt Hon. Lord Islington, Mr. L. J. Kershaw, Sir T. Mac- kenzie, Hon. Sir G. H..Perley, Mr. W. S. Robinson, and Rt. Hon, W. P. Schreiner. committee is Mr. Oswald C. Allen, and all communi- cations on the subject should be addressed to’ him at the Ministry of Munitions, Whitehall Place, S.W.1. Unpver the title, ‘“‘ Rhubarb. and Red Tape,” the - British Medical Journal for June 2 makes the follow- ing remarks upon the suspension of the Kew Bulle- tin :—‘t Our contemporary, Nature, published on May 24 an interesting and timely article on rhubarb, in- tended by its author for the Kew Bulletin, the pub- lication of which the Government in its wisdom has decided to suspend. The official explanation given The secretary to the / Treasurer : Horace W..Monckton. Secretaries: — 290 NATURE | for this paltry piece of economy is that ‘it has been ruled that the Kew Bulletin is not essential, and its publication has therefore been suspended’ owing to the shortage of paper. ‘The small amount: of paper needed to ‘secure the continued publication of so useful a periodical, which serves as a link between scientific and economic botany, could well be spared by a trifling reduction in the waste of paper in a single Govern- ment department. Lop-sided actions of this sort bring our Government into contempt, and indicate a narrow- »ness of outlook threatening the future of the country.” Sir ERNEST SHACKLETON has returned to this country after lecturing in Australia and America on his return from the Antarctic. In a brief interview he gave to Reuter’s Agency Sir Ernest said that much scientific work had been done despite.the disaster to the expedi- tion and the failuré of the plan to cross Antarctica. He confirms the opinion held by all who know the Weddell Sea that it is the worst sea in the world for ice congestion and pressure. The most interesting state- ment he made, however, was with regard to Morrell Land, or New South Greenland, which is supposed to project northward from Antarctica into the Weddell Sea. Since Morrell, in 1823, sighted-part of the coast- line of this land no voyager has definitely seen it, but, on the other hand, no one has been able to sail over its supposed position, while circumstantial evidence is strongly in its favour. Sir Ernest claims to have sailed over and so proved its non-existence. It would be most interesting to have further details, with lati- tude and longitudes, so that this problem can be definitely cleared up. Morrell-may have been a little wrong in his longitudes, but it will be surprising if no land exists in the western part of the- Weddell Sea. Tue letter on ‘‘ Plated Teeth of Sheep,’’ published in Nature of May 31, has brought us a copy of a paper ‘On So-called Gold-coated Teeth in Sheep,’ by Prof. A. Liversidge, formerly professor of chemistry, University of Sydney, read before the Royal Society of New South Wales on June 7, 1905. Prof. Liver- sidge received the lower half of a sheep’s jawbone, the teeth of which were more or less completely en- crusted with a yellow, metallic-looking substance, but more like iron pyrites (marcasite) or brass than gold. - He found that the incrustation readily came off in scales when even lightly scratched with the point of a penknife. The surface of the tooth under the scale was found to be black, but apparently not decayed; the thickness -of ‘the deposit. was apparently less than 1mm. The scale partly dissolved in dilute acid, The residue consisted of filmy organic matter, still possess- ing a metallic sheen, although white in colour instead of yellow. . When heated on platinum foil the scale blackened, partly fused, and left a white residue solu- ble in dilute hydrochloric or nitric acid. The residue contained phosphoric acid. and- apparently consisted mainly of calcium phosphate. Under the microscope the scale was .seen to be translucent and of a pale brownish colour, and under a -3-in. objective it. was seen to be made of thin layers, but with no recog- nisable organic structure. Prof. Liversidge concluded that ‘the metallic lustre is due to the way in which the light is reflected from the surfaces: of the super-’ imposed films. The incrustation on the teeth is ap- parently a deposit. of tartar, and perhaps partly due to superficial decay -of the tooth.” — £52 ates eager THE Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters of Den- mark has, announced the subjects on which it invites. memoirs, with a view to the award of its medals and prizes. The subject in history, for which the prize is the academy’s gold medal, is the origin and. develop- NO. 2484, VOL. 99] ment of alchemy among the Greeks, based on the: examination of Greek literature. In astronomy’ the’ society’s gold medal will be awarded to the a3) Sd memoir on the distances of stars of spectral class N- (Secchi’s Type IV.), their distribution in space, and the determination of their velocities. For the academy’s gold medal in physics the subject is an experimental ~ research on the transparency and electrical conductivity: of thin metallic films, special importance being attached to the determination o; the thickness of such films, The prize of 800 crowns arising, out of the Classen legacy is offered for the approved memoir on the light. thrown: on the habitats and the immigration into [June 7, 1917 | Denmark of weeds, especially those of cultivated areas, ° by palzontology and history, and by the study of the various means and routes of the migration of these plants. In all these cases memoirs must be sent in by October 31, 1918. The prize of 809 crowns derived from the Thott legacy is to be awarded in connection with a subject announced in 1914, namely, a descrip- tion based on existing: literature, as well as ‘on per- sonal research work, of the facts which ought to be taken into account in drying'seeds, special attention being given to the kinds of direct interest to Danish © agriculture. These memoirs are to be sent ‘in by October 31 next. ‘The essays may be written in any one of seven specified languages, including English, of the Academy. and are to be sent to Prof. H. G. Zeuthen, secretary A STATUE of the eminent chemist, Prof. Marcelin’ Berthelot, sometime professor at the Paris School of Pharmacy, was unveiled in Paris on May 21.. We reprint from the Chemist and Druggist the following interesting account of the ceremony given by its Paris correspondent :—‘‘ The Sorbonne, as the home of the faculty of sciences and the heart of the Latin Quarter, was appropriately chosen for the function, which marked the close of the Exhibition of ‘School and War,’ organised by the French Teaching League. The great amphitheatre was filled to suffocation, and on the platform were the representatives of official and intellectual France—M, Raymond Poincaré and his Ministers of State, the Paris Municipal Council, and the teaching staff of the University. The speakers were the head of the College of France (to which Berthelot was attached), the Prefect of the Seine, the President of the Municipal Council, the Director of the French Academy, the Vice-President of the Italian Senate, and others. There was a war-time note in many of the speeches. M. Armand (autier, the chosen orator of the Academy of Sciences, told how during the 1870-71 siege of Paris he met Berthelot returning from a visit to the outposts, where he had accompanied a French general. The savant had shown the soldier how the defence of the city could be improved; the general had. hesitated for fear of reprisals, not wishing to provoke the enemy to bom- bard Paris. Shortly after, the Latin Quarter was shelled, and the College of France and the Museum were damaged. M. Painlevé, Minister of War, referred to the same epoch. Not only did Berthelot show how chemical substances could be synthesised, but ‘he dared to apply scientific methods to these explosives, the violence and terrible rapidity of which seemed to defy all control, but of which the artilleryman must under- stand the laws the better to regulate and subjugate.’ It was ‘his long and obstinate ‘research into the problems of waves of explosion which led up to M. Vieille’s discovery of smokeless powder.’ The speeches terminated, the official cortége proceeded to the statue hard by—the work of M. René de Saint- Marceaux, When this was unveiled the Paris school children ‘and the Cadet Corps—some thousands. of y P f \ . — 7 ores aera ? - - pe ; ee ee ee eG eee ee eee ee a re ae NATURE 291 yeople in all—marched mt and patriot.” in of ethnobotany, a new field of re- which, if investigated systematically, will yield Its of great value both to the ethnologist and the st, is now fully recognised, particularly in . The questions with which the ethno- ; deals are: the primitive ideas and concep- plant life; the effects of a given plant en- ent on the lives, customs, religion, thoughts, eryday practical affairs of the people studied; of plants for ecanomic, magical, or cere- purposes; how far their knowledge of plant ds; the study of plant names as a branch of folklore. The methods and results to be ‘from this field of investigation are fully ex- in Bulletin No. 55 of the American Bureau of y, entitled “‘Ethnobotany of the Tewa In- y Messrs. W. W. Robbins and J. P. Harring- i Miss Barbara Freire-Marreco, which supplies # introduction to-this new field of research. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of sIphia, second series, vol. xvi., part iii., is devoted report, printed in a style. which few societies in country can rival, compiled by Mr. C. B. Moore, ome Secigian inal sites on Green River, Kentucky, on the Ohio and Mississippi. Some of these 1ents supplied curious objects made of deer’s , hooked at one end, and having a cavity in the in which f ts of asphalt were found, itly intended to fix something introduced into . There is some doubt as to the object for h articles were intended. Possibly the implements were used as netting needles, while of a different form were ‘“‘sizers,’”’ used for the meshes of the nets. ~The cavity may have ne decorative object. The full collection of phs appended to this report will doubtless soon a final settlement of the use of these imple- ; racts of Bacteriology is the title of a new tion issued bi-monthly under the editorial direc- the Society of American Bacteriologists, the st number appearing in February. The purpose is, the name implies, to review current literature on ology in all its various branches, and a journal ‘kind will be very welcome now that German cals of a similar character are difficult to ob- d are tabooed by many. A list of periodicals reviewed is given, and comprises some 650 titles. predict a cordial reception for this new aid to ological research. . The British publisher is the bridge University Press, Fetter Lane, London, oS Bes : E have received a copy of the May issue of the mary Review (vol. i., No. 2),. a new cal devoted to veterinary science and _ prac- _ It contains. a review of the present state knowledge of specific polyarthritis, an infec- re _ disease of the joints attacking foals. The nder of the issue is devoted to abstracts of pub- tions, which seem to be well chosen and will be ry useful, and to notes on books and a bibliography _veterinary publications (thirty-four pages). The rina y Review, which is edited by Dr. Charnock ey, is published quarterly by Messrs. W. Green Son, Edinburgh, at an annual subscription of HOUGH much has béen written on the cal of Pribilof Islands, Prof.-G. H. Parker, in the Scien- NO. 2484, VoL. 99] past the monument of | tific Monthly for May, has contrived, in a most admir- able summary of the life-history of this animal, to add many new and important facts. Not only from the com- mercial, but also from the zoologist’s point of view, it is fortunate that the largest existing herd of fur-seals is that which breeds on the Pribilof Islands, for these now belong to the United States, which came into possession of the islands with the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. When in 1gto the lease to the North, American Commercial Company expired, the Government abandoned the leasing system and took over the management of the herd to avert, if possible, the steady decline in its numbers. This decline was due, not to the regular killing on land, but to pelagic sealing resulting in the slaughter of from 6) to 80 per cent. of females, the pups of which, as a consequence, were left to starve. To save the herd pelagic sealing was forbidden, and later all killing on the islands was banned, except of such animals as were needed to furnish food for the natives until the end of the 1917 season. This, Prof. Parker considers, was a mistake, since it has encouraged the undue increase of ‘‘ bachelors,”’ which disturb the harems of the breeding bulls. These‘‘ bachelors,’ he contends, should be thinned by taking toll of three-year-old males, the skins being then at their prime. The average life of the fur-seal appears to be from twelve to fourteen years. But while the bulls do not begin to breed until they are six or seven years old, the females are sexually active for almost twice that pericd. Hence the advisability of reducing the number of *‘ bachelors.” Tue ‘Book of the Madras Exhibition, 1915-16,” contains a report of a lecture by Mr. Jas. Hornell dealing, among other things, with the question of pearl eulture in Indian seas. The author believes that a great natural pearl fishery must always be a rare and fortuitous occurrence. There will always be series of bad seasons, and now and then a successful one. The natural factors which produce these good and bad seasons are so powerful that man’s interference seems. to be unavailing, and further expenditure of money- is regarded as useless.. There are, however, very en- couraging results with respect to the artificial culture of true pearls, and the production of induced pearls is already a’ growing . industry in Japan. Small spherules of mother-of-pearl are carefully inserted be- tween the mantle lobe and:shell of the mother mollusc, and after a period of about two years a marketable pearl has been formed. This is, at best, only a three- quarter pearl, and the imperfect side must be completed by cementing on a convex flake of. mother-of-pearl. Therefore the gem cannot be used as a unit for stringing, but it can be utilised wherever there is intricate mounting of some kind. - Mr. Hornell refers to a process of his own whereby true pearls, abso- } lutely flawless and-spherical, can be produced. So far he has obtained pearls of microscopic size only, but this is due to the limited time of growth in the con- ditions of his experiments. Indian waters, he points out, are more suitable for such processes than Japanese waters, for in the former there is no winter pause of growth. _In the Journal of Agricultural Research (vol. vii., No. 7) A. C. Baker and W. F. Turner give a full account of the rosy apple aphis (A: malifoliae or A. sorbi) in which some new facts of importance may be found. The authors confirm previous statements that plantain is the alternate host’ of the insect. Another common British aphid, Macrosiphum granarium, is described, with excellent figures, by W. J. Phillips in No. 11 of the same velume. This latter number.con- tains also an account of Syntomaspis druparum, a — 2023? == NATURE [June 7, 1917 chalcid. which, instead of adopting a parasitic mode. of larval life, lays eggs in apple-seeds, within which | the grubs feed. N. E, MeIndoo discusses in No. 3 of the same volume the effects of nicotine as an insecti- cide. He finds that the spray solutions neither pass into the air-tubes nor penetrate the cuti¢le and skin, but the fumes traverse the air-tubes and are dis- tributed to the tissues, killing insects by paralysis, due | to structural changes in the nerve-cells. . AT a meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in November last Prof. J. B. Whitehead, of Johns Hopkins University, gave an account of a new form of voltmeter he has developed for measur- ing potential differences up to 150 kilovolts. The com- plete paper appears in che April Journal of the Frank- lin Institute. The instrument depends on the con- stancy of the electric field at which the corona dis- charge is formed between a wire and a cylinder along the axis of which the wire is placed. In that reading to 100 kilovolts the wire is of nickel-plated tool steel o-6 cm. diameter and about 150 cm. long. It is sur- rounded by a perforated cylindrical electrode 30 cm. diameter and 90 cm. long. Both wire and cylinder are enclosed in a cylindrical vessel in which the pres- sure of the air can be varied from 40 to r40 cm. of mercury. The potential at which the corona forms at the surface of the wire appears to be independent of the frequency when alternating currents are used, and to be uninfluenced by the presence of moisture~ in.the air. It is a function of the radii of the wire and outer electrode, and of the pressure and tem- perature of the air. The formation of the corona is detected either by an electroscope or a galvanometer connected to the outer electrode, or by a telephone with its transmitter inside and its receiver outside the containing ‘vessel. ‘ THE estimation of toluene in crude petroleum was the subject of a paper read before the Institution of Petroleum Technologists on May 15 by Mr. S. E. Bowrey. It is pointed out that, whilst the process of cracking increases the percentage of aromatics in the oil, there is a serious loss of oil by carbonisation. The experiments were therefore limited to the crude oil. After carefully examining the method of frac- tionation and.of extraction by sulphonation and nitra- tion, all of which possess serious disadvantages, Mr. Bowrey eventually adopted the method of extraction by liquid sulphur dioxide at low temperatures as afford- ing the most satisfactory results, The process is car- ried out in the following manner :—The crude oil is first distilled and the distillate collected up to 150°. The latter is then freed from unsaturated hydro- carbons by shaking with 90 per cent. sulphuric acid, and afterwards with alkali and water. The purified spirit is then extracted with successive quantities of liquid sulphur dioxide at —35°, and the combined “extract carefully fractionated with a special form of fractionating apparatus. In this way a series of frac-_ tions is obtained from which the percentage of benzene, toluene, and xylene can be estimated, and the quantities are further controlled by a specific gravity determination. Each of the steps described has been carefully tested by the use of artificially pre- pared mixtures of. light petroleum and ‘the three aromatic hydrocarbons, and: the results, considering the difficulties of the problem, appear -to be very satis-- factory. _. A sHorT paper by Prof. K. C, Browning, of Colombo, on ‘‘The Detection of Traces of Mercury Salts for Toxological Purposes” (Journ. Chem. Soc., vol. cxi., p. 236) describes a process whereby the detec- tion of this element can be carried to a point com-- NO. 2484, VOL. 99| million gallons of water. The waterways are designed for a water capacity of ‘Im _ parable with that reached in the case of arsenic. The. method consists in depositing the mercury on a cathode of gold foil, and then vaporising it in a vacuum tube, where its presence is detected spectro-— scopically. Under these conditions one part of mer-' curic chloride in tooo million parts of solution can be- detected. Attempts to concentrate liquids containing — minute traces of mercury are usually futile, on account of the volatility of the metal and its compounds; it such cases it is better to use a large volume of well-— stirred liquid and rely exclusively upon electrolysis for” concentration. , i.e In the issue of the Engineer for May 18 there is an interesting account of the very important hydro-— electric power supply undertaking for Bombay known as the Tata power scheme, by which energy is sup-— plied to Bombay over a distance of some forty-three” miles. The source of the power is three. artificial lakes, or reservoirs, in the Western Ghauts, known respectively as Lake Lonawla (986 acres), Lake Wal- whan (1535 acres), and Lake Shirawta (3174 acres). | They stand in order of elevation, commencing with | the lowest, which exceeds 2000 ft. above sea-level, _ and they are capable jointly of storing sixty thousand - The district in which the ‘lakes’? are situated is remarkable for its heavy rainfall. During monsoons the precipitation is extra- ordinary, as much as 546 in. (45% ft.) having fallen in the catchment area during a single monsoon, of which quantity 440 in. (363 ft.) fell within thirty-one conse-. cutive days. The ‘lakes’ have been formed by the. construction of dams, which, though not of remark. able height, are certainly of unusual length.. The shortest is 1900 ft. long, and the longest no fewer than 8000 ft.—just above 1} miles. All the dams are built of masonry, with coursed faces and rubble heart- ing. The Shirawta and Walwhan Lakes are con- nected by a tunnel in hard trap-rock, 5000 ft. in length. 120,000 h.p., with a maximum velocity of about 5 ft. per second. Sufficient capacity is provided in the fore. bay to keep eight turbines, each of 11,000 b.h.p., working at full load for 13 hours. The length of pipe line from the forebay to the power-house is 13,000 ft., © and the difference in level is 1725 ft. The plant was formally put into service in April, 1915. + Engineering for May 18 contains an_ illustrated account of a new 15,000-kw. three-phase turbo-alter- nator recently erected at the Chelsea power station of the Metropolitan District Railway. It is of interest to note that only ten years ago builders were con-~ sidered greatly daring in constructing turbo-generators of 5000-kw.:capacitv at 1600 revolutions per minute. 500° F., giving a superheat of 125° F. only. Th test conditions give a steam cohsumption of about: 7 per cent. more than if the tests had been carried” out at the higher pressure and temperature. The re-_ sults under these test conditions, with a vacuum of” 0-75 in. absolute back pressure, aré as follows:— Percentage of econom- ical output bee BO: 32 eae Steam consumption, in Fee je 3 Ib. per kw.-hour ... 129 122 I16g5 11-8 © 12:37 The makers are Messrs; C. A, Parsons and Co., Ltd..” of Newcastle; Messrs. Merz and McLellan have acted” as consulting engineers, and have conducted the tests. cele) 120. NATURE. : 293 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. ILLAX OF BaRNarpD’s “ Runaway” Srar.—In the rnal of the British Astronomical Association for il, it is stated that Prof. Schlesinger, of Allegheny, found a parallax of 0-52”, and a proper motion in A. of —o-73”" for the “runaway” star discovered Prof. Barnard (Nature, vol. xcviii., p. 196). Dr. _A. Mitchell’s value for the parallax is 0-47", and wat found at Yerkes Observatory by Dr. Lee is 0-55". ¢ true value is evidently very close to half a second. ‘star thus appears to come second to a Centauri nt of distance, but is the nearest known star is visible in our latitud-s. RIBUTION OF STARS OF TyPE O.—The important vestigations of Prof. Charlier on the distribution motions of stars of type B (Nature, vol. xcviii., 116) have been extended to stars of type O by W. lenberg (Arkiv fér Matematik, vol. xi., No. 28). € general principle of the method is that if the mperature and radius. be supposed constant for a class of stars, the distance of each individual given by r=R.10°", where m is the apparent ude, and R is the distance corresponding to mt magnitude zero. In general, R is deter- ned from the proper motions and radial velocities, it alternative methods have been employed by Dr. lenberg for stars of type O (Wolf-Rayet stars). le extension in space and the velocity distribution Ww a close relation to the B stars, as would be pectec if the two classes are contiguous in the ectral sequence. The absolute magnitude of the ) stars is —2-78, this being the magnitude at a distance (=10° astronomical units). This result Close agreement with Charlier’s value —2-45 to for the successive sub-classes ofthe B stars. Stars, however, show a much larger extension those of type B in the galactic plane. The y of O stars in the neighbourhood of the sun is 76 per cubic siriometer. , imilar investigation for A stars has been made G. Malmquist, and for F stars by C. F. Lun- 5 | I siriomete THE Minimum Rapiation VisuaLLy PERcepripLe.— he recent results of Ives with regard to the least Wantity of radiant energy capable of producing the msation of light (Nature, vol. xcviii., p. 216) have er investigated by Prof. H. N. Russell lstrophysical Journal. vol. xlv., p. 60). As before, 1€ metre-candle is taken to be of stellar magnitude -1418, while a source emitting light of wave-length _#, and appearing like a star of the 6th mag- Of maximum efficiency, and of magnitude 8-5, is 25% 19-8 X ie E —1e a 5 0570-10, Or 7-7x Io ergs per sec. x | noted. WHALEBONE WHALES OF NEW ENGLAND. gee Witt a record of many previous American authors who had studied the whalebone. whales of the eastern shores of the United States, it was no easy task for Mr. G. M. Allen to produce anything novel in this monograph. Yet the systematic manner in which he has.handled the whole subject, from synonymy to enemies and parasites, renders the memoir both interesting and instructive, especially in connection with the habits, appearances in life, dis- position, food, breeding, commercial value, parasites, and capture.*, Some general questions are also dealt with, such as the notion of Ryder, the late able inves- tigator of the fishes, that the tail-filukes of whales probably represent degenerate hind feet, not the whole limb, as Gray and some earlier authors held; whereas Owen, Huxley, Flower, Parker, and Claus were of opinion that the whole hind limb was (externally) suppressed or atrophied, and that flukes and dorsal fin had been secondarily added. The author’s country- man, Gill, also thought that the flukes were derived from the greatly hypertrophied integument of the hind limbs, analogous to the hind limbs of the eared seal, whilst the osseous elements have been atrophied, basing this supposition on the fact that the dorsal and ventral vessels are distinct, and that the crus, when present, is in the line of the flukes. On thé shores of New England (that is, from the Bay of Fundy to Rhode Island, or thereabout) six well- known forms occur, viz. the Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis, Bonnaterre), the common ror- qual (Balaenoptera physalus, L.), the “‘ sei,’’ pollack, or Rudolphi’s whale (B. borealis, Lesson), the great blue whale, or Sibbald’s rorqual (B. musculus, L.), the little rorqual, or piked whale (B. acutorostrata, Lacé- péde), and, lastly, the humpback whale (Megaptera nodosa, Bonnaterre). : The author takes each species in succession, and deals with it systematically, structurally, and under the other heads already noted. Thus, under the Atlan- tic right whale, which probably sweeps from pole to pole, the vestigial femur, with its ligamentous rod (tibia ?), and the occasional double-headed first rib are It is lively when ha: ed, rolling over and over so as to wind the line round its body, and, it may be, upsetting the boat and injuring its crew, or in its active movements striking the boat with its — “bonnet ’’ (a process at the tip of the snout). Its numbers havd diminished since the early settlers peopled these shores (1620), though they were numer- ous in 1700, when twenty-nine were killed in one day. Now they are scarce. Its migrations northward and southward, its food (chiefly Thysanoéssa and Calanus), and its breeding are described. In clearing up the synonyms of the next species, the cosmopolitan com- mon rorqual, the author has done good service; and he appears to agree with Kiikenthal that it is the third finger which is absent in the manus, and not the thumb, since two branches of the median nerve go to the space between the second and third digits. The only trace of a hind limb is a papilla on each side of the anus in the fcetus. In addition to the movements recorded, this finner, ina calm and glassy sea, when reconnoitring, will quietly push its head nearly hari- zontally out of the water and examine, for instance, a boat with its occupants, and then slip underneath - 1 “The Whalebone Whales of New England.” Ry G. M. Allen. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. viii., No. 2, Pp. 107-332, 16 plates and various fext-figures. (Boston, September, 1916.) 2 The American records of stranded as well as captured whales are credit able so far as they go; but the recently instituted system of notification by the British Government, acting through the staff of the British Museum, is more trustworthy. P 294 NATURE almost without a ripple. A fishery for these whales began in 1810, and in 1887 a single ship captured about fifty in a year. The fishery continues still, the whole carcass being utilised, the flesh for feeding cattle, and part of it and the bones forming manure. Rudolphi’s rorqual, again, is rare, and its oil con- tains less stearine than in other whales. The baleen, however, is the finest of the series, and many of the blades are pure white. Sibbald’s rorqual fis likewise rare, and goes under the name of the ‘** sulphur-bottom whale,’’ though there is no ground for such a term from its actual coloration. Its fingers are indicated ex- ternally in the ‘flipper, even in the foetus, and the skull has a broader rostrum, agreeing in this respect. with the small finner. Little is known of the age of such huge whales, yet the occurrence in the Antarctic seas of giant forms, approaching go ft. in length, of a species apparently identical with this would appear to support the view of long life, The small finner or little piked whale is not uncommon, but the author, in mentioning the plicz of the throat, does not allude to their forking. He found this whale occasionally ‘‘breaching’’—that is, leaping clear of the water—and that no ‘‘spout ”’ was visible, thus in _ both features differing from the British representatives. Its food on the shores of the United States is chiefly -eapelin and herrings. |Scammon described another closely allied species, viz. Balaenoptera Davidsoni, which the author rightly ignores.. It refers only to the foregoing. In his account of the last species, the humpback whale, he gives a careful description of the coloration of the flippers (called ‘‘fins’’ throughout the memoir), the upper surface being chiefly white, but that the extent may vary with age, that of the Scotch‘example harpooned in the Tay in 1884, and. described by Struthers, being entirely white. These huge organs (about 12 ft. long and’9 in. thick in a 40-ft, whale) are supposed by the author to be used. for swimming, but in the example from the Tay they were used for sounding, especially when efforts were made to drive it on the beach. This form has a rudi- mentary femur.. The vigour and tenacity of this whale and its frequent leaps during its gambols are remarkable. On the whole, the external characters, and even the internal and external parasites of these American Cetaceans, conform to the conditions found in our own waters, a result to be anticipated in forms possessing a range so extensive. : The memoir is illustrated by sixteen excellent litho- graphic plates and several text-figures, efforts being made even to show the fimbriz on the edge of the powerful flukes of the humpback whale, but the small outline in this and other cases falls much short of the condition in Nature. Various tables of measurements and records of captures are also interpolated in the text. The Boston Society of Natural History and the pains- taking author are to be congratulated on this mono- graph, which places in the hands of the public a succinct yet comprehensive account of each form occur- ring in the waters of New England. : W.. €. MM. - COMMERCIAL. AERONAUTICS. qPHE lecture delivered on May 30 at the Central Hall, Westminster, by Mr. Holt Thomas, on “Commercial Aviation,’?. should awaken a consider- able amount of interest in the commercial possibilities of aircraft after the war. ~The lecture was in effect a prelude to the meeting of the Civil Aerial Transport Committee, of which Lord Northcliffe is chairman, which has recently been mentioned in these columns. The serious consideration of commercial aeronautics will involve a great deal of scientific work, since the No. 2484, VOL. 99] -services will be established in the near future, especially WITH the publication of the Monthly Weather. [JUNE 7, 1917 machines which will be necessary for commercial trans- * port will differ in many ways from ‘the typés which — -have been developed to meet the demands’ of’ war. Speed will still be an important factor, though not of — such paramount importance as in the military aero- — plane. Mr. Holt Thomas pointed out that an aerial’ : mail to Paris could be worked profitably at a charge © of one halfpenny per ounce, the time of transit being — about three hours, and this one instance is sufficient — to show the great advantages which aerial transport — could confer upon modern commerce. The influence — of winds would necessarily render such a mail service ~ more ‘erratic than those now in operation, but the ~ greatly increased speed would more than compensate — for this, especially in the case of journeys which now involve both land and sea transport. The question of passenger conveyance is much more complicated than the establishment of aerial mails, as it will be neces- — sary to design machines to give a reasonable amount of comfort to the passengers, especially on the longer — journeys. Such difficulties of design are by no means ~ insuperable, and it is practically certain that passenger — — Ae | to places not easily served by railway. As Mr. Holt — Thomas remarked, ‘the aeroplane could be .used to — develop outlying places until they grew sufficiently large to warrant the construction of a railway line. | The aerial mail will probably come first, owing to the | obvious benefits such a rapid service would bring, and — to the fact that it would not involve any radical ' changes in the design of the necessary machines. Mr. Louis Coatalen, the well-known designer of the - Sunbeam Company, delivered an interesting lecture on. “Aircraft and Motor-car Engine Design” on May 16 — before the Aeronautical Society. He pea as by. pointing out the wide differences between the aero-— plane engine and the type of engine previously de- veloped for motor-cars. The chief desiderata in the aeroplane engine are lightness and the ability to work continuously at maximum power,.and these considera- tions scarcely affect the design of the car engine at all. The engines designed for racing cars are much more nearly analogous to the aircraft type, and the lecturer — remarked that the experiénce gained on such racing — engines was of great value in the early days of aero-— nautics. The extent to which design had progressed ” was illustrated by the fact that in two years the weight of aeroplane engines had been reduced from 4-3 to 26 lb. per horse-power, and that without sacrific- ing trustworthiness. The question of valve design” received a good deal of attention, the lecturer stating that-in his opinion the best arrangement was to use two - inlet and two exhaust valves, and to place the sparking- plug in the centre of the cylinder head. Coming from) such an experienced and successful designer as Mr. Coatalen, the paper is full of valuable information, and should be read by all who are interested in light petrol motors, whether for aviation or for other purposes. THE PAST WINTER. Report of the Meteorological Office for April — observations are now complete for the five roe the December, 1916, to April, 1917, which embrace the ~ abnormally cold and wintry period experienced gener: ally over the British Islands. Temperature results — are given in great detail in the reports, and the data — afford a most thorough examination of the excep-— tional character of the weather. al Cold conditions set in towards the close of Novem- ber and continued until nearly the close of April. The report for December shows a deficiency of tem- perature everywhere in the British Islands, except at er vg LE LS (ay a Hae ae NATURE 295 places in the north of Scotland, where the erage excess was about 0-5° F. At Bath the defici- sncy amounted to 5°. January had a deficiency over whole of the United Kingdom, the defect. being st in’ the midland, southern, and western parts gland and in Ireland, exceeding 5° in a few _ February had a slight excess of temperature Shetlands, Orkneys, and Hebrides; elsewhere deficient, the deficiency exceeding 7° at Here- and being more than 5° at many places in t parts of England and at a few places in the south eland. March had a deficiency of temperature the entire area of the British Islands, exceeding t some places in the midland and eastern districts land. April was everywhere cold, the deficiency aperature exceeding 5° in..many. parts, and ting to 6-6° at Aspatria, in Cumberland. don is represented by eight stations, including e, the arithmetical mean of the maximum inimum readings, from the eight stations for the months December, 1916, to April, 1917, is 38-0°, is 36° below the average for the whole period. t ghest of the several means for London was ‘3. at South Kensington, the observing station of é Meteorological Office, and the lowest Hampstead, 59°. The mean of the minimum, or night, readings - Hampstead was below the freezing point in each the months from December to March, and in April é€ mean minimum was 33°. . At Greenwich the mean f the maximum for the, five months was 43-3°, the gean of the minimum 32-3°, and the mean was 37°8°, hich is 3-8° below the normal. The means for anuary and February were both 35-3°, and April, with n of 42-7°, had a deficiency of 4-5°, the greatest ney from the normal in any of the five months. mean temperature for the five months was 0-2° er than for the corresponding period from Decem- r, 1890, to April, 1891, and it was o-1° lower than December, 1878, to April, 1879, the next lowest ean since 1841, and o0-2° lower than from December, 344, to April, 1845. ; og six representative stations in the midlands, r the five months the mean temperature was 36-8°, id the difference from the normal was minus 3-0°. Brighton the mean temperature was 38-6°,. a de- ney of 3-9° from the average. In. Dublin the an temperature for the five months was 40-0°, and he deficiency 3-5°; at Jersey 40-7°, and deficiency 4-2°. ) representative stations for Scotland give the co lean perature 37-9°, and the mean deficiency from me average was 2-3°. . _ Meteorological. information from western and orth Europe shows that other parts were similarly cted with prolonged cold. __ Dr. Mill, of the British Rainfall Organisation, in a lette: score Times of June 4, dirécts attention to the ionth which has just closed as being the warmest May ‘Camden Square, London, since the establishment Observations in 1858. He gives the mean tempera- e On a Glaisher stand as 59-1° F., or 5-19 above the Werage, whilst April was just 5° bélow its average. it Camden Square, May, 1868,-had a mean tempera- ture 58-9°, a trifle cooler than the recent May, and was followed by a very hot summer. Dr.- Mill lotes several warmer Mays according to the old ondon records, and mentions that only in 1809 did extremely warm May follow, as this year, an tremely cold April. At South Kensington, the ob- erving station of the Meteorological Office, the mean Mmperature in a Stevenson’s screen for May was 6°. The Greenwich observations give s8$-8° in 1841 d 1848 as the previous highest May temperatures, NO. 2484, VoL. 99] sf a , wich and Kew Observatories. The mean tem- and in 1893 the mean was 58-4°. In 1908 at Green- wich the mean temperature for April was 44-3°, which is 4° below the average, whilst that for May was 56-79, or 3° above the average. The following summer was by no means fine or hot. Cuas. HARDING, } THE COOLIDGE X-RAY TUBE. EBs Coolidge X-ray tube has been on its trial in~ this country during the last two years, and it may be said with some confidence that it has gone a very long way towards justifying the claims which have been made concerning it. Whether the tube be judged from the laboratory or from the clinical point of view, it marks a new era in the history of the X-ray tube. There is now to the hand of the experi- menter or of the radiologist a source which provides him with a beam of X-rays which can be varied in the course of a few seconds, as regards both quality and output, over a very wide range; such radiation, more- over, may be repeated with certainty, The work of Sir E. Rutherford and his colleagues, which was directed to find the shortest wave-length of the radiation emitted by the Coolidge tube, disclosed the fact that a limit was set to.the penetrating power of this radiation when the potential difference between the terminals of the tube was about 150,000 volts. The Coolidge tube can be run at a higher working voltage than the ordinary X-ray tube owing to the absence of any measurable quantity of gas within the former, and the range of radiation emitted by it ex- tends rather further into the region of the shorter wave-lengths than is obtained with the older type of tube. There is a considerable clinical use of such very penetrating rays, which are rather more penetrating than the y rays from radium-B, but less so than those emitted by radium-C. The difficulty of protecting those who apply such radiation is considerable, but the necessity for so doing is no less urgent than it is apparent, and we are glad to see that prominence is given to this question in a descriptive leaflet of the Coolidge tube, dated October 31, 1916, issued by the British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd. ~ This memorandum contains a description of the tube, its mode of construction, and the methods which are now generally employed in its manipulation, both for radiographic and for radio-therapeutic work, - Considering the ease with which the Coolidge tube may be manipulated, and the short time which is re- quired by anyone conversant with X-ray matters to acquire the necessary technique, it must be inferred that the only hindrance to its.more general adoption in this country is the high cost of the tube. The Coolidge tube may perhaps be looked upon as the most successful practical application which has yet been made of the classical work of Prof. O. W. Richardson on thermionic currents. We trust that the British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd., which states that it is the owner of the English patents of this tube; will be instrumental in putting the Coolidge X-ray tube within the reach of a wider public than exists to-day. THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH. $B E report of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was presented at the annual visitation of the Observa- tory on June i. A few of the matters dealt with in the report are here summarised. : The catalogue of stars down to 9-om..on the B.D. scale between the limits of 24° and 32° of north de- maximum and minimum readings, since 1841, ' clination has been completed by the determination of 296 ‘NATURE e [JUNE 7, 1917 7 | the proper'motions of about 12,000 stars. These have | motions of the brighter stars are being determined b been obtained by comparison of the Greenwich posi- tions with those given in the catalogues of the Astro- nomische Gesellschaft and the éarlier catalogues of Bessel and Lalande.. For the latter catalogues systematic corrections were determined for each separate .night’s observations. A determination of the mean parallax of stars of different magnitudes has been made from these proper motions and published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The results confirm very closely the formula given by Kapteyn. It is hoped to communicate to the society a short discussion of the proper motions with reference to star streaming. The publication of these summaries of results by the Royal Astronomical Society is specially valuable because of the delay in the printing and publication of the cata- logue itself. During the year 222 photographs were taken with the Cookson floating zenith-telescope, 216 for latitude groups and six for scale determination. The measure- ment of the photographs to the end of 1916 is com- pleted, and the results for the variation of latitude for 1916 were communicated to the Royal Astronomical Society, and published in the Monthly Notices for March, 1917. ; Throughout the year the 28-in. refractor was at the disposition of M. Jonckheere. Fifty-nine new close double stars were detected, making 259 since October, 1914. Up to November 22, 1916, the observations mainly consisted of the measurement and verification of stars discovered to be double since 1905, the date to which Mr. Burnham’s catalogue extends. Since November 22 the programme of work has comprised (1) the measurement of stars from Burnham’s General Catalogue which had been previously observed at the Lille Observatory, and (2) the re-measurement of double stars in vol. lxi. of the Royal Astronomical Society’s Memoits. Altogether 604 double stars have been measured during the year. Of these stars— 213 have a separation under 2”. 156 ” 9 between 2" and 3”. a a” ‘37 ” ” ” tH ” 4. 62 ” ” ” 4 », 5. 41 ” a greater than 5°. The catalogue of double stars discovered since 1905 has been published by the Royal Astronomical Society in vol. Ixi. of the Memoirs. ; With the Thompson equatorial, in accordance with — the programme of previous years for the determination of stellar parallax, a first exposure has been made on eighty-six plates, and a second one on 154 plates. At the request of Dr. de Sitter the series of photographs commenced at the Cape Observatory for the deter- mination of the constants of the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter has been continued at Greenwich. With the astrographic equatorial during the year tog plates have been taken on thirty-five nights for the determination of proper motion by comparison with earlier plates. Of these nine have been rejected; eighty-five plates, of which fifty-two have two fields on them, have two short exposures, usually of 4m. and 2m.; fourteen have a single exposure of 12m.; one is for focus of the instrument. The plates with short exposures are being compared in the duplex micrometer, but only for the stars con- tained in the Bonn Durchmusterung. The plates with longer exposures are being compared with earlier olates—usually chart plates—by Mr. Innes at Johannesburg, using a blink microscope. With the duplex micrometer 177 pairs of plates have been measured during the year. From the results obtained all proper motions greater than 10” a century and many smaller ones are being determined. Simultaneously the proper ‘ NO. 2484, VOL. 99] and five previous years are as follows :— ‘sible to keep up all observations of thé sun, moon, and comparison with earlier meridian observations. © ya In the year ended May 10, 1917, photographs of the — sun were obtained on 208 days. Photographs have — been received from the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, and supplementary photographs have been received through the Solar Physics Committee, — from Dehra Din, India, in both cases to the close of © the year 1916. Two days in 1916 still remain un- ~ represented, viz. June 19 and September 29. From gto to 1916 inclusive there are only two other days unrepresented in the combined © series of photographs for measurement, one in 1911 — and one in 1912. j ) ._ The mean daily spotted area of the sun continued | to increase during the past twelve months, and there ; is no indication as yet that the maximum has been reached. : The mean values of the magnetic elements for 1916 ‘ <— he Horizontal 8 force (C.G.S.) 15 33°0 Year Declination W. Dip ; 66 52 6 (sin, needles) _ IQII 018549 1912 243 018548 ee sO” 1913 152 0°18534 SOF ay ra 1914 15 63 018518 { 4 we faniiuetory. 1915 14 5675 © o18508 51 50 a , 1916 469 °0"18494 5245 It will be noticed that the annual diminution of declination increased considerably about i910, its average value from 1900 to 1910 being 4-9’. The hori- zontal force, which had been increasing since measure- ments at Greenwich were begun in 1846, reached a — maximum about 1910, and is now diminishing. The — dip, which has been diminishing since measurements — were begun in’ 1843, appears also to have recently reached a turning point. There were no days of great magnetic disturbance in 1916, but three were classified as of lesser disturbance. The principal features of interest in the meteoro- logical conditions at Greenwich during the year ended April 30, 1917, are :—(i) The continued cold weather © from December to April—the latter month had a mean ~ temperature 1° Jower than any other April since 1841; and (ii) the general deficiency of sunshine. a The scientific work of the observatory has necessarily © been somewhat curtailed, but it has been found po planets; sun-spots; latitude; magnetic and meteoro- ~ logical registers—observations which would otherwise ~ have been permanently lost. - . tS £ One special piece of work to which a good deal of © attention was devoted this year was the preparation of | magnetic charts. In 1912 it was arranged that the compilation of the Admiralty charts of magnetic varia- tion, hitherto undertaken by the Compass Department, ~ should be transferred to the Royal Observatory. A card catalogue of magnetic declination data from all ~ parts of the world was formed. From this and pub- ~ lished data of various surveys the charts for 1917 have — been prepared during the past year. They are now in course of publication by the Hydrographic Office. = RESEARCHES ON KALA-AZAR.} I HAVE chosen the subject of twenty years’ research — on kala-azar for the main portion of my address” to-night, both because of the great importance of this — disease in a large area of India, and also of the ignorance of the general. public regarding it. Most people have fairly definite ideas about malaria and ~ 1 From the presidential address delivered to the Asiatic Society of Bengal 3 on. February 8 by Sir Leonard Rogers, F.R.S. ‘ b4 June 7 1917 | OS ATURE, 297 ‘cholera, but few have any regarding the far more ead! ly and insidious kala-azar, which, on account extremely high mortality and the painfully ng nature of the disease, is without doubt_the terrible scourge occurring in India. It is now lore than twenty years since I was fortunate enough, when with less than three years’ service, to be selected to carry out the second investigation of the Assam epi- emic of kala-azar, and it has never ceased from that ime to occupy my thoughts, although my opportuni- ties for continuing my researches on it have sometimes sen more limited than I should have liked. For- tunately, I have been able to discover how to prevent the spread of the disease, and also independently to = * cure for wiles time, therefore, seems to be ripe for giving a brief popular summary -of the pro- ess which has been made in our knowledge of sets, azar through the researches of the last twenty years, which has resulted in a very great-degree of success ‘as regards both the prevention and the cure of the disease, al h some links in the chain of infection till remain to he forged. i - In the first place, 1 wish to remove a misconception " h I find is commonly prevalent among the public, namely, that kala-azar and black-water fever are the Same disease, or at least intimately related. It is true that some years ago a high medical. authority did nake such a suggestion on theoretical- grounds, but I do not think any medical man now holds that view. As a matter of fact, it would be difficult to imagine two more widely different conditions than the lingering Kala-azar and the short, sharp, black-water fever com- plication of malaria, which ends in death or recovery within a very few days. That black-water fever is gut a complication of malaria is a view with which I am in agreement. But the differentiation of kala- zar from chronic malaria was not possible before the scovery of a distinct parasite in the former in 1903, nd up to quite recently it remained very difficult-on purely clinical grounds in many cases. It is, therefore, Not surprising that the two were for long confused even by workers, including myself in my report Of 1897 on the Assam epidemic, and a little later by ich a great authority on malaria as Sir Ronald Ross, ho proved malaria to be mosquito-borne. is generally known that kala-azar ugh Assam for a number of years, causing a eat mortality; but it is difficult to convey to those ho have not seen its effects anything like an adequate dea of the terrible nature of the affliction. - At the of my investigation in 1896-97 the disease at its height in the Nowgong district, the pulation of which in the decade 1891-1901 tually showed a decrease of 31-5 per~ cent., inst an increase of 9 to 16 per cent. in ® more easterly unaffected districts. Large areas f land fell out of cultivation, and even at the eadquarters town of Nowgong land absolutely lost its value, being quite unsaleable. When the tea- - ga s became infected in this district, and accurate f were available, it was found that the mortality in-several hundred carefully treated cases varied from 90 to 06 per cent. 3 But I must pass on to show you some photographs _ of cases taken during my investigation. The first | Sroup was taken in the Nowgong dispensary, and the _ Second in that at Mangaldai. Both show the great _ emaciation contrasting with the tumid abdomens due 80 great enlargement of the spleen, and often also of t the liver, while the skin becomes darker and more _ muddy, \which, according to some,> gave rise to the _ term kala-azar or black fever. Now it will no doubt occur’ to. many of you that ‘you have seen precisely similar cases in. malarious areas round Calcutta,and pret will ask, How do you differentiate between kala- - No. 2484, VOL. 99] ~ spread 4 «tim “ Bei” azar and chronic malaria? That, indeed, was the problem which confronted me in Assam, with the added difficulty that the disease was spreading and causing an awful mortality such as malaria was not known to do in Lower Bengal, and that the people themselves had no doubt that the disease was an infectious one, though malaria was not believed to be so at the time of my investigation, which, of course, was several years before the mosquito-borne theory of malaria was established. In fact, there were at that time two rival theories regarding kala-azar: one that the disease was malarial, and therefore could not be infectious; and the other that it was infectious, and - therefore could not be malarial, so must be some undescribed disease. I early set to work to find out , if kala-azar was infectious. I found that the disease - always began in a.village through an infected person coming to reside there, the next fo be attacked being those living in the same house as the infected visitor. This naturally led me to suspect that the disease was. not malarial, yet I frequently found malarial parasites in the blood (it was not then known that in malarious parts many apparently healthy persons harboured malarial organisms in their blood), and, search as I would, I could find no differentiating point from malaria. I therefore visited Sylhet, to the south of the Khasia Hills, where kala-azar was then unknown, and. there found cases of malarial cachexia which in every respect, including investigations of the blood changes, resembled kala-azar of the Brahma- putra Valley, except that they were. much more chronic and sometimes lasted as many years as epidemic kala- azar did months. With the boldness of com- parative youth I therefore declared the spreading ‘ kala-azar of Assam to be an epidemic infectious form of malaria, corresponding in some respects with the well-known Mauritius malarial epidemic of 1877. We. shall see presently that I was partly wrong and partly right in coming to this conclusion.. - : : However,-I-was not content with merely theoretical considerations, but strove for practical results from my inquiries. I thereforé sought. for more accurate data on the tea-gardens, which had become badly infected in the Nowgong district, and on which I investigated many cases with the help of my friend, Dr. Dodds Price, who has a unique experi- ence of kala-azar and has rendered me the greatest possible assistance throughout a number of years. I ascertained that on one of his gardens so many deaths had occurred from kala-azar that two hundred new - coolies had to be imported at one time. He had already independently recognised the infectiousness of ‘the disease before I went to Assam, and had arranged for separate coolie lines to be built to prevent as many as possible of the new coolies going into the infected houses of the old lines. Only one hundred and fifty could be accommodated in the new lines, so fifty had to go into the old ones. On learning this, I at once set to work to ascertain the results of this important measure, and we found that in the course of two years no single case of kala-azar had- occurred in the new lines (and the same was true eighteen years later), . while-no fewer than 16 per cent. of the new coolies living in the old infected lines were already dead of the disease, although the.two sites were only about two hundred yards apart. This experience led me to urge moving out all the healthy people from the infected lines into new ones, taking none from infected houses, segregating the remaining infected families, and destroying the-old houses. The results were so suc- cessful that the plan was repeated by Dr. Price on other gardens, and ‘r 1913, during a visit to Assam in the Puja vacation, we worked out the results of eighteen years’ experience. This may briefly be sum- marised by saying that the dread disease had been iin : : a : 298 NA TURE [JUNE 7, 1917 completely stamped out of -ten coolies’ lines, in one of which three-fifths of the whole population had the diséase in their households, whilé the new lines had afterwards remained free from the disease in every case, namely, from twelve to eighteen years in five of them, and for shorter periods in the others, no recurrence having ever taken place where Dr. Price had been ‘able to get’ his orders carried out by the garden ‘managers to prevent any infected person being allowed to live in the new lines. That this success was not due t» the decline of the disease in the. Nowgong district was clear from the fact that on two gardens where he could not get the managers to adopt my measures the disease was still present at the time of my 1913 visit, having persisted on them for twenty. years. When it is stated that the population of the new kala-azar-free lines in 1913 amounted to 6727 souls, and that the deaths from kala-azar alone in the old lines before removal had amounted to 1393, or no fewer than 207 per mille, more than one-fifth; that the loss would have con- tinued indefinitely, as shown by the fact that the disease remained present for twenty years on two gardens where the plans were not adopted; and that coolies cost about Rs.2z00 a head to recruit by the time they reached Assam, the saving to the tea industry. in this one district alone must have amounted to lakhs of rupees. I am glad to be able to say that the industry has shown its gratitude in a very prac- tical way by promising Rs.20,000 a year for five years for. investigations in connection with the School of Tropical Medicine ; _ The more difficult question remained as to whether anything. could be done to check the spread of the disease up the Brahmaputra Valley. On turning once more to the map, you will see that the only traffic _ eastward is along the narrow strip between the hills and the Brahmaputra River, which also has com- paratively few inhabitants. I. found it to be free from kala-azar in 1897, so recommended that steps should be taken to stop infected people from passing up into the Golaghat subdivision of the Sibsagar dis- trict, and that if any villages became infected in Golaghat the segregation measures’ should at once be carried out and the healthy people moved to a new site. This was actually done later with success, and as the epidemic has abated in Nowgong, although sporadic cases remain, there is good reason to hope that the. main danger has been averted and the eastern part of the vallev saved from devastation little, if at all, less disastrous than the war-itself. A recent investigation by Major McCombie Young, Sanitary Commissioner, Assam, has shown that the disease remains in a sporadic form in just those parts of Assam which I found to be infected with the epidemic twenty years ago—an important point I shall .return to presently. Before leaving this part of the subject let me emphasise the fact that all the, above prac- tically important prophylactic measures were worked out as a result of my epidemiological studies before we had any accurate knowledge of the true nature and causation of the disease, so that, however wrong my theories proved to be, I have the satisfaction of know- ing. that my earliest important investigation in India led to much. saving of life and suffering, which has always been a greater satisfaction to me even than the making of purely scientific discoveries without much practical value. In the meanwhile, my theory that kala-azar was an epidemic malaria, although supported by the high ~ authority of Sir Ronald Ross, was criticised by others, and Dr. Bentley, on the strength of what ultimately proved to be erroneous blood tests made at, Kasauli, declared the disease to be an epidemic of Malta fever, ! NO. 2484, VOL. 99] but at the same time brought forward some’ strong — arguments against the disease being malarial. While — opinions ,were thus divided in India, researches on two other continents led to a solution of the difficult — problem—so ‘closely is scientific thought all over the — world united by medical literature at the present day. Dutton, ‘the most brilliant — In Africa the late Dr. worker yet produced by the Liverpool Scliool of Tropical Medicine, discovered a trypanosome in the blood ‘of a patient suffering from a fever, which — was later proved by Sir David Bruce to be the early Stage of the deadly sleeping sickness. Sir William Leishman then recorded having found some minute bodies in the spleen of a soldier who died in England | of a‘fever contracted in Dum Dum, and suggested that they were degenerate trypanosomes. Lt.-Col. C. Donovan, of the Madras Medical College, immediately announced that he ‘had independently found the same bodies some months before, and added the important fact that they could be obtained by — spleen puncture during life, thus disproving Leish- man’s theory that they were degenerate trypano- somes. Donovan also suggested that the so-called malarial cachexia and kala-azar might also be due to this parasite. Leishman and Donovan were there- fore the joint discoverers of the parasite of kala-azar which is called after them, and I am glad to say that the Asiatic Society has been the first to recognise the importance of Donovan’s work by electing him to our fellowship last year, although it is but a small recogni- — tion for such an important discovery.* The way was now cleared for more rapid advance, and, Dr. Bentley and ‘myself independently found the same parasite in epidemic kala-azar in Assam, and I also found it in cases in. the north-west of the Dinajpur district, where the disease had ‘been known as kala-dukh. © Thanks to the kindness of the physicians of the ~ Medical College Hospital in 1904-5; and especially — to Surgeon-General Harris, I was able to investigate scores of cases of what had hitherto been always regarded as malarial cachexia, with the result of showing that a large proportion of them were kala- azar. These observations established the important fact that a sporadic form of kala-azar is widely prevalent — in Lower Bengal, and I found it to be exactly similar to the cases I had formerly studied in Sylhet. -The mys- tery of the nature of kala-azar was thus cleared up, the destructive Brahmaputra Valley wave having been an’ epidemic form of the disease which is epidemic in Lower Bengal and Sylhet; so that, although I was wrong in regarding it as malarial, I was correct in saying it was an epidemic variety of the disease I had — found in Sylhet, which had always been regarded as malarial cachexia, but which we now know to be sporadic kala-azar. As special skill and laboratory facilities are required for demonstrating the parasite of kala-azar, while the treatment of kala-azar is different from that of chronic malaria, it still remained — a matter of great practical importance to solve the century-old problem of finding a simple clinical dif- ferentiation between kala-azar and malarial cachexia. Only in January I recorded the results of three years’ investigation of this problem’ in the Medical College Hospital, thanks to facilities kindly afforded me by my medical colleagues, which has, I believe, resulted in a simple and practical solution of this difficulty, and will enable the curative treatment I shall come to presently being successfully used by the general practitioner, even in places remote from laboratories. The discoyery of the parasite of kala-azar in 1903 placed me in a position to study it with the view of ascertaining its life-history, and so to obtain a clue to the mode of infection. In the following year I was ee ee ae a ee Te —" PE ees ee ee One Jone 7, 1917] NATURE 299 fortunate. enough to succeed in cultivating this proto- 4 mat -parasite in test-tubes under certain conditions ‘and in watching the minute spleen form develop into a long flagellate organism resembling one of the stages a trypanosome, but which further study showed to mg to the closely allied herpetomonas. This overy gave the required clue to the nature probable life-history of the parasite, as similar. anisms are found naturally in the digestive canals certain flies, indicating that the infection is probably e. I spent the next year in studying the tions favourable to the growth of the parasite cultures, and for reasons into which I have not time go I came to the conclusion that the homely bed- is the carrier of the disease. The fact which had this time been established by Dr. Dodds Price, two to four hundred yards is a sufficient distance remove healthy lines from infected ones, is sufficient exclude a flying insect such as a mosquito. At time Major Patton, of the Bacteriological artment, was placed on special duty to work the subject in Madras. After some two s’ work he obtained a development of the site up to the flagellate stage in the digestive of bed-bugs fed on kala-azar patients with the tes in their blood. Lt.-Col. Cornwall has recently confirmed these experiments, and although he final proof of communicating the disease by means f infected bed-bugs has not yet been Giraiined (ex- geriments on human beings, such as were carried out in the case of malaria, not being justifiable in the deadly kala-azar), still the evidence incriminating these insects is sufficiently weighty to make it desirable to Wage war upon them wherever the disease is present. Coco-nut oil applied to the runs of the bugs on walls, to the buttons of mattresses, etc., where they hide, is a useful measure for this purpose. AS 2 insects €an live for months without food, the in which the infection clings to houses is well ained on my theory that they are the carriers of the 4: c1sease . way Lastly, I come to the most important discovery re- garding kala-azar, namely, that of a trustworthy cure | of this formerly very deadly disease. Antimony prepara- | ns have proved to be of value in trypanosomiasis, ) d nearly two and a half years ago I decided to try ‘ravenous injections of tartar emetic in kala-azar. | nfortunately, just at that moment I had no clinical ) cilities for testing my idea, and for six months I rried about sterile capsules of tartar emetic without sing able to use them, a disability which will end when the Carmichael Hospital for tropical diseases | 48 opened. Eventually I obtained the facilities I re- | quired, and soon saw reason to believe that the drug _ Was proving effective. Imagine my disappointment _when I read that two Italian doctors had recorded . aig : Any i sa ih ee the African form of kala- azar with. very drug I was using in Calcutta, although the fact that I had Geeealanty discovered the treatment will save some of the credit for the Indian Medical Service. At any rate, I am now in the | happy position of being able to say that, thanks to | the kind help of Capt. H. N. Hume and Lt.-Col. . O’Kinealy, no fewer than twenty-five. consecutive | _ tases of kala-azar, including three children, have _ been Successfully treated in the European General _ Hospital by this method, and the most deadly disease ) _ of India, if not of the world, has now been largely _ conquered, as regards both prevention and cure, per- _ haps more completely than any other highly lethal : disease known, as a direct result of the researches . Of the last twenty years. In conclusion I cannot resist this onportunity of pointing the moral,. namely, that no greater benefit | NO. 2484, VOL. 99] can arise than from successful medical research, and that no better use can be made of wealth than in endowing such research for the benefit of the present and all future generations. Bengal, and I would add Bihar, have already nobly responded to my appeal for endowments for the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, and when the terrible war is over we hope to have at least nine research workers in the new laboratories, instead of one poor man with routine professorial duties devoting such time as he can snatch to medical! research. UNIVERSITY’ AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CamsBripGe.—Dr. A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., master of Christ’s College, has been elected Vice-Chancellor for the next academical year. OxrorpD.—A decree passed by Convocation on June 5 provides for the suspension of the Romanes lectureship until October 9, 1917, the moneys consequently un- disposed of to be transferred to the Emergency Relief Fund of the University. y On. the same day statutes ‘passed Congregation em- powering the board of the faculty of medicine to recog- nise certain examinations in natural science, and provid- ing for the further promotion of higher studies in the University, with special reference to the proposed new degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The statutes respect- ing boards of electors to professorships were amended in some particulars. Mr. T. R. Glover, fellow of St. John’s College, Cam- bridge, has been appointed Wilde lecturer in natural and comparative religion for three years from October 10, 1917. Prof. Emile Boutroux, France et de l’Académie Frangaise, has been Herbert Spencer lecturer for 1917. Membre de J’Institut de appointed Two courses of free public lectures have just been | commenced at the School of Oriental Studies, London Institution, Finsbury Circus, E.C.2. One course, on | “Religion in India and China,"’ is being delivered by Dr. T. W. Rhys Davids, and the remaining lectures will be given on Tuesdays, June 12, 19, and 26; the other course, on ‘* The Way to Buddhahood,” by Prof. ' de la Vallée Poussin, is being delivered on Thursdays, June 7, 14, 21, and 28. The lectures begin at 5.30 in each case. Tue President of the Board of Education has ap- pointed a Departmental Committee to inquire into the principles which should determine the construction of scales of salary for teachers in elementary schools, due regard being had to locality, duties, qualifications, sex, and other considerations consistent with the organisation of the teaching service throughout the country, on a system conducive to the efficiency of national education. The committee will be at liberty | to illustrate any system of scales which it recom- mends by such specific sums of money as it thinks fit; but it is not asked to consider the question of the amounts by which existing scales of salary should be improved in particular areas, or the sources from which the amounts required’ for that purpose ~- | should be provided. The members of the committee | are:—Sir H. L. Stephen (chairman), Miss M. M. Allan, Mr. J. W. Alsop, Dr..H. B. Brackenbury, Miss I. Cleghorn, Mr. C. W. Crook, Mr. W. R. Davies, | C.B., Miss I. A. Dickson, H.M.I., Mr. A. J. Flavell; Mr. H. Mellish, Mr. H. Pearson,. Mr, A. R. Pickles, : ee NATURE [June 7s 1917 a Mr. W. Pullinger, Mr. F. Roscoe, Mr. T. H. J. Under- down, Miss Hermione Unwin, the Rev. D. H. Wil- liams, with Mr. A. H. Wood as secretary, to whom all communications sHould be ‘addressed at the office of the. Board of Education. Mr. Fisher intends also to deal with teachers in secondary, technical, and other schools by a further reference to a second com- mittee connected with this committee in beseett of both constitution and functions. An illustrated brochure entitled Nagel on the Land" has been issued in which’ a description of the training of women and girls for agricultural and market-garden work at ‘‘Craigendowie," Broughton, near Preston, is given. Under the Lancashire com- mittee a month’s: training was provided for, but Mrs. Ritchings, who has undertaken the work of training | the girls on her own estate, has wisely continued the | course of instruction for a second month. The num- ber of students. taken at one time is about twelve, and probably it is possible to give much more thorough ff instruction in the use of tools with a small number of students than with the unduly large numbers which are sometimes--crowded for a month into training centres. Although none of the wottien students at **Craigendowie ’’ had had previous experience ot agri- cultural work of any kind; the results seem to have been very successful, and the: women have been drafted out to ‘situations’ in Lancashire and Cheshire. The reports — given by various training centres and the accounts | received from farmers, which have been published from | time to time in: the ” Journal: of the Board of Agri- culture, show clearly that women aré capable of doing ~ valuable work on the land, provided that the farmers will give them a fair trial and a certain amount of préliminary instruction of a clear and’ practical kind. © With the care of dairy cows and other stock women ‘seem ‘to have been particularly successful, though they | have’ carried out’ satisfactorily almost: every type of agricultural work. - In view of the necessity for in- creased cultivation, the demand for women’s work on the land will rapidly increase during this year, and it is of the greatest importance that it should be satisfactorily met. Training schools have fortunately been established in -many counties, and if women can be assured of suitable accommodation and adequate wages, large | numbers will doubtless take .up. an employment which’ has been re-discovered as healthy, interesting, and absolutely essential to the welfare of the nation. BOOKS RECEIVED. Three Lectures on Experimental Embryology. Dr. J.. W. Jenkinson. With a Biographical Note by Dr. R. R. Marett. Pp. xvit130. (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.) 7s. 6d, net. A Sketch Map ‘of: the Linguistic Areas of Europe. (London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) 2 guineas. The War and the Nation: A Study in Constructive Politics. By W. C. D. Whetham. (London: J. Murray.) 6s. net. Rings for the Finger, from the Earliest Known Times to the Present. By Dr. G..F. Kunz. Pp. xviii + 381+ illustrations. (Philadelphia and London : J. B. Lippincott Co.) 28s, net. The Home and the Family: book of Home Making. By Profs, H. Kinne and A. M. Cooley. Pp. vi+292. (New. York: The Mac- millan Co. ; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 3s. 6d. net. Fresh-water Wonders and How to Identify Them. By J. H. Crabtree. Pp. 64. (London: C. H. Kelly.) Is. 3d. net NO. 2484, VOL. 99] Pp. vili+312. I By An Elementary Text- |. “Whalebone Whales of New England. By Ww. c M, i DIARY OF SOCIETIES. +3 THURSDAY, June 7. : P Roya. InstiruTION, at 3.—The Art of the Biogranbats A. C. Benson. Linnean Society, at So —The.Hooker Lecture on The Natural Classifica- tion of Plants: Prof. F. O. Bower. Cuemicat Society, at 8,—The Constitution of Internal Diazo-oxides — (Diazophenols). Part ii.: S T. Morgan and H. P, Tomlins. OE ce! ie mination of ey and Oxides of Nitrogen in the Atmosphere: F. L. Usher and-B, Rao.—Thiocarbamide and Esters : Teele: —The | Phosphates of ce Part iv. The Basic Pbaphose: H. Bassett, jun.—Preparation of Secondary Arylamines free from Primary Amines: — J. Thomas.—Some Double Compounds of Ferric Chiocide svitt with Ethers A. Forster, C. Coope, and G. Yarrow.—The Absorption Spectra of some ~ Polyhydroxyanthraquinone Dyes in Concentrated Sulphuric Acid Solution — and in the State of Vapour: D. B.: Meek.—Action of Acetaldehyde Ammonia on Quinones’: P. C. Ghosh.—The Exact Determination Morphine in Complex Mixtures. Part i. A ee and Revision Data‘ A.- Tingle. : FRIDAY, Joxs Rowe idee aa at 5. on Tada Replication of, \eliscirghas Sir . omson Ny : Roya AsTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at's PHYSICAL, SOCIETY, at_5.—A. Bridge. Method of Ce Fixed. saa ‘ eet T. Parnell. aie rice Eom. Loaded enering: Van der Pol. | —A Demonstration ofa’ Met of Preventi pee at a Rapid ‘Make and Break” :-Dr, A. ‘Griffiths, — - = : 4 SATURDAY, Juxe-9. x Rova Se ccderion. at 3.—The Electrical Properties of Gases: Sir J. je iomson. ARISTOTELIAN SocIETy, ‘at 8—(At eee ik Wika Cone of a . Cosmos: Prof. J. S. MacKenzie. 4 SUNDAY, UNE TO} >: ARISTOTELIAN ‘Society, at 8.—(At ge.)}—Sym: um: Are Materials of Sense Affections’ of the’ Mindy: Dr, Sy posi aProt Js James. ‘ Wan. Prof. G.. Dawes’ Hicks, Prof. J. A. "Smith, and P THURSDAY, Jose 14. 4 MarueMaricat SOCIETY, at 5.30. : i : iPRIDAY, ‘Tou 15. = ea se ees ae TATION or MininG ENGINEERS, at 11 a.m.—The Ris ge iring — of Coal: Dr. J. S. Haldane.The By-product Coking its ‘History, er et and Application E. Bury. ~ Acetylene Mine Lamps: . Maurice. ‘: ig CONTENTS. PAGE | “Books on Chemistry. By C. A. K. 2 2... 220. 281 Theophrastus. By BE. F........ 6 ae Our bookshelf .°. MRRP INT Sonat SE wee! + 282 7 Letters to the Editor:— ‘The Origin, of. Flint.—Sir E. Ray. Lankestet, ha’ K.C.B., F.R.S. : Plated ‘Teeth of Sheep. —The Right. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart.; F.R.S. . 5 The Stability of Lead Isotopes. be Thorium.— Prof. J, Joly,.F.R.S. . ‘Analysis of the Mechanism of Speech, (strated ) By Dr. Daniel Jones ‘i A University Degree in Horticulture... . . Continuative Education in France. By Cloudesley Brereton...) 2s a ee MOlCR i SS AS Seana Sees ye Our Astronomical Column :— Parallax of Barnard’s ‘‘ Runaway” Star. . . Distribution of Stars:of Type'O. . Mess n°” The Minimum Radiation Visually Perceptible a ots 285 pi tae ‘Commercial Aeronautics . , oOo pag Tam The Past Winter. . By Chas. Harding . Ae es The Coolidge X-Ray Tube ‘ PERE _The Royal Observatory, Greenwich , Researches on Kala-Azar. By Sir Leonard Rogers, Rig Me eens ete Tir ois. aise Seal og a é University and Educational Intelligence A 1 lo tn seh lal oes Books Received io tates Diary of Societies y. Gores oe e - tee 46", 0) et Og. eee Oy cae gage ene i: Editorial and Publishing Offices: = Syn ; “MACMILLAN AND CO.,. Lrp., © : . ST. ‘MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, Ww.c. a Advertisements and business letters to be addressed te the Publishers. Editorial Gomunhahie® to » the Editor. Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. NATURE 301 3 : anal JUNE 14, 1917. 7 of psychiatry. By Dr. T: Rogues de sac and Dr. A. J.. Rosanoff. Fourth edi- n. Pp. xi+522. (New York: John Wiley . Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., oe Price ros. 6d. net. PAR has. always been the most potent cause of mental and physical suffering among a 2; apart from the many direct injuries such ate s, and fever which are inflicted n the fighting forces. In war,, military neces- | must precede any consideration for the civil ation, which experiences “stress and strain,” Pectors that contribute more than any other the causation of insanity. For this reason we jould expect a greater incidence of | insanity dur- * rar than in peace-time ; yet, although this war _ lasted nearly three years, and. much pain, ea ‘sorrow, and almost unendurable grief have 1) borne, there has been less registered in- nity than occurred before- the war, and on nuary 1, 1916, there were 3278 fewer cases than he year before. The causes for this diminished acidence are many. In the first place, it is a act tal eget that one great emotion is less 1 the cause of insanity than are the many mal 1 eis continuing, marginal, sub-conscious Ort ries, which are always just within the limits of =e ciousness. It is also common knowledge lat the working classes asa whole have been stter off financially than in peace-time: the 1ormous demands of the world-war have created ork on a colossal scale; the great industries of © +$% oe output of munitions and into workshops production of material for military require- ents, and every responsible civilian capable of : fal work has had his or her attention fixed, his « her interests maintained, and his or her domes- € anxieties relieved. In spite of the greatly en- = ced cost of living, difficulties connected with capes means have even been less felt than in I times; so that this diminution may be only y and due to social and-economic condi- ier reasons for the diminished incidence of are, first, the fact that the Liquor Control Board, exercising its powers the Defence of the Realm Act, has cur- the opportunities for drink—as alcohol counts for 20 per cent. of all insanity among and 10 per cent. among women—and condly, and probably the main _ reason, sanity oceurring among the- five millions our troops is now unrecorded. This latter fact is of the utmost importance, because in all revious wars the soldier disabled through a otal illness was certified under the Lunacy Act, egistered, and removed for treatment into the s on in which he had’ a territorial settlement, ilst in the present war no insane soldier has n- ‘certified to be insane until he was deemed _No. eS VOL. 99] geet have been. transformed into factories. ; plex mental characters of human beings. to be incurable. When insane, he is now de- tained under Military Law and maintained in a “military hospital,” the latter in many instances a county asylum taken over by the War Office exclusively for the treatment of the soldier. This procedure has been adopted in order to: avoid the possible stigma of having. suffered from an attack of insanity should the soldier recover and desire: to re-enter civil life. In giving sanction. to: this policy the Director-General of the Army Medical Department has acted wisely and considerately towards the insane soldier, and up. to the present the experiment has worked satisfactorily, and it is beeause of this. separate management of the mentally disabled soldier that a review of a text- book upon. insanity. is both appropriate and oppor- tune. This text-book by Dr. de Fursac is well: known in this country, and its popularity is confirmed by the fact that this is its fourth edition; but it is in the main an American revision, and out of more than 350 references. to authors in the text-book not above a dozen refer to: English contributors. As in most American works. upon mental diseases, the. classification of insanity comes from Germany : the scheme is confused ; it classifies insanity partly upon the basis of factors of causation, e.g. alcoholic insanity, syphilitic insanity, thyrogenic insanity, and partly upon the -form of the mental disorder, so that a case may be in more than one group at the same time, and the groups are, therefore, not mutually exclusive. More- over, the terms “ manic-depressive insanity” and “dementia precox ” find a prominent place. They refer, of course, to the varieties “alternating in- sanity” and “primary dementia” of our English classification. In regard to the technicalities of certification—a matter of vital importance to the family physician and to the general practitioner—- the text-book is useless. It refers to “ commit- ment ” as the equivalent of certification, and upon this point of procedure it affords no guide accord- ing to English, Scottish, or Irish law. Neverthe- less, the work is a. helpful and instructive manual to the student of psychiatry. Under etiology, a section is introduced upon the Mendelian theory, which is. not yet perfect enough to deal with the com- In the mental constitution of human beings it is certain that “the segregation of unit-characters.” does not occur, because the mind of each person is a hybrid: blend, and the blended conditions ap- pear in succeeding generations. The so-called law of dominance is quite an irregular phenome- non in Mendelism, as we know from the crossing | of the “Chinese” with the “star” variety of primula, the cross between these two types being intermediate in form and easily distinguishable from either of the pure types, the characteristics having become blended. In human _ beings mental characteristics are complex states and not segregated units. There is no, “purity” in. the reproductive cells with regard to these characters, i.e. the hybrid condition ‘that. results as a blend R 302 NATURE - [JUNE 14, 1917 is not represented in a single reproductive cell, for the organism is always a double structure. On the other hand, we know that certain physical characters are definitely inherited upon Mendelian lines; for instance, colour in plants and animals, certain hair and feather characters, leaf forms, the presence or absence of horns in cattle, the shape of potato-tubers, are thus inherited; as are also brachy-dactyly, nyctalopia, and other condi- tions in: man. Although certain abnormal characters in. individuals may be’ conveniently described as dominant or recessive, this is far’ from being a full ‘explanation of neuropathic inherit- ance. ‘The “coupling” and “repulsion” known to exist between different factors, the explanation of “‘sex-limited ” diseases, and even the causation of sex itself, fail to be explained upon evidence which is founded upon Mendelian lines alone. In regard to Mendelism we think there is too much stress laid in the. text-book upon the statement that “actual findings in mental disorders are alongside of theoretical expectations.” As yet. we know too little to be able to state that Mendel’s law applies to all characters of all living organ- isms. Mental disorders in themselves are too vague as well as too subtle and complicated to be classified into definite heritable unit-characters. All we can say is that we must not expect simple Mendelian results from the study of insane in- heritance, which is a product of many factors, each of which may possibly be independently heritable, but all of which have certain definite effects that must necessarily interfere with the practical application of Mendelism. The irregu- lar dominance of some abnormal mental states shows that there is no definite segregation of mental characters. The references to cerebral syphilis in the manual are the only long quotations from any English authority, and these do not point out that mental symptoms, such as cerebral irritation, restlessness, excitement, anxiety, and depression, occur in no fewer than 80 per cent. of all cases of syphilis, and mostly during the secondary stage! It is agreed by English authorities that these mental symptoms occur within six months from the date of primary infection. The author is too optimistic about the Wassermann reaction remaining negative after one or two injections of salvarsan. Exceptionally this may be so, but the present treatment of syphilis extends to more than one hundred. days, and consists in the intravenous or intramuscular injection of salvarsan, neo-salvar- san, gallyl, luargol, or kharsivan, combined with mercury; and cerebral syphilis receives identical treatment. No reference is made to the numerous experiments made with salvarsanised serum, and we share the author’s doubt as to the permanent arrest of general paralysis or of locomotor ataxia. The Binet-Simon tests of mental deficiency are introduced and occupy about twenty pages, but it would have been more helpful if the author had added fuller comments upon their interpretation and practical utility. No mention is made of the No. 2485, VOL. 99] Montessori method of treating mental deficiency, for this would have been appropriate in a work purporting to cover all inherent mental weakness. A useful sub-section is given to the technique of ~ the Wassermann reaction, but, although the hemolytic system is used to explain the bacterio- lytic, the description needs simplifying for the general practitioner, in spite of the fact that this. — reaction is in essence only a quantitative chemical test for the presence of “‘complement.” Psycho- — analysis finds a short place in the text-book; it is — described as a ‘“‘time-robbing task,” and the — author shows a dignified reserve in its discussion, — merely indicating briefly the methods employed to © carry it out. Figures of the dead neuron (Betz cells) are introduced from the drawings of Adolf — Meyer, but no reference is made to the altogether ; different structure of the living neuron. On the — whole, the manual is a trustworthy text-book for — the psychiatric clinic, and the new edition brings” the work fairly up to date, although there is no mention. of ‘“‘shell-shock” or the mental effects. of the war. Probably the recent development in American politics will soon remedy this defect. : ROBERT ARMSTRONG-JONES. PHILOSOPHY AND PARADOX. (1) Fermat’s Last Theorem. By M. Cashmore. Pp. 63. (London: G, Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1916.) Price 2s. net. . ; (2) The Elements of Non-Euclidean Plane Geo- metry and Trigonometry. By Prof. H. S. — Carslaw. Pp. xiit+179. (London: Longmans, — Green and Co., ro916.) Price 5s. net. (3) The Algebraic Theory of Modular By F. S. Macaulay. Pp. xiv+112. (London: © At the Cambridge University Press, 1916.) — Price 4s. 6d. net. ee (1) Bide main fallacy of Mr. Cashmore’s ~ paradoxical tract is this :—“Let f, ¢ be ~ polynomials in x, and d a constant different fromy — zero; then, if-f, ¢ have a common factor (x—a), © x=a may be regarded as a solution of f/@=A. Conversely, if f{/¢=A has a root a, then ars) must be a common factor of f and $.” (See p. 18.) — (2) By this time it is fairly well known among © mathematicians that ordinary geometry is a sort ~ of border-line between two equally consistent ~ theories, in each of which Euclid’s axiom of — parallels is false. In: one of these the sum of ~ the angles of a “rectilinear” triangle exceeds — two “right” angles; in the other it falls short of — it, and may éven converge to zero. If “similar” triangles are defined by. parallelism of sides, we” have the sums of their angles differing according to a fixed law; and, similarly, if we define them — by proportion of sides (generally according to a different law). These non-Euclidean geometries apply to three-dimensional space as well as to the plane, and the question for teachers is to make them intelligible to the student by intuitional methods. As regards the case when the sum of the angles of a triangle is less than two right angles, nothing can be better than to take as Systems. i ~ Jone 14, 1917] NATURE 393 raight lines” circles which cut a fixed ordinary sre orthogonally, and to regard all points out- this sphere either as non-existent or as ges” of accessible points within the sphere. plane version of this is given by Prof. aw (pp. 153-75) in the clearest manner con- Mle; but he does not seem (in this book) to ¢ considered the analogous theory in solido. re is no satisfactory theory of three-dimen- non-Euclidean geometry, from an intui- point of view, unless it gives us a clear dimensional image in our ordin ‘space, 1ing, of course, that our powers of “intui- are confined to ordinary space. > of the great merits of Prof. Carslaw’s book ; that he gives a good account of the history of 1 subject. In a certain sense Saccheri is the eat pioneer, and as much justice seems to be ne to him as the scope of the work permits. e next is presumably Gauss, but, as usual, he his claim by delay in publication. should be noticed that theories of parallels theories of distance are, or may be made, tially distinct. Thus, if we define. parallel as those which cut the fundamental sphere gonally in the same point, they may or may be continually at the same distance from other, according as we define the measure = distance of two parallel lines. ogether, we think Prof. Carslaw’s book is : of the best introductions to the subject that ave seen. He ought to have given a refer- to Mr. Somerville’s bibliography. Let F,, F, ...F, be n assigned poly- s in m variables; then [F,, Fs, . : . Fal ined to be the set of polynomials XeoFot+ ...+XnF,, where X,, Xo, X, are arbitrary polynomials in the same bles. We also speak of [F,, F., ..-. Fal “modulus” or “module,” this term being to Kronecker, who first emphasised the im- ce of algebraical moduli. The importance hmetical moduli, in the wider sense, was ered by Dedekind, and the whole theory of ‘aic integers in a given field may be reduced that of moduli contained in that field. The gebraic theory is analogous, but much more ifficult, and Dr. Macaulay has done a real service | mathematics by his original and critical tract. “ven men such as Kronecker and Lasker seem | have made mistakes (in detail) in this peculiarly if cult field of research. fhe originality and conscientiousness of this fact are so great that the reader must forgive the author for occasional obscurities. For in- Stance, the “array” on p. 7 is fundamental, but we fear that many readers may fail to see recisely what it means, and the “reverse ” nota- ion (p. 4) for F,, F, is not justified by any remark | the text. . _ the main result, illustrated by well-chosen ex- mples, is that whereas, in the -arithmetical leory, a modulus is uniquely expressible as a duct of prime moduli, and all moduli are, so » homogeneous in the sense that numbers “NO. 2485, VoL. 99] of the natural scale are homogeneous, the same is not true of algebraic moduli in general, and we have to introduce technical epithets to distin- guish one kind of modulus from another. In fact, it seems clear that the problem of classifying algebraic moduli according to their essential pro- perties is at least as complicated as the corre- sponding problem in group-theory; and if we attend to the arithmetical nature of the coefficients (e.g. if, instead of taking them as umbrae, we take them as integers in a given finite field); addi- tional difficulties present themselves. We hope that Dr. Macaulay will continue his researches; meanwhile this tract ought to be welcomed as one of the most valuable in the series to which it belongs. G. B. M. SOME ASPECTS OF TEXTILE MANUFACTURE. Dyeing in Germany and America, with Notes on Colour Production. By S. H. Higgins. .. Second edition, rewritten and enlarged. Pp. viii+143. (Manchester: At - the University Press; London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1916.) Price 5s. net. HE first edition of this book was reviewed in NatTurE for November 7; 1907. Since the completion of his work as a Travelling Scholar under the Gartside Foundation scheme, the author has gained much practical experience in dye and bleach works, the results of which are embodied in the new volume. This has added considerably to its value, particularly in the sections dealing with mercerisation and bleaching. ‘In a new chapter the German and English methods of manufacturing flannelettes are con- trasted. This is of interest as raising the general question of the relative efficiency of the British and German methods of textile manufacture. Generalisation on such a topic is, of course, open to many pitfalls, and an adequate discussion of the. matter would be impossible in this review; but, broadly speaking, the British textile in- dustry has developed ~along the lines of specialisation of processes, whilst the German specialises in products. This contrast is seen very acutely in the worsted industry, in which it is quite usual here for at least five distinct firms to be concerned in the production of a piece of cloth—the comber, the spinner, the weaver, the dyer and finisher, and the merchant. Each of these carries out its section of the work with the maximum amount of skill and at the minimum cost, but there is an obvious, and very real, danger that the various processes are not sufficiently co- ordinated. On the other hand, the usual German practice is to carry out all processes in one works and under one general control, when it is much easier to correlate the various stages of manufac- ture and. subordinate each process to the final result desired. The -ultimate aim should be to’ combine the advantages of both systems. The author of the book has also added a new chapter on “Instruction in Dyeing,’’ and gives it 304 NATURE [JUNE 14, 1917 as ‘this opinion, after inspecting the dyeing schools in Germany, Austria, and the United States, that they are not to be compared, as regards equip- ment or efficiency, with the schools at Manches- ter, Bradford, and Leeds. This is true nia it but is not generally recognised. With regard to trade research, it is poiated out that the amount actually catried on must not be gauged by publications im technical journals. ' The most, valuable results obtained are, of course, used by individual firms, and it is only gradually that they become known and find a place in the literature. This is no argument against the many schemes of research initiated by industries as a whole. which is the common property of an industry is of no special value to an individual firm; but this is a fallacy, as it is in applying new information in particular directions that individual enterprise, skill, or special facilities have full scope. The new edition of the book has been largely rewritten throughout, with great advantage. “The concluding ‘section deals with the future prospects of the dye-manufacturing industries in Britain, France, and the United ere W. M. G. OUR BOOKSHELF. An Introduction to a Biology, and Other Siac By A. D. Darbishire. Pp. xviii+291. (Lon- don: Cassell and. Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 7s. 6d. net, eae aher eo i ree pitt Since the advent . of natural selection the mechanistic interpretation ef Nature has on the whole steadily gained ground among biologists. The trend has ,been more and more towards the translation. of vital phenomena in terms of physics and chemistry. Much of modern investi- gation, such. as the discovery of. artificial parthenogenesis or the establishing of the Mendelian principles’ among the phenomena of heredity, has. undoubtedly strengthened the mechanistic position. Yet to all action succeeds reaction. To-day there is an evident tendency in. many quarters to cast on one side the mechanistic’. interpreter and seek out other prophets. The note sounded thirty years ago by the acute apd critical intellect of Samuel Butler is finding echoes among. biological workers. Such a one was the author of this book. The “Introduction to. a Biology ’’ was designed, we are told, to direct attention to the failure of modern -interpretative biology and to .suggest the direction in which an understanding of life may be sought. . Unhappily the work is but a fragment «cut . short by the author’s premature death. The principal shesne is that the intelligence of man is of utilitarian origin, developing gradually as he gradually acquired more and more control over his material surroundings. Hence -the cir- cumstances of its: development have led to man’s welcoming a mechanistic theory of the organism and a materialistic theory of evolution to the neglect of other points. of view. of Bergson is clearly marked not only in the NO. 2485, VOL. 99] It is often stated that information gists; ; Prof. Cushny’ s view, which he terms ~ the “modern view,’’ is. a. modified Ludwig hypothesis : secretion (a pure filtration) occurs — The influence. | thesis, but in the generous use of entertaining | analogy. The essay, however unconvincing, is brightly — 5 -written, for the author had a style of candid freshness and a gift of imvesting even trivial things with humorous interest. The charm of — his personality is well brought out in the brief biographical sketch by his sister, upon whom fell the labour of piecing together what he left behind. It should be added that the greater part ‘of the book consists of Darbishire’s papers re- printed from various sources. The Secretion of the Urine. By Prof. A. R. — (“Monographs on Physiology.’’) Pp. Cushny. . xi+241. (London: Longmans, Green, and ~ Co., 1917.) Price gs. net. 5 In this extremely valuable monograph Prof. Cushny gives an admirable account of the kidney, — and discusses the various views held as to its © functions. Many other matters, such as the action of drugs upon it and the changes that — occur in disease, are included, and the’ biblio- graphy appended is of a most complete kind. The centre of interest in the book, however, is — the presentation of the author’s own views on ~ the theory of kidney activity. The main theories — discussed are naturally those associated with the — historic names of Bowman and Ludwig. Bow- — man’s view, with modifications introduced by — Heidenhain and others, is at the present time the one most favoured by the majority of physiolo- at the glomerulus, and this fluid is converted into more concentrated urine .by reabsorption. ; which takes place in the tubules. fs The author criticises the Bowman-Heiden- _ hain theory that secretion of urea, etc., occurs in the tubules, partly because he interprets 4 Heidenhain’s celebrated pigment experiments m 3 a new way, but mainly’ because it is vitalistic. His own theory reduces the “kidney to 2 machine,’’ instead of postulating for it the capacity of a trained analytical chemist. It is ~ a little difficult to follow the author here, for in — some pages the reabsorption which he ‘supposes _ ' to occur is spoken of as being indiscriminate and — mechanical, while in other places he speaks of — the kidney-cells as‘rejecting the urea instead of — reabsorbing it, and in one place at least (p. 44) — he says that reabsorption depends on ‘the vital — activity of the epithelium, and in so doing drops — into an expression which is anathema to him aS — a rule. - It really does not matter what word we © employ—secretory, selective, or vital; -but by whichever name we call it, selective action is undoubted in the case of other secretions, and in the kidney, whether the substances pass through its cells in one direction or the other, the cells — do exercise discrimination: Prof. © Cushny - argues that discrimination implies intelligence 5 he might just as well urge that the amceba is intelligent . because it ‘rejects non-nutritious © particles. NATURE 305 Juxe 14, 1917] .. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Editor does not hold himself responsible for ions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 2 he undertake to return, or to correspond with _ writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for or any other part of Nature. No notice is m of anonymous communications.] : A Letter of Ch. Darwin in Argentina. the occasion of the first national meeting of the dad Argentina de Ciencias Naturales, held to- Is the end of last year in the city of Tucuman, Juan W. Gez presented the archive of Dr. -Mufiiz, together with a’ biographical narrative. that archive belongs the subjoined letter from Dar- vin which I have transcribed. That letter, as can be en, has not been included in the “Life and Letters a) . Darwin,” but a Spanish version of it was pub- i by the first biographer and editor of the papers f Dr. Mufiiz—Don Domingo F. Sarmiento,: ex- sident of this Republic (1868-74). would , in a few words, say something con- the man himself, who is probably little known : English public. Dr. Francisco Javier Muiiz idered to be the first Argentine naturalist. He n in San Isidro in the year 1795. In 1821 he already graduated in medicine, and was located jur years in Carmen-de-Patagones as a military d by Indians. From that period dated his in- ion and fondness for natural sciences. From the 1825 he resided in the province of Buenos Aires, he rendered medical services, eventually coming or, and later dean, of the faculty of medi- the city of Buenos Aires. At the age of seventy continued to serve in his professional capacity lary physician, through the long war which ina, together with Brazil and Uruguay, against the tyrant Lopez, of Paraguay. In 1, when the terrible epidemic of yellow fever ed the city of Buenos Aires, he wished even at ed age to lend his professional services, but elf succumbed a victim to the disease on Octo- of the same year, at seventy-six years of age. city of Buenos Aires has raised a monument to ins of the fossil mammals, which have since famous the Pampa regions. As a physician he anatomy well, but his attainments in compara- Osteology were less solid, because of the lack of Ss of study, which were exceedingly difficult to n at that time in this country. ce Mujiz discovered numerous fossil mammals, described some of them. Among these was the sat fossil tiger of the Pampas, which he called Felis aérensis (see La Gaceta Mercantil, Buenos , October-9, 1845). Not being familiar with the es of nomenclature, he thought the suggestion of e friends acceptable, and that he should call the : 1 Mufii-felis, but he only used this name once in title, while in the description he simply calls it ts bonaérensis, this being a less objectionable de- hination. Notwithstanding, had the Species. been new, his name -should have continued, but it d out to be, not a Machzrodus, as Darwin sug- but a Smilodon, distinct from the S. neo gaeus, a ne me of Col. Francisco Javier Muiiiz,” p. 280 (Spanish) NO. 2485, VOL. 99] > at a time when those regions were still in- Lund, and which should bear the name S. bonaérensis, Muniz, Amegh. With reference to the purpose de- clared by Darwin of having Dr. Mufiiz’s. description translated and published (a description which was very prolix and detailed), it would seem that this was never carried out. The reports on the tata cow (a type of short-faced. wide-nostriled cow), to which Darwin refers, are those which are mentioned in his “‘ Journal of Researches” (p. 146, second edition, 1845); but the series of ques- tions to which Mufiiz replied, and a copy of which 1 . now find in the above-mentioned archive, contains — many other details of interest which Darwin did not utilise, and Sarmiento did not publish: save in very fragmentary form. These data have therefore un- doubted interest, now that, as one may say, the peculiar riata cow belongs to historv. The collection of fossil bones from the Pampa of which Darwin speaks from references by Owen is probably that which Mufiz gave to: General Rosas in 1842, and Rosas gave to some French personage who. resided in Buenos Aires, who in his turn presented it to the Paris" Museum. In conclusion, I may say that the projected sale of the rest of his. collections, of which Mufiiz spoke to Darwin, had not, as some might think, any commer- cial end in view. Mufiiz proposed by this sale to obtain some resources for the sole purpose of being thus able to prosecute his ‘explorations in the search for fossils, as appears from copies of letters preserved in his archive. The last specimens of his collection were presented by him to the Museum of Buenos Aires. Subjoined is the text of Darwin’s letter. : M. DoeLLo-JuraADo. Museo Nacional, Buenos Aires, April, 1917. Down, Farnborough, Kent, February 26, 1847. Dr. F. J. Muniz, Buenos Aires, RESPECTED SIR, Your letter of August 30, with the papers which you were so good as to send me, reached me only a short time since, owing to the protracted illness: and absence from London of Mr. Morris, through whom they were sent. I have lately heard from Mr. Morris that you wish to dispose of your fossif remains on some pecuniary arrangement, which I did not fully understand from your own letter to me. I have given Mr. Morris my opinion on this head, so will not here repeat it; but will only say that I conceive the only feasible plan would be to send your fossils here to some agent to dispose of them. No society will pur- chase anything of. the kind without having them in- spected, and most societies only receive presents. Your specimen of the Mufii-felis must be a noble one; I suspect it will turn out to be a Machairodus, ef which there are some fragments in the British Museum from the Pampas. I will endeavour to get your paper trans- lated and inserted in some scientific periodical: Your account of the earthquake in the Pampas has surprised me; I never heard of one im any part further east of the Cordillera than at Cordoba. If you will inform me whether you read English I shall be happy to send you a copy (if you will point out some channel) of my ‘‘Geological Observations on South America,” lately published; I do not think it worth sending them with- out knowing whether you read English, which I fear is not probable. Your pamphlet on the scarlet fever I will present to the Royal College of Surgeons. I cannot adequately say how much |} admire’ your continued zeal, situated as you are without means of’ pursuing your scientific studies and without people to sympathise with you, for the advancement’ of natural 306 “NATURE [JUNE 14, 1917 history; I trust that the pleasure of your pursuits affords you some reward for your exertions. Some time since you were so kind as to send me through Mr. E. Lumb some most curious, and to me most valuable, information regarding the Niata oxen. I should be deeply obliged by any, further facts about any of the domestic animals of La Plata; on the origin of any “breed” of poultry, pigs, dogs, cattle, etc. I should be much interested by a brief description of the habits and appearance of the pigs, dogs, etc., which have run wild, and especially on the habits of these wild breeds, when their young are caught and reared. Will a puppy of one of the run-wild dogs, if brought up carefully, be as tame as a common: dog? Any information on all such points would be of real service to me; and my address, should you find time to write to me, will always be that at the head of this letter. I most sincerely wish you all success in your admirable labours, and if at any time I can be of any service, I shall be happy to be so; but I am sorry to say I am not connected with any mercantile establishment and cannot recommend agents, etc., etc. With much respect, I beg to remain, Sir, Your obliged and obedient servant, Cuar.tes Darwin. P.S.—I omitted to state that Prof. Owen has heard that a collection of bones from Buenos Aires some time since arrived at Paris. : Plated Teeth of Sheep. : PLaTING of the teeth of sheep with “gold” ca scarcely have been a common phenomenon, in Scot- land at any rate, for in the few cases mentioned by the older writers it is recorded as something of a marvel. In 1536 Hector Boece, Bishop of Aberdeen, thus described the sheep of Doundore (Bellenden’s trans- lation) :—‘‘In Gareoth [Garioch, a district of central Aberdeenshire] is ane hill namit Doundore, that is to say, the Goldin Montane. The scheip that gangis on this montane ar yallo; thair teeth are hewit like gold; thair flesche reid, as it wer littit with safron; thair woll is on the same maner.”’ This locality remained for acouple of hundred years the typical Scot- tish locality, if one may so call it, for golden-toothed sheep, for it is mentioned by many writers, whose accounts vary mainly in the spelling of the hill-name © —Dundore, Dunedere, Dinnedure, etc. It is the prominent conical, ruin-capped hill, still known as Dunnideer, near the railway station of Insch, in central Aberdeenshire. . Martin, in his “‘ Description of the Western Islands of Scotland’’ (1703), almost suggests that the colour- ing of the teeth in the Outer Hebrides is due to native gold in the soil:—‘‘The Natives affirm that Gold Dust has been found at Griminis on the Western Coast of the Isle of North Uist, and at Copveaul in Harries; in which, as in other parts of the Isles, the teeth of the Sheep which feed there are died yellow.” In these cases it is likely that iron in fair quantity was present in solution in the bogs and streams, for Dunnideer is formed of a cap of coarsely grained syenite lying upon the basic intrusive mass of the district, which possesses a moderate ferro-magnesian content, while the peat-bogs characteristic of the Outer Hebrides rest upon Lewesian gneiss, the ferruginous tendency of which in the area is indicated by the presence of patches of hornblende and garnet. In the Aberdeenshire area, iron pyrites, also, is dissem- inated throughout the intrusive mass in ‘microscopic crystals. James RItcHtE. Edinburgh, Tune 7. NO. 2485, VOL. 99] The Organisation of Scientific Literature. ce In the current number (June, 1917) of Scientia (pp. 530-32) there is a somewhat full account of dis- cussions that took place at the meeting of the Italian. Society for the Advancement of Sciences at Milan in April last, which are of great interest to us, particu- larly at the present time. Prof. Gino Loria spoke about national and international collaboration in pub- lications ‘on science and culture, and Prof. Eugenio Rignano spoke on projected scientific periodicals of the Entente. The praiseworthy scheme of Prof. ~~ Rignano was fully described by him in a letter printed in Nature of January 25 this year, and I may also refer here to an article by myself on the organisation of scientific literature in. Science Progress for last April. It is necessary that the nations of the Entente should take immediate steps to make themselves less deperdent on Germany for the results of organisation of scientific and philo- sophical literature, if for no other reason than that Germany’s powérs of production are very much lessened at present, and probably will be even more so in future. nations should combine to make the work of advance in science rather easier by organising its literary aids. It seems that we, in particular of all nations, ought not to remain content with the position into which we _ have fallen in this possibly humble organising duty of _ I may remark that I have been in corre- — science. spondence with the Government with respect to plans for Government action in this direction, and that, — though some outcome of the correspondence does not seem impossible, it is to be feared that the curse of delay will act as a clog on the wheels of progress. One would have thought that by now the evils of ~ inefficiency, slackness, and neglect of science had been sufficiently forced upon us. In France, Italy, and America there have been public expressions of a wish — to help in this need for the organisation of the litera- ture of scientific research. Puitie E, B. JOURDAIN. The Bourne. Basingbourne Road, Fleet, Hants, June 2. The Origin of Flint. Sir E, Ray Lanxester (Nature, June 7, Pp» 283) : attributes the black colour of flint to carbon, but has _he considered whether ferrosoferric oxide may be the — ' cause of the colour? I have recently observed a similar, almost black colour in specimens of hydrated, colloidal sodium sili- _ cate, which contained small quantities of oxide of iron, originally in the ferrous state, oxidised, It has been pointed out by Hofmann and Resen- — scheck (Annalen, 1905, vol. cccxlii., p. 364) that depth of colour in various chemical compounds is connected * with the presence within the same molecule of atoms of an element exercising two different valencies. - ere Rar se ie he ee oe Of s Science is, of course, not an affair merely of particular nations or groups of nations; all but partly ~ deep colours of sulphur sesquioxide and uranouranic oxide are examples of this phenomenon, and especially — the deep blue colour of ferric ferrocyanide. The dark colour of hydrated, ferrosoferric oxide is well seen when white, ferrous hydroxide, precipitated by alkali from — | ferrous sulphate solution, undergoes atmospheric oxida- ~ tion, or when a mixed solution of ferrous and ferric salts is similarly precipitated. The greenish-black cree which cannot possibly be due to a mixture of white, two hydrated oxides. R. M. CAven. University College, Nottingham, June 11. ¢ : ferrous hydroxide and reddish-brown, ferric at hydroxide, is to be attributed to a compound of the ~ _ June 14, 1917] NATURE ee ‘THE SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY _ AND THE PROGRESS OF THE CHEMICAL ARTS. wisely in following the example of the emical Society in initiating the compilation and ssue of annual reports on the progress of the _ yarious sections of applied chemistry dealt with in fs journal. Its action is most opportune, for here can be no question that such a publication, well and judiciously carried out, will have a ound effect on the development of that branch technology which it is the special function of society to foster. Valuable asthe present ume undoubtedly is, we venture to think it fur- hes only a partial indication of what such a rk, if loyally supported, is destined to become. would not be fair to its projectors to infer its imate character from the issue before us. It is nfessedly incomplete, and covers only a portion ‘the sections of the classification followed in the tiety’s journal. This has, no doubt, arisen the circumstance that many of those best fied to report on the missing sections have, ing to the special conditions of the time, been olly engaged upon more pressing occupations. deed, this circumstance has probably reacted ipon the production of the work generally, and is _ sufficient explanation of its somewhat belated pearance. It was a bold venture to carry out sh an undertaking in circumstances so unpro- ious, and the editor and the Publication Com- ttee are to be congratulated on the measure of ccess that has attended their efforts under such toward conditions. In addition to the missing reports on fibres, yeing, metallurgy, electro-chemistry, and sugar, which the preface refers, and to that on explo- es, which for obvious reasons it is undesirable en in respect to agricultural chemistry, the emistry of foods, and analysis, ostensibly the ground that these subjects are dealt th in the annual reports issued by the emical Society. This appears to us no d reason for. their future exclusion. As sections are part of the fortnightly e€ of the society’s journal, they presumably eet a want, and are acceptable to a more or less nsiderable fraction of its readers. If so, these Teaders are equally entitled, and may fairly look tward, to the annual summaries of progress and evelopment in these sections as well as in the thers. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that the compilers and readers of each of the two annual reports look at the subjects from somewhat erent points of view. One set js primarily concerned with abstract and theoretical principles, € other with practical application. Of course, it is not possible to draw any hard-and-fast line _ between them, as each is intimately related to the other. But as the angle of view is certainly dif- _ ferent, there is surely room for both, and it would unquestionably tend to efficiency and comprehen- Siveness if the council of the society decides that NO. 2485, VoL. 99] CSE ‘HE Society of Chemical Industry has done | include at the present time, no action has been ~ in future its annual reports of progress should include every department of applied chemistry with which its journal is concerned. The present volume is made up of reports on fifteen out of the twenty-three sections of the classification adopted in the society’s journal, and thirteen contributors, together with the editor, Mr. Burton, have been engaged in its production. Each author is well qualified to treat of the sec- tion which has been entrusted to him. Thus. Prof. Cobb, the Livesey professor of fuel and gas © industries of Leeds University, deals with “Fuel and Heating ’’ and with “Mineral Oils ’’; | Mr. E. V. Evans, the chief chemist of the South Metropolitan Gas Company, reports on “Gas: Destructive Distillation: Tar Products’’; Prof. Gilbert Morgan writes on “Colouring Matters and Dyes’’; Dr. Auden, of the United Alkali Com- pany, on “Acids, Alkalis, Salt, etc.’’; Mr. Audley on “Glass and Ceramics’? and “Building Materials ’’; Mr. Warburton, who was associated — _ with the late Dr. Lewkowitsch, on “Oils, Fats, and Waxes’’; Dr. Morrell, of Messrs. Mander ‘Bros., on “Paints, Pigments, Varnishes, and Resins ’’; Dr. Stevens on “India-rubber’’; Mr. — _ Joseph T. Wood, of Messrs. Turner Bros., Ltd., | on “Leather and Glue’’; Mr. Arthur Ling, the _ chairman of the London section of the society and _ the editor of the Journal of the Institute of Brew- ed ing, reports on the “Fermentation Industries ” ; Mr. O’Shaughnessy on “Water Purification and Sanitation”; Dr. Pyman, director of the Well- come Research Laboratories, on “ Fine Chemicals, | Medicinal Substances, and Essential Oils’’; and | Mr. B. V. Storr,- of the Ilford Company, on _ “Photographic Materials and Processes.” Such | names, with such connections, are well calculated | to-inspire confidence in the judgment, knowledge, ' and critical ability with which the reports have | been compiled. Of course, it would be impossible in the space at our disposal to enter into any detailed analysis of these several communications, or to show at any length in what respects they fulfil, or fail in, | their purpose of being “the abstracts and brief | chronicles of the time.”’ | of general interest. As is to be expected, much of the subject-matter is too technical to be But in certain of their | aspects these reports are highly significant, and | the story they tell is of national importance. As might have been anticipated, the authors have - not’ been able, however much they might have wished, to get away from the war, That stupendous event is profoundly influencing the position of chemical industry in this country, and anyone who deals with its present condition and prospective development cannot possibly ignore that fact if he rightly interprets his duty as a chronicler. : It is therefore of interest to ascértain what, in the judgment of experts, has been the. effect of the war on the several branches of applied chemistry in this country, and how far that effect is likely to result in a general and permanent improvement in their character. It may be thought too soon to pronounce any definite 308 NATURE * opinion on this matter, and this may have led certain of the contributors to hesitate in giving it. Others, however, have been able to read more clearly the signs and portents of™the times, and, on the whole, their testimony is reassuring and full of hope. There can be no doubt what- ever that the general body of chemical manufac- turers in this country, as well as of the manu- facturers dependent on chemical industry, have had a rude awakening. The war has completely upset commercial conditions, and many genera- tions must come and go and a long period of peace ensue before pre-war relations are resumed. Public sentiment will force this country to depend more and more upon its own efforts, and to develop to a far greater extent its own internal resources. There is a general recognition that at the base of this problem is our educational system, and we see the evidence of this fact in the appointment of a professed educationist as director of a new policy. It is being realised that science and the methods of science must enter more largely into the curriculum of our secondary schools, and that colleges of science must be multiplied and strengthened. It is now everywhere. perceived that the future of all industries depends upon science and upon the application of scientific principles. | The bread that has been cast upon the waters is now being - found after-many days. ae) ta -. Many proofs of this fact are to be met with in the volume before us, accompanied, we regret to add, with certain disquieting features. There are those who aim at ends which are not those of their country, and too many new activities are secret. Perhaps in the circumstances this is unavoidable; but, as the example of our enemies has shown us, those industries flourish best and develop most rapidly where their leaders co- operate for their common good, even though they may themselves combine contra mundum. Progress in applied chemistry may be measured by different standards. From an economic point of view it may be estimated by the wealth it brings to a community. This aspect of the matter finds practically no mention in the compilation before us. It is probably. difficult to get together the requisite information, but if the Society of Chemical Industry could be induced to add a statistical department to its staff and pub- lish the results of its labours each year as a supplement to these annual reports, we should obtain a real and valuable measure of the pro- gress of the chemical arts in this country. As it is, the present work is too obviously based upon the pattern of the annual’reports published by the Chemical Society, and is too exclusively a catalogue raisonné of the yearly output of the literature of applied chemistry. We would by no means undervalue the worth of such a compila- tion, but we venture to believe a fuller measure of its usefulness might be secured by a further extension of its scope. These observations are offered in no spirit of carping criticism. | We welcome with sincere pleasure the advent of an enterprise which is * NO. 2485, VOL. 99] bound to have a far-reaching influence on the development of chemical industry in all English- speaking countries. Its inception at the present juncture is most timely, and we heartily wish it | success. Thanks to the energy, skill, and perspicacity with: which it is conducted, the journal of the society has become its most valuable asset. We are confident that these annual reports are destined: to be a-no less valuable feature of its work, provided that those who con- trol its affairs are determined to rise to the full - extent of their opportunity. | THE RADIATION OF THE STARS. ayers the publication of Homer Lane’s paper — “On the Theoretical Temperature of the Sun ” in 1870, many writers have discussed the internal state of a star, considered as a globe of © gas in equilibrium under its own gravitation. Recent observational work gives encouragement to these investigations, for it is now known that numerous stars are in.a truly gaseous condition © with mean densities similar to that of our atmo- — sphere. To such stars the results for a perfect gas may fairly be applied, whereas stars, such as the E sun, with densities greater than water must necessarily deviate widely from the theoretical — The stars which are in a perfectly — gaseous state correspond to the “giants” on — H. N. Russell’s theory,! or to the stars of rising — temperature on Lockyer’s principle of classifica~ — conditions. tion; the denser ‘“‘dwarfs” are outside the sco; of this discussion. ture attained. The internal temperatures which have been — calculated are so far beyond practical experience — that we may well hesitate to apply the familiar — But in so far _ as the investigation can be based on the second — the conservation of momentum, or laws which are directly deduced ~ from these, there can be little doubt of the We cannot altogether — avoid assumptions of a speculative or approxi-— laws of physics to such conditions. law of . thermodynamics, validity of the treatment. mate character, and no doubt some of the results ‘described in this article are open to serious criticism on that account; but to a considerable © extent the discussion can. be made to rest on laws which are held to be of universal application. Moreover, natural phenomena usually become ~ simpler at high temperatures; gases become more ~ “perfect”; the absorption of X-rays follows | simpler laws than the absorption of light; the heat-energy comes to be located in greater pro- portion in the ether, so that the precise nature ~ of the material atoms is less important. Most investigators have assumed that the stars Z are in convective equilibrium.? In that case, when + ’ 1 NarTurE, vol. xciii., pp. 227, 252, and 28r. [JUNE 14, 1917 E The two series coalesce for spectral type B, which marks the highest tempera- — 2 There are strong reasons for believing that the interior of a star must be a in radiative equilibrium, not convective equilibrium, ‘Ihe internal dis- — tribution of temperature and density is, however, of the same character in either case ; if the coefficient of absorption is independent of the tempera- ue ture, then the distribution. corresponding to radiative equilibrium is the Ps same as that of material for which y=% in convective equilibrium. See © % Monthly Notices, R.A.S., vol. \xxvii., p. 16. “Jone 14, 1917] NATURE mass and mean density are given, and also the molecular weight and ratio of specific heats (y) of the material, we can find at once the tempera- ture at any internal point. Let us take a star of S 13 times that of the sun and of mean density 2 gm./cm.’; for illustration, the average ar weight will be taken as 54 (e.g. iron dur dissociated into atoms at the high tem- perature). For y we shall take 4, but any pos- sible change in y makes comparatively little difference in the results, so far as we require them. ‘For this star the calculated temperature at the centre is 150,000,000°; half-way, from the centre © the boundary it is 42,000,000°. But the tem- erature of which we have some observational iowledge is not given immediately by these alculations; according to observation, the “‘effec- tive temperature ” of a star of this density would wobably be about 6500°. This term does not fer to the temperature at any particular point, but measures the total outflow of heat per unit urface. Now, the outflow of heat evidently de- ends on two conditions—the temperature gra- it (more strictly the gradient of T*), and the sparency of the material; therefore, the tem- ure-distribution being calculated as already we can deduce the transparency neces- ve the observed effective temperature of ¥ result is startling. We find the erial must be so absorbent that a thickness of gne-hundredth of a millimetre (at atmospheric ensity) would be almost perfectly opaque. There S little doubt that such opacity is impossible. yonversely, if we adopt'any reasonable absorp- On coefficient, the effective temperature would lave to be above 100,000°, which is decisively sontradicted by observation. A way out of this discrepancy is found if we : into account the effect of the pressure of adiation. Fortunately, this effect can be calcu- ated rigorously without introducing any addi- Honal assumption or hypothesis. Suppose that a beam of radiation carrying energy E falls on a iheet of material which absorbs RE and transmits R)E. It is known from the theory of electro- genetic waves that radiant energy E carries a vard-momentum E/c, where c is the velocity E light; similarly, the emergent beam carries m (1—k)E/c. The difference RE/c can- be lost, and must. evidently remain in the orbing material. The material thus gains mentum, or, in other words, experiences a ‘essure. The amount of the pressure kE/c in- ives the coefficient of absorption’ k, of which = have no immediate observational knowledge ; ut it is the same coefficient which has already ntered into the calculations of the opacity of the laterial, so that the introduction of radiation- ressure into the theory brings in no additional unknowns or arbitrary quantities. _ The radiation-pressure is thus proportional to k, and to the approximately known outflow of energy. The preposterous value of k already found would, if adopted, lead to a pressure far et exceeding gravity, so that the star would be NO. 2485, VOL. 99] 2Cy - Leg . eo 4 OMen oe ! blown to pieces. But the radiation-pressure — modifies the internal distribution of pressure and temperature; it supports some of the weight of the outer layers of the star, and consequently a lower temperature will suffice to maintain the given density. The smaller temperature- gradient causes less tendency to outflow of heat, and there is accordingly no need for so high an opacity to oppose it. By calculation we find that for a star of mass 1°5 times the sun, and mole- cular weight 54, radiation-pressure will counter- balance 19/2oths of gravity; somewhat un- expectedly, this fraction depends neither on the density of the star (so long as it is a perfect gas) nor on the effective temperature, but it alters a little with the mass of the star. The pressures and temperatures are then reduced throughout in the ratio 1/20; for the star already considered, the corrected value of the central temperature is 7,000,000°. Assuming an effective temperature of 6500°, we can now calculate the new value of k; it amounts to 30 C.G.S. units, fe. 1/30 gm. per sq. cm. section will reduce the radiation passing through it in the ratio 1/e. It is of considerable interest to note that this is of the same order of magnitude as the absorption ' of X-rays by solid material; for at the high tem- "peratures here concerned the radiation would be of very short wave-length and of the nature of soft X-rays. oe ys The approximate balance between radiation- pressure and gravity leads to an important rela- tion between stellar temperatures and densities. It is easy to put this relation in a more rigorous form; but it will suffice here to express the condi- tion as radiation-pressure—gravity. If T is the effective temperature of the star, and g the value of gravity at the surface, the outflow of radiation (per unit area) varies as T*, and the condition is kTicg. We shall assume that, k is the same for all stars. Now g depends on the mass and mean density in the ratio M p3 Hence Tae Mp}, . The range of mass in different stars is trifling compared with the great range of density. Thus the leading result is that the effective temperature of a giant star is proportional to the sixth-root of the density. To test this, we take the densities given by Russell* for the different types, and, assuming that stars of the solar type (G) have the sun’s effective temperature (6000°), we calculate by the sixth-root law the temperatures of the other types. Density Effective Type (©=) temperature A ps 10,800" G sho 6,000° K ska soo 4,250° M + -33b00 2,950 The calculated numbers in the last column agree almost exactly with the temperatures usually 3 Loc. cit., pp. 282-83, 4 310 NATURE [JUNE 14, 1917, assigned to these types, and it is clear that if Russell’s densities..are correct the sixth-root law must be close to the truth. If a is the radius of a star the total radiation will be proportional to a®T*, which varies as ga*, i.e. as M. The total radiation thus depends only on the mass, and not on the density or stage of evolution. The absolute luminosity is a fairly good measure of the total radiation for the range of temperature here considered, though, of course, the visibility of the radiation changes a little with the temperature. We shall thus have the total radiation constant as we pass through the series of spectral types, and the luminosity roughly con- stant (with deviations amounting to about 14 mag- nitudes). This is just the feature which Russell has pointed out in the luminosities of the giant stars; they are practically the same whatever the type of spectrum.+ It may be remarked that this theory avoids a’ difficulty noticed by J. Perry 5, that when y is less than 4, the heat within the contracting star is greater than the energy set free by contraction, _ leaving less than nothing for radiation into space ; the difficulty is even more serious than Perry considered, for he did not make any allowance for the enormous store of ethereal energy necessary for equilibrium with matter at high temperatures. But we have seen that by taking account of radia- tion-pressure the ° interior temperature is much reduced; less internal heat is therefore needed; and there is, in fact, an ample balance of energy left for dissipation even when y is considerably below +4 3: _ With a molecular weight smaller than 54 the importance of radiation-pressure is reduced; for example, with molecular weight 18 radiation- pressure is 6/7 of gravity, instead of 19/20. But it still plays a’ predominant part until we come down to molecular weight 2. Reasons have been urged in favour of a low average! molecular weight—perhaps as low as 2. It is probable that the atoms are highly ionised by the radiation of short wave-length within the star; and if most of the electrons outside the nucleus are split off from each atom we shall actually have an average weight for the ultimate independent particles nearly equal to 2, whatever the material (exclud- ing hydrogen). ‘Radiation-pressure is then less than half gravity; but the two principal laws, which seem to be verified by observation, are arrived at as before. Moreover, the order of magnitude of k is scarcely altered ; it is now 5 instead of 30 C.G.S. units. Nor is the internal temperature much changed. In fact, the effect of ionising the atoms is that the pressure of the superincumbent layers is supported by a mixture of cathode rays and X-rays, instead of by X-rays alone; our doubt as to the proportions in which these occur and as to which will predominate is no serious hindrance, because the main results are nearly the same in any case. A. S. EDDINGTON. 4 Loc. cit., p. 252, Figs. 1,2, and 3. 5 NaTuRE, vol. lx., p. 350. NO. 2485, VOL. 99] * -be done at leisure i from DR. W. H. BESANT, F.R.S. ; aes death of William Henry © Besant on June 2, in his eighty-ninth year, will be mourned, in all sincerity, by a far greater num- ber than he would have anticipated, supposing that he ever wasted a thought on the subject. Among these will be a legion of his old pupils, who had the opportunity of learning to know him in a peculiarly intimate way. Until 1880 or so Besant and Routh had almost a monopoly, : for many years, in coaching pupils for the Mathematical Tripos. Besant’s méthod was rather odd, but very effective with.the right sort of man. written out, with his own hand, a set-of “book- work and rider” papers covering the whole range of the exaniination. The pupil, on each of his three weekly visits, found one of these papers awaiting him in the outside room, and proceeded to answer it as well as he could on the backs of old examination scripts. If he had not brought a pen of his own, ‘he had to search among a lot of ancient quills until he could find one that was not hopelessly spoiled. Presently, Mr. X would be politely summoned to an inner parlour, where his last exercise would be returned to him corrected and annotated, and if he-had failed to answer any question he would be either shown a solution or given a hint how to proceed. Of course, it was not every pupil that was taken separately like this; some of them were taken in small batches (not exceeding five or six), but the general method was the same. It should be added that once every week each pupil took away with him a printed problem paper to in his own rooms. The results were marked, and’ the list was available for inspection. As a member of St. John’s College staff Besant used to give “lectures” of a sort; but (unlike Routh) he eschewed formal “lectures on bookwork. His solutions of problems were always original and elegant, and he had_the great advantage (for a coach) of being equally good ~ in geometry, analysis, and dynamics. Besides being one of the par nobile fratrum of coaches, examiner, and in. this connection it may be recorded that he used to say that ten minutes of oral examination were worth any amount of written ditto. Besant was too much engrossed by his proper work fo add much to mathematical litera- — dynamics, © and hydrodynamics deserved their ture. His. text-books hydrostatics, popularity, and are still worth consulting, though» on conics, their point of view is now rather antiquated. His one thoroughly original printed work, the tract on roulettes and glissettes (first edition, 1869 ;: second edition, enlarged, 1890), shows all his” qualifications at their best. Besant had really © studied Newton, and had an exceptional power of estimating different orders of infinitesimals — invention of the term a figure. His Bettie he eee eee ee Te Besant was a busy and trusted ~ At the cost of immense labour he had _ OE ee a Te ee ee. ee Te ro | NE 14, 1917] NATURE 311 se »” is a reminder to those who knew him -he preferred the works of the great French hematicians to all others, and would rather i a good text-book in French than one in > ~ It used to be a commonplace among Cam- idee undergraduates that Besant was the mdsomest Senior Wrangler that ever was. ayhow, he was a very handsome man; so far “his head and face were concerned, he embled the photographs of Russell Lowell. left eye and eyebrow were damaged by a ntaineering accident. Above all, his ners were perfect—or as near perfection as lan manners can be (curiously enough, his ) Scott, when I knew them both, was the gentlemanly gyp in college); no one who much to do with Besant could help trying esant was Senior in 1850 (four years before ith), F.R.S. in 1871, and Sc.D. (Cant.) when t degree was first instituted. He and Routh the first two to receive it, and he really syed the distinction, though he used to pre- d that he accepted it only to please his romenfolk,” 1 and had to take a cab to the tate House, lest ribald boys should jeer at his mon and geranium gown. G. B. M. ja NOTES. notice with much regret the announcement of ath on June 9 of Prof. T. McKenny Hughes, .S., Woodwardian professor of geology in the versity of Cambridge, at eighty-five years of age. N the list of birthday honours last week we ought Thave included the names of Lieut.-Col. A. W. ssley, F.R.S., and Lieut.-Col. E. F. Harrison, two s; who have received the distinction of C.M.G. gnition of valuable services in connection with King’s College, Aberdeen, and graduated in wards entered the University of Cambridge, where _Staduated in 1866 Elected to a fellowship in ity College, he for some years acted as assistant %. For a time he held an appointment at the yal Military Academy, Woolwich, but he was back ain in ‘Cambridge by 1873. In 1883 he succeeded + Hirst as Director of Studies at the Royal Naval lege, Greenwich, a post which he held until his irement in 1903, when he was created K.C.B., ving made C.B in 1897. He was elected a low of the Royal Society in 1882, and served for veral years on the council of the society, and for a riod of two years was vice-president. He was presi- t of the London Mathematical Society in 1908 and ‘Sir William was the author of numerous papers thematics and mathematical physics. He was lly Clerk Maxwell’s literary executor, and pre- and edited his collected works. His services as ‘Or of Naval Education won the high regard of le Ser and the attachmert of the chiefs of its hae branches. In recognition of his work, a ; Perhaps, like the Antiquary, he sa’d “‘ wemankind ” ; I forget. . 2485, VoL. 90] ad IN § 4 een, ; | cordite. , Obtaining the Simpson prize in mathematics. He | | group of scientific’ friends presented him with his por- trait in 1911, and itis preserved in the collection of the University of Aberdeen. Tue death is announced, on June 11, at eighty-six years of age, of Sir W. C. Macdonald, the Chancellor and President of McGill University, and a generous benefactor to education and science in Canada. A list of his chief donations given in the Times of June 12 is ~ here summarised. The gifts to McGill University included a fully equipped engineering building, which cost more than 70,000l., besides endowment; a physics building, costing 60,o00l.; a building for the depart- ments of chemistry, mining, and architecture, costing 100,0001. ; 30,0001. to endow the faculty of law; 18,o00l. for two chairs of physics; at least 42,000l. for the en- dowment of engineering; 10,0001. for a pension fund, and other endowments; also a large area of land close to McGill, and bought for 200,000l. for the University. To promote rural education, Sir William Macdonald established four ‘consolidated schools,’”? one each in ~ Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, all equipped for manual training, household science, and nature-study in practical gar- dening, as well as for the more conventional subjects, spending about 36,o00l. on this experiment; and the sequel was the establishment of the Macdonald College at St. Ann’s for teachers, farmers, and farmers’ wives at a cost of about 600,000l. When the college was complete the founder presented it to McGill, along with 400,0001. as endowment. : THE interim and final reports of the Halakite inquiry have been issued by H.M. Stationery Office (Cd. 8446, price 1d.). The general findings of Mr. Justice Shear- man, with whom Prof. W. J. Pope sat as assessor, have been widely read. but particular interest attaches to Prof.. Pope’s report. The original specification refers to an explosive having as a basis an admixture of lead nitrate with glycerine, and prescribes hydro- carbons, nitro-compounds, such as collodion or nitro- benzene, and barium and potassium chlorates and nitrates as possible constituents. It is stated that under the working conditions employed the glycerine - reacts with the metallic nitrates to form a nitro- compound. Such a,claim “is untrue, and the specifi- cation is the production of charlatans who seek to con- a | ceal the worthless nature of their invention by the use er: : | of a scientific terminology.” The earlier samples sub- mR Wittiam D. Niven, whose death was announced | ast week’s NATURE, was born at Peterhead in After attending the Grammar Schoo! there, he | mitted did consist largely of metallic nitrates, the pro- portions of which varied considerably, but the nitro- compounds were found to be short lengths of Mark I. Indeed, all samples presented to the court contained manufactured cordite as the common in- gredient. Halakite was recommended by its pro- prietors for use as a smokeless powder for propellent — purposes and as a bursting charge for shells. The report points out that explosives of such composition are so sensitive to shock that they cannot be used as high explosive for shell with any reasonable degree of safety, whilst the considerable proportion of metallic nitrates renders them unsuitable for propellent pur- | poses because of low explosive power and dense smoke. A later sample submitted to the French Government in April, 1916, proved to consist of about 98 per cent. of Mark I. cordite, the balance being mainly lead chromate. Prof. Pope says that the clumsy nature of the fraud was obvious to the British and French authorities concerned The whole case is an’ illus- tration of the stupidity of otherwise astute business men accepting statements of self-styled “inventors,” and failing to avail themselves of the advice of an independent expert chemist, which action certainly would have saved largé sums of money and the waste of much valuable public time, as well as avoided a depressing public inquiry. haa) _ NATURE _. : is 5} oe [JUNE 14, 1917 A JOINT meeting of the Society of Glass Technology with the Faraday Society will be held at the Applied Science Department, the University, Sheffield, on Wednesday, June 20, at 3.30 p.m., when a discussion will take place on ‘‘ The Choice of Refractory Materials. for Use in the (Glass Industry.” be opened by Prof, W. G. Fearnsides, with a paper on ‘Supplies of Refractory Materials for Use in the Glass Industry.” _. ‘Tue council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh has made the following awards of prizes :—(1) The Mak- dougall-Brisbane prize to Dr. R. A. Houstoun, for ‘his series of papers on ‘The Absorption of Light by In- organic Salts,”” published in the Proceedings of the society ; (2) the Gunning Victoria prize to Sir Thomas Muir, for his series of memoirs upon ‘‘ The Theory and History of Determinants and Allied Forms,” published in the Transactions and Proceedings of the society between the years 1872 and 1915. Tue second annual meeting of the Geological Physics Society was held at the rooms of the Geo- logical Society on May 25, with the president, Prof. Benjamin Moore, in the chair. The following were elected members of the council :—Prof. B. Moore (president), Dr. G. Abbott, Dr. V. Elsden, Dr. Dawson Williams, Messrs. G. W. Bulman, C. H. Grinling, W. F. Gwinnell, E. Haviland, W. H. Richardson, E. K. Robinson, and A. C. Young. Mr. H. Davey was appointed hon. secretary pro tem. A: discussion on ‘The Origin of Flints” was opened by the presi- dent. Tue battle of Messines opened on June 7 at 3.10 a.m. with ‘the simultaneous explosion of nineteen large mines along a front ten miles in length. The total amount of explosives fired is estimated at about 450 tons, and one of the largest craters was afterwards found to be about one hundred yards in diameter and seventy feet in depth. Several people in and near London, including the Prime Minister, are said to have heard the sound, and a small movement recorded by a seismograph at Shide may have been a result of the explosion. The distance of London from Mes- sines is about 145 miles, and that of Shide about 185 miles. Dr. F. O’B. Exuison sends us a description of a curious méteorological phenomenon observed by him on June 1 at about 5.45 p-m. G.M.T., on leaving St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School. He writes :—* The western sky was covered with a sheet of cirrus of a somewhat patchy appearance. through it strongly, about 20° above the horizon. There was no halo round the sun. About 20° from the zenith, and with its centre apparently at the zenith, was what appeared exactly like a very bright rainbow, in length a quarter of a circle, with the red on its convex border towards the sun. It was brightest when I first saw it, and gradually faded, having disappeared | in about fifteen minutes. The bow was of uniform brilliance, with no ‘mock sun’ upon it, and was of sufficiently striking aspect to attract the attention of some railwaymen working near.” A TELEGRAM from the President of the Republic of Salvador to the Legation in London announces that an earthquake produced by the San Salvador volcano has destroyed a great part of various places in. the Department of La Libertad and some in the Depart- ment of San Salvador. The capital has suffered con- siderably.- It is estimated that there were forty killed and 100 injured in Armenia and Quezaltepeque, but none at San Salvador. The telegram does not give the date of the disaster, but it was known on June 7 NO. 2485, VOL. 99]. ~ The discussion will- The sun was shining tific laboratories is evident. from a that the volcano of San Salvador was in eruption. The’ city of San Salvador was founded in 1528, close to ithe great volcano of the same name. In less than four centuries it has been ruined eleven times by earth- quakes, four times in the last century, namely, in 1806, 1815, 1854, and 1873. This recurrence of disastrous earthquakes in the same limited region seems to point to their volcanic origin, for great tectonic earthquakes are subject to constant focal migrations, ‘ é THE death is announced, in his seventy-seventh year, of Dr. Arnold Hague, who had been one of the geologists of the U.S. Survey since 1879. He had previously been connected with Clarence King’s ex- ploration of the 4oth parallel, and with the official survey of the Cordilleras of North America from the Great Plains to the Sierra Nevada. In 1877-78 he’ was Government geologist of Guatemala, and travelled extensively over that country, especially in the mining” and volcanic districts. In 1878 he was engaged by. the Chinese Government to examine the gold, silver and lead mines in northern China. He was best known by his work in the Yellowstone District, and | | ; \ ! most notably by his investigations of the geysers in connection with the extinet voleances. e was a member of the commission appointed by the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U-S- Government in 1896 to prepare a plan of the national forest reserves. He received honorary doctorates from Aberdeen and Columbia Universities, was a vice-presi- vy, dent of several international geological congresses, and in 1910 was president of the ‘Geological Society « America. ane Lieut. ALAN GORDON HaRPER, whose death is an- nounced at twenty-eight years of age, was educated at Dulwich and at Magdalen College, Oxford, of which he was a demy. In 1912 he took the honours school in botany, and afterwards the diploma in rural economy For work on the effects on the timber of defoliation by the caterpillar of the large larch sawfly, Nama Erichsoni, he secured the degree of B.Sc. A pre- liminary report on this research was made to the British Association at Dundee.in 1912, the full work being published in the Annals of Botany in 1913. Atte acting for a year as assistant in the Botanical Depart ment of the University College of North Wales, Lieut Harper returned to Oxford as demonstrator in ht School of Rural Economy, where he carried out research on the structure. of timber as influenced by pressure stimuli (Quarterly Journal of Forestry, Jul 1914). ‘He also worked on the protomorphic shoots Pinus, publishing a paper in the same journal in Apri 1914. The acceptance of the post of deputy professor « botany in the Presidency College of Madras gave hin the attractive opportunity of first-hand ‘acquaintane with Indian vegetation. At the outbreak of war f secured a commission in the R.F.A., and on June of this year he met an instantaneous death on Western front. Tuat Italy realises the necessity of tase. 8 scler paragraph in recent number: of L’Economista d’Italia. So far @ can be gathered, the scheme would appear to hz been inaugurated by the “National -Scientific an Technical Committee,” which was formed last year in Milan. At a recent meeting of the industrial sec= tion of this committee (on which the leading Italia manufacturers are represented) it was stated that the desire of the committee was to ‘raise scientific labora tories to the level of similar institutions abroad” Signor Ruffini has already promised one million lire (40,000l.), together with an annual donation, and the warm support of the Government and of leading manu= NE 14; 1917] NATURE 313° ers is assured. The selection and training of fs are to be left to the committee already men- oned. The laboratories will apparently be estab- ned at ‘the technical colleges, and will be devoted ecially to physical end chemical research, The e such laboratories is pressing, the committee firmly convinced that ‘their efficiency will also 1 on the rapidity with which the plan is put into tion, as Italy has every need to have available } after the war as possible all the scientific, cal, and industrial resources she can muster the view of increasing production in the most rable economic conditions and of improving the y of her products.’’ The scheme for the creation ndum, which is not reproduced in the journal ed above. — s Memoir No. 91 of the Canadian Department of Mr. E. W. Hawkes publishes an exhaustive aph on the Labrador Eskimo. The author had lived three years among the tribe in Alaska, previous knowledge -of the race was useful, ‘the ethnological divisions of the Eskimo are hical rather than cultural. The most interest- nt in the inquiry is the proof that these were ple known as the Skraelings mentioned in the _Eric the Red, who describes how the Vikings great number of skin canoes, and staves ‘brandished from their boats with a noise like and they were revolved in the same direction th the sun moves.” This is obviously an _of the Norse singer to describe the Eskimo or skin boats. The noise of the double-bladed might well be likened to that of flails.. Else- the bard speaks of the Skraeling boats hing from the south, when “all their staves im a direction contrary to that of the sun.” explained by the fact that in the former case were coming from the north, in the second the south, when the apparent motion of the ‘would necessarily be reversed. The mono- is a valuable addition to the accounts of the © by E. W. Nelson in the eighteenth annual of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and by in the sixth annual report in the same series. April number of the Journal of the Royal Micro- | Society (No. 237) contains an article by Drs. and Griffin on the parasitology of pyorrhcea is. At least six species of spirochetes, to- with numbers,of bacteria, were detected. Two ‘amcebze also seem invariably to be present, dife-cycles were worked out. The authors that mechanical injury seems to play an im- Part in initiating the condition; once the in- S occurred, the spirochztes probably play the rt in the disease, causing tissue destruction e formation of pockets, which then. become _ by bacteria. The paper is illustrated with ates. Two interesting letters written in 1877 of. Abbe to the English microscopist, John Stephenson, relating to the design and produc- of the first homogeneous immersion microscope lives, are communicated by Mr. Cheshire to this the Psychological Review (vol. xxiv., No. 3) Mr. al Starch gives the results of his experiments on imilarity of brothers and sisters in mental traits. Wished to find out to what extent children of the ‘parents are alike in mental characteristics; and rmine whether the similarity, if any, was ‘in those mental traits which are directly by training in school work than it is in those 2485, VOL. 99] . laboratories has formed the subject of a special - Ang and evening. traits which are not so directly affected. He therefore chose tests of ‘both ‘types, e.g. speed and comprehen- sion of reading ability, size of vocabulary, speed and quality of hand-writing,.and ability in spelling for one group, and tests of perception, memory, and motor capacity for the other. He found that the resemblance of such children is approximately as great in mental traits as in physical, as found by Prof. Karl Pearson, and that the resemblance was greater in those tests which were less affected by school work. The article seems to corroborate the view that the mental make- up of human beings is as much a matter of heredity as their physical make-up, and that environment plays a relatively small part in producing the resemblance of closely related individuals. AN important memoir on the baboons of Celebes, by Dr. J. Buttikofer, forms part i. of vol. iii. of Zoologische _Mededeelingen. Of these animals the author recognises eight species, which he relegates to the genus Cynopithecus, dividing them into two groups, mainly on cranial characters. Specific characters are based on the general coloration and the shape and coloration of the gluteal callosities. The very ‘complete survey of the literature of this theme, and the numer- ous coloured plates and text-figures, make this a ‘most welcome contribution. Mr. Eric B. Duntop, in British Birds for May, records some remarkable instances of polygamy among rooks. In one case he describes two females sharing one nest, incubating side by side in perfect harmony. Both sitting birds were fed in turn by one male, who was welcomed on his approach with food by much wing-shaking, after the fashion of young birds. Later, when the young appeared, this dutiful husband fed both his wives and the youngsters. The writer re- cords two other cases of a like kind. But in these each female had a separate nest. In the same issue Mr. H. F. Witherby gives a further instalment of his valuable notes on moulting. He deals now with the ~ flycatchers and the warblers, giving a very complete history, probably the most complete yet written, of this very interestine and important phase in their life- history, which has hitherto been strangely neglected. As might be supposed, a number of new facts are now placed on record. Pror. C. CHILTON has examined some terrestrial Isopoda from the shore of the Chilka Lake, and his. report upon them appears in the Memoirs of the Indian Museum (vol, v.). The name Isopoda, implying resemblance throughout the severfold series of legs, suited many, though far from all, of the groups to- which Latreille applied it a century ago. It fits the terrestrial and semi-terrestrial, or “‘ maritime,” genera. Belonging to the latter set is a species described in 1828, the Ligia exotica, Roux, which, in its vast dis- tribution, has not neglected Lake Chilka. “On Barkula I. it is enormously abundant. Though indi- viduals- may be found running on the shore at all times of the day and night, even on rocks heated by the midday sun, the species is most active in the morn- It may then be seen in great droves, numbering sometimes hundreds of individuals, all of which move in the same direction.” Though usually avoiding water, whether fresh or brackish, a drove meeting a pool will not hesitate to swim across it. Of this species Prof. Chilton says :—‘‘ Though it is so common and has been known for many years, it has received only scanty attention at the hands of those who have recorded it, most observers having merely mentioned its occurrence without adding to previous descriptions.’’ No such reproach will be likely to assail the detailed account and illustrations which 314 NATURE [JUNE 14, 1917 © Prof. Chilton now supplies. Only one small oversight may be noted. While the text duly explains that in the young the seventh perzeon-segment: bears no ’ appendages, such appendages are nevertheless displayed in the adjoining figure. : BuLLeTIn No. 4 of the Department of Chemistry, South Australia, contains an interesting account of the marine fibre industry of Spencer’s and St. Vin- cent’s Gulfs, near Adelaide. The fibre is derived from Posidonia australis, a marine plant of the family Naiadacez, to which our familiar pond-weeds (Pota- mogeton) belong. The fibre consists of the remains of the plant which have been accumulating for centuries, and have become naturally retted through ‘the decay of the soft parts. It is estimated that the workable deposits cover some 240 square miles, and at a yield of 6 lb. of fibre per cubic yard, and an average depth of deposit of 7 ft., this means a yield of 19,200 tons of air-dried fibre per square mile. Attention was. first directed to the possibilities of an industry in the fibre in 1902, and now three large companies are at work. The fibre is useful for insu- lating pusposes, the manufacture of bedding, etc. The paper gives an illustrated account of the methods employed for raising the material from the sea, and general details as to the methods of cleaning and preparing the fibre for the market. ATTENTION is very properly directed in the Agricul- tural News of March 1o to the remarkable progress made in recent years in the agricultural departments of the Windward and Leeward Islands, which pro- gress, it should be pointed out, is largely due to the fostering care and advice of the Imperial Department of Agriculture under the Commissioner, Sit Francis Watts. Starting from small botanic stations, each island has now a well-organised agricultural depart- ment, and the various islands are devoting their energies to the economic products most suitable for their particular conditions. The cotton industry in St. Vincent, Montserrat, St. Kitts, and Nevis; the onion-growing activity in Antigua, Montserrat, and the Virgin Islands; limes in Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia, are all thriving industries. Mention should also be made of the land settlement and peasant in- struction work of the departmerts in St; Vincent and St. Lucia, which has been attended with great suc- cess. Further, in Dominica, in addition to its beau- tiful botanic garden, there is an excellent system of agricultural education in operation,. and the science of horticulture is maintained at a very high level in the island. : WE learn from La Géographie (vol. xxxi., No. 4) that a small Swedish expedition has left for Juan Fernan- dez and the Galapagos Islands. The expedition, which is for botanical and zoological work, is under the leadership of Dr. Carl Skottsberg, who was a member of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901-3. Dr. Skottsberg in 1907-8 led an expedition to Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Juan Fer- nandez. The last scientific expedition to the Gala- pagos Islands was that of tne California Academy of Sciences in 1905-6, when Mr. Alban Stewart made a thorough botanical exploration of the group and a great deal of zoological work was done. THe want of coal which is seriously affecting Nor- way has already made her turn to the valuable Spits- bergen deposits. According to La Géographie (vol. xxxi., No. 4) Bear Island, another unclaimed Arctic land, is now attracting her attention. During last summer a party of Norwegian miners was at work on a coal-seam there which has been known for many years, and several wintered on the island in the hope NO. 2485, VoL. 99] . tory materials held at the Faraday Society on No ver of having a cargo ready for shipment to Norway this summer. Previous reports on the coal of Bear Islan have not indicated very extensive deposits; but the great drawback to mining is the absence of safe anchorage. The Norwegian syndicate appears to con- sider the construction of a port. A meteorological observatory and wireless station are also proposed, A further discovery of coal in Spitsbergen is reported by a Russian expedition. According to the Bolletino o: the Royal Italian Geographical Society (vol, vi., Nos. 4-5), the highest seam is near the surface and extends over an area of 450 square kilometres, It is estimated that this coalfield could produce 200,000 tons a year. . 7 In our issue of May 17 we quoted, without com- ment, from the National Geographic Magazine, pub- lished by the National Geographic Society of Wash ington, a forecast that, assuming that there is ne immigration, and that the United States will grov as fast during the three centuries ahead of us as urope grew from 1812 to Ig12, the population wi amount to nearly 500,000,000 in 2217, or approxima 166 to the square mile. A correspondent writing under the name of ‘“‘A London Statistician ”’ question the accuracy of this estimate, mainly on the gro that in certain States the former rate of increase not been maintained among the American-born pe lation. This fact has been admitted and explaine General Walker (see ‘‘Encyclopedia Britanni eleventh edition, xxvii., 635) on the grounds of in the standard of living, the multiplication of < ficial necessities, the extension of a paid domestic se vice, and the introduction:‘of women into factory labout Our correspondent shows good reasons for confirmit these views, and, in any case, a forecast of this kir is liable to modification by recent events—the proba loss of life in war, a change in the conditions of duction and domestic life, and the amount of e tion from European countries—resulting from world-wide conflict which is now in progress. : @ THE papers, verbal discussion, and written munications contributed to the symposium on ber 8, 1916, have now. been reprinted from the actions in a brochure of 189 pages. A brief accou of the meeting was published in these columns | December 7, 1916. The principal additions to symposium are the following :—(1) A note on the com position of clay and on silica bricks, by Prof. H. — Chatelier, containing some striking photomicrograp of quartzite and cristobalite; (2) two short papers” Prof. H. B. Cronshaw, one on “ The Deterioration | Refractory Materials in the Iron and Steel Industries, the other on ‘The Standardisation of Refract Materials used in the Iron and Steel Industries’’; 2 (3) a paper by Mr. R. B. Sosman, of the Geophysit Laboratory, Washington, on the common refracte oxides. The Faraday Society is to be especially ec gratulated on having obtained Mr. Sosman’s cont bution, which gives considerable information about results of experimental inquiry obtained in the hee Laboratory. It deals with the common roc orming oxides—silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, al the oxides of iron. The last-named offer a reseai problem quite different in character from that of f other oxides by reason of the fact that their comps tions and properties at high temperatures depend uj the pressure of the oxygen in contact with them, Ferric oxide, Fe.O,, begins to dissociate as the tem>| perature rises into oxygen and a solid solution com-; taining ferrous iron. At a given temperature tHe) initial dissociation pressure is high, but it drops) rapidly as the percentage of FeO in the solid increases, | 4 e 14, 1917] NATURE 315 through a range it which the pressure falls sr slowly with change of composition, and finally ng rapidly to the dissociation pressure of Fe,O,, hh is very low. This in turn dissociates into gen and a mixture of oxides the character of *h has not yet been determined. The properties eO are still practically unknown. he March-April number of the Bulletin de la d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale nh. Féry gives some particulars of the work tical laboratory of the Ecole de Physique et = Industrielles at Paris. The present labora- _ been available for students for four years. and since its erection many important re- have been carried out, and, more particu- iments undertaken so successfully of ars by Prof. Féry on optical pyrometry. Prof. probably the most competent authority on ect, and his methods may be said to be of universal application in works practice. ig other recent investigations may be mentioned llowing :—Research on the calorific emission of note on the solar constant and apparent tem- of the sun; researches on radiation; an ab- ‘spectrophotometer ; an electric chronometer ; a mo-electric calorimeter; the principle of anew f measuring the velocity of light ; and the chemi- birthplace of the Grassot fluxmeter and the d-famed Méker burner. This list shows that atory has been keenly alive to industrial and : research, as well as to instruction. Special ‘rooms are provided in the laboratory for photo- ie and other optical experiments, while a balcony vs of experiments being conducted in the open irther rooms are provided for work on the bench, for the metallography of steel and and for chemical experiments. Special rooms ded in the basement, built on masonry foun- for work where absence of vibration is re- All rooms are carefully heated, lighted, and d. The new electrochemical and physical ies and that devoted to the investigation of mineralogical collections, the central library, é lecture-rooms, are all built on modern prin- and directed, like the optics laboratory, with ard to modern teaching and research require- is. A. anp C. Brack, Ltp., announce for te publication ** An Introduction to the Physio- sychology of Sex,’’ by Dr. S. Herbert. k will direct attention to the important facts & sex, mating, and reproduction, from the vical and psychological points of view. - 19176 (ScHauMAsSsE).—The following * con- lation of the ephemeris for Greenwich midnight n in Nature of May 31 has been received from Snnagen :— Loy R.A. Decl. * -Log r Log A Mag. hm. s. x: ; 925 28 +18 248 28 2 17 123 99829 00550 106 32 8 15 12-5 00033 oO-I07I 109 35 20 13 367 00238 o-1528 11-3 37 59 12 17-5 00442 0-1925 11-6 40 17 II 10-3 60642 00-2276 11-8 “42-21 10 IQ 60-0837.) «08-2587 = 12° _SPecTRUM or Comet 1917a (MELLIsH).—Prof. sports that the spectrum of Mellish’s comet, as “at the Yerkes Observatory on March 21, 2485, VOL. 99] y of lead-plate accumulators, The laboratory showed a close resemblance to that of Morehouse’s comet (Journ. R.A.S. Canada, vol, xi., p. 196). The cyanogen band 3883 and the blue carbon band, with its red edge at 4741, were strong, and there were other bands at 3914, 4017, and 5075. It may be re- marked that the band 3914 was probably the negative band of nitrogen at that wave-length, while 4017 and 5075 would appear to be two of the bands of the low-pressure spectrum of carbon monoxide, these being especially characteristic of the tails of comets. EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURES OF STARS.—The values of Stellar temperatures derived by Rosenberg from. comparisons of the intensity at different wave-lengths in photographic spectra have been discussed by Dr. Wilsing (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4881). A new reduction of Rosenberg’s observations has brought the results for stars of early type into much closer accordance with the Potsdam values, as will appear from the examples included in the following table :— Type Rosenberg ‘orrected’ and Wilsing a Andromedz La2 33,000 13, 500 8,800 a Pegasi La2 27,500 12,200 13,600 y Gemincrum l.a 2 16,000 10,000 11,800 ~ a Aquilz La3 10,500 7,700 7,700 9 Bootis _ Ila 5,500 4,700 5,200 . y Cygni i... ILa 5,100 4,400 6,000 ¢ Bootis Il.a-IIl.a@ 5,300 4,500 4,200 a Bootis -- ILa-IIla@ 3,100 2,800 3,600 BAndromede .... Il.a-IIl.a@ 2,650; 2,400 3,000 a Orionis III.a 2,200 ~=—- 2,000 / 3,000 _Scheiner and Wilsing’s values were based upon visual observations with a spectrophotometer. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE ROYAL ~- : SOCIETY. 1s the annual report of the council of the Royal Society, adopted at a special general meeting in November last, certain changes in one of the statutes relating to the election of fellows were submitted. These changes were put forward after detailed de- liberation by the council, and were based upon a report prepared by a committee appointed to consider the subject. Statute XII. of the society provides for the special election of persons who “either have rendered conspicuous service to the cause of science, or are such that their election would be of signal benefit to the society, provided that not more than two persons shall be so recommended in any one calendar year, and if two persons be elected in any one year there shall be no election in the following year.” : By the new statute proposed by the council and adopted at the special meeting on November 2, 1916, the council could recommend to the society for elec- tion ‘‘(A) Privy Councillors whose election would assist the society; (B) men distinguished in the scientific or educational service of the State, or by their services to science and its applications, provided that (1) the number of fellows in Class A shall not exceed twenty- five at any time, including the fellows elected as Privy Councillors under the statutes in force before 1903; (2) the number of fellows in Class B shall not exceed twenty-five at any time, not more than five being elected in any one year.”’ As in the original statute, any person so recommended for election had to receive the votes of two-thirds of the members of council present, and the number of votes in his favour had to be not fewer than eleven. h In February last a memorial signed by a large number of fellows of the society was presented to the council asking that steps should be taken to consult 316 , NATURE [JUNE 14, 1917 © the general, body of fellows as to the introduction of the amended statute, and not to proceed with any recommendation for election under it before thorough reconsideration of the whole question. Fear was ex- pressed that the amended statute might result in the election under (A) of ‘‘a politician, mot at all neces- sarily of high distinction, who may be engaged in particular legislative or other public activity, on the ground only that his election would assist the work of the society,’ and under (B) of generous donors to the society or other scientific institutions, and the chief permanent officials of all departments of State con- cerned with scientific matters. At the request of the memorialists, a special general meeting was held on June 7 to reconsider the amended statute, and. the following resolution, moved by Sir David Bruce and seconded by Sir E. Ray Lankester, was carried after a long discussion :—‘* That this meet- ing is of opinion that the council will serve the best interests of the society by restoring Statute XII. to the form it had before the change made init by the council on November 2, 1916, and by postponing further con- sideration of the statute reiating to the election of fellows until after the termination of the war.” The action of the council in endeavouring to provide for the election of a few fellows on a broader basis than at present exists is thus practically undone. It was thought by some fellows that opposition to the new statute might have been met by a resolution to suspend elections under it during the war, and to leave any question of rescinding it until after the war ; but. the meeting decided to refer back to the council the whole question of amendment. A new council is, however, now in office, and the considerations which led to the recommendation of the amended statute will have to be gone over again in detail for the benefit of the new members when the resolution comes before the council, —— THE ANIMAL SYMBOL OF THE EGYPTIAN DEITY, SET. M G. DARESSY has been writing * concerning the * long-disputed question as to the identity of one of the animals which the-old Egyptians selected as the symbol of their malevolent deity, Set, or Seth. Among creatures suggested as intended by the Egyptian artists have been the jackal, hare,. oryx, and okapi, but all these. assignments have been abandoned. Two years ago Dr. Schweinfurth decided upen the orycterope, or anteater, the Erdferkel of the Sudan and Aardvaark of the Boers, because of the almost abso- lute resemblance of its head and snout to the Set quadrupeds.. ‘The long legs and tail shown in Egyptian drawings, the tail often depicted vertically erect, and with double tufted end, render this attribution difficult, so M. Daressy has reviewed the~- question from. the archeological side, summarising important Egyptian writings, and citing the delineations of the Set animal by their draughtsmen. From the literary side he illus- trates the question from myth and. stories of Set, of whom the. creature was. the crest, totem, and symbolic hieroglyph. In the myths, when Set, with his name changed to Souti,, became ally, instead of foe, of Horus, he was deemed lord of Upper Egypt,.as Horus was of Lower Egypt and the Delta. This suggests that Set may have been a ruler of Upper Egypt, who warred with Osiris, King of Lower Egypt, and later also with Horus. pees Although the myths speak of Set as god of evil, * M. Daressy’s article may be found in the Bulletin de: l'Institut Francais d’Archéologie Orientale, tome xiii., pp. 77-92. NO. 2485, VOL. 99] tion, the object of the design being to depict a Beni Hassan various fan- placed between a real and darkness, and the sterile deserts, the fact of his in some cases being said to have been reconciled to Horus, though he had assassinated Horus’s father, Osiris, caused Set to be semi-deified, and a fews for his worship have been found as Souti, At Edfu he was a crocodile, though never worshipped under that type, crocodile deities such as Sobk and Pne. pheros being different concepts. Set took other evil animal forms, such as the boar and swine, creatures abhorred in many religions. M. Daressy argues that the Set animal is really a creation of the imagina- creature so constructed as to be impotent to destroy Horus. If this was so, it is futile to search for the creature in either the existing or fossil fauna of Africa, ‘ Egyptian drawing of head of Set animal. "Set Pharsogiall crest. eS Orycterope aethiopicus. M. Daressy thinks the design embodies all the most opposite characters to those of a boar. If so, the animal is merely a fantastic design to symbolise the evil aspect of the deity. a But once in Egyptian history a Pharaoh, instead ¢ using the falcon, which was their solar Horus dynastic crest, for his totem, in the Second or Third Dy employed for his honour the Set animal. This king was probably ruler of Upper Egypt solely, but hi successor, to assure his subjects that he was unde the tutelary protection of all Egypt’s deities, used the double crests of the Set animal and Horus falcon and the Set one was never used ayawr for a roya symbol. It is very improbable this would: have be done if the Set figure was 3 a sort of serio-comic in- — vention, It. should be borne in mind that the ancient Egyptian animal-gods were (unless Set is an ex- ception) real existing creatures. The Sphinx was not a god, or even totem of any particular deity. In the tombs at tastic animals are depicted as denizens of the desert, and real ones also. The Set creature is there an imaginary one. An . interesting fact is that Head of Set in Spink collect the greater the anti- eit quity of the figure, the less abnormal are features from those of a dog, or jackal, or : allied species. Thus on some of the Serekh fig containing the name of the early dynasty Pharaoh, Perabsen, the Set quadruped is identical with old Egyptian drawings of jackals, which were sacred to Anubis excepting for its long erect tail, which has n the forked ending introduced later. aa This Pharaoh only bore the Upper Egypt crown, the creature, if a real one, may not have existed Lower Egypt, and Set himself, as noted, seems have ruled in Upper Egypt only. a It is just possible that remains of a member of th ay UNE 14, 1917] NATURE 317 -h > anomaly. j 5 meld n ; % nfortunately, the prehensile lips and snout, so indicated by the unique and very ancient bronze s ch Messrs.. Spink, of St. James’s, have yermitted us to publish, would not be indi- any of the bones. ~ 13 be that the animal was very scarce, and that association with the detested deity it was ed by the Horus - following, orthodox SS ee JosEPpH OFFORD. TECHNICAL OPTICS. 4E establishment of a Department of Technical _ Optics at the Imperial College of Science and nology, and the. appointment of Mr. F. J. shire as the director of the department, were unced in Nature of May 24 (p. 257). The report he Board of Education for the year 1915-16 just (Gd. 8594, price 6d.) includes the following ‘to this subject:— ~- many years of discussion the establishment of 1ent of Technical Optics is at last assured, the Board desires in this connection to express appreciation of the action of the London County neil, to whom the realisation of the scheme is sely due. The scheme involves the co-operation of mperial College of Science and Technology at asington and the Northampton Polytechnic ain Clerkenwell. The more elementary in- will be given at the Northampton: Polytechnic anced full-time courses, and most h work, will be centred at the Imperial : work in ‘technical optics at both insti- : be under the control of a director, who rofessor of the Imperial College, and will mi Sees of honorary head of a depart- = Northampton Institute. ; rnors of the Imperial College have ap- echnical Optics Committee to manage them the work for which they are responsible; ae © County Council has appointed the ttee to advise it- as to the work to ¢ Northampton Institute. The Right D. Acland, who is chairman of the Execu- ittee of the Imperial College and a member mmittee of His Majesty’s Privy Council on ind Industrial Research, has consented to man of the Technical Optics Committee. ittee will contain representatives of the ‘War Office, and the Ministry of Muni- © of employers and workers in the trade. set the annual cost of maintaining the is estimated to be not less than s5oool., ool. is needed for alterations and equipment. “surns thé London County Council is pre- sd to find 2oool. a year (including roool. for the kk at the Imperial College, and an increase of not e than toool. in its maintenance grant to the Institute), together with 7501. towards mecessary equipment at South Kensington and I. for alterations and new equipment at Clerken- _ The Board of Education will make an addi- l annual grant of 2o000l. to the Imperial College April I, 1917, and a capital grant of 15001. for while the extended provision for technical the Northampton Institute will be taken into in fixin the amount of the Board’s block that institution under the Regulations for thools. The Department of Scientific and esearch is prepared to make a grant of - for five years to the Imperial College 2485, VoL. 99] ondo: ot 29 ~ i mily now extinct may be found that will ] and an equipment grant of 75o0l. in respect of the research work which will be undertaken by the new Institute of Technical Optics. : Mr. Frederic J. Cheshire has been appointed head of the new department at the Imperial College for a period of five years, with the title Director of Technical Optics and Professor of Technical Optics at the Im- perial College. Mr. Cheshire’s long experience and great ability in optical matters practically ensure a successful beginning. He has been associated with optical instruments for many years at the Patent Office, and since the formation of the Ministry of Munitions has been Deputy Director-General of the Ministry and Technical Director of the Optical De- partment of the Ministry. He is the present president of the Optical Society. It is expected that, subject to the conclusion of certain arrangements with the Treasury, Mr. Cheshire will accept the directorship, and it is anticipated that the organisation of the de- partment will be rapidly completed, and that training will begin at an early date. : _ THE CONFIGURATIONS OF ASTRONOMICAL MASSES AND THE FIGURE OF THE EARTH.! STUDY of the forms which can be assumed by ~ masses of actual compressible matter under their own gravitation is of obvious importance for cosmo- gony and astronomy. A theorem of fundamental im- portance is that for a given mass, acted on by given forces.and rotating at a given speed, there is only one equilibrium arrangement of the internal strata when the boundary is fixed. Thus possible figures of equili- brium can be classified by their boundaries; the inte- rior,matter will arrange itself. ; A simple application is to the figure of the earth. Regarding the earth’s surface as roughly spherical, the internal layers of equal density must be concentric spheres. The view that the internal strata may be, or in some past age may have been, excentric, “is fcund ‘to be illusory, and an attempted explanation of the major inequalities of the earth’s surface in terms of this idea fails. Yt is A more complex application is to the figures of com- pressible masses, such as gases, in rotation. ‘It is found that a shrinking compressible mass will, m general, assume in turn figures which may be described as pseudo-spheroids and pseudo-ellipsoids, these being derived by continuous distortion from the spheroids and ellipsoids which form the only stable figures of . eguilibrium for incompressible masses. The pseudo- spheroids are more lens-shaped than a spheroid, and the pseudo-ellipsoids are more spindle-shaped ‘than an ellipsoid. A sharp periphery may develop on the pseudo-spheroid or a sharp point on the pseudo-ellip- soid, in which case streams of matter are ejected through centrifugal force outbalancing gravity. Considering in detail the figures appropriate to the law p=xpY, it is found that a sharp periphery will develop on the pseudo-spheroids before the series of — pseudo-ellipsoids is reached, if y<3 (approximately). Thus a mass of ideal gas for which y<73? can never attain the pseudo-ellivsoidal form and so can never divide into two detached masses. But as the density of an actual gas increases with shrinkage, the ideal laws are departed from. The value y=3 is reached, perhaps, at a density of ? to 3, roughly that of a B-type star. So far,-then, a, ‘‘giant” star can lose matter equatorially, but cannot divide by fission. The 1 Abstract of the Bakerian Lecture delivered before the Royal Society on May 17 by Mr. J. H. Jeans, F.R-S. 318 NATURE | JUNE 14, I917 latter process can only begin at about type B. This agrees exactly with Campbell’s discussion of spectro- scopic binaries. y In an actual star internal ionisation and pressure of radiation must be considered, so that a star of’ suffi- cient mass. can break up before B-type is reached, and there can be “ giant’’ double stars. The results obtained fit in well with observation and suggest a simple view of stellar cosmogony. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. BIRMINGHAM.—Mr. G. H. Holcroft has presented to the University a valuable collection of fossils and recent shells which belonged to the late Sir Charles Holecroft. Dr. J. W. Russell has been elected joint professor of medicine. to succeed Prof. Saundby, whose resigna-~ tion takes effect on September 30 next. The councii has resolved to recommend the court of governors at its next meeting to confer the title of ‘‘ Emeritus Pro- fessor’? on Prof. Saundby, ‘‘in recognition of his con- spicuous services to the University and his eminence in the general field of medicine.” Messrs. A. W. Nuthall and J. T. Hewetson have been reappointed honorary curators of the Pathological Museum, in the sections of surgery and gynzcology respectively, for a term of three years from October next. Oxrorp.—On June 12 the honorary degree of D.Sc. was conterred on Prof. Arthur Schuster, who after- wards: delivered the Halley lecture. In presenting Prof. Schuster, the Public Orator (Mr. A. D. Godley) spoke of his emifience in various departments of physical research, deploring the inadequacy of the Latin language for dealing with the technical details of the professor’s work in the subjects of electricity and magnetism. He alluded also to Prof. Schuster’s services as secretary of the Royal Society, and to*the value of his labours to the nation at large. — Tue Gilchrist Studentship for Women, of the Univer- sity of London, has been awarded to Miss B. J. Schlumberger, an internal student, of University Col- lege. 3 ‘ Pror. J. G. Apami’s course of Croonian lectures at the Royal College of Physicians of London begins to-day, and will be continued on June 19, 21, and 26, at 5 o’clock. The subject of the course is ‘‘ Adaptation and Disease.” A FuND of the value of 2000l., to be known as the Osler Testimonial Fund, has been raised by the medi- cal and chirurgical faculty of Maryland; the income will be devoted to the purchase of books for the library of the faculty and for the upkeep of the Sir William Osler Hall. : Tue Prime Minister has informed Mr.’ Fisher that the urgent demand for further accommodation for war staff which must be housed in the immediate vicinity . of the War Office and Admiralty necessitates the re- moval of the offices of the Board of Education. The new quarters of the Board are to be at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. A sufficient num- ber of rooms in Whitehall will, however, be retained -for the use of the President, Parliamentary Secretary, and Permanent Secretary of the Board and for confer- ences, deputations, and interviews. é Dr. T. BrattsrorD RosBeERTSON, professor of bio- chemistry and pharmacology ‘in the University of Cali- fornia, has given to the regents of the University of California his patents for the growth-controlling sub- stance tethelin, isolated by him from the anterior lobe of the pituitary body and used to accelerate repair in NO. 2485, VOL. 99| | the secretary of the B.E.A., 17 Hart Street, London, ‘raised by a committee, of which H.R.H. Prince Art slowly healing wounds. The proceeds which accrue from the sale or lease of these patents are constitute a fund which will be entitled ‘The Univer sity of California Foundation for International Medical Research,’ and will be expended in the furtherance of medical research, preferably research in the physiology, chemistry, and pathology of growth. a WE have received a letter from the Rev. A, Jo Ashley, hon. secretary of the Church Esperantist) League, in reference to the paragraph which appeared in this column in our issue of May 31. Mr. Ashley writes:—‘‘Ido stands now about where Esperanto stood in the eighties of last century; it has no _ literature worth mentioning, while many of the finest works of every great litera- ture can now be obtained in Esperanto.”” Mr. Ash- ley is of opinion that Esperanto, having thousands of societies. and being used daily by tens of thousands of people, is continually spreading, and that such popular acceptance should -be a preliminary oa tion of any Government support. As regards teaching of a universal language in schools, Mr. Ashley says that in the Patricroft Council School in Eccles Esperanto is being taught as a regular school subject with great success. An account of this ex periment will be found in the June-July issue of the Esperanto Monthly, which may be obtained fror C.1. THE new. chemical laboratories at University Col lege, London, have been planned and designed so as to meet the requirements of modern chemical teaching — and research. including provision for physical istry, in which branch immediate and rapid progress 1s" urgent. The funds for these laboratories have been ft CIrl- of Connaught is the president, and Capt. the Hon. Rupert Guinness the chairman and treasurer. Phe total cost of the site, building, and» equipmen will be 120,000]. One hundred thousand pounds has already been raised, leaving 20,0001. § to be found. In order to facilitate the imi diate provision of this 20,0001, Sir Ralph C. Forster, Bt., who has already subscribed generously to the cost of these laboratories, has promised 500¢ on condition that the remaining 15,o00l. is r. speedily: Upwards of 7ool. has already been rai towards the 15,o00l. required. Those who are anxious to see chemical science in London adequately equipped are invited to assist in completing the sum needed. An appeal has been issued by a sub-committee formed by Lord Glenconner and Capt. the Hon. Rupert Guin- ness for this purpose. Further particulars may be obtained at the- college. Subscriptions should be ad: dressed to Lord Glenconner at the college. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. ae Royal Society, May 24.—Sir J. J. Thomson, pees t, in the chair.—Prof. A. Dendy and Prof. J. W Nicholson: The influence of vibrations upon the form of certain sponge-spicules. It has been suggested recently by one of the authors that the positions of the whorls” which appear on certain siliceous spicules in the ge Latrunculia may be determined by vibrations to which” the spicule is subjected at a certain stage of its develop- ment, corresponding, in fact, with the nodal points of a vibrating rod. The object of the present. commumnic tion is to describe a similar case in a closely allie , but hitherto undescribed, genus, and to subject it to mathematical analvsis with the view of testing is vibratory theory. The problem was to determine the aa wy UNE 14, 1917] NATURE 319 f coincidence betwe2n the actual positions of rls on the spicule and the positions which : Z ; e : occupied by the nodes in a vibrating free-free shape similar to that of the shaft of the spicule moment when the nodes are beginning to y (i.e. at the critical stage). The general n is that of the nodes in a rod composed of two portions, each formed by the rotation of the x" between x=o and x=1 about its axis, and tions of the nodes are expressed. as functions index n by the interpolation formula. All the examined correspond very closely’ with this shape for values of n between 3 and 1. Details n cases at or near the critical stage are given in sr, and the conclusion is arrived at that the of the whorls, although subject to slight indi- variations due to various disturbing factors, so accurately with the theoretical positions of the as to leave little doubt as to the influence of _ vibrations in determining them. An cause of such vibrations may be found in the currents which circulate with considerable force the canal system of the sponge.—Prof. J. W. om: The lateral vibrations of bars of variable % € paper contains a discussion of the lateral ns of a bar composed of two equal halves and eachend. Each half consists of ‘a portion of the nerated by the revolution of the curve y=Ax" S axis, and the fundamental frequencies and s of the corresponding nodes are investigated : s values of n between o and 1. Il Society, May 25.—Mr. W. R. Cooper, vice- in the chair.—C. C, Paterson, J. W. T. and W. F. Higgins: An investigation of radium compound. The paper contains the results ements made on various samples of radium compound during the last two years. Deter- of the brightness of the compound in powder when made up into paint, and also after the m of the paint to instrument dials, were Out; and curves are given showing the rates of luminosity. The radium contents of the $ were determined by comparison of their activities with that of a preparation of pure bromide, which is periodically compared with radium standard. The various precautions ye to be observed and the corrections which be applied in making the various determina- ‘explained, and the considerations which govern the proportion of radium employed for purposes are discussed.—F. J. W. Whipple : tance to the motion of a lamina,'cylinder, or in a rarefied gas. The investigation is carried a the assumptions that the free-paths of the s of the gas are long compared with the dimen- of the moving body, and that the motion, relative body, of the particles which rebound from it pends only on its temperature. It is shown that if | be the components of velocity perpendicular to the of a lamina and parallel thereto, the corre- ling components of the resistance are (4+7) / 32 an > V is the standard (root-mean-square) speed of particles and p is the gas-pressure. The re- to the motion of a cylinder or a sphere is to differ very slightly from the resistance to a la occupying the central section. The formulz applicable to the problem of the damping of the lations of a system suspended in a rarefied gas.— -H. Lees: The effect of stretching on the conductivity of wires. | 2485, VOL. 99] Paris. Academy of Sciences, May 21.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—G. A. Boulenger : Batrachians belonging to the genus Euproctus, their ethological and phylogenic relations.—M, P. A. Dangeard was elected a member in the section of. botany in the place of the late R. Zeiller—P. Fatou: Rational substitutions.—L, Décombe: The influence of temperature on electro- capillary phenomena. An application of the second law of thermodynamics to electrocapillary phenomena, utilising the numerical results obtained by W. A. Vining and by M. Gouy.—M. and Mme, A. Laborde : Remarks on a note of MM. Debierne and Regaud on the use of the radium emanation condensed in sealed tubes. For ‘clinical work MM. Debierne and Regaud have proposed to express the energy given out in terms of the quantity of emanation destroyed during the application. The authors suggest that the mean quan- tity of emanation present in the sealed tube during the time of application gives an equally exact measure of comparison between the two methods of utilising the energy of radium. Actual cases are worked out according to. both modes of expression.—MM. Massol and Faucon: The absorption of the ultra-violet radia- tions by the iodine derivatives of methane. Details of the absorption bands produced by tetraiodomethane, iodéform, methylene iodide, and methyl iodide—Ed. Chauvenet: The zirconyl bromides. The only definite compounds isolated were ZrBr,.ZrOBr,.8H,O and ZrOBr,.3-5H,O.—A. Valeur; An anomaly in the solu- — - bility of sparteine. An aqueous solution of sparteine becomes turbid when the temperature is slightly raised, — and this effect is still more marked in dilute solutions of sodium carbonate. In the latter case the relation between the concentrations in sparteine and the tem- perature of turbidity formation has been determined, and between certain limits of concentration the curve expressing the results is a straight line. A method for determining this alkaloid can be based on these experi- ments.—_]. Bougault : Acidylsemicarbazides and acidyl- semicarbazic acids. The author attributes the con- stitution, C,H,.CO.NH.NH.CO.NH., to the product obtained by the action of sodium carbonate and iodine on the semicarbazone of phenylglyoxylic acid, whilst for the isomer produced by the action of benzoic anhydride upon semicarbazide chlorohydrate the for- mula C,H,.C(OH):N.NH.CO.NH, is suggested as most probable.—G. Mouret : The existence of a zone of crushed rocks, about’ 200 kilometres long, in the western region of Central French massif.—Ph. Glan- geaud : The elements of the relief of the volcanic massif of the Monts-Dore.—L. Ballif: The determination of the densitv of air as a function of. the altitude. The method is based on the’ measurement of the rate of ascent of a free balloon, which need not be recovered. The heights are estimated by simultaneous observa- tions by two observers on the ground.—C. Sauvageau : A new tvpe of alternation of generations in the brown alge (Dictyosiphon foeniculaceus).—Em, Bourquelot, M. Bridel, and A. Aubry: The crystallisation and pro- perties of a B-monoglucoside of glycerol obtained by biochemical synthesis. The synthesis of this glucoside has been described in an earlier paper (1915). By solution in absolute alcohol, and partially precipitating with ether and then allowing to stand at a temperature below 6° C. for twenty-one months, the substance has been obtained in the crystalline state. Details are given of its rotatory power and chemical and biochemical hvdrolysis. This is the first glucoside of glycerol to be obtained in-a crystallised state—M, Liévre: Stereo- radioscopy. The apparatus described has been used with success in the Army Medical Service_—J. Amar: The origin and prophylaxy of heat stroke. Heat stroke . 320 “NATURE [June 14, 1907 is regarded as an intoxication caused by fatigue and favoured by bad oxygenation of the blood.—R. Dalimier : Chemical vaccination of arsenical reactions. May 29.—M. A. d’Arsonval’ in the chair.— H. Donvillé: The Orbitoids..of Trinity Island. —J. Bergonié: The advantages from the: hygienic, economie,.and. social points of view of .a change in the number, time, and importance of meals. It is argued that the main meal of the day should be taken at 7.30 a.m., and a second and smaller. meal at 6 p.m. The advantages of such a reduction of meals are set out.—S. Lefschetz: The multiple inte- grals of algebraic varieties.—N. Krylefi: Generalisa- tions of the method of Walter Ritz.—J. K. de Fériet = The formation of integral.equations admitting hyper- spherical functions as ‘fundamental solutions.—F. Schrader; A map of the massif of Gavarnie and of Mont-Perdu.—G. Sizes: The intervals in Hindu and Arabian: musie:—_Ed. Chauvenet : The combinations’ of zirconiuny with sulphuric acid. Twelve compounds of zirconium with sulphuric acid have been described; the author has only obtained evidence of six of these. —G. Bourguignon : Normal chronaxy of the muscles of the lower limb in man. Functional and radicular classification. by chronaxy.—Ch; Dhéré.and G, Vegezzi : Helicorubin. This red pigment is found in the bile of the snail. Details of the changes in the: absorption spectrum under the influence of various chemical re- agents. In slightly acid. media it is easily oxidised and reduced, and in the intestine of the snail behaves as a respiratory pigment.—H. Vincent and G.: Stodel The influence of traumatism on experimental gas gangrene and on the recrudescence of this infection. B. perfringens may be injected. into healthy tissue without visible effect, but it does not immediately disappear; it is latent for a certain period, and may reappear as the result of a contusion. June 4.—M. A. d’Arsonval in, the chair.—J, Bous- sinesq : tthe equilibrium of a given homogeneous sandy mass under certain conditions.—P. Montel: Conformal representation.—W. Sierpinski: Some problems which imply non-measurable functions.—G. Fayet and A. Schaumasse: Elements of the comet 1917b (Schau- masse). The elements are calculated from. observa- tions made on April. 25 and May 8, 14, and 22.—MM. Portevin and Garvin, The influence of the velocity of cooling on the transformation temperature and struc- ture of carbon steels.—G. Arnaud: Some Micro- thyriacee.—M. Amar: Remarks on meal times. A destructive criticism of the proposals of M. Bergonié (see above), the main point of which is that food is not necessarily. utilised. immediately after it has been eaten. Two.main meals at noon and 8 p.m. are re- garded as justified from the point of view of experi- mental hvgiene and the laws of human energetics.—L. Camus: The time necessary for the appearance of the anti-virulent property of serum is a function of the quantity of vaecine inoculated. BOOKS RECEIVED. A Psychic Vigil in Three Watches. Second edition. Pp. xi+233. (London: Methuen and Co:, Ltd.) 55: net. The Mothercraft Manual. By M. L. Read. Pp. xviii+440. (London: G, G. Harrap and Co.) 5s. net. A Pocket Book for Chemists, Chemical Manufac- turers, etc. By T. Bayley. Eighth edition. Edited by R. Ensoll. Pp. xvi+425. (London : E. and F.N. Spon, Ltd.) 7s. 6d. net. Cotton Spinning. By W: Scott Taggart. Vol. ii. Fourth edition. Pp. xxviii+462+illustrations. (Lon- don: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) Ios. net. NO. 2485, VOL. 99] DIARY. OF SOCIETIES.) (°° " THURSDA g 9 Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Some Cases of Wave Motion due: ‘toa Submer Obstacle: Prof. T. H. Havelock.—The Propagation of Sound in the: F page and the Acoustic Efficiency of Fog Signal Machinery <: a L. V. King.—The Behaviour of eepoacp% ee in Fully D fused Light: H..J.,Shannon, F. F..Renwick, and B. V. Storr.—The bes. Decay i in Radio-active Luminous Conenciag J. W.T. + sy MATHEMATICAL SociETy. at 5.30.—Some Theorems ont the of} Series: A.. E. . Jolliffe.-—Certain - Trigo: Applications to’ the Theory of Numbers: . S, , q OprricaL Society, at 8.—Aeroplane Compasses : S. - Starling. —Ap Optical, Method for Accurately Dividing a Circle into Degrees: Dr RS: e FRIDAY, Jone 15. UNE 1 t bp InsmituTion oF MINING ENGINEERS, at rr. a.m.—The Spx . oe ii : of Coal: Dr. J. S. Haldane.—The By-product C: i ‘its: History, Development, and Application: E. Bury Acagiene N ne Lamps ; W. Maurice. a MONDAY, Jos 18, ey Rovar GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Thi Major E, A. Steel. VicToRIa me gay ee Stars: Sir F. W. e Zambezi-Congo Watershed : at 4.30.—Annual Address : The Distances: of * . Dyson. TUESDAY, June 19. 3 Royat STaTisTIcAL SocikETy, at 5.15.—Statistical. Aspects of Infatian of the Currency: Prof. J. Shield Nicholson. MINERALOGICAL SociETY, at 5-30.—The Problem of Sartorite: Dr. G: F Herbert Smith.—Note on-a Curious Case of Devitrification: Dr. - Scott.—The Meteorites of Simondium, Eagle Station and ~ Amana! Dr. G. T. Prior. ' WEDNESDAY, June 20. fi Rovyat METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 5. The Reduction of T mpei Observations to Mean of 24 Hours, and the Elucidation of the: Diurnal Variation, in the Continent of Africa: C. E. P: Brooks.—Auti phic Records of the Air-wave from the East London Explosion, Jan anuary : 1917: F. J. W. Whipple.—Some Aspects of the Cold Period, December, 1916, to April, 1917: R. C. Mossman. ee Plated Teeth of Sheep. _Dr. James Ritchie . |. 3 The Organisation of Scientific Literature.—Philip — Pe E. B. Jourdain . . Ge The Origin of Flint. Dr. R: M. Caven . . . The Society of Chemical Bian and the Progress ia of the Chemical Arts . . The Radiation of the Stars, By ‘Prof. A. S. ee pe a ge RS Re ee Pee Dr. W. H. Besant, F.R.S. By G. B. M. Notes Our Astronomical Column :— Comet 19176 (Schaumasse) a The Spectrum of Comet 1917a (Mellish). . . . . Effective Temperatures of Stars Ae The Fellowship of the Royal Society ..... 2 The Animal Symbol of the Egyptian Deity, ‘Set. (/iZustrated.) By Joseph Offord f ‘Technical Optics... . The Configurations of Astronomical Masses and the Figure of the Earth. By J. H. Jeans, F.R.S. ‘University and Educational Tateiligance e- + et ere 3.4%). 38 ee “ved het ts o Te" 6) 98 aro Oe ae Societies and Academies ..... han bh hs ee Books Received. . 2. . 2°) Ree Diary-of Societies ©.) =. Se ; Pe es Editor:al and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Lrp., © ST. MARTiN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. Advertisements and Yusinads letters to be addressed to # Publishers. Editorial Communications: to the Editor. . Telegraphic Address: Prusis, LONDON. + tity ‘' Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. __. LE NATURE 321 ‘ : - xeeamewd ev: 21, sae: * ——— "EXPLOSI VES. osives. By Arthur Marshall. Second. io! ‘Vol. i., History. and Manufacture. ., XV+407. (London; J. and A, Churchill, 7.) ‘Price 2 vols. 3l. 3s, net. 4 DOM. has. a, book on. a technical. subject . been so fortunate. in. _catching. the, flood-tide ci ives. The general excellence of. the work, ombined. _with the. enormous. development: in the roduction of explosives, accounts for the issue pearance. As Mr. Marshall-points. out. in, his or eface, “the war has not caused. the introduc- on, of any very novel. explosives, despite sensa- ional. statements: of, some journalists.” 4 Although by far the best book written and nly. in the small amount. of. space. devoted. to aromatic explosives, and, in, the. section on rials, to the production of nitric. acid, and itr: from, the. atmosphere, and. synthetically, S Marshall: makes some. apology in. his. new ref ace, as follows: “Picric acid; B einttzotoluol _ other nitro-aromatic compounds were y merely. by-products..of the-dye industry, ey, their, manufacture seemed only 7 for a brief. notice in.a work-on explosives.’’ tis difficult. to reconcile this with the information 1 the. text that picric. acid. was. adopted by the mans. in. 1888. for filling shell, and about. the > time. by, England.. It was, used by us. for, Soest time. in war at the battle of Omdurman. ad) was adopted; by. the Germans. in. 1902 for el filling, and by. Ttaly. in. 1997; and by Russia tty afterwards. - Jith reference to nitric acid, we find it stated : “before: the. war. nitric acid. made. from. the r could hardly. anywhere. compete. with, that 1a ufactured from. sodium. nitrate, but. the ckade. of. Germany. has. altered all. this.’’» Cer- ainly before. the. war Germany. had, not neglected ; btain extensive interests. in processes for the eduction. of nitrates and to develop processes t the synthetic manufacture, so. as to be in a Osition of independence of foreign supplies when =. foreseen, or planned, developments should e. On ‘the question of cost, according to hoa high, authority as. Prof. Thomas. H. orton, nitric acid by the Birkeland. and Eyde oces ‘of. fixation of. atmospheric. nitrogen. was ‘little. more. than, half the cost of the acid from nile. saltpetre. at 1914 prices, and by the wald. process, from ammonia. obtained from anamide in the first place, even less than half. However, in, the new. edition; the nitro- omatic explosives are now. comprehensively alt with and form 2 valuable section of the ‘NO. 2486, VoL. 99] of demand. as. the: first edition. of this, treatise on. Hi a: Seon. edition within tavo, years of its. first. a0st _ comprehensive: in. the.language, the. first ditio on suffered from. some important. deficiencies, - , again, in. the case of trinitrotoluol, which we. ‘of “radoubage, work, The. first; chapter -of the section, deals, with. the. by-products. of coal distillation, including.out-.. lines: of. benzol and toluol recovery, and the two. succeeding. chapters , with. the nitro-derivatiyes.. of. aromatic. hydrocarbons. and -other. nitro-aromatic bodies. This increased, matter, together with. an. outline. of the various processes for the direct. production. of nitrates and nitric acid, a section on colloids, and other minor additions; have made it neces- sary to issue the treatise in. two volumes. The first of these deals with the production of, military explosives. and’ the, principal‘explosives of the chlorate, perchlorate, and: ammonium nitrate classes, most of the explosives of the latter classes constituting: those of’ special importance. in, mining. One of the most important matters. in- can- nection with aromatic hydrocarbons, ~ and especially their ‘nitro-derivatives, ‘is that of- toxic effect. Mr. Marshall devotes little more than a_ page to this ; an inadequate space, and, in addition, the information is: by no:-means up to date, the principal references being to a report of a French Commission (1912) and the curative measures adopted in* Germany, quoted from. a work by; Escales’and a, journal, of; 1908. Workers in this country, have. unfortunately experienced the toxic: effects. of.some. of the. nitro-products, and. deaths. from trinitrotoluene poisoning have. been recorded in the public Press, Excellent: preventive. measures are. now enforced, by regulation, and- this section. would. have. been, of greater - value. had some. detailed reference. to. these. measures. been- included. We do not. find any. reference even to the beneficial: results from. milk as a beverage. Of. course. Mr: Marshall is engaged. so. far- from this. country that. it, is. not easy for- him, to. keep informed. on. many of. these current; problems. In the section on. smokeless, powders. there. is. considerable extension. of the, information. relating to. French powders. One. is- particularly. struck- with. the systematic nomenclature. employed: Instability of. the simple nitro-cellulose powders, has often been marked. In France. the process: ** which consisted in soaking old) powders. of impaired; stability in a mixture of; ethyl. and, amyl alcohols, was given: up. after. the, Iéna, disaster, and. “remalaxage,’’ where the powder was. reworked, with ether-alcohol. contain-. ing amyl alcohol, introduced, but this. also has, been. abolished. for some. years. It. is. recognised. that diphenylamine has great advantages. as. a stabiliser- over amyl alcohol, the primary- function, of. such addition. being the absorption of. oxides. of nitrogen, which catalytically accelerate. decom-. position when once formed. This ‘second. edition. is- dedicated. to. Mr.. Lloyd, George, and. an excellent portrait of: the Prime. Minister appears as a frontispiece. Everyone. realises under what a debt of gratitude the country is. to Mr.’ Lloyd George, and in no office more so than as Minister of Munitions, but really, one cannot see that the value of a. manual on a Ss 322 NATURE Le 21, 1917 technical subject is enhanced by the inclusion of a portrait of one only connected politically as an organiser with the industry. If any technical book is good, a portrait of a celebrity will not help its usefulness or sale; if bad, no one will want it because of the frontispiece. Technical | literature might well be exempt from such embellishments. “ THOUGHT-SUBJECTS.” (1), The Supervision of Arithmetic. By W. A. essup and L. D. Coffman. Pp. vii+225. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Mac- millan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 5s. net. (2) Second-Year Mathematics for Secondary Schools. By Ernst R. Breslich. Second edi- tion. Pp. xx+348. (Chicago, Ill. : University of Chicago Press; Cambridge: At the Uni- versity Press, 1916.) Price 4s. net. (3) Elementary Dynamics of ‘the Particle and Rigid Body. By Prof. R. J. A. Barnard. Pp. ‘vi+374. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 6s. (1) ae CONSIDERABLE amount of elaborate investigation has gone to the making of “The Supervision of Arithmetic.” It might very well have been analysed and the results presented in a small pamphlet. It is not clear why the book has been imported into this country. It can be of no earthly interest or value to the English teacher to know in detail a mass of information such as “the distribution of cities according to per cent. time, exclusive of recesses and opening exercises, devoted to arithmetic.” The tables appear to be the kind of thing to which in Ameri- can educational courses a diploma is awarded. If this be the case, it seems that pretentious theses for a master’s degree may be compiled without any real thinking being done. _ We are likewise at a loss to conjecture for whose benefit the tables are compiled, seeing that elaborate explanations are attached to so many — that carry on the face of them their meaning. It is not always easy to see the object of some of the investigations—e.g. what is the point in a table showing the order of teaching the multipli- cation table in cities according to their popula- tion? No doubt we are stupid and old-fashioned, but we feel a pricking in our thumbs when we see certain tables which to the mind of the compilers seem to decide “whether the books are arithme- tics or something else.” It is only fair to add that they have a haunting suspicion that their task may seem “foolish.” Be that as it may, they reach a limit (? superior or inferior) when they present us with tables showing from five elementary arithmetics the words that begin with a's” and with “w,’’ respectively (they say, “be- ginning with s and w”), and when they tell us that 94 proper names are used 342 times, “Ella and Kate 6 times each, Helen 8, Henry 9, Carl 12, Fred and James 16 each, Frank 24, Mary 27, NO. 2486, VoL. 99] r ‘fact emerges that at the ‘end of a second year _ thoughts will be able to play freely, up to a certain in and John 4o. There are in the same pages 224 words beginning with c, and these words are used a total of 1403 times.” To the being of dim and ~ bounded faculties this seems table-making gone — astray. It makes us tired. | Though there is much that is interesting and _ much that is useful, the ideals do not always seem to us to be wholesome. “Translated into words, the table means that in June the graduate of a grammar school [whatever that may mean] should be able to work correctly in eight minutes — twelve examples like that under Test i. [adding — nine rows of three figures], in four minutes — twelve examples like Test ii. [subtracting two — rows of ten figures],” in six minutes twelve sums like 4179 x 36, in eight minutes twelve sums — like 61,707+67, and soon. If the aim is to turn — out cheap calculators for business men, we can — understand how this will appeal to the commercial — instinct, but what a cast-iron ideal for the — “ graduaté of a grammar school,” and at what a cost will it be reached! 7 All this apparatus of statistical stuff appears to@ be for the benefit of arithmetic ‘ supervisors.” Quis custodiet custodes? Already the note of revolt has been sounded. We observe that in the ~ last number of L’Enseignement mathématique — Prof. D. E. Smith detivers his soul on this point: — “Unfortunately, our courses on education are so4 often concerned with measurements of pupils’ — accomplishment, with statistical curves, and with — ephemeral theories based upon limited observa-— tions, that teachers of such thought-subjects as — mathematics are generally suspicious of their — value.” We. are not in the least surprised. en (2) “The material as arranged in this course — opens to the student. a broader, richer, more useful, and therefore more alluring field of ideas, — and lays a more stable foundation for future work, than does any separate treatment. j great saving of the students’ time is effected eh | developing arithmetic, algebra, geometry, :% trigonometry side by side.” 1 statements contains a large claim, but we “a say without hesitation that Mr. Breslich’s volume _ is deserving of careful consideration by th teacher of elementary mathematics as a part © general culture. It is conceived on sound lines and if there are many minor points that inv criticism—Quot homines, tot sententiae—the one student who has mastered these pages will b in possession of a very satisfactory body mathematical equipment, and will be fully aware of its practical value in everyday life. His” point, in three dimensions; he will have acquired — something more than a vague idea of the nature of a proof; he will have the feeling that he has” assisted in the building up of something definite, | and full of meaning, with the aid of tools in the use of which he will see every reason of intere and utility for endeavouring to become more expert. His interest in the great mathematicians i Ms a NATURE 323 ie 21, 1917] al will have been aroused; he will, no doubt, have drawn from the portraits in the book ery vivid and characteristic conclusions as to the personal appearance of men like Klein, at, and Gauss; and, being a lucky American , his interest will have carried him yet further © the biographies in the school library. If this S indeed his gain, it is no small acquisition. In cases it is to be hoped that he will have ed to dispense with the irritating “Why?” peppers the pages with the doubtful timulus of a confession of weakness. -{3) Prof. Barnard’s volume is very straight- rd and is clearly written. The difficulties “ion and construction of examples he claims ve borne in mind the advantage of extensive ' applications and the necessity of con- appeal to fundamental principles. From ly satisfactory way of defining such quantities locity and acceleration.” The advantages of r analysis are very much in the (Australian) r at the moment, so we have a chapter on the neres beginnings” of the elements, which is be regarded as giving “an alternative method dealing with questions connected with parallelo- fam laws.” The value of what may be called a lerely incidental reference to the use of a power- l tool may be questioned. “O the little more d how much it is!” The direct treatment of nple harmonic motion as rectilinear motion der a given law of force is justified by the atement that “it has the advantage that the dent is not led to imagine that some special sle has to be thought of in connection with the 10 10 h, as is so commonly the case in the com- n method.” About one-fifth of the book is roted to rigid dynamics. Altogether it is a y interesting endeavour to smooth the path of zinner who is to continue his study of the when provided with the additional weapon d by the calculus. WJ, G: A eee) ee | _ ETRE TST OUR BOOKSHELF. @ Advanced Atlas of Physical and Political graphy. A New Series of Maps Specially ened for Schools, Colleges, and Private By Dr. J. G. Bartholomew. Pp. — 96 (London: Oxford University Press, 1917.) Price 8s. 6d. net. last a British firm has supplied the atlas for ch colleges and universities have been asking For anythin a general reference atlas it used to be neces- to go to Germany. The firm of Bartholomew now produced something far better than a lan atlas, and at a price that would be low in peace-time. Both in its plan and in its tion the atlas is excellent and is deserving | praise as the best atlas of its kind that has published. There are ninety-six plates of ; _ NO. 2486, VOL. 99], ‘between school work | | separate political maps in addition. maps, each plate 13} in. by 8} in., and a full index of names. Most plates contain plans and inset maps, and all are printed in colours. Every country is shown by an orographical map, which contains also political frontiers, railways, and a consider- able number of names. A few countries have All the oro- | graphical: maps are layer-coloured in brown and green. There are, in addition, vegetation, rain- fall, temperature, and population maps for each continent. The fineness of the workmanship and the excellence of the colour-printing are note- worthy and maintain the high reputation of the Edinburgh Geographical Institute. The geological ginners are not unknown to him, and in the-| map of Europe and the orographical maps of Ireland and of France with Belgium are three specially fine examples of cartography. Among | the first place. other features of this atlas it should be noted that the projections of all the chief maps are given, and that there are two plates illustrating projec- tions. The countries of Europe are shown on scales varying from 121,700,000 to I :5,000,000, | except Russia, which is on a somewhat small scale. It is an atlas that, will do much to promote the very necessary extension of geographical teaching which must be the immediate concern of this country. R. N. R. B. Food and Fitness: or Diet in Relation to Health. By James Long. Pp. ix+208. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1917.) Price 5s. net. THis book possesses a topical interest at the present time, inasmuch as it deals particularly with vegetable foods, giving details of their energy-values and cost at pre-war prices. Although the author states that he is not a vegetarian, the purport of the book is an ad- vocacy of vegetarian principles in diet. It is remarked that the knowledge displayed by owners of stock regarding the proper feeding of their animals is much more profound than that which applies to themselves, which is very true. An excellent chapter deals with the most economical foodstuffs, and the cereals and pulses easily take The author pleads with justice for an increase in vegetable foods and a decrease in animal ones as age advances and for economy, and the qualities and characters of the principal vegetables and fruits are described, together with suggestions on serving and cooking them. A chapter on the selection. of foods, including animal foods, gives many valuable hints, and another gives records of weights of food before tions are given on sleep and how to attain it, and tables of energy-values of the principal food- stuffs per penny cost complete the volume. While the author’s advocacy occasionally leads him to make statements which are not entirely correct, the book as a whole contains a great deal of sound and useful information, and the caterer and housewife who wish to economise will glean from it many valuable suggestions. _ . / and after cooking: Finally, some useful sugges-. + At teenenceit RNAS Sep: sm NATURE [JUNE 21, 1917 a 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, ‘vejected manuscripts intended for this ‘or any.:other part of NaturRE. No notice is taken of ‘anonymous communications. | The Origin of Flint. THE interesting letter of Sir E. Ray Lankester in NaTurE ‘of June 7 induces me to offer a brief account of ‘certain experiments I have been making :on ‘this subject. My interest in the origin of flint was -aroused by ‘the many fantastically shaped flints like gnarled roots that one comes across when walking’ over the Downs. These ‘are of many curious shapes, but an interesting point is that when complete there is often one ‘spot which looks like the gutter of a mould. es This suggests that ‘the silica might ‘have ‘trickled through ‘an opening in the chalk ‘held ‘up in ‘colloidal solution by carbonic acid, and then the carbonic acid, combining with the calciim carbonate of the chalk, formed soluble calcium bicarbonate, thus at the same time enlarging the cavity and producing the conditions for the deposit of the ‘silica, which is ‘ho longer held ‘up by the carbonic acid, and is precipitated by ‘the crystalloidal calcium ‘bicarbonate ‘ow gone into solu- ‘tion. This view is, moreover, supported by the tabular flints referred to by Sir E. Ray Lankester. A If a very dilute solution of sodium silicate be pre- pared by diluting ordinaty waterglass with. about 200 timeés its volume of water, this may be saturated with carbon dioxide without any precipitation, and the solu- tidn can be dialysed, so yielding a colloidal solution of silicic acid in carbonic acid. hae hee ‘When ‘a ‘piece of chalk is dipped ‘in this solution nothing happens immediately, “but” after twenty-four hours a-silicic gel appears on the chalk; in the absence of chalk the silicic acid solution keeps for some. weeks before passing from its metastable solution ‘over into EE 2 aes Cer ae Be a ‘attempt was thén made to simulate ‘natural flint formation by percolating colloidal silicic acid charged with carbonic acid through ‘chalk. . ‘i ; The chalk used was obtained’ from tHe South Downs near Jevington. A ¢ubical block was ‘sawn out about 3 in. -in the ‘side, about 4 in. in width and 2 in. in depth, and then a little chalk was scooped away to leave a shallow pit surrounding the hole. Several times daily this was filled up with ‘the dilute silicic acid solution during a period of more than thrée months, ‘until there was a solid core of silica in ‘the ‘place of ‘the former hole ‘in the chalk. “At ‘first the percolation ‘is rapid, but after about -a ‘week becotnes slower. The silicic acid jelly first formed ‘is very porous, and takes up water readily. Even when a silicic jelly has hardened until it is as hard as and more brittle than olass, it will go on taking up a remarkable amount of dilute silicic acid into. its pores, and giving off air-bubbles ‘with a singing noise- At the énd of ‘the experiment the bulk of the ‘chalk was sawn away, and the part containing the deposited ‘silica placed in dilute hydrochloric acid until nédrly all the chalk had been removed, Jeaving .just a thin layer at places to show contrast in colour; there -re- mained a cast of the tube and pit at the top resembling in shape a small toadstool. with a concave depressed top. This was insoluble in’ acid, dark brown in ‘colour, and semi-translucént. It looked like a flint, especially when wet, when it showed-up dark brown and semi- transparent against the small amount of chalk that had been left. The only thing lacking was the ex- NO. 2486, VOL. 99] | removed and new material has been substituted. a hole was drilled treme hardness of flint, for although harder than the ‘chalk and glassy, it crushed under ‘pressure more readily than flint. It still absorbed water, as do flints, and if there were many years of time to spare, it seemed as if it micht be possible by such a proce to arrive at true flinty hardness. he process was tedious, and for some reason w - I ‘cannot at ‘present understand did not always suc. ‘ceed; an attempt to feed ‘the growth with a wick 0 cotton ‘threads failed because of ‘an intéresting silicifi- cation on the fibres which stopped the flow. = = BENJAMIN Moore, Sir E. Ray LankesteEr’s difficulties as to the origin of flint (Nature, vol. xcix., p. 283) would be largely temoved if it were more generally recognised that vast majority of flints in all formations, excluding occasional examples deposited along fissures, — chemical replacements of the liméstones in which occur. Microscopic observation of thin ‘sections of course, furnished the most powerful confirma this view. The difficulties as to the cause of replacement are similar in the ‘case of all “co tions” where the original .rock-substance has now know that even ‘iron pyrites may thus replace sili cates or quartz, and that massive crystalline ores ne not represent the infilling of cavities. © a. May I refer to some views which ‘would dissociat flints from any special abundance of siliceous § along the horizons at which they occur (‘The mic Deposition of Flint,” Geological Magazine, 19 p. 64)? The traces of sponges found in flint see due to the fact that the deposition of the flint hi preserved them, while they have been ‘dissolved awe from other zones. The paper above ‘referred to be regarded as a supplement to ‘the general dis of work on flints in my ‘Rocks and their O (tor2), pp. 38-42. ~GRENVILEE.A J. : June 18. Wirn reference to Sir E. Ray Lankester’s i teresting notes on ‘‘The Origin ‘of Flint” in Natt of June 7, it is worthy of remark that ‘the structure black flints, referred to as consisting of minute ¢ of silica embedded in colloid ‘silica, may indice formation of such flints from. the gradual -erys tion of silicic acid gels. Many ‘cases of the p tion of micro-crystals in artificial inorganic and o gels are known; indeed, these usually break up tually with the development of such micro- or crvstals. The very slow crystallisation of gela ‘silica appears to be due largely to its small diffus constant and insolubility. _. §. C. BraDFoRD The Science Museum. South Kensington, London, S.W., June 14. Electric Discharge from Scythe. a On the afternoon of June 4 I was méwing a crop of grass with the scythe when I noticed a crack occurring during the cutting strokes. The did not occur at every stroke, but was sometimes three times during a stroke. The ‘noise -exae sembled a high-tension discharge, and I can th no explanation other than that the blade b charged, due to the friction on the very dry It would be interesting to repeat the experiment dark, but I fear the grass would ‘not be suff dry. I may. add that I am quite Satisfied that noise did not arise from the snapping of ‘dry ‘ste from the ‘scythe hitting stones, ¢tc. I should be interested to hear if any of your rea have had a similar experience. J. R. PANNELL Twickenham, Middlesex. JUNE 21, 1917} ‘ical RE 3 ay THE RAMSAY MEMORIAL FUND. HE ‘executive committee of the projected _ memorial to the late Sir William Ramsay ‘now issued an appeal to the public for the of I00,000l. to. carry out its objects. The intentions of the committee are described briefly the subjoined letter, which we trust will be iven earnest consideration and be madé widely wn among people in the position to give the nancial support necessary to establish the norial on a sound basis. The organisation of 1 ovement for a memorial to Sir William ay was described in an article in NATURE y 10. The final form to be taken by the ial will depend upon the fund obtained, it the: main objects are the institution of ‘Ram: Research Fellowships and the establishment 4 Ramsay Memorial Laboratory of Engineering themistry at University College, London. The already subscribed by Sir William Ramsay’s s, and through their private . efforts, ats to. more than 14,000]. This includes e generous gift of 5oool. from Messrs. Brunner, ad Ltd.; 10001. each from Lord Glenconner, Hue? eal, Sir Ralph C. Forster, Sir Robert ield, Mr. Robert Mond, and Mr. J. B. ; and 500l. each from the president of. the och Science Guild (Sir William Mather), Mr. arles Hawksley, and Miss Lilias Noble. : projected memorial has, been conceived scale and in a form not unworthy of the ‘mame it is designed to perpetuate, and it om hoped that the scheme will be carried to completion by the good will and : osity of a very large public. at is made has three features In the first place it is ; the first crucial test put upon the public will show how far the public opinion of ntry, after the stimulus of things revealed e war, has come to appreciate the. worth. of who lead. in the advance of scierice. In ond place it asks for the endowment of e Sidy of science in special relation to its ustrial application by the institution of some- ‘new in kind. Everyone admits the supreme ttance for industry of a close association \ Hee chemistry and engineering. Discussion > the possibility of a new type of university t in the form of chemical engineers or r-chemists has recently been eager, and ocate has been more persuasive than Prof. * y Gi William Ramsay’ S, successor at sity College, London. ~* However opinion _TMmay differ on some aspects of the question, all “will agree that there is much that may be done L he direction desired, and it will be entirely ant with Sir William Ramsay’ s, interests t his enterprise that first-rate provision should made for this new experimental development emical education. — pag Nate appeal, made to the whole country, for ing that i is to exist in substance one “gt It is greatly to be hoped that ‘NO. 2486, VOL. 99} a ‘to the national life, both ‘tis will in no degree impede support. It is. very necessary that it should be realised in connec- tion with the highest education that there must. be some localisation of special branches, and’ this is eminently a case of the kind. -The particular centre of localisation must be determined by the circumstances of the case. Centralisation in London is -not likely to be. carried beyond a cer- tain point, but in the present instance it. can scarcely be considered as otherwise than appropriate, if only from the consideration that the longest and greatest labours of Sir William Ramsay’s splendid career were during the tenure of his professorship at University College. eS The scientific world may be _ confidently expected to give its utmost support to the memorial not only by subscribing to.the fund, but also by bringing: the scheme before all who are interested in the promotion of national develop- ment through science. We trust that the appeal . for funds will meet with a ready and generous response from a large public. A COMMITTEE has been formed with the object of raising a suitable memorial to-the late Prof. Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., by collecting a substantial fund to be utilised for the purpose of pro- moting chemical teaching and research. The committee, after prolonged and careful con- ‘sideration, has resolved to aim at raising a sum of 100,000. , ang to devote that sum to two- principah objects, viz. (1) The provision of Ramsay research failogaee tenable wherever the necessary equipment may be found. (2) The establishment of a Ramsay Memorial _ Laboratory of Engineering Chemistry in connection with University College, London. We should hesitate to, ask for so large a sum of money in such exceptionally difficult times, were it not that the objects specified are objects of real and urgent national importance. The war has demonstrated in @ manner previously unrealised the supreme import- ance of scientific, and m particular chemical, research in the conduct of the war and in the pursuits of industry and manu- facture. The late Sir William Ramsay was himself engaged up to within a comparatively short time of his death in various important problems concerned with the bearing of chemistry upon the war, and no one realised more complete'y than he the potentialities of the plans which have since been formulated by this committee as a memorial to him. It is important that the fund should be raised - speedily, so that the plans for the laboratory of engineering chemistry and the scheme for the, award of fellowships may be prepared before the end of the war, and so that both schemes may begin to operate with as little delay as possible after the return of ace. FF ocopdiagly we desire, through the columns of your paper, to appeal to friends and admirers of the late Sir William Ramsay, to oid students, and to all persons who are interested in chemistry and its application to industry and manufacture, to contribute to this great rational and international memorial to. the late Sir William Ramsay, and to send their subscriptions to 326 NATURE atin [JUNE ab 1917 the hon. treasurers of the Ramsay Memorial Fund at University College, London, W.C.1, ' H, H. Asguitu. President, D. Litoyp GEORGE. GAINFORD, RAYLEIGH. Reay. Vice-Presidents. ROSEBERY. H. A. L. Fisuer. | J. J. THomson. ( ‘. Hucu BELL. GLENCONNER. June 16. ‘ Chairman of the Execu- | tive Committee. Treasurer, THE CATERPILLAR ATTACK ON FRUIT TREES, Ae deal has been heard recently about the caterpillar plague on fruit trees. There has undoubtedly been an abnormal attack in many parts of the country, and much damage has been done. In some parts of Kent, Sussex, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire orchards have been denuded of their foliage, and many more partially damaged. In many instances not only has this year’s promising crop gone, but the trees have had a serious setback for next season. Apples and cherries have suffered most, but in a few districts plums have been badly invaded; currants also have suffered. In some districts visited much of the fruit was’ only slightly affected ; some orchards well cared for, not at all; whilst others were as bare as in midwinter, and a fresh set of leaves was already appearing. Most of the harm has been done by. the Winter Moth (Cheimatobia brumata). In company with it has been a fair sprinkling of the Mottled Umber (Hybernia defoliaria) larve. Another “Looper ” larva has done much harm in parts of Herefordshire, the Pale Brindle Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria), and also in Kent and at one locality in Sussex; it is usually worst in planta- tions near oakwoods. Comparatively few March Moth (Anisopteryx aescularia) have occurred. All those mentioned have either apterous or ‘nearly apterous females, and are incapable of flight. A - few are, however, carried by the males in copula. From several localities in Kent and Sussex num- bers of Clouded Drab Moth (Taeniocampa in- stabilis) have been received; this insect appears to be becoming more harmful to fruit in the south of England. The main damage done has clearly been due to the insects mentioned, by far the greater part by the Winter Moth, the Pale Brindle Beauty - having been very harmful i in a few localities only. These caterpillars have now done most of their work, but the fruit-grower is still being harassed to some extent by the ‘Lackey Moth (Clissio- campa neustria) and the Little Ermine (Hypono- meuta padella). How far these attacks will de- velop it is impossible to say. The amount of loss has been due very largely to the serious lack of labour. Many plantations have been improperly cultivated or, from lack of labour, not cultivated at all. It has too often been quite impossible to spray the trees, and even NO 2ARK waAT hUAnt last year there were not sufficient men on many farms effectually to grease-band them, For Winter Moth and its allies two methods of treat-_ ment meet with ‘complete success, if. properly — carried out, which can only be with the necessary — supply of skilled labour. The first is grease- — banding; the second, spraying with arsenate of lead, where the former cannot be done, as on ‘bush trees or where such pests as the Clouded — Drab Moth occur, If grease-banding on stz “i dards and half-standards is to be of any use, the ~ bands must remain sticky from October to April, — and the bands must be complete, not, as the — writer has seen this year, with many breaks in | them, If arsenate of lead spraying is done, then, | it must be carried out at the proper time and — thoroughly. Many growers have sprayed when | 4 they found the blossom trusses going and the leaves fast disappearing, This is too late, f the damage is done, the caterpillar working mo rapidly towards the close of its life. Apr should be sprayed as soon as the buds are w open, and may have to be sprayed again when he blossom trusses begin to expand. One good spray- ing as soon as the young “ Looper ” larve are se€ will save the crop, whilst to spray when all t damage is done is waste of time and money. ~ Most of the loss this season to apples and other fruit could, and doubtless would, have been saved had proper provision been made fo the necessary skilled labour. One other point is worth mentioning, namely, that during the winter in many districts there wa: a great mortality amongst sparrows. sparrow, especially when nesting, devours -Winte Moth larve and undoubtedly helps to keep them in check, which, however, will not make up for its many evil habits. FreD. V. THEOBALD. — ba , PROF. T. MCKENNY HUGHES, F.R.S HOMAS McKENNY HUGHES, Wood wardian professor of geology in the Univer- sity of Cambridge, died at Cambridge on June in his. eighty-fifth year. Hughes was born at Aberystwyth, and was | rh son of the Rev. Joshua Hughes (afterwalg a Bishop of St. Asaph), and grandson of Thomas McKenny, Bart., who took a promi n en part in promoting Catholic emancipation in Ire land. His brother is Bishop of Llandaff. ©; leaving school, he entered Trinity College, Cam bridge, where he graduated in 1857, proceed to the M.A. degree ten years later. Mba undergraduate he attended the geological lectu re of his predecessor in the Woodwardian chat Prof. Sedgwick. In 1860 he was appointed s tary to the British. Consul at Rome, and du part of that and the following year was ‘aft t ; charge as Acting Consul; but before the year 186 | closed he definitely gave up diplomacy for geo= logy, and joined H.M. Geological Survey. Te was a member of the Survey until 1873, when ne was elected to the Woodwardian professorship. From that date until his death his time and energy ° were devoted to the cause of the Cambrid cf Re ess NATURE 327 ol of Geology, with a ‘success which is fully ed by the high position which that school w occupies. dughes’s life-work may be conveniently re- arded under two heads: his original work in seology and archzology, and his labours in con- nection with the Cambridge School. The greater art of his geological researches was carried out uz his period of service on the Geological ey and the earlier part of that of his occu- y of the Woodwardian chair. The duties of ofessorship became heavier as time went on, the output of geological papers naturally minished, though it by no means ceased. Dur- ig this time he found a pleasant relaxation from ficial work in archeological study, and enriched wany archeological journals with contributions of msiderable interest and value, many of which ealt with the antiquities of the Cambridge dis- ini = Ss most important geological writings were erned with some of the earliest and the latest sits. He took a prominent part in the estab- ent of the pre-Cambrian age of certain rocks | North and South Wales, and .wrote much of alue concerning the Lower Palzozoic rocks of the rit ey and of the borders of Lakeland. He yas greatly attracted by the many vexed ques- ys connected with the Glacial and post-Glacial especially those bearing upon the em of the antiquity of mam: here, also, he d much to our knowledge. = value of Hughes’s work was gracefully sed by Sir Archibald Geikie when, as nt of the Geological Society, he presented _ with the Lyell medal in 1891 :—‘‘ You not confined yourself . . . to the rocks of 2 system or period, but have ranged freely m Archzean gneiss to raised beach, hovering for moment here and resting a little there, generally , almost always suggestive, and with that faculty of enthusiasm which, reacting on minds, ‘allures to older worlds, and ; the way.’ ” now to Hughes’s work in connection Cambridge School of Geology, one was tuck by his many qualities making for success. | addition to his scientific attainments, he pos- ssed an acute instinct for judging character, pounded energy, and an exceptional degree of m, which he retained to the end. Not of his qualities were those social ones causing him to be a favourite among all were peculiarly valuable when dealing with hose with whom he was brought into contact in official capacity. He exercised a wise ‘control his department, Using much judgment in the tion of his subordinates, he ever afterwards ed them a freedom of action which not only €d a smoothness in the working of the unery, but also greatly increased its efficiency. n of the teaching was left to the lecturers LiiuSia CTI} ay c attractive and highly appreciated. es as a teacher stood out most prominently ducting field excursions, whether around a4le xaAr. An] trat i me ators, but his own courses were |) 2 454 graduate and teacher. His | Cambridge or in other parts of the country. Few gatherings were more delightful than those at his long excursions, and the amount of knowledge acquired by his pupils was great, for Hughes was at his very best on these occasions. Hughes was very successful in inducing people to take up the study of geology, and was respon- sible for the addition of many to the ranks of that body which is now becoming all too limited —that of the amateur geologists. To all students alike he was accessible and ever ready with help in the museum and at his home. Here he was greatly aided by his accomplished wife, who died last year. She was the daughter of the Rev. G. F. Weston, Hon. Canon of Carlisle, and was an able geologist and naturalist. Owing partly to Hughes’s own exertions, partly to his persuasive manner, he left the collections in the Sedgwick Museum, already valuable at the time of his election to the professorship, much enriched by his labours. Especially noteworthy is the collection of building stones, marbles, etc., - brought together by Mr. John Watson, M.A., through the professor’s influence, for he was fully aware of the importance which economic geology must assume in university study. Not only did he add largely to the collections, but, after many delays, he had the satisfaction of seeing them housed in the magnificent Sedgwick Museum, which, largely owing to his unwearied efforts, was completed and finally opened by King Edward VII. in 1904.. Another task which partly fell to him was the writing of the life of his predecessor in office. This was finished in 1891, when “The Life and“ Letters of the Reverend Adam Sedgwick,” by John Willis Clark and Thomas McKenny Hughes, appeared. For want of space, full notice cannot be taken of his many activities unconnected or only in- directly connected with geology, but mention must be made of his interest in agriculture. He took an active part in the proceedings of the Cambridge and Isle of Ely Chamber of Agriculture, of which he was a past-president. Some of the positions which Hughes occupied and the honours he received have already been mentioned. In addition, he was a professorial fellow of Clare College, F.R.S., and honorary member of many British and foreign learned societies. He was also a Chevalier of the order SS. Maurice et Lazarus (Italy). It is interesting to note that Hughes and his predecessor occupied the Woodwardian chair for ninety-nine years. He leaves three sons, all of whom are serving in the Army. J. E. Marr. NOTES. A MEMORIAL tablet, including a medallion portrait of the late Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., is to be erected in the University of Glasgow, of which The University Court has arranged that the memorial, which is designed by Sir John J. Burnet, shall be placed in-a conspicuous position at the entrance to the Bute Hall, 328 NATURE [June 21, 1917 | In order to-promote the further development of the dye-making industry, in the United Kingdom, the President.of: the Board of Trade has decided to estab- lish a special temporary department of the Board of ‘Trade to' deal with matters relating to the encourage- ment, organisation, and, so far as’ necessary, the' regu- “lation of that industry. “The department will’ be: ander ‘the direction of Sir-Evan Jones, Bart., who has plated his* services ‘at the'disposal of the President, and will ‘have the official title of Commissioner for Dyes. ‘The Commissioner wil! act in*close consultation with the various dye-making-and dye-using interests concerned. ‘Any communications on the subject should be ad- “dressed to :—Commissioner for Dyes, Board of Trade, ‘” Whitehall Gardens, London, S:W.1. ‘We learn from the Scientific Monthly that. the Coun- cil of National Defence and the U.S. National Re- “search Council have sent six American’ men of science -to- England and France to study. problems arising out of the war. Members of the party: and the subjects in which -they will specialise are:—Dr. J; S. Ames, Johns Hopkins University, ‘aeronautical ‘conditions ; Dr. R. P. Strong, Harvard University, and Dr. L. R. ‘Williainis, ‘assistant health commissioner of New York State, héalth and sanitation; G. A. Hulett, Princeton “University, chemistry of explosives; Dr.°H.‘F. ‘Reid, - Johns Hopkins -University, scientific map-making and -photography: from aeroplanes; and Dr.’ G. R. Burgess, of the Federal Bureau: of Standards, metals suitable for guns: and rigid dirigibles. “As*a‘result'of a long series of experiments an‘ im- portant use for horse-chesthuts has been found in con- ‘nection with'the war, one of the principal results’ of ‘which will. be the liberation of a large quantity of maize hitherto:used for another. purpose. An appeal _has been issued by the Food (War) Committee of the Royal Society for the systematic collection of horse- chestnut seeds during the forthcoming season. ‘It is estimated! that every ton of chestnuts collected will ‘be equivalent to half a ton of maize, so that the careful collection of all the available supplies becomes a’ matter of vital:importance. Any quantity up to 17,000 tons of chestnuts. per week can -be*used. -An-organisation for the collection and transport of this’ hitherto waste product is being, perfected, details of which will be announced later. The work of ‘collecting is one in which many people-can’ render service, as the trees are so universally grown, afid gathering’ the nuts is'a matter of'no difficulty. Owing to the fine weather during ‘the blossoming ' tite, there'is* every prospect this yearvof a heavy crop ‘of chestnuts. i Tue President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has appointed an Advisory Committee . to considér and report upon technical questions of. poultry management and feeding, ‘both ‘in “general ‘and ‘in ‘detail, ‘and on ‘general ‘questions ‘of the organisation | ‘of the poultry industry, with the view of securing that the readjustment. of the industry to war conditions shall be made-in the ‘most -approved manner. ‘The committee “is ‘constituted as follows:—Mr. T, W. Toovey (chairman), National Utility Poultry Society ; Mr. Gerald Martin, Ministry of Food; Mr. P. A. Fran- cis, Board of Agriculture for Scotland; Mr. Wilfred Buckley, Agricultural Organisation Society; Mr. Tom Barron, National Utility Poultry Society; Mr. W. G. Tarbet, Utility Duck Club; Mr. Tom Néwmian, Scien- ‘tific Poultry Breeders’ Society; Mr. C. ‘Longbottom, Northern: Utility Poultry Society ; Mr.'F. M. Young- ‘man, J.P., Framlingham ‘and Eastern’ Counties ‘Ege ‘and 'Poultry Co-operative Society; and Mr. G. Tyr- ‘whitt Drake, Poultry Club; ‘also a tepresentative, | NO. 2486, VoL. 99] as when required, of the Poultry Research Society, ‘Tl ie ‘secretary is Mr. J. R. Jackson, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 4 Whitehall Place, S.W.1.. ‘Tue ‘Edison medal of the American Institution ‘Electrical Engineers has been awarded to’Mr.: Niko Tesla,‘ for early original work in: polyphase and hi frequency '‘€lectric currents, © Ae ~ AccoRDING ‘to notices in the French 'Press, “Société des Mines dela Loire has just started the of two electric furnaces of 500 kilowatts for the mai facture of synthetic pig-iron, utilising current: from own generating station. ; APPLICATIONS are invited for the'Dr. Jessie gregor’prize for medical ‘science of the Royal Co of Physicians, Edinburgh. The prize is of the 'v. of about. 75]., and is awarded triennially for the’ record of ‘original work in the science of medi Candidates for the prize must send’ their applica before July 23 next. PG WirH reference to a paragraph which appeared in © Nature of June 14 (p. 312), the (Italian) General Council of Limited Liability Companies Has considere the proposal of the Scientifico-Technical Committe regards contributions by manufacturers ‘towards ‘scheme for improving science laboratories in ‘Italy. The manufacturers present at the meeting decider unanimously on an annual grant of 25,000 lire for th ‘object mentioned. Sta . ‘Dr. H.R. Mitr records, in the Times of June % that the thunderstorm between 5) ‘and/7’ p.m. (sumime time) on Saturday, June 16, was, if measured by rai fall, one of the most severe ever experienced in-Lot ‘don. More than 2 in. fell over an area measuring te miles from Barnes to Finsbury Park and four from Hyde Park to Willesden Gréen. At two. within this area more than 3 in. was reported 3:20 in. at Campden Hill, Kensington, and 3-37 ‘Barrow Hill, north of-Regent’s Park. Such f. a short period have only been exceeded in the area, so far'as' Dr. ‘Mill has been able to-ascertai 3°42 in, at Blackheath on July 23, 1903, and by- at’ Hampstead on April 10, 1878. On June 23, 18 Mr. Symons recorded at Camden Square a fall o 3:28 in. in about an hour and a half; on Saturday 1 the recording gauge showed that 2°86 in. fell in t hours, and no heavier rain has been recorded ‘at den Square in fhe thirty-nine intérvening years. Tue Geological Survey of -Ireland has - suffe further: loss in the death of Lieut. Horas T. Ke who was killed on June 6 during: the great oper. south of Ypres. Lieut. Kennedy was born in in 1889, but was of Irish parentage. “After sec senior scholarshin’ at ‘Trinity Collége,, Cambridge taking a first’class in’ the Natural Seienée Trip ‘gained, by open competition, the post of Geolog the Geological: Survey of ‘Ireland in+1913. His lay in the re-examination’ of the‘ Leinster coalfi view of industrial developments in that district was also about to undertake the revision of © Silurian strata-in western Ireland,’ where he undoubtedly have shown ‘his powers of original 1m ‘search; but he. obtained ‘a ‘Gommission ‘in! the Nor Staffordshire Regiment when‘ war broke out, and W transferred later to the Royal Scots! Fusiliers. ‘Durin a short period of leave in. the autumn of 1916, he ried the second daughter ofthe Very: Rev. C. T. O den, Dean of St, Patrick’s, Dublin. His scien training led to his being attached to the R Engineers at the close of that year. He was ke Jour 21, 1917] NATURE ewe Se en oki .e forward to’a return to work in*his own coun- ry at the conclusion’ 6f the war,-and the‘loss of his € comradeship is deeply ‘felt by his colleagues on uz .death occurred at Leeds,.on June 7, at fifty- y years of. age, of “Mr. -Samuel: Margerison,.a well- own Yorkshire botanist and-authority on afforesta- on. ‘Mr. Margerison did valuable: work:as.a member the’ Yorkshire Botanical ‘Survey:Committee of the orkshire Naturalists’ Union, and being :an -enthu- astic and skilful gardenér,, he was for some time a ominent and active-member of the: North of England lorti sultural Society. As an expert in. afforestation, s advice and help were frequently: sought: by various al authorities, and he had-given expert assistance to » Leeds Corporation Waterworks Committee. in its sheme for the afforestation of the Washburm Valley, ar Otley. At: the Bradford meeting of | the British ociation in 1901 he read an interesting paper. on tish sylviculture,,in- which, he pointed out the great ance of maintaining an adequate -supply «of timbers. He directed attention.especially: to! the st that although the natural conditions in! this country Jess favourable, the comparison: of the results Continental. sylviculture .with .ours sshows that. our 3 productive. He emphasised :stronglv the in this country, of a sound and effective training entific forestry, with adequate practical:and scien- ruipment, worthy of the subject «and of its im. 2as'a national industry. ~ NIsts will learn .with deep regret of the death ay 29 of Dr. Sarah M. Baker at the early age ty-nine. Dr. Baker was asstudent-of Univer- liege, London, from 1905. She graduated in (chemistry: and botany) in 1909, and proceeded D.Sc. in.1913. For five years she haa held: the on of Quain student in the department of botany, | was shortly .to have been appointed to a new a ip specially created for her. The investiga- s ich she completed in a relatively short period act ivity tend to emphasise the loss which science has ned. Her paper entitled *‘ Quantitative Experi- on the Effect-of Formaldehyde on Living * (1913): shows: her mastery ‘of biochemical tech- ue, and may-serve asa model of what such an estiga tion should . be. s work that Dr. Baker devised the very ingenious ymatic waterer whereby the culture-plants could be m seed and grown'on for long periods without ace of iany -kind «with ithe progress of the : ‘This contribution was followed by re- S$ on osmotic phenomena, with especial | refer- 1e- mechanism of entry and: transport of water 3s. ‘Dr. : Baker was led tothe assumption: of ro- and aero-permeable regions in reots, the mer admitting the-nutrient salts, the latter vapour ich underwent: condensation. \Her preliminary paper On the.Liquid Pressure Theory of the Circulation of p in Plants,” as was to be expected, met with a d deal of criticism. The full paper dealing with ‘work was only recently completed and will, it ‘be hoped, ‘be published shortly. “In -addition to >, there was a series of! four papers on’ the ecology sea Island, at Blakeney Point, and elsewhere. awings which illustrate some of these are fine aples of line work, deserving of'the highest praise. into whatsoever she undertook. Thus for pose Of a nublic lecture recently delivered on NO. 2486, VOL. 99] Athy ~ ent is generally inferior, .and ‘our forests - It ‘was in «connection «with - d biology of brown seaweeds, based on’ field’ inves- | at ee ee eee een y CORE | Haviland, they supplement them by describing the ;: characteristic of Dr. Baker ‘to throw herself | vegetable dyes, she worked’ through the whole chemical basis of.the subject, and’ was not content until she had discovered a number of new dyes by the employment of mordants not’ previously used. -At’the time’ of her death she was investigating critically the bread-making value of a number of substitutes “for wheaten flour. Dr. 'Baker had many interests outside ther scientific work, and it‘is possible that*the cumulative draft on her energies may have hastened her’death. ‘Her loss will be felt as a personal bereavement ‘by all her: col- leagues and pupils. 7 ee Unper the title of ““Thirty Years’ Work ' MARURE 833 ns, and the researches are assisted by a grant from e Treasury. The income during the past year was eve 70,0001., an increase of nearly 20,000]. over of the preceding year. The. major part of this _is received in payments for work done, and this sa serious financial liability. Much attention been given recently to the question of the future he laboratory, and in particular to its relations the Department of Scientific and Industrial Re- ch, and a scheme ‘will no doubt be arranged reby close relations with the department will be PEAT AND ITS USES. ( ONSIDERABLE interest attaches “to ‘a recent ™“\ article in La Nature on ‘ Peat,” in view -of'the creasing attention being paid to the use of this sub- stance to replace coal in countries in which the latter - A 4 2s at or difficult to obtain. The author of the title, M. Renié, discusses concisely the distribution sat-beds in the various countries, the treatment -and pressing) of peat and-its uses. He does ot pretend that it can compete successfully with coal, except where freights for the transport of the latter are essive. The best solution; he suggests, is to transform t on the spot into energy, and to’ recuperate the by- roducts “The drying: and mechanical treatment: must refully carried out. so as to render the fuel..as ~as| possible. “The pressing operation int ss the specific: gravity of ‘dried peat: from o-7 to 3. The cost of treating-is not high. 'Ekenberg has m that peat heated for a»short time ata tempera- ‘above "150° C. loses ‘its gelatinous consistency, thus allows of its being dried by compression. final product is usually converted: into briquettes ‘the addition ofa ‘birider.” in the “agglomerate form has not, however, ‘satisfactory in practical use, and to get over ficulty the use of peat in powdered form has posed, a factory having been opened at Back n) to-carry outa process invented by Ekelund, is ‘kept sécret. Special. grates have to be used ing powdered peat, and in steam-raising in largesgrate areas and closely spaced bars, with modification of the furnace draught, are J enNieo connection with the use of peat for steam-raising, following quantities “Of steam are raised from “kilo of the following :—Corpressed peat, 4-3: kg. ; lalf-coke, 66 -kgi; coal, 7-4 kg. Peat>can be irburised ‘for the extraction - of - coke and ‘ volatile is, a Ziegler continuous-type -furnace - being Peat coke ly used in’ Germafy and Russia. and the used “for metallurgical purposes, oked ”» peat for=Steam-raismg. ~Particulars of l€ process are given in’ the-article. ‘It is also. possible ) extract ammonia water and tars,’ the latter giving, distillation, light and heavy oils and phenol. .The ‘of! methyl-alcohol is’ about :3:7-kg. from a: ton of andi3*kg. ammonia sulphate and 9 kg. of’acetate at ‘is’ successfully used in Sweden, in. combination “a ‘gas-producer, for working engifes -of . the sté=Sas"’) type. From: one-ton of : peat -2000 to cubic metres of gas,*giving from 1200 to 1400 ‘per cubic metre, are obtained. As the author Sut, special care is needed in ‘purification. is advantageously ‘used asa litter, owing to its ising ‘properties, while-during the war the Ger- ave°employed it extensively asa substitute for nt cotton for baridages. Its: antiseptic’-proper- known E. S.,Hopeson. 2486, VoL. 99] SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. F OR the past’ three years war and the consequences. of war have dominated our thoughts and.com-’ pelled our actions. May we not hope now that the time is coming when we-shall reap the fruits of the heroic efforts of those who have died that England might ‘live? How can we best learn the lessons of this terrible time and turn the experience we have gained to the future welfare of our country? The question is much too wide and far-reaching to be dealt with in a single lecture, and it is beyond my powers. to attempt to handle it in a general manner. “I wish to deal only with one aspect. We realised at a very early date that science was. to be an important factor in success, and while against the heroism of our men all that the science of -our- foes. could do proved unavailing, it was clear that brave and self-sacrifice without the aid which science oad bring would fail to. give us victory. Let me. remind you of some few of the methods in which scientific investigation has aided our cause; they are so obvious as to need little more than a passing reference. , Take flying, for example. Every part of a modern aeroplane is the product of a highly specialised science, In the machine itself, to combine strength with light- ness, to select the right material for each part, to design the wings so that they.may bear the gréatest weight and offer the least resistance to the motion, to give the body ample strength to withstand the. shocks of alighting, and yet not weight the machine unduly—all these points and many ‘others have been the subject of long and difficult scientific exam- ination. has ye At the National Physical Laboratory there are five wind channels continually in use to test-on models all the various factors on which the aerodynamic efficiency of a machine depends. Two of. these channels are 7 ft. in diameter and nearly 80 ft. in length; in one wind speeds up to sixty miles an hour can be obtained. The model is attached to a specially designed balance, or dynamometer, .and the forces it experiences in various positions relative to the wind are measured; from these data the behaviour.of the machine in flight is determined. - Here Mr. Bairstow: and: his colleagues have worked out the practical conditions of. stability of motion and determined: by. many ingenious. devices the constants which occur in the theory. That theory was first given in a-general form by Bryan, the theory of the disturbed motion of a body: moving in. three dimensions, under gravity, the thrust. of. the propeller, and the resistance of the air. _The quadratic which gives the energy in. terms of the six .co-ordinates_and velocities corresponding. to the: six. degrees of freedom of the body contains. twenty-one constants. Conditions of symmetry reduce these-in number; the air channel experiments afford the means for determining _ their values,-and thus predicting -the properties of the machine. The work at-Teddington would have proved of little value »without - the corresponding full-seale experiments. brilliantly carried out at Farnborough by two Cambridge men, E. H..Busk and Keith Lucas, who gave their lives for the cause, and now continued’ by two other Cambridge men, Farren and George Paget Thomson. -The name of Busk is,» I trust,: to be “commemorated in Cambridge by a scholarship founded’ in his memory by friends who admired his powers and loved the man. But it is'not ‘only in the structure of the aeroplane: that science has done its, part. The engine brought problems! of. the highest. complexity, which are being 1 From’ ‘the’ Rede’ Lecture,’ ‘delivered! at Cambridge°on June 9° by Gir Richard Glazebrook, C.B., F.R.S. : 334 : Feo NATURE 52 [JUNE 21, 1917 E solved by patient application and earnest endeavour. Large powers are needed; the various parts move at great speed, hence strength is essential, but the weight _ must be kept down; at the same time endurance is necessary; risk of untimely failure must be reduced and the pilot made as secure as possible. Here the metallurgist has been at work, producing alloys little heavier than aluminium, yet comparable in strength with steel, and suitable for many new demands, and’ in this field Dr. Rosenhain, of the National Physical Laboratory, has arrived at many important results, Or consider the instruments the pilot needs to deter- mine his height, his speed, or the direction in which he is moving to enabie him to drop his bomb at the right moment, or to sight his gun on his enemy as the two planes come within range. Cambridge, as repre- sented by Horace Darwin and Keith Lucas, has done yeoman service in these various fields, while in all our many discussions on theory we have profited by the great knowledge and the clear thinking of our Chan- _cellor—Lord Rayleigh, president of the Advisory Com- mittee for Aeronautics. r Again, turning to another subject, consider the science involved in the manufacture of a big gun and its ammunition, or in the calculation of the trajectory of its projectile. Many gun problems are not new; artillerists had long realised the importance of experi- ment and calculation, the manufacturer to test his steel and determine the safe stresses to which it could be subject, the gunner to measure the resistance to the motion of the shell to plot its trajectory, determine its time of flight for various ranges, set his fuse, and design his sights so that his shooting might be accurate. But the long-range gunnery of our modern ships and the high-angle fire required for anti-aircraft work, have each introduced new difficulties, and in solving these Cambridge men, such as Littlewood, Hill, Richmond. ' Herman, Gallop, and Fowler, have been well to the fore, while for anti-aircraft work the Bennett height- finder in one of its many forms is in general use in the Allied Armies. One striking feature has been the development of -methods of accurate workmanship. With some few exceptions all the gauges for munitions pass through the National Physical Laboratory. About 400,000 have been dealt with in the last eighteen or twenty months. At first we were in despair. The limits of accuracy which the inspection department fixed were extremely narrow—in some cases only three ten-thousandths of an inch. Rejections were very numerous; to supply the requirements appeared impossible, but now gauges are examined at the rate of about 10,000 a week, and some 80 per cent. pass as a matter of course. Some firms get practically all their gauges through. Careful scientific examination of the causes of error, improved methods of manufacture, and a firmer grasp of the essentials have produced this change; the standard of manufacture has been gradually improved, and results at first thought unattainable have been realised. Physics and engineering would afford many dthet instances, such as improvements in means of signal- ling, wireless telegraphy, sound-ranging, and weather prediction. : Chemistry and the biological sciences have contri- buted more than their full share, and though I cannot claim to speak with first-hand knowledge of the achieve- ments of medical science, I must mention some facts for which I am indebted to the kindness of Surg.- Gen. Sir Alfred Keogh and Col. Webb, who informs me that the annual admission ratio for all causes other than wounds in action in France is approxi- mately 428 per tooo. In the following campaigns the corresponding ratios were :— NO. 2486, vor. 99] ‘the application of the discoveries of pure science Egypt, 1882 at ats anes BAO aes Nile, 1884-5 $40 tes ace: SP ae Dongola, 1896... vos) Cone ea Nile, 1898 ... ka ae PP eH he South Africa ae aie 843. China, 1900-1... in 19. 993 ha ae In France the annual admission ratio = For typhoid fever is ... ie o-9 per 1000. And for the whole typhoid ; (aa group of diseases ... wee - 2% 59 1000, In South Africa the annual admission ratio x For enteric fever was +++ 130 per 1000, And for enteric fever plus other c continued fevers 200 204 1) (LODE a The figures speak eloquently of the triumphs medicine, and the wonderful results achieved by devotion of doctors. and nurses. | The war has brought home to us, in a way only an event of its magnitude can do, the depenc of the modern world on science and the advancem: natural knowledge; the need, then, is that when p comes we should use this great power to the f repair the ravages of war, oy ie A distinction is often drawn nowadays between science and industrial science. I saw somewhere r cently a protest against the use-of the latter_ term Science is one, and industrial science—so-calle the problems of industry. Huxley wrote long ago “What people call applied science is nothin; the . application of pure ‘science to par problems.” It is essential that we should rem. this, and strive here in the first place for the ad ment of pure science. es Scientific investigations we may divide into classes : those in pure science which are directed to the advancement of natural knowledge, th covery of Nature’s laws, and those which ha their aim the application of these discoveries processes of our everyday life in art, or commer manufacture. There is no need to lay stress in room on the paramount importance of the first The Cavendish professor, speaking recently in don, said truly: ‘‘The discoveries in applied s may produce a reformation; those in pure scien to revolutions.” : The R6ntgen rays, as Sir J. J. Thomson — pointed out, were studied first as one means 1 we might hope to learn something of the na electricity. They are now the surgeon’s trusted . telling him how to direct his knife and restore his to health: and strength. Pasteur’s work comm in an inquiry into the crystallographic difference: certain chemical substances, leading him to the that certain kinds of chemical fermentation ar to the action of living organisms which are not BD spontaneously in the fermenting material, but derived from infection. Lister seized on this ¢ applied it to medicine and surgery. The m statistics of the war will show, when they prepared, something of what the world measured in lives saved for future work, to these discoveries; the amount of pain the sufferers been spared is immeasurable. : Lord Moulton, in his preface to “Science an Nation,” refers with special pleasure to Dr. Rose! essay on modern metallurgy. The foundation o work rests on Sorby’s application of the metho petrographic research to investigate the properties meteorites, and on the study of the thermo-€ properties of metals due to Seebeck, Peltier. the sections thin enough to be transparent, and examining them under the microscope. Sorby in 1861 found it was not possible to examine metals thus, and developed the art of polishing the surface and etching it with suitable chemicals, thus bringing out the internal structure. Its application to engineering problems passed unnoticed until the method was in- dependently revived by Osmond in France, and Mar- tens in Germany. Seebeck discovered that when in a ‘circuit of two metals a difference of temperature exists between the junctions, an electric current is produced in the circuit. The strength of this current is a measure of the difference in temperature, and this discovery was applied many years later by Le Chatelier to construct a thermocouple for the measurement of temperature in metallurgical processes. Applying these two instruments of research, metallurgists have now a clear idea of the structure of the more impor- fant metals and alloys used in industry, and of the manner in which the properties which fit them for their various uses are related to that structure. The nfensive study of pure science, the determined effort © hand on still brightly burning the lamp lighted o by those who have gone, is perhaps the best ontribution which Cambridge now can make to our ational welfare. The great discovery is usually small in its begin- lings; it does not at first strike the imagination. Nhe seeds from which the revolution is to come lie tidden in the ground, and the tiny sprout which first ypears seems but of small importance. Few besides pme students in the universities realised the wide- aching scope of Maxwell’s theory of the electro- agnetic field, when it was first published; few, again, cture, when they read of the early experiments of tz and Lodge, the future marvels of wireless tele- ‘aphy, even in the short years that have passed since delivered his Royal Institution lecture. The iecessful applications of science to industry attract a der notice and gain a fuller recognition. It is given ‘but few men to carry through the revolution that eir own discoveries have produced. James Watt and € were such men. Pasteur and Lister saw, in ne degrée, the fruit of their labours, ah Faraday, on other hand, died at Hampton Court in the receipt a Civil List pension. The work of making the scoveries of science available to promote the pros- rity and advancement of a nation appeals to others than € great discoverers, and is usually best left in other inds. Let me explain what I mean, even at the risk some repetition, for I have recently spoken and tten more than once on this subject, and, indeed, applications of science to industry have been the work of the National Physical Laboratory since the _ twentieth century began. : eaking at the opening of the laboratory in 1902, Majesty—then Prince of Wales—said :—‘‘ The ob- of the scheme is, I understand, to bring scientific ledge to bear practically upon our everyday in- 1 and commercial life, to break down the barrier n theory and practice, to effect a union between and commerce,” and these words still express aims. ; farious writers have pointed out recently that in this ess three distinct stages are generally required. ca The work of the man of science in his laboratory, The investigations which go on in a laboratory dustrial research, developing new processes or ducing new products. * works laboratory proper, controlling the y of raw materials, or of finished products. Ms | JuNE 21, 1917] NATURE 335 | William Thomson. Petrographers had been in the I have spoken already of the work of the habit of examining the structure of rocks by cutting | student of science in his university or college. Before dealing with the laboratory of industrial re- — search, let me devote a few words to the works labora- tory proper, It is necessary, as I have said elsewhere, to main- tain the standard of the output, to secure that the proper grade of material is supplied to the works, to check the instruments in use, and to test the product in its various stages of manufacture. The days are gone by when successful manufacture could be carried on entirely by rule of thumb, trusting to the skill of some trained workman for the success of each delicate operation, when the hereditary instinct passed down from father to son was sufficient to produce each year practically the same results. | New processes come which appear likely to improve production or to reduce its cost; the works laboratory serves to test these. New products are suggested, which may or may not have the advantages claimed for them; this can be in- vestigated in the works laboratory, and all these inves- tigations and tests must go on in the works themselves under the eyes of men familiar with the process of manufacture in its every stage, A distinguished Trinity man, Mr. Michael Long- ridge, when recently, addressing, as president, the In- stitution of Mechanical Engineers, traced the pro-. cess by which during the latter half of last century England became the leading industrial nation, and con- cluded thus :— ‘‘And as the mechanical engineer was responsible in no small measure for the transformation, so he must be held responsible for the maintenance and efficiency of the workshop on which the feeding of the people and the defence of the people against their enemies now depend. He became, and he remains, a trustee of the British Empire. How did he discharge the trust? By humbly seeking knowledge to turn the gifts of Nature to the use of man? By invoking the aid of science to develop the discoveries of the men who had prepared the road to his success? By caring for the welfare of the thousands who were spending their waking hours in his: factories? By giving them a fair share of the profits of his business? I think we have the grace to-day to answer ‘No.’ I think we are willing to confess that our heads were turned by elation at our prosperity, that we were obsessed by admiration of our own achievements; too confident of the sufficiency of our limited knowledge; too contemptuous of the few who tried to throw the light of science on our path; too eager for wealth, ~ and the social influence, it could buy in the new state of society; too careless of the needs and aspirations of the ‘hands’ who helped to make the rapid accumula- tion of large fortunes possible. And what has been the consequence? For every lapse from the ideal—and there is an ideal even of industrial polity—Nemesis Adrasteia, sooner or later, exacts retribution.” The lesson has now been learnt with more or less completeness, and now each modern engineering works possesses its own laboratory and utilises the teaching of science at each stage of its pro- cesses. Cambridge can supply the men who will do this work, But there is another need. The step between the university laboratory and the works laboratory is a long one. Discoveries do not leave the man of science in a form which can be at once assimilated by the engineer, the shipbuilder, or the manufacturer. Some means are needed to make them available to such men to secure the advantages which come from the gtowth of knowledge by which alone they may keep in the forefront of their trade. The problem has recently been discussed in a paper by Dr. Mees published by 336 NATURE [JUNE 21, 1917. the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and by Dr. Rosenhain in a lecture, delivered at Glas-. gow, on “The National Physical Laboratory: its | Work and Aims.” For the industriali research laboratory the plant, etc., must be so planned that it is. possible to carry out the necessary operations on a scale comparable with that required in works, and, moreover, the man who carries through the investiga- tion must be not only: acquainted with the latest scien- tific advances. in his subject, but must know what is possible in works, and must mould his solution of the problem to harmonise with these possibilities. The undertaking is often more complex than that of .the pure man of science. It is one which needs a special laboratory, a special equipment, As examples of such a laboratory, both of which happen to be at works, I may instance the research laboratory of the Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik, in which the commercial production of synthetic indigo was worked out, or the laboratory of the General Elec- tric Co. of America at Schenectady, where in numerous instances the discoveries of modern electrical theory have been turned to. practical use. ‘The Coolidge tube, the most powerful source of X-rays which we possess, is one product of this laboratory. Such also are some branches of the Bureau of Standards at Washington, the Materialpriifungsamt at Gross-Lichterfelde, near Berlin, and, in some aspects of its work, the National Physical Laboratory and the research institutions for glass, pottery; fuel, etc., which are coming into exist- ence as part of the work of the Department of’ Scien- tific and Industrial Research. Thus, the task of an institution like the National Physical Laboratory differs from that of either a uni- versity or technical college laboratory or a works laboratory. In the first place, it is’ not educational; every member of the staff is, it is true, learning con- tinually, yet he is not there to be taught, but to be asked questions and to find the answers. Its functions are, primarily to encourage and initiate the applications of science to the problems of industry. It is, in the words of the Order in Council, an institution for the scientific study of problems affecting particular indus- tries and trades. The: staff devote themselves solely to this. work; their whole time’ and energy are given to it. They have no educational duties; they are free from the responsibilities of the classroom arid the. burden of students’ exercises. The ‘senior members of the staff joined avowedly with the purpose of apply- ing science to industry; they are prepared to make it their life-work. The juniors. retain their posts for some time; thus all acquire’ a store of experience of the highest value, with a unique knowledge of the tech- nical aspects of industry which it is difficult to gain in any other way. The laboratory has, I trust. acquired the confidence of the technical: industrial world, and problems are brought before the staff with the knowledge that they wi!l be handled ina confiden- tial manner by men trained to deal with them. In such an: institution it is possible to specialise as: to; both staff and'equipmentin a manner which ean searcely be done in a laboratory attached to an educational insti- tution. The whole staff are engaged: in applying: science to industry ; equipment is provided for this pur-. pose only. The needs of’ the student and the educa- tional value of the apparatus have not fo be considered. I, would not advocate that work such as I have outlined should, as.« rule, find a place in a university laboratory, but a university has its own task in con- nection with these laboratories; which, believe me, are. a necessity if science is to be freely applied to, industry. The universities and. technical. schools must- provide and train the staff. not in the application of science, but in. methods of investigation, in the knowledge of scien-. No. 2486, VoL. 99] tific truths, in the power of observation, the capz to interpret the observations they make, and the expe mental results they obtain, and, above all,.in the des to discover the truth and apply the consequences fe. lessly to their daily work. F Nor is this’all. No doubt the number of men gaged in the application of science to industry mu increase, but if we are to reap the full advantag science can give, steps must be taken -to ensure wider appreciation of the value of her gifts, the grea ness of her powers. ca : Some knowledge of the meaning of ordinary s tific terms, of the usual everyday processes of Nati —both chemical and biological—of the cause of simple natural phenomena, and of the general s and methods of scientific inquiry should be the po sion of each undergraduate before he leaves Cambri to take up his life-work elsewhere. ‘It is essenti as Prof. Keeble writes in his contribution “Science and the Nation,” ‘“‘that our. states and administrators, our teachers and our poets, } something of the work and method and bea science.” But how is this to be seeured? Mr. in a recent review of the volume, is severely eri because the authors have not answered this quest the criticism is undeserved, it seems to me, a authors did not set out with this object. ‘“ The seemed propitious,’’ says the editor, Dr. Seward, emphasising a particular aspect of the general questio of the interdependence of many phases of nationé prosperity and 4 just appreciation of the value of pul science.”’ Still, the. question needs an answer. VW look forward with some eagerness to the report of thi committee, of which Sir J. J. Thomson is chairr which is dealing with the place of science in edue Meanwhile, it may not be out of place to some few remarks. I will quote again from the dent of the Institution of Mechanical, Engineers, after pointing out that the education of an ¢ must be varied to suit the capacities of different r writes thus :— “And my complaint. It is against the obsti our two most famous universities. in retaining Gre compulsory subject in their examinations. This. upon our public schools, and is a serious handic those. who, intending to deal with the concrete than the abstract in their future lives, yet wish t their levels in the social life and moral’ disciplir these two universities. The English publie-sch can generally be relied on to face difficulties, and keep his, hands: clean in business. Engi cannot afford to lose him: to. satisfy those who Oxford and Cambridge in this matter.” To insist on the retention. of Greek in the Pr Examination is to, close Cambridge to many of who would profit most by its: lessons, who would cat the rich benefits three years’ residence here can g to places where at’ present they never penetrz who themselves, in not a few instances, would the lustre and the glory of our university. © The study- of Greek is not’ really advaneed By compulsory character. . Lord Bryce, in: a recent 2 addressed in the first instance to. a classical audi writes, after a reference to the very few who ret a competent knowledge of Latin and Greek beyond - early age :—‘‘ Let us frarikly admit the facts. I recognise that the despotism of a purely gramm study of the ancient languages needed to be thrown,’ and he continues :— What is: the chief z of education? How should the mental training fitt to produce the cavacities which go to make 'an ed man begin? First of all by teaching him 5h observe and by making him enjoy the power of obser ‘tion. ‘The attention of the child should from — | June 21, 3917] NATURE 337 rliest years be directed to external Nature. His ob- ation should be alert and it should be exact. Along a this he should know how to use language, to w the precise difference between the meanings of ous words ‘apparently similar to be able to convey curately what he wishes to say.” >. Then, after distinguishing between the world of ure and that of man, ‘he discusses how the time able for education is to be divided between these “spheres, urging the ‘need for plenty of knowledge both to produce a capable and highly finished mind. “No man,” he says, ‘‘in our day’can be deemed edu- cated who ‘has ‘not some knowledge of the relation of the ‘sciences to one another and a just conception of > methods by which they respectively advance.’ He esses strongly the importance of literary studies of the service they ‘render ‘to us for practical fe, for mental stimulus and ‘training, and for enjoy- ‘and as an introduction ‘to his views on the claims ‘the classics, ‘he writes::—‘‘A word must be said on @ practical aspect of the matter as it affects the curricula of schools and universities. Ido not contend that the study of the ancients is to be imposed on all, Or even on the ‘bulk, of those who ‘remain at school until eighteen“or on most of those who’enter a univer- y- it is generally admitted that at the universities present system cannot be maintained—we shall a saving if we drop the study of the ancient anguages in the case of those who, after a trial, show ‘no ‘aptitude for them. For the schools, the problem how to discover among the boys and girls those who ve the kind of gift which makes it worth while to them out of the mass and give them due facilities irsuing their studies at the higher secondary s, so that they may proceed thence to the univer- and further prosecute them there. Many of you, is leaders, know better than I how this problem may be Solved; solved it mu&t be, if the whole community S not to lose the benefit of our ‘system of graded se “in this connection let me quote a few words ‘récent letter in NATURE by Mr. M. D. Hill, an ‘Master of twenty years’ experience. He writes :-— “boys who are best at ‘classics are also best at . . /. Every intelligent boy must be given equal nities in science and languages in the widest etise Of the word ‘until he is old enough to show which ne of study he can most profitably follow.” Here is a problem which the university must attack ce. I have already’pointed out what seems to me first ‘step towards its solution. ‘Cambridge must her doors wide to every son of our great Empire can ‘show that 'he will'reap benefits from studying thin ‘her walls any branch of knowledge for ‘which 2 offers opportunities; this step should be taken out delay. Lord Bryce has indicated, I think, the “for our future development. Let me briefly out- how they appear ‘to me to ruin. The university temain the home of ancient learning, but the irsé pursued to secure ‘this end must not be such ‘to demand that Latin and Greek should remain the ipal part of the school tasks of all bovs. It must in men ‘to be leaders in ‘all walks of life, and not in industrial pursuits, and this not by undertaking ical training of the men ‘who go ‘out ‘hence ‘the world, but ‘by laying a broad foundation of Scientific ‘principles and laws on which technical owledge, be it of theology, medicine, or law, or of ‘More modern branches of applied science, must rest. ; | lastly, but most important of all, it must ‘produce leaders in every branch of science. For the highest ‘work of all, be ‘it literary or scien- fife, the course is ‘fairly simple. Men in whom are anted ‘the thirst for new knowledge, the power of NO. 2486, VoL. 99] a discovery, the keen logical insight to follow the right path and avoid the wrong, will come 'to'the front helped by the traditions of tHe past, ‘the enthusiasm and devo- tion of the teachers, the generosity of our founders and benefactors. Funds, it is true, will be needed, and must be supplied. A man whose researches may produce ‘a beneficial revolution, whose discoveries may ‘prove of untold benefit. to mankind, should not depend for a scanty livelihood on the ‘proceeds derived from his yearly cycle of tutorial lectures.. Means must be found to increase the endowments of the university for pure research, and funds so expended will in time produce a full ‘harvest. : Let me, however, endeavour to say something’’as to the steps to be taken to give science its due place in the education of every man. Have we attacked this question in the right manner? ‘and by: “we” I mean teachers of science generally. - * It is nearly fortv years since the present Chancellor asked Sir Napier Shaw and myself ‘to help in his work at ‘the ‘Cavendish Laboratory. Practical physics as a branch of study for undergraduates generally was almost non-existent. Maxwell had inspired ‘a few of the leading mathematicians with the desire to ‘work ‘at the laboratory, but the organised classes were ‘small and their organisation was incomplete. Elsewhere Carey Foster had classes at University College, Balfour Stewart at Manchester; Kohlrausch’s book had been published and translated into English some few years previously. Shaw had worked in Berlin under Helm- holtz. We commenced the endeavour tosystematise the teaching, to devise experiments to illustrate and ‘“‘prove’* fundamental laws and principles, .to. teach students the reality of many things of which they read in books, and ‘show them that effects’do follow their causes in the manner there described. Laboratory notebooks were written. In due course (in 1885) Glazebrook and Shaw’s ‘“ Practical Physics” appeared, and, I am glad to say, after more than thirty years of life, is vigorous still.. It has been followed by many similar books, and has, I trust and believe, done much useful and important work. A man who is to develop into a physicist must have an intimate know- ledge of the ‘existing methods of physical investigation. Measurement is so important a factor in many branches of knowledge that an acquaintance with the funda- mental methods of ‘measurement, and skill in ‘using instruments and apparatus, are of the highest value for large classes of men. a But for the great ‘majority the ‘mental food ‘thus offered affords but ‘little nourishment. The teaching of practical physics on these lines fits in -with our examination system. Problems can be ‘set and ques- tions asked ‘admitting of definite and ‘precise answers — the, value of which an examiner can easily assess in marks. A sum in arithmetic is classed as a physical problem betatise ithe ‘term “specific heat,’ or ‘‘elec- trical resistance.” is used ‘in ‘stating the question. **Our examination system,’’ says Principal Griffiths, “has endeavoured (but, thank Heaven! unsuccessfully) to kill the soul “of science in the rising generation. There is, however, a stirring among the dry-bdnes, and we are awakening to the fact that science must ‘be - taught ‘as if we believed in it for its own sake, that we must teach it as a disciple preaches his -religion, and that we must refuse to be, bound by the fetters in which ‘tradition Has entangled us. If we are to succeed, we ‘must make'science a living reality ‘to-our pupils, and cease ‘to régard it merely ‘as ‘a convenient machinery for the manufacture of conundrums.” We do not really so regard ‘it, any of us teachers, but our methods of teaching and. examinations tend'to produce this impression. It jis clear, I ‘think, that a plan which is excellent for men who ntend 338 NATURE ! [June 21, 190% q to specialise. in science is not the one best suited to give to all—'t some knowledge of the relation of the sciences to one another and a just conception of the means by which they advance.” For the limited class an exact knowledge of the elements is essential. If this exact knowledge is required from all, the majority find the process dull; they get no further than the elements, and when the dreaded examination - is over they forget even these, and have no further interest in the subject. . Natural science, like Latin and Greek, disappears from their lives. And so, if this be at all the correct view, an impor- tant task for the university is to develop.a new method for the ordinary teaching of science, not merely to require that science should be taught, but to discuss and determine how this can best be done, and then to train and send out into the world men capable of doing it. The method will not lend itself easily to ‘the process of controlling education by examiination with a limited time,” and. if a test of the pupil’s knowledge is required, some other plan for this pur- pose must be devised. : One of the consequences of the war will be a greater appreciation of the value of science. Let us in Cam- bridge be ready to take advantage of this and help to strengthen our country by raising up a generation ‘which realises to some extent what science has done, and how real progress in nearly every walk of life is inseparably bound up with the advancement of natural knowledge, which in the past the university has done so much to promote. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CaMBRIDGE.—Mr. F. H. Jackson, of Peterhouse, -has been approved for the degree of Doctor of Science. Lonpon.—The Senate has resolved to institute for external students a B.Sc. degree dealing with the administration and management of urban and rural lands and estates, and a scheme with the necessary syllabuses and regulations is in course of ‘preparation. Oxrorp.—Mr,. J. J.. Manley, the curator of the Daubeny Laboratory, has been elected to a fellowship at Magdalen College. Oxford, for the prosecution of special researches in physics and chemistry, Mr. Man- ley’s talents as a teacher of practical chemistry have long been recognised by several generations of pupils, a list of some 500 of whom has been recently printed. Among them we note the names of Prof. Soddy and of many well-known younger science teachers. Mr. Manley is widely known for his interesting observa- tions on the anomalous behaviour of delieate balances and bv his ingenious devices for increasing accuracy in weighings. A re-investigation of Landolt’s work on the apparent change of weight during chemical reaction was the subject of a more recent paper in: the Philosophical Transactions, and he has lately suc- ceeded in constructing platinum resistance thermo- meters of a sensitiveness greatly in advance of any that had previously been made. Magdalen College and Mr. Manley are equally to be congratulated on this election, which promises to be of considerable service to the cause of physical and chemical research. On June 19 the annual report of the delegates of the museum was presented *to Convocation.” The re- port directs attention to the fact that the members of the staff and other workers in the museum departments on war service have been further increased. The death -in action of Mr. Geoffrey Smith, demonstrator in zoology, is recorded; and details are given of the handing over of a large part of the museum buildings for the use of the Royal Flying Corps. Separate re- NO. 2486, VOL. 99] who have attained a high standard therein. -inge Medical College for Women, Delhi. ‘sity courses for graduation in arts or science. =~ ‘education, especially in the great public. schools, as | -events of the war, intimate and contingent, haver ‘of all their pupils, ‘and especially of those who | ports from the various scientific departments are added, all of them giving evidence of much activity in spite of the present adverse conditions. The report — of the curator of the Pitt-Rivers Museum includes an_ especially lorig list of valuable donations. ie At the same meeting of Convocation, decrees were passed allowing, under certain conditions, that candi- dates in the science and other honour schools should — be examined in -part only of their subjects, and e powering the examiners to award distinction to tho This pro- vision will apply solely to those whose regular’ course of study has been interrupted by war service. ar The extremely valuable collections of Arachnida, containing thore than 1000 types, with the library, not books, drawings, and papers in connection therewith, bequeathed by the late Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridg were gratefully accepted, and orderéd to be deposi in the University. Museum, and placed in the ch of the Hops professor of zoology, Prof, E. B. Poul : Tue Maharaja of Benares has founded a gold me to be known as the ‘‘ Lady Chelmsford Medal,” award annually to the best.student of the Lady H _ Two “British Dyes’? open research scholarships, each of the yearly value of about 60l., are offered ir connection with the Huddersfield Technical College. They are tenable for one year, with the possibili renewal. Applications must reach the secretary of t college by, at latest, July 6. 3 = Two scholarships in naval architecture, each of_th value of gol., have been founded by Col. Smith P. C.B., of Glasgow, for students of the Unive The scholars are required to have remaine secondary school until they have obtained the grade leaving certificate, whieh admits to the Un Tue debate in the House of Lords on Tue June 12, dealing with the future policy of the of Education so far as it has been foreshadow: the speeches of Mr. Fisher, was chiefly notable the views expressed in protest against a foo ear undue specialisation in the schools, whilst de } that science should find its due place in the schem subject of vital importance for the effective training © the citizen, so as to enable him to take a sound vie of the questions which arise in modern life. | it plainly clear that training in the facts of s and the inculcation of the scientific habit of mind ar essential to the national well-being. The purpose | the schools is, as Lord Haldane well put it, not ~ make of their pupils Latin or Greek scholars, or ° ne of science, but to make them men, and to develop humanity in the best and broadest sense.. In shor their business is so to train their pupils as to gi them a liberal outlook in preparation for such specia ised teaching in the classics or in the various branche: of science, pure or applied, or in other departmen of knowledge, as the universities can offer, or as th various professions may require. In no ‘other can the public schools ensure the generous f to take a prominent part in public affairs, or sl themselves free of the incubus of conflicting exte examinations. Indeed, not until the older universite cease to retain compulsory Greek as an essent feature in the examination for their most valua scholarships will it be possible for the public scho to give to science its rightful place in their curriculu It is now seen to be essential that in the treatment NATURE 339 t great questions of national policy the principles id facts of science must be accorded their due place. : is satisfactory to note that the Government does intend, in measures having for their object the m and development of educational policy and hods, to disturb the basis of the Act of 1902 in ect of denominational education. aE forty-third annual conference of the Associa- f Headmistresses was held in London on June 8 . Miss Escott, the president, referred in her s to n reforms of the educational system, the subjects which should be included in educa- schemes for girls. ‘‘Science in girls’ schools,” ; ought to be greatly developed as part of a education and with special reference to life d them. It would be in the interest of both = and mathematics if the science teacher had a od knowledge of mathematics, and the mathe- al teacher a working knowledge of chemistry physics. In the beginning of general elementary it would be very helpful for one teacher to both the science and mathematics in a form, d it is scarcely necessary to say that in advanced ik the mathematical teacher should have a know- ze of physics.” Among the resolutions passed was ¥ favour of the metric system, and another wel- aing the formation of the Secondary-School inations Council. An educational programme ward by the Executive Committee, and adopted he meeting, included the following’ recommenda- —{1) The complete co-ordination of all forms tion ; (2) improvement of the teaching of boys girls in the upper standards of elementary schools: tte; Provisions for the intellectual, moral, and discipline of young persons during the period scence ; (4) maintenance allowances for more g pupils; (5) better salaries and better pros- "teachers; (6) a reduction in the number of tions which may be taken in schools. ‘The on further hopes that the leaving age for all _elementary schools- without exemption will for the present not earlier than the last day erm in which a pupil reaches the. age of four- , and that the leaving age may be raised within. the next few years; that the con- cation of young persons who have left school below the age of eighteen years may occupy than twenty hours of the daytime in each -may be largely of a general rather than nical character. That this conference is of n with regard to university education that should be a common standard of entrance, by all the universities of the British Empire, should not be a compulsory subject.” AND ACADEMIES. : Lonpon. ical Society, June 6.—Dr. Alfred Harker, presi- the chair—Dr. E. J. Garwood and Edith The geology of the Old Radnor district, cial reference,to an algal development in the Limestone. The district-comprises an inlier nh grits and Woolhope Limestone forming ed dome bounded by Wenlock Shale. It ded by Murchison and the Geological Survey sting of Mayhill Sandstone succeeded con- by Woolhope Limestone, and they attributed ssiliferous character of the sandstone and the l facies of the limestone to alteration by intrusions. Dr. Callaway, in 1900, first sug- SOCIETIES » VOL. 99]. ~~ the so-called “‘ Mayhill Sandstone” was of » and recorded an unconformity at the base of the limestone. The authors confirm Dr. Calla- way’s views, and give evidence for correlating these Archean rocks with Prof. .Lapworth’s “ Bayston Group” of the Longmyndian. The unconformable rela- tion of the limestone to the Archzan is established in several portions of the district, while a study of the trilobite and brachiopod fauna of the limestone and - included shale confirms the Wenlock age of the de- posit. The most interesting fact brought out by a study of the limestone is the important part played in its formation by the calcareous alga Solenopora (of which a new species is described), the deposit consti- tuting by far the most striking development of algal limestone yet recorded from British rocks.—S. S. Buckman: Correlation of Jurassic chronology. This paper owes its inception to certain discoveries made by the officers of the Scottish Geological Survey during” their investigations of the Jurassic deposits of the Isles of Raasay and Skye. The ammonites and brachiopods were sent to the author for examination, and the sequence of faunas which they disclosed neces- sarily led to comparison with results obtained in other areas. The paper is chiefly concerned with the Liassic ages hitherto known as Domerian, Charmouthian, and Sinemurian. In all of them there is proposed a con- siderable increase of the number of faunal ‘horizons _ indicative of consecutive time-intervals; or hemerz. One of the most interesting discoveries which have resulted, partly from the great thickness of Scottish strata investigated and collected from, partly from comparisons with, other areas, is that the, so-called “armatum zone” of the English midlands and that of the Radstock district, of Yorkshire, and of the Scottish Isles are not isochronous, but are separated by a time-interval which corresponds with a thickness of some 300 ft. of deposit in the Scottish area. Royal Astronomical Society, June 8.—Major P. A. MacMahon, president, in the chair.—A. S. Eddington : Further notes on the radiative equilibrium of the stars. In the author’s previous paper the calculations had been made on the assumption of an average molecular weight of 54 for the material of a star—representing the hypo- thesis that the ultimate particles are atoms. He was now convinced that under the high temperatures in_ question an extreme state of disintegration is more probable, and in the calculations in the present paper the average molecular weight is taken as 2.—Rev. T. E. R. Phillips: Micrometrical measures of double stars. Special attention was directed to the rapid motion of Bodtis, in which the angle diminishes about a degree in six weeks, while the distance has shown little change during the last few years. He had also specially noted the star 70 Ophiuchi, which shows a small progressive diminution both in angle and distance. while the latter should be increasing. He suggested that in this case there may be evidence of a systematic error due to the changing slant of the line joining the two stars as observed before and after opposition.—Mrs. E. W. Maunder: Sun-spots in high southern latitudes. These spots were found on the Cape photographs. Some of them were in more than 60° S. latitude, but they are mostly evanescent; they are also small, and it was often uncertain whether they were real sun-spots, or only “pores,’? which are found on all parts of the solar surface. But in one case the marking had all che chargcteristics of a true sun-spot, and on the whole the evidence showed that markings of the order of sun-spots can persist in very high latitudes.—R. A. Sampson : Notes on the southern magnitude distribution, with special reference to the Perth astrographic zone. In a recent paper Mr. Seares had conterided that the galactic condensation of small stars, arrived at by Chapman and Melotte from a study 340, NATURE of ‘the ‘Rrankline Adams charts, was erroneous, and that- the older-estimate of ‘Mr. Cooke’was nearer -the truth. The author concluded. that the galactic. condensation ~ obtained by Chapman and: Melotte does not in the’ least’ represent. the actual distribution in the Perth. zone, —329. In one section: of’ a recent: paper. Dr. Halm: had dealt’ with the corrections to the~ scale. of: the Cape Photographic: Durchmusterung, and Prof: Sampson’s paper concluded’ with a- discussion: of- Dr. Halm’s methods-and results. EDINBURGH. Royal Society, May 7.—Dr. J. Horne, president, in, the-chair.—Prof. L. Becker : The arithmetical mean and. the ‘“middle”’ value of certain meteorological observa- tions. This.was a discussion of a large number of tem-. perature observations in Glasgow, in which it was shown, that the ‘‘ middle’? value did not agree, with. the arith-. metical mean,—Dr. D. Ellis : Phycomycetous fungi from, the Lower. Coal. Measures. Three organisms had,been. found which could be placed.in the Phycomycetes. The. first was. identical with, the organism found by- Renault. in. the-French Carboniferous rocks, and. named by him_ Palaeomycites. gracilis. But there was evidence that the. genus. was the same as. Peronosporites, and it was pro- posed to ;re-name. the. organism, Peronosporites, gracilis, The. second. was. identified. as. Peronosporites anti-. quarius, previously, discovered, by earlier investigators. The-new material obtained from. the: Lancashire rocks, taken, along: with the rock sections: in the British. Museum, enabled: Dr. Ellis to sketch the, probable life.. history ‘of this fungus.: The-third organism was new, and, was named. Saprolegnites bacilloides.. A full account, was. given. of. the..characteristic structure of; this fungus.—Dr. J. Tait: Experiments and observa- tions on Crustacea. Parts iv. and v. In part iv. the author dealt; with the structure of Glyptonotus, a large Antarctic isqpod taken by the Scotia Expedition, under Dr.. W: S. Bruce. ‘The exceptional size of the animal made it possible: to settle. certain. disputed: problems relating’:to, isopod; anatomy. The. paper. also brought, outa number of;relations between structure conforma- tion and functional: use. In part. v: it was, experi- mentally shown, that the joints in the.tail of a lobster. or other similar. crustacean. are so arranged as_ to obviate, change~of internal volume during a flapping of the- tail. CAaLcurmra. Asiatic Society of Bengal, May 2.—Dr; A, Oka: Zoological results of.a tour in the Far East. Hiru- dinea. Fourteen species of leeches are represented in the collection made by Dr. Annandale in Japan, China, and Siam., Of these, three are described as new. Two of the new. species are. forms of general | interest and have been made the types of new genera. One, which was obtained from considerable depths in- Lake Biwa, belongs to the family Glossisiphonide, and is remarkable. for the curious processes on its proboscis, while the other, which was collected in a small stream on the Peak at Hong-Kong, belongs to the family Hirudinidz, and is distinguished by the unique | char- acter that the furrows separating the somites are deeper and more conspicuous than those separating the annuli.Dr, N. Annandale: Weighing apparatus from the. Shan States.. The collection described’ was. ‘made in February and March, 1917, in the markets of* vil> _ lages round the Inlé Lake, in’ the southern Shan States. The weighing apparatus used in these markets is remarkably diverse in construction and’ at the same time generally primitive in character. The three types to which most simple weighing apparatus conforms are all represented, viz, the’ scales, the steel- vard, and the bismer, or weishtless beam. No. 2486, VOL. 99] BOOKS’ RECEI VED. Reform, in- Scottish Edueation. Pp. 158. burgh: Scottish. Education Reform Committe net. | Bailli¢re’s Popular Atlas of the Anatomy. aad, Phys logy of the Female Human Body. With, deser ‘text by H. E. J. Biss.. Third edition. Plates - _ G. M. Dupuy. (London : Bailliére, Tindall: and Cc 4s. net; Friendly: Intercourse. with the. Arch Fiend ales (Letchworth : The. Cloisters.) 64d, British Insects and. How. to Know Them, By_ Bastin. Pp. ix+129+12 plates. (London :, ‘Meu i and Co., Ltd.) 1s. 6d. net, Food Gardening for Beginners. and Experts. H. V. Dayis.. Pp. vii+44. (London. _ Bell, ‘Sons, Ltd.). 6d. net. - W.and A. K.. Johnston’s. War Map. of. Pale (Edinburgh :, W. and A. K, Johnston, Ltd. ; Lon ~Macmillan,and_Co., Ltd.) 6d; net, . .. _ Shell Shock and_its Lessons. By. Prof, &.. Smith and T. H, Pear, Pp. xit+135, . (Manches University Press; Eondan =) Longmans, and, 2s, 6d. net. 7S is DIARY OF SOCIETIES. | ‘THURSDAY, June 2% °° Gauss, Society, at 4.30.—Revolving Fluid i inthe Atm Shaw.—Absorption Rands of Atmospheric ‘Ozone in iad Stars: Prof: A. Fowler and Hon. R: J: Strutt. . FRIDAY, JuNE 226 PrysicaL Soctery,.at 5.—The Determination of Coma from a-Ce: “T, Smith. —Chromatic Parallax, and its Influence, on Optic ments ; J. Guild. ratty “Spectra. fe¥ MONDAY, Jury 2 ‘ detienmiuiae Socrery, at 8.—Relation and, ‘Cobrenée: : Stebbing, CONTENTS. etsy History and. Manufacture, of. Mik Sse sca “ Thought-Subjects.” By W. Our Bookshelf .. ..- i. See Letters to the Editor:— ; The Origin of Flint.—Prof. “Benjamin: Mo: F./R:S.; Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole, F:R. S: C. Bradford 3 Electric Discharge from Scythe. —j. R. Pannell’ The Ramsay Memorial;Fund . . The. Caterpillar Attack on Fruit: Trees. By Profi Ered.: V.. Pheobald; >. .......) oat). Prof; T. -McKenny. Hughes, BRS. eee Dr. I e.0*.°8 Bin. Og \ MOT ON Re Ge tk ae Cid sa ee 1 SS SA cig Pat OUI one PURSE fen PFE Ns eo er Our Astronomical ‘Column: _ oe Ree Comet 19162. (Wolf): ©. 2 : % Solar Prominences in Relation to Sun- “spots - peop The Etlipsing Variable SS Camelopardalis. .°. . Hind’s Variable Nebula: ..:) 2 ieee The National Physical Laboratory ..... Peat and its Uses, ‘By E. S. Hodgson . . Science and pp ested By Sir Richard Gisdehenee Cc: oe F. R.S <0. eee whe University. and Educational: Intelligence Societies and Academies BnokaiReceivedi. . . 0. 0). Sie eee Diary of Societies . = rss © et Sey 6 eer ee ee Editor:al. and Publishing Offices: -MACMILLAN AND CO.,. Lap... 7 = ST. MARTIN’S. STREET, LONDON, W.C. Advertisements and business letters to be addressed Publishers, : Editorial Communications to the Editor. Telegraphic Address: Prusis, Lonpbon. Telephone Number: GERRARD iui 341, fe } THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1917. _ THE ELECTRIFICATION OF OUR een RAILWAYS. : Electric Traction: A Treatise on the Application _ of Electric Power to. Tramways and Railways. _ By A. T. Dover. Pp. xix +667+5 folding plates. (London: Whittaker and Co., 1917.) Price 18s. net. ~ es Ty TN electric traction the questions that have to 4+ be discussed may be broadly classified under two headings—technical and financial The author touches on the latter class incidentally, and then only because it is impossible to eave financial considerations out of account Ute - In the former class he has not wcluded descriptions of generating stations and ransmission lines. Even with these restrictions, pwever, it is only by the severest compression mat he has managed in a single volume to give he necessary descriptions of the line, the rolling tock, the appliances and apparatus used in elec- ric traction, and to touch on most of the tech- ici and theoretical considerations involved. We congratulate the author on having succeeded - writing a treatise which engineérs and dvanced students will find most useful. He is idently well read in the literature of the sub- ct, most of which is published in the Proceed- gs of various engineering societies and technical wnals, both in this country and-abroad, and is erefore inaccessible to many. CLIC. ¥ 5 PiOOC Sug large cities and their immediate neigh- In most cases this traffic has been ated by the necessity of competing with mears and motor-omnibuses. Unless _ the lway companies are content to give up a large Ction of the suburban traffic, they must adopt expedient of -electrifying their lines. This bedient, although costly, has proved success- , and many people wonder why the English ways do not at once set about electrifying f main lines. They say that electrification is und to come, and point out that morally it is ed to go on burning coal extravagantly in motives, seeing that our coal resources will nly not last for ever. It will be well, there- to point out some of the reasons which are aking engineers hesitate. Jn suburban lines the stations are close ether and the trains are continually starting _stopping. : Under these conditions an tric train, owing to its higher schedule speed, Carry a larger number of passengers in a en time than a steam train having equal seat- accommodation. The number of signal and movements required for an electric train ng and leaving a terminus is only one- of the number required for a steam train, for this redson a much larger traffic can be by the electric trains before the traffic in n gets congested. . 248% wot aol NATURE n Britain railway electrification is mainly con-- For main-line railways the problem is more difficult. The efficiency of a modern steam loco- motive is very high, and when it has to haul a fast passenger train over a long distance on a level track it is working at its very highest efficiency. The cost of the electric locomotive that could replace it-is very heavy, and when we take into account the interest on the great initial expense of electrifying the line, the saving effected, if any, is very small. -If, however, there are heavy gradients on the line or long ‘tunnels, electric traction may prove much the more economical. On a steep gradient the potential energy of an electric train can be converted into electrical energy and pumped back into the line.: On the Giovi-Genoa line of the Italian ‘State Rail- ways, for instance, the energy recuperated.on the dewn grade is from 60 to 86 per cent. of the energy consumption by the same train on the up journey. The results of tests on a train equipped: with motors connected for ‘“‘regenerative con- trol” on the Metropolitan Railway in Paris show a saving of 20 per cent. of the energy consump- tion. In addition, the adoption of regenerative control effects appreciable economies. in the maintenance costs of the brake shoes, wheel tyres, and rails. The saving im the rails is an especially important item. > S ; Unfortunately, there are several different elec- trical systems for railways, of which the most important are the direct-current, the ‘three- phase alternating-current, and the single- phase alternating-current systems. There are numerous able advocates of each of these systems, and they can instance in support of their contentions’ commercially successful electric rail- ways. It is of vital importance to the future of a railway that it should choose the right system of electrification at the start, for the advantages ~ of interchange of traffic between railways are obvious. In the interests of the country there is a pressing need for standardising an electric traction system as soon as possible, and so we hope that the usual costly period of waiting for the survival of the fittest will be brief. For this reason we welcome books of this type, which will enable’ railway engineers to appreciate the rela- tive advantages and disadvantages of the various _ systems and so help them to come to a deéctsion. The author starts with a short and accurate introduction to the mechanics of train movement. It is an excellent example of one of the practical uses of the theory of dynamics taught in all our schools. We next come to chapters discussing in an instructive way various kinds of direct- and alternating-current motors. The modern methods of testing and controlling them are given. Half- way through the book we come to chapters describing the rolling stock for tramways and railways, electric locomotives, and track and overhead construction for tramways and raihways. The last two chapters are on feeding and dis- tributing systems and on substation converting machinery respectively. In addition, numerous examination questions are set, the answers being = 342 NATURE [June 28, 1917 given to the numerical. ones, and references to the text.in the case of the descriptive ones. We have satisfactorily, checked .some of the calcula- tions, and the book is laudably free from mis- prints. There is little original matter in the. work, but the author shows good judgment ‘and “ no little knowledge in his selection and treatment of the various branches of this important subject. We are sorry that the author was compelled by considerations of space to devote little more than half a page to the important subject of light- “ning arresters. He divides them (p. 279) into (1) the aluminium cell arrester, (2) the spark-gap arrester, and (3) the non-arcing arrester. We usually divide them into (1) the electrolytic, (2) the intermittent, and (3) the continuous types of arrester. Engineers are probably familiar with the devices mentioned, but the non-technical reader will have to look up the references given at the bottom of the page. The numerous references ‘form a useful feature of the book. A. RUSSELL. COTTON. CULTIVATION IN. THE UNITED STATES. Field Crops for the Cotton-Belt. Morgan. Pp. xxvi+456. (New York: The _ Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 7s. 6d. net. HE “Rural Text-book Series ’’ has furnished the agricultural students of the United States of America with several very useful volumes. Prof. Oscar Morgan’s contribution now before us worthily upholds the reputation of the series, and is likely to be accepted as having a value considerably beyond the sphere of usefulness very possibly contemplated for it by its author. Coming from an expert resident in Texas (the most important of the cotton-producing States), the book will be appreciated by cotton-growers throughout the world. — In that light it is perhaps unfortunate that so much elementary science was thought. necessary. The first principles of the physiology and chemistry of plant life might have been left to the lower school text-book. A glos- sary of terms would have got over any difficulty presumed to exist and might, at the same time, have been made useful to the general reader not familiar with American agricultural terms and expressions. For example, it is somewhat amus- ing to find the expression “Irish potato”’ tobacco a stimulant; buckwheat a cereal; the “cotton square ’’; the “Corn-Belt’’; the silking of corn, etc. Setting these minor considerations on one side, there are numerous features of the work of great. merit. It is a considered and practical exempli- fication of the actual conditions and experience of cotton production of the States, framed primarily for use in schools and colleges. Limitations of space will not permit of a detailed analysis, but it may suffice if we indicate one comparative aspect, namely, between the NO. 2487, VOL. 99] ‘By Prof. J. O. India. of the staple in India as compared with that ¢ States and India, as illustrative of the numerous — practical bearings of the book. » Prof. Morgan describes very fully ten of the assodiated crops in — the Cotton-Belt.. The first and most important is corn, or, as in Europe it is more generally — called, Indian-corn (Zea Mays). This, it wo seem, occupies 38 per cent. of the belt,’ while cotton takes 39 per cent.; then follow (but far behind in point of area) oats, 3°73 wheat, 3's a kafir and milo, 1°4; pea-nut, 0°9; rice, o sugar-cane, 0°6; while sweet sorghum, rye barley show still smaller percentages. Pra cally all the cotton, sugar-cane, rice and pea-n grown in the United States come from — Cotton-Belt. It may now be useful to exhibit a paral ZI assortment of the crops associated with cotton in Indian-corn, sugar-cane, rice, pea-m are not recognised as important crops in, and Indian supplies of these are not drawn from cotton-producing districts. Oats and rye (exe on the hills) can scarcely be said to be grown it India. Barley and wheat only occasionally accompany cotton, the former, as a rule, h mainly produced outside the cotton districts. the other hand, Sorghum (juar), Pennis (bajra), Cajanus (pigeon-pea), Sessamum seed), Linum (linsced), and Hibiscus cannal (Deccan hemp) are very closely associated the Indian cotton. The Indian crops associated with cotton n be described asa slightly more tropical set the American, and they denote at the same differences in soil, climate, seasons of growt tillage, manuring, ‘and stock—differences that co lectively account very possibly for the lower gra United States. And perhaps the most aspect of these differences is the fact ie Indian cotton associates can scarcely be x of as rotated: with it. The Indian rotation, such as it is, is usua within the year, not after the lapse of one or m« years. That is to say, two crops are tal the same field every twelve months, one cotton and the other the ‘alternate crop. planting is also largely followed, more esp with pigeon-pea (Cajanus), or with (sorghum, but only rarely the sweet sors the balance in the soil being. thereby to extent preserved. Thus, while in India is often grown year after year on the sam our author tells us that in the States a th four-year rotation is universally accept essential. Thus: 1, cotton; 2, corn; 3, 0a wheat; and 4, cow-peas. A study’ ‘of the book leaves the convicuinae of practical utility so deeply impressed that o1 constrained to recommend improvement of € ing supplies (especially Indian) on the tines 5 forth by our author as a more rational pro than the discovery of new. areas of produc The book may be commended to all pe interested in cotton or the associated crops cotton. 28, 1917] cae ae June NATURE | 34 . GO z GENERAL CHEMISTRY. General Chemistry for Colleges. By Prof. _ A. Smith. Pp. x+662. Second edition. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1916.) _ Price 6s. 6d. net. HE second edition of Prof. Smith’s + ‘General Chemistry for Colleges’’ has een entirely rewritten. It now covers nearly 700 pages, and might easily be mistaken for a new edition of the author’s well-known “General norganic Chemistry.’’ Regarded from _ this joint of view, the book is excellent: a very care- ul scrutiny would'be needed to discover any- of real value or importance that has been acrificed in the smaller as compared with the irger book, and the student has good reason to 2 pleased with a condensation which, after liminating more than a hundred pages of text, as left him with a book that still covers ve yening that was essential in the original yilabus. As the title implies, the book is primarily one 9x first-year college students, and not for sho A clever schoolboy could, of course, las er its contents; but so many “advanced ”’ ibjects are referred to, in an abbreviated form, he would lose much of the benefit of the e of atmosphere which should take place on e from school to college. The introduc- , however, so much superior in its method f treatment to that of the larger volume that le reader is left with a desire to see it expanded id used as part of a simple introductory text- ‘, » + hing choo . The author is a whole-hearted ionist and makes fullest possible use of the theory of electro- dissociation. In a footnote on p. 217 he ses that “the objection that separate atoms ium could not remain free in water will be sposed of later’’; but it is doubtful whether ‘ghosts of the separate sodium atoms can be laid to rest by the somewhat unconvincing ation on pp. 234-35, which does not differ ially from that used ten years ago in the book. This was based, then as now, upon Original recommendation of Ostwald that the Should be laid by an incessant chanting of € blessed word “allotropy.’’ The objection is, Rhowever, a real one, and is not met by the mere assertion that “metallic sodium and ionic sodium fe, simply, different substances,’’ or the implica- a that sodium and chlorine ions become or re- A separate in aqueous solutions in virtue of the that the atoms are provided with equal and Dsite electrical charges. The more active E now assigned to the solvent will, no doubt, Jit easier in future editions to meet the “Ons put forward by the student, or occa- y by the conscience of the teacher. © e whole volume bears the impress of the range of knowledge and the gift of clear ‘©xposition which belong to the author, and it will widely used and read both by teachers and by nts of chemistry. Bis? r:.M. EL. UUR BOOKSHELF, | Diderot’s Early Philosophical Works. Translated — and edited by Margaret Jourdain. Pp. v+246. (Chicago and’ London: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1916.) Price 4s. 6d. net. Att who’ are interested in the movement of thought which found its expression in the great French Encyclopédie will welcome this transla- tion of some of Diderot’s minor philosophical writings. It can scarcely be said that they show much profundity or definiteness of purpose. They were rather “works of occasion ’’—short pieces thrown off at short notice—mainly with the purpose of filling the author’s purse when money, as happened so often, was ‘running short with him. Nevertheless, they give us a_ pleasing insight into Diderot’s eager and inquiring spirit, — and his impatience with the religious bigotry which was the deadly foe of all free and honest inquiry. The main philosophical point treated in the volume is the relation between mental development and sensuous endowment, a point on which some diversity of opinion is still main- tained. His conclusion is that “the state of our - organs and our senses has a great influence upon our metaphysics and our’ morality’’; and ‘he shows in some detail in what directions this influence is exerted. Tp most modern psychologists Diderot’s principle will seem so manifestly true as scarcely to admit of discussion. Nevertheless, the principle has been called into question recently by the New Realists, who argue that the human mind is in immediate con- tact with objective truth. For the confutation of such views Diderot’s acute observations upon a blind man and a deaf-mute of his acquaintance are not without value at the present time. Elementary Physics for Engineers: An Ele- © mentary Text Book for First’ Year Students taking an Engineering Course in a Technical Institution. By J. Paley Yorke. Pp. viii+ 165. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1916.) Price 4s. net. ' TuE ground covered by this text-book comprises the fundamental properties of solids, liquids, and gases; force, work, and energy; and the ele- mentary principles of heat, including a chapter on the mechanical equivalent of heat and the fundamentals of the heat engine. The author in his preface states that he has “attempted to present some essential facts of elementary physics as briefly and straightforwardly as possible, with- out any pedantry or insistence on details of no practical importance.’’ ‘While the book contains nothing novel, the matter is readable and the statements are clear and concise. Formulz and mathematical equations have been avoided to a large extent. There is little in the text to make it peculiarly applicable to engineering students, and compared with some introductory books of physics which have appeared in recent years, the treatment is somewhat sparse. A few chapters are provided with numerical exercises, but no answers are appended. The book is expensive considering the amount of matter it’ contains. 344 NATURE [June 28, 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.]| — Chinese and Persian Giraffe, Paintings. -Iy Nature of February 18 and July 29, 1915, and in the American Museum Journal for last year, figures were published of ancient Egyptian and also of late fifteenth-century representations of the giraffe. To this series of olden-time drawings may now be added one from Chinese sources, dating probably from the early Ming: period, a reproduction of which is shown in the accompanying illustration. The original is a large unsigned painting in dull colours. on. silk, executed with considerable firmness of style and finish, the trappings and figures of_the attendants receiving especial attention. The general remeat ‘Early Chinese picture of a giraffe. style of the painting and the state of preservation of the fabric. and colouring would seem to indicate an antiquity of at least three or four hundred years. In the opinion of the owner, Mr. A. W. Bahr, a dealer in Chinese works of art'in New York, the painting is still older, ’ : Through the kindness of Miss Greene, in charge of the private library of Mr. J. P. Morgan in this city, the writer has had the privilege of examining a num- ber of old manuscripts containing animal paintings, among them being one which is probably the earliest known English bestiary. Another is an extremely in- teresting Persian bestiary of the thirteenth century, which has been briefly noticed by M. Claude Anet in the Burlington Magazine for 1913 (vol. xxiii., No. 24). Among the admirably drawn coloured figures of this Persian MS. is one of the giraffe, which is strikingly like the Chinese painting already referred to. It might almost be said that one has served as a model or general design for the other, and undoubtedly the Persian is the more ancient. The inference appears warranted, therefore, that pictures of the giraffe and NO. 2487. VOL. 99] other Western animals were introduced into Persia through trade routes so early as the thirteenth century, ~ and thence found their way into China, where hey were copied by native artists. C. R. EAsTMAN. American Museum of Natural History, New York. : ‘ The Nature of Renal Activity. * 5 May I be permitted to explain what seems to me to be a misunderstanding of Prof. Cushny’s position contained in the review of his monograph in NATURE of June 14? ae No physiologist at the present time can hold that — the kidney is a ‘‘mere machine,” if by that it is meant ~ that such simple physica! and chemical forces as those of diffusion and osmosis are sufficient to give a com-— plete solution of its activity. The fact that the fluid which leaves the kidney has a much higher osmoti pressure than that of the blood from which the ft was formed shows at once that work has been do by the cells of the organ. “In our present ignor: we say that this is by means of the “vital” activit of the protoplasmic mechanism, - which transforms chemical energy derived from oxidation of food mate rial into osmotic energy. In using the word “vital most of us have no intention of begging the questi as to whether or not these activities involve more than forces present in the non-living world, acting in a special complex system, however much we may fee that further investigations will show that there is no necessity for the assumption of a forny of energy pecu= liar to living beings. wa . Where Prof. Cushny’s position, as I understand is an advance lies in the simplification which it i duces into many aspects of the problem. To p very briefly, it is this:—In the glomerulus, fl filtered from the blood by means of the. arterial pres sure. This fluid consists of all the constituents « the blood minus the colloids, the latter, of course including the blood corpuscles. It contains all that the final urine contains, but*in very dilute solution. So fa this is the view put forward by Prof. Starling, but th further development diverges from that given by Starling.. There are two possible ways in whieh dilute glomerular filtrate might be made more concel trated—one by removal of water, the other by th addition of solutes contributed by the secretory act: of the cells of the tubules. “a Now Prof. Cushny, after a careful examination the evidence that has been brought forward in supp of the second view, comes to the conclusion that of this withstands criticism, so that the first must be the one accepted. But, while previous th regarded reabsorption of water and that of — of the solutes as separate processes, the new poin view is that the fluid reabsorbed has the compo and concentration of the diffusible substances + tained in the blood, with the omission of certain e tory products, such as urea. As Prof. Cushny pu *‘Locke’s fluid’? is reabsorbed. Naturally, reason has yet to be found why urea fails absorbed, while sodium chloride, glucose, and am acids are, but the whole of the phenomena met Wi can be satisfactorily explained on this ‘modern vie 4G oe ee For example, sulphates are foreign to the blood, a are not reabsorbed. Whatever is present in bloc true solution is present in the glomerular filtrate, only the constituents of Locke’s fluid (plus am acids) are reabsorbed and in the concentration pre in that solution. Doubtless we shall be able in tf future to say why the cells behave in this way. 7 process may be called “selective discrimination,” any comfort is obtained from doing so, but so m the behaviour of parchment paper towards gelatin am NATURE 345 The a is, as Prof. Cushny shows, that the cells always absorb a fluid of the composition to, whatever may be the needs of the body at >. They have no power of choice. new view must be welcome to those who wish ification. It will probably not appeal to those that this is no advantage to a theory, at all 1 biology. ; W. M. Bavtiss. ‘sity College, London, June 16. u 2 a ression “mere machine * is Prof. Cushny’s, "One is glad to learn from Prof. Bayliss is not to be interpreted too literally. We all ard to the time when the expression “vital can be expunged from our vocabulary, but the “‘ modern * helps us to the realisa- ideal renewed research alone can show. Prof. Cushny’s theory is in the direction of ‘ion is a matter of opinion, Tee. Reviewer. The Origin of Flint. . Ray LaNKESTER (NATURE, June 7) does not form of carbon he refers to as the colouring black flints. If it be carbon, why is the mot extended to the white cortex? The flint nodules I have seen occur in a chalk-pit ote padlis the apparently black silica be- : , showing it to be merely agg P belie believe that Judd was the first to is out, more than thirty years ago. I refer to ceevnaned direct from the chalk and not to ich, having become dissociated from the ass, have been afterwards subjected to the various solutions. @ zone on the exterior of a flint does not indicate decomposition. In flints taken the chalk it is due to the fact that the rock to the nodule has not been wholly silicified. Sesishes in the chalk are white throughout, ed entirely of soft, crypto-crystalline silica, ‘between the quartz not being filled with a. I have found these near Corfe. There ce of decomposition, and I regard them as -an early stage in the forming of a flint : posed flint pebbles found at Southbourne- ‘ibed by me in Nature at the time (May 1, ‘very similar i in appearance, but these results ape nesaagg e} Sila ts seem to: prove that flint"has been formed chalk became indurated and elevated. The ‘repaired fractured flints found near faults, ar exhib remarkable compound flints which 1 coat at the meeting of the Geol. Physics instances. In some of the latter speci- e are as many as four thick deposits of flint e the original nodule, and as there appears le, if any, molecular continuity between the e ott teal of the compound nodule must have arrested from time to time during its develop- ‘solid chalk. Cecit Carus-Witson. eee stion of Dr. R. M. Caven (p. 306), that ur of flint is due to ferrosoferric oxide, is aaa fact that flints which have ‘been for tact with gas-lime (as when a mixture material used if se colo ,, which- fas been shown ferrocyanide. A dis- cussion on this subject appeared in pie ag in 1904 (vol. Ixxi., pp. 83, 126, 176). F. J. ALLEN. Cambridge, June 24. A Note on Chaffinches and Guckoos. One day recently I went to look at a chaffinch’s nest which I had known of for some time. I had just begun to climb up the hawthorn-tree m which the nest was placed when I heard the “pink, pink” of an alarmed chaffinch, and immediately about five cock chaffinches and more than half a dozen hens and young ones appeared from what seemed to me nowhere. These chaffinches flew all round the tree in a most agitated manner, and one cock actually got on top of my head and pulled my hair vigorously, while a hen, which appeared with the other chaffinches, and I think was the mate of my assailant, flew on to the nest and pecked at me every time I tried to touch it. Their attack induced me to get down; and not until I was more than fifty paces from the tree did the other chaffinches go away. Not very long after this I was in the pee when I saw two cuckoos which were flying very low, and I could clearly perceive that one of them was carrying an egg in its beak, while the other was crying ‘**cuckoo, cuckoo.”” I know that there has been much dispute as to whether cuckoos do or-do not carry their eggs; but in this instance I can personally testify that a cuckoo was carrying what was obviously an egg. ~ Honor M. M. PErRRYCOSTE. Higher Shute Cottage, Polperro, feepwae, June 14. Jupiter’s Satellites and the Velocity of Light. I SHOULD be grateful to any readers of NaturRE who can find time to send me_two postcards, one via Siberia and the other via U.S. America, telling me what is the most trustworthy interval of time between the eclipses of Jupiter’s first satellite (sidéreal revolu- tion 1d. 18h. 28m.) when the earth and that planet are in conjunction and in opposition. Watson, on p. 503 of “A Text-book of Physics,” fourth edition, gives T—T’=1992 sec.,-and* Everett, on p. 82 of “C.G.S. System of Units,’’ gives as the best determination of the mean distance of the. earth from the sun 1-49465(10)"* cm. If these figures are to be trusted, R6émer’s method of determining the velocity of light ranks second to none, as it yields the figure 3-0012(10)*° cm. per sec. A. W. WarRINGTON. Chengtu Fu, W. China, March 3. Arcs of Halos. Tue phenomenon described by Dr. Ellison (Nature, June 14, p. 312) is clearly the upper contact,are of the 46° halo, and is not very uncommon, even in the absence of the halo itself. The Meteorological Office ‘‘Observer’s Handbook” _ ‘states :-— ‘The arcs of upper contact appear with their convex sides turned towards the sun. . The colour effects are often brilliant, red being turned towards the sun, i.e. on the convex edge of the halo. The coloration of the arc of upper contact of the halo of 46° is rea exceedingly brilliant.” Meteorological memories are proverbially short, and town-dwellers miss many optical phenomena - too common in the baatae pest to excite comment, . Water W. Bryant. Royal Observatory, Greenwich, June 26. i NATURE [June 28, 1917 > HORSE-BREEDING AND HORSE-RACING Bester history of the English racehorse is a chequered one. During ‘the Wars of the Roses many studs were dispersed, but owing to the re-importation of horses from the Continent during the reign of Henry VIII, the thoroughbred breed was re-established. Later, owing to the im- portation of numerous Oriental and other alien stallions and mares, the English breed of race- horses was for years in the melting-pot. In 1649 the Royal Tutbury Stud was handed over to Parlia- ment, but a few years later Cromwell, though him- self an owner of racehorses, found it necessary “for political reasons ” to stop racing. History has ~ been repeating itself. A valuable stud has recently been handed over to the Government, and racing has once again been virtually suspended. Further, some people not unduly biased by the objectionable features of race-meetings are asking, “Ts racine necessary to maintain the pre-eminence > y of the English racehorse? ” while others, including Sir H. H. Johnston, want to know ‘whether the type of horse that is evolved from horse-racing is of any use nowadays? ” It is well to bear in mind that the racehorse industry is a large and important one, and that the large sums received for horses exported help to pay for the raw material required for our cotton and other factories. But there is a more cogent reason than the economic one for preserving the racehorse. Unless we intend to retire once more to the fool’s paradise we found so comfortable up to August, 1914, it is essential that we not only preserve the thoroughbred, but also, by more scientific breeding, add greatly to its value for. military and other purposes. Light as well as heavy horses have played an important part in the present war, and, traction, they may play a still more important part in future wars. Horses for military purposes should have the vigour, staying power, and tenacity of mules combined with the cross-country instincts of hunters. Such horses can be obtained only by cross-breeding. Ye would be difficult to create and maintain a breed of hunters, and still more diffi- cult to create breeds of the old pack-horse type suit- able for military purposes. This being the case, it will continue to be impossible to provide Army horses without the help of the thoroughbred. The modern English racehorse is said to be “more remarkable for speed than stamina ”’ ; nevertheless, crosses having a large infusion of thoroughbred blood have often as muchrstaying power, intel- ligence, and courage as Arabs. Hitherto, while Continental Powers have been spending annually large sums in breeding, or pro- viding facilities for breeding, military horses, eur Army Remount Department has looked to thoroughbred and other breeders to provide them with all the different types of service horses required, has, in fact, trusted to meet the demands of the Army by misfits obtained at a price which scaicely paid for their upbringing. Many who realise the national importance of _ maintaining the English and Irish racehorses have NO. 2487. VOL. QQ] . notwithstanding mechanical, some difficulty in realising that’ racehorse breeding — implies racing. They admit that it is impossible _ to create. and maintain herds of -* 1000-gallon — cows” without keeping milk records, and. that unless records are kept it is impossible to have strains of “ 200-egg hens,” but they fail to appre- — ciate the importance of having’ continuous records giving the performance of racehorses. It is im- possible ‘by looking at or handling a cow to say whether or not her offspring will prove as good — milkers as her pedigree suggests, for everything — depends on the contents of the germ-cells, and the only way to obtain information about the com- position of the germ-cells is to test the milking © powers of the offspring. When a thoroughbred _ stallion has a distinguished racing record there i is a probability that he will preve a successful sire, but the only sure test is the performance of his offspring. As thoroughbreds are an unstable blend of several distinct types they rarely breed true, hence breeders in selecting stallions should — be guided mainly by the racing records of their off-— spring. Sometimes indifferent performers acquia great distinction at the stud. “ Stockwell ® is said to have achieved at the stud “the mos brilliant success of any sire of all time,” and he is . often referred to as the Emperor of Stallions. — The sire of “ Stockwell ” (‘‘ The Baron’) was the ~ son of the very unattractive, fiddle-headed m are jt “ Echidna,” who was never saddled ; “ Stockwell’s | dam (“Pocahontas”) was a bad roarer and an indifferent performer on the Turf and deficient i quality, yet ‘‘Pocahontas,” through “ Stockwell,’ ‘‘Rataplan,” “King Tom,” and others who in herited her immense vitaiity, did much to increas the stamina of the modern English racehorse. for the racing test the value of the “ Pocahontas and “Echidna’’ blood would never have be er realised. F The necessity of testing the speed, endurance etc., of possible sires was first realised about thi beginning of the seventeenth century, but the im- — portance of directing more attention to the pel 1% formance of the offspring than to that of either sire or dam is not yet sufficiently recognised. During” considerable part of last century the practice 0 considering almost exclusively the records of th sire did little harm, because (as Osborne points ¢ q in his ‘ Horse-breeders’ Handbook ”) in former times one out of every three horses bred could wi ‘a race, but since the ’eighties it is doubtful if me than one in twenty of the horses bred has wor race. That a change has taken place since it beea the fashion to have large sales. of yearlings i 1S. § ported by Sir Walter Gilbey, who, in 1898, po out that twenty-two yearlings, sold in ‘hos f 46,200 guineas, only won three races in 1897 wo rr 108o0l., and that twenty-two, sold for 34,850 guine as yearlings i in 1894, had failed, when their raci career was nearly over, to earn one-half of w. they originally cost. Obviously, if only about 5% ‘cent. of the racehorses bred have the speed 2 1 endurance required to win a race, it is import: that facilities should be provided for systemati testing young horses as. soon as their training sufficiently advanced. Breeding racehorses v aoe NATURE 347 June 28, 1917] * ipplying racing tests is bound to lead to ration. For this reason the continuance ich racing as may be required to test the 2 of the stallions and mares now at stud is at: ; J. C. Ewart. THE DESTRUCTION OF HOUSE- ; ie SPARROWS, — species of wild bird is injurious or beneficial = that is difficult to answer, but it is mani- unfair to complicate the matter further by aising issues that are foreign to the subject, or the publication of random statements which re not substantiated by actual facts. cently in the Times a correspondent recorded ague of caterpillars such as are taken by the arrows to feed their young,’’ and deplores the stion of the Board of Agriculture in issuing an rder for the destruction of the house-sparrow. nfortunately, the correspondent does not men- the species to which this caterpillar belongs; mably it is the larva of the Winter Moth matobia brumata, L.), upon which the house- w feeds its young during the nestling but only to a limited extent. For years we have had plagues of caterpillars when -sparrows were free to breed and multiply, id careful inquiry has shown that such outbreaks almost universally due to the omission of s-banding of the fruit trees, or, in the case ther species, to the absence of the spraying ine. Owing to the present scarcity of. , either of these teasons may account for ague of caterpillars, so that the demand the immediate reversal of the orders given” Board of Agriculture is unjustifiable. In of the above and similar statements now ing in the Press, it may be well once more he economic position of the house-spar- related to agriculture and horticulture. First, the writer would like to state that he m full agreement with the action of the Board ‘iculture, believing from long experience and Study of the food and feeding habits of the Sparrow that, as a result of its recom- ition, great benefit will accrue to both the lturist and the horticulturist. €y, who investigated the food of this S in 1885, stated that “fully 75 per cent. of ult sparrow’s food during its life is corn of ekind. In young sparrows not more than er cent. is corn, while about 40 per cent. con- of caterpillars and 10 per cent. of small les. This is up to the age of sixteen days.” Statement was founded upon an examina- 694 dissections. In 1910 the writer com- d to work upon this species, and by June, - ed from fruit-growing, agricultural, and an districts. Since then the work has been inued, so that up to the present time upwards adults and 470 nestlings have been’ in- , and the results clearly show :— the house-sparrow is far too plentiful, A887. VOT. aaql question whether or not a particular’ had examined 404 adults and. 329 nestlings, | and in agricultural and suburban districts it requires very drastic reduction. (ii) That, to a less extent, perhaps, it requires re- ducing in number in fruit-growing districts, and were this carefully carried out annually, after the nesting period, the good done during that season might probably compensate for the harm occa- sioned during the remainder of the year. (iii) That in agricultural districts the food of 75 per cent. of the sparrows consists of corn. (iv) That, apart from the nesting season, the house-sparrow does far more harm than good; indeed, its depredations on cereal crops alone entail a most serious loss to the farmer and the country in general. _ As a result of the numbers of house-sparrows that are now, very wisely, being destroyed, wé shall, in all probability, see a marked increase in the number of truly insectivorous birds, which are invaluable to the fruit-grower. As to the continuance of the present Order, all must depend upon the’ number of birds destroyed in fruit-growing districts; but there is little fear, in the writer’s opinion, of their exter- mination in agricultural or suburban districts, » and there the Order might be wisely continued. From the above recorded observations and those previously published, no unprejudiced mind will doubt the wisdom of a drastic reduction of this species. Enthusiasts and humanitarians may continue to write upon the value of this bird to the farmer, etc.; but the futility of such state- ments must be apparent to the most casual observer, unless they are supported by trust- worthy and carefully obtained facts as to the pre- cise nature and quantity of the food, while such ‘investigations as have been conducted entirely fail to support the popular view that the insects . destroyed during the nesting season compensate for the wide destruction occasioned by the species generally during the remainder of the year. There is a very general, but entirely mistaken, opinion that the house-sparrow feeds largely upon ~ insects. During the nesting season the food fed to the young birds, and in all probability most of that taken by the parents, consists mainly of insects, worms, and slugs; but during the re- mainder of the year it is mainly grain of some kind. No thinking individual wishes or advocates the destruction of truly beneficial species of wild birds; on the contrary, every encouragement should be offered them, provided that they are not permitted to increase to such an extent that a change in their feeding habits is forced upon — them by reason of their numbers. - Whilst the majority of species of wild birds are undoubtedly beneficial, no increase in their num- bers will ever lead to the extermination of any of our common orchard pests. That they aid in | the control of such pests is perfectly true, but | so long as artificial conditions prevail—i.e. the | association in a given area of a large number of | trees of a particular species—so long will it be | necessary to spray, grease-band, and carry out / clean cultivation. If- the house-sparrow is the still ‘tion with the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. ‘potent factor that some writers claim, then with country during the past ten or fifteen years there ishould be scarcely a caterpillar left; but, as I stated in 1913, this bird “has been allowed to’ increase to such an extent that it has become one -of the worst pests we have, tion.” Finally, I think we may leave the reputa- -by facts, to say that “it is clear to every naturalist -and observer that a great mistake has been made.” WwW ‘to be withdrawn. Replying to a question asked by ‘Mr. Peto in the House of Commions om June 18, to arrange for the continuation of the publication.” the Kew Bulletin, the subject was taken up by the ‘Economy, his attention was called'to the importance of that pub- out the Empire relating to plant culture and the supply -the,names of any experts concerned in the scientific ‘and commercial. development of Colonial industries any estimate was made of the consumption of paper ‘the Controller of the Stationery Office prior to ‘the _suspension of the Bulletin; and that the Controller’s “informed, 348 s, NATURE [June 28, 1917 a the countless hordes that have devastated the ? and “‘at present the attitude of all farmers must be one of extérmina- tion of the Board of Agriculture to take care of itself, for it is a gross exaggeration, unsupported WatterR E. COoLLInGE. 7 THE PUBLICATION OF THE “KEW - BULLETIN,” by TK: E are glad to see that the order suspending the publication of the Kew Bulletin, to which reference was made in Nature of May 24, is likely Sir R. Winfrey said: “The Kew Bulletin was suspended by the Stationery Office in consulta- The whole matter is, however, at present under re- - consideration, and I hope it will be found possible After the appearance of the article in NATURE deploring the action of the Controller of: H.M.. Stationery Office in suspending the publication of which, in an article entitled “False | ’? also regretted the Controller’s deci- sion. The British Sciénce Guild took prompt steps to direct attention to the matter; and in the House of Commons on June 11 Sir William Phipson Beale, a member of the Executive Committee, asked the Secretary to the Treasury on whose advice the decision of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office was taken to suspend the printing and publication of the Kew Bulletin; whether Times, lication for the spread of valuable information through- of fibre, timber, and plant products; if he can give connected with plant culture who were consulted in the matter ; whether the editor was consulted; and whether involved in the continuanee of the Kew Bulletin as compared with the consumption of paper for dramatic, sporting, pictorial, and other fashionable papers which have no practical value for the development of the resources of the Empire either during or after the war. The reply given by Mr: Stanley Baldwin was as follows :— ~ . In reply to the first part of the hon. member’s question, it is understood that the Secretary of the Board of Agriculture and the chairman of the Select Committee on Publications were consulted by decision was acquiesced in by the Director of the Royal | plant resources of the Empire. -The part which Botanic Gardens. The editor of the paper was, I am . consulted by the Controller before any NO. 2487, VOL. 99| - action was. taken’ The answer to the second part of © the question is in the affirmative, and that to the third — part in the negative. The consumption of paper for — dramatic, sporting, pictorial, and other fashionable © papers is not within the jurisdiétion of the Controller — of: the Stationery Office. ia _It will be noticed that this reply does not cover | the points rajsed by Sir William Beale, and we © believe that Mr. Baldwin was not in the possession — of the full facts when he suggested that suspension — was decided upon after consultation with suitable — advisers and with the consent of the Director of © the Royal Botanic Gardens, who is the editor — of the Bulletin. We are confident that everyone — who is competent to pass a judgment upon the — ‘case would express the opinion that the discon- tinuance of the Kew Bulletin upon the ground % it was “not essential ’’ could not be justified f a moment. The subjoined memorandum, signed — by members of the Executive Committee of the British Science Guild and sent to the Secretary of the Treasury on June 9g, affords in itself sufficient — reason for the continuance of the publication — the Bulletin, which Sir R. Winfrey hopes will possible.. If that end is attained, the Guild is ‘be congratulated upon the part it has played bringing about the abrogation of an unfort and ill-considered decision. ' The British Science Guild learns with much astonish: ment that the Controller, H.M, Stationery Office, decided that the Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous formation is not essential, and has therefore su its publication until more normal times are reac The Guild is strongly of opinion that such should not have ,been taken without referring ‘the question of the value of the Bulletin to compé Scientific authorities; and it protests against the pension of publication at a time when ate ‘ort pen en should be made to promote the development has played in the collection and distribution of chona, india-rubber, and many other plant pre including timbers, should have preserved the Bull from any restriction on account of the great be it has been the means of conferring, not only the Empire, but also upon humanity at large. — The Kew Bulletin was first'issued in January, 1887 in response to the demand for the prompt publicatio: for general use of any information likely to be 6 service to those engaged in science, cultivation, 0 commerce connected with the plant and agricultural r sources of the Overseas Dominions. — The pre note to the first number says :-— “It is hoped that while these notes will serve f purpose of an expeditious mode of communication ' the numerous correspondents of Kew in distarit of the Empire, they may also be of service to men of the general public interested in planting or ag tural business in India and the Colonies.” bok The Bulletin was started at the desire of Parli ment, upon the recommendation of the First Commis: sioner of H.M. Works and Public Buildings (2 Plunket). It has been the vehicle for the public: of a vast amount of information of various ki some on purely scientific, but mostly on econ subjects. The ‘‘ miscellaneous information” by the Bulletin has ever been welcome to botam and to those concerned with the utilisation of vegeta products; and it has provided a valuable regord Kew work in all its varying aspects. NATURE 349 28, 1917] Hetin is sent out to all botanic and agricul- gartments in correspondence with Kew, and f its contents is usually reprinted in local . It affords the best evidence of the many 2s of the Royal Gardens, in advising upon the e develo t of the natural resources of our » and Rencndeacion Almost every issue ‘con- number of plain statements of attempts made ttroduce new and commercially profitable plants in able districts, of improved methods of cultivation, work that men trained at Kew are doing in s parts of the world to which they have from the Royal Gardens. By suspending the on of the Bulletin, the link connecting Kew . whole of the botanic stations of the Empire en, and the means of communicating informa- » them all is removed at a time when the in- tion afforded is no less valuable than in pre-war it Knowledge ot the functions fulfilled by the and an intimate acquaintance with what it aplished in providing information not access- any other form in regard to the capabilities of ous parts of the Empire for the cultivation of economic im nce, no Government official le of deciding justly whether the Bulletin is ential publication or not. The British Science ur: ges, therefore, in the interests of Imperial ment, that the decision be submitted to a com- tribunal, which will take into consideration, not shortage of paper, but also the value of what d upon it. It is confident that the result of publication of the Bulletin. am (President, British Science Guild). Lockyer (Chairman of Committees). ON REDWoopD (Deputy-Chairman, Execu- Committee). 3 a} (Vice-Presidents). THER Bett (Vice-Chairman of Committees). f URN. Z y (Hon, Treasurer). Pepter (Hon. Secretary). Cowan : ) (Other members of the Executive Committee). _ PROF. KR. BIRKELAND. regret to learn from the Morning Post that Prof. Kr. Birkeland, of-Christiania, died in June 18. He was one of the few specu- Sicists of the dav the value of whose ould be generally admitted in commercial _ He was the co-inventor with Mr. Sam of the Birkeland-Eyde direct process manufacture of calcium nitrate by the ex- nitrogen from the atmosphere. In the ‘the Royal Society of Arts, May, 1912, n Scott records how, starting with 7, VOL. 99] inquiry would be a judgment in favour of the ental plant in 1903, the company | controlling the Birkeland-Eyde patents had 200,000: h.p. at work in 1912, and was likely to add a further 300,000 h.p. before the end of 1916. This was by no means the only successful patent in which Prof. Birkeland was interested. As a theorist Prof. Birkeland was extra- ordinarily bold in his speculations. He had theories on the internal constitution of the sun and the nature of sunspots, on the sun as a magnet and as a source of electricity, on the origin of the planets and their satellites, on the nature of various celestial phenomena, especially the zodiacal light, on the production of aurora and magnetic storms, and on the past geological history of the earth. The wealth acquired by his practical gifts enabled Prof. Birkeland to experiment and arrange for solar and magnetic observations on a large scale. He made many striking experiments with an artifi- cially magnetised terella in a high vacuum, direct- ing towards it electrical discharges, intended to represent the discharge of corpuscles from the sun. In some of his experiments the vacuum chamber had a capacity of 7o litres, and the supply of elec- trical energy required a 6-h.p. engine. He obtained phenomena closely resembling various ~forms of aurora, which he believed to represent the conditions under which magnetic storms ap- pear on the earth. Prof. Birkeland was largely responsible for the institution of special magnetic observatories in Arctic regions in 1900, in 1902-3, and again dur- ing the last few years. His two large volumes in English, ‘‘ The Norwegian Aurora Polaris Expedi- tion, 1902-3,’ besides much speculation as to the causes of magnetic storms, contain much impor- tant information as to the simultaneous progress of magnetic disturbance at different parts of the — earth. Since rgtohe had lived a good deal abroad ~ for observational purposes, and numerous com- munications to the Comptes rendus of the French Academy of Sciences describe his various conclu- sions and speculations. In one dated July, r9r4, he expressed his intention of devoting the next three years to the study of the zodiacal light in Natal, at Helwan, and in Uganda, and he was working in Egypt in 1915 and 1916. Presumably the con- tinuation of his quest had taken him to the Far East. At the time of his death Prof. Birkeland was only about fifty years of age; but when last in England, in 1913, he had aged considerably in appearance and become very deaf. He was, how- ever, as animated as ever when discussing his theories. C. CHREE. NOTES. On June 20 Lord Montagu of Beaulieu gave an interesting lecture before the Aeronautical Society of | Great Britain on the wo-ld’s air routes and their regu- lation. He pointed out how favourably placed the British Empire was in this matter, inasmuch as its many possessions were so scattered about the globe that suitable landing and halting places could be pro- vided without the necessity of asking for concessions from other nations. Lord Montagu based his calcu- lations upon an assumed speed of 120 miles an hour, oD? NATURE [JUNE 28, 1917 and showed that with two five-hour periods per day the journey to India could be accomplished in four days. Under the stage which aeroplanes have now reached, the carriage of mails and passengers to India’ seems -quite a_ feasible. proposition; the meteorological conditions along the tracks that might ‘be followed, except at the British end in the winter, are quite good. Crossing the ‘Atlantic is another matter,’ especially from Europe to America; the shortest track, from Ireland to Newfoundland, is in the winter a region of gales, mostly from some -wes- terly point, and if the more favourable weather that prevails further south is sought, the distance is about doubled. Lord Montagu’s suggestion is that certain levels should be assigned to certain types of traffic, but it has been estimated that at any given time one-half of the earth is covered with clouds; and’a pilot above a sheet of clouds cannot keep his ‘course, as there is nothing to tell ‘him the strength: and. direction of the air drift.to which he is exposed. It. follows therefore that a pilot. aiming: at.a definite. place must fly low enough to see the earth at frequent intervals; in or above a. cloud sheet he would have.no herizon and could not rely on astronomical observations for his position. "Thus the traffic to which the highest levels were assigned would be at a great disadvantage. Tue Executive Committee of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies presented its report on the work of. the last six months at the fourth meeting of the Board, held at the Royal Society on June 13, Sir Joseph J. Thomson in the chair. The report indicates that a number of important questions of scientific and indus- trial importance has occupied the attention of the Board. Various bodies are at present interested in the formation of a census of the mineral resources of the Empire. It was agreed to enter into communication with these bodies and to make suggestions with .a view to the publication of information in a form useful to the general community. Interim reports were received and approved on the necessity for an anthropological survey of the British people, on the best methods for carrying on the International Cata- . logue of Scientific Literature, and on an inquiry into the desirability or otherwise of the adoption of the metric system throughout the British Isles. | The sub-committee on National Instruction in Technical Optics reported that a scheme approved by the Board of Education had now come into operation (see NaTurRE of May 24 and June 14). A sub-committee, having considered special cases of magnetic disturb- ances revealed by a magnetic survey of the ‘British Isles, and their possible connection with the occur- rence of iron ores, recommended a detailed investiga- tion of two test areas, in order to ascertain how far, under the conditions of the British iron ores, the magnetic survey was likely to prove of economic value. Arrangements for carrying out the investiga- tion are in progress. An agricultural sub-committee, with thé Earl of Portsmouth as chairman, reported that it is at present devoting itself mainly to engineer- ing questions. It is engaged in collecting informa- tion with regard to the transport of raw materials to farms and agricultural products from them, to the power required for this purpose, and for seasonal operations on the land, with the view of comparing the relative advantages and costs of steam or internal- combustion engines and electrically operated machines. A sub-committee was appointed to report on what is at present being done to .ascertain the amount and distribution of water power in the British Empire. A complete report of the first year’s work of the Board will be published in due course, NO. 2487, VOL. 99| on June 7. The evidence in favour of the se We notice with regret the announcement of # death on June 19 of Dr. Robert Bell, F:R.S., forme chief geologist of the Geological Survey of Canada, Tue King has been pleased to award the Edw: Medal of the First Class to the representatives of M Andrea Angel and Mr. George Wenborne, who lost their lives in endeavouring to save the lives of others on the occasion of a fire which broke out at the Silver- town Chemical Works on January 1g last, In order to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Henry D. Thoreau, the Humanitarian League (53 Chancery Lane, W.C.2) has arranged a meeting be held in the Caxton Hall, Westminster, on the ¢€ ing of July 12. The chair will be taken at 8 p.m. by Sir Joha L. Otter, J-P., and short addresses will be given by various speakers. Admirers of Thoreau’ writings are invited to be present, siete In a recent issue (June 14, p. 312) we directed at tion to a report that the Prime Minister and others 3 awakened by the sound of the explosions at Mess having been heard in and near London is, howe insufficient, and information since received Flanders throws doubt on the statement. An officer the Royal Engineers, who was only a mile from tt largest mine when it was fired, describes the n as ‘‘not so very great’’; while another, who was a distance of eight miles, saw the flash, waited for noise, and heard only a slight “phit.” A con wind might, of course, have tilted the sound- over the latter observer, but the wind seems to come from the direction of the front, for the thé time on the west side was charged with lachi tory gases. Moreover, a well-prepared explosi seldom noisy. a THE governors of the West of Scotland Agricult College have recently issued, in the form of a bu (No. 81), a summary by Principal W. G. R. Pa of certain schemes for the training and employ particularly in rural. occupations, of discharged abled sailors and soldiers. The three schemes with were selected from eight submitted in res to an offer of prizes placed at the disposal c governors through the generosity of an anony donor. Each scheme is outlined and critically cussed by Mr. Paterson, who contributes also a prehensive memorandum drafted independently fc consideration of the governors of the college. not possible within the compass of a short no indicate adequately even the essential features c different schemes, and it must suffice to commend suggestiveness as to the useful part that may be in the solution of the problem by the regenerati our villages, the establishing of colonies of sm holders, the setting up of isolated holdings, and revival of a number of subsidiary rural’ industries, a well as the development of new industries. La Nature (No. 2279, June 2, 1917) devot special article to the question of the method of ¢ ing an employé. It is a plea for a more sc treatment of the problem of adjusting the work ¢ * th the worker, so that the right person is put to @ work for which he is naturally adapted, and also the the work itself should be analvsed, with the object « discovering what particular qualities, both mental ant physical, it will demand, and, having discovered these to train the worker along those Jines. The quotes with approval the attempts made in Americ in the direction of scientific management of labour ; He describes various tests, such as tests of manual NATURE 351 | June 28, :1917] - sxterity, of comprehension, of judgment, etc., which : suggests might be advantageously used by em- syers of labour when selecting workmen. It is, ever, necessary to issue a warning to those enthu- jasts who are tempted to accept “tests’’ uncritically, iz. that one is not entitled to assume that, because a rson does well in any given test, he will necessarily willing to do well in work demanding that same uality for an employer. That he can do it is not juivalent to that he will do it. Again, it is necessary > be on one’s guard against believing in some one st as a test of a particular capacity. It is possible » have, e.g., an excellent memory in a given line of terest, and a very weak one in some other direction. whe article is interesting and timely, but much yet mains to be done by trained scientific workers before method of tests can be generally applied. WE have received a copy of a pamphlet published | the justice to the Mountain Committee in Tacoma, lashington, and containing the appeal submitted to ¢ United States Geographic Board urging that the ountain now officially known as Mount Rainier duld in future be called Mount Tacoma. The re- iest is supported by the House of Representatives of State of Washington, the Federation of North- est American Indians, and public opinion generally ‘Seattle and Tacoma. -The mountain, which lies out fifty miles east of Puget Sound, in the Cascade age, was discovered in 1792 by Vancouver, and med by him after Rear-Admiral Rainier, R.N. ainier had certainly no connection with that coast, it the arguments adduced against the use of his ne for the mountain do not seem to us to be very nV g. On the other hand, a great deal. is to ' said for the use of the name Tacoma, which is = modern version of the old Indian name, and the ¢ by which the mountain is generally known in the r And, after all, the local residents must be iters in the matter, and no decision of the States Geographic Board can alter local usage. € committee has gone to a great deal of trouble Collecting evidence as to written and oral usage, d has made out a good case for the use of Tacoma preference to Rainier. = a" sie ‘T1Cl Ve have received the report of the bacteriologist f. Ward Giltner) of the Agricultural Experiment tion, East Lansing, Mich., U.S.A., for the year ing June 30, 1916. Much research has been car- @ out on contagious abortion of the cow. Attempts » been made to render animals insusceptible ection with this disease, which is caused by ws abortus, by vaccination with living and dead es, but with little success. Details are also 1 of the routine work carried out at the station. [HE number of cases of paralysis following gunshot iry of nerves in the present war has given promin- s€ to the subject of electrical testing of nerve and cle, and the value to be attached to results of such ng for diagnosis and prognosis. The methods of commonly applied are by means of condenser ges or by the faradic or the galvanic current, is doubtful if the reactions of the muscles in- d thereby give information of the state of the @ supplying them when once reaction of degenera- developed. In a paper in the Archives of ‘5 ohgad Electrotherapy for May (No. 202) Dr. an applied to the human subject a method Was employed by Keith Lucas at Cambridge. A anic current of known and variable strength and tion is used. Dr. Adrian makes use of a time- t known as the chronaxie. It is remarkably nt for muscle with undamaged nerve, and has a - 2487, VOL. 99} short duration; for denervated muscle it is very much longer. The method promises to be a useful one. THE Geographical Journal for May (vol. xlix., No. 5) includes a singularly interesting paper by Mrs. Scoresby Routledge describing the results of the expedi- tion to Easter Island under the leadership of her hus- band and herself. We probably now possess all the in- formation which local investigation can secure about the strange buildings and statues which have so long been a problem for anthropologists, The reading of this suggestive paper at a recent meeting of the Royal - Geographical Society was followed by a discussion in which Sir Hercules Read, Sir H. Howorth, and Messrs. T. A. Joyce, A. P. Maudslay, Basil Thomson, and Henry Balfour took part. A most interesting suggestion was made by Mr. Joyce that on the basis of skull measurements the earlier Easter Island natives displayed Melanesian affinities. Mr. Balfour added that for affinities with their culture we must look rather to the West than to the East, the New World influence being practically ruled out. In his opinion the statues appear to show a relation to Melanésian art. This is the latest phase of this long-protracted controversy, and though the results are still to some extent uncertain, the problem has now decidedly ad- vanced towards a definite solution. Tue Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, new series, vol. xix., part iii., March, 1917 (Hull: A. Brown and Sons, Ltd.; price 7s. 6d. net) is devoted to a paper by Mr. T. Sheppard, entitled “William Smith: His Maps and Memoirs.” - No seri- ous student of geology can fail to be interested in the life of William Smith, whose stupendous labours laid a sure foundation for the science of stratigraphy. Several memoirs of his life and work are in existence, and Mr. Sheppard has now said what may be presumed will be the last word on this subject. The paper is naturally concerned with Smith’s work in Yorkshire as lecturer and geological explorer, but much space is given to full details of the publication of his maps, sections, and memoirs, and this information will be of great value to librarians and others. Reference is also made to the efforts of earlier, writers to understand and explain geological features, and in ‘this connection the ideas of George Owen, Martin Lister, John Strachey, John Woodward,’ Nicolas Desmarest, Christopher Packe, John Michel, John Whitehurst, John Smeaton, Prof. Jamieson, and James Parkinson have been briefly summarised. The paper is illustrated by numerous plates and figures in the text, and concludes with a ‘bibliography. Messrs. RICARD AND BaRRAL have recently communi- cated to the Société Médico-Chirurgicale Militaire de la XIVe Région a very. simple method of. ascertaini rapidly and easily whether water has-been poisoned. It consists in placing a few fish—blay, gudgeon, ete.— in a jar filled with the water to be tested. Two drops of nicotine per litre kill the fish in less than a minute; two drops of conicine paralyse them in six minutes and kill them in eight; one decigram of ‘solanine kills in one and a half hours, the same quantity of cocaine in one hour, and the same quantity of stovaine in ten minutes. One milligram of aconite kills in three and a half hours; twenty drops of aniline in one and three-quarter hours; seven milligrams of digit- alin only take effect in four hours. Veratrine does not appear to have any effect; one decigram of potassium cyanide kills the fish in two minutes; two decigrams of corrosive sublimate in ten to twelve minutes; two grams of lead acetate in five hours; five grams of zinc sulphate in two hours; two grams of copper sulphate in forty-five minutes; and thirty-five centi- 35? NATURE grams of picric acid in five hours. On the other hand, the fish do not appear to be inconvenienced by morphine, cantharidine, atropine, pilocarpine, hyoscy- amine, scopolamine, or arsenical salts. Water in which fish die in less than four hours should therefore be «considered as dangerous. THE Journal of the East Africa and. Uganda Natural History Society (vol. vi., No. 11) contains a number of extremely interesting papers. Not the least of these is that by Mr. R. L. Harger om the desiccation of Africa. Reviewing the records on this theme of pioneers Jike Livingstone, Harris, and Selous, the ‘author adds much valuable matter of his own, cover- ing 4 vast extent of country from Tanganyika south- ward and westward. That the diminution of the chain of the great lakes and the river systems feeding them. is proceeding at a most disconcerting rate there can be no question, but the author makes no suggestion as to the causes to which this shrinkage is due. . Natural history notes from British East Africa, by Mr. A. Loveridge, afford one a vivid insight into the wealth and variety of the fauna of this part of Africa, for the habits and haunts of many of the smaller creatures unnoticed by the big-game hunter are viva- ciously described. Ow1nc to the war the completion of the reports on the collections of zoological and botanical specimens obtained by the ill-fated British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition, 1910, has been seriously delayed. Some of them we have already noticed in these columns. The trustees of the British Museum have now issued Dr. W. T. Calman’s report on the Crustacea, and. two reports on the marine and fresh-water Algze, and these sustain the high standard of their predecessors. Four very diverse groups of Crustacea are represented in this collection, and of these two only, belonging re- spectively to the Cumacea and the Phyllocardia, were taken in Antarctic waters. Two species of Cumacea new to science were taken off the extreme north of New Zealand, and one new species of Stomatopod was taken off the Brazilian coast. Of these Dr. Calman gives admirable descriptions and some very beautiful figures. The marine Algz have been worked out by Mr. and Mrs. Antony Gepp, and the Melobesiee by Mme. Paul Lemoine. Only two species of marine Algz were taken in Antarctic waters, and these are not new. The only specimens of Melobesiez collected proved, on examination, to represent two species new to science: one of these was taken off New Zealand, the other off Trinidad. Very beautiful figures of both are given. All the fresh-water Algz collected were Antarcfic- They were entrusted to Prof. F. E. Fritsch for inves- tigation, and proved to contain two new species. From the material collected Prof. Fritsch has been enabled to describe the cell-division of Pleurococcus antarcticus, which was hitherto unknown. THE annual report for 1916 of the Horticulture Branch of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries con- tains, amongst other matters of interest, a summary of the work accomplished in connection with the in- vestigation and control of various plant diseases and insect pests. Of the notifiable diseases a distinct im- provement is recorded in the case of American goose- berry mildew, but a much less satisfactory position with regard to wart disease of potatoes. The latter disease has not Only spread throughout areas known previously to he infected, but has also made a sporadic appearance in several new places. Glamor- gan, South Lancashire, and Durham are mentioned as areas in which the disease is very prevalent. It is gratifying to note, however, that in areas previously notified as infected very satisfactory results have been NO. 2487, VOL. 99] [JUNE 28, 1917 obtained by. the action of the Board in securing the use of resistant varieties. It is reported — that the long and elaborate inquiry into the para. sitism ‘of the large larch sawfly has been con cluded, but the results have not yet been tabulated, With reference to plant diseases not caused by scheduled pests, special mention is made of the “capsi bug”’ disease of apples and apple mildew, both of which have been the subject of investigation by the officers of the branch. An interesting summary is als given of the present position with regard to Isle « Wight bee disease, the supervision of which is inelude among the duties of the branch. The report this yee is not issued separately, but appears in the form of ai — in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture for lay. ; MEmoIR 92 of the Canadian Geological Survey, by Mr. J. A. Dresser, indicates the excellent prospects of water-power in the Lake St. John district, north of the city of Quebec, and includes an opportune reviey by Prof. A. Stansfield, of the smelting of iron-ores rich in titanium. This article, with its references to rece work, will be of service in mineral development else where, and possibly in Ireland. © a J ; ben's ia Tue Bulletin of the Hawaiian Volcano Observat for January, 1917, is of more than usual interest fr its record of experiments with Seeger cones enclo: in iron pipes some 40 ft. long, which were thrust i grottoes of glowing lava. It is shown that in a tance of 20 ft. the temperature may va fr 850° C. to 1150° C., and there is some indicatic the incandescent upper layers of the lava, e gases, may be of higher temperature than the viscous mass below. * Mr. J. C. H. Mincaye describes several met in the Records of the Geological Survey of New Wales, vol. ix., part iii., 1916. The Go printer may be congratulated on the beautiful co plate showing the various types of olivine in the site of Molong. Mr. Mingaye’s detailed analy two australites (obsidianites) in the same part s emphasise the difference between these bodies ordinary meteorites. , Pror. C. ScHucHERT, in discussing the corre strata on the basis of paleogeography (Bull Soc. America, vol. xxvii., p. 491, 1916), pro interesting series of maps showing the p conditions in the west of North America durin cessive Mesozoic periods, and a still more v conception of the relations of land and water in € Permian time, in the form of a map of the world which the areas are marked where evidences of Per Carboniferous glaciation have been found. Teal of geology may like to enlarge this diagram. The author supports the theory © manence of oceanic and continental areas, which se to many geologists to be based partly on our igt ance of what underlies the oceans, and partly on definition of oceanic water. : In the Transactions of the Royal Society of Sa Africa (vol. vi., part i.) Mr. S. H. Haughton, 2: tant director, South African Museum, descr ancient human remains found during the excava of a drain at Kolonies Plaats, Boskop, in the Pe stroom district of the Transvaal, in 1913. T mains found consist of a large portion of a calvz the horizontal pact of the left ramus of the mandi the major portion of a temporal bone, and some mentary limb-bones. The distinctive feature’ 0 rs NATURE 353 that at the level of the posterior part of the there is a decided flattening, which continues the superior part of the occipital bone. The ital projects strongly, and has a thick ridge bi- downwards. The flattening of the skull is alleled by any skull in the South African useum, although, according to Mr. Boule, it has sn seem on some negro skulls and also upon a naqua skull now in the Paris Museum. The paper a full sete’, with oregano of this inter- = specimen. Prof. G. Elliot Smith thus sums up stion: “Whatever the date of the Boskop may be, the evidence now in our, possession that this early inhabitant of the Transvaal ts the type of the immediate ancestors of the f the Upper Palzolithic (or, as I prefer to call it, mthropic) age, possibly “somewhat modified in rse of his ern migration. It probably ts the earliest (not necessarily in actual age) phase of Homo sapiens in the course of his mation from a condition analogous to that derthal man to that of Cro-Magnon.”’ Gere ihboriant palzontological papers by Mr. en Newton have recently been published. The On the Conchological Features of the Lenham es of Kent and their Stratigraphical Import- , forms the subject of his presidential address to onchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland urn. Conch. Soc., vol. xv., pp. 56-149, four plates). € work on these puzzling deposits begun by Prest- th, Wood, Lyell, and other noted geologists, was anced by the late Mr. Clement “Reid (Nature, V., 1886, pp. 341-43, and in his ‘ Pliocene of Britain,” Mem. Geol. Surv., 1890), who the beds as of Coralline Crag age, and nt to the Diestian of Belgium. Mr. Newton v very carefully gone over Mr. Reid’s material Museum of Practical’ Geology with the Graham and other collections in the British Museum History), and here discusses most fully each ss and its occurrence in time and space, photographically all the more important "he conclusions he comes to will certainly our older geologists, for he terminates the me with the Red Crag, and refers to the Upper in descending order, (a) the Coralline Crag; estian of Belgium; (c) St. Erth beds; (d) Sandstones; (e) Anversian of Belgium; and pper Miocene of Germany; whilst he refers tox Stones” to the Middle Miocene. These ant and seemingly well-based conclusions de- notoriety than the pages in which they are likely to obtain for them. The second ibes an interesting mass of ‘“ Fossiliferous s from the North Sea’ (Quart. Journ. Geol. Ixxii., 1917, pp. 7-22, one plate). After a : investigation of its fossil contents, Mr. ‘decides that it represents a submarine expo- Be penging to the lower portion of the — C e accompanying plate is worthy mm, since the process adopted is the best yet d in this country for depicting shells. se for’: May 18 contains an address by Prof. Carmichael on the provision made by mathe- Or the needs of science. While very properly e the study of mathematics for its own sake, | out that many of its most interesting ems have been suggested by natural phenomena, conversely, this debt has been amply repaid by pplication of mathematics to astronomy, physics, Stry, not to mention other sciences. Prof. one of a group who are now working at a new development of the theory of difference equations, and he expresses a hope that this may have some direct application to theoretical physics. As he says, our latest physical hypotheses seem to be tending towards an atomic, discrete, or statistical form, so that differential equations are not always the most appropriate tools to be employed. Not impossibly we may have a Boscovitchian interlude, after which a déeper insight may bring us back to a flux-theory again. In any case, it is satisfactory to find that mathematics is still growing with remarkable vigour, and providing new methods of attacking a new set of problems. ta A RECENT technological publication (No. 82) of the Bureau of Standards, Washington, describes an ex- perimental investigation recently made of the causes of failure of a number of articles, particularly bolts, of wrought brass of the type 60 copper, 40 zinc, with special reference to the presence of initial stress. The work was taken up in connection with tests, made for the New “York Board of Water Supply, of failed brass bolts-which had been in service in the construc- tion of the new Catskill Aqueduct, which is to supply water to the city from the watersheds of the Catskill Mountains. In view of the fact that most of the equipment and materials used in this construction would“be subjected to the corroding action of both water and the atmosphere, a substitute was sought for steel, which would ordinarily be used, and it was considered possible to find a brass which would have mechanical properties comparable with those of steel and yet be practically incorrodible. As such a sub- stitute the so-called manganese bronze was chosen. In the course of the investigation the physical proper- ties, micro-structure, and initial stress distribution have been studied in failed and sound materials, not only from the Catskill Aqueduct construction, but also from the filtration plant of the city of Minneapolis, the Navy Department, and the. Panama Canal, and in new material from a number of manufacturers. Failure has occurred (1) as a result of faulty practice in forging bolt-heads, flanging plates, etc.; (2) as a result of the presence of initial stress; and (3) as a result of service overstress due to drawing up bolts too tightly. This investigation shows that an average- initial stress of 5000 Ib./sq. in. (350 kg./cm.*) is to be regarded as a safe limit for rods and bolts of this - type of material under ordinary service conditions, in which the service load itself is not greater than from 5000 to 10,000 Ib. /sq. in. Experiments have also been made to ascertain under what conditions of annealing initial stresses could best be removed, and have shown. that temperatures of from 300° to 400° C. are sufficient to reduce in from one to seven hours the initial | stresses to a safe value. Messrs, Ross, Ltp., have purchased from the Con- troller appointed by the Board of Trade the Zeiss Optical Works at Mill Hill, including all machinery and tools therein; also their business premises at 13 and 14 Great Castle Street, W.1., including the stock- in-trade, etc. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Orsit OF Comet 1915@ (MELLISH).—The orbit of this comet, which was discovered by Mellish on February to, 1915, and. afterwards became a naked-eye object, has been investigated by L. Rosenbaum (Ast. Jaktt. Stockholms Obs., vol. x., No. 5). The comet traversed a heliocentric arc of 205° during the eleven months of its visibility: After taking account of per- 354 NATURE [JUNE 28, 191 ’ turbations, the following hyperbolic elements were de- rived :— Osculation 1915 February to-0. T=1915 July 17°18869+0'00159 Berlin M.T. w =247° 46° 5°6"+3°41" ‘SQ 72° 16’ 24°1°F3 66" = 54° 27) 22°71°+ 5:11" g =1'005338 t0'000006 . @ =1'000235 +0°000061 . The residual. errors are :probably to be attributed to the division of the nucleus into two parts, which was observed about two months before perihelion passage, and before it can be considered certain that the true orbit was hyperbolic it will be necessary to discuss separately the’ observations before and after the change in the nucleus, i THE SoLaR Puysics OBSERVATORY.—The activities of the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge, appear to have been seriously curtailed through the absence of members of the staff on war service. -annual report, recently issued by the director, we gather that apart from some unfruitful attempts to photograph the spectrum of Venus with high dis- persion, no observations other than those made with the spectroheliograph were undertaken. The sun’s disc was photographed in calcium light on 117 days, ana prominences at the jimb on 104 days. These pro- vide records for sixteen out of the thirty-seven days for which there were gaps in the Kodaikanal series, and the combined results account for 345 days during the year 1916. Laboratory experiments on the spectra of carbon and its compounds were continued, and.fur- ther investigations of atmospheric electricity were car- ‘ried on by Mr. C. T. R. Wilson. THE SPECTRA OF NEBUL2.—Some interesting results which have recently been obtained at the Lick Observa- tory with a new quartz spectrograph dare described by Dr, W. H. Wright'.in Lick Observatory Bulletin No. 291. The optical parts are two 60° quartz prisms of the Cornu type, with lenses of about 11 in. focal length and 2 in. effective aperture. The instrument can be used either with or without slit, the collimator in the latter case being replaced by a concave lens of equivalent focal length, and the whole instrument so adjusted with respect to the mirror of the Crossley reflector that parallel light falls on.the prisms. It has been very successfully employed as a slitless spectro- graph in a study of the distribution in planetary nebulz of the various radiations which make up their spectra, an image of the nebula being produced by ‘each line of the spectrum. “The monochromatic images thus obtained have. been found to exhibit a great variety of forms for the same object. If there be a nucleus, it is usually represented by a streak of continuous spectrum threading the centres, giving the appearance of beads on a string. A number of strong nebular lines which ‘have previously escaped notice have been detected in these photographs, among them being 3313, 3342, and 3444 A. . Another interesting fact brought to light is that most of the planetary nebula show a faint continuous spectrum which be- gins abruptly at about 3652 A, near the termination of the hydrogen series, and extends with great uniformity far into the ultra-violet. A similar appearance has been noted in the spectra of solar prominences, and a corresponding absorption effect has been observed’ in the spectra of such stars as Vega and Sirius. There is reason to suppose that the continuous spectrum in question is associated with the Balmer hydrogen series, and that its production is in some way involved in the mechanics of line series radiation. Further laboratory investigations in this connection are suggested. NO. 2487, VOL. 99] From the fourth question ‘in his paper, “Are Acquired Chara ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE SOUTH EASTERN UNION OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, © Chae union held its annual congress at the Li Society’s rooms in Burlington House on Jur 6-9, which was well attended by delegates from 2 parts of the union’s area. This was the first oecasix of its meeting in central London, and was an undoubt success, The address by the president, Dr. W. Ma tin, dealt with ‘‘Science and the Industries, traced the lines on which, by halting steps, the Gov. ment had in the past encouraged the study of scien It called on the nation to insist that its leaders sh: give due recognition to the truth that’ the countr future is bound up with giving the fullest encoura: ment to workers in all branches of science, and urs the union to take its place as an organisation of v: and power in the strenuous times before the cou when the war is over, 4 Amid the upheavals to which industries hav: subjected during the beating of ploughshares pruning-hooks into implements of war, it may be t the country has already proceeded apace towa greater triumphs. Old machinery has been scrapp antiquated custom flung away, and resources | been adapted to the stern demands of a people un arms. With new measures, new men have aris Unity, organisation, co-ordination, and precision the weapons with which without misgiving the ful may be “faced. May we not fitly antici the time when from the ashes of an otiose p and an age of neglect a rejuvenated nation will h arisen among whom lethargy and indifference ¢ be as aliens? At such a time we shall reg period before the shock of war was upon us ultimate remnant of the Dark Ages, and shall - understand that mental attitude which con science a luxury and its application to the indus in need of advocacy. ie Dr, A. Smith Woodward, in addition to 4 on the mammalian remains which have from time been found in superficial deposits of showed members the human remains which ¥ up at Piltdown by the late Mr. Dawson and including the recently found fragments whi proved the existence of at least one other being of the Piltdown race. This was followe address by Mr. E. A. Martin, giving a gener. mary of what is known of the early types of their implements. Prof. MacBride raised a herited?’’ and dealt to’ some extent with the ments of Kammerer on newts and salamanders ing that as a result the question asked in the his paper could be answered in the affirmati the discussion it was pointed out by Dr. Boule that some doubt had been thrown upon Kamme work, : A paper was read by Dr. J. S. Haldane normal Atmospheres and the Means _ of ‘Cor Them,” followed by a visit to Messrs. Siebe, | and Co.’s works at Westminster, under his Here William Walker, the diver who a few so successfully laid roundations under peat an¢ for tne then threatened Winchester Cathedral an exhibition of the diver’s work under water, in great tank on the premises, where many a mod diver has beer initiated into the art. . A number of guests, in Dr. Haldane’s company, were then mured in a chamber while the pressure was raise to nearly two atmospheres, while another party entered a second chamber in which the pressure Wa> | reduced-to nearly half an atmosphere. i b UNE 28, 1917] | NATURE 355 in June 8 a party of seventy persons enjoyed a visit a large munitions factory in the East of London, iploying 2700 men and 800 women, where the manu- eture of shells proceeds with a possible output of oo a week. Here the whole of the making of a eli was seen, except the filling, from the time that. ‘steel billet is put into the furnace to the time when is passed into the hands of those who test them to ect faults in completed shells. The accuracy ob- rved in the making is so fine that those cast out are 8 ied Prof. G. S, Boulger to the Chelsea aysic Garden, and listened to a paper read by the lide, whilst Dr. Boulenger entertained a large num- sr at the Zoological Gardens with a paper on ‘ Rep- €s in Captivity,” followed by a perambulation of the irdens. Variety was afforded by a paper on ‘okens of London,” by Mr. W. Dale, and a lecture Dr. Daydon Jackson, the secretary of the Linnean eiety, on “‘ Famous Trees and Gardens of London.” the delegates’ final meeting Sir Daniel Morris, .C.M.G., was chosen to be president for 1918-19, it the place of meeting has not yet been decided ‘empan aa YE FUTURE OF THE X-RAY INDUSTRY. ~HE future of the British X-ray industry will de- + pend upon the ability of the British manufac- fers to hold their own against those of other coun- The world’s markets will be captured by that untry which can combine the largest capital with € greatest initiative and fertility of invention. fitish manufacturers in other directions in the past ive been able to hold their own; ‘there is no reason hy the British X-ray industry, if sufficiently capital- sd and guided by the best skill in tfie country, should Mt be able to do the same in open competition with er countries. American manufacturers have already advanced to of amalgamation and pooling of interests. le capital invested amounts to a‘considerable sum— 9,0001., or thereabouts. This means active propa- a in the future and severe competition in all ‘ets. On the Continent the industry has been d by several large electrical firms, which by virtue * resources and capital have been able to initiate h and perfect the technical details of the appa- =n ngland up to the present such methods have ‘conspicuous by their absence; the trade has been the hands of a number of small firms, the combined pital of which would form only a fraction of that ivested in the American amalgamation. It would pear, then, that if British firms are to hold their “Own and command a share in the world’s markets, a tmined effort must be made now to reorganise the ustry, Co-operation is urgently needed; financial must be forthcoming either in the form of a ent subsidy or by private endeavour. Another ant step would be the formation of an advisory ical experts. The duties of this committee would y advise on new appatatus and the best methods ploy for its production. Such a committee might act in an advisory capacity to hospitals and cal men on technical and other points. e welcome the announcement of the formation of Section of the British Electrical and Allied Manu- rers’ Association as a step towards this end. eady the section has been able to co-operate with ment in research work connected with the NO. 2487, Vor. 99] t a small fraction of one per cent. Another party. hittee consisting of physicists, medical men, and | improvement of essential instruments, and it is hoped that.this will only be a preliminary to wider investi- gations.” The field is a wide and an ever-increasing one, and well worthy of the consideration of financiers as a profitable investment for capital. The keynote to success is efficiency, and none but the very best technical apparatus can hope to hold its own in the world’s markets. Initiative in the organ- | isation of the industry and the production of new types of apparatus would be the first step towards the re- covery of a place in the world’s markets, Publicity is another step towards that end; this must be secured by collaboration with the radiologists, who by attract- ing workers from all parts of the world would direct’ their attention to the apparatus used in the clinics and teaching centres throughout the country. Side by side would arise an active British School of Radiology and a large industry devoted to the perfecting of the apparatus used in the various departments of its activity. THE ARGENTINE SOCIETY OF NATURAL ; SCIENCES. HE Argentine Society of Natural Sciences, founded on the plan of the British Association and kin- dred societies, held its first general meeting in Tucuman at the end of last November, and at the same time celebrated the centenary of the foundation of the Argentine Republic. The society began its activities five years ago by the publication of an ex- cellent~small journal, Physis, which we have several times: noticed; and it intends in future to hold a biennial congress, by which the aims and progress of science may be made more widely known to the people. Its founders realise that hitherto scientific studies in the Argentine Republic have been prose- cuted chiefly by foreign travellers and by foreigners temporarily resident in the country; and they hope, by a more systematic organisation of university teaching, and by rousing the federal and provincial Governments to a more sympathetic attitude towaras scientific research, to follow up this pioneer work at home. We appreciate their ambition, and wish the society all success, The congress in Tucuman was welcomed by the Governor of the Province in an appropriate speech, and its scientific session was opened by the address of the president, Dr. Angel Gallardo, director of the National Museum, Buenos Aires. Dr, Gallardo, as a distinguished biologist, referred to the studies to which he has devoted his life, and explained in a popular manner the fundamental importance of bio- logical research to modern man, especially in such an environment as, that of tropical and sub-tropical Soutn America. He briefly reviewed the methods to be followed, and incidentally alluded to the manner in which Darwin’s work on the pampas aided him in ~ propounding his theory of evolution. He also men- tioned with natural pride the important researches of the late Dr. Florentino Ameghino on the fossil mam- mals of Argentina, which made known a new world of life and led to speculations of great interest. The technical work of the congress was arranged under eight sections: I. Geology, geography, and geo- physics, presided over by Dr. E. Hermitte, who spoke of the economic applications of geology; II. Palzon- tology, with Dr. Carlos Ameghino as_ president; IIT. Botany, presided over by Dr. C. M. Hicken, who referred to some features in the flora of Tucuman; IV. Zoology, with Dr. E. L. Holmberg as president; V. Anthropology, ethnology, and archzology, with 356 NATURE [June 28, 1917 F Dr. J. B. Ambrosetti as president; VI. Physics and chemistry, under the presidency of Dr. E. H. Ducloux, who discussed the chemistry of chlorophyll; VII. Applied science, presided over by Dr. T. Amadeo, who urged the importance of a well-organised national institute for agricultural research; and VIII. Teaching and history of natural science, presided over by Prof. VY. Mercanti, who discussed the teaching in the national colleges and normal schools. Papers were numerous, especially in reference to Tucuman, and among the evening lectures was a valuable discourse by Dr. Hermitte on the petroleum worked at Comodoro Rivadavia. The next congress is to be held at Mendoza, and it is hoped meanwhile to establish in all the provincial capitals institutes or societies to work in association | with the Argentine society. EDUCATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION. aoe appreciation of the urgent need for an imme- _ diate improvement and extension of the supply of educational facilities for all sections of the, popula- tion is common alike to administrators of education ‘and to teachers of all grades. During recent months special meetings of associations of educational workers of many types have been held, at which reports and resolutions have been adopted, which summarise the experience gained in various localities and in all kinds of educational institutions. One of the latest competent authorities to issue a report on educational reform is the Association of Educa- tion Committees. Since June of last year the executive - committee of this association has been considering im- portant educational questions, with the object of contri- buting help to our administrators in the task of educa- tional reconstruction to which they are committed. It is impossible here to enumerate all the recommenda- tions included in the comprehensive report recently issued by the association, but attention is directed to the importance attached in the report to the necessity for an adequate provision of instruction in science. The general tenor of the replies to a question on the subject from education committees throughout the country is that in the elementary schools the rudiments only of science can with advantage be taught, between the ages of twelve and fourteen, and that it is not desirable to extend the range of the science teaching given in these schools much, if any, further than at present. In secondary schools, however, there is a large majority in favour of an increase of science teaching. With this view the executive committee con- curs, but thinks that the science teaching to be given in elementary schools should be made general, and should proceed upon much more definite and systematic’ lines than it does now. In many schools science is the last subject considered in framing the time-table, and any kind of equipment, or none at all, is often con- sidered adequate, while the training of teachers, other than specialists, for giving good lessons in science is often very defective. The committee desires to record its emphatic opinion that it is essential in the best interests of the nation that much more attention should be given to the teaching of physical science in every type of school. It should be made impossible for any child to leave school without having had a full oppor- tunity of learning at least the basic principles of science. In elementary schools the teaching can only be elementary, but, even so, it must be adequate. In secondary schools science should be the basis of the teaching on the “ modern side,’ and that side should be of equal standing with any other. The mistaken view which puts science in antagonism to the older NO. 2487, VOL. 99] features of a liberal education should be vigorously combated. ; : a Aa So far as continuation classes are concerned, the report reveals some diversity of opinion. C the one hundred and two education committee: which replied to the question on the desirability of com- pelling children who have left school to attend classe for further education, only twelve were opposed to the introduction of compulsion. Of the remainder, a fey would carry on the further education only to the ag of sixteen or seventeen, while sixty-five were in fayou of compulsion up to eighteen. On the important poit whether such education should be given in the da time, or in the evening as now, only eight committee out of one hundred and six were in favour of a con- tinuance of entire evening teaching, though so others thought that a part of it might be given in» evening. : The Association of Directors and Secretaries Education, which includes the chief adminis: officers for counties and county boroughs thro England and Wales, has issued a series of resolu dealing with important educational questions ing legislative or administrative action, Among resolutions of particular interest are the following :— In the interests of the State no child or young pers should be debarred by lack of means from the hi: education of which it is capable. The upper li compulsory full-time attendance at the eleme school should be raised universally to fourteen The power of local education authorities to sw aid the supply of education other than elementary, provided by the Education Act, 1902, should rem: unimpaired. It should be the duty of local educati authorities to make adequate provision of such fort of higher education as are needed for their are: The limitation of the amount which may be rais by rate under the Education Act, 1902, section should be removed. It is desirable in the inte 4 educational efficiency as well as of economy that Board of Education should resume its stat powers with regard to agricultural education a should provide itself with the mecessary exp staff. A system of compulsory day continuati schools should be established, with a minimum of ei: hours’ instruction per week, or at least 320 hours» year, between the ages of fourteen and eighteen year the instruction to be given between the hours — 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. An obligation should be 1ai on all employers to allow full time for instruc including time for travelling, without deductio wages; (2) on parents and pupils as to atten¢ and (3) on local education authorities to ma necessary provision. The total hours of labour school attendance during the continuation- should not exceed forty-eight per week. The f sion of an approved certificate testifying to the pletion of a satisfactory course in ‘a secondary | ending not earlier than sixteen years of age entitle the holder to exemption from compulsor tinuation-school attendance between sixteen 4 eighteen years of age. Adequate provision of schol ships from elementary schools to secondary and te nical schools, and from secondary schools to pla of higher education of university rank, should t integral part of each authority’s scheme. . The Association of Technical Institutions also drawn up a programme of educational reform, special reference to technical instruction, which s assist the Board of Education in its important ta: extending and completing our system of natio: education. ; : “i A special committee was appointed by the ass tion consisting of the council and six representa = ar NATURE 357 outside the council. This committee lated a series of resolutions, which are now rith the general approval of the members of ciation, and among them the .following may LOLS the Government be asked to prevent any child schoo! before the end of the term in which d attains its fourteenth birthday; that the uld make adequate grants for the mainten- se scholars proceeding from primary schools lary and junior technical schools; that there | compulsory attendance at continua- classes up to the age of eighteen \dance to be made in the daytime, and the period ction to be not less than eight hours per h hours to be within the normal hours of nt; that the conditions for admission to ties should be reconsidered and rendered more wm as between different universities, and_ less m as between different faculties and different urs schools in the same university, and that in terest of candidates of mature age and of other $ approaching the university otherwise than y entrance tests should be distinguished from y-school examinations; that it is desirable that ould be-a large increase in the number of ips with adequate maintenance grants to ididates to proceed to day technical colleges; ers in technical departments of universities ie Si be encouraged to undertake re- behalf of, and in co-operation with, manu- ¢ firms: that in view of the national import- technical wane the State should bear a rger proportion of its cost than is now the ut Government grants in aid of technical re- : 10uld be largely increased; that it is essential the chief officials of the Technological Branch of ard of Education should have had a scientific ng; and that the examinations of the Civil Service or other Government appointments, when not on the subjects of the service, should include mce subjects and syllabuses, and should be as will give the student with a scientific 1 equal chance with a student who has had y training. VERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. The Senate has elected Sir Cooper Perry, at, and superintendent of, Guy’s Hospital, > of Vice-Chancellor for the year 1917-18, ion to Sir Alfred Pearce Gould. . he thanks of the Senate have been accorded to the ht Hon. Lord Reay, K.T., for the gift of a portion lis library to the University for the University lege libraries, and to Mr. George Hare for the gift to found a zoology prize at King’s College, in eae a medical student, who was killed following doctorates have been conferred :— n Physiology, Mr. S. W. Patterson, an internal of University College, for a thesis entitled yn of Carbon Dioxide and Adrenalin on the *; D.Sc. (Economics), Mr. J. E. Holloway, an Student, of the London School of Economics, Ss entitled ‘‘ The Prelude to the Great Trek”; Zoology, Mr. Cyril Crossland, an external for a thesis“entitled ‘‘ Desert and Water Gar- the Red Sea,” and other papers. © Sir Napier Shaw, Director of the Meteoro- €, has been appointed Halley lecturer for 2487, vot. 99] Action ears, such_ ‘the normal avenue of the secondary school, The School of Geography has published its arrange- ments for the ensuing Michaelmas term. These in- clude lectures, tutorial instruction, and field. work. Among the subjects announced are :—‘‘ Maps: their Construction and Interpretation’’; “The Alps and Northern ‘Italy,”” Mr. Beckit; ‘‘The British Isles,” Miss MacMunn; “Eastern Australia and New Zealand,” Mr. Spicer; ‘‘Geology,”’ Prof. Sollas; and ‘Historical Geography of Great Britain,’’ Mr. Grant Robertson. A list of lectures and other courses of instruction for the forthcoming term has also been issued by the De- partment of Anthropology. In physical anthropology lectures will be given by Prof. Thomson and by Miss Czaplicka, the latter on ethnology. The geographical distribution of man will be dealt with by Mr. Beckit. Mr. H. Balfour, Prof. Sollas, and Mr. Griffith will lecture respectively on prehistoric archeology, on stages of human culture, and on ancient Egypt. Various topics of social anthropology will be taken in hand by Dr. Marett, Sir P. Vinogradoff, Prof. Macdonell, Mr. V. A. Smith, and Mr. Blunt. Prof. Wright will lec- ture on philology, and Prof. J. A. Smith on primitive language in its relation to thought. Mr. T. H. Bickerton has been appointed lecturer on ophthalmology in the University of Liverpool. in succession to Mr. E. A. Browne, who has resigned the position. Tue title of Emeritus professor has been conferred upon Col. de Burgh Birch, until lately professor of physiology and histology, and dean of the faculty of medicine, in the University of Leeds. THE proceedings at the annual general meeting (March 29) of the Council of Education, Witwaters- rand, published in a report just received from Johan- nesburg, show that we were right in our article of August 1o last year when we said that apparent grievances and jealousies would end in a unanimous effort to establish a real university for Wéitwaters- rand. We wish we could hope that the present en- trance examination for the diploma of the School of Mines: might be regarded as sufficient for matricula-. tion in the new university, at all events for under-, graduates proceeding to science degrees. Amonc the many problems connected with engineer- ing upon which experience gained during the war has shed fresh light is that of the workshop training of apprentices. An article which appears in Engineer- ing for June 22, by Mr. Neil J. Maclean, gives an interesting account of the system which has been in operation for twelve years at the works of Messrs. Barr and Stroud, Ltd., Glasgow. The author lays down six axioms which should be borne in mind in instituting any apprenticeship system. (1) The apprentice must be always busy, thus. necessitating the time and atten-— tion of a skilled man. (2) The apprentice must be always learning; he must be taught to do a certain thing properly, and must then be moved on to a different kind of work. (3) Engineering is-an exact science, and the apprentice must develop the scientific mind; to obtain the desired result, the training must involve an intimate mingling of practical and theo- retical work, of shop experience and study, of things seen and done, things noted and written down. (4) The apprentice’s course of training must not be deter- mined by the shop foreman or manager responsible for output; in our opinion, the author touches a fruit- ful source of grievance here. A lad does well at a certain job, and the foreman keeps him at it in order . to maintain output, regardless of the loss of experience to the apprentice and the ultimate loss to the firm: 358 NATURE - [June 28, 1d (5) There cannot be too many highly trained appren- tices. (6) Special training must be given to those apprentices who show marked ability. The article is very interesting to all concerned in the training of apprentices, and throws light on one reason for the success of the well-known firm mentioned. Pror. IGNAzIo Gatti has an article, ‘* Sulla questione della lingua internazionale,” in a recent number of -the Atti della Pontificia Accademia Romana dei Nuovi Lincei. Among arguments in favour of a common international language he lays stress on its conveni- ence at scientific congresses. Those who attend such - meetings must have noticed that when each member uses his own language the discussion often shows that a speaker has imperfectly understood much that has been said in a language foreign to him. As regards the choice of the international language, Prof. Galli finds that Volapiik is too complicated and difficult to pronounce. Esperanto is easy to pro- nounce, since it gives to each letter of the alphabet only -one sound. Prof. Galli thinks that, the belief that Esperanto would become a universal language is steadily losing ground, and that this is due to its too artificial simplicity, which ‘renders this language meagre and rather vague. We are told that Ido has a more rational selection of words ‘than Esperanto, while Simplo, a language invented by Mario Ferranti, has about 5800 words, which are formed from roots common to Latin, Italian, French, and English. Finding none of these artificial languages to be suffi- ciently flexible to express all the ideas of modern science, and philosophy, Prof. Galli strongly urgés that instead of wasting energy in the creation of a new language, Latin should be adopted as a common language for international intercourse. He proposes that Latin should be taught in schools, not as a dead, but as a living, language. Men of all nations would then converse freely when they met, as the learned could in the days of Roger Bacon. Prof. Galli’s sugvestion, it is worth while to mention that Latin and Greek are both taught as living lan- guages at the Perse School, Cambridge, with very successful results. A letter on ‘‘ Latin as a Universal Language,” by the late Sir Lauder Brunton, appeared “in Nature of February 10, 1916 (vol. xcevi., p. 649). SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Royal Society, June 14.—Sir ‘J. J. Thomson, presi- dent, in the chair.—Prof, T. H. Havelock : Some cases of wave motion due to a submerged obstacle. paper Prof. Lamb’s solution for a submerged circular cylinder is carried a stage further in the approxima- tion, and the wave resistance is calculated directly from the resultant fluid pressure on the cylinder. Similar methods are then applied to a three-dimen- sional problem, the waves produced by a submerged sphere.—Prof. L. V. King: The propagation of sound in the free atmosphere and the acoustic efficiency of ‘fog-signal machinery.—H. J. Shannon, F, F.. Renwick, and B. V. Storr: The behaviour of scattering media in fully diffused light. The paper deals with the relationships between the rejectance (proportion. of in- cident light rejected), the obstruction (ratio of incident light to transmitted light), light capacity (ratio of accepted light to transmitted light) when a sheet of diffusing medium ‘is illuminated.on one side by diffuse light, and also the relative obstruction, and relative density, when, as in various instruments, the source _ of light is a first sheet of diffusing medium in contact with the sheet being examined. The experimental part of the paper discusses the method of using the NO. 2487, VoL. 99] ‘compounds that this relation expresses the ob longer ‘periods, such as 500 days, the rate of dec -E.M.F., is employed, which makes it~ poss “series with the bridge is placed either a no In connection with In this theoretical equations obtained for determining the co stants of a specimen of diffusing medium, certa requirements of the instrument used, and preca to be taken. Examples are given showing the agreement between observed and calculated values u to seven thicknesses of opal for both air and o r tact.—J. W. T. Walsh: The theory of decay in active luminous compounds. , The theory of de tion of “active centres’’ put forward by Rut! to account for the decay of luminosity of radio- luminous compounds leads to a simple expon relation in the special case of'a compound of co activity. It has been found for radium zine sulp =. results to a sufficient accuracy over short peric less than 200 days, but that it fails to do so of luminosity becoming gradually slower and slow so that the brightness tends to a limiting value wh is not zero. The paper is an attempt to f luminosity time relation which will allow of the diction of the ultimate behaviour of compo varying composition, and it assumes the operati some factor acting in a direction opposite ‘to ft the destruction of the active centres. : Physical Society, June 8.—Prof. C. V. Boys, pre in the chair.—-T. Parnell: An alternating-c bridge method of comparing two fixed inductan commercial frequencies. The paper describes a m of avoiding the troublesome double adjustm quired in Maxwell’s method of comparing indu A current detector, the deflections of which de the component of the current in quadrature arrange that the condition for no deflection d chiefly on either the inductances or the resistan resistance or a capacity. In the first case the depends ‘chiefly on the inductances, and in the case on the resistances. A few alternate rep of the two adjustments suffice to balance the both for resistances and inductances. As det sensitive moving-coil galvanometer in conjuncti a commutator, or a Sumpner electrodynamome be employed; the latter proved more satisfactor Balth, Van der Pol, jun. : The wave-lengths and tion of loaded antennz. The paper consists mathematical treatment of the subject, the fo being some of the conclusions arrived at :—The tion resistance of a loaded antenna, and radiation from the antenna, are dependent not the wave-length, but also on the current values ; top and bottom. The radiation cannot, there: written > =AT?l?/A?, where A is constant and ‘ R.M.S. current at the base, as is done in me books. Riidenberg’s formula for flat-top or antennz is valjd only for very long wave-lengtl a capacity at the top of the antenna very lar; pared with that of the vertical part, and Austin of radiation resistances up to ratios of l/A=0-4 on-an unjustifiable extrapolation of Riidenber. sults. The paper also treats of the directions the energy is most strongly radiated under d conditions.—Dr. A. Griffiths: A method of pr sparking at a rapid make-and-break, which m ally produces colloidal platinum. The appara hibited was described in the Philosophical M: for March, 189s, p. 232. The device consis series of electrolytic cells placéd as a shunt across t spark-gap. The electrodes consist of platinum, and # electrolyte of strong sulphuric acid. The cells polari and on making the gap an E.M.F. is introd opposed to the E.M.F. of the battery, so tha \ ‘ om 28, 1917 | NATURE 359 rapidly diminishes, decomposing the liquid and chemical work. The author made the following ments :—(1) The platinum .cathodes disintegrate a colloidal solution of platinum is formed. (2) erally disintegrates to the greatest extent; the next ode disintegrates less, and so on, the least dis- tion occurring in the cell at the positive side -spark-gap. (3) The cathodes develop, to the ed eye, an appearance as if they were covered platinum black. Certain plates examined under seemed covered with numerous craters. ‘The production of gas does not appear to be the ne in each of the electrolytic cells in. series; some- les no gas at all appears.to be evolved from the t seve cathode. (5) The rate of disintegration aca appears to be small when the cathode is t placed in the sulphuric acid, and appears to in- se to a maximum in course of time. (6) One Ps oe platinum appears to behave differently iner. oyal Meteorological Society, June 20.—Major H. G: president, in the chair.—C. E. P. Brooks: The uction of temperature observations to. mean of nty-four hours, and the elucidation of the diurnal ion in the continent of Africa. Mean tempera- s obtained from various combinations of observa- s should be reduced to true mean or mean of nty-four hours to make them comparable. This generally done by interpolation, but interpolation is le in Africa. An alternative method is given senting the diurnal variation of temperature s of the first two terms of.a Fourier series— +a,sin(H+A,)+a,sin(2H+A,). This gives CT OSCODE S . a variables, and a, can be found if we have three | 10urs to true mean is discussed on thése principles, the connection of the various constants with factors is also discussed.—F. J. W. Whipple : phic records of ‘the air-wave from the East idon explosion, January 19, 1917. The records ich were made use of in this investigation were of kinds, those from ordinary barographs and those the recorders used for indicating the pressure in ins. The gas engineer measures the difference n the pressure in his mains and the pressure ir so that his instruments show sudden changes r-pressure, as well as the barographs, and on a | more open scale. As a large number of records te available in the neighbourhood of London, it Possible to map in some detail the intensity of the ave from the East London explosion. A measur- disturbance. was shown as far to the north-west nfield, and as far south as Whyteleafe, but the to the north-east was very restricted—R. C. tan: Some aspects of the cold period, December. to April, r9r7. In the course of his remarks the hor said that the mean temperature of the British es during the period under notice, taking the mean of twelve divisions used in the Monthly Weather Re- of the Meteorological Office, was 1-0° C. below ormal, the extremes ranging from —2-8° C. at Bel- Castle, in Leicestershire, and —2-7° at Newquay, to , at Castle Bay, in the Hebrides. The cold, ex- in December, was general over Western Europe, mean temperature of Sweden being 1-9°, of Holland _and of Norway 1-5° below the average, st as far south as Gibraltar the mean under the average. It was shown the eastern portions of the British tad a mean temperature below the normal in 2487, VOL. 99] re each month from December to April, an event that had only occurred on five occasions in the last century and a half, there was then a pronounced tendency for the depression of temperature to continue without inter- ruption until the end of the year. The only exception. occurred in 1808, when a warm period covering the four months, May to August, was sandwiched between two cold spells. The frequent absence of historic frosts during long periods of uniform cold oyer the British Isles was also referred to, EDINBURGH. Royal Society, May 21.—Dr. J. Horne, president, in the chair.—Capt. Miller and Dr. H. Rainy : Observa- tions on the blood in gas poisoning. From a study of fifty cases, they found that in all cases of any degree of severity there was a change in the relative propor- tions of the different kinds of white-blood corpuscle, the lymphocytes being proportionately much increased. This increase in any marked case is sufficiently strik- ing to be of some importance when the medical officer is in doubt as to the trustworthiness to be placed upon the statements of men complaining of being gassed. The change is one which develops early, probably within a month of the gassing, and continues for a long time. It appears to be independent of the kind ‘of gas, and is shown by patients exhibiting many varieties of symptoms. It is not clear what the change is due to; but it is probable that chronic inflammatory change in respiratory and gastric mucous membranes is at least a factor—H. M. Steven: The Chermes of spruce and larch and their relation to forestry. For the dévelopment of the Chermes group of aphids two hosts are normally required and a period of two years. The one host is.a species of spruce, and the other may be a species of larch. pine, or silver fir. A description was given of the biology of the species of the genera Chermes and Cnaphalodes, which occur on larch and spruce, and it was shown that there were separate and independent cycles-on spruce’only. The cumulative damage done on larch is frequently very severe. Ex- periments on the fumigation of coniferous nursery stock were now being carried out, and it was-hoped to ensure that trees planted out on an area would be free from infection, and thus the further spread of the Chermes would be checked.—F, L. Hitchcock: The square root of a linéar vector function. The purpose of this paper was to examine and classify the various cases in which a solution could be obtained of the functional equation first studied by Tait, namely, ¢?=W, where is a given. linear vector function and @ is to be found. Paris. Academy of Sciences, June 11.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—A. Carnot: Ammonio-cobaltic molybdate, tungstate, and vanadate. The estimation and separa- tion of cobalt.—C. E. Guillaume: Changes in the ex- pansion of the alloys of iron and nickel under the action of various thermal and mechanical treatments. An account of the changes in the expansion of invar by varying thermal and mechanical treatment has been published already. The present paper gives re- sults obtained with other nickel-iron alloys, containing from 27-5 to 69 per cent. of nickel—_G. Charpy and M. Godchot : The conditions of formation of coke. The quality of the coke in these experiments was defined by the resistance to compression, expressed in kilo- grams per square cm., and exact details are given of the method of preparfig the test cylinders. The influ- ence of temperature of coking on the strength of the coke was very marked.—M. Leclainche was elected a member of the ‘section of rural economy in suécession to the late M. A. Chauveau.—G,. Julia: Indeterminate 360 NATURE [June 28, 1917 conjugated biquadratic forms with integral coefficients, —J. Renaud: Points of identification, in times of fog, of the great French ports on the Atlantic Ocean.—P. Chevenard: A_ self-recording differential dilatometer. Two test pieces, one of a standard chrome nickel alloy (“‘baros ’’) of known coefficient of expansion, are arranged to move an optical lever, the magnification being about 300. Curves are given for a ferro-nickel (592 per cent. nickel), electrolytic iron, and forged nickel.—J. Repelin and L. Joleaud : Limits of the marine Aquitanian in the Provencal region.—H. Jumelle ; The palm-trees producing vegetable horsehair of Mada- gascar.—L. Bordas: The function of some Ichneu- monides as auxiliaries ‘in forestry. Two species of Pimplinze—Rhyssa and Ephialtes—assist in the defence of forests against the attacks of Sirex and Callidium. The Ichneumons deposit their eggs in the larvae of Sirex and other pests, and in consequence are of great ser- vice in the preservation of forest treés.—J. Pavillard ; Some new or slightly known Protozoa of the Mediter- ranean plankton. Care Town. Royal Society of South Africa, April 18.—Dr. L. Péringuey, president, in the chair.—Sir Thomas Muir: Note onthe expansion of the product of two oblong arrays. The form taken by Binet and Cauchy’s well-known expansion of the year 1812 is that of a sum of products of pairs of determinants; the form of the expansion now given is that of an aggregate of single determinants. The relation between the two is explained and a historical remark added.—J. S. v. d. Lingen: Notes on radiation of crystals. (1) Radiation patterns of the transformation of magnesium hydroxide ‘to magnesium oxide. The patterns show that the reflecting planes of the crystal are disturbed when water is driven off. The ‘‘spots” ‘become drawn out into radial lines, and these radial lines reflect the intensity of the X-ray spectrum. (2) Dia- mond tests by radiation patterns. The following stones were examined :—‘ Macle,’’ ‘spotted ’’ stone, “spotted rejection ’’ stone, and an “inferior brown block ”? with a spot in it.. The patterns show that a ‘spot ’’ in a stone causes a discontinuity in the inten- sity of individual spots of the patterns, and that a fracture of the lattice causes a discontinuity of the spots so that. they now represent irregular markings on the plate. An ideal diamond’s pattern shows a uniform intensity in all the spots. (3). Bultfontein apophyllite, (i). ideal, and (ii) showing a cleavage crack along a cleavage plane. The flaw causes the spots of the “flawed”? crystal to present a nebular appearance, whereas the ideal stone shows a uniform distribution of intensity in the elliptic spots. This represents a case of discontinuity in ‘the lattice normal to the inci- dent rays. ‘(4) Serpentine, malachite, and pseudo- morph quartz. Serpentine shows a regular ‘radial line” pattern symmetrical to a line parallel. to the threads of the crystal. is not triclinic unless every specimen examined was a ‘“twin.”? Malachite shows three ‘‘lines” parallel. to the threads and some minor radial lines normal to the - former deviatirig slightly from the normal. Crocido- lite: A long exposure shows that it is microcrystalline © and that the elementary units have a tendency ng (5) A. square-plate of iodine showed, after an exposure of | about an‘hour, a_ diffraction phenomenon similar to | _ that described by Prof. Laub, of Buenos’ Aires. In | favour a direction parallel to the threads. this case the plate shows diagonal lines of zero in- tensity.—S. Schénland: A summary of the distribution of the genera of South African flowering plants (with | special reference to the flora of the Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth divisions). This is to a large extent based on published data, checked and enlarged, however, by ~ NO. 2487. VOL. QQ] L’CEuf et les Facteurs de 1’Ontogénése. By Pro A. Bracket. Pp. 349+xii. (Paris: O. Doin et Fil 6 francs. re he a The Organisation of Thought: Educational | General Chemistry. By T. M.L.. This indicates that serpentine | the author’s personal knowledge. It was —— i connection with a study of the flora of Uitenha; Port Elizabeth, but it is hoped that it may be welcom to other. botanists who desire to have readily avai ilabl a summary showing the general trend of distributic of South African genera.—Prof. G. Elliot Smith: No upon the endocranial cast obtained from the ancien calvaria found at Boskop, Transvaal (see p. 353). BOOKS RECEIVED. — pe Scientific. By Prof. A. N. Whitehead. Pp. vii+22 (London : e Williams and Norgate.) 6s. pet, DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, June 28. Rovat Socikry, at 4.30.—Contribution to the Study of the Gk Pr erties of Manganese and of some Special Manganese Steels : be Hadfield, -Ch. Chéneveau, and Ch. Géneau.—Note on the S ic Heat. Water : W. R. Bousfield.—The Specific Heat of th pa ations, i Special Reference to Sodium and Potassium Chlorides: : t and C. Elspeth Bousfield.—The Rankine ee een Ga Sir Geor Greenhill.—The Tribo-electric Series: Dr. P. E, Shaw.—And o Papers. MONDAY, Jury. 2. . : ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY, at 8. —Relation and Fisectieo Miss Le Stebbing. CONTENTS. .. PA The Electrification of Our Railways. ey.) ict A. 5 Russell . Cotton Cultivation in the United States . Pre eae, . . Band Se ee ee we tert ; Fe . Mea Our Bookshelf Letters to the Editor :— “Chinese and Persian Giraffe Paintings. A Uieinaten —Dr. C. R. Eastman . The Nature of Renal Activity. —Prof, ‘Ww. M. Bayliss, F.R.S.; The Reviewer . . * The Origin of Flint.—Cecil Carus- Wilson ; Dr. Be F. J. Allen. ber Sie A’ Note on -Chaffinches and Cuckoos, —Honor M. M. Perrycoste ._. te s Satellites and the Velocity of Light.—Prof. . W. Warrington . : oi pl tae e eee a of Halos. —Walter W, Bryant sche Ra Horse-breeding and Horse-racing. By whet J es Ewart, F.R.S. . The Destruction of House-sparrows. " By Dr. ee. Walter E. Collinge. . ara The Publication of the “Kew Bulletin”. . | . “am Prof. Kr. Birkeland. By Dr. C. Chree, F. R.S. awe Notes Our Astronomical ‘Column :— a Orbit of Comet 1915a@ (Mellish). . ......

of sound. There is no evidence of the observa- multiple reports, the sound at all places more an a few,miles from Ashton being a single boom. » Shaking of windows immediately after the report ts to the existence of loag-period air-waves travel- with a velocitv slightly less than that of the waves. Though the number of British explo- ch have been investigated is small, it is worth that those with double sound-areas occurred the winter months (namely, Spithead minute- on February 1, 1901: Hayle explosion on January -; and East London explosion on January 19, 7), and those with single sound-areas during the mmer months (namely, Spithead reviews on july 17, 7, and June 26, 1897; St. Helens explosion on 2, 1897, and Ashton-under-Lyne explosion on 3, 1917). In Japan, according to Prof. Omori, out of eleven recent Asama-yama explosions with fe sound-areas occurred in the winter, while ten of eleven explosions with single sound-areas d in the summer months. the Revue Scientifique for June 9 Prof. Jean t advocates the formation of ‘‘Une Or- tion Scientifique Interalliée,’ in order to te the exchange of books, students, and of science amongst «the Allied countries, O. 2488, VOL. 99 | ULY 5, 1917] NATURE 371 : tory, linguistics, and ethnology were often lack- | for the publication of résumés of scientific mg in the learning of the true scholar. Some of his | work, and ‘for the establishment of scientific institutes. For some years international scientific ex- changes have arranged the dispatch of scientific pub- lications from one country to its neighbours post free. It is suggested that this system should be extended so as to permit the free transport of all scientific publica- tions which have no commercial character. Many countries provide travelling scholarships for students who have completed a course of study, but if the annual programmes of work in all universities were equalised it would be possible for a student to take part of his degree course in oae country and another part in an Allied country. Prof. Massart also advo- cates the exchange not only of professors (an example which America has set), but also of librarians, keepers of museums, astronomers, doctors and surgeons of large hospitals, etc Finally, the creation of purely scientific institutes by the co-ordinate action of the Allies is recommended. These research institutes should be independent of teaching, and would be attached to neither schools nor museums. For many sciences the precise situation of the research centre would be immaterial. For such sciences as botany, zoology, meteorology, etc., separate institutes would be required in each of the large climatic and geograph- ical zones of the earth. Thus for biology there might be an Arctic Institute in the north of Russia, equatorial institutes in Ceylon, the Congo, and Brazil, and so on. The strengthening of commercial, industrial, and poli- tical relations between the Allies is being urged upon us; as the author says, it is not less important to ex- change ‘ideas and men.”’ Str Henry TRUEMAN Woop will retire in September next from the post of secretary of the Royal Society of Arts, which he has held since 1879, having pre- viously been editor of the Journal and assistant. secre- tary. He will be succeeded by Mr. G. K. Menzies, who has been assistant secretary of the society since lecture dealing with the application of science to in- dustry in order to commemorate Sir Henry Wood’s long association with the society. The Albert medal of the society for the current year has been awarded to Orville Wright, ‘in. recognition of the value of the contributions of Wilbur and Orville Wright to the solution of the problem of mechanical flight.” Re- ferring to this award, the report of the council says :— “In 1896 the Wrights began to experiment with glidin machines, continuing the work of Lilienthal snd Pilcher, which had been cut short by their deaths. Having obtained considerable success with ‘ gliders’ —for Orville Wright on one occasion succeeded in making a soaring flight of ten minutes—in 1903 they fitted an engine and propeller to their machine, and with this apparatus they were able to make short flights. Inasmuch as this was the first apparatus in which a man was carried in the air by mechanical power, though Langley and others had previously made small mechanical flying machines, it may fairly be considered the first aeroplane in the present acceptd- tion of the word. The machine was patented in 1907. The validity of the patent has never been confirmed by any legal decision, but practically the British Government admitted its validity by a payment to the inventors in 1914 of 15.0001. After the initial difficul- ties had been overcome by the patient labours of the Wrights, the machine developed rapidly. It may be true that in the present aeroplane not much is left of the machine described in the.1907 patent, but the changes, apart from the improvements in the engine on which the modern aeroplane mainly depends for its success, have all been legitimate developments of 1908. The council has decided to institute an annual 372 NATURE [JuLy 5, 1917 the ideas of the original inventors, and in no way detract from their credit. It remains, therefore, cer- tain that, whatever value may attach to the contribu- tions of others, the largest share in the honour of having invented the aeroplane must always be given to the two. brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright.” Mr. 'E. Srpney Hartianp, president of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archzological Society, devoted his annual address, published in vol. xxxix. of the society’s Transactions, to a discussion of the legend of St. Kenelm, the boy-saint, whose shrine at the ancient Abbey of Winchcombe, in a beautiful little dale at the foot of the Cotswold Hills, was a famous place of pilgrimage until the Reformation. To-day not one stone upon another of this great religious building remains. The abbey was founded about the end of the first decade of the ninth century by Ken- wulf, king of the Mercians and father of the honoured saint, whose remains were probably interred there. But, as is the case with many _ elaborate legends of this kind, the story of his life fails to stand the detailed historical criticism which Mr. Hartland has devoted to it. The paper, which is very interest- ing, may be regarded as a study of the value, for his- torical purposes, of local tradition, and will be valu- able both to. the antiquary and to the student of foll:- lore. Mucn progress ‘has been made during the. last century in the scientific treatment of the geography of Ptolemy. But the. standard edition by C. Mueller, continued by C. Th. Fischer, is still incomplete, and the condition of the MSS. offers an opportunity for much useful work. In a paper contributed to vol. XXXvii., part i., of the Journal of Hellenic Studies for 1917, Mr. L. O. T. Tudeer examines the maps at- tached to various MSS., especially that known as the ‘‘Codex Constantinopolitanus Chartaceus,” which has been assigned to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. At first sight the maps of this MS. give a pleasing ‘impression, but more careful examination discloses various difficulties and discrepancies which it is not easy to. explain. maps without writing down the names from _ his authority, and after finishing his work has added names from the text, not from his model, or else the maps did not originally belong to the text, but-some draughtsman. afterwards traced them, and he has not always been careful to avoid faults and inconsisten- cies. Mr. Tudeer’s careful examination of the MS.— material should prove to be of value in clearing up the many difficulties of this great early contribution to scientific geography. In the Scientific Monthly for June, 1917, vol. iv., No. 6, Dr. Jonathan Wright contributes an article entitled “‘ Demonology and Bacteriology in Medicine.” He begins with a survey of the ‘beliefs of various savage races, which consider that. all, or most, kinds of disease are due to the action of demons or male- volent spirits. This account would be more useful to the student if the writer had not adopted the careless method of quoting his authorities without - precise references. He remarks that we may venture to assert that primitive men were right in supposing that ““some external agent, demon or bacterium, intro- duced from without, is the cause of most disease. Indeed, in pointing’ out the conception of a conflict - of the evil spirits of disease with the good spirits that defend the body within, we are perhaps within hailing distance of the time when Hippocrates defined disease as a conflict between opposing forces waged in the bodies of men and animals. It persists as the best definition of disease modern science can give, NO. 2488, VOL. 99} | birds throughout the area covered by the storm. “A Either a copyist has first copied the — but the concept did not originate with Metchnikoff, — nor even with Hippocrates. For, of the people of the — Lower Niger, to whom neither Socratic nor Hippo-~ cratic wisdom seems to have penetrated, it is said t ‘every medicine to be of any use must have within it — a spiritual essence to defeat the operations of the © aggressive invader.’”’ a An admirable survey of the American warblers and — their value to the agriculturist appears in the © National Geographic Magazine (vol. xxxi., rf The author, Mr. Henry Henshaw, described some ~ thirty-six species of these birds, giving details of their nesting habits, distribution, and migration. His essay is supplemented by thirty-two exquisitely coloured figures, drawn by Louis Fuertes, the finest bird artist America has yet produced. His wor indeed, compares favourably with that of the ercpren artists—and they are very limited in nu r. : THE great snowstorm which crossed Ireland — N.E. to S.W. during January of this year seems to” have exterminated a number of resident species of long account of the havoc wrought is given in the Irish Naturalist for June by Mr. C. B. Moffat. thrush was the first to succumb, then the black stone-chat, golden-crested wren, long-tailed ‘ti grey wagtail, and meadow-pipit. Scarcely an meadow-pipits survived, and the number of summe visitants to the islands seems to be far below th average. This will mean that very few young will’b reared this year, since the meadow-pipit is the favourit dupe of the cuckoo, which will in consequence mone polise most of'the nests of this bird to the exclusion the rightful occupants. Pror. G. H. F. Nurratt, The Museums,’ Cambridge is engaged in an inyestigation on human. lice, aml desires to obtain specimens and accurate informatio concerning these parasites from different parts of # world. The specimens should be killed and well. served in 7o per cent. alcohol; about fifty ad besides larve, if obtainable, are desired from eat locality. Head-lice and body-lice should be kept apai They should ibe accompanied by brief notes their prevalence on the races or inhabitants — region whence they are sent. Where specimens a not procurable, any written communication on the st ject will be welcomed by Prof. Nuttall, and referen to the mention of lice in works of travel may useful. Communications may be written in European language, according to the convenie the correspondent. AN urgent plea for the establiskment of a « economic ornithology at one of our univers’ made by Mr. W. Berry in the Scottish Natural June. By way of illustrating his arguments he analyses of the. crop contents of a:number of spa wood-pigeons, and pheasants. ‘While admit all must, that the house-sparrow sadly needs t he re-directs attention to the fact that these. assist in keeping down insect pests. Black ga pheasants are recommended, he remarks, Board of Agriculture for wholesale destruction out distinction of district or topography. ¥ analysis of the crop contents of 183 pheasants in 1893 disclosed the remains of more than f injurious beetles and other insects, larvee, ard while the total number of husks and’ fragmen corn of any kind was thirty-seven. In another the crop contents of a single cock pheasant ire Argyllshire yielded no fewer than 2286 specimen ! Bibio, and 508 of the heather beetle, which play: aw in the spread of grouse disease, rs of the lesser celandine and fragments of many species of noxious weeds. _ TILLYARD, of the University of Sydney, has a communication regarding the systematic posi- Dunstania, a genus of Triassic insects, founded described by him in Publication 253 of the Geological Survey, which has attracted est among entomologists in these countries , Nature of September 28, 1916, p. 75). Mr. ferred the wing provisionally to a moth, f our homeland students have advocated nities are with the Homoptera, or with the Diptera, especially with the New Zealand ul. Close study of further material has ced Mr.. Tillyard that Dunstania is a th affinities to Exsul, though he would not Sage as enera in the same family, and regards ‘Psychodids, but as primitive Muscoids. _1 am right in my opinion,” he says, ‘we types in Australia in the Trias. This would le Origin of the Diptera much further back in time than has hitherto been deemed at all ”” In concluding his letter, Mr. Tillyard men- exceedingly interesting fact that he has ntly discovered two well-preserved Panorpid 1¢ Permo-Carboniferous Coal Measures of New South Wales.” The existence of olous insects in Palzozoic times may there- nn as established. esting paper on “Herb-growing in the Dire: its Past, Present, and Future,”’ is the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts vol. Ixv.), being a paper read by Mr. J. C. on May 2. It is pointed out that the culti- ave always driven the wild products from and it is asserted, no doubt truly, that considerable future for such an industry throughout the Empire. Ginger-growing in and the clove industry in Zanzibar are both if successful enterprises, and it is suggested yielding acacias and gum Tragacanth, r things, should be subjected to cultivation. rom the Botanical Gazette for May that Station at Cinchona, in the Blue Moun- aica, has now been leased to the Smith- ution on behalf cf fourteen American botanical institutions that have contri- ‘rental. It will be remembered that an the Cinchona Gardens and Stations was pub- Mm Nature of June 17, 1915, when an agree- $ come to between the Jamaican Government littee of the British Association for the y of the Cinchona Bungalow as a Jabora- fical research in the tropics. | Unfor- war has prevented the laboratory being hoped, by British botanists, but no doubt anists will not be slow to recognise the such a station for botanical work. The already been in American hands, as it was lease by the New York Botanical Garden article on “Grassland and Ploughed r. R. G. Stapledon, adviser in agricul- University College, Aberystwyth, is pub- supplement .(No. 17) to the May issue of of the Board of Agriculture. The © a great increase in the home produc- id potatoes renders inevitable the break- large areas of grassland, and throws , VOL. 99] the remarkable possibility of the existence . a correspondingly heavier burden upon such grass as remains, if our stocks of cattle and sheep are not to suffer a serious reduction. In his lucid summary Mr. Stapledon indicates the directions in which grassland can be improved and what is its real significance in a rational system of agriculture designed to secure a maximum production of food. The various types of grassland are characterised, and the appropriate lines of improvement of each type are indicated. Guidance is furnished as to the characteristics of the more desir- able grasses and clovers, and suitable mixtures for different conditions are given. Mr. Martin H. F. Sutton has carried out a careful ‘series of experiments with ‘‘Humogen” in compari- son with other fertilisers, and the results are pub- lished as a special bulletin (No. 8) by Messrs Sutton and Sons, Reading. The first series of experiments was carried out on dwarf French beans, potatoes, and red clover, and the supply of ‘ Humogen,”’ or bacterised peat, was obtained from Manchester, where it was being manufactured for Prof. Bottomley. The experiments proved failures, the plants treated with ‘““Humogen,” having a stunted and scorched appear- ance, while those with other fertilisers or fasmyard manure grew vigorously. As some toxic or inhibiting factor seemed to be resent in the “Manchester *““Humogen,” a fresh and larger series of trials was made later in the year with “‘Humogen” prepared at Prof. Bottomley’s laboratory at Greenford, and with Manchester ‘“ Humogen”’ supposed to be recti- fied. The results with the latter were as unsatis- factory as in the first series of experiments, but the Greenford ‘‘Humogen’”’ gave far better results, and — were second only in merit to those dressed with a complete fertiliser. The bulletin is illustrated with an excellent series of photographs. WE learn from the Geographical Review (vol. iii., No. 5) that a strong movement is under way in the United States to develop a survey of the air over North America and adjoining waters. The objects are to observe and chart the irregularities of air currents, to establish aerological stations for observers, not only at the earth’s surface, but also aloft to 10,000 ft. or more, and thereby to safeguard aircraft and the lives of aviators. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics is fostering the movement, and has the support of the Aero Club of America. The hope is expressed that this survey may .in time be put on the same footing as the Hydrographic Sur- vey, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the. Geological Survey. : A waR map of Palestine at the low price of 6d. has been published by Messrs. W. and A. K. John- ston. The map is in black and white, except for an outline of colour round the chief districts. Relief is shown ‘by -hachures, and is fairly successful as regards a general impression, but does not admit of analysis of any small area. There is an abundance of names without overcrowding, but some are difficult to read across the hachures. A list of the chief Arabic terms occurring in geographical names is added. The chief criticism of the map must be as regards the scale, for while the map itself has the extraordinary scale of I :714,649 (11-279 miles to an inch), the inset of Lower Egypt has the scale of 4:2,800,000. These are serious blemishes, inasmuch as they prevent ready comparison. 3 AN interesting presidential address by Prof. W. H. Hobbs to the Michigan Academy of Science in March last on ‘The Making of Scientific Theories ” is printed in Science for May 11. . The object of this address is to show that “scientific theories, as they 374 NATURE _ [Jury 5, 1917 © A are constructed even to-day, with the aid of all modern equipment and inheritance, may contain fatal elements of weakness, though they be promulgated by scientific men of the highest rank and attainments.” Men of science are, of course, subject to the limitations of prejudice, undue reverence for authority, and so on, and also they and their critics often fail to distin- guish clearly between legitimate theory within those fields where views may be rigidly tested and audacious conjecture. Prof. Hobbs then reviews by means of examples the position of science from the earliest times down to the memorable defeat of Bishop Wilberforce by Huxley in 1860. In the fifth century we read, what sounds like a pessimistic prophecy, that ‘with the invasions of the barbarian Huns and the Germanic tribes there ensued the eclipse of civilisation. .. .” In this sketch the attempts at the control of scientific theory by the Church were shown gradually to decline, although in this respect the Church was quite power- ful even fairly lately. Prof. Hobbs then selects some examples from geology in order ‘“‘to discuss what may perhaps be called the psychology of theories and the- conditions which determine their acceptance”: the effect of certain features of Mallet’s theory of earth- quakes in removing seismology from. the field of geology for the period of nearly half a century, and giving it over to the elasticians; the mistaken deduc- tions from the aerothermic and geothermic gradients ; Ferrel’s mistaken deduction of whirls about the geo- graphic poles, and so on. At a time when the supovlv of our food is controlled by men who probably know little of the science of nutrition, and nothing at all of physiological chem- istry, the appearance (in the Revue Scientifique for June 9) of an article by Prof. E. Gley, entitled ‘‘ Le Besoin d’Aliments Spéciaux,’’ is particularly oppor- tune. Probably the vast majority of people in this country think that if there is a shortage of any par- ticular article of food it can, in all cases, be replaced by another without detriment to the health of the con- sumer, As Prof. Gley points out, however, of the four principal forms of nutritive material, mineral salts, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, mineral salts will not replace, and cannot be replaced by, an» of the others. Carbohydrates and fats, which supply energy, are to a certain extent interchangeable, but neither of them is a substitute for proteins, which in their turn will not replace either carbohydrates or fats. Further, vegetable proteins will not replace animal proteins. It has been shown by the researches of var‘ous workers that neither animals nor man will maintain their nitrogen balance or their body weight when their protein food consists of the zein of maize or of the globulin of lupins. Other proteins, e.g. the gliadin of wheat and the hordeine of barley, whilst sufficient to maintain bodily equilibrium, will not promote growth. These two phenomena have been proved to be due, the first to the absence of tryptophane from zein and globulin, the second to the absence of lysin from gliadin and hordeine. In order to maintain the nitrogen balance and to promote growth the protein “nutriment of man must contain tryptophane and lysin. It is because meat contains all the necessary amino- acids, and contains them in suitable proportion, that it is so valuable as a food. For the efficient working of the digestive system -cellulose is an indispensable constituent of food. Rabbits fed on rations containing no cellulose die of intestinal obstruction. The green vegetables ordinarily eaten with meat are valuable as supplying the necessary cellulose. Prof. Gley advo- cates the consumption of dried. fruits for the same reason. These have the advantages over green vegetables that they contain more cellulose and can ‘be obtained independently of the season. No. 2488, voL. 99] Dr. J. S. HaLpaNE submitted a paper to the recent — meeting of the Institution of Mining Engineers upon — ‘The Spontaneous Firing of Coal,’? in which he ~ summarised the results of the researches carried on during the last four years at the Doncaster Coal Owners’ Research Laboratory. Even apart from their — purely technical importance, some of the results ob- ~ tained form a valuable contribution to our knowledge — of the physico-chemistry of coal. Thus it has been ~ shown that coal, even in thin slices, is highly imper- — vious to the passage of gas, so that changes of atmo- spheric pressure can have no appreciable influence on the evolution of gas by solid coal. On the other © hand, it is found that coal has an extraordinarily high — solvent power for gases, the ordinary atmospheric — gases being far more soluble in coal than in water, — and, further, the rate of solution of these gases fol. — lows Henry’s law, just as though they were in solution — in a liquid. In the case of oxygen some of the gas © is thus dissolved or adsorbed, while some enters into — chemical combination with certain of the constituents — of the coal. The rationale of the oxidation of coal — has been investigated, and the part played by pyrites © in such oxidation has been determined, but more research is needed in order to settle the exact nature of the substances most readily attacked by oxygen and of the products of such oxidation. _ oe a8; i Anil liane ial in al meet al THE growing interest in special acid-resisting alloys and the many uses found for them has stimulated both the search for efficient materials of this nature and ~ the study of the causes underlying their inertness. — The alloys developed by Prof. S. W.. Parr for use ~ in calorimeter construction have shown this quality of high resistance to corrosion to a marked degree. The almost perfect insolubility of these alloys in nitric — and other acids seems to be conditioned upon a proper mixture of chromium, copper, and nickel, owetiae ae with smaller quantities of such added metals as tung- sten. and molybdenum. These additions have so marked an eftect in improving both the acid-resisting — and casting qualities of the alloys that it has coool desirable to study their effects more systematically in — order that. they may be used to the best advantage. — This study has been undertaken by. McFarland and Harder, and the results of their preliminary in B~ tion have been published in Bulletin No. 93, University — of Illinois. The complexity of the mixtures used has made the problem difficult, and has shown the neces- sity for first obtaining a more complete knowledge of — the ternary alloys of chromium, copper, and nickel, — and also of the three binary svstems underlying them. It is quite obvious from this preliminary study that much more work requires to be done to establish the copper-chromium and nickel-chromium equilibria on a satisfactory basis. Engineering for June 29 contains an illustrated account of the new Cunard liner Aurania, which has just been put on the North Atlantic service. This ~ vessel has extensive second- and third-class passeng accommodation, and has also large cargo holds. Th dimensions are 538 ft. 6 in. long, 65 ft. 4 in. beam and 46 ft. 6 in. depth. The gross tonnage is 13,93! and with geared turbines of approximately 72¢ shaft-horse-power she will have a sea speed of four- — teen knots when displacing 21,405 tons. The caleu- lated coal consumption is only about four toms per hour, hence the propelling expense will be very favou! able in view of the large earning power indicated by the passenger and cargo capacity. The vessel he been constructed under the Convention regulations © Messrs. Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson, and the machinery by the Wal!send Shipway and Engineer. ing Company. ~ Jory 5, 1917] NATURE 375 : _Tue Board of Agriculture and Fisheries announces Spectal blication of a second edition of vol. iv. of the Spec on the mineral resources of Great _ Britain, which have been prepared by the director of _ the Geological Survey in response {9 numerous in- = ae ee 2 oe ae arisen through the conditions brought t _ about by the war. In the main it is a reprint of _ the first edition, wherein the properties, sources, and ; uses of fluorspar, and details of all workings in _ Britain, active and inactive, are given. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. __ Comet 1916b (WotF).—The following ephemeris for _ Greenwich midnight is given by Messrs. Crawford and _ Alter in Lick Observatory Bulletin No: 295. It is _ based upon revised elements, calculated from observa- _ tions made by Barnard on 1916 April 24, 1916 Decem- _ ber 31, and 1917 April 21 :— 1917 R.A. Decl. Log a _Bright- LER t ns Si gee a ness July 6 2257 3. 2440 7 0:0496 ie oe 23 015 40 13 0-0461 2-48 - Io 321 38 31 0-0426 12 6 I9 34 58 0-0391 2-53 14 9 It 29°32 0°0357 16 Il 55 22 10 0-0324 2°57 18 14 32 I2 50 0-0291 20 ip ae 24 I 30 0-0259 2-61 22 19 23 23 48 8 0-0228 24 21-47 32 43 O-0198 ~ 2-64 26 23° 43 23 1. 13 0-0168 28 25 41 225539 oo140 2-67 3° ry de 2. 33 59 = « OOTI4 Aug. 1 23 29 14 221013 &0-0088 2-68 _ The unit of brightness is that on April 21, 1917, when the comet was observed by Barnard to be not brighter than 12th magnitude. It is quite improbable that the comet will become visible to the naked eye, as Was at one time anticipated. _ Comet 1917a (MELLISH).—Prof. E. Strémgren sends us the following communication from Copenhagen Observatory :—‘“Prof. S. S. Hough, director of the vape Observatory. writes:—The discovery of a new 1aked-eye comet by Warren was announced to us by oe on April 15. From observations made in lis Observatory on April 18, 20, and 22 the following elements of the orbit have been derived :— : T=1917 April 10°8043 yi @ =124° 32°6') Elements : §3= 85° 42°9' | For equinox of date os fe a2 63" g =0°1975 = “The comet is 1917a (Mellish).” _ Comer 1917b (ScHauMAssE).—The following con- _ tinued ephemeris for this comet, by Messrs. Fayet and 3 Schaumasse, is based upon elements calculated from observations made at the Nice Observatory :— ee eter es July4 94050 +1055 02357 0691 03 eee 959 02659 0-0885 o-2 12 44. 46 9° $ 02929 01073 02 16 46 35 822 03171 01255 ot 20 48 21 749 03389, 08-1431 24. 50 3 7 9 ~0-3585 0-1601 o-I 28g 51 45 +6 23 0-3762 0-1765 oI The ephemeris is for des Observateurs, No. 18 receding from the earth. NO. 2488, vor. 99] Greenwich midnight (Journ: - The comet is now rapidly RoraTION IN. PLANETARY NEBUL2.—In continuation of their previous investigations (NATURE, vol. xcvii., p. 268), Prof. W. W. Campbell and Mr. W. H. Moore have announced that the planetary nebula N.G.C. 7662 shows rotational effects very definitely in its spectrum, and that the bright nebular lines are doubled in the parts corresponding to the central region of the nebula. The most satisfactory interpretation is considered to be that the lines are widened by the differential radial velocities in the central part .of the nebula, and that | an outer stratum of absorbing nebulosity, with a~ slower rotation, is responsible for an absorption line lying nearly centrally along each bright line (Popular Astronomy, vol. xxv., p. 313). The nebula N.G.C. 7026, the general outline of which is a relatively flat ellipse, is also rotating rapidly. and the evidence is fairly conclusive that there is an outer equatorial zone of absorbing matter. A further example of high angular speed of rotation has been found in the nebula Jonckheere 320. THE USE OF ZIRCONIA AS A REFRACTORY MATERIAL, HE Transactions of the Ceramic Society, vol. xvi., part i., contain an interesting article by Mr. J. A. Audley on the above title. This substance, ZrO., occurs somewhat widely distributed, chiefly in the form of the mineral zircon, in which it is combined with silica. A more abundant source has recently been found in the mineral Baddeleyite, which contains from about 80 to 94, and even 98, per cent. of zirconia. This mineral was discovered in 1892 almost simultaneously by Hussak in southern. Brazil and by L. Fletcher in Ceylon, the former deposit being much the more ex- tensive and valuable. It also occurs in North America, Australia, and the Ural Mountains. Zirconia is also a by-product of monazite sands. Baddeleyite has a hardness of 6-5 and a specific gravity of 4-4 to 6. It is insoluble in acids, except hydrofluoric acid, but is easily attacked by fused potassium hydrogen sulphate. The melting point of raw zirconia is in the neigh- bourhood of 2000° C., that of the’ purified material being considerably higher. It can be both melted and volatilised in the electric furnace. It is a “neutral” substance of the same type as alumina and is said to have a high resistance to the fluxing action of both acid and basic slags. Its heat conductivity is remark- ably low, and its coefficient of expansion on heating is nearly as low as that of quartz glass, both of which are very valuable properties. It resists the action of fused cyanides and alkalies. Dr. J. A. Harker was one of the first in this country to direct attention to the valuable properties of zir- conia, but the matter has only recently been taken up for investigation, and much more attention has been paid to it abroad, particularly in, Germany, where numerous patents have been taken out. It was applied to the manufacture of muffles, retorts, and tubes by Pyfahl in 1904, and two years later by the Heraeus Company for crucibles in which quar was to be fused. The suggestion has also been made to replace thoria or yttria as an inner coating for the iridium tube in the Heraeus iridium furnace. As a lining for electric arc furnaces the natural product is good enough, its high melting point, low thermal con- ductivity, and small coefficient of expansion making it particularly suitable for this purpose. Now that it is obtainable at comparatively reasonable prices, it can be used for the manufacture of refractory bricks. The market price in Germany before the war varied from 31l. per metric ton for the crude mineral to 5ol. for the 98 per cent. variety. It has been found that a zirconia-lined hearth of an open-hearth steel-making igi 376 NATURE [JULY 5, 1917 furnace at Remscheid was still in good condition after four months’ continuous working at high tempera- tures. Calculations based on the same tests showed in actual maintenance costs a saving of more than 50 per cent. in favour of zirconia as compared with the refractory lining ordinarily used. erro- zirconium, containing up to 35 per cent. zirconium, obtained by reducing a mixture of the oxides with aluminium, has been prepared and used as the basis of introduction of the metal into steel for armour- plates, armour-piercing projectiles, and bullet-proof steel. \ Zirconia also finds application as an addition to melted quartz to prepare ‘‘siloxide glass,” a product resembling quartz opaque glass, but harder, less fragile, more resistant to mechanical stresses and basic oxides (excepting alkalies), and less easily devitrified than quartz glass. Recently Ruff and Lauschke have investigated the refractoriness and other properties of zirconia, alone, and mixed with certain other oxides. HYDRO-GEOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES.1 DPD PPING into a bundle of recently issued reports of the United States Geological Survey, all exhibit- ing evidence of the scrupulous care and unwearied industry of those responsible for the collection of data relating to the water-bearing capacities of the several regions under observation, we extract from a consider- able mass of information one or two items which seem to possess some general, as well as local, in- terest, (1) The topography of certain parts of Arkansas and the adjoining States is characterised by numerous low, circular mounds, from 20 to 100 ft. in diameter, and from 1 to 4 ft. in height. It is stated that in certain districts they are present in astonishing numbers, many fields being completely covered with them. They occur indiscriminately among the unconsolidated clays, loams, marls, sands, and gravels in the lowlands, on the uplands of Cretaceous and Tertiary age, and ‘on the slopes of Palzozoic hills. The materials of which they are composed are in some cases slightly coarser and lighter in colour than the surrounding soils, while in other cases the components are essen- tially similar in structure, composition, and colour. No satisfactory explanation has yet been put forward to account for these conformations. Springs and gas- vents, coastal dunes and ant-hills, wind action and human agency, have all been suggested as originating or contributory causes; but no single theory fits in convincingly with all the conditions and facts. They remain a standing nuzzle to observers. (2) The broad desert valleys of New Mexico, com- posed of gravel, sand, and clay, are designated “bol- sons.”’ Rising up at intervals from the level uniformity of their surfaces are narrow, rocky ridges, ranging in length from two ‘to twenty miles, and in height from a few hundred to nearly 2500 ft. It is probable that all these ranges have an underground connection, forming in reality a single range. They represent a thick succession of sedimentary rocks of all ages, from Cambrian to Recent, overlying pre-Cambrian granite, which ‘outcrops in some of the ridges. In places the 1 (1) *Geology and Ground Waters of North-Eastern Arkansas.” By L. W. Stephenson, A. F. Crider, and R. B. Dole. (2) ‘Geology and Underground Water of Luna County, New Mexico.” 3y N.-H. Darton. (3) ‘Ground Water in the Hartford, Stamford, Salisbury, Willimantic, and Saybrook Areas, Connecticut.” By H: E. Gregory and A. J. Ellis. _ (4) ‘Ground Water in San. Joaquin Valley, California.” By W. C. Mendenhall, R. B. Dole, and H. Stables. P (Published by United States Geological Survey, Washington Government Printing Office, 1976.) NO: 2488, VOL. 99] Ey depth of the bolson deposits runs to considerably more — than tooo ft. (3) The chief water-bearing formations of Connec- ticut are the unconsolidated materials of Glacial origin which overlie the bedrock. There are two types —the unstratified and the stratified, the former a heterogeneous mixture of débris deposited directly by ice, and the latter the same ingredients, but reassorted and deposited by water. The Glacial drift is only thin, and the surface of the underlying rock rugged. This results largely in the localisation of much of the rain- fall (amounting to 45 in. per annum), causing sup- Plies, at times, to be deficient through periods of several weeks, or even months. (4) One of the difficulties confronting settlers in the San Joaquin Valley, California, is the adverse ‘influ- ence on plant culture of the alkali salts in the soil. If the alkali content be in any degree excessive, growth is retarded, and possibly arrested altogether. The farmer has to control the accumulation of soluble _ salts near the surface of his land, if he is to obtain _ satisfactory results. A common practice is to flood the area with water, which dissolves the alkali salts and carries them down below the zone of influence on- delicate rootlets; but this method js only partially effective, unless measures are taken to prevent surface evaporation by means of the shade afforded bv trees® and the cover of stands of grass or grain. B.C. | 4g a * = me. SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 3 “T HE important and impressive review of the rise : and progress of the organic chemical industry issued by Messrs. Levinstein, Ltd., of Blackley, near Manchester, and of Ellesmere Port, which appeared as _ a supplement to the Manchester Guardian of June 30, marks a welcome development of industrial enterprise, Even the most indifferent and ill-informed reader cannot but be made aware, as a result of its perusal, : of the importance of the highest facilities for scientific - education and training, when in so striking a fashion he is compelled to realise the fruits of it in the enor- mous industrial advance of Germany in all that per- tains to the organic chemical industries, whether it takes the form of artificial dyestuffs, synthetic organic products, or that of chemico-therapeutics. The advent of the war quickly laid bare our serious deficiencies, not to say our utter poverty, in all three departments — of chemical manufacture. | a: In the course of the articles, which have been written by men eminent in their respective fields of chemical science and its applications, the distinction is made absolutely clear as between industries the development of which has mainly been the result of the adoption of steam power and of mechanical appliances, and’ those depending upon fundamental researches of a physica and chemical character, such as are, to use the phrase of one of the writers, “built up from the depths,” and require, therefore, not merely the energetic business organiser and “‘ scientific management,” with a view to. output, but the highly trained scientific man capable of appreciating the discoveries of pure science and apt in” their application to human needs. In this valuable review of the progress of the many departments of vital industry—the key, indeed, to the successful prose- cution of many allied and dependent industries—it clearly revealed how'\remiss the nation has been in true appreciation of what constitutes thé firm founda- tion of industrial pre-eminence. The fault has lain not so much, as some of the writers seem to indicate, wi the colleges and universities as with the indus+ tries concerned, which have hitherto offered sn salaries and poor prospects to the carefully trained and competent science student; indeed, have looked upon ~ “Jury 5, 1917] NATURE 377 _ sible. -_ One of the most important articles is that by Dr. _ Levinstein, inasmuch as he carefully points out the pective spheres of the university and the works in - the effective training of the future industrial chemist. Once those concerned with the successful administration of our industries realise the necessity for encouraging _ by a liberal payment the work of the efficiently trained _ chemist there will be no lack in the supply of suitable men. That the nation contains such men has been _ shown by the fact that the demands of this devastating | _ war for the supply of high explosives have been met | | tices and ideas by which civilisation is guided under | normal conditions are largely shattered, men are with an energy and an efficiency which have surprised our chief enemy. THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. _ StaNFORD MEETING OF THE PaciFric Division. of the American Association for the Advance- _ Ment of Science was held at Leland Stanford Junior _ sessions was provided, at which more than 130 papers _ Were presented. At a general session on the evening _ of April 5 an address was given by Dr. J. C. Branner, j retiring president of the Pacific Division, upon ‘“‘ Some _ of the Scientific Problems and Duties at Our Doors,” and on the evening of April 6 Dr. F. J. E. Wood- bridge, professor of philosophy at Columbia Univer- 3 29 ppecanee an address upon “History and Evolu- tion. ___ One of the principal features of this meeting was a “symposium arranged under the direction of Dr. D. T. _ MacD , director of the. Desert Laboratory, Car- _ negie Institution of Washington, Tucson, Arizona, _ upon ‘Co-ordination and Co-operation in Research and in Applications of Science,” at which the following addresses were given :—‘Science and an ~ Organised _ Civilisation,” W. E. Ritter; ‘‘The National Research _ Council as an Agency of Co-operation,” A. A. Noyes; _ “Plans for Co-operation in Research among the Scien- _- tific Societies of the Pacific Coast,” J. C. Merriam; _ and*‘The Application of Science,’”* W..F. Durand. Ab- stracts - the two written reports of the symposium are = Sa : _ The ideals expressed in this symposium were given ction in the formation of a Pacific Coast Research Conference, composed of the Pacific Coast Research _ Committee (which is a sub-committee of the Com- mittee of One Hundred on Research of the American Association), and of representatives of societies ‘prompting the organisation of this conference is fur- ther expressed in the following resolution :—‘t Whereas is the opinion of this conference that the important ‘scientific problems before men of science to-day are those problems relating to preparation for war, which a = require scientific research, therefore be it resolved that this conference, representing the scientific interests of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, offers to the State Council _ of Defence already formed in California, and to such _ other similar State or national organisations as may be organised, the full support and assistance of this ‘conference in so far as it may be desired for the direc- tion of research upon problems arising out of a con- dition of preparation for war.” Science and an Organised Civilisation. __ The importance of scignce in Western civilisation -is abundantly recognised. The dependence upon it of agriculture, manufacture, commerce, hygiene, medi- _} By William E. Ritter, Director, Scripps Institution for Biological Ux balla Canes Cripps Institution for Biologica NO. 2488, VOL. 99] 34 Pie second annual meeting of the Pacific Division’ _ University on April 5-7. In all a series of twenty-two with the Pacific Division. ~The purpose | the chemist as a necessary evil, to be avoided if pos. | cine, war, etc., gives it an enormous and secure place in all modern society. Questions of its becoming still more serviceable in these ways no longer concern the fact and general principles of its usefulness, but only matters of its financial support, its special agencies and methods, and its further specialisation and organ- isation. My commission is ‘to speak about science not so much as an element in civilisation as an inter- preter of, and a general contributor to, the very essence of civilisation itself. The propositions sup- ported are :— (1) That in a catastrophic time like the present, when the social and political conventions and prac- ' thrown back on the basic principles of their natures _ to a degree not approximated at other times. (2) That such conditions are exactly those for science to take cognisance of, and to bring its methods and accumulations of knowledge to bear upon, to the end of making the new régime which shall supervene more in accord with the basic principles of man’s nature than were those of the old régime. (3) That the scientific men of the Americas, par- ticularly of the United States, are specially well cir- cumstanced to take a leading part in such a move- ment from the fact that their Governments and special institutions are avowedly (as through the Declaration of Independence, the organic law, and the Monroe Doctrine of the United States) based more on the fundamental nature of man than on political and social tradition. (4) That in view of this it is the duty of American men of science to exert themselves to the utmost to secure due recognition and participation of science in the gigantic problems of national and international readjustment by which the world will soon be con- fronted. ie The Application of Science.” There are two fundamental motives determining interest in science: (1) a desire to know the universe, its constitution, phenomena, and laws of evolution; and (2) a desire that the facts disclosed may be applied to the service of humanity. The broadest significance of a fact of science is only reached when it is applied to some useful- end. Without such application its significance is limited to its intellectual or esthetic appeal. With such appli- cation it takes its place as one of the factors in the life of humanity. Not all facts of science are equally susceptible of useful application. Some possibly may have no such application. It is impossible to foresee the future, however, and it is not unreasonable to assume that, in a large way, all facts of science contain the potential of some useful application at some stage in the evolution of humanity on the earth. The problem of the application of the facts of science is that of bridging the gap between the observed fact and the correlated demand presented by the needs of civilisation. This problem divides under two types. (1) Given a fact of science, what are its applications? (2) Given a need of civilisation, what is the foundation in science for meeting the need? The factors most likely to be of significance in deal- ing with the first problem are (1) imagination or vision; (2) wide acquaintance with the needs of humanity as expressed in terms of their scientific elements. For the second typical problem there are required likewise (1) imagination or vision, and (2) wide acquaintance withthe facts -of science likely to bear upon the specific problem in hand. 2 Ry Prof. W. F. Durand, professor of mechanical engineering, Stanford University, California. a 378 NATURE _ [Jury 5, 1917_ In detail the field is too vast for compass by any one human mind. The situation is, moreover, becoming more and more aggravated by the rapidly growing accumulation of the tacts of science. There is specific need for the development of a new branch of science, the science of the use of science. Some of the factors of such a science or scientific method are presumably {1) the development of a great clearing-house of scientific facts and human needs, with improvement in methods of classifying and storing away such facts in the, record; (2) the development of a special type of mind keen to detect correspondence between the needs of humanity and the facts of science; (3) the organisation of a corps of workers under the guidance of such trained and developed minds, and whose pur- pose shall be the working out of the correspondences noted above. In any exhaustive or complete sense the field seems too vast to be compassed by human effort. Both the accumulated store of science and the pressing needs presented by our modern complex civilisation have far outrun the seeming compass of any method we can imagine whereby such correspondences might be deter- mined in a definite and assured manner. Because the field is too vast for compass in an exhaustive or com- plete manner, however, it does not follow that no effort whatever should be made. On the contrary, it seems clear that something should be done towards the development of a more orderly method for the establishment of correspondence between the needs of humanity and the facts of science, and we should look forward to this effort as one of the distinctive marks of progress in the twentieth century—the be- ginning, at least, of the development of a science of the use of science. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. Lonpon.—The Education Committee of the London County Council has approved a grant of 26,1401. per annum to the University for the three years 1917-20. This is an increase of 1460l. over the grant for 1916-17. Increased grants are given to the Evening School of History at University College, 140l.; to Italian, 60ol. ; to Slavonic languages, 5ool.; and to phonetics at Uni- versity College, 2201. It is proposed to establish a professorshiv in Italian, and the: Senate is asked to prepare a scheme for the teaching of this language. A chair in Russian is also to be established, and the work will be concentrated at King’s College. The other grants remain unaltered as to amount or purpose, in- cluding the block grant of 10,o00l. in accordance with the Technical Education Board scheme. Importance is attached by the Senate to the development of phonetics, and it is pointed out that a large phonetic laboratory was fitted out on a lavish scale a few years ago in connection with the Colonial Institute ‘at Ham- burg. The higher sub-committee states that, “having regard to the increasing importance of a knowledge of modern European languages to those engaged in commerce, and also to the large number of languages spoken in the British Empire, it. appears that the provision for the teaching of phonetics in England cannot be regarded as adequate.’’ An-increased grant of 2201. for the teaching of phonetics is accordingly sanctioned. The maintenance grant of 300l. per annum is to be continued to Bedford College for the next three years. Tue somewhat novel experiment of using a private garden for educational purposes has of recent years been tried at ‘Westfield,’ Reading, by Dr. J. B- No. 2488, voL. 99] Hurry, and has excited considerable interest amongst the teachers and older school children, as well as — amongst residents of that town. A number of plots have been laid out in which are grown a variety of © plants used in industry and commerce. Series A in- cludes plants used in medicine, e.g. eucalyptus, bella- — donna, aconite, stramonium, gentian, liquorice, podo- phyllin, asafcetida, valerian, henbane, castor oil, cin- chona, and the opium poppy. Series B includes plants _ used for food, e.g. maize, millet, sugar, rice, bananas, r arrowroot, ginger, chicory, pepper, olive, and carda- moms. . Series C includes plants used for clothing and ~ textiles, such as flax, hemp, cotton, jute, Phormium ~ tenax, and ramie nettle. Series D includes plants s that yield dyes, such as woad, indigo, madder, dyer’s — weed, turmeric, anatto, and alkanet. In the adjacent ~ conservatories are exhibited more ‘delicate economic plants, such as tea, coffee, soya beans, monkey-nuts guava, chick pea, cinnamon, and camphor. Adjoining — the conservatories is a small museum in which are ~ collected various products made from the above-men- ~ tioned plants, every article being sige te ng descriptive label, so that the living plant can be studied in conjunction with the economic products derived fro it. Every summer the garden, conservatories, and museum are thrown open free on several half-holidays to visitors and the older school children of the borough, who in large numbers avail themselves of the privilege of seeing some of the important plants used in indu try. A printed catalogue is supplied to every, visitor and from time to time demonstrations of the r interesting exhibits are given by Dr. Hurry and h assistants. rs: SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LonpDoNnN. Paes Royal Society, June 21.—Sir J. J. Thomson, pi dent, in the chair.—Sir Napier Shaw: Revolving fi in the atmosphere. It is generally assumed, appears particularly from a recent paper by | Rayleigh with reference to a former paper by Dr. Aitken, that the motion of air in cyclones and < cyclones may be classed as the motion of revolv: fluid, symmetrical about a vertical axis. Reasons given to show that this assumption with. regard cyclones and anticyclones of middle latitudes erroneous; that circular isobars on the map do indicate revolving fluid, and, vice versa, that tra ling revolving fluid would not be indicated by a sy of circular isobars. The next point for conside: is how a mass of revolving fluid travelling speed of translation of the same order as the spe rotation, and of sufficient size, would be repress on a map. Diagrams are drawn showing the tribution of velocity in four cases for different 1 of the velocity of translation to’ the velocity of tion, and assuming that systems: of velocities be fitted to pressure lines of the same shape, inferred that cases of travelling revolving fluid vy be indicated by isobars similar to those which classed meteorologically as belonging to small secc aries, or distortions of the isobars, generally — southern side of the great cyclonic systems. tions are next considered which must exist if a €0) of rotating fluid is maintained and transported a current represented by the isobars of a great ¢ depression. The conditions arrived at are briefly (1) That the velocity of translation must be the city corresponding with the. separation of the of the main depression unaffected by the presence the revolving mass. (2) The column must pro extend throughout the trovosphere, otherwise it 0 not be ‘“‘capped.’’ (3) The velocity .of the ¢ Juty 5, 1917] NATURE 379 transporting the revolving fluid must be the same at all heights. This condition is shown to be satisfied _ if the line of lapse of temperature with height in the atmosphere corresponds with an adiabatic line, and this is known to be approximately the case in a cyclonic depression where convection has been ubiquitous and vigorous.—Prof. A. Fowler and Hon. R. J. Strutt: Absorption bands of atmospheric ozone in the spectra- of sun and stars. In this paper it is _ shown that a series of narrow bands in the ultra-violet absorption spectrum of ozone appears in the spectra of the sun and stars near the extreme end of the photographic spectrum. The atmospheric origin of these bands is proved by the increase in their intensity in the. solar spectrum as the sun’s altitude is diminished. The observations are considered strongly to confirm the view of Hartley that ozone is the con- stituent of the atmosphere which limits the spectra of celestial bodies in the u!tra-violet. . , Mineralogical Society, June 19.—Mr. W. Barlow, presi- dent, in the chair.—Dr. G. F. H. Smith: The problem of sartorite. The examination of crystals kindly sup- Mr. R. H. Solly showed that the faces fall into zones which are only partially congruent. there a ‘ to be simultaneously in certain of the crystals ve distinct lattices. The vertical spacing and from crystal to crystal—Dr. A. Scott : Note on a curi- ous case of devitrification. The glass of an old bottle found in river sand about 4 ft. below the surface in Leven Shipyard, Dumbarton, has become almost com- pletely crystallised. The crystals, which have a com- position corresponding nearly to 2CaO.Na;O.5SiO., are -accompanied by some dark-coloured microlites. A ‘piece of a glass which by accident had been allowed , in addition, a few small needles with high refrac- m and large birefringence.—Dr. G. T. Prior: The Meteorites of Simondium, Eagle Station, and, Amana. The results of analyses showed that the Amana ‘Stone belonged to the cronstadt, with some approach to the baroti type; that Eagle Station is an sxception to other pallasites in containing iron icher in nickel, and olivine correspondingly richer ‘in ferrous oxide; and that Simondium. was closer to he grahamites than to the howardites, since, like other grahamites, it contained nickeliferous iron and olivine in chemical composition similar to those of the palla- Sites, but with pyroxene and anorthic felspar similar to those of the howardites and eucrites. __ Royal Microscopical Society, June 20.—Mr. E. Heron- 2. , president, in the chair.—F. M. Duncan : A note on the fertilisation and deposition of ovain Portunas depu- 6 The author had recently been able to observe _the repeated deposition of fertile ova by a female crab after one copulation. The first batch of ova were de- posited attached to each other in the typical manner. In later depositions the ova were separated from each other, and rested on the floor of the tank like grains of sand. Every care was taken to preclude the possibility ‘plied for the purpose by Dr. C. O. Trechmann and | the relative positions of the vertical planes remain un- | changed, but in passing from the central lattice to the | two lying on either side there is a distinct shear which | Varies in direction, though apparently not in amount, | | ability of germ-cells of sea-urchins. cool slowly showed .the same crystals and microlites, | of free spermatozoa being present in the water of the | tank containing the female crab. This rarely observed phenomenon had been confirmed by Dr. H. C. William- son and Mr. H. J. Waddington.—E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland: Nouria rugosa, a new Foraminifer from the Shetland-Farée Channel. This representative of a Lituoline genus hitherto recorded only by the same authors from tropical and Australian seas constructs NO. 2488, VOL. 99] a polythalamous shell of minute siliceous spicules of curved oxea type, derived from some sponge which, so far, has not been identified, and is isomorphous in structure with the perforate species, Polymorphina angusta, Egger, and P. lanceolata, Reuss. VICTORIA. Royal Society, April 12—Mr. W. A. Hartnell, treasurer, in the chair.—R. T. Patton: Timber produc- tion and growth curves in the mountain ash (Euca- lyptus regnans) Measurements and calculations have been made on a large series of cut timber at Powell- town, and the general conclusion regarding the annual development of wood in this species of Eucalypt is that it reaches its maximum at fifty years, and that the most profitable time for cutting is between the sixtieth and seventieth years. These appear to be the first investigations of the kind made on Australian timber. —Prof. E. W. Skeats: Coral-reef and dolomite problems in relation to the formation of atolls. : Wasuincton, D.C. National Academy of Sciences, April 15 (Proceedings. | No. 4, vol. iii.).—R. A. Millikan: A re-determination Just as in the of the value of the electron and of related constants. ‘case of calaverite, earlier investigated by the author, | The values for the charge on the electron, the Avo- gadro constant, etc., are given, with estimates of the accuracy of the result.—J. A. Harris, A. F. Blakeslee, and D, E. Warner: Body pigmentation and egg pro- duction in the fowl. A strong negative correlation exists between the October ear-lobe pigmentation and the egg production of the year—A. J. Goldfarb : Vari- The varying be- haviour of the eggs in the experiments of Loeb, Lillie, Wasteneys, and others was apparently due in large part to variation in the physiological condition of the eggs they used.—G. Harrison: Transplantation of limbs. The experiments confirm previous ones, showing that the limb bud is a self-differentiating body; they also show that the laterality of the fore- limb may be affected by its new surroundings.—I. Langmuir: The shapes of group molecules forming the surfaces of liquids. Cross-sections and lengths are calculated for a variety of molecules. Various theoretical conditions are developed:—F. J. Alway and G. R. McDole: The importance of the water con- tained in the deeper portions of the subsoil. The moisture of the deeper subsoil will be able to move upward only so slowly and through such a short dis- tance in a single season that it will be at most of no practical benefit to annual crops.—W. N. Berg: The transformation of. pseudoglobulin into euglobulin. The loss of pseudoglobulin in the heated sera corre- sponds almost quantitatively with the gain of euglo- bulin in the same sera.—H. E. Jordan: A case of normal embryonic atresia of the cesophagus. A de- scription of the phenomenon for turtles —H. Shapley : Studies of magnitudes in star clusters. V., Further evidence of the absence of scattering of light in space.— H. E. Jordan: The history of the primordial germ- cells in the loggerhead turtle embryo.—H. Shapley : Studies of magnitudes in star clusters. VI., The rela- tion of blue stars and variables to galactic planes. The stellar distribution in the so-called globular clus- ters has an underlying elliptical symmetry ;° therefore not only certain nebula, our solar system, and the whole galactic system, but even the globular clusters have the oblateness that is general and fundamental in the dynamics of stellar groups.—L. Spier: Zufii chronology. It has been found possible to establish a chronological scale with applications to American culture history.—E. W. Berry : The age of the Bolivian Andes. There is definite evidence that parts of the 380 NATURE [JULY 5, 1917 high. plateau .and of the eastern: Cordillera stood at sea-level in the late Tertiary.—W. H.. Bucher; Large current-ripples as indicators of paleaogeography. Tes . ’ Practical 'Chemistry for Medical Students. By Dr. A. C. Cumming. Second edition. Pp. 8+165. (Edin- burgh: J. Thin.) , How to Know the Ferns. By S. L. Bastin. Pp. viii+136. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd.) ts. 6d. net. Farm Forestry. By Prof. J: A. Ferguson. Pp. viii+ 241. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. net. No. 2488, voL. 99] Small tumours have been produced by the |. Introduction to the Rarer Elements: “By Dr. P. E. Browning. Fourth edition. Pp. x+250. (New York : J; Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 7s. net. Steam Turbines. By J. A. Moyer. Pp. xi+468. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall,. Ltd.) 16s. 6d. net. A Bibliography of British Ornithology from the Earliest Times to the End of 1912. By W. H. Mullens and H: Kirke Swann. Part vi. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 6s, net. Researches of the Department of Terrestrial Mag- netism. Part iii. Oceanic Magnetic Observations, — ‘1965-16, and Reports on Special Researches. By L. A. Bauer and others. Pp. viit+447. (Washington: Car- — negie Institution.) The Human Worth of Rigorous Thinking. By Prof. C. J. Keyser. Pp. 314. (New York: Columbia — University Press; London: H. Milford.) Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. By Dr. E. J. Russell. Third edition. Pp. viiit+243+diagrams. ~ (London: Longmans and Co.) 6s, 6d. net. DIARY OF SOCIETIES, FRIDAY, Jury 6. Geowocists’ ASSOCIATION, at 7.30.—Notes on Volcanic Phenomena in’ @ . S. Johnston.—Flint-working Sites in the Sub- New Zealand: Miss M merged Forest of Carmarthen Bay: A. L. Leach. CONTENTS. The Classical System of Education. By Sir E. A. — Schafer, F.R.S.. . Se Sh le ne 361 Applied Chemistry in the United States .... . 362 | War Medicine and Surgery. By R. T. H. . 30a Oar poorshelf’ iy ee erst eee - 364 Letters to the Editor:— ey a The Radiation of the Stars.—J. H. Jeans, F.R-S. ; ‘ Prof. A. S, Eddington, F.R.S. ......- 365°3 Protection from Glare.—L. C. Martin’... 365) © Electric Discharge from Scythe. — Charles E. eS Benham... war’ So Seep ype tas eect, The Future of Education. By Prof. J. B. Farmer, 4 F. R. S. hs as a . . trae, Siting Fg ee Ae me * 367. The Work of the Ministry of Munitions .... .- 369° Dt. Robert Bell, F.R.S. |. 5 she ee oe ee 370 NOteS. te. esinenne Pee arte reg te 379 4 Our Astronomical Column :— pe Comet 19166 (Wolf) . 20.5). 4 wee Yet snes 375 Comet 1917a (Mellish) =. .-. 2 2 e eee et ee 375 Comet 19174 (Schaumasse) §. ... +. .- 375 Rotation.in’ Planetary Nebule . . . oe se 37am The Use of Zirconia as a Réftactory Material. . . 375 Hydro-geology in the United States. By By O- 5% A Science and Industry......:. - . . ss ese es 376 The American Association.—Stanford Meeting of the Pacific Division Me Se 377 University and Educational Intelligence .... . 378 © Societies and Academies .......-- Spat alten Ae 3787 Bookdé. Received ...- 3 Lest ae ee eerie te ‘ 380 Diary.of. Societies - .-.....1) ++ 2s. wis eee 380+ Editorial and Publishing Offices :- MACMILLAN AND CO., Lrtp., ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the Publishers. Editorial Communications to the Editor. . : | Telegraphic Address: Puusts, LONDON. Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. Third edition.” PAGE NATURE 381 THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1917. Pe ACIDS AND by irresponsible revolutionary organisations and troops; thus the Polytechni Institute has been occupied since March 5 by abou never intended for such a number of people, having no ideas of sanitation, living and sleeping in the lecture- and drawing-halls, the shameful state of the institute may be imagined. All efforts to eject these) unwelcome guests and those of other organisations 5 have proved abortive, as the ‘ Provisional Government / NATURE 409 4 JuLy 19, 1917] + has no power to do it. Almost all courses of lectures are thus interrupted, and it is possible to conduct only _ some laboratory exercises and examinations. The __ Students themselves take a large part in the different _ revolutionary organisations, and also make demands _ to have the direction and control of all the affairs _ of universities and institutes. The future of our seats _ of learning seems precarious indeed, as there are no visible signs of order succeeding the 1 anarchy, _ which, as of course you know from the daily papers, reigns everywhere supreme.” | "Tr was suggested in Nature of May 24 (p. 250) that _ the atmospheric conditions in this season of the __ by several observers at New Malden on June 3, 4, a More recently he has heard the characteristic 2 on several occasions from Graffham Common, _ in West Sussex. The common lies between Petworth _ and Midhurst, on the north side of the South Downs. _ The reports are usually most distinct in the evening, and were heard very clearly on the still evenings of The German bombardment on the front on July 10 accounts for the specially heard from 5 p.m. on that date. The _ Evening Standard of July 11 states that between _ Horsham and West Grinstead the terrific gunfire in than at any time during the war. be recognised readily by the frequency of their the usual interval between successive Further evidence with re- a to the sound of the Messines mines is given in _ the first German account of the battle (quoted in the Times for July 14). The most marked feature of the explosion, according to an observer one kilometre from _ the ee eeenost mine, was the movement of the - ground. blow was accompanied ‘“‘by a terrible _ crash, not so very loud, but so powerful aie of such _ a kind as has never been heard after the explosion of _ the heaviest enemy shell or mine torpedo.” _ Owrnc to conditions resulting from the existing war, the International Exchange Service of the Smith- ‘Sonian Institution, of Washington, is temporarily dis- _ continued to almost all the countries of Europe and _ to India. ‘ _ AT a meeting of the council of the Ray Society held ‘on July 12, Dr. B. Daydon Jackson, vice-president, in _the chair, the resignation as treasurer of Dr. DuCane Godman on account of ill-health was announced. The “thanks of the council for his services during the past _ fourteen years were accorded to him, and Dr. S. F. _ Harmer was elected treasurer in his place. ___Dr. J. Scorr Kettr has retired from the editorship of the Geographical Journal, a position which he re- tained jointly with Mr. A. R. Hinks since his retire- ‘Ment from the secretaryship of the Royal Geograph- _ teal Society two years ago. The Toman was founded im its present shape in 1893, a year after Dr. Keltie Became assistant secretary and editor. On his retire- NO. 2490, VOL. 99] ment, after thirty-two years in the service of the society, Dr. Keltie has been elected a member of the council and awarded the society’s Victoria medal for geographical research. : Tue death is announced, at the age of seventy- eight, of Dr. J. M. Crafts. A graduate of the Law- rence Scientific School at Harvard, he studied chemistry afterwards at Freiberg, Heidelberg, and Paris. For many years he occupied a chair of chemis- try in Cornell University, and from 1898 to 1900 he was president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since the latter date he had been’ en- gaged in chemical research in Boston. In 1885 Dr. - Crafts was awarded the Jecker prize by the Paris Academy of Sciences, and was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. He had published researches upon organic silicium compounds, arsenic, ethers, studies in thermometry, catalytic reactions in con- centrated solutions, etc. Pror. E. G. Hitt, principal of Muir College, Uni- versity of Allahabad, died on June 28 at Naini Tal, India, at the age of forty-five. He was the son of the Rev. George Hill, D.D., of Nottingham, and was educated at Leeds, and later at Magdalen College, Oxford, whence he entered in 1895 the Indian Educa- tional Service as professor of chemistry at Muir Col-~ lege. Shortly afterwards he became a fellow of Alla- habad University, and the dean of the science faculty, and in 1913 was appointed principal of his college. He contributed a number of original papers on a variety of chemical subjects to the Transactions of the Chem- ical Society between the years 1903 and 1907. Among these may be mentioned :—Analysis of ‘reh (natural alkaline salts); hydrolysis of ammonia salts by water; the coloured constituents of Butea frondosa; and a new colouring matter from Nyclanthes arbor iristis. He also acted as meteorologist to the United Provinces Government. OrnNITHOLOGISTS will learn with a mixture of regret and pride of the death of Mr. Eric B. Dunlop, who was killed in action on May 19. Born and bred in the Lake District—he was the eldest son of Mr. A. B. Dunlop, J.P., of Windermere—his innate love of birds found an exceptionally fine field for development, and - he made the most of his opportunities, especially in regard to disappearing species, like the common buz- zard, peregrine falcon, and raven. On the outbreak of war he was engaged upon a study of the nesting habits of birds in northern Manitoba, and coupled these investigations with a no less careful study of the fur- bearing mammals of Canada in regard to their seasonal changes and variation. In 1915 he decided to suspend his work and take his place in the fighting line, and accordingly enlisted in the 78th Canadian Grenadiers. But on his arrival in England he trans- ferred to the Border Regiment, and was in France barely a month before he fell. We who are left have lost a comrade whom we could ill spare. Ir will be remembered that in Nature for January 25 of this year Prof. Eugenio Rignano had a letter on a suggested “quadruple scientific Entente.” The French original of this letter alsc appeared in the Revue générale des Sciences for January 30, and has given rise to a good deal of discussion. In the Revue for June 15 Prof. E. Gley fully agrees with Prof. Rignano about the malady of the German hegemony of scientific literature, but advances some criticisms on the proposed means of dealing with this evil. Prof. Gley’s examiples are naturally taken from the literature of that branch of science—physiology—with which he is most familiar; and he points out that the general tendency of nations is to make the publication of scientific work 410 NATURE . ‘ [JULY 19, 1917 more and more national, The attempt, chiefly apparent, it seems—at' least-so far as physiology is concerned—in Germany, to publish the work of scientific men of other nations in their own languages is, according to him, a danger of monopoly hidden under the cloak of apparent internationalisation. Further, we must allow for a sextuple Entente, to include the United States and Japan; and it seems that this would in- crease the difficulty of making the projected journals suffice for their task. Ententist organisation ‘is cer- tainly desirable, especially for year-books of analysis of published work, but Prof. Gley brings forward certain difficulties in the matter, which are, however, it would seem, not insurmountable. An Ententist organisation of detailed ‘‘ handbooks”’ of science, something like the best German books, seems to Prof. Gley much more possible. A second part of the article is devoted to the development of laboratories in Germany, which has played a great part in Germany’s scientific hege- mony, and to the lessons that France might learn in this respect. In the Revue for April 15 M. Ch. Marie suggested the path to be followed in the organisation of scientific records and other publications by the countries of the Entente. : Tue Archives of Radiology and Electrotherapy for June (vol. xxii., No. 1) contains an article by Mr. H. C. Gage on. simplified X-ray methods. The neces- sity in the present war of coping swiftly with a maxi- mum of cases at a minimum of expense has led to the evolution of new ideas and the modification’ of old methods. radiography of the limbs for fractures are-dealt with The localisation of foreign bodies and the at length. Attention is directed to the use of rapid bromide paper, with which it is possible to make good radiographs if an intensification screen be employed for the deeper parts. By its use economy is effected and weight for transport reduced. Tue Indian Journal of Medical Research. for . April, (vol. iv., No. 4) contains a number of valuable papers dealing. with a variety ‘of subjects—bacteriological studies of cholera-like-microbes,: vitality of the tubercle bacillus outside the body, rdle of the blood in ovulation’ in mosquitoes, ‘a substitute for ‘‘nutrose’’ (pea-nut flour, ninety-four parts; casein, five’ parts; sodium carbonate, one part), etc. Lieut. Mackenzie Wallis, R.A.M.C., describes a new test for chlorine in. drink- ing water. This consists of an acid solution of benzi- dine or tolidine, which yield a yellow colour with ‘so little as 0-005 part of chlorine per million of water, and do not react with chlorides. The same author has also investigated the ability of chloramine-T to sterilise water for drinking purposes. One drop of a saturated aqueous solution “of chloramine-T (about a 15 per cent. solution) will sterilise two litres of water, con- taining an excess of organic matter, in thirty minutes. Water so treated has no unpleasant taste or smell, as is the case when bleaching powder and other hypo- chlorites are used. Mr. J. ARTHUR HuTTON gives an account of the in- vestigations (which he has now carried on for many years) into the life-history of the salmon in the Salmon and Trout Magazine for April. The method of ‘ scale- reading”? is that mainly employed, and the results apply particularly to the River Wye, but there is also a general discussion of the Billingsgate Market statis- tics, and a strongly urged plea for the general im- provement of the system of collecting salmon statistics throughout the United Kingdom. Tue Madras Fisheries Bulletin, No. 11, consists of a description of the edible molluscs found on the shores of the Presidency. Mr. Jas. Hornell, the writer, gives good accounts of the occurrence and’ natural history of each of the-princinal species, and adds a NO. 2490, VOL. 99} ~ the introduction and cultivation of more valuable ‘until the full clutch of three eggs was laid. —that is to say, when about one month old. - figure for each of the more important animals. Except in the case of the poorer classes of coast dwellers, shell-fish are either despised or neglected as articles of food in India—that is, in comparison wi the littoral fishing industries of Britain, France, and Japan; for instance. But it also appears to be the case that the larger and more valuable edible molluses of other parts of the world are either very small or absent on Indian shores, and the suggestion is made that the indigenous supplies should be supplemented by species. The report is written from this point of view. A BRIEF but felicitous series of notes on the breed- ing habits of the merlin appears in British Birds for July by Mr. E. R.. Paton. These cover the whole period, from the first appearance of the merlin on an Ayrshire moor to the disappearance of the young, three in number. The male seems to have taken no t in incubation until near the time of hatching. Both parents took part in feeding the young, but while the female kept to the moor, the male hunted largely for food in a neighbouring wood, Though the nest was in the middle of a grouse-drive, yet no young game-bird was ever killed by either of the parent birds. Incubation lasted thirty days, and did not commence The = young were apparently able to fly by the end of July — Mr. W. H. T. Tams, in the July issue of the Ento- mologists’ Magazine, directs attention to the fact that while the noctuid moth, Euplexia lucipara, taken in — the British Isles differs but little, in external ap- — pearance, from.specimens taken in Canada, ‘yet in the — structure of the genitalia of the males the differences — are of a very striking character. Being now on active — service with the Canadian Army Corps, Mr. Tams — remarks that he is, for the present, quite unable to — carry his investigations further into this subject, and hence appeals to entomologists who may have oppor- tunities:for work of this description to make a careful — study. of specimens of ‘this species drawn from widely — different areas of its range, which is considerable, — since it is found all over Europe and Asia, as well as — in: North America. Such an inquiry, he contends, — would. afford valuab'e data as to the relation between — these structural differences in the genitalia and the ~ geographical distribution of the individuals,© = = = = To the American Naturalist for April (vol. li., — No. 604) Dr. P. Hadley contributes a valuable paper — on the flagellate genus Trichomonas, usually a harm- — less parasite in the intestine of various animal hosts. — Dr. Hadley states that these organisms multiply ex- — ceedingly in the intestines of diarrheic turkeys, pene- — trate the epithelium, and, invading the tissues of the host, become intracellular parasites living in the manner of sporozoa and playing a pathogenic réle — associated with the disease known as “blackhead.” The author does not state definitely if he considers — that the protozoal parasites hitherto recognised as the — cause of ‘‘blackhead,” and regarded as Eimeria avium, are in reality stages in the life-history. of — Trichomonas. The questions raised are of much in- — terest, and call for further elucidation. - Tuat legislation enacted to secure the extermination — of ‘‘vermin”’ in response to popular clamour is ever — dangerous we have always held. Australia is now learning this to her sorrow. For thirty years com- — pulsory poisoning laws have been in force, and the — Scientific Australian for March, which has just reached us, now complains that, as a result of these laws, — the carrion hawks, crows, and native carnivora have been well-nigh wiped out. As a consequence, decaying —— bodies are left to be demolished by blow-flies, which ees | Jury 19, 1917] NATURE 411 ve now increased to such an appalling extent as to the sheep on the runs with destruction, the imals becoming “ fly-blown” and infested with the z of this troublesome and dangerous insect. Simi- ly, the Victorian Naturalist for April relates that, yr the last month or two, wheat buyers have been at _ their wits’ end to protect the immense wheat stacks at country stations, especially in the Wimmera dis- . trict, from mice, which have increased to an incredible extent. Most of the stacks have now been enclosed by sheets of galvanised iron, openings in which are left to - corr with kerosene tins, sunk in the ground, and partly filled with water. It is no uncommon occur- rence to capture 10,000 mice in this way in a single night. At Minyip, recently, the catch for two nights vei rather more than a ton. Australia would do well to follow the lead of Canada and the United States and appoint a Bureau of Economic Ornitho- logy, which might also be charged with the task of inquiry into the status and usefulness, or otherwise, of such of the native carnivora as have escaped the un- fortunate and ill-considered legislation which has brought about such disastrous results. _ Or the many varieties of rice grown in India, some of the most interesting are the deep-water paddies grown in Orissa. Unlike other paddies, these deep- water forms, of which eight are known to be culti- vated, can endure complete submergence for. seven to ten days without sustaining any material damage. As the water rises the plants keep growing, main- taining their heads above water, and plants 10-15 ft. long have been measured, yielding at the same time a bumper harvest. The value of these paddies is that land which would otherwise be unutilised, since at crop seasons it is always under water, is found to be admirably suited to them, and a good return has been realised, owing to the introduction of these deep- water forms, from land which formerly was valueless. _ The account of the deep-water paddy of Orissa is ~ given in the Journal of the Department of Agriculture, hat eS > I ee bile eee oe a ees aay a a Be hi a i Le ae and 1900 tons from alunite and silicate rocks, includ- _ ing recoveries from furnace-flue dusts. Of the potash _ from organic sources 1110 tons-were obtained from kelp, 220 tons from pearl ash, and 1750 tons. from Biisccliancous industrial wastes. Canadian felspar, which has long been imported for use in pottery manu- = e, is now imported by American manufacturers __0f fertilisers for use as potash. manure. . Portland “cement works in Ontario are also producing potash zs “a by-product from the felspar used in.making the “cement. It is claimed that more than 80 per cent. ‘of the potash of the felspar-is recovered, and at a cost ~ less than the freight charges paid on imported German _ potash before the war. _ Two articles on the Near East in the July number of the Geographical Journal (vol. 1., No. 1) are of "Special interest at the present time. The first, by Dr. _E. W. G. Masterman, is on Palestine. Dr. Master- man, who knows Palestine well, and is secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund, has no exaggerated views on the value of the country as a field for colonisation, and believes that the first needs of Pales- . tine must be afforestation, irrigation, and the restora- tion of the terraces on the mountain-sides. Side by ‘side with these efforts, he insists on an organised NO. 2490, VOL. 99] attack on the causes of the prevalent diseases—malaria, ophthalmia, dysentery, tuberculosis, and others. So far as present conditions go there is little room for increased population, and Dr. Masterman foresees no immediate opening for settlers on an extended scale after the war. The second paper is a long one, by Mr. H. C. Woods, on the Bagdad Railway and its tribu- taries. This paper deals also with the other railway lines and projects in Asia Minor, and with those in Syria so far as they act as feeders to the Bagdad line. In the Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club for 1916, p. 129, Mr. C. T. Gardiner gives a detailed study of the Silurian inlier on the east of the South Welsh coalfield between Usk and Pontypool. Dr, F. R. Cowper Reed describes and figures some new species from the area. The Wenlock Shales, it is urged, have a greater extension than appears on the Geological Survey map, while the Ludlow area is correspondingly reduced. A newly discovered outlier of Old Red Sandstone is indicated. THE seventeenth report of the committee of the British - Association on Photographs of Geological Interest ap- peared in 1910, and is now. supplemented by the eighteenth report (1916), drawn up under the care of Prof. W. W. Watts and Prof. S. H, Reynolds. A large part of the interval has been unsuited for photo- graphic work, especially along our coast-line, but valu- able additions have been made from special localities, such as the series by Prof. Reynolds from the Carbon- iferous section in Burrington Combe, Somerset, fol- lowing on his great Avon gorge series, and Mr. God- frey Bingley’s extensive studies of the Magnesian Limestone of Sunderland. Geologists desiring prints or lantern-slides from the negatives named in the lists now published are asked to communicate with the individual photographers, whose names and addresses are conveniently given. Tue study of earthquakes in California is in the hands of the Weather Bureau in that State, assisted by observers at twelve first-class stations and by 314 ‘climatological observers.” The results for the year 1916 are contained in an interesting paper by Mr..A. H. Palmer, contributed to the Seismological Society of America (Bulletin, vol. vii., 1917, pp. 1-17). The total number of earthquakes recorded during the year is sixty-six, which exceeds the number felt throughout the rest of the United States. None of them attained a destructive intensity, and two-thirds were so slight that they were felt at one station only. They occurred more frequently near the coast than inthe intefior, the region of greatest frequency being - that -about Monterey Bay. At San Francisco there was only one very slight shock. A peculiar feature of these earth- quakes is the comparative absence of the earthquake- sound, which is mentioned in only one-fifth of the records. The earthquakes: are attributed generally to movements along the well-known faults which traverse the State in a south-easterly direction, but the evidence is too scanty to enable the author to assign .an earth- quake to any particular fault. The State of California is one of the most interesting seismic regions, and it is to be hoped -that the Weather Bureau will not re- main content until the network of stations is greatly expanded, especially in the Owens Valley, the Impe- rial Valley, Humboldt County, and in the districts surrcunding San Francisco and Monterey Bay. Science for June 1 contains an_ interesting address by Prof. G. A. Miller on the function of mathematics in scientific research. It is rather dis- cursive, but contains many striking epigrams; for instance, “I would be inclined to say that modesty is the attitude of mind which has contributed most powerfully to mathematical progress’’; ‘“‘Unless we > 412 NATURE ’ ’ o [FuLy 19, 1917 become like children in faith and fancy, we should not expect to add much that is fundamentally new to the kingdom of mathematics’; “Science is not primarily a grazing country; large tracts are suitable for agriculture and mining,’ and so on. One very remarkable discovery is referred to, namely, that the Maya people of Central America had a positional system of notation with various different signs> for zero. While recognising «he value of scientific organisation and the promotion of research, Prof. Miller gives the timely warning that ‘tthe greatest danger of research to-day is that its popularity tends to research hypocrisy.’? We may perhaps add to this that a good training in x:nathematics is one of the best preventives of hypocrisy and intellectual dis- honesty of every kind. Finally, we may note that, in the speaker’s opinion, mathematics is so far abreast of the time as to be ready to discuss the problems arising from our new views about the constitution ot the physical world. This is good hearing, because Prof. Miller knows as well as any man alive the - difference between analysis which deals with con- tinuous variables and that which is concerned with discrete sets of elements. A LECTURE on ‘‘Chemistry in Industry” was de- livered at the Royal College of Science for Ireland, Dub- lin, on Tuesday, July 10, by Prof. Gilbert T. Morgan, who is now conducting a summer course in ‘‘ Wool , Dyes and Dyeing” under the auspices of the De- partment of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. The relation between chemistry and the food-producing industries shows how essential it is to follow up every clue discovered in the laboratory in the hope that ultimately the discovery may prove to be of practical value. Chemistry is also intimately concerned in the production of cement, glass, and ceramic ware. Its services in the production of muni- tions of war are even more obvious. A remarkable characteristic of chemical industries is the tendency for the enterprises to become merged together, so that the waste products of one section become the raw material of another manufacture. It is only by en- couraging this association of related industries that chemical manufacture can be conducted efficiently. Manufacturers of high explosives utilise their plant in the production of fine chemicals. Dye-producers drift into the maaufacture of synthetic drugs and photographic chemicals. Dr. James Morr, in a paper read before the Royal Society of South Africa on ‘‘Colour and Chemical Constitution,” describes the colour changes produced by substitution in some fifty derivatives of phenol- phthalein and fluorescein. The most striking novelty in the paper is the discovery that when these sub- stances are dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid they give a coloration which is five times as intense as in alkali, and is produced by a band of lower wave- length, the frequency being half as fast again in sulphuric acid after allowing for a constant load due to combination of sulphuric acid with the oxygen of the dye. As, however, fluorescein in alkali and phenol- phthalein in sulphuric acid give identical absorption bands, it is suggested that there is in each case a linking up of the phenolic rings, thus :— se Nok “eo O.CsHy C,H, Phenolphthalein in HeSO4. HO ou Don: A o4 C.C,H,.CO.OK Fluorescein in votash. NO. 2490, VOL. 99] Tue Journal of the Society of Engineers for May contains an account, by Lord Headley, of the goods clearing house system and machinery. It is now some eight or nine years since Mr, Gattie and Mr. Seamen introduced to public notice the extremely ingenious ~ system of electro-magnetic machinery for dealing with heavy goods, and practical demonstrations have been giveni with full-sized machinery at the works of the New Transport Co., at Battersea. It is estimated that 97 per cent. of the life of railway wagons is spent standing still in sidings or shunting yards, and that 0.5-per cent. only is spent in running loaded. It is claimed that the goods clearing system would enable 80 per cent. of these wagons to be dispensed with. Official estimates of the surplus profits of the proposed — London goods clearing house on its first year of work- ing give a profit of 9,295,948l. on a capital outlay of 14,000,000]. It would appear that there are serious — abuses due to railway mismanagement, and it is — claimed that the new system would abate or do away — with these. In brief, the system proposed is to collect all goods by motor lorries and to deliver them at one — building instead of at many scattered stations. On © arrival, the body of the lorry containing the goods is — hoisted off by electric cranes, another body is dropped into place, and the lorry sets off immediately on another — journey. The goods are sorted inside the house, ~ according to their destination, by means of machinery, — consisting of endless chains of trucks electrically con- — trolled in such a way that goods may be picked up or deposited in any portion of the house. The control is effected from a central switch-board, and when the proper key is depressed the goods on the truck con- trolled are moved along and transferred to other trucks — leading to other bays on the same flcor, or up escala- tors to other floors. The goods are carried on trays, and the trucks are fitted with roller magnets which automatically transfer the trays at the proper instant. There is little doubt that such a system would go far to relieve the congestion in many London streets, and would dispense with a large amount—if not all+—of the shunting operations at railway goods stations. a Le eh ee ee ee Ir is announced that the “Dictionary of National — Biography ’’ has been presented to the University of — Oxford by the family of the late-Mr. George M. Smith, and will in future be published by the O hg University Press. “i : OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Tue RELativity THEORY AND THE Motion oF MER- cURY’s PERIHELION.—The circumstance that especially attracted the attention of mathematicians to Einstein’s new theory of relativity was the faet that it accounted — for the whole excess of motion (43” per century) of the perihelion of Mercury over that indicated by planetary theory. Dr. L. Silberstein, in a paper entitled “The Motion of the Perihelion of Mercury deduced from the’ Classical Theory of Relativity’ (Monthly Notices, R.A.S., April, 1917), points out that it is not necessary for a relativity theory to explain the whole excess of Mercury’s perihelion; part of it can reasonably be ascribed to the stratum of ‘matter composing the zodiacal light. He himself prefers the older, simpler relativity theory, which he asserts to be unobjection- able in its foundations, and to accord well with ob- servation in the field of physics. He notes that if would not indicate the bending of a ray of light in a gravitational field. as Einstein’s does. It is hoped that this critical experiment may be made at the total solar eclipse of May, Igrtq- g In the classical relativity theory, as in Newtonian 7) mechanics, the rate of increase of momentum mv is aS Jory 19, 1917] NATURE 413 equai to the force N. But the inertia coefficient m is not a constant, but a function of velocity, “pre- cisely as the familiar transversal mass of an electron.” - He proceeds to investigate a formula that will t for the whole of Mercury’s excess. Putting - B=velocity of planet /velocity of light, and y=(1—”)-4, i.e. 1+367, then if M,, m, be rest-masses of sun and et, m=m,7. Assuming for the law of force «m,y"—*/r?, or its equivalent, M,m,"-?/r?, where n is an arbitrary constant, he shows that the value 6 for n gives the centennial excess 43” for Mercury and 8-6" for Venus. ‘‘Why # is just 6 I do not know. But as little do we know why the exponent of r is Le : - Axnomatous Dispersion.—By the use of the electric furnace Dr. A. S. King has found it possible to inves- igate the anomalous dispersion of the more refractory elements, under conditions which can be kept well controlled (Astrophysical Journal, vol. xlv., p. 254). _ The amount of anomalous dispersion shown by a line is proportional to its intensity in absorption, provided the vapour absorbing the line in question has the requisite non-uniform distribution equivalent to a prism. Lines which show a strong anomalous dis- sion at a low temperature frequently show refrac- tion in the opposite direction when the temperature is raised, thus indicating that the vapour prism absorb- ing such lines has been inverted. When two elements with different melting points are mixed, the direct and inverted effects may occur simultaneously, and a simi- tar result has been found in the case of a single element for lines which require different temperatures for their production. hus the blue line of calcium, 4 4227, may show the inverted effect, while at the same time the and K lines show anomalous dispersion of the regular type. Each element thus has the capa- city to give its own anomalous dispersion independently _ of other vapours which may be present, and a similar _ relation holds for particles of the same element emit- _ ting lines of different charecter. No evidence was _ found for mutual repulsion of close lines, one of which is in a condition to show large anomalous dispersion, ‘and it would anvear that the theoretical effect is too . Lord Charnwood. Assistant Editor : E d John Bale, Sons, and Danielsson, Ltd.) ese ty te a cea 414 / NATURE A [JuLy 19, 1917 Johns, the furnace manager of Vickers, Ltd., and took the form of a compact statement of the properties of the refractories in general use and the urgent need for systematic research work along certain lines, In any given metallurgical process the ideal refrac- tory must be infusible and non-volatile; its volume must not vary during the temperature fluctuations that occur; it must be chemically inert; it must have sufficient structural strength and be a non-conductor of heat. No such substance is known. Whether any such material can be prepared only the future will show. Up to the present the retractories actually used are simply the best approximations to the above ideal, which have been reached almost entirely by experience gained by empirical trials spread over a century or more. As Mr, Johns observes :—'t The methods employed to-day represent the survival of the fittest by the searching test of commercial success, but it by no means follows that they represent. the best obtainable’’; and, further :—‘*The art has been so long in front of the science of the refractory indus- try that the most urgent need at the present is for an expression in terms of scientific precision of the most successful practice in manufacturing the refractory product and of the physico-chemical changes which take place when they are used.” . As regards the materials available, leaving aside carbon and its compounds with silicon, which have only a limited application, they are chiefly the oxides, - silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, and chromium oxide, or compounds of these with oxides of iron, sodium and potassium, and traces of other substances, regarded as impurities, some of which may act as catalysts. The raw materials for coke-oven bricks, blast-furnace bricks, and casting ladle nozzles are the fireclays, most of which were obtained from home sources before the war. Again, quartzite, the raw material of silica bricks, used in acii open-hearth furnace construction, is entirely derived from home supplies. On the other hand, magnesite, the raw material of basic refrac- tories used in basic open-hearth and electric furnace construction, is nearly all imported, either in the raw or calcined state. Chromite, the raw material of bricks used where a neutral refractory” is required, which will not have a reducing action such as the carbon refractories exert, has also to be obtained from abroad. The materials available are therefore strictly limited, and they never occur in a state of purity in Nature. Their manufacture into finished re- fractories involves a succession of processes which vary according to the purpose for which they are intended, and the final product is always a mineral aggregate, often of great complexity. In consequence of this the refractory does not possess a melting point, but rather a softening range spread over a considerable temperature interval, which results finally in the mate- rial failing to perform its functions. It is essential that any refractory should be ‘‘burnt’’ at a tempera- ture somewhat higher than it will be called upon to endure in practice ; otherwise serious difficulties arising from volume changes, especially shrinkages, will be encountered. Texture and porosity determine very largely the suitability or otherwise of refractories for particular purposes. The relative size of the grains, and the extent of the surface exposed by the more resistant constitu- ents to the others used as a bond or matrix, are most important factors in contributing to the ability of the material to perform useful service. Another point of importance is the influence of mass in promoting or retarding inversions. Some inversions occur almost instantaneously once the critical temperature has been reached, but with others marked hysteresis occurs. Porosity must always occur when the refractory is NO. 2490, VOL. 99] composed of more than one constituent, and where their chief volume changes are dissimilar, or occur at different temperatures. Little is known of the effect of porosity on properties, but it is obvious that it per- mits the deposition of extraneous material in the inte- rior of the bricks and renders them permeable to gases, Both tenacity and compressive strength are impor- tant properties of refractories at high temperatures. Abrasion is caused by the movement of solid substances while in contact with their heated surfaces; erosion is due to the passage of dust-laden gases at high veloci- ties. Almost nothing is known as to the conditions which may be expected to retard abrasion and erosion, and in what way they are related to the mechanical properties of the materials, There is accordingly urgent need for the accurate determination of tenacity and compressive strength, over wide ranges of tem- perature, of the chief refractories under both oxidising and reducing conditions. Not less important is the property of resistance to corrosion caused either by slags or gases. The effects of acid slags on basic refractories, and of basic slags on acid refractories, are well known. Less familiar, except to experts, are the instances of gas corrosion of the silica bricks in the gas ports and uptakes of open-hearth furnaces due to the alternating passage of oxidising and reducing gases with the resulting formation of fusible silicates. It is satisfactory to be able to record that the Geological Survey is preparing a memoir of the mineral resources of this country, and is dealing specially with refractories. the. concentration and purification of these, their proximate and ultimate analysis, their mineralogical description, and their thermal analysis are all matters © requiring scientific investigation. Pioneer work has already been carricd out under Dr. Mellor at the — Pottery Laboratory. Stoke-on-Trent. Researches are also in contemplation, or have been various universities and technical institutions in the country. Ce Ra THE COMPLEXITY OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS.* ae elements of the chemist are now known to be In the first — complex in three different senses. sense the complexity is one that concerns the general nature of matter, and therefore of all the elements in common to a greater or less degree. It follows from the relations between matter and electricity which have developed gradually during the past century as the result of experiments made and theories born within Associated initially _ with the names of Davy and Faraday, they have only ~ in these days come to full fruition as the result of the — the four walls of this institution. very brilliant elucidation of the real nature of electrici by your distinguished professor of physics, Sir Josep Thomson. ' fitfully with long intervals of apparent stagnation, needs to be reviewed from generation to generation, q disentangled from the undergrowth that obscures it, ~ This com. — and its clear conclusions driven home. plexity of the chemical elements is a consequence of the condition that neither free electricity nor free matter can be studied alone, except in- very special phenomena. Our experimental knowledge of matter in quantity is necessarily confined to the complex of — matter and electricity, which constitutes the material world. This applies even to the ‘free’? elements of — the chemist, which in reality are no more free then than they are in their compounds. The difference is — 1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, May 18, by Prof. Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. Mr. Johns points out that 4 initiated, at © Such an advance, developing slowly and A JuLy 19, 1917 | NATURE 415 merely that whereas in the latter the elements are ‘combined with other elements, in the so-called free state they are combined with electricity. I shall touch but briefly on this first aspect, as in principle it is now fairly well understood. But its consistent and de- tailed application to the study of chemical character is still lacking. The second sense in which the elements, or some of them at least, are known now to be complex has, in sharp contrast to the first, developed suddenly and startlingly from the recognition in radio-active changes of different radio-elements, non-separable by chemical means, now called isotopes, The natural } of this is that the chemical element represents rather a type of element, the members of the type being only chemically alike. Alike they are in most of those properties which were studied prior to the last _ decade of last century, and probably due, as we now. think, to the outer shells of the atom—so alike that all the criteria hitherto relied upon by the chemist as _ being the most infallible and searching would declare _ them to be identical. The apparent identity goes even deeper into the region reached by X-ray spectrum analysis, which fails to distinguish between them. _ The difference is found only in that innermost region _ of all, the nucleus of the atom, of which radio-active _ phenomena first made us aware. _ But, though these phenomena pointed the way, and _ easily showed to be different what the chemist and _ spectroscopist would have decided to be identical, they - did more. They showed that although the finer and newer criteria relied upon by the chemist in his analysis of matter must of necessity fail in these _ eases, being ultimately electrical in character, yet the _ difference should be obvious in that most studied and distinctive characteristic of all—the criterion by which _ Dalton first distinguished the different kinds of atoms —the atomic weight. Those who have devoted them- selves to the exact determination of these weights have now confirmed the difference in two separate cases, which, in the absence of what perhaps they might regard as ‘preconceived notions,” they were unable to discover for themselves. This is the experimental development to which I wish more especially to direct your attention It indicates that the chemical analysis of matter is, even within its own province, superficial rather than ultimate, and that there are indefinitely more distinct elements than the ninety-two possible types of element accommodated by the present periodic ‘stem. : : _ The third sense in which the elements are known ‘to be complex is that which, in the form of philo- _ sophical speculations, has come down to us from the ancients, which inspired the labours of the alchemists _ of the Middle Ages, and, in the form of Prout’s __ hypothesis, has reappeared in scientific chemistry. It _ is the sense that denies to Nature the right to be ia complex, and from the earliest times, faith outstripping > _ knowledge, has underlain the belief that all the elements _ must be built up of the same primordial stuff. The facts of radio-active phenomena have shown that all __ the radio-elements are indeed made up out of lead and __ helium, and this has definitely removed the question _ from the region of pure speculation. We know that _ helium is certainly a material constituent of the ‘elements in the Proutian sense, and it would be harm- less, if probably fruitless, to anticipate the day of oe fuller knowledge by atom building and unbuilding on _ Paper. Apart altogether from this, however, the exist- _ nce of isotopes, the generalisation concerning the _ Periodic law that has arisen from the study of _ tadio-active change on one hand and the spectra of i X-rays on the other, and experiments on the scatter- _ ing of a particles by matter do give us for the first time a definite conception as to what constitutes the NO. 2490, VOL. 99] SM bs ae: asi a : es ae difference between one element and another. We can say how gold would result from lead or mercury, even though the control of the processes necessary to effect the change still eludes us. The nuclear atom proposed by Sir Ernest Rutherford, even though, admittedly, it is only a general and incomplete beginning to a com- plete theory of atomic structure, enormously simplifies the correlation of a large number of diverse facts. This and what survives of the old electronic theory of matter, in so far as it attempted to explain the periodic law, will therefore be briefly referred to in conclusion. The Free Element a Compound of Matter and Electricity. Although Davy and Faraday were the contempora- ries of Dalton, it must be remembered that it took chemists fifty years to put the atomic theory on a definite and unassailable basis, so that neither of these investigators had the benefit of the very clear view we hold to-day. Davy was the originator of the first electro- chemical theory of chemical combination, and Fara- day’s dictum, ‘* The forces of chemical affinity and elec- tricity are one and the same,” it is safe to say, inspires all the modern attempts to reduce chemical character to a science in the sense of something that can be measured quantitatively, as well as expressed qualita- tively. Faraday’s work on the laws of electrolysis and the discovery that followed from it when the atomic theory came to be fully developed, that all monovalent atoms or radicles carry the same charge, that divalent atoms carry twice this charge, and so on, can be re- garded to-day as a simple extension of the law of multiple proportions from compounds between matter and matter to compounds between matter and elec- tricity. Long before the electric charge had been isolated, or the properties of electricity divorced from matter discovered, the same law of multiple propor- tions which led, without any possibility of escape, to an atomic theory of matter led, as Helmholtz pointed out in his well-known Faraday lecture to the Chemical Society in this theatre in 1881, to an atomic theory of electricity. The work of Hittorf on the migration of ions, the bold and upsetting conclusion of Arrhenius that in solution many of the compounds hitherto regarded _as- most stable exist dissociated into ions, the realisation that most of the reactions that take place instantaneously and are utilised for the identification of elements in chemical analysis are reactions of ions rather than of the element in question, made very familiar to chem- ists the enormous difference between the properties of the elements in the charged and in the electrically neutral state. More slowly appreciated and not yet perhaps suffi- ciently emphasised was the unparalleled intensity of these charges in comparison with anything that. elec- trical science can show, which can be expressed tritely by the statement that the charge on a milligram. of hydrogen ions would raise the potential of the world to 100,000 volts. Or, if we consider another aspect, and calculate how many free hydrogen ions you could force into a bottle without bursting it, provided, of course, that you could do so without discharging the ions, you would find that were the bottle of the strongest steel—the breech of a gun, for example—it would burst, by reason of the mutual repulsion.of the charges, before as much was put in as would, in the form of hydrogen gas, show the spectrum of the element in a vacuum tube. Then came the fundamental advances in our know- ledge of the nature of electricity, its isolation as the electron, or atom of negative electricity, the great extension of the conception of ions to explain the conduction of electricity through gases, the theoretical reasoning, due in part to Heaviside, that the electron 416 NATURE [Jury 19, 1917. must possess inertia inversely proportional to the diameter of the sphere on which it is concentrated by reason of the electromagnetic principles discovered by Faraday, leading to the all-embracing monism that all mass may be of electromagnetic origin. This put the coping-stone to the conclusion that the elements as we apprehend them in ordinary matter are always compounds. In the “ free’’ state they are com- pounds of the element in multiple atomic proportions with the electron. ically uncombined atoms of matter, can no more exist free in quantity than can the electrons. The compound may. be individual as between the atom and the electron, or it may be statistical, affect- ing the total number merely of the opposite charges, and the element presumably will be an insulator or conductor of electricity accordingly. Analogously, with compounds, the former condition applies to unionised compounds, such as are met with in the domain of organic chemistry, or ionised, as in the important classes of inorganic compounds, the acids, bases, and salts. Just as the chemist has long regarded the union of ree and chlorine as preceded by the decomposition of the hydrogen and chlorine molecule, so he should now further regard the union itself as a decomposition of the hydrogen atom into the positive ion and the negative electron’ and a combination of the latter with the chlorine atom. One of the barriers to the proper understanding and quantitative development of chemical character from this basis is perhaps the conventional idea derived from electrostatics that opposite electric charges neutralise one another. In atomic electricity or chemistry, - though the equality of the opposite charges is a neces- sary condition of existence, there is no such thing as neutralisation or the electrically neutral state. Every atom being the seat of distinct opposite charges, ‘intensely localised, the state of electric neutrality can apply only: to a remote point outside it, remote in comparison with its own diameter. We are getting back to the conception of Berzelius with some possi- bility of understanding it, that the atom of hydrogen, for example, may be.strongly electro-positive and that of chlorine strongly electro-negative, with regard to. one another, and yet each may be electrically neutral in the molar sense. Some day it may be possible to map the electric field surrounding each of the ninety- two possible types of atom over distances comparable with the atomic diameter. Then the study of chemical character would become a science in Kelvin’s sense, of something that could be reduced to a number. But the mathematical conceptions and methods of attack used in electrostatics for macroscopic distances are ill- suited for the purposes of chemistry, which will have to develop methods of its own. bis adie to face an apparent paradox that the greater. the affinity that binds together the material and elec- trical constituents of the atom, the less is its combin- ing power in the chemical sense. In other words, the chemical affinity is in inverse ratio to the affinity of matter for electrons. The helium atom offers a very simple and instructive case. Helium is non-valent and in the zero family, possessing absolutely no power of chemical combination that cap be detected. Yet we know the atom possesses two electrons, for in radio- active change it is expelled without them as the a-particle. The discharge of electricity through it and positive-ray analysis show that the electrons, or cer- tainly one of them, are detachable by electric agencies, although not by chemical agencies. One would expect helium to act as a diad, forming helides analogous to. oxides. Prof. Armstrong for long advocated the view that these inert gases really are endowed with such strong chemical affinities that they are compounds that have NO. 2490, VOL. 99] The. ions, which are the real chem- i the different atoms. never been decomposed. They certainly have such strong affinities for electrons that the atom, the com- plex of the + ion and electrons, cannot be decomposed chemically. Yet in this case, where the affinity of the matter for the electron is at a maximum, the chemical combining power is absent. oe These gases seem to furnish the nearest standard we have to electric neutrality in the atomic sense. The negative charge of the electrons exactly satisfies the positive charge of the matter, and the atomic complex is chemically, because electrically, neutral. In the case of the electro-positive elements, hydrogen and the alkali metals, one electron more than satisfies the posi- tive charge on the ion, and so long as the equality of opposite charges is not altered. the electron tries to get away. In the case of the electro-negative elements, such as the halogens, the negative charge, though equal presumably to the positive, is not sufficient to neutralise the atom. Hence these groups show strong mutual affinity, one having more and the other less negative electricity than would make the system atomically neutral like helium. The electron explains well the merely numerical aspect of valency. But — chemical combining power itself seems to require the — idea that equal and opposite charges in the atomic sense are only exactly equivalent in the case of the inert gases. None of these ideas are now new, but their consistent application to the study of chemical compounds seems curiously to hang fire, as though something were still lacking. a It is so difficult for the chemist consistently to realise — that chemical affinity is due to a dissociating as well as to a combining tendency, and is a differential effect. There is only one affinity, probably, and it is the same — as that between oppositely charged spheres. But, atomic charges being enormous, and the distances over — which they operate in chemical phenomena being — minute, this affinity is colossal, even in comparison with chemical standards. What the chemist recog- nises as affinity is due to relatively slight differ- — ences between the magnitude of the universal tendency — of the electron to combine with matter in the case of — Over all is the necessary condi- — tion that the opposite charges should be equivalent, — but this being satisfied, the individual atoms display — the tendencies inherent in their structure, some to lose, others to gain electrons, in order, as we believe from — Sir Joseph Thomson’s teaching, to accommodate the — number of electrons in the outermost ring to some — definite number. Chemical affinity needs that some — shall lose as well as others gain. Chemical union is — always preceded by a dissociation. The tendency to — combine, only, is specific to any particular atom, but — the energy and driving power of combination are due — to the universal attraction of the + for the — charge, — of matter for the electron. : The Electrical Theory of Matter. Another barrier that undoubtedly exists to the better — appreciation of the modern point of view, even among — those. most willing to learn, is the confusion that exists between the earlier and the present attempt — to explain the relation between matter and electricity. We know negative electricity apart from matter as the — electron. We know positive electricity apart from the — electron, the hydrogen ion, and the radiant helium — atom, or a-particle of radio-active change, for example, — and it is matter in the free, or electrically uncombined, — condition. Indeed; if you want to find matter free — and uncombined, the simple elementary particle of — matter in the sense of complexity being discussed, you ~ will go, paradoxically, to what the chemist terms a — compound rather than to that which he terms the free — element. If this compound is ionised completely it : constitutes the nearest approach to matter in the free — origin of mass or inertia is a true monism. Jory 19, 1917] NATURE 417 state. Thus all acids owe their common acidic quality to really free hydrogen, the hydrogen ion, a particle more different from the hydrogen atom than the atom is from the hydrogen molecule. Positive elec- tricity is thus emphatically not the mere absence of electricity, and any electrical theory of matter purporting to explain matter in terms of elec- tricity does so by the palpable sophistry of calling two fundamentally different things by the same name. The dualism remains, whether you speak of matter and electricity, or of positive and negative electricity, and the chemist would do well to stick to his concep- tion of matter until the physicist has got a new name for positive electricity which will not confuse it with - the only kind of electricity that can exist apart from matter, On the other hand, the theory of the Te t tries ‘to explain consistently two things—the inertia of the electron and the inertia of matter—by the same cause. © ‘The inertia of the former being accounted for by the well-known electromagnetic principles of Faraday, by the assumption that the charge on the electron is con- -eentrated into a: sphere of appropriate radius, the _ two thousand-fold greater inertia of the hydrogen ion, _ for example, can be accounted for by shrinking the _ sphere to one two-thousandth of the electronic radius. But the electrical dualism remains completely un- _ explained. Call the electron E and the hydrogen ion _H. The facts are that two E’s repel one another with _ the same force and according to the same law as two _- H’s repel each other, or as an H attracts an These very remarkable properties of H and E are not ex- _ plained by the explanation of the inertia. Are E and _._H made up of the same stuff or of two different stuffs? _ We do not know, and certainly have no good reason to _ assume that matter minus its electrons is made of the _ same thing as the electron. We haye-still to reckon _ with two different things. j The Chemical Elements not necessarily Homogeneous. __ I pass now to the second and most novel sense in _ which the elements, or some of them at least, are _ complex. In their discovery of new radio-active _ elements M. and Mme. Curie used radio-activity as a _ method of chemical analysis precisely as Bunsen and _ Kirchhoff, and later Sir William Crookes, used spec- _ trum analysis to discover czsium and rubidium, and thallium. The new method yielded at once, from uranium minerals, three new radio-elements—radium, polonium, and actinium. According to the theory of Sir Ernest Rutherford and myself, these elements are intermediate members in a long sequence of changes ofthe parentelement uranium. Ina mineral the various s of the series must co-exist in equilibrium, _ provided none succeed in escaping from the mineral, im quantities inversely proportional to their respective rates of change, or directly proportional to their a Periods of average life. Radium changes sufficiently _ slowly to accumulate in small but ponderable quantity _ in a uranium mineral, and so it was shown to be a _ mew member of the alkaline-earth family of elements, _ with atomic weight 226-0, occupying a vacant place in ' the periodic table. Polonium changes 4500 times more _ rapidly, and can only exist to the extent of a few ) hundredths ofamilligramina fon of uranium mineral. _ Actinium also, though its life period is still unknown, _ and very possibly is quite long, is scarce for another _ feason: that it is not in the main line of disintegra- _ tion, but in a branch series which claims only a few per cent. of the uranium atoms disintegrating. In _ Spite of this, polonium and actinium have just as much oe i _ tight to be considered new elements probably as radium has. Polonium has great resemblances in chemical character both to bismuth and tellurium, but was NO. 2490, VOL. 99| separated from the first by Mme. Curie, and from the second by Marckwald. In the position it occupies as the last member of the sulphur group, bismuth-and tellurium are its neighbours in the periodic. table. Actinium resembles the rare-earth elements, and most closely lanthanum, but an enrichment of the proportion of actinium from lanthanum has been effected by Giesel. The smallness of the quantities alone prevents their complete separation in the form of pure com- pounds, as was done for radium. The three gaseous members, the emanations of radium, actinium, and thorium, were put in their proper place in the periodic table almost as soon as radium was, for, being chemically inert gases, their characterisation was simple. They are the last mem- bers of the argon family, and the fact that there are three of about the same atomic weight was probably the first indication, although not clearly appreciated, that more than one chemical element could occupy the same place in the periodic table. The extension of the three disintegration series proceeded apace, new members were being continually added, but no other new radio-element—new, that is, in possessing a new chemical character—was dis- covered. The four longest lived to be added, radio- lead, or radium-D, as it is now more precisely termed, and ionium in the uranium series, and mesothorium-I and radiothorium in the thorium series, could not be separated from other constituents always present in the minerals—radium-D from lead, ionium and radio- thorium from thorium, and mesothorium-I from radium. An appreciable proportion of the radio- activity of a uranium mineral is due to radium-D and its products, and its separation would have been a valuable. technical achievement, but though many attempts have been made, this has never been accom- plished, and, we know now, probably never will be. . Seven years ago it was the general opinion in the s then comparatively undeveloped knowledge of the chemistry ot the radio-elements that there was nothing especially remarkable in this.. The chemist is familiar with many pairs or groups of elements the separation of which is laborious and difficult, and the radio- chemist had not then fully appreciated the power of radio-aciive analysis in detecting a very slight change in the proportions of two elements, one or both of which were radio-active. The case is not at all like that of the rare-earth group of elements, for example, in which the equivalent or atomic weight is used as a guide to the progress of the separation. Here, the total difference in the equivalent of the completely separated elements is only a very small percentage of the equivalent, and the separation must already have proceeded a long way before it can be ascertained. Human nature plays its part in scientific advances, and the chemist is human like the rest. My own views on the matter developed with some speed, when, in 1910, I came across a new case of this phenomenon. Trying to find out the chemical character of meso- thorium-I, which had been kept secret for technical reasons, I found it to have precisely the same chemical character as radium, a discovery which was made in the same year by Marckwald, and actually first pub- lished by him. I delayed my publication some months to complete a very careful fractional crystallisation of- the barium-radium-mesothorium-I chloride separated from thorianite. Although a great number of frac- tionations were performed, and the radium was en- riched, with regard to the barium. -several hundred times, the ratio between the radium and meso- thorium-I was, within the very small margin of error possible in careful radio-active measurements, not affected by the process. I felt justified in concluding from this case. and its analogy with several other similar cases then known, that radium and meso- 418 NATURE [JuLy 19, 1917 . thorium-I were non-separable by chemical processes, | and had a chemical character. not merely like, but identical. It followed that some of the common elements might similarly be mixtures of chemically identical elements. In the cases cited the non-separable pairs differ in atomic weight from two to four units. Hence the lack of any regular numerical relationships between the atomic weights would, on this view, fol- low. naturally (Trans..Chem. Soc.; 1911, vol. xcix., p- 72). This idea was elaborated in the Chemical Society’s Annual Report on Radio-activity for 1910, in the concluding section summing up the position at that time. This was, I think, the beginning of the conception of different elements, identical chemically, which later came to be termed ‘isotopes,’ though it is sometimes attributed to K. Fajans, whose valuable contributions to radio-activity had not at that date commenced, and whose first contribution to this sub- ject did not appear until 1913. In the six or seven years that have elapsed the view has received complete vindication. Really three dis- tinct lines of advance converged to a common conclu- sion, and, so far as is possible, these may be dis- entangled. First there has been the exact. chémical characterisation from the new point of'view of every one of the members of the three disintegration series with lives over one minute. Secondly came the sweeping generalisations in the interpretation of the periodic law. Lastly there has been the first begin- nings of our experimental knowledge of atomic struc- | ture, which got beyond the electronic constituents and at the material atom itself. In pursuance of the first, Alexander Fleck, at my request, commenced a careful systematic study of the chemical character of all the radio-elements known, of which our knowledge was lacking or imperfect, to see which were, and which were not, separable from known chemical elements. Seldom can the results of so much long and laborious chemical work be ex- pressed in so few words. Every one that it was pos- sible to examine was found to be chemically identical either with some common element or with another of the new radio-elements. Of the more important char- acterisations, mesothorium-II was found to be non- separable from actinium, radium-A from polonium, the three B-members and radium-D from lead, the three C-members and radium-E from bismuth, -acti- | nium-D and thorium-D from thallium. These results naturally took some time to complete, and became known fairly widely to others working in the subject before they were published, through A. S. Russell, an old student, who was then carrying on his investiga- tions in radio-activity in Manchester. Their interpre- tation constitutes the second line of advance. Before that is considered, it may first be said that every case of chemical non-separability put forward has stood the test of time, and all the many skilled workers who have pitted their chemical skill. against Nature in this quest have merely confirmed it. ‘The evidence at the present day is too numerous and detailed to recount. It comes from sources, such as in the technical extraction of mesothorium from monazite, where one process is repeated a nearly end- less number of times; from trials of a very great variety of methods, as, for example, in the investiga- tions on radium-D and lead by Paneth and von Hevesy; it is drawn from totally new methods, as in the beautiful proof by the same authors of the electro- chemical identity of these two isotopes; it is at the basis of the use of radio-active elements as indicators for studying the properties of a common element iso- topic with them, at concentrations too feeble to be other- wise dealt with; and from large numbers of isolated observations, as well as prolonged systematic re- searches. One of the finest examples of the latter kind NO. 2490, VOL. 99! -are identical. of work, the Austrian researches on ionium, will be dealt with later. The most recent, which appeared — last April, is by T. W. Richards and N. F. Hall, — who subjected lead from Australian carnotite, gontain- ing therefore radium-D, to more than a thousand fractional crystallisations in the form of chloride with- out appreciably altering the atomic weight or the B activity. So that it may be safely stated that no one who has ever really tested this conclusion now doubts it, and, after all, they alone. have a right to an opinion. This statement of the non-separability by chemical methods of pairs or groups of elements suffers per- haps from being in a negative form. It looks too much like a mere negative result, a failure, but in reality it is one of the most sweeping positive general- isations that could be made. lonium, we say, is non- separable from thorium, but every chemist knows — thorium is readily separated from every other known element. Hence one now knows every detail of the chemistry of the vast majority of these new radio- elements by proxy, even when their life is to be measured in minutes or seconds, as completely as if — they were obtainable, like thorium is, by the ton. The difference it makes can only be appreciated by those who have lived through earlier days, when, in some cases, dealing with the separation of radio-constituents — from complex minerals, after every chemical separa- — tion one took the separated: parts~to the electroscope — to find out where the desired-constituent was, As the evidence accumulated that we had to de here with something new and fundaimental, the ques- — tion naturally arose whether the spectrum of isotopes would be the same. The spectrum is known, like the chemical character, to be an electronic rather than mass phenomenon, and it was to be expected that the identity should extend to the spectrum. The question — has been tested very thoroughly, by A. S. Russell and R. Rossi in this country, and by the Austrian workers — at the Radium Institut of Vienna, for ionium and thorium, and by numerous workers for the different iso- topes of lead. No certain difference has been found, and it may be concluded that the spectra of isotopes This identity probably extends to the X-ray spectra, Rutherford and Andrade having shown that the spectrum of the y-rays of radium-B is iden- tical with the X-ray spectrum:of its isotope lead. (To be continued.) — ede Nowy 4 3 oes UNIVERSITY AND .EDUCATIONAL : INTELLIGENCE. a Tue Merthyr Education Committee has accepted with thanks an offer from Mr. H. Seymour Berry to — equip a technical. mining and engineering institute at a cost of 10,o00l., in commemoration of the part his late father, ex-Alderman J. M. Berry, had taken in the public life of the town. : THE trustees of the Beit Fellowships for Scientific” Research, which were founded and endowed four years ago by Mr. Otto Beit in order to promote the advance- ment of science by means of research, have recently elected Mr. Leslie Hartshorn to a fellowship. Mr. Hartshorn will carry out his research in the Imperial College at South Kensington. A CONFERENCE on new ideals in education is to be held at Bedford College, Regent’s Park, London, on August 14-21... The inaugural address will be de- livered by the President of the Board of Education, Mr.-H. A... L. Fisher, on August 15 at Io a.m. — Among.the subjects and speakers we notice the fol- lowing: On. August 15, Mr Frank Roscoe, on the mind of youth; on August 16, Prof. Bompas Smith, on problems of the urban continuation school; on _ JuLy-19, 1917] NATURE 419 August 17, Mr..R. G. Hatton, on the problem of the rural continuation school; and on August 18, Mr. W. G. W. Mitchell, on some new ideals in geometry teaching, and Miss Dewdney, on self-instruction in elementary arithmetic. committee invites teachers conducting experiments in education to communicate with the secretary, 24 Royal Avenue, Chelsea, S.W.3. | _ At the meeting of the London County Council Education Committee on July 11 the applications of the governing bodies of the London polytechnics for grants from the Council were considered. The com- mittee decided to recommend that grants for the year Ig17-18 only be made, as it was felt that in the cir- _ cumstances of the present times it is impossible to forecast the position three years ahead. Eventuaily _ the following block grants for 1917-18 were de- _ cided upon: Battersea Polytechnic, 11,133l.; Birkbeck College, 7100l.; Borough Polytechnic, gtool.; City of London College, 4o040l.; Northampton Polytechnic, —: Northern Polytechnic, 9650l.; Regent Street _ Polytechnic, 14,300l.; Sir John Cass Technical In- _ stitute, 4000l.; South-Western Polytechnic, 7300l.; _ Woolwich Polytechnic, g7ool. A special grant ‘of 15671. was made to the governing body of Battersea _ Polytechnic for the establishment of a superannua- ; tion fund for the teachers in the secondary school. 4 _WE have recently noticed with satisfaction the signs of an improved temper on the part of professed _ “humanists”. with respect to the position to be accorded to natural and experimental science as an _ element in general education. The attention of our _ readers has been directed within the last few months to articles by writers so important as Mr. A. C. _ Benson and Lord Bryce. Now we have another even _ more sympathetic utterance from the Master of Balliol a _ College, Oxford, who. contributes to the English _ Review an expression of his views on“ Natural _ Science in Education,’’ beginning with the following _ words: “‘If there is one lesson more than another _ which the war is going to teach us, it will be the _ lesson as to the future place of natural science in our _ education.”” This is fairly obvious, and from one _ point of view almost a commonplace, for the majority = of the public look to science merely for the sake of its * practical application. It is not so much the invention _ of new flying machines or the discovery of new explo- Sives that the world requires, but more exact knowledge ‘in every direction. Science purifies common observa- tion and teaches the nature and use of evidence. _ By science we learn something of the rules of the _ universe, and their control of the conditions under which human life exists. These rules cannot be _ ignored, and, as the writer remarks, ‘how powerless _ against them is even the best Parliamentary debat- _ ing.” Then there is the further and deeper influence _ which can only be justly expressed by the term _ ~ spiritual’’—that effect of mingled awe and exultation which is produced when science opens out some pro- found vista of the universe. All the methods to be _ used in education require good teachers, and therein lies one of the difficulties of the time immediately : ahead of us. The author touches on many of the ~ Questions concerning which debate is still going on, such as, for example, the already generally overloaded _ curriculum. - While it is comforting to reflect that the _ best classical teachers admit that there has been a oct deal of wasted drill in grammar and composi- el it is the ignorance and apathy of the public Which are to blame in having so long accepted without eeronger remonstrance the purely bookish character be of the system under which our boys and girls have been brought up. “ae eye ae ee ee NO. 2490, VOL. 99] Fee SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. Royal Society, June 28.—Sir J. J. Thomson, president, in the chair.—Sir Robert Hadfield, Ch, Chéneveau, and Ch. Géneau : A contribution to the study of the magnetic properties of manganese and of some special man- ganese steels. (1) The research has had for its object the investigation of the mass-susceptibility of man- . ganese metal, and of certain of its alloys with iron and other metals. The work was carried out on a Curie- Chéneveau magnetic balance. (2) Manganese itself, when free from occluded gases, is para-magnetic, its value of x being +11-0x 10-*+2 per cent. This corre- sponds on Weiss’s theory to a number of magnetons equal to 6. The removal of occluded gases is essen- tial, as the ferro-magnetic properties of certain speci- mens of manganese are shown to be due to the presence of hydrogen. (3) The manganese alloys investigated, with one exception, are all para-magnetic, x varying . from 17-0X10-* to 259-0x1I0-*. The exception men- tioned ‘is a silico-manganese steel containing 6 per cent. of silicon, which is distinctly ferro-magnetic. (4) An endeavour is also made to correlate the values of the mass-susceptibility with the composition of the alloys. In this connection it has been shown that the quantity of manganese within the limits investigated has very. little influence upon the susceptibility, whilst increase of carbon tends to decrease it. In general it is con- cluded that in these special steels the susceptibility decreases as the carbon-manganese ratio increases. (5) The carbon-manganese ratio being constant, addi- tion of chromium, nickel, or tungsten raises. the sus- ceptibility. (6) The addition of copper to a manganese- nickel steel also raises the susceptibility—this notwith- standing the diamagnetism of copper.—W. R. Bousfield : Note on the specific heat of water. Reply- ing tocriticisms by Callendar (Bakerian Lecture, Phil. Trans., A, 212, p. 1, 1912) on the methods for inves- tigating the specific heat. of water described in a former paper (W. R. Bousfield and W. Eric Bousfield, Phil. Trans., A, 211, p. 199, 1911), it is pointed out that the observations of Callendar do not substantially affect the question as to which figures are more correct in the lower range of temperature from o° to 40° or 50° C. Callendar and Barnes differ from other observers in placing the minimum value for the -specific heat of water in the neighbourhood of 40° C., whilst other ob- servers put it at about 25° C.—W. R. Bousfield and C. Elspeth Bousfield: The specific heat of aqueous solutions with special reference to-sodium and potass- ium chlorides. The specific heats of solutions of NaCl and KCl ranging from saturated solutions to quarter- normal solutions at mean temperatures of 7°, 20°, and 33° C. have been determined by the method and appa- ratus used for the determination of the specific heat of water and described in a former paper (Phil. Trans., A, 211, p- 199, 1911). The corresponding densities have also been determined. The relation of the specific heat of the solution to the specific contraction of the water is studied, and it is shown that the specific heat of a series of solutions of different concentrations may be reckoned on the hypothesis that the specific heat of the solute is constant, whilst the mean specific heat lowering of the water is proportional-to the specific contraction of the water. The temperature variations of the specific heats of the solutions are also compared with the temperature variations of the specific heat of water. The minimum value on the temperature- specific heat curve, which occurs at about 25° C. in the case of water, disappears altogether in solutions of half-normal to normal strength. This curve for the most concentrated solutions becomes a straight line.— 420 NATURE [JULY 19, 1917 Sir George Greenhill: The Rankine trochoidal wave, The Rankine trochoidal wave (Phil. Trans., 1863), either as rollers or as a starting wave, can be divided up by vertical planes perpendicular to the wave crest into compartments, and the compartments sheared along each other. The investigation is made of the extra field of force in addition to gravity when the shear is made continuous and the planes removed in order that the continuity of pressure should be preserved in the interior of the water, and for the new wave motion to persist. Also when the planes ‘stand over to the vertical and the circular orbits in the roller are in parallel planes. A geometrical investigation is added of the molecular rotation in the interior of the Rankine wave.—Dr. P. E. Shaw: The tribo-electric series. (1) The tribo-electric series, in which solid materials are arranged in order according to the charge they acquire when rubbed together, is trustworthy with due precautions. (2) Most solids are found to alter their place in the series if heated above a certain temperature which is specific for each material: This temperature is called the critical temperature. The surface in its new condition is termed abnormal. (3) The series may be divided into an upper Group A and a lower Group B. It is found that these groups have tendencies contrary to one another as the sur- faces of the materials are rendered (a) matte, or (b) abnormal, or (c) pressed, or (d) flexed. If under any of these agencies Group A becomes more + _ forming, Group B becomes more — forming, and vice versa. (4) Anomalous effects are observed when liquid mer- cury is used as one of the materials, its behaviour being quite unlike that of solid surfaces. (5) As to theory, it is suggested that the prevalent idea that the electric double-layer existing at the surface of solids has the — layer outermost in all cases is incor- rect. Normally the materials in Group A would have — outermost, those in Group B having + outermost. Orientation of surface atoms would give rise to changes in the disposition of the two electric layers and so account for observed effects. (6) Tribo-elec- tricity undoubtedly affords a means, of extraordinary delicacy, of discriminating between materials appar- ently alike. Two instances are seen in the group of furs arid the group of woods.—J. J. Nolan: The nature of the ions produced by the spraying of water. Part i. gives an account of the determination of the mobili-- ties of the very mobile ions produced by the spraying of water. Groups of ions are found, positive and negative, some of very high mobility. In part ii. the less mobile ions described in a previous paper are discussed. Treating the ions as minute spheres of water, it is shown that their sizes as deduced from an empirical modification of Stokes’s law would agree with the sizes calculated from the ordinary theoretical mobility formule. Certain evidence, however, tends to show that the larger of these ions are not simple spheres of water, but that they consist of loose group- ings of various numbers of some smaller water- globules. In part iii. it is shown that the very mobile ions can be accounted for by supposing that they consist of aggregates of various numbers of water- molecules, the numbers: of molecules in the various ions being related to one another in a regular way. Some of these ions have the same mobility as ions produced in air by X-rays, etc. It is suggested that the ordinary gaseous ion consists of a group of water- molecules, the size of the group depending on the degree of moisture of the gas.—Prof. J. C. McLennan : The absorption spectra and the ionisation potentials of calcium, strontium, and barium.—J. Small: Geo- tropism and the Weber-Fechner law.—Prof. W. B. Bottomley : The isolation from peat of certain nucleic acid derivatives. NO. 2490, VOL. 99] 6s. net. ture, 1917. By Sir R. T. Glazebrook. Pp. 51. (Cam- g -Co., Ltd.) BOOKS RECEIVED. Spiritualism and Sir Oliver Lodge. Mercier. Pp. xi+132. (London: Enterprise.) 4s. 6d. net. A Manual of Field Astronomy. By A. H. Holt.’ Pp. x+128. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 6s. net. Laboratory Manual of Bituminous Materials for the Use of Students in Highway Engineering. By Pré- vost Hubbard. Pp. xi+153.. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) By Dc. Cia Mental Culture The Fundus Oculi of Birds, especially as Viewed by’ the Ophthalmoscope. By Casey Albert Wood. Pp. 180+plates Ixi. (Chicago: The Lakeside Press.) Fifty-fifth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture of the State of Michigan’ and Twenty-ninth Annual Report of the Experiment Station from June 1, 1915~June 30, 1916. Pp. 896.° — (Lansing, Mich. : Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co.) — Critique des Propulseurs.. Par Paul Popovatz. Pp. 131. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et: Cie.) ; Science and Industry. The Place of Cambridge in any Scheme for their Combination. The Rede Lec- bridge: At the University Press.) «1s. 6d. net. e National University of Ireland. Calendar for’ — the Year 1917. Pp. viii+579.- (Dublin: A. Thom and — The Biology of Waterworks. By R. Kirkpatrick. (Economic Series, No. 7.). Pp. vie+58. (London: British Museum, Natural History.) CONTENTS. PAGE Acromegaly and the Extinction of Species. By — Peot A; Keith, F.RiS. <: aga os 56 gokee Electrotechnical Books. By Dr. A. Russell... . gor Our Bookshelf . . Oey oa . % 7 * 403 Letters to the Editor:— 7A ine Radiation-Ptessure, Astrophysical Retardation, and Relativity.—Sir Joseph Larmor, F.R.S., M.P.. 404 - Oceanic Tidal Friction.—Harold Jeffreys... . 405. — Gravitation and Thermodynamics.—J. S.G. Thomas 405 — The First New Moon in the Vear1B.c.—Dr, Otto Klotz . ae icky Cade a Photographs of Aurora. (J/élustrated.) By Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S. , : Woe ie hah Ca a The Dye Problem among the Entente Powers. By Prof. :G. T. Morgan, F.R.S.0 555)... 9 4 © is.) See France and National Scientific Research Applied 24 to Industry. By E. S. Hodgson ........ 408 Notes : eee Boe (ete hee pe oe ee eee ie ee ‘ be Our Astronomical Column :— me . The Relativity Theory and the Motion of Mercury’s Pernelion: <5 2 <. . ek. eee cei ee se Anomalous Dispersion .. . | ¢......4 - 41353 The Variable Star x Herculis. . . 2. . Sioa Ja teat 413 The Future of the Disabled. . . . . oe le ae Refractories Used in the Iron and Steel Industry. Mae ter Whe Oe es a es : é 413° The Complexity of the Chemical Elements. By... 2 Prof. Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. .......:. 414 University and Educational Intelligence . . » 41s) Societies and Academies... ... i) ise oe ee 419 Books Received 420. Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. Advertisements and. business letters to be addressed -to th 74 : Publishers. cia Editorial Communications to the Editor. 4 Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. 4 Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830 NATURE 421 THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1917. | AFTER THE WAR. The War and the Nation: A Study in Constructive _ Politics. By W. C. D. Whetham. Pp. viii +312. (London: John Murray, 1917.) Price 6s. net. 1% a very readable and interesting little book of about three hundred pages Mr. Dampier Whetham has made a contribution of consider- able value to the literature called forth by the present world-shaking war. With clear in- ‘sight and breadth of information he deals with the new conditions of life which have been created antic Teuton conspiracy to grasp world-empire ee the Hohenzollern dynasty and the crowd of for the Empire, the nation, and the citizen by the © adventurers and militarists by whom it is sup-_ ported. The defeat of this nefarious project has cost and a life and treasure. ork ae crushing Prussian militarism must be > its brutal dragon-head again. asideration of the steps which will have to be 2 to make good the inevitable losses, and to »port that load of national debt which will have een incurred. The book. is divided into six chapters, respectively entitled Laisses-faire or con- - tructive politics; The land and they that dwell hereon; The organisation of British industry and — erce; Coal and railways; The war and the 4 S Feaaace and taxation. It will be seen that ni e topics handled lie as much within the realm of itical economy as within that of scientific or chnical work, and much has already been said or written by scientific men and industrial leaders on ome of the matters discussed. One of the most important questions is the ‘Serious loss to the nation of young, highly trained, be pable, and promising men who have given their fives for the salvation of their country. Mr. Vhetham remarks that one point in favour of scription for military service is that a certain wality of sacrifice is thereby demanded from ‘the whole nation. In the case of voluntary sér- | Vice it is the most public-spirited, high-minded, f ‘ orous, and able men who proffer first and take i ‘greatest risks, and give in consequence life or , mbs. Hence such voluntary service tends to ‘ eplete the ranks of those of the nation who have nos st leading power or initiative, and tends to the survival of the physically weak, timid, or reluctant. e Be that as it may, we have to face the fact that there has been an appalling loss of young men of grea abilities, whose training and talents are now OSt to the world and whose place must be taken ‘still younger or oider men. The immediate sequence of this is that much more scientific care must be taken to preserve child life and pro- mote physical vigour, and to combat diseases, *specially of the contagious | types, affecting child- ae Gh ath co ee will still cost the great liberty-loving — democracies of the world incalculable sacrifices All that is most precious in > n life is, however, at stake, and hence the > ne now, and done so effectively that it will never — The main topic of Mr. Whetham’ s book is the | oe ; ne ren, which is a matter ran for scientific re- search. Again, Mr. Whetham couches: on the utterly un- scientific administration of direct taxation. .By taxing the joint income of husband and wife, by insufficient allowance for families, by death duties on the careful savings of income, and in other ways, the State penalises marriage, thrift, and reproduction. Furthermore, we have to bring about with expedition the reforms in educa- tion for which scientific students of the subject have been clamouring for years, and get rid of antiquated methods in infant, board, secondary, and public schools. Happily, we have now a President of the Board of Education who means business, and is not a politician. The second key fact is the stupendous increase in the National Debt. Mr. Whetham shows that we shall be lucky if we end the war with not more than 5,000,000,000l. sterling of debt and 500,000,000!1. for our annual Budget. How is this to be obtained and liquefied ? The answer is : Solely by more work, more intelligent work, and greater economy and saving of all kinds. This leads Mr. Whetham at once to discuss the coal question, which has already attracted great attention. The } world’s coal supply is large, but not unlimited. It is estimated at seven to nine billion tons. The available British share is 189,000 million tons, according to the estimates of the International Geological Congress held in 1913, and Prof. H. S. Jevons thinks that in fifty years the price of British coal will be rising distinctly relatively to other commodities. Hence we can afford no waste. The consumption of raw coal in household grates ought soon to be interdicted, as well as open coke ovens, which waste the by-products. Mr. Whetham discusses the question of the nationalisation of coal mines, as well as that of railways, chiefly from the point of view of economy of management and working. An important section of the book is chap. iil., on the organisation of British commerce and in- dustry and its relation to scientific research. There can be no question that we shall not be able to return again to the old laissez-faire methods and to small disconnected businesses rivalling each other and all being defeated by German organised trade and science. The war has done more to kill these antiquated methods than a century of talk would have accomplished. The chief cloud on the horizon is, however, the relation cf capital and labour. An extensive adoption of profit-sharing or co-partner- ship in some form or other seems the only solution. Labour must have its living wage and capital its in- terest, which will remain for decades now at 5 to 6 per cent. After that must come an equitable divi- sion of the profits between all concerned. Labour must, however, be brought to see that there are four factors concerned in production, viz. labour, capital, scientific invention or initiative, and busi- ness management, and that without the two latter the two former are helpless. Altogether Mr. Whetham’s book is a suggestive and very thoughtful contribution to the chief topic of the day, and it ought to be in the hands of those 422 NATURE [JuLy 26, 1917 statesmen and publicists who will have to draft workable schemes before very long to meet the demands and conditions of the strenuous life which lies before us all, even in those brighter days to come when the world will have shaken off the incubus of Prussianism with its accursed doctrine of brute force and bloodshed for the sake of German supremacy and Kultur. J. A. FLEmiIne. AMERICAN SYLVICULTURE. Seeding and Planting: A Manual for the Guidance of Forestry Students, Foresters, Nurserymen, Forest Owners, and Farmers. By J. W. Toumey. Pp. xxxvi+455. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 16s. 6d. net. HIS is the best text-book on a forestry subject which has yet appeared in America. The author, now director of the Forest School in Yale University, was formerly in the U.S. Forest Service, where he was chiefly employed ‘in the supervision of the nurseries and plantations in the national forests. He made also a_study and personal inspection of the methods of nursery work and artificial regeneration of forests in Europe. with the operations of sowing and planting trees, but is wider in-its scope, being a manual on afforestation in general. It is clearly written, and is distinguished by its discussion of fundamental principles, as well as by its comprehensive treat- ment of the details of nursery and planting prac- tice. The usefulness of the book is enhanced by its remarkably good illustrations and diagrams. Though primarily intended for American foresters, it will be found equally useful in this country. The introduction gives an account of the pre- sent condition of the forests in the United States, their economic importance, and the need for arti- ficial regeneration. . The original forest land of the United States, before the onslaught of European settlers, approximated to 850,000,070 acres in area. This vast heritage has gradually been reduced by fire, felling for timber, and clear- ing for farms to 550,000,000 acres. Of this, about 240,000,000 acres, comprising the most valuable tracts of timber, are owned by large com- panies. Some 200,000,000 acres are scattered over the whole country in countless small holdings, called wood-lots. These often resemble in size and quality the woodlands on private estates in This book purports by its title to deal England, and like them might be much benefited | by better management and improved sylviculture. The publicly owned forests contain more than 100,000,000 acres of saleable timber, the greater part of which is in the West and in the national forests. : The national forests are 162 in number, with an extent of 163,000,000 acres; but this is not all timber land, as it includes much grazing and tree- less tracts. out of the public lands which had not as yet been alienated to settlers. . The rescue of so much of the original forest from the perils of private owner- ship is quite recent, and is perhaps the greatest MA OAAT WOT an! The national forests were set aside | _ that our “future commercial prosperity ’’ depen _tunity of acquiring an elemental knowledge ~ -feat of American statesmanship since the abolition of slavery. The first effective step was taken in 1891, when an Act was passed which gave the President the right to create “forest reserves,” now styled “national forests,” by proclamation. Since then this magnificent public domain has been - created, mainly through the efforts of Gifford Pinchot, who became head of the Forest Service in 1898, and whose views were carried out on a grand scale by virile Presidents like Cleveland and Roosevelt. ; The body of the work is divided into two parts. Part i. deals with general methods of reproduc- tion, with the choice of species in artificial re- generation, and with the principles which deter- mine the spacing of plants and the density of woods. Part ii. gives a detailed account of the qualify, production, collection, and testing seeds ; the protection and preliminary treatment o f nursery and planting areas; the management anc i cultivation of the forest nursery ; and the establish- ment of woods by direct sowing and by planting. - Mr. Toumey’s main note is economy ; and he quotes (p. 425) the cost of planting in Pennsyls vania, where 4,329,321 trees were planted by the State Forester i in 1915, at the rate of 8.61 dollars, or 11. 16s., per acre for stock and labour. Witt this may be compared an example of the cost 0 planting in England. The Manchester Corpora- tion, paying labourers at 25s. a week, pugs 97 acres in 1910 at Thirlmere, at an average cos’ for stock and labour, of 4l. 16s. 6d. per acre (se Trans. R. Scott. Arboricult. Soc., xxvi., p. 42) The comparatively low cost for effective planting in the former case is due in part to wider spa a and consequent fewer plants, and to the use smaller seedlings; but there still remains — balance to be put to the credit of greater efficien of labour in Pennsylvania and better plantin methods. é Z om MANUALS OF CHEMISTRY. - (1) Chemistry for Beginners and for Use i Primary and Public Schools. By C. Kingzett. Pp. vit+106. (London: Bailliér Tindall, and Cox, 1917.) Price 2s. 6d. net. (2) A Short System of Qualitative Analysis f. Students of Inorganic Chemistry. By Dr. R. Caven. Pp. viiit+162. (London: Blackie af Son, Ltd., 1917.) Price 2s._ oe (1) R. KINGZETT’S little book is beginners. He points out quite right upon the greater cultivation of science, and th we ought to “give all our boys the earliest oppt Pt nat science should form % essential part of everyone’s education, as ¢ formerly the three R’s, is now genera admitted. The difficulty is as to the best meth of instruction at the various stages of a chill development. +The present writer must cont that, however excellent the matter and arran ment of this small volume may be, it is scarcely book for the young scientific tyro. In the ff such subjects. JuLy 26, 1917} NATURE 423 place, it is doubtful whether systematic chemistry, entirely divorced from elementary physics, is a useful introduction. It is further open to ques- tion whether the notion of atomic weights, chemical equations, and valency can be assimi- lated at this stage; yet these subjects are dis- cussed within the first twenty pages. Finally, ‘we submit that it is unnecessary and undesirable for a beginner to be introduced to more than a ‘small fraction of the whole gamut of the elements and some of their chief compounds, even though they may find some application in the arts and ‘manufactures. No doubt the book is intended to be associated with laboratory practice or some form of experimental demonstration, for there is not a single illustration representing chemical apparatus. For so small a volume, which is not ‘much larger in dimensions than the “ People’s ‘Books,’’ the price of 2s. 6d. seems excessive. _ (2) The chief novelty in Dr. Caven’s little book on qualitative analysis is the arrangement. Instead of presenting the reactions for the individual metals in their group order, as is ually done, the author directs the student first the study of the individual reagents, so that : basis of group classification may become evident at the outset. Thus the action of heat and other dry tests are taken first, and are fol- lowed by the action of solvents and, finally, by that of the group reagents. This forms -Part i., while Part ii. is devoted to the usual description of reactions for the metals and acids, taken in ‘group order. Part iii. contains a short summary ‘of the process of analysis. : _ The author considers that this arrangement has proved more satisfactory in actual practice than the older scheme, and, moreover, regards it as more scientific. No doubt the first claim is well nded on its alleged success; the second merely on a choice between the inductive and the deductive method, but who shall say which is the ‘More scientific ? 2 Be: a OUR BOOKSHELF. : The Statesman’s Year-Book, Statistical and His- torical Annual of the States of the World for _ the Year 1917. Edited by Dr. J. Scott Keltie, _ assisted by Dr. M. Epstein. Fifty-fourth annual Bee ication. Revised after official returns. _ Pp. xliv+1504+plates 4. (London: Macmillan ~ and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 12s. 6d. net. THE new edition of this valuable year-book has been slightly reduced in size without lessening its usefulness. Considerable difficulties have had to be faced in the revision of the statistics of bel- ligerent, and especially enemy, countries, but these have been overcome in many cases. The Walue of the book is enhanced by the figures in Most countries being given for at least the last -War year in addition to later years, where the latter were available. There are four maps, show- jing respectively: States engaged in the war up May 10, 1917; Arabia, with political divisions ; 1e railways of South America; and the canals and inland waterways of the United Kingdom. The NO. 2491, VOL. 99] additions and corrections contain material received too late to be embodied in the work, and include a | section on Arabia. Accurate information about Russian railways is difficult enough to obtain in peace time, and the editors have been wise to give a list of lines “being built, approved for construc- tion, or projected ” without further discrimination. The Amur line, however, is now built, and we believe has been in use for a year or more. Among other useful matter in the introductory tables are the figures for the world’s production of various metals, sugar, and grain. The list of the chief events of the war is brought up to May, 1917, and a further list of the chief books on the war is added. ~ Microscopic Analysis of Cattle-Foods. Morris. Pp. vilit+74+figs. 54. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.) Price 2s. net. It is curious that whereas the chemical analysis of cattle-foods has given rise to a considerable array of text-books, the equally, or often more, im- portant microscopic analysis has hitherto been neglected by the English writer apart from its treatment in the pages of Winton’s standard treatise on vegetable foods in general. The latter has been judiciously drawn upon in the compilation of the present work, which is put forward as “a brief guide in the recognition of the common legitimate constituents of cattle- foods,’’ and makes no claim to be exhaustive. Within its few pages it gives an admirable sum- mary of information on methods of examination and the chief histological characters of the com- mon cereals, pulses, oil-seeds, cruciferous seeds, and nuts. The information is clear, concise, and accurate, and the accompanying diagrams are in many cases excellent. Very few of the common impurities of cattle-foods are omitted, the chief exceptions one notes being coffee husks, dari, gram, and sesame. A note might also have been included on the castor bean, which has frequently played a sinister part as an ingredient of oil-cakes, and in alleged non-toxic form is now seeking a place as a legitimate cattle feeding-stuff. No reference is made to animal matters, such as meat and fish refuse, which are now coming into in- creasing use on the farm. The book should prove very useful to the agricultural student, and within its limits also to the agricultural analyst. Science and Industry: The Place of Cambridge in any Scheme for their Combination. By Sir Richard T. Glazebrook. Pp. 51. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.) Price 1s. 6d. net. READERS will be glad that the Rede lecture for this year, delivered by Sir Richard Glazebrook on June 9, is now available in book form. We were able to publish the greater part of the lecture in our issue for June 21 (vol. xcix., p. 333), and it will suffice here to say that we hope the essay will be widely studied, dealing as it does with matters of the highest importance which must be handled boldly if the future welfare of the nation is to be assured. By T. N. 424 NATURE | [JuLy 26, 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.] Visibility of Interference Fringes and the Double Slit. THE writer has found the following simple arrange- ment well adapted for the study of the- visibility of fringes arising from a double slit and a ‘‘ source” slit of variable width. A double slit, ruled without any special care on a piece of old photographic negative, was placed on the table of a spectrometer after the usual adjustments had been made. With this arrange- ment and a sodium flame (Mecker burner) as the source of light, no difficulty was experienced in observ- ing the disappearance and reappearance of the fringes, with gradually decreasing visibility, some seven times. In the experiment as ordinarily performed (V. Mann’s ‘“‘Manual of Advanced Optics,” p. 27) the source slit is at such a distance from the double slit as to render the experiment impracticable, or at least very inconvenient, in many laboratories. strong source of light is used, whereas the above arrangement permits the use of a monochromatic source. It provides, further, a very simple experiment by means of which the student beginning the study of advanced optics may obtain concrete ideas on the somewhat difficult subject of visibility. With a little practice, estimates of the visibility at suecessive stages may be made, and the corresponding visibility curve plotted. ' To make quantitative measurements, a graduated wheel was attached to the slit of an ordinary Wilson ‘spectrometer, and afterwards calibrated by the aid of a travelling microscope. By this means the width of the slit corresponding to the places of disappearance of the fringes or to any stage of visibility could be read off directly, and in a short time a complete set of measurements taken. The following readings will give an idea of the quantitative value of the experi- ment :— Width of double slit (4) Ses «.. =0'903 mm. Focal length of lens of collimator (7 166 ,, Mean value of increase in slit width (w) for successive orders of zero visibility a wie sae a. OrTOT Sy From which i= = o'000582 mm. The quantity w is accurate to about 1 per cent. A more accurately calibrated spectrometer slit than was at the disposal of the writer would permit doubtless of greater accuracy in the measurements. J. K. ROBERTSON. Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. * Relations between the Spectra of X-Rays. Kosset has found the following relations between the frequencies of the X-ray spectra :— Ls => Ke = kK. (A) a+ Ly r= 1 (B) As the result of recent’measurements, it is known that all these series consist of many more _ lines. According to T. Malmer the relation (A) of Kossel must take the form :— La, = Keg, on Kas Sao! . . . (1) Adopting the values for. the wave-length given by NO. 2491, VOL. 99] Ordinarily, too, a M. Siegbahn (Jahrb, 4. Radioakt. u. Elektr.), we have, moreover,. instead of (B), Dna deat a Me = Ly = Legis Si wie eee My=Ly—-Lpe. . + . + {3) I will here also remark that the following relations hold very exactly through all the elements :— ‘ # La, — Le, = Lg, - Ly } ; Be Le;—Ly+taj * where A is a constant. In order to account for these relations, especially (4), Bohr’s theoretical formula should be modified as_ ollows :— -{N— Uy + py? tg ¥ pa? N being the atomic number, n, and n, certain in tegers. It should be supposed that N—C, and N—C represent the numbers of electric quanta contained in the ‘effective’? nucleus charge. The curve in Moseley’s diagram shows further that p, and p, are not absolute constants, but vary gradually from element to element. Jun IsHrwara, Physical Institute, Sendai, Japan, April, 1917. (4) v Ls METEOROLOGY AND AVIATION. A RECENT lecture by Lord Montagu o Beaulieu to the Aeronautical Society has directed attention to the possibility after the war of conveying mails and passengers, and perhap: goods, from place to place by aeroplanes. hf suitable weather such transit should present ne difficulty save that of expense, provided that lz ing places can be found in such positions that th stages may not be too long, but it is obvious tha’ the weather is, and must remain, a very important’ factor for many years to come. ae Since the foundation of the Meteorologica Office under Admiral Fitzroy a large part of it business has been the issuing of storm warning at certain selected coast stations for the benefit o shipping; and there is no doubt that such warn ings during the fifty years or so in which the have been issued have been of great use, ani indeed are so still. But the gradual displacemer of sails by steam and the increase of size, with th greater trustworthiness of the engines, have ret dered vessels far less dependent upon the weathe than they were in Admiral Fitzroy’s time, and these days it is seldom that any regular passengé boat fails to make its passage, though it may b more or less delayed by bad weather. The cas is likely to be different with aeroplanes if they al to take the place of mail steamers, and a heay responsibility will be thrown upon the Meteor logical Office or upon whatever body undertake to issue forecasts for their guidance. a _The kinds of weather inimical to aviation are t¢ much wind, low cloud, and fog, and of these f¢ is perhaps the worst, as it is also in the case’ shipping. The ways in which wind affects % aeroplane are various. There is the difficulty | starting and landing, but the days on which th is serious are not numerous, even in a wine country like England. But still there are dai when landing is unsafe, and it is the misfortul JuLy 26, 1917] NATURE 425 with an aeroplane that it must in some way or other come to the earth as soon as its stock of petrol is exhausted. It cannot, like a ship out- side a port with a dangerous bar, wait until con- ditions are more favourable; it must come down, whatever the risk. Once in the air, a steady wind has no effect upon the flying of an aeroplane, although it has a great effect upon the direction of the course. So much misapprehension exists on this point that it cannot be put too clearly. First, however, it must be stated frankly that a per- fectly steady wind does not exist in practice, but the ordinary wind becomes more and more steady as the height increases, and in so far as the drift of an aeroplane is concerned it has the same effect | ‘as a steady wind of the same mean velocity. The pilot, therefore, if the earth is hidden from him by a sheet of clouds, is absolutely and entirely ignorant of the strength and direction of the wind in which he is flying; it is just the same to him if it be a dead calm or if it be blowing at the rate a hundred miles an hour from the east or from pe west; he is, indeed, as unconscious of the motion which he is sharing with the air as he of his daily revolution at a rate in these latitudes of some 600 miles an hour round the axis of the arth. But the effect upon the drift of his machine may be very considerable, and as he does not know vhat it is he cannot allow for it. The sailor is also concerned with the drift of his vessel, but he has in general a fairly good knowledge of how m it is; the currents due to the tide can be predicted, and the leeway due to wind can be esti- : ogy but it is not so with the airman. More- over, the rate of drift of a vessel is mostly small jin comparison with her motion through the water, but in exceptional instances the velocity of the wind ag! equal the velocity of the aeroplane. Thus Glasgow lies very close to a point 400 due north of Plymouth, and an aero- leaving Plymouth and flying due north at ‘miles an hour would find itself close to Glas- in five hours’ time. Should, however, a rong west wind be blowing of which the pilot set know, and also clouds so that he could not th , he would, if steering by compass, “himself in five hours’ time over the North , and quite possibly much nearer to the Danish than to the English coast. In the present. state of our knowledge he could obtain information ae of the general direction and strength f the wind, but not in such detail that he could it off Glasgow within 100 or 200 miles. If he os d see the ground he could ascertain that he ie not travelling in the way his machine was > penting, and would thus become aware of his , but if he could see the ground he could steer -. the known landmarks. There would be few bees dmarks over the sea, but the appearance of the ben face should give him information as to the eneth of the wind, and also of its direction. ) _ Hence i it seems likely that in countries like Eng- nd, where clouds prevail, long-distance flight, ee i is to be carried on at regular times day after y, will have to be at low elevations. About gooo ft. is the usual height of the winter cloud nTry A AKT TTFAVT Py | sheet, but it may on occasion easily descend to 2000 ft. Wind, therefore, though when it is steady and in a favourable direction it may be of assistance for a journey in its own direction, will in general be a hindrance to aerial navigation, and when combined with low clouds may become an insuper- able hindrance. In cases where its velocity and direction can be accurately foretold, the difficulty about allowing for the drift can be overcome, but such precise forecast is not yet practicable. A gusty wind introduces difficulties of its own; the so-called holes in the air, of which one heard so much in the early days of aviation, were due to gustiness, but greater stability and speed in the machine are eliminating these difficulties. Clouds introduce a difficulty of their own, apart from the point that has been already considered. It would seem at first sight as though a man would retain his sense of the vertical direction in any circumstances, but this is not so. Were a man placed inside a hollow vessel that was falling freely without air resistance, he would be entirely without sense of weight or direction, and the pilot of an aeroplane in an extensive mass of cloud is in much the same position. He cannot see any definite object, and apart from sight his sense of direction depends upon the reaction between him and the seat he is sitting on. So long as the motion is uniform this reaction is vertical, but any acceleration of the machine alters the direction and intensity of the reaction, and so confuses the sense of level. The same effect is produced upon a spirit-level or similar instrument, and so confusing is the effect that it is said the machine may almost be upside down without the pilot knowing it. It would seem as though a gyroscope might to some extent meet the difficulty. One result of this uncertainty of level is that astronomical obser- vations for the determination of latitude and longi- tude are not possible unless the horizon can be seen, and thus the amount of the error produced by want of knowledge of the drift cannot be known. Fog is to all intents and purposes simply a cloud touching the earth. Landing places for aviators have naturally been put in low, sheltered positions, partly because a shelter from wind is required, but probably chiefly because more or less of a dead level is necessary, and such flat places are more likely to be found at low altitudes. Such positions are especially liable to fog. The danger of a fog lies in its concealing the landing place and hiding from the pilot until the last moment his distance from the ground. Thus it appears that the demand of the airman on the meteorologist is that he shall be able to forecast wind and fog, and, to a less extent, clouds, on the route the airman is proposing to follow. It has long been the business of the Meteorological Office to forecast wind, and a cer- tain amount of precision has been attained. Dur- ing last winter Major Taylor investigated the possibility of forecasting fog, and gave the results in lectures to the Royal Meteorological and Aeronautical Societies. His work constitutes 426 NATURE [JuLy 26, 1917 a considerable advance in the investigation of this difficult subject. If we express the wind in terms of its two components, W. to E. and S. to N., the probable error of a forecast for each com- ponent is perhaps about ten miles an hour, and there is not much prospect of improving ‘this ; the estimate is for England and the Continent, but further south the conditions are much better. I do not wish to emphasise the difficulties which lie in the way of regular air services, but they are there, and the first step towards overcoming them is to admit their existence. W. H. Dives. NORTH-EAST SIBERIA.} i ingt is a charming book of travel on a very interesting but seldom visited country—the far north-east of Siberia. One has to travel for changed since. The post reaches this miserable hamlet only once every four months. For three or four months, before the Kolyma breaks its ice at the end of May, and fishing can be resumed in June, the population lives in a state of semi- starvation. ‘By the end of March all the store of fish is consumed, and the inhabitants begin to eat the food usually given to dogs, such as fish- bones, entrails, and half-decayed fish.’’ The last three or four months, before a fresh supply of provisions is brought by the boats coming from the south, most of the inhabitants have no salt and no flour, and are compelled to eat the fish — raw, because cooked fish without salt seems to | be most unpalatable. Under these conditions the — physical and mental deterioration of the popula- | tion is, of course, unavoidable. In this spot the author remained four years, | Chukchees. a month from Verkhoyansk, “the pole of cold,’’ situated on the Upper Yana River, to reach Sredne-Kolymsk, “the queen of the country, consisting of twenty or thirty little flat-roofed log- huts scattered about on the left bank of the Kolyma.” In this “town” the author was in- terned, by the Ministry of the Interior, in com- pany with a dozen comrade students involved in “political disorders,’’ and he stayed there four years. That was thirty years ago; but nothing has 1 ‘In Far North-East Siberia.” By I. W. Shklovsky (‘‘ Dioneo”’). Translated by L. Edwards and Z. Shklovsky. Pp. vii+264. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 8s. 6d. net. NO. 2A0T. VOT. aal i | Fiom ‘‘In Far North-East Siberia.” and he devotes interesting pages to a good-natured description of how the little community of student-exiles constructed for themselves un- burned-brick stoves (instead of the usual Yakute™ open hearth in the midst of the hut), and made” their own provisions of fish and frozen cream for the winter, as well as candles from reindeer-fat_ for the long arctic night; all this work being done “amidst interminable metaphysical discussions.” These pages have all the freshness of youth. hs Towards the end of his internment at Sredneé= Kolymsk the author obtained permission to make a ‘journey to Nijne-Kolymsk, at the mouth of the ‘Jury 26, ae NATURE 427 Ee tema, and he was thus enabled to obtain a Pynmpse of the shores of the Arctic Ocean. accomplished the 500-mile journey in twelve days, in a frail open boat, made of very thin wooden planks sewn together with twisted _willow-strands, the holes being plugged with moss and the cracks filled with the gum of the larch. Having reached Nijne-Kolymsk at the _time of the fishing, he stayed there part of the summer and the winter, so that he could visit the lonely spot of Sukharnoye, as also some Chukchee encampments. _ The pages given to the description of the Yukaghirs and the Yakutes settled along the lower course of the Kolyma, especially to the Chukchees, as also the legend about the dis- ‘appearance of the small tribe of the Kangenici, be read with deep interest and sympathy. All the little scenes sketched by the author bear “ stamp of truthfulness and artistic feeling. ie “KroporkiN. eh es ee WAR BREAD. concerning the effects of the present war ead upon national health and efficiency. Sug- estion plays an inevitable part in such a connec- m. Certain untoward symptoms in individuals, which some other tangible cause is not imme- ately evident, are liable just now to be ascribed = the belief in a deleterious influence has arisen, easy to understand how widely it may spread suggestion. ed to know, there would seem to be little for any such condemnation of the bread. its, nevertheless, with the Food Controller n the best possible evidence concerning , and we are glad to know that Lord a and the Wheat Commissioners have ‘red a’ committee of the Royal Society to 8 oll and thorough investigation. This “comprises some eminent medical con- s, as well as the physiologists who have Its task is to decide whether the extraction of the grain can in itself be held ponsible for any disturbance of health, hethe r the admixture of other cereals with the yheat has produced a less digestible loaf, owing, r instance, to the associated difficulties in milling Among other matters which are also engaging e attention of the committee is a greater ten- ncy to “rope” in the bread, alleged to be due ‘the higher extraction of the grain. The habits Bacillus mesentericus, which, in its various ains, is responsible for ropy bread, are already li known to bacteriologists, and, empirically at ast, to all the better informed among practical ikers. There is no reason to doubt that with ‘increased knowledge now being acquired any Getbreaks of rope will in the future be easily con- trolled. That the presence in the loaf. of cereals other than wheat can be directly harmful is most NO. 2491, VOL. 99| ~HE public has been led to feel some anxiety | the slenderest evidence to the bread eaten. In the opinion of those best and- unlikely. A favourable effect should indeed be seen in a somewhat improved balance in the protein supplied. Maize, it is true, is said to be badly tolerated by certain individuals, though such cases must be rare. It is also stated that the starch of maize is not fully gelatinised when it is cooked in admixture with wheat under con- ditions suitable for the production of an all-wheat loaf. These and other points will doubtless receive the attention of the investigating committee. Its most important task, however, will be to decide, by a thorough sifting of the evidence, the more general question as to whether the war bread is, as a matter of fact, producing any ill effects at all upon the public health. The public ‘will be glad to know that the Food Controller is in posses- sion of the facts. Meanwhile, since it is of the utmost importance to the nation that a full supply of bread shall be maintained, while the amount of wheat available is not sufficient for the purpose, we are glad to observe that the medical Press is urging the pro- fession to see that the privilege of obtaining high- -grade wheat flour for cases supposed to have suffered from the war bread is at any rate not abused. NOTES. Mr. Atan A. CAMPBELL. SWINTON has been elected chairman of the council of the Royal Society of Arts for the ensuing year. Tue Asiatic Society of Bengal has awarded the Bar- clay memorial medal to Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen, for his work in biology. The medal is awarded every two years to the individual who during that period has made the most meritorious contribution to biology with special reference to India. ; Dr. J. B. CLELAND has been elected president of the Royal Society of New South Wales. After graduating in medicine, Dr. Cleland visited China and Ja and later proceeded to this country, where he remained for several years, being for part of the time cancer research scholar at London Hospital. On returning to Australia, he was appointed Government pathologist and bacteriologist in Western Australia. In 1908 he became principal assistant microbiologist to the newly instituted Bureau of Microbiology in Sydney,-and in 1913, on the amalgamation of the bureau with the Department of Public Health, he was appointed prin- cipal microbiologist. He has also been associated with the experimental work of the Department of Agriculture. REFERRING to Dr. Collinge’s recent article on “The Destruction of House-sparrows’’ (Nature, June 28, p- 347), Dr. W. A. Hollis _writes to say that the assump- tion that the corn found in the stomachs of the adult birds has been taken from the fields is, he believes, an erroneous one, and that in nine cases out of ten it is obtained from horse-droppings, as the house- sparrow rarely, if ever, goes far afield. At first sight this might appear so, but Dr. Hollis has overlooked the fact that the material upon which Dr. Collinge bases his argument was purposely obtained from agricultural districts, and in his account of the stomach contents of those birds obtained from suburban districts it is stated that the wheat was ob- tained ‘‘most likely from horse-droppings.’*. The 428 NATURE [Juty 26, 1917 house-sparrow is, unfortunately, very far from scarce in agricultural districts, and at present immense flocks from the towns and villages are adding to its number, the majority of which will remain until well into September. WE regret to see the announcement of the death on July 22, at sixty-one years of age, of Mr. Alfred Mosely, C.M.G., whose work for industrial and educa- tional efficiency is widely known. In the year 1903 Mr. Mosely organised an Educational Commis- sion of leading representatives of science and education, including such men as Profs. Arm- strong, Ayrton, and Ripper, to visit the United States. The twenty-six separate reports pub- lished in 1904 in the volume on this Educational Commission covered the-whole field of education, from the kindergarten to post-graduate university work, and they provided the public with a very valuable statement by competent observers. of the provision made for progressive education in America. In 1907 Mr. Mosely sent several hundred English school teachers to America to study the educational methods adopted in the United States and Canada, and himself about the same time made prolonged tours in those countries, during one of which he arranged for a return visit of 1000 school teachers to this country in 1908-9. Mr. Mosely was the author of a number of pamphlets and, reports on industrial and educa-- tional matters and economics. ACCORDING to a paragraph in L’Economista d'Italia of July 13, the Italian Royal Geological Commission has just presented the report of its work to the Government. The Commission recommends _ that immediate steps be taken to enable the Reale Ufficio Geologico. to accelerate the preparation and publication of the geological map of Italy, which is a vital neces- sity in view of a recrudeseence of activity being manifested in mineral prospecting and hydro-electric developments. Recommendations have also been made for the publication of the results. of artesian well and mineral] surveys which have been carried out in the country, since much importance is attached at present to a knowledge of the hydrological and geo- logical data. It is also considered desirable that the collection of samples of Italian fossil-fuels at the Royal Geological Museum should be made as complete as possible, and that the authorities should proceed at once to publish the sheets (now completed) of the geological map which concern the mountainous. re- gions, in view of the attention now being paid to the more. extensive utilisation of Italy’s water resources for power-raising. Tue, Indian Forester for May contains an. article on the organisation of the Chinese Forest Service, which came into existence in January, 1916, as a subordinate branch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce at Peking. The heads of the service, styled ‘‘co-directors,’’ are Mr. Forsythe Sherfesee, for six years employed in, and lately director of, the Philip- pine Forestry Bureau, and Mr. Ngan Han, who studied forestry in Cornell and Michigan, Universities. several years ago, There are other Chinese in the service, who have received a technical training in the United States, and an expert from Kew, Mr. W. Purdom, acts as botanist, and is chief of one. of the six divisions into which the service is organised. In this article an ambitious programme of afforestation, education, propaganda, etc., is sketched out, but no details are given of any work that has been actually accom- plished. The amount of funds available is not men- tioned, and no information is given as to how the existing forests are. to. be brought under Government control, or of how land is to.be acquired for afforesta- NO. 2491, VOL. 99] Among the subjects dealt with were meteorology, — -Diatoms, maps, free trade, Kent’s Cavern, the teach- — Grammar School and the Birmingham University. After obtaining his degree, he spent some time in | was appointed agricultural chemist to the Punjab in charge of the Lyallpur College, one of the agricultural colleges of India, of which two y tion. In the course of two or three years we may — learn in what directions forestry can be developed in — China. eth In his presidential address to the conference of dele. gates of the British Association, held at Burlington — House on July 5, Mr. John Hopkinson dealt with the ~ work and aims of the corresponding societies. Mr. — Hopkinson first suggested, nearly forty years ago, that delegates from the different societies should hold — an annual conference at the British Association meet- — ings, and it must have been some satisfaction to him — to preside over what is now an important annual event ~ for many of the representatives of the scientific socie-— ties in this country. He gave a review of the work of the British Association as affecting the correspond- ~ ing societies, dealing in turn with the various sec- tions of the association. His address was so varied | in its scope that each member of his audience must — have felt that some of it at least had particular refer-— ence to his or her special study. It was not the — address of a specialist, but on general lines, as might — have been expected from a naturalist who has been © so long the secretary of an important provincial society. _ geological photographs, bird protection, Desmids and ing of Greek, museums, and forestry: Mr. Hopkin-— son concluded that the chief aim of all of us should be” To make the world within his reach, Ag Somewhat the tetter-for his being, And gladder tor his human speech. Pror. J. H. Barnes, whose death was announ ed in Nature of July 5, was educated at Five Way: research work under Prof. Frankland, and in 1goé later he was appointed principal, and which ee 1€ held until a few months before his death, when he was appointed chief chemist at the Pusa Institute to the Government of India. He was responsible for a considerable amount of agricultural research work, some of which is destined to make a great addition t the resources of the country, notably in the eul tivation of the sugar-cane and wheat-growing. Dur ing the last few years he had been responsible for the experiments dealing with the reclamation of the al barren lands, which he had shown by his exp ments to produce even record crops of wheat for é and may revolutionise agriculture in certain of thes districts. At the same time, he instituted a series 0 experiments showing the means of preventing variou insect pests which are the great drawback to th methods of storing wheat. For his work on ft Indigo Commission he was accorded the thanks of th Government of India. All this was carried out e great personal disabilities, for early in his official: lif he was attacked by malarial fever, from whie periodically he suffered severely, especially durin the last year or so of his life, which was eventuall cut off by an attack of enteric fever on June 2. Ts was greatly loved and respected by all, | by his Indian students, who at the time of his lea the Lyallpur College collected funds to institute scholarship at the college as a permanent memoria of his service there. i Wirth Dr. C. O. Trechmann, who died on June 2 at his residence, Hudworth Tower, Castle Edet passed away one of the small band of private collector of minerals and one of the still smaller ‘brotherhoc of crystallographers in this country. He was bo at Hartlepool, co. Durham, in 1851. His father, wi PSPVCU! Juty 26, 1917 | NATURE 429 ee ey ee was. a Dane by birth, settled in the north of England in 1843, and five years later, in 1848, founded the Portland cement works now known as Otto Trech- mann, Ltd., at West Hartlepool, which are among oldest works of the kind in the kingdom. Dr. rechmann. studied chemistry under Bunsen, and ob- tained his doctorate of philosophy at Heidelberg. On returning home he entered his father’s business, and * was largely to his energy and ability that the pment and prosperity of the works were due; om the conversion of the business into a limited liability company, he became chairnian and managing _ director, a position he held until his death. While Lo ee oe eee ee ae ee ee Oe _ at Heidelberg he became interested in minerals, and started the formation of the collection which consti- tuted the principal hobby of his life. Being a erystallo- grapher, thad a keen eye for a well-crystallised specimen, and at his death the collection had grown _ to a considerable size and comprised specimens of _ much scientific value. At one period he was attracted _ by the minerals occurring in the famous quarry just off the valley of the Binn, and one of the sulphar- _ senites of silver found there was named trechmannite after him by its discoverer, Mr. R. H. Solly. He ‘bequeathed some of the best specimens in his collec- tion to the British Museum. Despite the calls of busi- ness, he contrived to. find time to engage in crystallo- _ graphical research, and published many papers, _ several of them ‘dealing with the minerals found at _ Binn; his work was characterised by careful observa- tion and skilful draughtsmanship. In later years he _ turned to entomology as a recreation, paying’ especial ‘attention to exotic Rhopalocera and to Diptera, of which he made a local collection of considerable scien- tific value. __ Mr. Henry Batrour discusses, in the July issue of Man, certain primitive forms of agricultural imple- ments from the Naga Hills, Assam. A remarkable _ form used by the Sema, Lhota, and some eastern _ Nagas consists of a slip of bamboo, with a sharp edge, twisted into a shape like a necktie, which is used for eradicating w from crops. This has the “disadvantage of being very perishable and, becoming supplanted by iron-bladed hoes, shows signs of obso- Tescence. But it is noteworthy that the original type ‘of the bamboo weeder has been reproduced in iron. _ Thus, as the final result, we have four types : first, the .. _ Bamboo “necktie’’ hoe; secondly, the copy of it in _ iron; thirdly, a two-tanged blade, hafted to two den rods, forming prolongations of the tangs, the » ends of lope ya crossed, — = eeage’ the ‘‘ neck- _ tie” shape of the prototype; and, lastly, the same type blade, hafted to a Y-shaped handle cut from a le piece, in which the single grip replaces the ard X-shaped handle, the result being an emin- ‘ently serviceable tool. The series is an admirable instance of clearly marked stages in the evolution of a tural implements, __ Pror. Fiinpers Perrie notices a series of photo- graphs from Abu Simbel depicting various racial types in Ancient Egypt (part ii., 1917). One of the most _ interesting represents:;a man with a long retreating _ forehead running up, to a peak to the back of the head, eens | of flesh ~ the back of the neck below ‘Me occiput. The same form of head is characteristic _of the Armenians of to-day, though accompanied by a _& nose, and the Egyptian example seems to _ belong to a nation east of Asia Minor, somewhere _ about the: head-waters of the Euphrates. Another, _ €lassed as: North Arabian, has traces of an earring, | _ which 2 an Assyrian characteristic, and this man may _ come from a ion not greatly geographically _ Separated from that of the first ee eR The Hittite _ type is marked by the thickness of hair ending in a NO. 2491, VOL. 99] curl below the shoulder. Another specimen, wearing a long cap with a sort of hanging tassel, is shown by the analogy of a type represented on the gates of Balawat to be that of a Phoenician boatman. Thus, of the ten examples, two seem to come from Armenia or its neighbourhood, and the others belong roughly to North and South Galilee. Tue expedition which Dr. Hamilton Rice led to the Amazon returned to. New York this spring. From the Geographical Review for June (vol. iii., No. 6) we learn that after am ascent of the Amazon to Iquitos, the expedition returned to Manaos to undertake the ascent of the Rio Negro, which was to be the principal work of the expedition. In a river steamer the expedition reached Santa Isabel, and thence in a steam launch successfully traversed the difficult stretch of river to Sao Gabriel. Further progress proved to be impossible on account of low water. An attempt was made to ascend the Pada- uiry, a left tributary of the Rio Negro, but an im- mense sandbank blocked the way. The expedition then descended to Manaos, and Dr. Rice decided to return to the United States on account of the war news and other circumstances. In the Geographical Review for June there are two articles which deal in a most instructive way with the Eastern theatre of war in Europe. The first is by Prof. de Martonne on the Carpathians. Atten- tion is paid particularly to the physical features. con- trolling human movements, and the article gives a clear presentment of the complicated relief of the region. There is a good coloured relief map, besides several diagrams. The second article, by Mr. D. W. Johnson, on the conquest of Rumania, de- scribes the geographical features of the country, especially in relation to the campaign of 1916. The author shows how geographical conditions favoured a Rumanian invasion of Bulgaria through the Dob- rudja, but political’ considerations overruled this plan and embarked Rumania. on an invasion of the Transylvanian plain, a project which materially assisted the success of the German plan for the con- quest of Rumania. In a paper published in the Scottish Geographical Magazine for June (vol. xxxiii.) entitled ‘“* The Weddell Sea : An Historical Retrospect,” Dr. W. S. Bruce has been at great pains. to clear up. the fog of obscurity which hitherto has enveloped the early history. of ex- ploration in that part of the Antarctic. With the exception of Mr. E. S. Balch’s work on early American explorers, this paper is almost the first scholarly con- tribution to the history of the Antarctic, and, in view of the uncertainty that has prevailed regarding ques- tions of priority in the Graham Land region and the trustworthiness of early accounts, this work was much needed. By persistence in following up clues. Dr. Bruce has unearthed much previously overlooked mate- rial] and several original, log-books. The earliest ex- plorers of the Weddell: Sea were William. Smith and Capt. Ed.. Bransfield, R.N., in the brig Williams, early, in 1820, subsequent to:Smith’s discovery of the South. Shetlands in 1819. On this voyage they: were the first to sight the mainland of the Antarctic continent, which Bransfield named Trinity Land.. This point is of great interest, because it was previously held that the claim. of the American sealer, N. B. Palmer, in 1821, has priority. As regards the discovery of the group, known as the South Orkneys, Dr. Bruce recalls that priority belongs to Powell, who sighted them in December, 1821,, and. that Weddell. six days. later named: them South Orkneys. Powell hadi regarded them: merely as an extension of the South Shetlands, but they appear as Powell Group on the chart. of 1822. Dr. Bruce, 430 NATURE [JuLy 26, 1917. however, recognises the undesirableness of changing the name of South Orkneys, which has now become established by long usage. Further interesting matter in this paper is an examination of the evidence of Morell, Ross, the Scotia, and others of land in the western part of the Weddell Sea. A critical examina- tion of all this matter by a man who is familiar with polar conditions from personal experience sheds a new light on the question, and is most important in view of the forthcoming publication of Sir E. H. Shackle- ton’s results. Finally, the full bibliography accom- panying the paper should be noted. * THE Ministry of Trade of the Australian Common- wealth publishes ‘‘Further Investigations into the Etiology of Worm Nests in Cattle due to Onchocerca Gibsoni,” by Drs. J. B. Cleland, S. Dodd, and E. W. Ferguson. Experiments have been tried as to the transmission of the larval worms by biting flies. As regards Stomoxys calcitrans the results are negative, but the authors consider that certain Tabanide may possibly act as carriers. In collaboration with Messrs. Harrison G. Dyar and F. Knal, Dr. Howard has completed the great mono- graph on the “Mosquitoes of North and Central America and the West Indies’’ (vol. iv., Carnegie Institution, Washington, 1917).. The volume now issued contains the second part of the systematic description of genera and species, with appendix and index, and extends to more than 500 pages. Each genus and species is treated with an exhaustive synonymy, a full description of the imago and of any larval stages known, and in most cases with valuable bionomic details. Pror. Uric DAHLGREN, of Princeton University, contributes a further instalment. of his valuable series of essays on the ‘“ Production of Light by Animals ” to the Journal of the Franklin Institute for July. In the present contribution he gives an able summary of what is known in regard to the production of phos- phorescent light among the Tunicates and the fishes. In thus summarising the extensive and widely scat- tered literature on this theme Prof. Dahlgren has_ performed a very useful piece of work. Dr. G. A. BouLENGER contributes to the Annals of the South African Museum (vol. xii., part vi.) a long memoir on the genus Nucras, which, he convincingly shows, must be regarded as the most primitive of the Lacertidz. He bases his conclusions partly on geo- logical evidence and partly on a study of its geograph- ical distribution and coloration. The latter aspect of this subject forms the material for two plates, which will well repay careful study. In the same issue he also describes a new South African lizard of the genus Eremias, ; THE second of the series of reports which are to appear on the Australian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14, has just been published. This is devoted to the Mollusca, forming part i. of vol. iv. The author, Mr. C. Hedley, analyses the results of dredgings at twelve stations on the coast of Adelie Land and of collections at Macquarrie Island. About one-third of the Mollusca prove to extend to Kerguelen, and some range round the Pole to the Falklands: More than 125 species are enumerated, of which forty-one are new to science. Two new genera are also described. Nine excellent plates add greatly to. the value of this very able report. WHILE the construction of great dams across natural ‘streams for the purpose of diverting, or storing, their waters must inevitably disfigure the landscape in the_ NO. 2491, VOL. 99} ’characteristic for each. immediate vicinity of the dams, this disfigurement may be amply atoned for by the creation of large lakes capable of vastly increasing the supply of food-fishes. Mr. A. D. Ferguson, of the California Fish and Game Commission, in California Fish and Game, vol, iii., No. 2, tells how this has been done in the case of — impounding dams in the Sierra Nevada mountains. — The building of the Crane Valley dam created the Bass Lake, a sheet of water six miles long, half a mile wide, and roo ft. deep. This water is now teem-' ing with trout and black bass, artificially introduced, — affording a fishing resort for hundreds of people. — Huntingdon Lake, in Fresno county, was similarly © created by a dam 120 ft. high, impounding 150,000 ~ acres of water. This has been stocked with rainbow and Loch Leven trout, and is the resort of thousands of people from all parts of the State. The primary purpose of the dam was to serve as a generating — station for the Pacific Light and Power Corporation. — In this way purely commercial ventures have been — made to add both to the natural beauties of the country — and to its productiveness. Tue. plant ecology of the Drakensberg Range forms the subject of a beautifully illustrated paper by Prof. J. W. Bews, in vol. iii., part iii., of the Annals of the Natal Museum. In the opening pages the geological structure of the range is briefly described, and dia- gram sections of the horizontally placed beds are ~ given. The striking feature of the range is the — great mass of basalt and amygdaloidal lava which ~ forms the main portion of the escarpment and produces © the magnificent scenery of the Mont-aux-Sources. — The vegetation of the higher parts of the Mont-aux- — Sources has long been known to be peculiar, and it is a matter for regret that Prof. Bews does not give an account of it in greater detail. He distinguishes ~ ten types of vegetation and gives lists of the plants — A number of the plants — appear to be unidentified, which, considering the work — recently done on South African botany, both at Kew — and at the Cape, need not have been the case. On the mountain-tops the vegetation shows remarkable — adaptations to dry conditions, the soil occurring only in depressions, the rest of the surface remaining bare ~ rock, - @ Pror. R. B. Younc (Trans. Geol. Soc. South Africa, — vol xix., p. 61) usefully develops F. Hinden’s test for calcite in the presence of dolomite. After attacking — the calcite on a thin section of rock with the solution — of ferric chloride, thoroughly washing, and drying, a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen is turned on for a second or so, which blackens the calcite crystals. 4 Mr. F. S. Sprers, secretary of the Faraday Society, writes as follows :—‘‘ Will you permit me to correct a misapprehension which may arise out of a report in” Nature of July 12 (p. 393) on a joint meeting of the — Society of Glass Technology with the Faraday Society which took place last month at Sheffield, to discuss ~ the choice of refractory materials for use in the glass” industry? In referring to an appeal which was made- to glass-makers to make known their difficulties re- -garding refractories it was stated that the main- object of the Faraday Society was to concentrate on these difficulties. This reference should have been, not to the Faraday Society, but to the Conference on” Refractories Research, which has been constituted from ‘all the interests concerned with refractory materials for the purpose of considering how best to co-ordinate and promote further the study of this subject.” At the outbreak of war there was in this country a serious. shortage of refractory material and of acid- proof apparatus.such as is used in chemical works; ~ Jury 26, 1917] NATURE 431 | 4 _ it had been largely stoneware imported from Germany. Fused silica ware has to some extent been able to make good the deficiency, and has helped to- equip mumerous factories erected in apna with the supply of explosives, especially as regards apparatus "for = pat kderation of sulphuric acid and the con- _densation of nitric acid. Dr. F. Bottomley gives de- tails of plants “fitted with fused silica condensers, evaporators, etc., for these two acids, in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry for June 15, and also outlines the progress which has been made in the ‘production of fused silica apparatus generally. Sixteen years ago small articles of silica were made by labo- fiously fusing quartz a few grains at a time in the oxy. en blowpipe flame; at the present day the weight o . fused material which can be worked exceeds 200 Ib. The temperature required is between 1800° 2000° C. In the plastic condition the silica is very stile, and can be drawn out like glass in lengths go to 100 ft. TEcCHNOLOGIC Papers Nos. 83 and 84 of the U.S. eau of Standards represent continuations of Merica dd Woodward’s work on the “Failure of Brass” (No. 82). In the former an account is given of the study of the effect of tensile stress on the electrolytic ‘solution potential of brass to various solutions, the esults indicating an increase of E.M.F. of about o-1 volt per 10,000 Ib./sq. in. of stress. An explana- is given, based upon this effect, of the decreased ctility and strength exhibited by brass, where rroded while under tensile stress, and describes the vth of fissures in brass under such conditions. the latter the results are recorded of an investiga- mn of the initial stresses produced by the burning-in, thout pre-heating, of constrained parts of castings of mganese bronze. Results have shown that, in ral, tensile stresses will be produced within the ed-in area equal in value to the true elastic limit f the material. The conclusion is drawn that burn- _ing-in of such material should not be practised without horough pre-heating or subsequent annealing of the casting. __ THe Biochemical Journal for May contains a paper “by Mr. H. E. Annett describing the isolation of ff from the seed of the jute plant (Corchorus sularis). The sugar was identified by its content # water of crystallisation, specific rotatory power, md the change of the latter when the sugar was ed upon with emulsin, invertase, and melibiase. her, the sugar does not give an osazone, but the products of its hydrolysis with invertase, osazone and galactosazone were isolated. The ir was isolated by extracting the finely ground seed, which had previously been exhausted with her and petrol, with alcohol, and precipitating the toholic extract with ether. The particular sample seed examined contained 2-25 per cent. of raffinose. JF the chemical changes induced in amino-acids by terial action, the most common and the one that been most studied is simple decarboxylation. _It this process that putrescine and cadaverine are ed in the putrefaction of ornithine and lysine ectively. The deaminisation (i.e. loss of ammonia) of amino-acids by bacteria is usually ac- “companied by reduction, e.g. in the production of P-hydroxyphenyl-propionic acid from tyrosine. Mr. Hi. Raistrick, however, in the Biochemical Journal for May, describes the formation of an unsaturated arboxylic acid by the action of bacteria on histidine. This author avoided any possible secondary re- actions by arranging that the histidine .was the-only substance present in the medium on. which NO. 2491, VOL. 99] he bacteria were cultivated. “When © B.” coli “com- munis, B, typhosus, B. paratyphosus A, B. paraty- phosus B, B. enteritidis, Gaertner, or B. dysen- teriae, Flexner, is grown on a medium consisting of Ringer’s solution+histidine (8-iminazolyl-a-amino- propionic acid), from 5 to 60 per cent. of urocanic acid (8-iminazolylactylic acid) is formed, the largest proportion with B. paratyphosus A, and the smallest with B. typhosus. The acid was identified by analysis, melting point, and preparation of the picrate and nitrate. This is the first instance on record of the bacteriological conversion of an amino-acid into an unsaturated acid. Mr. JoHN Murray’s list of announcements for the coming autumn contains several works which should be of interest to readers of Nature, e.g. ‘‘ The Life and Letters of Sir J. D. Hooker, OM. G.C.S.1.,”" by Leonard Huxley, two vols. ; ‘‘ The Life of Sir Clements Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S.,”° by Admiral Sir A. H. Markham; ‘‘ The Life of Sir Colin C. Scott Moncrieff,” edited by Miss M. A. Hollings; ‘‘ Rustic Sounds and other Studies in Literature and Natural History,” by Sir Francis Darwin; ‘Volcanic Studies in Many Lands,” by the late Dr. Tempest Anderson; second series, ‘‘ Cotton and other Vegetable Fibres,”’ by Dr. E. Goulding (Imperial Institute Handbooks), and a new and revised edition of “‘The Book of the Rothamsted Experiments,” edited by Dr. E. J. Russell. Messrs. J. WHELDON AND Co., 38 Great Queen Street, Kingsway, have just issued a catalogue (New Series, No. 80) of books and papers on chem- istry, pure and applied, mineralogy, mining, and geology. The list contains many works published in enemy countries and therefore difficult to obtain new at the present time; also the modern libr of Mr. Andrea Angel, who lost his life in the Fast End explosion in January last. The catalogue will be sent free upon application. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. METEORS ON JULY 19.—Though meteors were singu- larly rare in the two hours before midnight on July 19 they were rather abundant and brilliant after mid- night. At 12h. 12m. G.M.T. one of magnitude 1 shot rapidly from 339°+72° to 261°+41°, and left a bright streak. Its radiant was probably between a and 8 Persei. At 12h. 18m. a meteor exceeding magnitude 1 passed from 320°+ 35° to 317°+27°, and was directed from Cepheus. At 12h. 37m. a very fine meteor with an extraordinarily long course of 89° travelled slowly from 328°+11° to 238°+10°, and left a bright streak in its wake. At 13h. 35m. a blue, flashing meteor shot rapidly down across the star 7 Pegasi, and was directed from a shower near a Cygni or at-316°+48°. At 13h. 50m. a tolerably bright meteor, leaving a streak, crossed the cluster in Perseus from a radiant at 40°+20°, and at 14h. 15m. a bright Perseid, leaving a streak, shot from 3263°+173° to 316°+6°. Dupli- cate observations of any of these interesting objects, if sent to Mr. W. F. Denning (44 Egerton Road, Bris- tol) would enable their heights, etc., to be computed. ANNUARIO OF THE RIO DE JANEIRO OBSERVATORY.— The thirty-third issue of this useful publication has re- cently been received. It contains numerous ephemerides and other astronomical data, together with an excellent collection of tables for the reduction of astronomical observations. A _ section is devoted to terrestrial physics, with special reference to the magnetic elements and the intensity of gravity; and another ‘includes details of meteorological observations made at twenty- five. stations in- Brazil. -Tide-tables for seven Brazilian ports, calculated with the aid of the Kelvin tide- predictor, are also included in the volume. 432 NATURE [JuLy 26, 1917 SOLAR PROMINENCES.—An important memoir on solar prominences has been published by Mr. and Mrs. Evershed. (Memoirs Kodaikanal Obs., vol. i., part ii.). The total number of prominences observed and photo- graphed at the sun’s limb at Kenley and’ Kodaikanal. during the years. 1890 to 1914 was about 71,000, and in recent years the denser prominences have also been photographed as absorption markings on the sun’s disc. This wealth of observational material js dis- cussed from many points of view. It results, among other conclusions, that there are four belts, two in each’ hemisphere, which are specially prolific in prominences. The low-latitude belts are coincident with the sun- spot zones, and in these the prominences vary in num- ber with the spots, although direct association of spots and prominences is comparatively rare. In the high-latitude’ belts the prominences are most frequent between spot minimum and spot maxi- mum; they reach the pole about spot maxi- mum, and die out there, to form again in latitude +50°. Magnetic storms appear to be more closely related to spots than to prominences, but it is possible that an overlying prominence is a necessary condition for a spot to produce a magnetic storm. Large high prominences are roughly divisible into four classes, namely, broad massive prominences, tapering forms, diffused forms, and prominences in rows.. Prominences associated with spots take the form of jets, rockets, or arches. The prevailing rocket type suggests the action of an intermittent explosive force in spots, which only partially neutralises gravity, while in the large masses gravity appears to be com- pletely neutralised by the upward force. The density of prominences is probably very low, and it 1s sug- gested that the luminosity may be due to the internal energy of the atoms, possibly derived mainly by absorption of the intense solar radiation. Numerous photographs of prominences are reproduced. FUEL RESEARCH. AP the request of the Board of Trade and other Government departments, the Fuel Research Board has undertaken an investigation om the most suitable composition and quality of gas, and the minimum pressure at which it should be supplied, having regard to the desirability for economy in the use of coal, the adequate recovery of by-products, and the purposes for which coal is now used. The Research Board will also act in an advisory capacity. With the great extension of the use of gas for power and heat- ing, and the possibility of using efficiently for illu- minating purposes, by means of the incandescent mantle, gas of much lower illuminating value than formerly, more importance now attaches to calorific value than to candle-power. Practice has “necessarily conformed to the altered conditions, for gas engineers have gone a good way in solving the problems involved in making the best use of coal in their industry, in the recovery of by-products, on which success so much depends, together with supplying a gas satisfactory for the wide and varied requirements. The industry has indeed been exceptional in the valuable research work done, its enterprise being shown in the estab- lishment of the Livesey Laboratory at Leeds, Possibly the Research Board will find little scope for improvement in the general production of ¢oal- gas, although no one would claim that finality has been reached, but some important problems remain for investigation, notably the production of low-tempera- ture coke and the utilisation of the oils and very rich gas produced. The gas engineer has hitherto not regarded this question in an unprejudiced manner, whilst the advocates have generally been over-optim- istic, so that independent investigation is really wanted. NO. 2491, VOL. 99] ‘ing the pages with abstracts of valueless ‘ stracts on purely optical subjects, since these are There is also a wide field for investigating how coke+ oven gas may be more extensively employed to supple- — ment the output of suitably situated gasworks, and — the more extended use of water-gas. ’ The Fuel Research Board, with the sanction of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, has appointed a committee of inquiry into the utilisation of Irish peat deposits. The terms of reference to the committee are as follows :— ‘To inquire into and to consider the experience already — gained in Ireland in respect of the winning, prepara- — tion, and use of peat for fuel and for other purposes, — and to suggest what means shall be taken to ascertain — the conditions under which, in the most favourably — Situated localities, it can be profitably won, pnciaeleath : and used, having regard to the economie conditions of | Ireland ; and to report to the Fuel Research Board.” Though the inquiries of the committee will ulti- — mately lead up to the consideration of peat as a source © of energy in central power stations, there are sound © reasons why this aspect of the problem should be © postponed to a later stage. On one hand, the Fuel © Research Board is already organising an extensive inquiry into the problems of fuel economy in connec- tion with power production, and the results of this inquiry will supply the fundamental data and informa- tion which will be required when the time comes for the consideration of any wide scheme of development in Ireland. On the other hand, any schemes of de- velopment must be based on a more exact knowled; than is at present available regarding the select of the more favourably situated bogs and the pe bilities of winning and transporting partially dried to centres at which it may be converted into mark able products. It is obvious, therefore, that the quiries of the committee are likely to be most fruit if they are concentrated on the fundamental proble for until these are settled no satisfactory prog can be made. . 2 The following appointments have been made to committee :—Sir John Purser -Griffith (chairr Prof. Hugh Ryan, Prof. Sydney Young, Mr. Gea Fletcher, and Prof. Pierce Purcell (secretary). communications should be addressed to the Secre Se ae Inquiry Committee, University Col ublin. GLASS TECHNOLOGY. THE newly formed Society of Glass Technology i to be warmly congratulated on the first number of its Journal, which has just ed. The volume contains five original papers. and a considerable num ber of abstracts dealing with glass and allied subje These abstracts, in which an endeavour is made t summarise the literature of the subject—including appearing on the Continent so far back as the begin ning of 1915—form a most valuable feature, particu larly as the difficult work of abstracting has been wel done. If, at a later stage, the society could under take to carry the abstracts back—if possible for : period of ten years—they would earn the gratitude ¢ all concerned with glass. There is, of course, 4 y the difficulty in such abstracts of discriminating De tween the wheat and the chaff, so as to avoid burder such discrimination, however, demands a degree ¢ intimate familiarity with the subject in both its indu trial and scientific aspects which is scarcely obtainabl in the case of glass, since this has only ge begu to receive in this country the attention which it ¢ serves. It is, further, a little doubtful whether th editor of this Journal has been wise in including NATURE 433 JuLy 26, 1917] Optical | ialipideatt with by a_ special society.) (the , and ovedapping is most undesirable in _ matters of publication. x The original papers attain a very creditable standard a for so young a society and so new a subject. Prof. _ Boswell’s work on British glass sands is already widely | 2 cape and appreciated, since it has already been more ; letely published elsewhere. Mr. C. J. Peddie describes a of British sands as substitutes Die tent ot torcien in, and his results are ex- : tremely hopeful, cotta that careful treatment in 4 to grading. and washing is applied to the s materials. Mr. F. Twyman deals with the : ieebeaationgr ef glass, and describes a method of testing Soham for strain and for its disappearance by means of a special form of polarimeter; the modification ascribed to Mr. F. E. Lamplough, however, is not novel, as the writer saw it in use more than foseteen years ago. Nor does Mr. Twyman make it te clear that his reasoning is not applicable to any ‘but thin glass vessels, such as the beakers he refers to. . Tn'sch thin glassware all that is required is uniform cooling. from the ‘annealing temperature” of Mr. in thicker glass, however, such uniformity een exterior and interior portions can be ob- Ried bale by very slow cooling. “f from detailed criticism of particular points, the whole volume clearly shows the vitality of the new ee enced for the co-ordinated study of glass manufacture from the scientific point of It is to be hoped that all branches of the British glass industry, which has received a rejuvenat- ‘ impulse from the war, will support the new ; and thus facilitate the = ~ ey’ 4 ion of science —~ = =< room altitude Plc By Sf Er Jan., Dec. O-175 -- 0-44 Feb., Nov. 0-170 0-181 O55 Mar., Oct. 0-158 0-168 0-68 Apr., Sept. O-154 0-159 O74 May, Aug. 0-145 0-154 0-79 June, July 0-144 0-153 0-79 The results of several measures of altitudes over long bases in Italy (length 23 km., difference of alti- tude 900 m.) show a range of somewhat over a metre, and indicate that better results are obtained by using the meteorological data of the lower station only than by combining those of both stations. The memoir closes with a table arranged to facilitate the applica- tion of the correction for temperature to measured alti- tudes in surveying. A. C. D. CROMMELIN. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS.? li. The Periodic Law and Radio-active Change. uM Sob: second line of advance interprets the periodic law. It. began in 1911 with the observation that the product of an a-ray change always occupied a place in the periodic table two places removed from the parent in the direction of diminishing mass, and that in subsequent changes where a rays are not expelled, the product frequently reverts in chemical character to 1 **Sulla Determinazione del Coefficiente di Rifrazione Terrestre in Base-ad Elementi Meteorologici.” By Vincenzo Reina. (Roma: R. Accademia dei Lincei, ser. vs, vol. xit.,. Fasc. ii.,.1916.) 2 Discourse delivered: at the "Royal Institution.on Friday, May. 18, by. Prof. Frederick Soddy, F.R.S. Continued from p. 418. ger 434 NATURE ‘[JuLy 26, 1917 that of the parent, though its atomic weight is reduced four units by the loss of the a particle, making the passage across the table curiously alternating. Thus the product of radium (Group II.) by an a-ray change is the emanation in the zero group, of ionium (Group IV.) radium, and so on, ‘while in the thorium series thorium (Group 1V.) produces by an q-ray change mesothorium-l (Group I1I.), which in subsequent changes in which no a rays are expelled yields radio- thorium, back in Group IV. again (‘‘Chemistry of the Radio-Elements,” p. 29, first edition, 1911). Nothing at that time could be said about B-ray changes. The products were for the most part very short-lived and im- perfectly characterised chemically, and several lacunz still existed in the series, masking the simplicity of the process. But early in 1913 the whole scheme became clear, and was pointed out first by A. S. Russell, in a slightly imperfect form, independently by K. Fajans from electrochemical evidence, and by myself in full knowledge of Fleck’s results, still for the most part unpublished, all within the same month of February. It was found that, making the assumption that uranium-X was in reality two successive products giving B rays, a prediction Fajans and Goéhring proved to be correct within a month, and a slight alteration in the order at the beginning of the uranium series, every a-ray change produced a shift of place as de- scribed, and every S-ray change a shift of one place in the opposite direction. Further, and most. signifi- cantly, when the successive members of the three dis- integration series were put in the places in the table dictated by these two rules, it was found that all the elements occupying the same place were those which had been found to be non-separable by chemical pro- cesses from one another, and from the element already occupying that place, if it was occupied, before the discovery of radio-activity. For this reason the term isotope was coined to express an element chemically non-separable from the other, the term signifying ‘‘ the same place.” : So arranged, the three series extended from uranium to thallium, and the ultimate product of each series fell into the place occupied by the element lead. The ultimate products of thorium should, because six a particles are expelled in the process, have an atomic weight twenty-four units less than the parent, or about 208. The, main ultimate. product of uranium, since eight a@ particles are expelled in this case, should have the atomic weight 206. The atomic weight of ordinary lead is 207-2, which made it appear very likely that ordinary lead was a mixture of the two isotopes, derived from uranium and thorium. The prediction follows that lead, separated from a thorium mineral, should have an atomic weight about a unit higher, and that separated from uranium minerals about-a unit lower, than the atomic weight of common lead, and in each case this has now been satisfactorily estab- lished. : The Atomic Weight of Lead from Radio-active Minerals. It should be said that Boltwood and also Holmes had, from geological evidence, both decided definitely against its being possible that lead was a product of thorium, because thorium minerals contain too little lead, in proportion to the thorium, to accord with their geo- logical ages; whereas the conclusion that lead was the ultimate product of the uranium series had been thoroughly established by geological evidence, and has been the means, in the hands of skilful investigators, of ascertaining geological ages with a degree of pre-. cision not hitherto possible. Fortunately I was not de- terred by the: non possumus, for it looks as if both conclusions are right! An explanation of this para- dox will be attempted later. In _ point of NO. 249I, VOL. 99] . thorianite, one of the richest of thorium minerals, con- fact, there are exceedingly few thorium minerals that do not contain uranium, and _ since the rate of change of ‘uranium. is about 2:6 times that of thorium, onze part of uranium is equal as a lead producer to 2:6 parts of thorium. Thus Ceylon taining 60 to 70 per cent. of ThO,, may contain 10 to 20, and even 30, per cent. of U,O,, and the lead from it may be expected to consist of very similar quantities of the two isotopes, to be, in fact, very similar to ordinary lead. JI know of only one mineral which is suitable for this test. It was discovered at the same — time as thorianite, and from the same locality, Ceylon — thorite, a hydrated silicate containing some 57 per cent. of thorium and 1 per cent. of uranium only. In the original analysis no lead was recorded, but I found it contained 0-4 per cent., which, if it were derived from uranium only, would indicate a very hoary ancestry, comparable, indeed, with the period of average life of uranium itself. On the other hand, if all the lead (1) © is of radio-active origin, (2) is stable, and (3) is derived — from both constituents as the generalisation being dis- — cussed indicated, this 0-4 per cent. of lead should con- — sist 95:5 per cent. of the thorium isotope and 4-5 per — cent. of the uranium isotope. ‘Thorite thus offered an | extremely favourable case for examination. | In preliminary experiments in conjunction with H. | Hyman, in which only a gram or less of the lead was — available, the atomic weight was found relatively to ordinary lead to be perceptibly higher, and the differ- — _ rather less than } per cent., was of the expected — order. a I was so fortunate as to secure a lot of 30 kilos of this unique mineral, which was first carefully sorted piece by piece from admixed thorianite and doubtful — specimens. From the 20 kilos of first-grade thorite the lead was separated, purified, reduced to metal, and cast in vacuo into a cylinder, and its density deter- mined, together with that of a cylinder of comn lead similarly purified and prepared. Sir Ern Rutherford’s theory of atomic structure, to be de with in the latter part of this discourse, and the whole of our knowledge as to what isotopes were, made it. appear probable that their atomic volumes, like their chemical character and spectra, should be identi and therefore that their density should be proportio to their atomic weight. The thorite lead proved to 0-26 per cent. denser than the common lead. Taki the figure 207-2 for the atomic weight of common le: the calculated atomic weight of the specimen should b 207-74: 2 The two specimens of lead were fractionally distille in vacuo, and a comparison of the atomic weights the two middle fractions made by a development of on of Stas’s methods. The lead was converted into nitrate in a quartz vessel, and then into chloride by a current of hydrogen chloride, in which it was heated at gradu- ally increasing temperature to constant weight. Only single determinations have been done, and they gave the values 207-20 for ordinary lead, and 207-694 for the thorite lead, figures that are in the ratio of 100 to 100-24. This therefore favoured the conclusiot that the atomic volume of isotopes is constant. 4 At the request of Mr. Lawson, interned in Austna, and continuing his researches at the Radium Institu under Prof. Stefan Meyer, the first fraction of the distilled thorite lead was sent him, so that the wo could be checked. He reports that Prof. Hénigschmic has carried through an atomic weight determination by the silver method, obtaining the value 207-77 +0-014 as the mean of eight determinations. Hence the con clusion that the atomic weight of lead derived fron thorite is higher than that:of common lead has beer put ‘beyond reasonable doubt. © Sam Practically simultaneously with the-first announce. ~<) See nisi as ee JuLy 26, 191 7 | NATURE 435 ment of these results for thorium lead, a series of investigations was published on the atomic weight of Jead from uranium minerals by T. W. Richards and : tors at Harvard, Maurice Curie in Paris, and igschmid and collaborators in Vienna, which show that the atomic weight is lower than that of qi - lead. The lowest result hitherto — ob- ed is ar ap Me by Hénigschmid and Mlle. Horovitz, for the lead from the very pure crystallised pitch- bler from Morogoro (German East Africa), whilst Richards and Wadsworth obtained 206-085 for a care- - selected specimen of Norwegian cleveite. erous other results have been obtained, as, for example, 206-405 for lead from Joachimsthal pitch- , 206-82 for lead from Ceylon thorianite, 207-08 lead from monazite, the two latter being mixed ‘uranium and thorium minerals. But the essential pro- ‘portion between the two elements has not, unfortunately, sen determined. Richards and Wadsworth have also mined the density of their uranium lead, and in wy case they have been able to confirm the conclu- mn that the atomic volume of isotopes is constant, > uranium lead being as much lighter as its atomic cht is smaller than common lead. Many careful sations of the spectra of these varieties of lead that the spectrum is absolutely the same so as can be seen. ; =: Thorium and Ionium. second quite independent case of a difference in weight between isotopes has been established. concerns the isotopes thorium and ionium, and it is anected in an important way with the researches which, on two previous occasions, I have given account here, the researches on the growth of m from uranium which have been in progress for fourteen years. It is the intervention of am with its very long period of life which has > the experimenta! proof of the production of um from uranium such a long piece of work. isly only negative results were available. One d only say from the smallness of the expected growth of radium that the period of average life of nium must be at least 100,000 years, forty times rer than that of radium, and, therefore, that there be at least forty times as much ionium by nt as radium in uranium minerals, or at least grams per tooo kilos of uranium. Since then 4 Measurements carried out by Miss Hitchins year have shown definitely for the first time a growth of radium from uranium in the largest reparation, containing 3 kilos of uranium, and this rowth, as theory requires, is proceeding according to jare of the time. In three years it amounted to —** grams of radium, and in six years to just four this quantity. From this result it was con- i that the previous estimate of 100,000 years for ny riod of ionium, though still of the nature of a minimum rather than a maximum, was very near to _ Joachimsthal pitchblende, the Austrian source of _fadium, contains only an infinitesimal proportion of horium. An ionium preparation, separated by Auer m Welsbach from 30 tons-of this mineral, since*no rium was added during the process, was an ex- mely concentrated ionium preparation. The atomic ght of ionium—calculated by adding to the atomic oht of its product, radium, four for the a particle elled in the change—is 230, whereas that of m, its isotope, is slightly above 232. The ques- tion was whether the ionium-thorium preparation ould contain enough ionium to show the difference. Onigschmid and Mile. Horovitz have made a special ‘amination of the point, first re-determining as accu- NO. 2491, VOL. 99] rately as possible the atomic weight of thorium, and then that of the thorium-ionium preparation from pitchblende. They found 232-12 for the atomic weight of thorium, and by the same method 231-51 for that of. the ioniuni-thorium. A very careful and complete examination of the spectra of the two materials showed for both absolutely the same spectrum and a complete absence of impurities. If the atomic weight of ionium is 230, the ionium- thorium preparation must, from its atomic weight, contain 30 per cent. of ionium and 7o per cent. of thorium by weight. Prof. Meyer has made a com- parison of the number of a particles given per second by this preparation with that given by pure radium, and found it to be in the ratio of 1 to 200. If 30 per cent. is ionium, the activity of pure ionium would be one-sixtieth of that of pure radium, and its period some sixty times greater, or 150,000 years. This confirms in a very satisfactory manner our direct estimate of 100,000 years aS a minimum, and incidentally raises rather an interesting question. ; My direct estimate involves directly the period of uranium itself, and if the value accepted for this is too high, that for the ionium will be correspondingly too low. Now, on May 11 Prof. Joly was bringing before you, I believe, some of his exceedingly in- teresting work on pleochroic halos, from which he has grounds for the conclusion that the accepted period of uranium may be too long. ; But since I obtained, for the period of ionium, a minimum value two-thirds of that estimated by Meyer from the atomic weight, it is difficult to believe that the accepted period of uranium can have been over- estimated by more than 50 per cent. of the real period. The matter could be pushed to a further conclusion if it were found possible to estimate the percentage of thorium in the thorium-ionium preparation, a piece of work that ought not to be beyond the resources of radio-chemical analysis. This would then constitute a check on the period of uranium as well as on that of ionium. Such a direct check would be of consider- able importance in the determination of geological ages. ; The period of ionium enables us to _ calcu- late the ratio between the weights of ionium. and uranium in pitchblende as 17-4 to 10°, and the doctrine of the non-separability of isotopes leads directly to the ratio between the thorium and uranium in the mineral as 41-7 to 10°. — This. quantity of thorium is unfortunately too small for direct estimation. Otherwise it would be possible to. devise a very strict test of the degree of non- ~ ability. As it is, the work is sufficiently convincing. Thirty tons of a mineral containing a majority of the known elements in detectable amount, in the hands of one whose researches in the most difficult field of chemical separation are world-renowned, yield a pre- paration of the order of one-millionth of the weight of the mineral, which cannot be distinguished from pure thorium in its chemical character. Anyone could tell in the dark that it was not pure thorium, for its a activity is 30,000 times greater than that of thorium. This is then submitted to that particular series of purifications designed to give the purest possible thorium for an atomic weight determination, and it emerges without any separation of the ionium, but with a spectrum identical with that of a control speci- men of thorium similarly purified. The complete absence of impurities in the spectrum shows that the chemical work has been very effectively done, and the atomic weight shows that it must contain 30 per cent. by weight of the isotope ionium, a result which agrees habe its a activity and the now known period of the- atter. 436 NATURE [JuLy 26, 1917 ‘ Determinazion of Atomic Weights, The results enumerated thus prove that the atomic weight can no longer be regarded as a natural con- stant, or the chemically pure element as a homo- geneous type of matter. The latter may be, and doubtless often is, a mixture of isotopes varying in atomic weight over a small number of units, and the former then has no exact physical significance, being a mean value in which the proportions of the mixture as well as the separate atomic weights are both un- known. New ideals emerge and old ones are resusci- tated by this development. There may be, after all, a very simple numerical relation between the true atomic weights. The view that seems most probably true at present is that while hydrogen and helium may be the ultimate constituents of matter in the Proutian sense, and the atomic weights therefore approximate mul- tiples of that of hydrogen, small deviations, such as exist between the atomic weights of these two con- stituent elements themselves, may be due to the manner in which the atom is constituted, in accordance with the principle of mutual electromagnetic mass, developed by Silberstein and others. The electro- magnetic mass of two charges in juxtaposition would not be the exact sum of the masses when the charges are separated. The atomic weight of hydrogen is 1-0078 in terms of that of helium as 3-99, and that the latter is not exactly four times the former may be the expression of this effect. Harkins and Wilson have recently gone into the question with some thoroughness, and the conclusion of most interest in the present connection which appears to emerge is in favour of regarding most of the effect to occur in the formation of helium from hydrogen, and very little in subsequent aggregations of the helium. In the region of the radio-elements, where we have abundant examples of the expulsion of -helium atoms as a par- ticles, it seems as if we could almost safely neglect this effect altogether. Thus radium has the atomic weight almost exactly 226, and the ultimate product almost exactly 206, showing that in five a- and four B-ray changes the mean effect is nil, and the atomic weights are, moreover, integers in terms of oxygen as 16, or helium 4. It is true that the atomic weights of both thorium and uranium are between o-1 and 0-2 greater than exact integers, but it is difficult to be sure that this difference is: real. When, among the light elements, we come across a clear case of large departure from an integral value, such as magnesium, 24:32, and chlorine, 35-46, we may reasonably suspect the elements to be a mixture of isotopes. If this is true for chlorine, it suggests a most undesirable feature in the modern practice of determining atomic weights. More and more the one method has come to be relied upon, the preparation of the chloride of the element and the comparison . of its weight with that of the silver necessary. to com- bine with the chlorine, and with the weight of the silver chloride formed. ; Almost the only practical method, and that a very laborious and imperfect one, which may be expected to resolve a mixture of isotopes is by long-continued fractional gaseous diffusion, which is likely to be the more effective the lower the atomic weight. Assume, for example, that chlorine were a mixture of isotopes of separate atomic weights 34 and 36, or 35 and 36. The 34 isotope would diffuse some 3 per cent. faster than the 36, and the 35 some 1-5 per cent. faster. The determination of the atomic weight of chlorine in terms of that of silver has reached now such a pitch of refinement that it should be able to detect a difference in the end fractions of the atomic weight of chlorine, if chlorine or hydrogen chloride were systematically subjected to diffusion. It is extremely NO. 2491, VOL. 99] law starts from Sir Ernest Rutherford’s nuclear thee desirable that such a test of the homogeneity of this gas should be made in this way. i Clearly a change must come in this class of work. It is not of much use starting with stuff out of a bottle labelled “‘purissimum,” or “‘ garantirt,”’ and — determining to the highest possible degree of accuracy the atomic weight of an element of unknown origin. © The great pioneers in the subject, like Berzelius, were masters of the whole domain of inorganic chemistry, and knew the sources of the elements in Nature first- hand. Their successors must revert to their practice and go direct to Nature for their materials, must select them carefully with due regard to what geology teaches as to their age and his- tory, and, before carrying out a single determination, — they must analyse their actual raw materials com- — pletely, and know exactly what it is they are dealing with. Much of the work on the atomic weight of lead from mixed minerals is useless from failure to do this. Workers must rely more on the agree- — ment, or disagreement, of a great variety of results by methods and for materials as different as — possible than on the result of a single method pushed to the limit of refinement for an element pro- Visionally purified by a dealer from quite unknown materials. The preconceived notion that the results ~ must necessarily agree if the work is well done must — be replaced by a system of co-operation between the — workers of the world checking each other’s results for — the same material. A year ago anyone bold enough © to publish atomic weight determinations which were not up to the modern standards of agreement amon themselves would have been regarded:as having mi taken his vocation. If these wider ideals are pursu all the labour ‘that has been lavished in this field, a which now seems to have been so largely wasted, mi possibly bear fruit, and where the newer methods fail, — far beyond the narrow belt of elements which it is possible to watch changing, the atomic weight worker — may be able to pick up the threads of the great story. No doubt it is writ in full in the natural records pre- served by rock and mineral, and the evidence of the — atomic weights may be able to carry to a triumphant — conclusion the course of elementary evolution, which as yet only an isolated chapter has been ciphered. / The Structure of the Atom, The third line of recent advance which does m to explain the meaning of isotopes and the perio of the atom, which is an attempt to determine nature of atomic structure, which again is the neces-— sary preliminary to the understanding of the third aspect in which the elements are, or may be, complex. That uranium and thorium are built up of differe isotopes of lead, helium, and electrons is now an <« perimental fact, since they have been proved to char into these constituents. But the questions how they are built. up, and what is the nature of the non- radio-active elements, which do not undergo ) remain unsolved. Prof. Bragg showed in. 1905 that the @ par can traverse the atoms of matter in their path almost as though they were not there. So far as he could, tell—and the statement is still true of the vast majority of a particles colliding with the atoms of matter—the a particle ploughs its way straight through, pursuing” a practically rectilinear course, losing slightly in kinetic energy at each encounter with an atom until its velocity is reduced to the point at which it can no longer be detected. From that time the a@ particle became, as. it were, a messenger that could penetrate the atom, traverse regions which hitherto had -been bolted and barred from human curiosity, and on re- ~ ‘JuLy 26, 1917| NATURE 437 é could be questioned, as it was questioned tively by Rutherford, with regard to what was inside. Sir Y. J. Thomson, using the electron as the mi , had obtained valuable information as to the number of electrons in the atom, but the massive material q particle alone can disclose the material atom. It was found that though the vast majority of @ particles re-emerge from their encounters with.the atoms tically in the same direction as they started, uffering only slight hither and thither scattering due to their collisions with the electrons in the atom, a minute proportion of them suffer very large and abrupt nges of direction. Some are swung round, emerg- ing in the opposite to their original direction. The vast majority, that get through all but undeflected, have met nothing in their passage save electrons, 8000 times lighter than themselves. The few that are violently swung out of their course must have been in collision with an exceedingly massive nucleus in the atom, occupying only an insignificant fraction of its total volume. The atomic volume is the total volume swept out by systems of electrons in orbits of revolution round the nucleus, and beyond these rings or shells guarding the nucleus it is ordinarily impossible to penetrate. The Sragee is oa ps by Rutherford aS carrying a single concentra positive charge, voile and opposite to that of the sum of the Beet _ Chemical phenomena deal almost certainly with the outermost system of detachable or valency electrons alone, the loss or gain of which conditions chemical Tee eae a a -- Se in the same region, though possibly more systems of electrons than the outermost may contribute, while the X-rays and y rays seem to take their rise in a ted ring or shell around the nucleus. But Mass phenomena, all but an insignificant fraction, origi in the nucleus. _ In the original electrical theory of matter the _whole mass of the atom was attributed to electrons, of which there would have been required nearly 2000 times the atomic weight in terms of hydrogen as unity. With the more definite determination of this _ number and the realisation that ghere were only about _ half as many as the number representing the atomic _ weight, it was clear that all but an insignificant frac- tion of the mess of the atom was accounted for. In _ the nuclear hypothesis this mass is concentrated in the S peeing ly minute nucleus. The electromagnetic _ theory of inertia accounts for the greater mass if the “positive charges that make up the nucleus are very Much more concentrated than the negative charges _ which constitute the separate electrons. The experi- _ ments on scattering clearly indicated the existence of _ such a concentrated central positive charge, or nucleus. _ The mathematical consideration of the results of _ @tay scattering, obtained for a large number of _ different elements, and for different velocities of @ ray, _ ave further evidence that the number of electrons, _ and therefore the + charge on the nucleus, is about hhalf the number representing the atomic weight. But van der Broek, reviving an isolated suggestion from _a-former paper full of suggestions on the periodic _ law, which were, I think, in every other respect at - fault, pointed out that closer agreement with the theory _ would be obtained if the number of electrons in the _ atom, or.the nuclear charge, was the number of the _ place the element occupied in the periodic table. This _ 4s now called the atomic number, that of hydrogen being taken as 1, helium 2, lithium 3, and so On to the end of the table, uranium 92, as we now Know. For the light elements it is practically half _ the atomic weight, for the heavy elements rather less _than half. - I pointed out that this accorded well with the law of radio-active change that had been established to hold NO. 2491, VOL. 99} San OLA PEO eT ee Sey pe Tenet ye 2 ties i eam power. Light spectra originate probably - over the last thirteen places in the periodic table. This law might be expressed as follows :—The expul- sion of the a particle carrying two positive charges lowers the atomic number by two, while the expul- sion of the £ particle, carrying a single negative charge, increases it by one. In ignorance of van der Broek’s original suggestion, I had, in representing the generalisation, shown the last thirteen places as differing unit by unit in the number of electrons in the atom. Then followed Moseley’s all-embracing advance, showing how from the wave-lengths of the X-rays, characteristic of the elements, this conception ex- plained the whole periodic table. The square roots of the frequency of the characteristic X-rays are pro- portional to the atomic numbers. The total number of elements existing between uranium and hydrogen could thus be determined, and it was found to be ninety- two, only five of the places being vacant. The * excep- tions’’ to the periodic law, such as argon and potass- ium, nickel and cobalt, tellurium and iodine, in which an element with higher atomic weight precedes in- stead of succeeding one with lower, were confirmed by the determination of the atomic numbers in every case. From now on, this number, which represents the + charge on the nucleus rather than the atomic weight, becomes the natural constant which deter- mines chemical character, light, and X-ray spectra, and, in fact, all the properties of matter except those that depend directly on the nucleus—mass and weight on one hand, and radio-active properties on the other. What, then, were the isotopes on this scheme? Obviously they were elements with the same atomic number, the same net charge on the nucleus, but with a differently constituted nucleus. Take the very ordinary sequence in the disintegration series, one a and two 6 rays being successively expelled in any order... Two + and two — charges have been ex- pelled, the net charge of the nucleus remains the same, the chemical character and spectrum the same as those of the first parent, but the mass is reduced four units because a helium atom, or rather nucleus, has been expelled as an a particle. The mass depends on the gross number of + charges in the nucleus, chem- ical properties on the difference between the gross numbers of + and — charges. But the radio-active properties depend not only on the gross number of charges, but on the constitution of the nucleus. We can have isotopes with identity of atomic weight, as well as of chemical character, which are different in their stability and mode of breaking up. Hence we can infer that this finer degree of isotopy may also exist among the stable elements, in which case it would be completely beyond our present means to detect. But when transmutation becomes possible such a difference would be at once revealed. The case is not one entirely of academic interest, because it is probable that the reconciliation of the conflicting views of the geologists and chemists who concluded that lead was not the ultimate product of thorium, and those who by atomic weight determina- tions on the lead have shown that it is, depends probably on this point. As has long been known, thorium-C, an isotope of bismuth, disintegrates dually. For 35 per cent. of the atoms disintegrating, an @ ray is expelled, fol- lowed by a 8 ray. For the remaining 65 per cent. the 6 ray is first expelled, and is followed by the a ray. The two products are both isotopes of lead, and both have the same atomic weight, but they are not the same. More energy is expelled in the changes of the 65 per cent. fraction than in those of the 35 per cent. Unless they are both completely stable a difference of period of change is to be anticipated. The same thing is true for radium-C, though here all 438 NATURE , [JULY 26, 1917 but a very minute proportion of the atoms disintegrat- ing follow the mode followed by the 65 per cent. in the case of thorium-C. The product in this case, radium-D, which, of course, is also an isotope of lead, with atomic weight 210, is not permanently stable, though it has a fairly long period, twenty-four years. The other product is not known to change further, but then, even if it did, it is in such small quantity that it is doubtful whether the change would have been detected. But, so far as is known, it forms a stable isotope of lead of atomic weight 210, formed in the proportion of only 0-03 per cent. of the whole. Now the atomic weight evidence merely shows that one of the two isotopes of lead formed from thorium is stable enough to accumulate over geological epochs, and it does not necessarily follow that both are. | Dr. Arthur Holmes has pointed out to me that the _ analysis I gave of the Ceylon thorite leads to a curi- ously anomalous value for the age of the mineral. The quantity of thorium lead per gram of thorium is o-0062, and this, divided by the rate at which the lead is being produced, 4-72 x 10-*! grams of lead per gram of thorium per year, gives the age as 131 million years. But a Ceylon pitchblende, with uranium 72-88 per cent., and lead 4-65 per cent., and ratio of lead to uranium as 0-064, gives the age as 512 million years. Dr. Holmes regards the two minerals as likely to be of the same age, and the pitchblende to be, of all the Ceylon results, the one most trustworthy for age measurement. If we suppose that, as in the case of radium-D, the 65 per cent. isotope of lead derived from thorium is not stable, and that only the 35 per cent. isotope - accumulates, the age of the mineral would be 375 million years, which the geologists are likely to con- sider much nearer the truth. But the most in- teresting point is that, if we take the atomic weight of the lead isotope derived from uranium as 206, and that derived from thorium as 208-0, and calculate the atomic weight of the lead in Ceylon thorite, assuming it to consist entirely of uranium lead and of only the 35 per cent. isotope from thorium, we get the value 207-74, which is exactly what I found from the density, and what Prof. Hénigschmid determined (207-77) (compare NaTurRE, May 24, p. 244). The question remains: If this is what occurs, what does this unstable lead change into? If an a particle were expelled mercury would result, or if a 8 particle bismuth, two elements of which I could find no trace in the lead group separated from the whole 20 kilos of mineral. But if an @ and a B particle were both expelled, the product would be thallium, which is present in amount small, but sufficient for chemical as well as spectroscopic characterisation: If the pro- cess of disintegration does preceed as suggested, it should be possible to trace it, for this particular lead. should give a feeble specific a or 8 radiation, in addi- tion, of course, to that due to other lead isotopes. So far it has not been possible to test this. In the meantime, the explanation offered is put forward pro- visionally as beins consistent with all the known evidence. Looking for a moment, in conclusion, at the broader aspects of the new ideas of atomic structure, it seems that though a sound basis for further development has been roughed out, almost all the detail remains to be supplied. We have got to know the nucleus, but, beyond the fact that it is constituted, in heavy atoms, of nuclei of helium and electrons, nothing is known; whilst,» as regards the separate shells or rings of electrons which neutralise its charge and are supposed to surround it like the shells of an onion, we really know nothing yet at all. NO. 2491, VOL. 99] The original explanation, in terms of the elec- ; tron, of the periodicity of properties “ displayed by the elements still remains all that has been at- tempted. We may suppose that as we pass through the successive elements in the table one more electron — is added to the outermost ring for each unit increase — in the charge on the nucleus, or atomic number, and — that when a certain number, 8 in the early part of the — table, and 18 in the later, has been added, a complete new shell or ring forms, which no longer participates directly in the chemical activities of the atom. Thanks, however, to Moseley’s work, this, now, is not suffi- — ciently precise. For we know the exact number of — the elements and the various atomic riumbers at — which the remarkable changes, in the nature of the — periodicity displayed, occur. Any real knowledge in — this field will account not only for the two short initial periods, but also for the curious double periodi- — city later on,*in which the abrupt changes of pro- — perties in the neighbourhood of the zero family alter- ~ nate with the gradual changes in the neighbourhood ~ of the eighth groups. The extraordinary exception to — the principle of the whole scheme presented by the © rare-earth elements remains a complete enigma, none ~ the less impressive because, beyond them in the table, — the normal course is again resumed and continues to ~ the end. This latter, highly significant, feature of the periodic table is on: of the definite conclusions follow- ing from the chemical characttrisations of the numerous radio-elements. 7 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL © INTELLIGENCE.. Lonpon.—Mr. C. O. Blagden has been appointe do as from September 1 next to the new University readership in Malay, tenable at the School of Oriental Studies. Boe The cordial thanks of the Senate have been yoted to Sir Ratan Tata for a further donation of 14001. a year for five years in continuation of his previou benefaction for the promotion of the study of the principles and methods of preventing and relievin, destitution and poverty. This will be expended o: behalf of the Ratan Tata Department of Social Science and Administration in the London School o Economics, which will be controlled by a joint com mittee appointed partly by the Senate and partly the school. ; The foliowing doctorates in science have been ¢ ferred :—D.Sc. in Botany, Miss F. A. Mockerid an internal student, of King’s College, for a entitled “‘Some Effects of Organic Growth-promoting Substances (Auximones) on the Soil Organisms - cerned in the Nitrogen Cycle.” D.Sc. in Geolo Mr. Arthur Holmes, an internal student, of the I rial College (Royal College of Science), for a th entitled ‘‘Contributions to the Geology of Moza bique.””. D.Sc. in Mathematics, Mr. G. N. Watson, internal student, of University College, for a th entitled ‘“‘ Various Methods of Approximation, with Special Reference to Bessel Functions and Gamma Functions.”” D.Sc. in Physics, Mr. W. Wilson, an internal student, of King’s College, for a thesis en- titled ‘‘The Complete Photo-electric Emission and th Emission of Electrons from Hot Bodies2’ D.Sc, in Zoology, Miss K. M. Parker, an interna student, of University College, for a_ th entitled ‘‘ The Development of the Hypophysis Cerebri, the Pre-oral Gut, and Related Structures in the Marsu- pialia.” D.Sc. (Economics), Miss Kate Hotblack, at internal student, of the London School of Economies, for a thesis entitled ‘‘Chatham’s Colonial Policy.”- Grants have been made out of the Dixon fund for NATURE 439 e. Juty 26, $47) : the year 1917-18 as follows :—25l., Mr. Nilratan Dhar, for r on temperature coefficients of chemical reactions; 30l., Mr. H. R. Nettleton, for researches on the measurement of the Thomson effect in wires; 2ol., Dr. D. Ellis, towards the cost of publication of a yook on “Iron Bacteria’; 1ool., Mr. Birbal Sahni, to enable him to carry out botanical investigations at Cambridge. - Regulations have been adopted for the degree of 3.Sc. in horticulture for external students. appointment is announced of Mr. G. Gerald _ Sto to be professor of mechanical engineering in the Manchester School of Technology. Mr. Stoney thas had a seat on the Board of Inventions and Re- ‘Tue ‘search under Lord Fisher, and on the Engineering Committee of the Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Prospectuses of the university ‘courses in the School of Technology for the session 917-18 are now available, and provide full particulars f the work expected from students proceeding to the grees of Bachelor ef Technical Science and Master Technical Science. _. Tue report of the conference convened by the Fe Yorkers’ Educational Association, held on May 3 last in the Central Hall, Westminster, has just been published. The findings of the conference are the ‘more impressive since they represent the conclusions of a widely representative body of delegates, number- ig between 7oo and 800, not only from labour organ- isations and co-operative societies, but from educa- ional associations, teachers’ organisations, local authorities, and the universities. The resolutions call for the establishment of small and easily accessible aursery schools for the due care and nurture of young children from two years of age until six; the abolition of all exemptions from school attendance up to four- teen; the raising of the school age up to fifteen within five years, and to sixteen within three further years; the provision of maintenance allowance over the age fourteen, and the abolition of all child labour for ges during compulsory full-time attendance; the diate reduction of the size of classes to forty s, and ultimately to thirty; the establishment of quate medical inspection: and treatment of all ars and improvement in school meals; better ties for games, swimming, and open-air teaching, er with means of conveyance where children more than a mile from school. The policy of conference was declared to be the establishment a broad highway so as to ensure the highest - facilities of education to all capable scholars. To _ this end it is proposed to limit the hours: of labour _ for all young persons under eighteen years of age to ‘twenty-five hours per week, and to establish com- _ pulsory ‘part-time education for such persons of not ver than twenty hours per week. and that such ication shall be directed to the full developmert of bodies, minds, and characters of the pupils. er, it is demanded that free, full-time secondary ducation shall be provided, together with an idequate supply of scholarships to enable scholars of lity to enter a university. In order to secure the essary supply of good teachers of both sexes, it claimed that adequate salaries shall be paid and pensions provided with equal pay for equal service. Each local education authority is to be required to bmit a complete scheme for its area to the Board f Education, 75 per cent. of the total cost of which all be met from the National Exchequer, and where the conditions are inadequately fulfilled there shall e a reduced percentage. NO. 2491, VOL. 99] SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, June 18.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—J. Boussinesq: The limiting equili- brium of a sandy mass under given’ condi- tions.—C. Guwichard; Surfaces such that the La- place equation of the network formed by _ the lines of curvature is integrable.—A, Righi: The ionisation of the X-rays in a magnetic field. Earlier work by the author on the influence exerted by the magnetic field on the phenomena of discharge pointed to the existence of a new action of the field on gases tending to increase their ionisation. This effect, to which the name magneto-ionisation is given, may be explained on the assumption that the electromagnetic force acting upon a satellite electron in the atom causes a variation in the energy necessary to separate the electron from the atom. In the present paper a direct ex- perimental proof of this effect is given.—R. Bourgeois was elected a member of the section of geography and navigation in succession to the late M. Hatt, and E. Solvay a correspondant for the section of chemistry in the place of the late Sir Henry Roscoe.—G. D. Birkhoff: A generalisation of Taylor’s series.—H. Duport: The Jaw of universal attraction.—Ed. Chauvenet : The zirconyl sulphates. The six combina- tions of zirconia and sulphuric acid described in a previous paper are considered from the points of view of modes of formation and probable composition. All are represented as zirconyl salts containing the group ZrO.—J. Bougault: The action of iodine on alkalies.. A study of the oxidising powers of iodine in presence of caustic soda, sodium carbonate, and sodium bi- carbonate.—M. Guerbet: The condensation, under the action of potash, of cyclohexanol with isopropyl alcohol. The synthesis of cyclohexylisopropyl alcohol. —M. Sauger: The time of fall of a stone to the centre of the earth. The problem is cénsidered, taking into account the variation of the density of the globe with the depth. The time found is 19m. 15s.; on the assumption of a density equal to the mean density the time found is 79s. greater—L. Daniel: The preserva- tion of our oaks. The spread of the fungus causing the Blanc du Chéne is shown to be connected with the method of lopping the trees. The usual practice is a drastic lopping every seven years. This destroys the normal moisture equilibrium of the tree; the absorptive apparatus remains intact, but the reduction in the leaf surface causes the retention of an excess of moisture in the tissues, a condition favourable to the spread of the fungus. It has been proved that trees just lopped are more easily attacked than those lopped the preced- ing year; the latter are more easily attacked than those trees lopped several years earlier. A modified system of lopping is proposed, but it is pointed out that State action will probably be necessary, since the interests of . the farmers and owners are opposed, and it is not likely that the cultivators will willingly change their present system of working.—Mme. Marie Phisalix : The parotid poison gland of the Colubridz.—W. Kopaczewski: Researches on the serum of Muraena helena. The serum of this species is very toxic. A dose of 0-05 c.c. is fatal to a guinea-pig, an amount corresponding to 4-19 mgr. of dry substance. 0-4 c.c. of serum killed a rabbit in four minutes, and 1-5 c.c. killed a dog (5 kilograms) in seventy minutes.—A. Krempf: A new endoglobular hematozoa in man (Haemogregarina hominis). The organism was isolated from the hypertrophied spleen of a Chinese from the neighbourhood of Tientsin. Only one case is described, but it would appear that the disease caused by this organism is common in some parts of China. 440 NATURE [JuLy 26, 1917 June Bra A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—aA. Lacroix: The transformation of some basic eruptive rocks into amphibolites.—-G, Bigourdan: The observa- tions attributed. to Prince Louis of Valois; and on the astronomer, Jacques Valois. The observations attri- buted to Prince Emmanuel of Valois (1596 to 1663) were really “due to Jacques Valois (or de Valois), whose life is only known through his correspondence. —-L. Maquenne and E. Demoussy: The influence of water and mineral matter on the germination of peas. The presence of traces jof mineral matter derived from glass favours the germination of seeds, and if it is required to study the process of germination in dis- tilled water, it is necessary to use a quartz condenser | in making the distilled water and to store the water in quartz or platinum’ vessels. Com- parative experiments, germinating peas in quartz and glass vessels, always gave a better devyelop- ment of roots in the glass than in the quartz vessels. | The magnitude of the effects observed was unexpected, and it is pointed out that in botanical and physio-— logical experiments attention must always be paid to- the possible intervention of soluble products derived from the glass.—A. Gautier; An artificial soil, nearly free from all mineral or organic material, suitable for the study of plant cultures and for the examination of the influence of various chemical manures. The medium proposed is powdered charcoal (braise de boulanger) first heated to redness, then boiled with — hydrochloric acid, and extracted with distilled water. This may advantageously replace glass powder, cotton, or sand media for botanical cultures. It has been | especially useful in studying the effects of traces of © fluorides on vegetation.—E. Ariés: The specific heats — of fluids maintained in the saturated state.—G. Julia: | Binary indeterminate conjugated forms remaining in- | variant by a group of linear substitutions.—W. Sier-_ pinski: An extension of the notion of the density of ensembles.—E. Jablonski: Contribution to the study of | the most general case of shock in a system of material points submitted to Newton’s law.—E. Belot: Some principles applicable to comparative planetography.— P. Th, Dufour : Experimental researches on the terres- trial tetrahedron and the distribution of land and sea. Globules of liquid paraffin wax are immersed in methyl alcohol of the same density as the paraffin, and carried to a_ temperature slightly above the melting point of the wax. On allowing to cool slowly, the liquid globule remains perfectly spherical. If the bath is kept in motion, so as to pro- duce a_ regular solidification, symmetrical tetra- hedral globules are obtained, with convex faces and rounded points. The effect of variations in the density of the earth’s crust on the form assumed by slow cooling is discussed in connection with these experiments.—A. Leduc: The expansion of argon and neon. Internal pressure in the monatomic gases. The . coefficient of expansion of argon between 5-47° C. and 29:07° C. is 0-003664; of neon between 11-95° C. and 31-87° C., 0-003669, with a possible error of 2 in the last figure.—P. Chevenard: An anomaly of cementite in carbon steels, annealed, tempered, or half-tempered. —J. Bougault: A new method of estimating aldehydic sugars. The method is based on the oxidation to the corresponding acid by iodine and sodium carbonate, the iodine used being determined. A small correction _ is required on account of a secondary reaction.—Ph. Glangeaud: The ancient glaciers of the Monts-Dore volcanic massif.—L. Moreau: Radiological researches” on the angle of inclination of the human heart. The angle of inclination of the normal human heart is usually given in the treatises on anatomy as between 55° and 60°. One hundred subjects examined by a radiological method gave a figure which, in 74 per NO. 2491, VOL. 99] Books Received cent. of the cases examined, was between 65° and 78°, —L. G. Seurat ; The evolution of Maupasina Weissi.— H. Vallée and L. Bazy: The active vaccination of man — against tetanus. The liquid injected consisted of a tetanotoxin neutralised with a solution of iodine in potassium iodide. Vaccinated rabbits resisted the effect of a quantity of toxin sufficient to kill 2000 kilograms of living substance. The vaccination treatment is — more especially proposed to combat latent tetanus. BOOKS RECEIVED. i. A Bibliography of Fishes. By B. Dean. Enlarged — and edited by C. R. Eastman. Vol. i. Pp. x+718. (New York : American Museum of Natural History.) Bibliography of the Published Writings of H. Fair. — field Osborn for the Years 1877-1915. Second edition. | Part i., Classified by Subject. Part ii., Chronologic. — Bibliography. Pp. 74. (New York: American Museum — of Natural History.) 4 A Chemical Sign of Life. By S. Tashiro. 142. (Chicago: University of Chicago don: Cambridge University Press.) Pp. ix Press; Lon- — 1 dollar, or 48. net. oa . Manuals of Health. I., Food. By Dr. A. Hill. Pp. 64. (London: S.P.C.K.) 9d. a a CONTENTS. After the War. By Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S. American Sylviculture : ; Manuals of Chemistry. ByJ.B.C......... Our Bookshelf ....-.. : Letters to the Editor:— Visibility of Interference Fringes and the Double Slit. —Prof, J. K..Robertson dita: Siete Relations between the Spectra of X-rays. —Dr. Jun - Ishiwara . . Meteorology and Aviation. PRS. 5; North-East Siberia. _ Kropotkin War Bread . Notes Our Astronomical Column :— . Meteors on July 19 Annuario of the Rio de Janeiro Observatory ... . Solar Prominences’ . 2° .:'5 SP 5 ts eee Fuel Research : Glass Technology 4g Plankton Research at Plymouth. ByJ.J. ....- Correction for Atmospheric Refraction in Geodetic Operations. By Dr. A. C, D. Crommelin “ 3. The, Complexity of the Chemical Elements. I] By Prof. Frederick Soddy, F.R.S.......--.+ . 43 University and Educational Intelligence ... - Societies and Academies ee © e@ © © © eee, of BOS egeer a Sie eae She Je ~ eg 18s, "Obes 0) Les Nore fe eee Laas Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltp., = ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to th Publishers. * See Editorial Communications to the Editor. Telegraphic Address: Puusis, LONDON. Telephone Number: GERRARD® 8830. NATURE 441 ‘THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1917. AMERICAN AND ANTARCTIC GEOLOGY. @) ) Geology: Physical and Historical. By Prof. Hi. F. Cleland. Pp. 718. (New York: American - Book Company.) Price 3.50 dollars. ®) British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-9. Under the Command of Sir E. H. Shackleton, C.V.O. __ Reports ‘on the _ Scientific Investigations. Geology: Vol. ii., Contributions to the Palaeon- i tology and Petrology of South Victoria Land. By W. N. Benson and others. Pp. vii+270+ plates 38. (London: W. Heinemann, 1916.) ice 3 guineas net. ROF. CLELAND’S volume is an attempt _ + to provide a summary of physical and istorical geology which shall be both interesting read and serviceable as a students’ text-book. has- many excellent features; it includes a -selected collection of 587 illustrations and, the Sake of the author’s wide reading, many ntere _facts which are new to general text- : its most valuable contribution is in e sections on vertebrate paleontology, w hich mmarise the evolution of most orders of mmals instead of referring only toa few. The count of American stratigraphy and palzogeo- graphy should be useful to British readers, and ae e convenient lists of folios of the United States Survey which illustrate various physio- hic forms should increase the educational use ee most instructive maps. - ‘main defect of the book is that the author, é owing to haste, has not always fully ed the information ‘collected, so that minor s and inconsistencies are numerous, and space metimes devoted to obsolete theories of which ent views are also given. Among the mis- s of fact are that the Zambezi flows through sp gorge above the Falls; that Australia has ) native grasses, and that its indigenous fauna : elong to the early Tertiary ; ; that the sea-urchins erienced little change in Paleozoic times (com- re e Bothriocidaris and Melonites !); that Tham- a prolifera ranged throughout the Mesozoic ; t eskers are not-usually more than a mile ag ‘In a future edition the author might alter € statement regarding Spirula (p. 531) and ar his inference from the steam-cloud of romboli (p. 339). ‘The student will pounce on many statements hich he will be quicker to compare than to 20) concile; thus, the Permian is sometimes a sub- ision of the Carboniferous, and at others an dependent system. Lava, on p. 298, is wisely stricted: to rocks which “issue from. the earth,” t the intrusive sheet which forms the Palisades the Hudson are called lava, and some mud vol- es are attributed to the action of lava at depth below the surface. Hanging valleys e aul to be proof *of glacial action on p. 163. ough elsewhere in the book glaciers are said have slight powers of erosion on smooth rock NO. 2492, VOL. 99] ER ELIE ELE TOOT: TET ee - ay as : ‘ 4GOD * wy ap aad WD surfaces, and hanging valleys are described which are due to non-glacial agencies. The author gives two comparative diagrams of a group of ridges and valleys, one with spurless walls and faceted ends, the other with serrated crests; yet the former is included as an illustration of stream erosion and the latter as mainly due to ice action. The short chapters on rocks and minerals are below the standard of the rest of the book, and students are unlikely to derive correct impressions from the statements that hornblende has “slender flat crystals,” that syenite is granite without quartz, and that diorite and gabbro consist respectively of hornblende and pyroxene with “‘felspar of any kind.” : The effort to simplify paleontology is respon- sible for the division of the Paleozoic corals into the chain corals, cup corals, and honeycomb corals —which are undefined popular terms that do not form satisfactory classificatory subdivisions. The references to authorities indicate that the work is based unduly on text-books and semi- popular works rather than on original authorities. Thus, in the accounts of the vertebrates, Hutchin- son’s “ Extinct Monsters” is repeatedly referred to, while in the summary of the evolution of the elephants no direct reference is made to Dr. Andrews, whose result$ are quoted second-hand. Some pages are devoted to early man, but there is no mention of Eoanthropus. Though Prof. Cleland’s text-book will be useful, it is not up to the usual high standard of American geological literature. (2) The second volume of the Geological Reports on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition of 1907-9 is a magnificent volume pre- pared through funds raised in part by a lecture tour ' Prof. (now Major) Edgeworth David. He has been unable, owing to his important services on the Western front, to edit the volume, a work undertaken by Sir Douglas Mawson. Prof. David has contributed a preface, in which he explains why he considers that the ice-barrier tongues from the Antarctic glaciers are afloat and do not rest on esker-like embankments built of their moraines and subglacial gravels. The volume consists of a chapter on ice struc- tures by Sir Douglas Mawson and of thirteen tech- nical studies on the geological collections brought back by the expedition. Sir Douglas Mawson’s ice studies were made on the ice of the lakes, of the sea, and of the stalactites in the ice caves; his work shows how the ice structures vary with the conditions which determine the elimination and distribution of the brine, and they throw further light on the conversion of névé into glacier ice. Mr. Chapman contributes a series of reports on the foraminifera and ostracods in mud from the floor of the Ross Sea and from various raised marine deposits on the adjacent coasts. Mr. Hedley describes the mollusca from the same marine beds, and remarks that their preservation shows that “‘their geological age is of the slightest.” Mr. Chapman establishes some new species, and reports the presence of some Arctic - species, especially Saccammina sphaerica, which A A 442 NATURE [Aucust 2, 1917 would give some support to Murray’s theory of bipolarity had not the evidence against it by the rest of the Antarctic fauna been overwhelming. He also furnishes further evidence that some aren- aceous foraminifera select the material for their shells, since Reophax spiculifera rejects sand grains and uses only sponge spicules, which it builds up into funnel-shaped chambers. Mr. Chapman’s most interesting Antarctic fossil is a Cambrian calcareous alga, which he has referred to Bornemann’s genus Epiphyton from Sardinia as a new species, E. fasciculatum. The rest of the volume consists of a series of petrologic reports by Messrs. Jensen, Allan Thom- son, Benson, Walkom, Woolnough, Skeats, and Cotton, Sir Douglas Mawson, and Miss Cohen. Dr. Jensen describes some samples of Antarctic ‘soil on which, though due to mechanical disinte- gration rather than to chemical decay, plants were found to grow when kept adequately warm. Dr. Jensen also contributes a chapter on the interest- ing alkaline rocks of Mount Erebus, and discusses the classification of the kenytes and their relations to the trachydolerites. Dr. Allan Thomson has carefully investigated some inclusions in the trachytes and kenytes, and founded for one series a new rock type, microtinite, so called as they are aggregates of plagioclase felspars. He discusses the terminology of included rock fragments, and adopts Lacroix’ s terms “homceogenous” and “‘enallogenous ” as the best yet proposed. The volume has an excellent index to both volumes. Mr. Dun’s promised bibliography of Antarctic geology has been postponed, but its early publication would be a great boon, as the subject has now a very scattered literature. RADIO-MECHANICS. Radio-dynamics: The Wireless Control of Tor- pedoes and Other Mechanisms. By B. F. Miessner. Pp. v+206. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1917.) Price gs. net. i Bers little volume deals with a subject of con- siderable interest at the present time, viz. the control of torpedoes or other vessels of war by means of electromagnetic waves. The author has, however, unnecessarily increased the bulk of his book by the introduction of a good deal of irrele- vant matter, and by space given to elementary facts-connected with wireless telegraphy which might quite well have been taken as familiar to any reader likely to be interested in it. Moreover, he has rather overestimated the importance of the early work of some American investigators, such as Dolbear and Tesla, and done insufficient justice to that of European workers, such as Marconi, Fleming, Lodge, Muirhead, E. Wilson, and others. Too much space is given to the descrip- tion of methods of communication, such as those of earth conduction, ultra-violet light, and infra- red rays, which have never become practically useful. The proper discussion of apparatus for the con- trol of mechanism at a distance by means of electromagnetic waves does not begin until chap. AID Aan EAT! cp appliances, such as Marconi’s magnetic detector, xi., p. 78, of the book, and even then the treat- ment is of a rather sketchy character. The essen- tial principles involved are quite easy to under- stand. A torpedo or other vessel to be directed must have on it some source of motive power such as storage cells, compressed air, or a petrol motor. This power drives the screw propeller and moves the vessel. Also the same source of power is used to put the helm to port or starboard or straight. We have then to set in motion some ~ motor or gearing which starts or stops the driving power, or engages or changes the mechanism for — steering. The boat is, therefore, provided with a mast carrying an aerial wire or antenna, by means of which electromagnetic waves. sent out — from a shore station are absorbed. The feeble electric currents thus set up in the aerial wire are — utilised to set in motion a sensitive relay, and this — in turn has to control the power which steers or — propels the boat. Z The first difficulty i is the nature of the radiation 4 detector which is connected to the antenna. In — the early days of wireless telegraphy this was always some form of coherer, generally the © metallic-filings coherer of Branly as modified by | Marconi or Lodge. This detector is, however, rather uncertain in action and requires the addition of an automatic tapper to bring it back to the sensitive state after it has received and responded to a signal. Hence of late years it has been entirely ousted as a wave detector by more certain the Fleming vacuum valve, or some form of crystal detector. These modern detectors operate with or control such small alternating currents that they cannot with certainty set in action any electro- magnetic relay capable of _— used on board 4 small vessel at sea. a the mechanism of radio-directed vessels is th selection of a suitable wave detector and of a relay. The author found that a form of Lodge Muirhead self-acting coherer, called the steel wheel coherer, was a useful one, and he cor structed a suitable relay by modifying a type of movable-coil galvanometer. Even when suc arrangements are perfected so that the sendin; out of electromagnetic waves which impinge 01 the torpedo aerial can be made to steer it by settin in action some mechanism which throws over th rudder to one side or the other, there still remai the difficulty of rendering the radio-receiv immune to vagrant electric waves or to intention: attempts to mis-steer the boat on the part of 4 enemy. The reader will find in chap. xiv. an accousil the work done in attempts to develop a radi steered torpedo at the laboratory‘ of Mr. Je dt Hays Hammond, jun. In chaps. xv. and xvi. t difficulties connected with control and interferent are discussed. . Although small vessels have been controlled this manner by electromagnetic waves up to a d tance of ten miles or rather more, the practic problem of certain control cannot be said to ha’ been solved. The present book deals, therefor Avucust ‘2, 1917] NATURE 443 _ with an experimental stage of the subject, which may, however, have considerable possibilities of _ actual utility in warfare. _ In any: future edition of his book the author _ would be well advised to cut out all unessential matter. He is not a safe guide on points of history or priority in relation to radio-telegraphic invention. His statement on p. 32 as to “later -improvements’’ is absurdly inaccurate. On pp. 105 and. 106 he misspells the name of Prof. E. ranly, the inventor of the metallic-filings coherer. i. p- 173 he gives exclusive credit for the vacuum valve detector to Lee de Forest, apparently in entire ignorance that the Court of Appeals in the United States has confirmed Judge Mayer’s deci- sion that the de Forest audion is an infringement the Fleming oscillation valve. He is also emingly unaware that the so-called Dolbear stem of wireless telegraphy was never operative. spite of the fact that there is a free use of hotographs of apparatus which are insufficiently escribed in the text, the reader who is desirous of learning what can be done in the radio-control of perpedioes will find a good deal of suggestive search described in this little book. J. A. F. THE ACTION OF ENZYMES. ie Method of Enzyme Action: By Dr. J. Beatty. With Introduction by Prof. E. H. Starling. Pp. ix+143. (London: J. and A. _ Churchill, 1917.) Price 5s. “WO-THIRDS of this book is devoted to an excellently clear and concise account of the cts and theories to be found in the books named a the preface, so far as they are connected with the action of enzymes. What is new, and the shief object of the book, is the surgestion of a hypothesis of enzyme action. The details can ge adequately grasped only from the full descrip- mn. It is based on two assumptions: (1) the (2) the loosening of internal bonds in one or of the combining molecules as a result.of union, It is held that the action of all enzymes be reduced to the combination with H and Tadicles derived from water. These radicles “activated ” by the power possessed by an nzyme of “attracting ’’ onc or the other. is a general or unspecific property, but each me particular substrate. The author will, no ubt, admit that considerable further explana- is required as to the means by which the tivation is effected, and criticism is difficult elf and of the way in which it js united to other atoms. ” The hypothesis deserves to be kept in mind as e knowledge is gained of the action and the te of enzymes. At present it is not easy to rine ways of putting it to experimental test. ed, it must not be forgotten that the fuada- tal assumptions are not universally accepted. ‘present writer is inclined to think that the NO. 2492, VOL. 99] & me has also a specific power of adsorbing | the author has been well advised. to do this. | and Hematology ”’ > i *“V* 90ssibility of “combination ’’ between molecules, | 4 most useful book for the practitioner and >? use of the word “combination,’’ although very common, in speaking of the union between mole- cules and even of adsorption, is apt to lead to an obscuring of the great, salient facts of true chemi- cal union. There are, as it seems, various stages of “‘combination,’’ leading from adsorption, through molecular compounds, to cases where the change of properties is of the most striking kind. It is somewhat unfortunate that the new hypothesis appears to involve the explanation of all catalytic action by the formation of inter- mediate compounds. This has been shown actually to take place in one case alone of heterogeneous catalysis, and since the compounds are only supposed to exist momentarily, it seems somewhat hopeless to expect a proof or disproof of their existence. The possibility of represent- ing a reaction. by a chemical equation does not necessarily show that it takes place in that way. The division of catalysts into inorganic and enzymes would be better replaced by that into homogeneous and heterogeneous, the latter to include enzymes: There are more differences between catalysis in homogeneous and heteroze- | neous systems than between inorganic heteroge- neous catalysts and enzymes. In fact, more knowledge of the mechanism of heterogeneous catalysis is greatly to be desired. In future developments of his hypothesis the author might also find it of advantage to consider it more fully in the light of the doctrines of energetics. W. M:. B. OUR BOOKSHELF. Bacteriology and Haematology for Practitioners. By Dr. W. D’Este’ Emery. Fifth edition. _Pp. xiii+plates xi+pp. 310. (London: H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price gs. net. A NEw edition of Emery’s “Clinical Bacteriology is always welcome, for it is Clinical for laboratory work. The general plan has been maintained in this fifth edition, but the text has been revised, some new matter added, and some | more illustrations have been inserted. In the section dealing with syphilis the rie | McIntosh and Fildes method of performing the is Wassermann reaction has been inserted in addi- | tion to the author’s own method, and we think til more. is known a the nature of the atom | The Dreyer method of performing the agglu- tination test for typhoid fever is also described in full as well as earlier methods. Cerebrospinal fever and the recognition of the meningococcus are dealt with more fully than previously, and the examination of carriers is described. | Even now this section is none too long, and might be extended with advantage. We doubt if it is wise ever to rely on ordinary agar as a culture medium for this organism, as is suggested. Malaria is- described very briefly, and no men- tion is made that the crescents of sub-tertian fever are free in the blood-plasma and are not 444 — NATURE [AucusT 2, 1917 intra-corpuscular. We are surprised also to find no reference to amoebic dysentery; with many cases now coming from abroad the practitioner is quite likely to meet with this disease. | While pointing out these few slight blemishes, we can cordially recommend this book as on the whole a simple and reliable guide to clinical bacteriology and pathology. Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. By Dr. E. J. Russell. Third edition. Pp. viii+243. (Lon- don: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1917.) Price 6s. 6d. net. Tuis book is, as the title implies, concerned with — the relationship between soil and plant. After an introductory historical account of the subject the author describes the constitution of the soil and the various factors of plant.growth. In the development of these topics and of the question of the relation of the plant to its soil environment, the reader is kept constantly in touch with the' best original work at home and abroad. The author has made numerous additions in his third edition, and has considerably expanded those portions treating of the biological conditions in soils. He has also added a chapter on the colloidal properties of the soil, in which he brings — the reader abreast of the recent researches and — disputes of Continental workers, as well as the — latest Rothamsted work on the interaction of | dilute acids and soil colloids. It is superfluous to say that the book is well. written. There is an ample bibliography, which © should be invaluable to the investigator in any branch of the subject. cae The study of the rejlationship between soil and — plant is exceedingly complex. Progress can only — be made by studying the soil in every aspect of importance to the plant. It is a pity that so much | labour should have been expended during past years in haphazard manurial trials, designed to - instruct the farmer, but yielding generally a scanty harvest of accurate information. Soil | investigators owe a debt to Dr. Russell and his predecessors at Rothamsted for enlarging the study of the soil into a respectable field of scientific activity. G. W. RosInson. Lezioni di Antropologia. By Prof. Fabio Frassetto. — Vol. iii. Pp. xiii+ 422. (Bologna: Mareggiani, 1917.) Price 20 lire. In the thirteen lectures contained in this volume Prof. Frassetto covers that part of his course which is devoted to the limbs—their evolution, development, and morphology. In his lectures dealing with the methods which are to be applied to the measurement of bones and to the exact estimate of their anthropological characters he has introduced much that is new and valuable. All through these lectures is reflected that spirit of mutual understanding which has existed between the anatomists of Italy and England since Harvey’s time. There is no better summary of the contri- butions which British anatomists have made to physical anthropology than is to be found in these clearly written and excellent lectures by Prof, | of generation of energy inside the star. For pr Frassetto. 5 Wad NO. 2492, VOL. 99] 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 Radiation of the Stars. I aM sorry that the only reply I can make to Proi. Eddington’s remarks in Narure of July 5*is that his ~ amended equation seems to me neither to be true nor — to lead to his supposed laws. But perhaps 1 may be — permitted to offer a few remarks on the general former the Helmholtz contraction is by far the most _ powerful source of energy; the contraction of Our sun from a state. of infinite rarity would provide energ for about 20,000,000 years of radiation at the prese rate. a An upper limit to the copy of electrical sources can be calculated in a way I have not seen elsewhere. Our sun’s mass is 2x 10** grm., its radiation ab 4x 108% ergs per second. Thus to radiate for 20,000, years (or, say, 7X10'* sec.) at its present rate, ea gram of matter must provide on the average 14x 10™ ergs of energy. A gram of matter contains 3 x 10% negative electrons, so that the average electron must provide 4-7x 10-° ergs of energy, corresponding to a fall through a potential difference of 10 electrostatic units, or 3000 volts. This is the energy of falling from infinity to a distance of only 47x 10-*° cm. fron a nucleus ioe, and so is probably much greater thar any energy actually available from changes of elec trical structure; it is, of course, enormously greate’ than any known ionisation potentials. a It accordingly looks as though the Helmholtz con traction will provide much more energy than am other source, and we must apparently odjust views to the time-scale set by the contraction If this.is accepted, it will be obvious that the cale lation of stellar temperatures and emissions of ener; cannot be a steady-state problem at all. I do not s how, in any case whatsoever, any new knowledge ca be-gained from calculations which assume the star 1 be in a steady state, for the calculated rate of emissit 49 can come to nothing but the previously assumed ra gress to be made, this big and difficult problem mu I think, be attacked on dynamical, and not on statitd lines. == July 7. I nope I may state my grounds for disbelief — Prof. Eddington’s results more clearly. The resu are readily combined in the one result that the tot emission depends only on M, and varies as M. f Eddington claims to obtain this result in two waj In his original paper he assumes (M.N., .vol. Ixxvi p- 20) a rate of generation 47Me, and after mu calculation obtains a result which, on introducing 1 omitted constants, reduces (l.c. p. 29, equations (2 and (25)) to exactly 4mMe, proving my point. A; in Nature of June 14, Prof. Eddington claims tain a result which I do not understand, but which necessarily contradictory to the foregoing, since t emission cannot now involve ¢ at all. He apparen says :—‘‘ Tell me the mass of a star and I will 1 you its output of radiation without knowing the rate) at which energy is being generated in its interior; 4 | * _ s _ Avcust 2, 1917] NATURE 445 ean do this by assuming the star to be in a steady state.” This I cannot believe to be possible. __ Prof. Eddington now says that the star “ must settle into a state o segs & and temperature which would oduce an outward flow at the required rate.” Per- 3; but surely Prof. Eddington’s original conten- was that the rate of outward flow could not be affected by density and temperature, but depended only | . J.. H. Jeans. 4 H E Be Iam in general agreement with Mr. Jeans’s re- arks on the difficulty of obtaining a source of stellar argy more powerful than the Helmholtz contraction. may be added that there is a conceivable source, th was, I believe, once suggested by Mr. Jeans elf, viz. a gradual annihilation of matter by tive and negative electrons occasionally neutralis- one another. This would provide an almost in- ustible store of energy, but there is the grave ibjection that it affords no reason why the dense yarf stars should liberate so much less energy than ied stars of the same mass. One would have ed compression to be favourable to the process incelling of electrons. The search for an additional Store of energy is not at all encouraging; but, on | he other hand, there are important arguments against ‘short time-scale—notably Prof. Strutt’s evidence of he age of terrestrial rocks, and the time needed for the tidal evolution of the earth-moon system. have not felt myself able to combat the arguments On One side any more than on the other; accord- ngly, in the paper criticised by Mr. Jeans, the ques- jon was left entirely open. In the one place where it was necessary to consider the source of stellar nergy, I attempted to show that my formula fairly sented both the radio-activity and the contraction having regard to the necessarily approxi- mate character of the investigation. € opinions in the last paragr. of Mr. Jeans’s - seem much too sweeping. It is desirable to e them, because his disbelief in my results is nably a corollary to his rejection of the possi- of obtaining information from consideration of | y Or quasi-stationary state. If energy were erated at a fixed rate within the star, the radiation duld no doubt have to take place at the same rate; at to bring this about the star must settle into a of density and temperature which would produce ward flow of energy at the required rate. We thus a triangular equation—generation of =theoretical emission (depending on the trans- rency and temperature-distribution)= observed emis- mn (given by the effective temperature). Mr. Jeans mes that the imposed rate of generation must arily be involved in any results that are derived. at we can dispense altogether with the first mem- r, and obtain ‘“‘new knowledge” from the equation lich remains.. uly 11. aa - Be 5: potTHneses Jlia afraid we can scarcely trespass on your space sr on the detailed discussion which seems neces- in order to arrive at an understanding. In a sr about to appear in the June Monthly Notices we rearranged my- analysis in what is, I believe, bre lucid form. If Mr. Jeans finds the result still tisfactory, I hope he will renew the attack in regard to his final point, I may give a word lanation. It is true that I find that the total ition of a giant star depends only on the mass—to order of approximation. If a different rate of genera- NO. 2492, VOL. 99] . tion of energy, fixed and independent of the density, were imposed, the star could not settle permanently in the giant state. If the supply were too small the star would contract, though more slowly than on the Helmholtz theory, and ultimately attain equilibrium in the dwarf state. The ease of too large supply scarcely needs to be considered, since it involves an evolution in the reverse direction from that generally ; accepted. This may, perhaps, be regarded as addi- tional evidence of the difficulty of obtaining a long time-scale by assuming an unrecognised source of energy. A. S. EDDINGTON. Cambridge, July 17. FORESTS AND RAINFALL. 1 ee are several questions regarding the mutual relations of natural phenomena that appear at first sight so simple that the obvious answers may be received for generations as too clear to require reconsideration. One of these is the influence of forests on rainfall. It seems so natural that if a large area of bare ground is planted with trees which grow into a forest the moisture of the district will be increased by in- creasing rainfall, diminishing run-off, and, in hot countries, falling temperature, that one scarcely stops to inquire on what evidence the belief is based. Everyone must remember the vivid picture drawn in Marsh’s “Man and Nature ” of the deso- lation wrought in Palestine and other Mediter- ranean lands by desiccation consequent on the destruction of forests and abandonment of cultiva- tion. But in that work, as in most of the writ- ings on this and cognate questions, the motto of the discussion might be post hoc, ergo propter hoc. The problem has been attacked by innumerable writers in Europe and America, and we do not profess to have the mass of heterogeneous litera- ture at our finger-ends. We do, however, retain a general impression of unsatisfactoriness in the methods and results, and the impression is re- newed by the latest contribution to the subject, the Indian Forest Bulletin, No. 33. This consists of a “Note on an Inquiry by the Government of India into the Relation between Forests and Atmo- spheric and Soil Moisture in India,” prepared by Mr. M. Hill, Chief Commissioner of Forests of the Central Provinces. Mr. Hill has presented an admirable précis of what must be a large mass of official documents, and he a ds two excel- lent memoranda by Dr. Gilbert Walker, the Director-General of Observatories in India. That the good work of Mr. Hill should leave an unsatis- factory impression is not his fault, but his mis- fortune in having to deal with official reports in- stead of plain scientific data. The history of the investigation as set out in the bulletin is briefly this :— In 1906 Lord Morley, then Secretary of State for India, sent to the Viceroy a note from Dr. J. Nisbet, formerly of the Indian Forest Service, pointing out that “the relation of forests towards the mitigation of the severity of famines” had never been adequately considered. Sir William Schlich forwarded with Dr. Nisbet’s letter his 446 NATURE 7 [AuGuST. 2, 1917 opinion that an investigation of the influence of forests on rainfall would be very difficult and un- likely to lead to any definite result. Nevertheless, the Government, of India sent out to all the local Governments a request that the subject should be inquired into and all available information col- lected. In due time the local Governments sent in reports On their owrr provinces, and these are tersely summarised by Mr. Hill. with an admir- able neutrality, which nevertheless fails to conceal the fact that the reports differed widely in quality. The general result is stated officially as follows :— “After a careful examination of the replies. re- ceived from local Governments, as summarised above, and after consultation with the Director- General of Observatories, the conclusions arrived at by the Government of India were briefly that the influence of forest on rainfall was probably small, but that the denudation of the soil, owing to the destruction of forests, might, as far as India is concerned, be looked upon as an estab- lished fact; while as regards the effect of forest preservation on rainfall and the underground water supply, the papers forwarded did not pro- vide sufficient information to justify any change in the principles on which the forest policy of the Government has hitherto been based. It was re- marked that these principles were founded mainly on considerations of a directly economic character, connected with the conservation of the grazing. resources and forest produce of the country, and that the climatological considerations did not in. any way affect these well-established principles.” The Government of India forthwith sent a second series of questions to the local Governments with the view of ascertaining whether experiments might not be instituted in order to obtain fresh data. These dealt with the local differences within and without forest areas in rainfall, soil water level, and height and duration of floods. The local Governments duly prepared and sent in reports, which were considered by the Government of India in consultation with the Board of Scientific Advice, and the final decision, expressed in five para- graphs, may be summarised thus :—(1) Meteoro-. logical stations in specially. selected positions in- side and outside forest areas would probably. yield valuable results, and be taken.”’. need not be initiated, as the data would be of little value in showing forest influence. (3) Satisfactory experiments on floods could not easily be under- taken, but the belief that forests are beneficial in this respect. is confident and almost universal. (4) No material change in the forest area of any province seemed to be contemplated, but if such changes should be made the Government of India desired that local Governments should make efforts to ascertain the effect of such changes on average rainfall. (5) The system of shifting cultivation, by which large areas of forest are annually destroyed in Native States and elsewhere, should be dis- couraged. To our mind the method adopted could produce NO. 2492, VOL. 99| servants would not be diverted from the work for — “if. it be found possible .to initiate inquiries of this nature further action would (2) Observations on soil water level. no better result than it appears to have done. In a scientific problem such as was set forth, the only function of the State seems to us to be to decide that such an inquiry shall be carried out at the public expense, and that every facility for obtain- ing data shall be given by all the departments of all the Governments concerned, local and central. It should then be handed over to a competent: man of science set free from all other duties and supplied with necessary assistants. His report when complete would be authoritative and epoch- making, if not final, and incidentally his own reputation would be made or marred by his hand- — ling of the facts. The total expense would probably — bé no greater, and the labour of many public which they were trained. Dr. Gilbert Walker’s contributions on the rela- tion of forests and rainfall are given as appendices, — but are deprived of most of their scientific value — by the omission of the tables and diagrams to- which constant reference is made. These, of © course, have been published in the memoirs of the Indian Meteorological Department. Dr. Walker fully grasps the difficulty of the inquiry. He shows — that in India, as elsewhere, the annual rainfall — has a tendency to run in spells of excessive and — deficient years, and that if this fact is neglected totally false conclusions as to the influence of forest growth or destruction could easily be arrived at. He lays stress also on the short period avail- able for comparisons on account of the very un- trustworthy nature of the Indian rainfall statistics in the earlier years of the work of ‘the Meteonm : logical Department. - Dr. Walker considers that, as Blanford pointed out in 1887, “the only satisfactory evidence would be that obtained by comparing the rainfall of a district when well supplied with forests with that of the same district when the trees were very few.” In our opinion the comparison should not be that of a district A at the time ¢ with the same district at the time t’; but to compare the relation of district A to a contiguous district B at the ti ne t with the relation of A to B at time #’, where A is a district that has undergone a great change a aS regards forest covering, while B has remained um changed. The reason for this indirect comparisor is, of course, to eliminate the effect of the tw periods falling i in what Prof. H. H. Turner call different climatic chapters. Another method wouk be to determine the relation of the isohyetal line to the configuration of the land on wooded an treeless districts of similar character. As pointe out in the report on the rainfall in the Geologicz Survey’s “Water Supply Memoirs of Hampshire, the district of the New Forest shows a considet ably higher general rainfall than its elevatio above sea-level appears to suggest. - The subjet is both fascinating and important, and the tim will no doubt come when increase of accurai observations will enable the vague belief in the | beneficial influence of forests on climate to be sup>_ ported or corrected by definite meteorological evidence. Hucu Ropert MILL. — AUGUST 2, 1917| NATURE 447 INDIAN SALTPETRE.’ | operator is termed, for extracting saltpetre from HE brochure before us, issued by the Agri- | the surface layer, or calcareous portions, of the cultural Research Institute, Pusa, is the | alluvium have been frequently, although not work of the Imperial Agricultural Bacteriologist, | always accurately, described. | Mr. Hutchinson and is an interesting and valuable account of an | has studied these methods in detail, and his. obser- vations throw considerable light upon a procedure which shows little variation throughout India and is based upon the accumu- lated experience of-generations of predecessors. The supply of saltpetre is almost entirely obtained from the soil in the immediate neighbour- hood of human habitations, or of abandoned village sites where nitrogenous organic refuse, con- sisting largely of excrementitious matters of men and animals, has accumulated. The surface-soil, or chhilua, scraped to the depth of a quarter of an inch, is mixed with an equal quantity of residual earth from previous extractions, known as bhinjua, and is placed by treading into a_ circular - filter-bed, or kuthia, consisting of a mud wall and floor plastered with clay, and having a bottom layer of bamboos Fic. 1.—A’nuniat's factory... From-Bulletin No. 68, Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. "important village industry, which, as is well . and straw. Water is poured over the earth and, _ Known, has long been carried on in various dis- | percolating through the loosely compacted soil, is " tricts of India where the factors determining the _ formation of potassium nitrate, as a soil con- collected in an earthen vessel. The first runnings, or murhgn, contain most of the nitrate, mixed, of “stituent, are _ sufficiently favourable. These factors, as _ movement of water from the sub- ‘in suitable proportion in the “aeration, and to provide for con- _ summarised by the author, are :— (1) Nitrifiable organic matter soil. _ (2) Lime. _ (3) Water, not only in suffi- cient amount for nitrification, but also distributed in the soil in ‘such “a way as not to interfere with “tinual capillary rise to the sur- face. (4) Soil of such a texture as to Tallow of continuous upward ozoil to the surface. (5) Climate ensuring a provi- sion of adequate moisture and “temperature during part of the year and complete, or nearly complete, absence of rainfall, : coupled with low humidity during Fic. 2.—Treading the earth into the 4uthia for extraction. From Bulletin No. 68, Agricultural “a sufficiently long period to en- Research Insthute; Pusa. ‘sure the capillary rise of subsoil "Water consequent on rapid surface evapora- | course, with a greater or less quantity of common tion. | salt. The solution is concentrated to the crystal- The methods employed by the nuniah, as the | lising point by boiling in an open pan over a fire 11 “Saltpetre : Its Origin and Extraction in India.” By C. M. Hu itchinson. | of dead bamboo leaves, the ashes of which, being Bulletin No. 68 of the ‘Agricultural Research ‘Institute, Pusa. (Calcutta: ich in p S Meets One sa. | rich in potash, are ‘added to the extracted earth, or NO. 2492, VOL. 99} 445 NATURE [AuGuUST 2, 1917 bhinjua, to be mixed afterwards with fresh chhilua. The numah seldom or never attempts to separate the mixed salts, as this is forbidden to him by the Salt Department. The crude product is sold, usually through a middleman, to the refiner, who works under Government supervision. The restrictions of the Indian Salt Department, according to Mr. Hutchinson, undoubtedly hamper the operations of the nwniah, who has no induce- ment to improve his methods so'as to turn out a better article. The whole process as at present carried on is essentially wasteful and uneconomical, and might be greatly improved in the absence of official interference. The conditions for the most economical production of saltpetre are well under- |. stood by the nuniah, and it is to be regretted that: he should not be encouraged to make full use SOF. his knowledge and experience. The Bulletin is an important contribution to an interesting process. of manufacture based primarily upon bacteriological agencies. It forms an ex- cellent example of a purely empirical method which has been elaborated by the accumulated experience of centuries, but the rationale of which | has only been made clear by modern biological science. In view of the growing scarcity of nitrates and of their increasing importance in the | arts, especially in agriculture, it is to be hoped that the Indian Government will neglect no oppor- tunity of conserving .and extending an industry which is peculiarly well adapted to Indian condi- tions. T. E. THorpE. THE PROMOTION OF TECHNICAL OPTICS. Wee long-delayed steps which—as announced in NaturE of May 24 (p. 257) and June 14 (p. 317)—have been taken by the Government and the London County Council in concert for estab- lishing the study of optics and of the manufac- ture of optical appliances upon a proper footing in this country, have given great satisfaction to all who are in a position to appreciate the importance of that measure. That the turning of this new leaf should be among the earliest consequences of the war is a fact both of in- trinsic importance and of good augury. importance of properly organised manufactures of optical glass and of optical instruments has been manifest, and has been pressed upon the Government with great weight of expert authority by the British Science Guild and other bodies for many years past. But in the days before the war, when the optimist was accounted the best as well as the pleasantest of counsellors, it was impossible to secure the attention of our rulers for so modest a proposal as the establish- ment upon an adequate seale of a school of prac- tical optics. It is with something more than a sigh of relief that we find ourselves after three years of war able to record this sound decision of the British Government. For, indeed, the matter for congratulation is that there is'a British Govern- ment still in a position to act. The thought of NO. 2492, VOL. 99] The. ‘embark upon a troublesome business with 1 what range-finders mean to the British Navy, and of how narrowly we escaped being dependent upon the enemy for our supply of these essential instruments, is almost enough to make one shudder. even under the wing of a Royal Navy that has swept the sea. It chanced by the hap- piest of happy accidents that the range-finder which finds the range for our own and all the other navies was of British invention, also that the — inventor took the trouble to establish its manu- facture in this country as a private enterprise, and, by consequence, that when the war commenced we were in the best possible — position to provide both Army and Navy with ‘these important instruments. The Army can, indeed, use alternatives, but the Navy is shut up to the range-finder. Had that been a Ger- man monopoly the battle of Jutland might quite conceivably have been the end of British sea- power. Considerations such as these lead us to- place on record the sense of immense relief with which we note the new attitude of the Govern. | ment towards one of the things that matter. — The task before the new department is a one, and it is beset with many difficulties. task is chiefly educational, but it is by no n only the education of the student of optics. is here in question. Parliament, and the ¢ public to which Parliament is responsible, st d in need of education also. The facts just now alluded to concerning the supply of range-find afford one illustration, and a very striking of this necessity. A necessity of a totally ferent kind is exhibited by the conditions gover. ing the supply of optical glass. This, as — perfectly well known, has been for many past, in large measure, a monopoly of one Jen: glass manufacturer. That arrangement was. il a certain sense a good and convenient one. The Jena glasses were excellent in quality—no on could reasonably expect ‘to. better them Specialising in this line, the Jena house was able to produce them in ‘great variety, and aa in fact, list and stock many varieties of opti glass for which the market demand was in ‘siderably small. a Competitive manufacture under bene cond tions could only be wasteful manufacture, the British glass-makers took what was, the commercial point of view, the sound positi that it was not worth while to spoil a m. He for a rival which they had no chance of exploitin for their own advantage. Indeed, when it recognised that the whole world’s trade in o ptic: glass would not yield a profit that any successft stockbroker would think considerable, it is ea to understand the reluctance of business men better prospect than that of largely dest this modest prosperity and then joining scramble for the residue. How, then, are Parliament and the British na to be made aware of the technical impo € an industry which is commercially of so smé account? That is one of the problems which the new department is faced. _ AveustT 2, 1917] NATURE 449 quence growing out of the same conditions, which will, with equal insistence, demand the attention of Prof. F. G. Cheshire and his col- leagues. We have referred to the multiplicity »f the varieties of optical glass to which the ad. This is, on the face of it, a great point in their favour; but when more narrowly con- dered it will be found to handicap them preciably. Let the matter be considered from is point of view. A manufacturer develops by vand error a very successful optical instru- a field-glass, for example. He uses a lar combination of optical glasses in its ial properties in respect of refraction and jon of these particular glasses. So long of his manufacture. It is a question of of J But the time may come . particular variety of eptical glass upon e relies is no donger available, or not in the required quantities. What can then? Speaking in general terms, he can lo nothing. The practical optician cannot m chow to substitute staple glasses for the varieties which he has been accustomed oy, and hence he insistently demands stomed supplies. Thus the lavish "of optical glasses available to the manu- x industry has actually tended to restrict of output and to reduce adaptability. = is one of the practical questions await- ution by means of laboratory research. acal class industry is to be well estab- ‘this country, it must be an industry will satisfy the requirements of the manu- ing trade; if it is to be established with a of effort, those requirements must be to the narrowest limits which can suf- » work out the principle of equivalence varieties in the combination of glasses, concentrate the glass-maker’s labour, ir as is practically possible, upon the produc- 4 a few staple varieties, will be a very im- object of practically applied research. aese anstamces may serve to illustrate some i¢ less generally recognised fields for the of the new department. We have not | to the more obviously jmportant of training teachers, instructing work- icating experts, and advising manufac- ‘These may be left to speak for them- Since the limits of our space preclude anv € exposition of them in the present article. one word of congratulation we may close, lat upon the choice of a director for the dertaking. Prof. Cheshire brings to his mind not only well stored with the We have every confidence that in his 2 machinery of the new department at- the _ NO. 2492, VOL. 99] There is another problem of mo less conse- | > ; Ses _be directed to practically important ends, and . His whole design is built upon — Imperial College of ‘Science and Technology will while reserving our congratulation of him per- | Sonally, upon the sound principle which forbids | premature compliments to the warrior who is | girding on his armour, acturers of optical instruments are accus- — we congratulate the authorities who, by their choice of him for the important post which he is about to fill, have shown how large practical considerations, such as those to which we have here adverted, bulk in their view. That, at least, is as it should be. THE AEROPLANE BOMBER’S PROBLEM. Se. « problem which the bomber on board an aeroplane has to solve is more difficult than _ the corresponding problem of the bomber en board cam procure a supply of them upon the > an airship, ‘since the aeroplane must move with respect to the air to support itself, while the air- | ship may be brought to rest over the object to be bombed. The bomb-on release has a horizontal | speed equal to that of the aeroplane, and if the Tf | air were at rest and offered no resistance to the motion of the bomb through it, the path of the bomb would be a parabola with its axis vertical and its vertex at the point of release. The re- sistance of the air prolongs the time of fall of the bomb to an extent which depends on its size and weight, and may be 50 per cent. if the over- all density of the bomb is small. Any horizontal motion ef the air causes a drift of the bomb down the wind which depends on the speeds of the various layers of air through which it passes dur- ing its fall, and on the resistance the air offers to the sideways motion of the bomb through it. The dynamical equations which express the above facts have not yet been rigidly solved, but they are so closely related to the equations for high- angle fire in gunmery that the approximate methods of Col. Siacci er of Capt. Ingalls, or the recently published graphical method of Prof. Dalby, are: all applicable, when the weight, altitude, and initial horizontal speed of the bomb, | the mean speed and direction of the wind, and the resistances to downward .and ‘sideways motion of the bemb through the air are known. The aiti- tude is shown on the aneroid of the aeroplane. _ The speeds of the aeroplane with respect to the _ knowledge of his subject, ‘but also | > ; d by a wide experience of its practical | Thus the. bombing aeroplane requires to he ground and of the wind at the aeroplane are found by passing over an object with and against the wind respectively, and noting ‘how long it takes the aeroplane to pass from the vertically over- head position to one, say, 10° or 20° up-er dewn the wind from it. From the speed of the wind at the aeroplane thus found an estimate of the mean speed of the wind in the layers of air through which the bomb has to pass must be made, and this estimate can only be a rough one. With these data the bomber consults tables or curves previously prepared for the bombs to be used, which give him the bearing from the machine of the spot at which a bomb released at the moment should fall if the conditions remain unchanged. equipped with apparatus for measuring horizontal and vertical angles and times. ~ / 450 NATURE - [AucusT 2, 1917 | The description in La Nature for June 16 of the equipment of one of the large German bombing aeroplanes. made by the Gotha Wagonenfabrik and captured by the French in February shows that at that date these planes were only intended to drop bombs when moving with or against the wind, and not athwart it. The bomber sits in front of the pilot and is provided with a tele- scope about a metre long with a small magnifica- tion and a wide field of view. It is fixed in gimbals near his feet, and can be kept vertical by him with the help of a circular level, an image of the air-bubble of which is projected into the eyepiece. Below the objective an achromatic prism is placed with its refracting edge perpen- dicular to the axis of the telescope. By means of a graduated disc close to the eyepiece the prism can be rotated about. a line perpen- dicular to the axis of the telescope, so that the line of sight of the telescope continues beneath the prism at any required angle up to about 30° with the axis of the telescope. A stop-watch with its dial-close to the eyepiece enables the preliminary speed observations to be readily made. The prism can then be clamped at the proper angle for the conditions found, and on looking down the telescope the bomber sees at each instant in the middle of the image of the air bubble and in the centre of his field of view the spot on which a bomb released at that instant would drop. If the aeroplane is moving directly towards a point in the air from which a- given object can be bombed, the image of that object will move to- wards the centre of the field along a fore-and-aft line in the field. If the aeroplane is not moving directly towards the object, the observer has to rotate the telescope about a vertical axis to bring the object into the fore-and-aft line. The rotation of the instrument is recorded on a dial before the pilot, who alters the direction of flight until the observer can bring the telescope back to its normal position and the dial in front of the pilot shows no error of direction. The instrument is made by the firm of Goerz, and there is no difficulty in modifying it so that the restriction of its use to flights with or against the wind no longer holds. Whether this has been found advisable may be doubted, in view of the uncertainty which always exists as to the character of the air movements between the aero- plane and the ground. C. H. Less. NOTES. WirH reference to the paragraph which appeared in a recent issue of Nature regarding the Société de ‘Chimie Industrielle, further particulars as to the scope of the new society appeared in L’Echo du Commerce for July 20. The object of the society will be to pro- mote the science of chemistry as applied to industry. Local provincial branches will be formed which, while being self-governing, will keep in touch with the parent society at Paris. The society will institute research work with’ the view of assisting manufacturers and agriculturists. An institute and library are in contem- plation: which will contain a complete. collection of NO. 2492, VOL. 99] French and foreign periodicals devoted to industrial chemistry, and the society hopes to arrange for meet-_ ings, exhibitions, etc., to stimulate activity. A review —the first number of which is expected to be pub- — lished shortly—will keep manufacturers posted in the latest developments at home and abroad, describe in- ventions and processes, and, generally, fill a want that has been long felt in France. The first council of the society contains many names prominent in the scientific and industrial world. es For some days the firing in Flanders has been un- usually heavy, culminating in the Allied attack on Tuesday, July 31. On Saturday last, July 28, ac- cording to a message from Amsterdam, the ~ thunder of the guns reached a greater pitch of intensity than ever experienced previously. A similar © remark is made by ‘he Dover correspondent of — the Times (July 30). The firing heard in that town was almost continuous throughout the night of July 28-29, and was particularly heavy about midnight and © just before daybreak. A correspondent of the Daily © Telegraph states that, on the afternoon of July 25, — “while yet the hum of the London traffic was — dominant, the sullen boom of the guns in Flanders was © heard in many districts in South London. As the | evening advanced the sound became a low growl, un- mistakable, and practically continuous.” The sound © of the heavy firing on Tuesday was also heard dis-— tinctly in London. i THE current Quarterly Review contains an article by Dr. C. Davison on his investigation of the sound-waves of the East London explosion of January 19 last. As stated in Nature for February 1 (p, ah: the | sound-area: consists of two detached portions, The © inner sound-area is distorted in two main directions. — Towards the east-south-east it reaches Canterbury, — 48 miles, and to the north-west Welliaaboroudh ‘ 663 miles; but to the north-east and south the © boundary is only 19 or 20 miles from the source. The outer sound-area reaches from near Notting- ham, across the south of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, to, and no doubt beyond, the east coast of the latter — county. The most distant place at which the sound — was certainly heard is Stow, near Lincoln, 128 miles. — The width of the silent zone varies from. 28 miles at the western and higher end to 48 miles at the eastern — end. Speaking generally, the inner sound-area was one of single reports and the outer area one of mul-— tiple reports—two, three, and sometimes four reports — being heard in quick succession. The existence of — inaudible air-waves was manifested by the shaking | of windows and the disturbance of pheasants, and — the arrival of these waves was not, as a rule, coin-~ cident with that of the sound-waves. Within 15 og 20 miles of the source the air-waves passed after” the sound was heard, at greater distances usually before. The air-waves were not, however, confined — to the sound-areas, for their effects were noticed at sixteen places within the. silent zone, nine of them being in the narrow western portion. The sound was heard at Ipswich, which lies a few miles from the northern boundary of the silent zone, and possibly also at Uppingham and Lilford, near the western end.” It is inferred that both the inaudible air-waves and the sound-waves crossed the silent zone at moderate heights above the ground, but that the air-waves fol-— lowed a lower path than the sound-waves. : be Earty in July Mr. Erik Andersson, of Uppsala, again led to Spitsbergen a geological expedition, which | included Messrs. Adam Reuterskidld, Sven Ydén, and Karl Samuelsson. The main object was to continue ~ the investigation of the Trias and to collect saurians” and fishes. The occurrence of phosphorite at Cape -Avcust 2, 1917] NATURE 451 ordsen was to be investigated, as well as the ex- of the coal beds at Pyramid Hill and Biinsowland. stigations in the Devonian rocks are to be con- d and .their vertebrate fossils collected. A large dition of miners and mining engineers also left en about midsummer to exploit the Coal Measures Spitsbergen, and was accompanied by Dr. Anteus geologist. z Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific Industrial Research, on the recommendation of dvisory Council and at the request of the Home e, has sanctioned the appointment of a committee the following terms of reference :—*To inquire the types of breathing apparatus used in coal s, and by experiment to determine the advantages, ations, and defects of the several types of appa- , what improvements in them are possible, her it is advisable that the types used in mines d be standardised, and to collect evidence bear- n these points.”” The members of the committee s—Mr. W. Walker, Acti Chief Inspector of es under the Home Office (chairman), Dr.. J. S. ldane, and Dr. H. Briggs. Mr. A. Richardson has n appointed secretary to the committee, and Dr. H. gs has been constituted director of the inquiry. the representative meeting of the British Medical tiation held on July 26, the council reported that possible method of placing the health adminis- of the country on a sound basis was by the n of a Ministry of Health. The recommenda- f the council were as follows :—That a Ministry Health should be created to take over from s Government Departments such duties as are ned with the health of the community, and to ith those duties only; that the administrative ns of the Ministry should be carried’ out by a presided over by a Minister of Cabinet rank; = country be divided into suitable administrative under local administrative health centres consist- oo (a) of the rating authorities; (b) ucation authorities; (c) of the persons con- ~ to a scheme of health insurance (includin of labour); (d) the medical profession; (5 hospitals ; (f) dentists; (g) pharmacists; and (h) ; that the principal medical officers of each centre be two, of equal status, one representing the al side (chief clinical officer) and the other the e side of medicine (medical officer of health) ; each area, hospitals, clinics, or treatment hould be recognised or established at which ms entitled to treatment under the public scheme able to obtain institutional, consultative, or services on the recommendation of their attendant. The meeting approved of the ap- t of a Ministry of Health by a large majority. of the American Crocker Land expedition is in Science for June 29 from information by Dr. H. J. Hunt, surgeon of the expedi- ho arrived in New York on June 20 from d via Copenhagen. The expedition was at in northern Greenland when Dr. Hunt left it E December. He reports that it had enough er, the relief steamer Danmark was at North so there should be no fear of the expedition ino der to ensure the safety of the explorers, the € has been chartered and sent north under R. A. Bartlett. Dr. Hunt, in his journey to 0. 2492, VOL. 99] the Danish settlements of Greenland, had to sledge 1400 miles between December 18, 1916, and April 16 of this year. Part of the way he was accompanied by the Danish explorer, Knud Rasmussen. Eskimo were with him throughout the journey. The expedi- tion, which is under the leadership of Mr. D. B. Macmillan, reports a considerable amount of work, especially geological. Seismological observations have been taken at Etah. Tue Trematode, Schistosoma (Bilharzia) mansoni, occurs frequently in man in Venezuela; adult speci- mens of this parasite were found by Dr. Risquez (1916) during post-mortem examinations in the School of Medicine at Caracas in 20 per cent. of the cases. Drs. Iturbe and Gonzalez have recently published, from the laboratory of the former, an account (8 pp., two plates) of experiments made with the view of find- ing the intermediate host of this parasite in the neigh- bourhioed of Caracas. The four common fresh-water “snails” of that area are two species of Planorbis, an Ampullaria, and a Physa, and the first three can be infected experimentally by adding to the water in which they are living the ciliated larvze, or miracidia, of S. mansoni, but it is evident that Planorbis guadelu- pensis is the only species which naturally serves as the intermediate host of S. mansoni. The development of tlie miracidium in this Planorbis, and the formation of rediz (described as having a widely open mouth and a rudimentary gut) and cercariz, are in accord with the account by Miyairi and Suzuki of the corre- sponding stages of S. japonicum. The cercariz of S. mansont, after escaping from the infected Planorbis, can live in water for at least twenty-four hours. Ex- periments on white rats and on young rabbits and dogs showed that they acquire the parasite by the entry of cercariz by the mouth or through the skin, though the actual penetration of the skin by the cercariz was not observed. Naturally infected Plan-. orbis guadelupensis were found in six of the seven localities examined near Caracas, and of 400 specimens from one of the canals 120 proved to be infected. Two interesting and timely contributions on ex- perimental work at the South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, furnish the main features of the June issue of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture. Prof. E. S. Salmon summarises the results of several years’ experiments in potato-spraying with Bordeaux and Burgundy mixtures at the college in an article which, by the results quoted and the accompanying photo- graphs, is calculated to remove the last doubt as to the economic soundness of the practice. In each of the five years the sprayed crops produced, not only an increase in the yield of tubers ranging from one ton to five tons per acre above the yield of the unsprayed crops, but the proportion of “ware” and of sound tubers was also markedly superior. The results further indicate that spraying is only effective when applied before the appearance of the “blight,” and that the benefits of an early spraying can be sub- | stantially increased by a second spraying. Wet spray- ons to last until about August 1 this year, after | it must depend upon walrus and caribou. | Bay, a sledge journey of about 150 miles from | The Danmark, when Dr. Hunt left her, | ozen in and short of coal, but had ample stores. | ll probably get free from the ice this summer, | ing proved superior to dry spraying in the one com- parison made. Dr. J. Varcas Eyre and Mr. S. T. Parkinson con- tribute to the June issue of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture a report on an inquiry carried’ out at Wye into the possibility of conserving surplus plums by drying. The investigations cover the preliminary treatment of the fruit to facilitate drying, the relative merits and efficiency of hot-air and vacuum drying, and the final treatment of the dried product to render it more attractive. The best results and most speedy drying were obtained with the vacuum machine and at a temperature of 70° to 80° C. The most effective 452 NATURE [AuGUST 2, 1917 preliminary treatment was to expose the plums to the | — : | Instituts for 1916 has been published. appreciably reduced and a somewhat superior product — vapour of chloroform, whereby the rate of drying was obtained. A substantial improvement in the quality of the product was obtained by heating the dried © plums in a limited quantity of steam in a closed vessel for a few hours. Further articles of interest in the same issue of the Journal are an account, by Mr. G. P. Berry, of studies of pollination problems carried en in cherry orchards in Kent, and a summary .by Miss W. Brenchley of observations made at Rotham- sted on the viability of buried weed seeds. Mr. S. Hrerno, in vol. xxxix. of the Journal of the - College of Science, Tokio, has made some observations on the effect of “ringing” the stem of Cornus con-— troversa. or the cortex together with ‘the outer In these experiments either the cortex alone, © layer of wood, was removed. One of the effects of ringing is to cause a development of anthocyan in the leaves, not only above, but also below, the seat of injury. The leaves also, especially if the wood is injured, gradually lose their colour and fall earlier than normal ones. The water content of the leaves of a “ringed” tree gradually decreases, the uppermost leaves being the first to be affected. The leaves above the position of ringing contain more starch and show a much greater diastase activity and a larger content of re- ducing sugar, also an excess of oxydase and peroxy- dase. The buds of ringed trees unfold their leaves much later the next spring than do those of normal trees; on the other hand, the ringed plants flower earlier and more freely than normal ones, and produce a bigger crop of fruit. Immediately below the seat of injury there is a marked development of adventi- tious shoots. ; In the July issue of Man Sir D. Prain endeavours to decide the geographical diffusion of kava and betel. The former, an infusion of Piper methysticum, is said by Drake del Castillo to occur spontaneously and as a cultivated plant in the Society and Marquesas Islands. But it has to be kept in mind that such a plant may be spontaneous without being necessarily native, and we have no record save that of Drake as to its having been found in a wild state. It is not wild in the Sandwich Islands, and it seems to be only a cultivated plant in Fiji, while it is said not to be known in those islands which are inhabited by Papuans. The case of betel (Piper betel) is not so uncertain. It clearly came to India from the Malay Peninsula, but it is doubtful if it is a true native of Java. It is. said to be wild in Celebes and probably in the Moluccas—an interesting point, because these islands lie east of the ‘‘ Wallace Line,’’ and from the botanical point of view all east of the ‘‘ Wallace Line” is Papuasia, though it is more usual to consider Celebes. and the Moluccas as integral portions of Malaysia. The result of the inquiry is that betel is of Papuasian origin, and that its use spread thence west- ward to Malaya proper, and from there to -India; while kava is of extra-Papuasian origin, though where that origin is to be sought is far from certain. All that can be said with safety is that the probabilities point to Polynesia. In the Meteorologecal Office Circular, No. 13, atten- tion is directed to the official substitution of the names “Richmond” and ‘‘Cahirciveen” for Kew and Valen- cia ‘Observatories respectively. The auxiliary sunshine station ‘which has been called Richmond in the Monthly Weather Report will be known as Richmond Hill. It is of interest to note that Valencia Observa- tory was originally on Valencia Island, but was moved to ‘Cahirciveen in 1891. NO. 2492, VOL. 99} | meteorological, and seismological observations, made -evidence that the atmospheric Tue Jahrbuch des Norwegischen Meteorologischen This useful volume contains detailed observations at the observa- | tories of Christiania and Aas, a summary of the year’s. d and observations at twelve stations, and the yearly In monthly means of all the stations in baa g addition there is an appendix giving the pres- sure, temperature, and other readings at Green Har- bour, Spitsbergen (lat. 78° 2’ N., long. 14° 14’ E.), from September, 1915, to June, 1916, RecENT monthly and annual results of magnetical, at the Royal Alfred Observatory, Mauritius, under the directorship of A. Walter, give valuable data for the several elements of specified branches of work. Observations are brought into line with the change ‘of units now generally adopted in this and other European countries, except that for meteorological results the temperatures are given in degrees Centi- grade, and to obtain temperatures in Absolute scale 273° have to be added. This method of giving tem perature results has much in its favour, and little exception can be found provided that the thod adopted is always clearly stated. The magnetical and meteorological observations in the monthly are given for each hour, and the r, in the various elements affords material of value for the imqui A table of monthly rainfall is given for about 150 stations in the island. As 1915 closes the eighth quinquennial period of observations, the annual report gives the monthly and yearly normals of the meteoro- logical elements for forty years. Modern units are employed. Attention is directed to a marked periodicity with an interval of about eighteen and quarter years between successive maxima in certa elements, and a more detailed discussion of the fo years’ records is promised. More information methods employed would enhance the value of re and would prevent possible misunderstanding; fi instance, the table of results for forty years bears m ‘pressure observatior are uncorrected for height above sea-level, 182 ft, of that all other corrections have been applied, b the system generally adopted can be culled from par of the monthly publications. a At the meeting of the conference of delegates of 4 ‘Corresponding Societies of the British Association k im London on July 5 Mr. T. Sheppard was ast to open a discussion on the metric system, as show the need for some such scheme in the interests of @ advancement of science. Mr. Sheppard gave account of the various specimens of money scales | weights in use from early Gresk and Roman to } torian times. By far the finest collection of th money scales in the country, consisting of more t 200 varieties of boxes, now in the Hull Museum, ¥ brought together by Mr. Sheppard, with the ‘help Mr. J. F. Musham, of Selby. The lecturer dealt 9 the absurdities of the system of weights and meast illustrated, as regards money weights, by a ‘seriesy specimens from the Hull collection. A long sion ensued, which was continued on the fol day. Mr. Sheppard’s paper will ‘be printed in in the annual report of the British Association Tue Canadian Department of Mines thas iss annual report on the mineral production of Car for the year 1915, and jit is satisfactory to note in spite of the adverse conditions necessarily cré by ‘the war, the mineral industry is in a flourish condition. Although the value of the production mot reached the high record of 1973, it neverth shows an increase of 6-4 per cent. over that of ™ wt 3 ee ’ a e AvucGusT 2, 1917] NATURE 453 his increase being, however, by no means I all round.- There have been considerable de- reases in the production of such building materials ; clay, lime, sand, etc., whilst the quantities of all e metals produced, with the sole exception of silver, 10w marked increases; the increase in the output f pig-iron produced from Canadian ores amounts to y 63 per cent., and in the output of copper to 7 cent. Of non-metallic minerals, coal is still the most important, its value being returned 5 23-42 per cent. of the total value of all Canadian ineral products; the output, practically 133 million ort) tons, shows a trifling falling off from the out- ut in 1914; this decrease appears to be entirely due » shortage of labour. In this connection, attention ay be directed to Bulletin No. 14, recently issued department, on “The Coalfields and Coal In- of Eastern Canada,” which gives an excellent —historical, geological, technical, and econ- nic—of the coalfields of the — ce aeate important part that these coa s are playing oe eadkeetrial development of Canada is well out in this useful monograph. ; In the Christiania Forhand, 1907, Prof. C. Stormer ye a theoretical discussion of the motion of an round a centre of force from which a mag- nd also an electrostatic field originated, a which has also been treated by Principal in the Proc. Royal Soc. (vol. xci., A). Ina ion recently received, ‘‘Sur un Probléme relatif wement des Corpuscules Electriques dans cosmique ”’ (Christiania : Videnskabssel Rabets : 1917), Prof. Stormer gives a series of numerical ions of orbits about a magneto-electric centre. y orbits of given energy must be confined to of revolution about the magnetic axis. Dia- and photographs of these surfaces are given ision, the latter being obtained by photograph- rapid rotation of a whitened wire bent to the f the generating curve.: The title of the is somewhat misleading, for it is purely tical, and there is no discussion of the bear- = results obtained upon the problem of the of electrons in cosmic space. - paper on dieleciric losses in insulating mate- before the American Institute of Electrical s in March by Mr. C, E. Skinner, of the department of the Westinghouse Company, hed in full in the June number of the Journal Franklin Institute. The material is tested sheets or when built into the transformer in which it is used. It is subjected to ernating voltage up to 50 kilovolts at a fre- y of 25 to 60. The power absorbed by the in- or is measured by the quadrant electrometer watt- r method, the difference of potential between the e and quadrants of the electrometer depending he voltage applied to the specimen, while the of potential between the pairs of quadrants onal to the current taken by the specimen. es for the various materials given in the w that the power absorbed by the dielectric 4o the product of a constant into the nth the voltage applied. The value of n is not t from the curves it appears for a given to be nearly independent of the temperature the frequency of the alternations, while the depends on both these quantities. k on “The Action of Chemical and Physical on some Types of Scientific Glassware,” by uwood, S. English, and W. E. S. Turner, at the meeting of the Society of Glass Tech- - 2492, VOL. 99] ~ halo-sphere we must admit the effects of eight » ©ach ray penetrating a distance depending on its ear, flawless mica, viewed on the plane of cleavage, _ in correct relative proportion to the pene- | _ conformity 457 om} osition and its density. We can, accordingly, | represented by the Bragg curve of ionisation. Fig. 2 Sulate what the range of these extreme rays should | shows you this state of affairs. We assume that by adding the ordinates at any point we can find the integral or total ionisation due to all eight rays so far as they produce an €ffect at that point. The curve of total aonisation follows (Fig. 3). But even this curve does not re- present the entire conditions. It may be said to repre- sent the effects along a radius of the sphere which has been traversed by all the eight rays. ~ But ‘the radii of the sphere are, of course, diverging from the centre. The net effects which gene- | rate the halo must therefore grow weaker outwards. When we make the requisite allow- ance for _ this, nearly all the de- tail of the last curve disappears, and we are given as the theoretical structure of the halo a steadily diminishing density outwards until we reach such a distance from the centre that RaC, or ThC,— as the case may be—begins to exert its separate effects. These effects then appear as a pen- £15 umbra-like border surrounding the 14 inner darkening. I now show you, for the case of the uranium halo, this final curve of de- velopment (Fig. 4). Halos exhibiting a character in fair with the curve are not uncommon. But, as I have said above, less ex- posed halos show considerable detail. We find, in fact, that separate and individual rings are developed in the growing halo. Plainly this should not be if the- de- velopment was in accordance with the last curve. Under favourable conditions such re- calcitrant halos are met with. It is quite evident that they are out of agreement with the theoretical curve. The growth has not been one of uniform darkening outwards with the final addition of the penumbra due to RaC,. And, most contradictory iz & is) w ee ee - FR itt EGG SERS ange rll Ft a ror won : 7 age es rs ee ee be ] Sar 3 4 8 cm. Fic. 3.—Integral curve of ionisation for uranium ' . ' ' ‘ -a ' ' + . ' ‘ . x . . ' . . : ‘ 1 ‘ ' i ’ ' ‘ rl AJ ' 1 1 -- e ‘ . + . : ‘ * Ee Ss < DS 6 Crt. Fic. 4.—The integral curve modified by spreading of the rays. velocity and acting upon the mica in the manner NO. 2492, VOL. 99] - of all, we see that the effects of RaC, show themselves ‘ 458 NATURE [AucusT 2, 1917 while the inner rings are still in an early stage of development. : ; But if now we return to the first curve of develop- ment—that one which takes no account of the spread- ing of the rays—we find a scheme of development which closely coincides with the actual details as ob- served in the process of halo-growth, First, we have a solitary ring, or shell, of ionisation surrounding the nucleus. In its earlier stages it is not easy to photograph. It plainly corresponds with the first conspicuous maximum of the ionisation curve (Fig. 3). This I call the first ring. The rays from U, and U, are chiefly responsible for it. This first ring, accentuated and darkened within, is often found in a succeeding stage of development along with the earliest impression of the outermost ring of all, that due to RaC,. Next, outside the first ring, appears a very delicate and seidom-found ring, which I name the second ring. It corresponds, apparently, with the first notable excrescence on the downward slope of the curve. By the time this ring has developed, the inner region of the halo has considerably blackened up. Nor have I found this sécond ring without the presence of a third ring surrounding it, and evidently referable to the next excrescence on the curve. At this stage, too, we find that RaC, has still further registered its effects. The stage which succeeds shows the inner detail out : ‘ to the third ring obliterated in the accumulating ion- isation. There is now, therefore, a central pupil sur- f rounded by the a : third ring and out- aot * side all the border 5 - due to RaC,. A A \ yet more advanced : : stage finds the ’ third ring also 6 7 cm. ~ swallowed up in the inner darken- Fic. 5.—Integral curve for emanation halo showing position of first ring. E 6 a ; : ° | e ’ no OO FP OH “* 4 _ e--"" Snomonic projection is to place a flat board or against the sphere touching at its centre e central spot of the area to be shown, the board ng at right-angles to a line drawn from the : e of the sphere to this central spot, i.e. igential to the sphere’s surface. Now on a of paper 8 ft. square, which is as large as can be conveniently used for plotting charts, if a scale of 1 in. to the nautical mile be adopted, an of 7000 square miles can be shown, when NO. 2493, VOL. 99] — rf; Rs ee aeceiia the error of the seen distance that can be measured on the chart would not exceed 2/100 of an inch—that is, about 1oo ft. This error is’ practically of no consequence for navigational Pe: poses. On the gnomonic projection, if the chart be graduated, all the meridians are inclined and the parallels are curved, and it may be considered as a correct representation. The Mercatorial projec- tion is greatly distorted. Dr. Fowler gives representations of some charts, and in the preface to his book recommends the reader to study first his last chapter on the use of instruments, and it is certainly true that without a knowledge of mathematical instruments it is useless to study this work; but to readers un- acquainted with the use of mathematical instru- ments it is better to study some good work which treats of the subject, such as that compiled by Mr. J. F. Heather, rather than the account given by Dr. Fowler. ; Dr. Fowler’s explanation of the reason why, owing to the flattening of the earth at the poles, the miles of latitude increase in length from the equator to the pole is not because a sector of 10° with a large radius is greater than a sector of the same number of degrees with a small radius —this is true whether the globe is a sphere or spheroid—the real reason being that with a spheroid the radii which enclose a sector are of unequal length, the one nearest the pole being shorter than the one nearest the equator. Thus if the radius nearest the pole be, say, 5 miles shorter than the one nearest the equator and the length of the arc 60 minutes, we have practically a right-angle triangle with a base of 60 miles and a perpendicular of 5 miles to find the hypotenuse. The representations of the Admiralty charts given by Dr. Fowler require to be cut out of the book and spread separately on a drawing board, or flat table, before they can be.utilised. Chart i is not on the Mercatorial projection, as stated on p. 6, but on a gnomonic projection, though the difference on a chart of the scale of 4 in. to the nautical mile between the two projections is in> appreciable for such a small‘area. : Dr. Fowler gives directions as to how to graduate chart iv., on which there is neither scale nor position, but ‘states on pp. 7 and 8, though not very clearly, that the natural scale of the chart is 1/12,100 and the position of the Longships lixhthouse lat. 50° 4’ 4:1” N., long. 5° 44 43-90” W. By the natural scale he shows that by referring to Carrington’s tables he finds the chart scale to be almost exactly 6 in. to the nautical mile, and then draws a line 6 in. long and divides it into tenths, etc., and having done this gets a longitude scale by a graphic method instead of taking out the scale of longitude from Carrington’s tables, . whence he got his latitude scale. He does not apvear to be aware of the great value of the | sector in dividing lines or taking off proportional The directions on p. 8 would if the sector was under- distances from it. be much — shorter stood and used. ; BB 462 NATURE [AucustT 9, 1917 4 It would greatly facilitate the work of a student if a reference were given in the margin to the chart, which should be consulted in all cases where directions are given for plotting courses or bear- ings, ete. : On chart vi. the isobar between 28°78 and 29°09 should be 28°94, and not 28°24. Dr. Fowler omits to notice the great advantage of the ‘‘knot.” It combines a measure of a time with a measure of distance—one knot signifying one nautical mile per hour, ten knots ten nautical miles per hour. . ' MENTAL ASPECT OF SOUND. The Psychology of Sound. By Dr. H. J. Watt.. (Cambridge: At the University Pp. vii+ 241. Press, 1917.) Price tos, 6d. net. HIS volume is written by a psychologist of repute, who is a lecturer on psychology in the University of Glasgow. It is one of the most important presentations of the sense of hear- ing since the time of Helmholtz. It is true that Dr. Watt discusses hearing more from the psycho- logical than from the physiological point of view ; he is less interested in the physiological mechanism than in the mental experiences associated with hearing. Still, the author is familiar with physiological theories regarding hearing and the cochlea. In the eighth chapter he gives an ex- cellent critical account of all the physiological ' theories from Helmholtz onwards, and discards — them more or less in favour of a theory of his own, which he thinks reconciles psychologital and physiological data better than any other. His theory, briefly stated, is that the basilar membrane does not act as a resonance apparatus, but when a sound wave enters the cochlea from the stapes there are variations of pressure at points of the basilar membrane—positive and negative. pressures—positive when the pressure is increased by the stapes, negative when the pres- sure is diminished and backward; and the nega- tive pressure “dissipates itself in all directions.” It is not easy to understand the illustrative dia- gram on p. 164. There remains the doubt whether an accurate analysis can be made of motions in a space of such small dimensions as the scala inter- - media. Nor is it easy to see what is gained over the resonance theory by the resolution of motions into positive and negative pressures. Limits of space forbid giving a detailed account of many’ of the author’s views. Pitch is primarily a variation of quality, or it includes that within it. Physiologists have used the term “quality ” with a different meaning, and they prefer a “quantitative classification” of pitch. Pitch, in our view, depends on the number of pressures on the. auditory mechanism, or the duration of each pressure, and this fits in with a theory of re- sonance. Again, the word ‘‘mass,” as applied to tones, is liable to lead to confusion. ‘“ Bi-tonal mass” is a term difficult to understand; the mean- ine of tone or blending of tones is clearer if we think of the fusion of two or more waves to form NO. 2493, VOL. 99] the treatise is divided, but more care might, ¥ one. There is an important chapter on the analysis of tonal sequences,'and interesting e€x-— planations are given of experiences on this sub-~ ject. The author discusses melody and the - formation of scales. ‘‘ Intensity is not, as is often — supposed, the direct basis of auditory localisa~' tions, but only the indirect basis. It is required to~ provide a means whereby the predominance of one order over others may be attained.’’ There” must be a predominant order. This is difficult to understand. Surely it is easier to regard intensity as the result of greater or less stimulation? The author gives an admirable summary of his con clusions. His most important point is that the cochlea has few of the characters of an analytic apparatus, and thus much of the resonance theory is discounted. - oa This is undoubtedly a book on psychology, but — it will indirectly be of much service to the physio-— : logist. The physiologist has to explain how the — ear works, and he confines himself to the mechanism. The psychologist adds to th mainly by introspective methods, an attempt explain the experiences associated with heari and the feelings that arise from these. ‘Psychology — and_ physiology .are distinct, departments of science, and each must be investigated by its owr methods. The danger is to allow one province to encroach on the other. One has to remembe: also that when we listen to a tone, or a com bination of tones, as in music, we have to d not only with the cochlea, but with neural pro cesses in the brain and elsewhere. The psy gist may be able to frame theories that will ex these experiences, but neither he nor the phys gist can tell us much of the neural phenomet We do not accuse Dr. Watt of mysticism. He too learned a psychologist to fall into this erro An extensive bibliography, enumerating no few than 159 separate works, shows how he has drun deeply at the well-springs of both psychology physiology. Not a little in this book will aw reflection. There is an excellent index. — iG e ee | OUR BOOKSHELF. Cotton Spinning. By W. Scott Taggart. Vol. | Fourth edition. Pp. xxvili+462. (Londor ' Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 1 "net. i) i a Mr. Scotr Taccart’s treatise has become a st dard book of reference on cotton spinning, anu | deservedly so; the illustrations are excellent, descriptions of the various pieces of mechani are clear and adequate, and the scheme ca work is based upon the regular sequence Of movements dealt with. é oy Vol. iii. is devoted to mule and ring ning, to winding, doubling, reeling, ¢ bundling, mill planning, and humidity. It contains a chapter on “ Useful Information.” most cases attention has been given to thet tive importance of the several sections into W oe ey i — it~ 3 o 4 4 Aucust 9; for7 ft NATURE 493 ‘advantage, have been given to Nee aspect of the ‘subject. For example, fofr times as much space is devoted to. reeling, and nearly as much to bundling, as to gassing. This is not commen- surate with the relative importance of the opera- _It is when the author turns his attention from ‘Machinery to the material to be treated and after treatment that lack of clearness, loose state- nts, over-statements, and errors are found: The fer on p. 17 relating to the diameter of yarns nay be cited as‘an example of these defects. Mr. egart’s book, as a whole, is so good that it is ortunate that those parts. which deal with cotton d its behaviour during and after spinning have been revised. w to,Know the Ferns. By S. L. Bastin. Pp. viii +26. (London: Methuen and Co., eee, 917.) Price 1s. 6d. net. a1S book contains descriptions of the British erns and their allies, prefaced by an account of ferns in general and an outline of their classifica- The chapter on life-histories is well up to as is also that on fossil ferns, a group ally ignored in books of this kind. The species EGescribed without unnecessary technicalities ‘on a uniform plan; first comes an explanation if the name, then a general account of the struc- ure of the plant, followed by an indication of its 1abi itat and, in most cases, hints on its cultivation. » descriptions, written in narrative form, give ood account of the general appearance and ive characters of the various species, but heir use would have been greatly increased by iding a short key to genera to the synopsis of milies on pp. 8-12. The last two chapters with collecting, preserving, and cultivating = Ei sioxest the fern-allies there is a description _Azolla caroliniana, an American water plant, ‘hic has been naturalised and has spread with reat rapidity during recent years in this country, ut no reference is made to A. filiculoides, which is © naturalised in Britain. There are thirty-three illustrations taken from hotographs, which have not been reproduced a successfully. This book is a trustworthy and -to-date addition to the many popular accounts British ferns. . C: H. W. mistry in the Service of Man. By Prof. Alex. indlay. Second edition. Pp. xvi+272. (Lon- 2 on: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1917.) Price i ss S net. ccount of the facts and ideas of chemical science to-day has reached a public large enough to eC lire a second, edition within about a year of its iginal publication. The work was described ! Our issue of August 31, 1916, as “‘a distinct d valuable addition to the popular literature of ence’; and the encomium then passed upon t has been fully justified. A new chapter has en added on “ Fermentation and Enzyme Action,” ut otherwise the volume remains unchanged. Many works on chemistry can be followed NO. 2493, VOL. 99] » are glad that Prof. Findlay’s enlightening « with interest by lay readers, but this is one of the first rank, and it should long continue to ‘perform the useful service of stimulating attention to chemical science for its own sake as well as for the value of its achievements to man. ; CHEMISTRY AND THE WAR. A RECENT issue of Science (June 15) contains an address by Prof. J. R. Withrow, delivered at the Columbus meeting of the Ohio Academy of Science, on “The Relation of War to Chemistry in America,” which has certain features of interest for us at the present juncture. To begin with, it is a scathing. indictment of the mentality of a people that can condone and even applaud the damnable conduct of their armies and Government at home and in the hap- less countries for a time at their mercy. The nation seems to have become the willing, or at least the easily manipulated, pawn in the hands of unscrupulous statesmen. - ; We have not forgotten that it was a chemist—Ost- wald—in the early days of the war, when he was acting as a spokesman for Germany to men of science throughout the world, who was quoted, when Germany was in the flush of her initial victories over Beigium, as saying the world had outgrown the idea of freedom for little or weak peoples. The Kultur that can lead men of great mental endowments and catholicity of thought into such a mental position stands self-condemned. It affronts every instinct of charity and fair-dealing and stinks in the nostrils of right-minded men. The greater part of the address, however, is concerned with a question of more immediate prac- tical importance to chemists, namely, the influence of the war upon the progress and development of their special branch of science. Of course, it need scarcely be said that this world-wide cata-. clysm, affecting directly the most powerful and most highly developed of nations, has profoundly modified the course and trend of chemical pro- gress. But it would be untrue to affirm that it’ has stagnated or declined as a- consequence -of War. : ‘* Since,” says Prof. Withrow, “‘ war requires brains, science is of course utilised, and since the demand is inexorable, science must produce, and when_ science and engineering are producing, they grow.” It is stated that it requires three men in the shops to maintain one man in the Army and seven men for one in the Navy. It is evident therefore that it is the applied por- tions of science that are most used, and hence that grow most under war’s influence. It is common ex- perience, however, that the stretching into new. domains and the striving for new goals by applied science enrith the feeding-ground of unapplied science, and uncover fertile fields for the patient and quiet research which follows. But there can be no doubt that, whatever the future may have in store for us, in the mean- time progress’ in pure chemistry all the world over has been greatly retarded, and in proof of this Prof. Withrow points to the serious and | progressive decline in the number of Chemical 464 NATURE [AucusT 9, 1917 Abstracts. published by the American Chemical | a the ietioxts which America has made, and. is Society since the beginning of the war. | It is claimed for this publication that, as the organ of a society of some gooo members, it has for years. covered the field of chemistry more thoroughly | than any foreign journal of the kind. some 600 journals from ali parts of the world, and is therefore a sure index of the world’s chemical activity. The effect. of ‘the war on, current chemical ‘literature is plainly evident from the following figures :— Total number of abstracts oe (patents included). In 1913 - 25,971 In 1914 241338 : In 1915... si ats , 18,449 ° Inv doe id A eek 15,794 5: Certain foreign’ chemical journals have ceased. to be published since the war started, although the number is not large. Most of the French and German journals are published less frequently than in normal times, two or more numbers being contained within one cover. No important Eng-_ lish, Italian,: or Russian chemical journal has ceased publication. Eight German, - thirty-one’ French, and seven Belgian’ periodicals more or: less connected with applied chemistry no longer appear. Owing to the increased cost of paper, wages, etc., the cost of production of such as continue to be printed has greatly increased. In America, however, to judge from the cost of Chemical Abstracts, the increase has not exceeded. 10 per cent. But this was before as entrance of the United. States into the war. As regards applied chemistry war ie had two mutually antagonistic effects—one retarding, the other developing and benefiting. In the outset the war struck at all the main factors of ‘success in chemical industry, and many branches in the United States, such as petroleum refining, turpen- tine and other wood products, were hard hit. Important markets were suddenly lost, and the importation of certain éssential products ceased. Capital was, of course, at once discouraged, and stagnation inevitably set in. That the great German combines foresaw this result was evident from the manner in which, prior to the outbreak, they organised American branches of their colour works, eliminating American employees to conceal . the market and its peculiarities, and. lacing all their business in the hands of ‘‘ American citizens” of Ger- man name. Then when the U.S. Bureau of Foreign - and -Domestic Commerce attempted last September - to publish the amounts of each dye consumed in that country, they. vigorously protested that their rights as- American citizens were being infringed by encourag- ing competition. . The uncovering of this octopus to public’ gaze should ‘be’ set down to the .war’s credit. It has long been a familiar animal to many industrial chemists. The tentacles of the ‘‘ familiar animal ’’ stretch, as is- well known, even to this side of the Atlantic, and have struck deep into our industries. We may hope, in spite of Chancellor Michaelis, it is in a fair way to be exorcised. Much of Prof. Withrow’s address is concerned 2493, VOL. 99| It reviews. gives | experienced capital has been led to squander — |;years as has been accomplished in many previ a making, to free herself from the toils of the — octopus, and he utters words of warning against — the feverish and unintelligent haste with which — she thas thrown herself into the struggle. - He © a number of instances in which in- | millions of dollars on the unsuccessful plants and — futile schemes of ignorant or unscrupulous E chemical engineers. It is a “hustling” time in ~ a country of ‘‘hustle’’—with, as we are’ told, — “disastrous results to capital and grave loss of 5 confidence in chemical research.” At Dgratiete : time there has been much real The a evils mentioned are largely growing Sains” : Thee progress in industrial chemistry and ~ chemical | engineering in America ae the last: ie years. i has been wonderful. ‘** All this progress,’’ says Prof. Withrow, “ ‘is sa spite of the. war.. War,’ he holds, “could” fects us to do nothing we did not possess 4 ‘Industrial chemical tendencies during have been governed. by unusual demands for ‘from abroad in addition to war drains, heal requirements, new demands from- industries fo supplied from abroad or forced to use new me by scarcity or high prices, together with specula raising prices to unusual levels. This. resu ted in pansion of existing plants, rapid installation of | ones, hasty perfecting of new processes already slo wv ‘maturing, and the seizing of oppottunities to ~pro by high prices through erection of small plants for t production of ‘special chemical materials and thro the development of processes’ hitherto existing as 4 bilities only in the minds of chemists.” — ; As» was to be expected, this extraordin Be activity has reacted upon the sei nays chemical engineering and upon the manufac of chemical appliances and manufacturing ple and it is asserted that the progress in these de- partments has been as great during the past three decades. It is gratifying to learn that this country is fully awake to the necessity of studying the after-1 conditions of our chemical industries, as shown by Dr. Addison’s reply to a deputation of the Associa- ae of‘ British Chemical Manufacturers _whicl cently waited upon him, in which the Ministe of Reconstruction suggested the formation of a advisory committee which should co-operate wit him in considering the: problems which had h created by the large number of new factors arisi out of the war. He thought that if we did r succeed in placing some British industries on much firmer and more scientific foundation tha they were before the war, it would be very dis. creditable to us ‘all as a nation. This is un doubtedly a step in the right direction. Heaven helps:those who help themselves. Hog ever benevolent may be the intentions of a Gover ment department, success will only be assured b the intelligent initiative and firm co-operation 0 the manufacturers themselves. To attempt — shape their policy at the bidding of a bureaucrat ; would almost certainly end in disaster. | a 6 ie! Oe Teoma re ers 2 = ce AvucGusT’ 9, 1917] NATURE > 465 SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.* oS is the first of a series of papers which | the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research proposes to publish, and it is a report i i 3 4 £4 3 aa Fic. 1.—Laboratory car, Pennsylvania Railroad Company. of remarkable value and interest at the "present time. It deScribes the pro- gress made in the United States, chiefly in recent years, in the crea- tion of institutions concerned in indus- trial research, and is illustrated by eighty-five excellent photographs of buildings and the interior of labora- tories. It is pointed out ‘that in this country the chief facilities for research are in the technical Schools and univer- “Sities, though the “Tailways, steel- ‘Works, and some other in- dustries have real- Fic ised the need Of laboratories and have provided them. But | the staffs of colleges and universities, though well 1 “Industrial Research in the United States of America.” Ry A. P. M. ing. (Published for the Wepartment of. Scientific and Industrial } Research by H.M. Stationery Office.) Price 1s. net. NO. 2493, VOL. 99] G. 2.—Heat treatment laboratory, suited to carry on research in pure science, are not as a rule in touch with industry, and the amount of research required for industrial pro- gress is beyond their resources. Hence it may be conceded that “the research facilities created to such an extent during the past two years are as yet quite disproportionate to the magnitude of British industry.” This is true without the limitation to two years. What is most strik- ing about the condition of research im the United States is- the large amount of money devoted to it. There are ‘a number of manufacturing § cor- porations the annual expenditure of which on research ranges from 10,0001, to 100,000l., and there is a tendency for each large industrial firm. to establish its own research laboratory. Pennsylvania Railroad Company. ™ i. Thus the Eastman Kodak Company estab- lished a laboratory which cost 30,000l., and though its annual cost is about the same, this is only o-7 per cent. of the annual profits. The 466 NATURE ‘ [Aueust 9, I917 General Electric Company expends annually on research. 80,0001. to 100,000l., and has a labora- tory staff numbering 150. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company erected laboratories at a cost of 60,o00l. for buildings and equipment, and a locomotive testing plant at a cost of 40,o0ol, The annual maintenance cost is about 100,o001. The laboratory cost is only about, 0°6 per cent. of the value of the materials tested. Besides these private institutions there is the Bureau of Stan- dards, on which the Federal Government spent 270,000l. for buildings and equipment, and to which it gives a subvention of 120,000l. a year, The .Carnegie Institution of Washington, for encouraging investigation, research, and dis- covery, has an endowment of 4,500,000l. Fic. With regard to the very extensive laboratories of the General. Electric Company at Schenectady, N.Y., it is stated that it is “‘ generally acknowledged that the research laboratory has been an unques- tionable financial success, not only because it has solved regularly the industrial problems of the large organisation with which it is connected, but also because it has produced discoveries which the company -can turn-to advantage. Further, the research department is able to ‘pronounce authoritatively, for the benefit of capitalists, on the probabilities of success of new projects involv- ing considerations of a scientific character.’ An example of commercial research laboratories is the Electrical Testing Laboratory at New NO. 2493, VOL. 99| 3.—Locomotive testing laboratory, University of Illinois. York. This is controlled by the bond-holders of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. It has a floor area of 30,000 sq. ft. and a staff — Its primary object is lamp testing, But numbering 125. and about twenty million are tested annually. it has also provision for chemical and fuel testiny i and photomicrographic work, With regard to the universities and colleges Mr. Fleming says :—‘‘A careful consideration of the conditions in the ‘six States having the greatest manufacturing output fails to show, other than in very close co-ordination be-— tween univ érsity research and the manufacturing q But although in the report the work — isolated instances, interests.’ of universities is, we think, rather less adequately — i described than. that of industrial companies, still there is evidence that it has been of great servié especially to the engineering industry. For 1 stance, Michigan University has at Ann Arb a. tank for testing ship resistance, and researches have been an important factor in ft development of the special freight boats used ¢ the great lakes. The Illinois University has” laboratory for investigations on a full-size log motive engine. A very interesting devclnpeaane in the Uni States is the creation of research fellowships industries requiring speciai investigations. Tht at the Worcester Polytechnic, Mass., four are selected annually from the graduate class pursue research work for an engineering fi ~ >. : AUGUST 9, I9QI 7] NATURE 467 acing. two years, half the time is devoted to research and half to preparation for a professional degree. At the end of the period these students enter the research department of the firm. _ The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, attached to the University of Pittsburg, was erected by Mellon Brothers, bankers, to provide ‘manufacturers with the use of a well-equipped ‘laboratory and trained staff at less cost than the establishment of a works laboratory. Any manufacturer requiring a subject investigated can endow a fellowship for one or more years, paying from tool. to 4ool. and also the cost of any special apparatus. The building cost 50,000l., ope the equipment 16,0001. A staff of seven men of high attainments supervises the researches. The perector of the institute selects the fellows, usually nen with a doctor’s degree. . Seventy-five fellows ave been appointed in five years. . The total punt spent in salaries and maintenance is cool. a year. ‘ National Research Council has re been ppointed by the Academy of Sciences, at the est of President Wilson, to co-ordinate the entific research work of the country. The - feport, of which this is a very brief ac- ac by all interested in the industrial progress of ; gs: country. The author draws some general lusions, and suggests the establishment of an hey perial Industrial Research Laboratory, say, in » Midlands, controlled by a board esecty. com- pos ed of manufacturers. RAINFALL AND GUNFIRE. ANGOT, the eminent director of the French Meteorological Service, has made a valu- dle Fanci authoritative contribution, published in 2 Journal of the French Academy of Agriculture May, to the literature of a well-worn con- i gunfire in favour of which so many champions pr: ng up during the wet periods of 1914—16, has "eCe cently lost favour as a subject for argument, wing, no doubt, to the coincidence of the spring Rebeht of 1917 with the Allied offensive on the Vestern front; but so short is the public memory, specially for hegative evidence, that the incidence £3 in. of rain during a recent summer afternoon | North-West London has proved ‘sufficient to sinter the bone of contention. The mental atti- ‘ de of the public towards a theory of this iture is of great psychological interest : there is tle doubt that, should we experience this summer | repetition of the weather of July, 1888, when now fell in London, followed by a_ recur- of that of August, 1911, when the hermometer touched 100° F. at Greenwich, both henomena would generally be attributed to the esis i ccordingly M. Angot’s paper reaches us at an pportune moment. After dealing briefly with the Storical aspect of the question, and alluding to work of M. Le Maout—who, not content with aving established a connection between the bom- © No. 2493, VOL. 99] = at, is extremely comprehensive, and should be bardments of the Crimean War and the rainfall of India, the United States, Nicaragua, and Barbados, went on to ascribe the diurnal variation of the barometer to the striking of public clocks and the ringing of church-bells—M. Angot proceeds to consider the physical changes which could be effected by the discharge of artillery, and could at the same time be held responsible for the causa- tion, increase, or acceleration of rainfall. The first proposition is that a succession of violent explosions might result in the displacement of masses of cold air at certain heights, which, com- ing under the influence of the upper winds and encountering layers of warmer, saturated air, could give rise to precipitation which would not otherwise have occurred: in this connection the author points out that in order to obtain a rainfall of so small an order as 1 mm. (0'04 in.), even if one were to take two equal masses of saturated -air, the one at a.temperature of o° C., the other at 20° C. (an extreme case, of course), it would be necessary to effect a rapid and thorough inter- mingling of the two throughout a layer of air 6850 metres in thickness. - In M. Angot’s opinion, the mixing of layers of air may be the cause of cloud- . formation or of slight drizzle at the earth’s surface, but can never be sespaneite for considerable pre- - cipitation. In the case os the second proposition—that water-vapour resulting from chemical reaction of the explosives might take effect—it is asserted that . in order to produce the same amount of rainfall (1 mm.) as in the previous proposition the employ- ‘ment of no fewer than 21,750 tons of melinite per square mile would. be: necessitated—that, indeed, only on the supposition that all the hydrogen in the explosive became water-vapour which con- » densed immediately in its entirety - and, - ~so to speak, on the spot. In the third and last instance, the poieibilts of . electrical action being brought: into - play’ is. con- oversy. The alleged connection between rainfall | sidered in some detail: We know that- super- saturated air (i.e. air which contains more water- vapour than it normally should be able to hold for the existing temperature) is a physical. possibility, in the absence of dust-particles or other matter which may form. nuclei. for condensation. ~The necessary medium may be supplied by the action of ozone, of ultra-violet rays, by any cause, in fact, which can set up ionisation of the atmo- svhere; under this last category may be classed the detonation of high explosives, inasmuch as highly ionised gases result therefrom. The lower regions of the atmosphere, however, which alone are the seat of explosive activity on a large scale, always harbour large numbers of both ions and dust-particles, and cannot, therefore, be subject to supersaturation; while it has yet to be shown that the addition of quantities of ions or of dust- particles to a stratum of atmosphere nearly, but not quite, saturated can bring about premature con- densation. -Assuming for the moment the possi- bility of such’a hypothesis, we must consider that no outpouring of ions or _ dust-particles can do more than accelerate a precipitation which would be necessitated sooner. or later 468 . NATURE [Aucust 9, 1917 -by the progressive cooling of the air, ‘since the: -mass of water that results from the cooling of, say, a kilogram: of saturated air from 15° C. to o° C. is constant (rather. more than 5 gr.), whether or not supersaturation may have existed at the inception of the temperature-reduction: Having thus pronounced upon the theories which have been advanced to account for the alleged connection, M. Angot goes on to consider whether in reality anything has occurred that needs accounting for—whether the rainfall since the out- break of hostilities has been less inclined to observe the rules by which we endeavour to forecast its occurrence than before. Careful comparison between the daily weather-maps and the observed. rainfall figures has convinced him that it is not. He points out, very rightly, that we have been passing through a-series of wet years since 1909— a period that balances the run of dry years 1898— 1904 (1903 and 1911 were both exceptions to their groups and may be said to balance one another)— and that excess of rain in 1915 and 1916 might reasonably have been expected; that 1909 was wetter (in France) than 1915, 1910 than 1916; furthermore, that during December, 1915, an un- precedentedly wet month, relative calm prevailed over the whole front, and that in the second ten-day period of the very wet February of 1916 considerably. more rain fell (40 mm. as. against 28 mm.) than in the ten-day period, which witnessed the develop- ment of the giant German bid for Verdun. ~ ‘Similar conclusions will be reached if frequency of rain instead of amount be considered: 1910 had more rain-days ‘than 1916; 1912 and 1913 both more than 1915, when the number in France was eleven below the average. The author has found nothing ‘exceptional in the local distribution of rainfall: proximity to the firing-zone has not resulted in relatively greater totals or frequencies, while the great spring offensive of 1917 failed to interrupt the long spell of brilliant weather which accompanied it. An examination was made some months ago at the British Meteorological Office into the local distribution of -rainfall over England during the first twenty-two months of the war, the results of which afford corroborative evidence for M. Angot’s last-mentioned point. ° It was found that the greatest excess of rain over the normal figure was one of 59 per cent. on the South Yorkshire coast; that three areas in Lincolnshire and’on the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts respectively had rather more than 40 per cent. excess; but that round the North Foreland there was a slight deficit. No trace whatever of a distribution having reference to a centre over northern France was discoverable. _ M.Angot concludes with the reflection that it may be with rainfall and gunfire as it is with weather changes and the phases of the moon, that “sous _ la suggestion d’une croyance instinctive on est conduit involontairement 4 ne remarquer que les coincidences favorables et 4 s’affermir ainsi de plus en. plus dans cette croyance.’’ For those, indeed, who are cognisant of the relationship between the weather and modern warfare it is not difficult to NO. 2493, VOL. 99| ‘see the possibility of the connection, but it is a ‘connection in which the amount of gunfire var ‘ing Index in ‘an international character, and its functions should” last inversely as the amount of rain that is falling rather than one which makes the rainfall in any way dependent upon the gunfire. - rn Ra 4 . E. L. Hawke.: NOTES. ae 4 M. Pavut Or et, who is director of the International Institute of Bibliography at Brussels, has published a — long and interesting memoir in the May-June number of the Bulletin de la Société SRaceny Rome our l’Industrie Nationale on the question of -_establish- ment, in Paris, of a Central Information and Records” Office for Industry. There are already in existence a — certain number of enterprises of the kind, such as the Mois Scientifique et Industriel in France, the Engineer-— ngland, and the Repertorium der nischen Wissenschaften in Germany, but their scope limited. According to M. Otlet, the scheme should assur the collection, classification, and dissemination of all” information available, both French and foreign, whi will tend to facilitate and develop industry. A m catalogue of works on particular subjects is not alc sufficient; a bibliography should be included in scheme, so as to afford more detailed information on any desired subject. Books of all kinds, ts catalogues, descriptions of processes, journals, standard reference books of all countries, plans of machi and plant, where available, a complete set of pa specifications, prospectuses of educational estab ments, etc.—all would be collected and classified accordance with a pla definitely laid down’ before hand. Extensive card or: similar indexes would be compiled for reference, and a complete catalogue ¢ the decimal system, together with a bibliography, woul be published at definite intervals. All these works woul be available for free consultation by interested parties Authors and publishers would be invited to co-operat in order to ensure the success of the enterprise. Exist ing publications, e.g. the International Catalogue 0 Scientific Literature, would be used as the nu : the work. It is to what the author calls the of “‘documentation’’ that the Germans owe to a g extent the place they have attained in the indus and military world, although they have often empl unscrupulous means to reach their end. He sugges’ that every industrial concern should have its own i formation and records department, which should | planned on the same lines as the national estab ment, with which it should keep in touch. In cor tion with the question of patents, it was suggested the Conference of Allies held at Paris last year thi an international patent office be formed after the we to save the time and expense now required for taki out patents in various countries. An underte this nature would greatly increase the necessity Tor more elaborate—practically an international—Re and Information Office to enable all questions priority and infringement to be dealt with efficient Every phase of an important subject is reviewed this memoir of thirty pages. : ing WITH a view to the jus® apportionment .of pe due to soldiers for injuries received in the pres war, the French Government has established Paris, at the instigation of Dr. Camus, a well-knoy military surgeon, a special centre for determin scientifically the extent of incapacitation. This est lishment will serve both as a research laboratory ang for the additional treatment of those who have aire undergone the usual hospital treatment, Here special” NATURE 469 Avcust 9, 1917] sasurements are. carried out with instruments esigned by Dr. Camus, these measurements . ving reference to (1) the anatomical condition, and _ (2) the physiological function of the injured part. The “special instruments include those for measuring the ovements of the joints, a special dynamo-ergograph studying small movements, a device for recording uso-motor disturbances, and an tus for record- g trembling. The methods of this laboratory permit replacing the Jong descriptions of specialists by uments of a more and scientific nature, hs, numerical tables, curves, etc., which only be interpreted in one sense. The insurance panies are interesting themselves in this new hod of determining bodily efficiency, and hope to aploy it in all cases of disputes arising out of com- msation awards for accidents. The writer of the cle in La Nature for July 28 (from which this note s derived) hopes that this system of evaluation will prevent exaggerated claims and make for equity of tre a the pension to be paid to the tially disabled. T is stated in the Scientific American that Dr. G. ler has been appointed director of the astrophysical ybservatory at Potsdam, in succession to the late Prof. _ Tue Baly medal of the Royal College of Physicians *) London has been awarded to Prof. W. M. Bayliss, and the Bisset-Hawkins memorial medal to Sir A. sholme. ; _ THe Edward Longstreth medals of the Franklin Institute have been awarded to Prof. A. E. Kennelly and Messrs. F. H. Achard and A. S. Dana, for their joint paper on “‘ Experimental Researches on the Skin ect in Steel Rails.” , _ AcCcORDING to a telegram from Wellington, New Zealand, a violent earthquake has occurred in the ern portion of North Island, causing great . The Wairarapa district suffered most. The ake is described as the worst since the up- in the ‘fifties. irtno 7 ava HE Rockefeller Foundation, with the co-operation the Philippine Government, is sending a_ hospital hip to the Moros and allied tribes of the Sulu Archi- lago. It is intended that the ship shall cruise for e y among the many islands in the southern ‘hilip group, the Rockefeller Foundation having €arned that many of the Moros are suffering from Kin diseases, malaria, hookworm, dysentery, and a e 3 diseases. ; A speciat series of preparations has just been placed n exhibition at the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, -., to illustrate the stages in the life-histories of merous insects which damage the food plants grown M gardens and allotments. Specimens and models mowing the damage done are also exhibited, and veans of combating the pests indicated. Visitors » the museum may obtain there copies of the leaflets fi the Board of Agriculture dealing with the insects . 28)8)08ts | EXCEPTIONALLY heavy rains occurred over the east hd south-east of England during the closing days cf uly and on the opening days of August. For the four } from July 30 to August 2 inclusive the rains were / NO. 2493, VOL. 99] © ; cent. of the average for the two months. At heavier in many parts of London than for any similar period for the last twenty-five years. At South Ker- sington, the recording station of the Meteorological Office, the measurement for the four days was 3-28 in., which is 70 per cent. of the average London fall for July and August combined. According to the weather reports from the health resorts the rainfall at Southend was 3-44 in., which is 89 per cent. of the average fall for July and August, and at Margate 3-48 in., being 84 per astings the rainfall measured 3-16 in., at Eastbourne 2-60. in., and at Bournemouth 2-00 in. In the northern and western parts of England the rainfall was slight, and in the midlands it was by no means heavy. The subse- quent rains in the south-east of England have been frequent, but not heavy. During the period of the heavy rains the temperature was very low for the time of year, and on several days the midday tempera- ture remained below 60°. The disturbances which occasioned the rains in England also caused very wet weather in Flanders and other parts of north-western Europe. In Science Progress for July Prof. Flinders Petrie contributes a valuable paper on ** History in Tools.” He points out that while there are many books on offence and defence, arms and armour, there is none that traces the history of our mechanical aids. Thousands of writers have described the sculptures of the Parthenon, but not one has described the means used in performing that work. Itisa mystery to us how fluted columns with an entasis could be produced, true to a hundredth of an inch, in the diameters between the deep groovings. He goes on to describe the evolution of tools from the age of Stone to. that of Iron, and he sums up the discussion in the following words :—“ Thus the spread of forms throughout the ancient world illustrates the movements of trade and of warfare, while the isolation of various types at the same time shows how efficient and self-supporting the ancient civilisations were in most requirements. The history of tools has yet to be studied by a far more complete collection of material, above all of specimens exactly dated from scientific excavations. It will cer- tainiy be, in the future, an important aid in tracing the growth and decay of civilisations, the natural his- tory of man.” THE report of the Somerset Archzological Society is, in spite of difficulties caused by the war, which have impeded the excavations at Glastonbury, a record of steady progress. ‘The great work of the year is the completion of the report of excavation of the Lake Village at Glastonbury, on which Dr. A. Bulleid and Mr. St. George Gray are to be congratulated. The society has wisely organised an advisory committee on church restorations in the county, which will, it may be hoped, secure the protection of ancient ecclesiastical buildings, and prevent any proposed restorations which threaten to destroy their archzological value. In the July Quarterly Review there is a clearly written and shrewd article on the problem of de- generacy by Dr. A. F. Tredgold. He defines de- generacy as “‘a retrograde condition of the individual resulting from a pathological variation of the germ-~ cell,’ and suggests that the word ‘‘ decadency” might be used to denote the somatic modification arising from a defective environment. Any usage which will keep two distinct conditions from being confused with one another will be a gain in thought and action. To prevent hereditary’ retrogressive variations being continued and diffused is the problem of restrictive or negative eugenics, but can we not ‘discover how they arise? (1) Some investigators—e.g. Dr. C. B. Daven- port—believe that feeble-mindedness means a perpetua- 470 NATURE ries : f =" [Aucust 9, 1917 tion of a distantly ancestral or Simian condition, But feeble-mindedness as we know it does not look like a stage in an evolution that went on!~ Mosckoff is more explicit. He traces all degeneracy and much else to the persistently assertive influence of a Pithec- anthropus strain, which unfortunately got mixed up long ago with that of *‘ white diluvial man,’’ who seems to have been a sort of Apollo. . (2) Another so-called theory is that retrogressive variations are fresh ‘‘ spon- taneous’’ sports, bad shots on the part of the change-- ful germ-plasm. But there are few who are inclined to rest satisfied with the word *‘ spontaneous,” which is only a confession of ignorance. view is that retrogressive variations arise as variations conditioned by a disturbing, depressing, or deteriorat- ing immediate environment, such as toxic conditions of the parent, which may induce senescence or en- feeblement in the germ-cells. The author might have referred with effect to the striking experiments of Werber, which show how toxic agents, like butyric acid and acetone, produce no end of monstrosities in the developing fish-embryo. Perhaps, as Werber suggests, parental metabolic toxemia higher up in the scale may account for degeneracy. in the offspring. Dr. Tredgold directs attention to the fact that the chief expression of degeneracy occurs in the most elaborate, and phylogenetically the most recent, part of the organism—namely, the higher parts of the brain. From his own experience, he notes that all the off- spring of two markedly degenerate persons are always defective, and that those resulting from the union of a pronounced degenerate with a healthy individual tend to be, not some normal and some abnormal, but all abnormal. In the Revue Scientifique for July 14-21 M. André Godard directs attention to the important services ren- dered by birds to agriculture. The depredations of insects on cultivated crops, both at home and abroad, he points out, are so serious that it is well that we should realise their extent and the good that is done by truly insectivorous species of wild birds. |The opinions of many authorities are quoted, and figures given in support of their various statements, ' which show that enormous numbers of insects, insect larvae, and eggs are annually destroyed by birds, which, if permitted to live, would make profitable cultivation im- possible. species may appear to be injurious, they are really beneficial when the nature and quantity of their food are carefully considered. He seems to regard the situa- tion as one in which we must be content to put up with a small amount of damage by birds or absolute disaster due to injurious insects. hilst fully agree- ing with all the author claims for the truly insec- tivorous species, we must differ from him in regard- ing the damage done as small, and bearing in mind that the truly injurious species are comparatively few in number, we think that agriculture will best benefit by the elicitation of a thorough and detailed knowledge of their feeding habits and the nature of their food throughout the whole of the year, and the enactment of wise measures for the destruction of such species as are known to be too plentiful. We believe that in France, as in Great Britain, many of the insectivorous species of wild birds have suffered owing to the un- restricted increase of the commoner and _ injurious species, and the situation is one that will not improve by neglect or by the shutting of one’s eyes to the actual facts. E Tue Scottish Naturalist for July-August is entirely devoted to the report on Scottish ornithology in 1916 by the Misses Leonora, Rintoul and Evelyn Baxter. This in every way maintains the high standard of their reports of former years. One of the most strik- NO. 2493, VOL. 99] (3) So the third M. Godard is of opinion that although many } strains can be evolved. Typha fibre, according to % | i ah ing of the many good things ‘they record concerns the herring-gull, nesting on the cliffs at North Uist and © the Skerries. After building their nests, which they seem: to have done in normal numbers, very few of — them laid eggs, and fewer still hatched out young, not ’ more than a dozen being brought off where there used to be scores. So far no explanation of this state of — affairs is forthcoming, though it was believed, in the — case of the North Uist birds, that this failure was — due ‘to the plague of rats which infests the cliffs there, — but it is clear, they remark, that this explanation fails. The presence of rats in such conspicuous num- — bers on cliffs facing the sea is in itself a noteworthy — fact, and should be kept under observation. ‘One of our correspondents,’’ they write, ‘‘ records about twenty — pairs of red-necked phalaropes.”’ But the precise breeding-place of this bird is rightly withheld. Another — note concerns the spotted flycatcher, eight or nine of which were watched catching flies over a big pool in — the Malzie Burn, Corsemalzie, where one of them was seen to alight several times on the still water. - 4 Mr. N. Ho.tister, superintendent of the National — Zoological Park, Washington, in the Proceedings of — the United States Natiénal Museum, vol. liii. (June), re- cords some valuable notes on the effects of environment — and habit on captive lions, which will-be read with interest, not only by those desirous of obtaining data of this kind, but also by such as are responsible |for the selection of specimens. for museums. The author shows clearly enough that captivity produces ve marked changes, both in the coloration and leng of the pelage' and in. the skeleton, particularly in the skull, where the regions affected are che the areas of origin for the muscles concerned with the seizing of the prey and with certain of the masti- catory muscles. Further, the brain capacity in capti lions is much less than in wild specimens. Tue April issue of the Agricultural Journal of India (vol.*xii., part ii.) contains two-notes from diffe: sources on materials said to bé now used in Germany as substitutes for jute, and their probable significance as future competitors with Indian jute. Waste paper and cellulose are dismissed as unlikely to be more # war-time substitutes, but a more serious view is taken of the possibilities of the two plants, Epilobium hirsu- tum (hairy willow herb) and Typha (reedmace), which are said to be now utilised for fibre by the Ge The opinion is expressed that the former is unlik for some time at any rate, to prove a serious com petitor, owing to the necessity for prolonged cultural improvement of the plant before good fibre-producin; 4 quotation from the Chicago Daily News of October 1 1916, would appear to be a more formidable com petitor. It is claimed in Germany that this mate ia ‘if it meets with expectations,” will make German independent of the importation of cotton, jute, am wool, and the further assertion is made that German so early as next year will make enough of the materi to equal all the supplies usually imported, largely America and Egypt. Capital for the exploitation ar manufacture of this material has been subscribed “the greatest spinners, merchants, and bank Germany,” and attention is being directed first to development of the coarser grades of material. THE June issue of Tropical Life contains a 1 by Mr. H. C. Brill, of the Bureau of Science, Mani of the outlook for the alcohol industry in the Phili pines and the tropics generally, Three of the cheape sources of alcohol occur in the tropical countri namely, sugar-cane molasses, ‘“‘tuba” from the nif palm, and possibly from the coconut palm, and st from the starch plants, such as cassava and arrow! Oe gira e ; ; a + fat. e-Gs =e A, ne : , ’ Avcust 9, 1917] NATURE 471 — two former sources are a.ready utilised to a con- iderable extent, the second largely predominating. In g14 the islands produced about 12,000,000 proof litres of alcohol, of which more than 95 per cent, was made from the sap (tuba) of the nipa of the coco palms. ‘he molasses fermentation industry has suffered much rom faulty methods, but considerable improvement is = effected through the activities of the Bureau of ence. The nipa palm offers a cheap source for the duction of alcohol, each fruiting stalk yielding mally 30 to 50 litres of sap during a season, equiva- to an output per hectare of fully 30,000 litres of “with an average sugar-content of 15 per cent. utilisation of starch plants® still awaits develop- nt. -It is estimated that an average acre otcassava uld yield more than three times as much starch an average acre of maize, whilst, in addition, the va contains 4 to 6 per cent. of fermentable sugars. pot yields 18 to 22 per cent. of starch, and is more difficult to handle than potatoes. It is pre- sted that when these sources afe developed the pical countries will secure a practical monopoly of alcohol industry. ‘ aE thickness of a covering of peat is often cited S giving some clue to the age of the surface on which t grew. Mr. S. R. Capps’s recent remarks (‘‘ The ana-White River District, Alaska,’’ Bull. 630, Jnited States Geological Survey, p. 72) are thus of meral interest. He points out that a seedling spruce ls out its first radial roots on the mossy soil, and, 1 a high latitude, follows these by others at higher els, as the moss thickens and the food-supply from iow is cut off through the rising of the level of round frost. |. Hence, under such conditions, ‘the tical distance between the lowest horizontal roots a living tree and the surface of the ground repre- mts the thickness of the peaty accumulation during le lifetime of the tree.” Mr. F. V. Coville has in- med Mr. Capps that trees of very-slow growth may luring unfavourable years to form distinct annual is, and that the estimate of the age of the peat- ier by the age of the trees must take this into con- W. G. Foye, in a paper on ‘‘ The Lau Islands of Fiji Group” (Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. xliii., p. 343, 7), coneludes that there is here positive evidence of sidence, and very good evidence of the development and barrier reefs during such subsidence. pards, however, a general depression of the area as unlikely, owing to the irregular occur- of uplifted and subsided blocks. . Coccin BRowN continues his description of of the Province of Yiinnan in Western ” in the Records of the Geological Survey of vol. xlvii., p. 205. The Silurian fossils col- have been determined by Mr. F. R. Cowper of Cambridge. The paper, with its foundation ‘d travel, and its geographical observations ersed with details of stratigraphy, reminds one ge of the pioneers of the last century, and the tions show what fine adventure awaits the sur- on the borderlands of the British Empire. fHE Riviera or Ligurian earthquake of February 23, , was one of the first earthquakes instrumentally sd beyond the limits of the disturbed area. In early estimates of the velocity there was con- rable discordance, and a new estimate has there- een made by Messrs. Agamennone and Cava- Rend. della R. Acad. dei Lincei, vol. xxvi., pp. 167-71). Taking the position of the epi- tre as about 20 km. south of P. Maurizio, and ng twenty-eight best estimates in which the "NO. 2493, VOL. 99] em initial epoch is given, they: find the mean velocity to be 2:54 km. per second; and the time at the epicentre 6h: 21m, gs.-a.m. Pror. Omort’s fifth memoir on the recent erup- tions of the Asama-yama (Bulli. Imp. Earthq, Inv. Com., vol. vii., No. 2, pp. 217-326) contains a list of the earthquakes and earth-tremors registered at Yuno-taira during the six warmer months (May to October) of each year from 1913 to 1916. This seismo- — logical station is situated on the west-south-west slope of the volcano, at a distance of 2-3 km. from the centre of the crater. As in his earlier memoirs, Prof. Omori-divides the voleanic earthquakes into*two types—the A-type, not directly accompanied by out- bursts, and the’ B-type, caused by eruptions. The — former consist of quick vibrations and are usually of very short duration, the latter of slow gentle move- ments and of comparatively long duration. The tables show, as Prof. Omori remarks, that the former earthquakes have increased in frequency from 34 in 1913 to 229 in 1916, while the latter have declined from 7126 in 1913 (all but 25 corresponding to very small outbursts) to none in 1915 and 2 in 1916. Since May 5, 1914, there has been no strong outburst of the Asama-yama. A NEW acid sodium phosphate is described by Dr. J. H. Smith in a recent number of the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry (vol. xxxvi., No. 8). The formula attributed to it is Na,P,O,,, or 6Na,0,9P,0,. It is notable as having a very energetic - corrosive action upon glass, porcelain, nickel, and even platinum and silica. The author describes also a method for the titration of mixed phosphates by employing two indicators, methyl-orange and phenolphthalein, at 55° C., and shows that by this means it is possible to determine readily the proportions of the three sodium salts of orthophosphoric acid when present together in a mixture. . Some lines of possible research, with a view to the better utilisation of by-products from the coking of coal, are outlined by Mr. G. E. Foxwell in a recent number of the Journal of the Society of Chemical Indus- try (vol. xxxvi., No. 10). Recovery of sulphur from the pyrites of the coal, so that, together with the ammonia _ given off in coking, it could be obtained as ammonium sulphate is-one of the problems to which a solution is required. Where the chlorine content of the coal is. sufficiently high, it also may be recovered with the ammonia in the form of ammonium chloride, and in a few cases this is, in fact, already done. Improved methods for the recovery of naphthalene and benzol are required, as also for the utilisation of the surplus gas from the coke ovens. This gas, the author calculates, ‘is equivalent to more than a million tons of coal : annum, and in a great number of cases is got rid of by being allowed to burn away. It might possibly be used as ‘a source of certain chemicals—e.g. chlorinated hydrocarbons—or utilised in gas-engines to generate electricity for distribution, or the gas itself might be distributed in mains to neighbouring towns. In the issue of. La Nature for July 14, M. Le Chate- lier gives a brief survey of the progress of high tem- perature measurements. He points out the main causes of error that are likely to arise in using the thermo-electric type of instrument, though, as he remarks, troubles have been largely eliminated by the use of improved types of galvanometer of the moving coil pattern. Great care is required in the gradua- tion of the instruments, and frequent regraduation is necessary. One of the great advantages of the thermo-electric pyrometer is that it lends itself readily 472 NATURE. to photographic recording. A spot of light from a slit or hole is allowed to fall on to the mirror of a mirror-galvanometer, whence it is reflected on to a sensitised plate. This method, is frequently used nowadays in investigating the critical points of steel. The writer mentions the recording apparatus thought out by M. Saladin, which permits of tracing all kinds of curves on a photographic plate by using two mirrors both capable of rotation about a vertical axis and operated by two galvanometers. A fixed mirror, inclined 45° to the horizontal, is placed between the two moving. mirrors. The ray of light reflected by the first mirror is thus given a*horizontal movement, which becomes vertical after reflection by the fixed mirror at 45°. It is then reflected on to the second mirror, which impafts to it a second and final hori- zontal displacement. Finally, the combination of these two perpendicular movements traces a curve on a stationary photographic plate. It is thus possible to plot directly curves of electric resistance, of dila- tation, and of E.M.F. in terms of temperature. In view of the importance of internal waterways and of the many questions which revolve round the development of the hydraulic resources of their country, the National Association of Navigation Congresses in Italy has inaugurated the publication of ‘a’ small period- ical of eight pages, known as Navigazione Interna, to deal with matters of interest in that-connection as they arise. The first issue, for May, 1917, lies before us and contains an account of the work of the Hydro- technical ‘Institute at Stra, associated with the Uni- versity of Padua and the Hydrographic Department at Venice, describing in particular the experimental tank 200 metres (656 ft.) long, with a bottom width of 3-70 metres (12 ft.), a top width of 10-75 metres (353 ft.), and a mean depth of 3-50 metres ee ft.). ’ The tank is constructed in cement concrete, with light metal reinforcement, and is fitted with a moving plat- form and the appropriate mechanical equipment. The institute undertakes experimental work in connection with all hydraulic problems, including those in regard to the resistance offered to the movement of solid bodies in water. Another interesting article in the journal deals with a Swiss project of a navigational connection between Lake Maggiore and the River Po. We welcome the advent of this latest recruit to the service of hydrological science. EvipENce of the difficulty of destroying reinforced- concrete buildings is given in an article on concrete in war in the Times Engineering Supplement for July 27. Steel cupolas have been blown to fragments by high-explosive shells, while similar structures in re- inforced concrete have survived the ordeal with com- paratively little injury. Many of the reinforced con- crete buildings plentifully scattered over Northern France have been used by the Germans as well as by ourselves, and have shown remarkable capacity for withstanding artiHery fire. One case quoted is of an elevated reservoir measuring about 80 ft. long, 4o ft. wide, and 12 ft. deep, supported on a framework of thin columns more than 4o ft. high, with horizontal bracings. The flat roof at ‘a height of 55 ft. was used by the Germans as a ready-made observation post. This reservoir, built in June, 1911, of Hennebique ferro-concrete, -was destroyed so far as possible when the Germans evacuated the town in March last, having successfully withstood our bombardment, which de- stroyed all surrounding buildings. The columns were broken by explosives, allowing the reservoir proper to fall to the ground, where it remained intact save for a few cracks and holes cut in the corners, where explo- _sives had been inserted with the object of trying to damage the walls. NO. 2493, VOL. 99] .mean velocities about 1-o to 1-5 km. higher than tory, at intervals averaging about twenty years. Discovery or A New Svtar.—According to Times of August 6, the discovery of a new star Mr. Ritchey on July 19 has been announced by P Pickering. The star is very faint, being of the 14th magnitude, but it may be of special interest because of its situation in the nebula N.G.C. 6946. This is a large faint nebula in Cygnus, its position being R.A. | 20h. 33m. 17s., decl. +59° 51’... oe) eee, ‘ STELLAR MOTIONS AND ABSOLUTE Macnitupes.—The > relationship of stellar motions to absolute mag- nitudes has been - further investigated, . as 4 gards 1300. stars of types F, G, K, and M, by W. S. Adams and G. Strémberg (Astro- physical Journal, vol. xlv., p. 293). Parallaxes deter-— mined by the spectroscopic method were available for about 7oo of the stars used, and these were sup mented by others derived with the aid of a n formula connecting mean parallax with proper motior From the parallaxes and apparent magnitudes, th absolute magnitudes are easily calculated, being de fined as apparent magnitudes reduced to the dista corresponding to a parallax of 0-1”. The stars be: divided into groups defined by certain limits of parallax, it is first shown that among stars at the same — distance from the sun there is an increase of radia! velocity with decrease in absolute brightness, and that there is little evidence of any variation in radial, velo-~ city depending upon distance from the sun. For the spectral types considered, the increase in velocity is 1-5 km. for a decrease in brightness of one magnitt It is shown that this effect cannot be ascribed either t distance from the sun, to the law of frequency-d bution of the velocities, or to the effect of st motion. The same conclusion is reached with r to the cross linear motions of the stars, and it ap to hold in the mean for apparent as well as for ; lute brightness. The stars of types K and M be F and G stars of the same absolute magnitude. _ UNION OBSERVATORY, JOHANNESBURG.—Circular 37 of the Union Observatory includes measures ninety-eight double stars and the results recently tained by the blink microscope in connection proper motions and new variable stars. On tv three pairs of plates taken at the Melbourne Obs proper motions were found and meas , twent three of the stars having a centennial proper motic of 20” or more; fifty-six of these stars have a moti nearly parallel to the galactic plane and towards solar ant-apex. Proper motions amounting to on 0-04” or 0-06" a year were easily and certainly dete mined. A disagreement with the results from ast graphic measurements in the case of three p plates taken at the Cape Observatory has led interesting correspondence with Prof. Kapteyn. 17 general impression obtained by Mr. Innes from — work with the tlink microscope is that practically all stars, nebula, and clusters in any one region are the same distance from us, and that with very exceptions they are all relatively fixed. In Cire No. 38 Mr. Innes announces an important ak in the form of a photographic map of the south sky, from the Franklin-Adams star plates. E chart will be ruled with hour circles and pa and will cover a little more than 30 square the scale being 36 mm. to 1°. The ree covered will require 556 charts. An excellent spt men chart accompanies the circular, and others be issued as opportunity offers. # naerti = - Aveust 9, 1917] _ quiet: NATURE | 473 - THE EXAMINATIONS FOR CLASS I, OF cae THE CIVIL SERVICE. November last a Treasury committee was ap- _ pointed to consider and report upon the scheme of mmittee consisted of Mr. Stanley Leathes, C.B., First Civil Service Commissioner (chairman); Sir Alfred Ewing, K.C.B., Vice-Chancellor of the Univer- sity of Edinburgh; Sir Henry Alexander Miers, Vice- sllor of the University of Manchester; Mr. . A. L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of the University of field; Prof. W. G. S. Adams, Gladstone professor jitical theory and institutions in the University rd; and Mr. D. B. Mair, M.A., director of to the Civil Service Commissioners, to to the committee. r. Fisher resigned his membership of the com- se on his appointment as President of the Board Education, and Dr. W. H. Hadow, principal of strong College, Newcastle, and Vice-Chancellor rham University, was appointed in his stead. he committee was instructed “to consider and re- ort m the existing scheme of examination for ‘lass 1. of the Home Civil Service; “To submit for the consideration of the Lords Com- vissioners of his Majesty’s Treasury a revised scheme ach as they may judge to be best adapted for the election of the type of officer required for that class the Civil Service, and at the same time most advan- ageous to the higher education of this country ; “And in framing such a scheme, to take into account, 30 far as possible, the various other purposes which the scheme in question has hitherto served, and to onsult the India Office, the Foreign Office, and’ the Colonial Office as to their requirements, in so far as the y differ from those of the Home Civil Service.” - The ose the committee, dated June’ 20, 1917, as now published (Cd. 8657), and the outstand- ig points of the new scheme proposed for the exam- ns of the future are printed below. We hope week to deal with the report as a whole. ScHEME PROPOSED BY THE COMMITTEE.’ his scheme should be established on a basis of uality of studies; that is, of the chief studies which e pursued by students at the university up to the meclusion of an honours course. We propose to place equal footing the main schools of: Classical ages, history, and literature; modern languages, ith history and literature; history ; mathematics; and le natural sciences. classical subjects will be ued at 800. marks; history and mathematics at the me; candidates in natural science taking one main ibject up -to the higher level and two subsidiary sub- ets on the lower level can obtain the same totals; uile two modern lan s studied as comprehen- vely, as the classics will be worth the same. It is ) e, however, that for some time candidates able 4 2, . J ALIO ww. We propose that the candidate coming from any € of these schools shall be encouraged—it might most be said constrained by the force of competition -to offer one or two other additional subjects esti- tated by us as the equivalent of one-fourth part of his main subject. This addition, valued at 200 may be made up in many ways, and we do it propose to limit in any way the free choice of tes. There is also a great range of university s—political, legal, économic, and philosophical— have not been as yet, so far as we know, con- ted into one honours school, though the courses e most part of them. We have greatly increased le individual and collective weight of these studies, _ NO. 2493, VOL. 99] | a for Class I. of the Civil Service. The > } take full advantage of this last opportunity may be by the London School pf Economics may cover - | social, political, and economic. but we do not consider it desirable that candidates for the Civil Service should study exclusively either -poli- tics, law, economics, or philosophy; however, for students whose chief interest lies in two or more of these subjects we offer a varied field of selection which is fully equivalent to that appertaining to any of the schools mentioned above. While grouping subjects as above, and expecting that on the whole the main choice of candidates will be in one or other of the groups, we retain for subjects of university study the old freedom of selection. What- ever limits we imposed upon the choice of candidates, we should still be confronted by the difficulty of equat- ing disparate subjects; e.g. language including litera- ture and history, mathematics, history, natural sciences. That difficulty has to be solved as best it may by the Civil Service Commissioners and their permanent and occa- sional staff. It will be no greater under our sed scheme, than it is under the existing scheme. More- over, we think it would be difficult to make up a list of subjects under our proposed scheme which would not secure a useful university education, either nar- rower or wider. But we do not consider it necessary to confine our tests to the results of university study alone. The voung men who will be examined by the Civil Service Commissioners will have spent not only three or four years at the university, but ten or more years at school; and the best of them will have had abundant leisure in which to educate themselves and pick up knowledge and accomplishments useful to them in the work of life. Much that they have learat at school they will quite rightly have forgotten, but that know- ledge should have served its purpose; and we do not: propose to examine our candidates’ in school subjects. But we consider that a sound and systematic education should show certain results at university-leaving age; and that candidates who, while devoting themselves to their individual studies, have nevertheless retained an alert and acquisitive mind and have kept their eyes open to the most important facts in the world around them, should have seized and retained a certain amount of knowledge—scientific, economic, and political. We consider it also highly desirable that all Civil Servants © should have a good working knowledge—that is, a reading and .translating knowledge—of at least one modern foreign language, preferably two. On this basis we have constructed a separate sec- tion that all candidates must take. We consider that all well-educated young men should be able to use the English language skilfully and accurately and to grasp its-meaning readily and correctly. This accomplish- ment is specially valuable for Civil Servants, but any form of education that has nof developed it, has failed in a principal part of its purpose. We therefore pro- pose in the first place that all candidates should write an essay. To construct an essay and work out therein a line of thought with suitable words, logical order, and just proportions is a severe criterion of ability. But it is found by experience that an excellent candi- date may on any one occasion fail to do justice to his powers. We therefore propose that candidates should have in other papers opportunities of manifesting like powers of arrangement ahd effective expression One of these papers should be a test in’ English (Section A, subject 2), the nature of which may best be under- stood by reference to the specimen paper supplied. Further, we propose a paper im modern subjects, A specimen paper is supplied. It may be found that many—perhaps most —young men of our country are unduly ignorant of such matters. But the existence of this test ‘should encourage many to turn their attention to these sub- jects and accumulate in their leisure much useful in- formation It should be noted throughout this Sec- “account of their knowledge. 474 _ NATURE m: [Aucust 9, 1917 — tion A that no candidate will be disqualified for failure in any part, or in the whole of the section, though, since we allow 500 marks for the ‘written part of the section, there is much advantage to be gained or lost thereby in the whole competition. We have received from the Government Committee on Science in the Educational System of Great Britain | the following resolution :— ‘“The committee has had under its consideration ‘certain proposals for remodelling the Competitive Ex- amination for admission to Class I. of the Civil Ser- vice at home and in India or in the Colonies. It is unanimous in thinking that it is indispensable that a course in ‘science extending over several years shall have formed a serious part of every candidate’s pre- vious education. It is, however, not prepared to trespass on the province of the committee which is dealing in detail. with this examination. It feels ‘strongly that if the men with high scientific qualifica- tions who will undoubtedly be needed in the Service to a greater or less extent are to be secured at a com- -paratively early age by this examination, then candi- dates offering science only (without mathematics) should in future be placed on complete equality with other candidates, and that this is not the case at pre- sent. But it recognises that there may be advantages in obtaining also by other methods scientific advisers for the Service at a greater age and with practical professional education.” : With the trend of this resolution we find ourselves in general agreement; and we desire to make it clear that by placing science, as we have endeavoured to -do, on a complete equality with other subjects of a university course, we do not expect to make it pos- sible for certain departments to dispense with scientific advisers selected in maturer age and possessed of prac- tical experience and of knowledge of a kind that may have to be obtained elsewhere than at a university. And in some departments specialists in one or another branch of science will doubtless be selected by tests of a less general kind than that with which we are con- cerned. The young men selected under our scheme partly for their knowledge of natural science, unless they happen to be employed in a scientific branch of ithe department in which they are working, may have ‘no opportunity of exercising their scientific acquire- ments: and their knowledge may pass out of date. They should, however, not lose a just estimate of scientific knowledge, and they should know when and where it may with advantage be sought. We must, however, make one reservation to the terms of this resolution. ‘The “‘indispensable’’ requirement of a school course in science must apply rather to the future than to the present.. We cannot now correct the defective education of the past or rule out from our competition for some years to come all those useful candidates who may not satisfy this demand of the Science Committee. to require of all candidates some form of school certi- ficate which may be evidence of suitable training in this and some other subjects not tested by the examina- tion. However, we think we may even now go so far as this. We can give a substantial advantage in the competition to those candidates who by whatever means have obtained and retained a sound knowledge of some of the principles, methods, and applications of science, and are able to give a lucid and intelligent [Specimen questions are supplied.] It is hoped that the inclusion of this sub- ject in the scheme will encourage all candidates to make themselves acquainted with the general prin- ciples of science. This paper will also be a test of orderly, effective, and exact expression. Finally, we propose to allot too marks for a trans- NO. 2493, VOL. '99| \ Perhaps later it may be possible _ | -at school upon those pupils who take modern lan- ‘test for the advantage of a few weak vessels. e. lation paper. from some modern. foreign langue We intend this paper to be a Serious test of capa to understand and translate accurately passages from the foreign language. We do not propose to limit the scope ; verse may be set as well as prose; but nothing that is antiquated should appear; the candidate should be able to master any passage that is likely to occur in books of ordinary difficulty written in the living tongue; passages dealing with history and politics may be set, but not any technical. matter. This should be not only a test of specific knowledge, but also a test of capacity to use the English language with skill and accuracy. The languages mentioned in our list are those which appeared to «us most likely among European languages to afford information useful to students or to Civil Servants, or to both. We include Latin as an option for those candidates who take two modern languages because Latin is commonly imposed guages, and we do not wish to lay any unnecessar burden on the modern language candidates. In any case, for candidates who have"mastered two languages, classical or modern, there should be no hardship and much advantage in acquiring a third. * Since it is of high importance that Civil Servants should have ready use of two modern languages, wi include among our recommendations that any candi date who wishes to offer a second modern language ‘on the same terms as in Section A should be permittes to do so beyond the limit of the subjects prescribed i Section: A and those permitted in Section B. To ae quire a modern language for reading and translatior purposes should not be, a difficult task for any wel educated man; it can be done in leisure time wi little assistance. But some adequate motive is nee to induce the effort; an effort which should be by students of history, natural science, politi economics, and, indeed, of afmost all the subje our schedule, but, in fact, is not always made. - trust that in course of time all our candidates y prepared to offer two modern languages up to a standard, but we do not at present propose to two compulsory. We hold out an advantage to who offer two, but success will be possible with « one, and in some cases perhaps without any; Viva Voce Examination.—The Royal Commi expressed a cautious inclination towards a viva vo examination, but made no definite recommendatio The Consultative Committee in its report says there should be a viva voce examination. at point, as on almost every point of our report, w unanimous. We believe that qualities may be shox in a viva voce examination which cannot be tested a written examination, and that those qualities shot be useful to public servants. It is sometimes urg that a candidate—otherwise well qualified—may be pr vented by nervousness from doing himself justice vit voce. We are not sure that such lack of nervou trol is not in itself a serious defect, nor that the pr sence of mind and nervous equipoise which enable candidate to marshal all his resources in such cot tions is not a valuable quality. Further, there are 1 doubtedly some candidates who can never do th selves justice in written examinations, just as are others who, under the excitement of written ca petition, do better than on ordinary occasions. We not consider that it is desjrable to forgo the viva 2 consider that the viva voce can be made a test of candidate’s alertness, intelligence, and intellectual o look, and as such is better than any other. The voce examination has been proved by experience redress in certain cases the results of written examil tion. The examination should, of course, be skilfu conducted by carefully selected examiners accustom 7a _ NATURE ndle young men and to put them at their ease. pabetler ‘that the viva voce examination should not “matters of academic study, but in matters of ‘to say. We think that the marks ed under this heading should be a valuable cor- 2 to the results of the written papers, and should tly help a useful man to success or save a bad bargain. which are at present not less than twenty-two eae twenty-four on August 1 in the year in : tition is held. Under existing practice mination begins on August 1 or on August 2 1st sib gh Sunday. We-consider this time of year t. for university candidates. SectION A To be taken by all Candidates, ‘ Marks Ret ciety 2.0 300 ‘e 100 Questions on condaiparaey. subjects, : » social, economic, and political say, 00 > on general principles, pee: and applications of science - 100 Translation from one of the following aaa aa not taken in Section B, ‘viz~ French, German, “Spanish, - ‘Ttalian, ‘Portuguese, Dutch," Nor- _* wegian, Swedish, Danish, Russian ; _ Latin being also an option for those a ee wo ee ee 8 100 A viva voce examination... © 300 5 Total for Section’ A tes 800 section is intended to test the candidates’ know- of the English language and their capacity for ul use, their accurate command of knowledge should have acquired in the course of a en - education and self-education, and should v ices tained. to assist thems in their future sp da = cauipment in one foreign language at least for The s selected are those ; 0 afford information useful tos public ser- ‘As circumstances e others should be i at the discretion of the Civil Service Commis- JUSES. h > viva voce should be a test, means of ques- $s and conversation on matters “4 general interest, : candidate’s alertness, intelligence, and intellec- Pas tlook, his personal qualities of mind and mental ‘is hbk intended that any candidate should be dis- ified for failure in any of the parts of this section the section as a whole, but that the section pont substantially in the competition. ; Section B. _ Optional Subjects. lidates to be allowed to take up subjects in this up to a total of 1000 marks. , Languages with History and i tavatere. Latin, translation, and prose or verse Roman history and Latin literature ... Greek, translation, and prose or verse composition rs Greek. and literature ... French, translation, free composition, ~ set ition, and conversation Dies Witory and fteratme 2 NO. 2493, VOL. 99] Marks interest, on which every young man should . s OF AGE.—We propose no change i in the limits |. 13. German, translation, free composition, set composition, and conversation 200 14. German history and literature ... -+» 200 15. Spanish* or Italian, translation, free composition, set ede eth and con- versation ... _. 200 16. Spanish * or Italian * history and litera- ture 200 17. Russian,* translation, free composition,” set composition, and conversation ... 200 18. Russian * history and literature 200 The history and literature subject associated with each of these languages (7-18) can only be taken by candidates who also offer themselves for examination in* the ‘relevant language in Section B. Marks 19. English literature, 1350-1700 200 20. English literature, 1660-1914 200. History. ‘21. English history to 1660, social, eco- nomic, political, constitutional 200 - 22. British history, 1660-1914, social, eco- nomic, political, constitutional ‘200 23. European history, 1494-1763 200 24. European history, 1763-1914 200 Economics, Politics, Law, and Te 25. General economics 200 26. Economic history ... --- I00 27. Public e2onomics, including | " public finance AE 4: — --- 100 , 28. Political theory ... 100 29. Political organisation... 100 30. The Constitutional Law of the United Kingdom and of the British Empire, and the law of sage ot local Jesus ment 100 31. English private law 200 32. Roman law .. 100 33- Public international law and. intex- national relations 100 34. Moral philosophy .. Too 35- Metaphysical philosophy .. 100 36. Logic “2 100 37- Psychology sas 100 Mathematics and Science. ; 38. Mathematics, lower re --- 400 39: Mathematics, = highs us = -+ 400 40. Astronomy . a pas a= ee 41. Statistics 100 42. Chemistry, lower ne Bs a .. 260" 43- Chemistry, higher ... 200 44. Physics, lower 200 45- Physics, higher 200 46. Botany, lower 200 47- Botany, higher 200 48. Geology, lower 200 49. Geology, higher 200 50. Physiology, lower ... 200 51. Physiology, higher 200 52- Zoology, lower 200 53- Zoology, higher 200 54. Engineering 400 55- Geography .. 200 56. Physical anthropology, prehistoric . archeology, and technology 100 57- Social anthropology SS 100 58. Agriculture ... 200 59. Experimental psychology - 100 1 Papers on these languages should only be ed on evidence presented one year in advance par jee tisfactory to the Civil Service Ses wen pee yt that at least one candidate will present Tiecclt who is lik be fit for examina- tion on a standard equivalent to those in French and - _ element thorium, and then, as before, a CH. 476 NATURE . [AucusT 9, 1917 4 A candidate desiring to offer any of the subjects 2-54 Or 59 must produce evidence satisfactory to the Commissioners of laboratory training in an institu. tion of university rank. For (40) astronomy, (41) statis- tics, (55) geography, (56) physical anthropology, etc., and (28) agriculture, other equivalent training will be required. There: will be no laboratory test as a part of the examination. $ Extra Numerum. Candidates may take, in addition to the above, one of the translation papers of Section A in a language not already taken by them in that section, not more than one of the Scandinavian languages, nor more than one of the three, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, being offered by the same candidate; for this 100 marks will be awarded, not included in the 800 of Sec- tion A or the 1000 of Section B. RADIO-ACTIVE HALOS.* Il. E shall now see that the thorium halo follows faithfully the same laws of development as the uranium halo, whatever we may assume as to the nature of these laws. By plotting the seven a-ray, curves of ionisation which must contribute to the formation of a halo in the medium surrounding a particle containing the parent adding up the ordinates, we get for the total ionisation responsible for the thorium halo the next curve (Fig. 6). Note that the single conspicuous | maximum dis-~ a & * Sr played by the cor- responding curve. for the uranium halo is now re- placed by two ‘maxima, the one : which is nearer 1 the centre being a } little the lower. ! Beyond these two maxima the curve descends steeply” with two_ excre- scences before the minimum of ion- isation is reached. Then the curve reascends to the ow maximum due to ThC,. : Now, the first beginning of the thorium halo shows two rings, and the radial dimensions of these rings are in good agreement with the positions of the two maxima of the curve. The inner ring has not been found alone. Next we find the space within and around these rings growing darker, accompanied by the early appearance of the outer ring due to ThC,, just as in the case of the uranium halo we observe the early appearance of the ring due to RaC,. The next stage, so far certainly observed, shows the loss of the internal features, the resulting halo exhibiting much the same appearance as the uranium halo in the final stage of development. , Above the ionisation eurve for the thorium halo I have marked the several features of the halo. The. agreement of the observed with the theoretical features is even closer than in the case of the uranium halo. When we consider the successive steps in the genesis of the radio-active halo, which I have now laid before you, we can orly come to the conclusion that some I Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on "Friday, May 11, by Prof. J. Joly. F.R.S. Continued from p. 458. 7 NO. 2493, VOL. 99] 2 1 SSE RRS we el Lone t--- ee eee ee ee Pom bs “i v nd 5 Org ey See Fic. 6.—Integral curve for thorium halo. ‘ -ing of the inner parts of the image. correct we may claim to know something 4 th points of agreement between the observed and cause exists which tends to accentuate the effect: ts” going on in the outer regions of the halo. ae we assign a cause for the strengthening of the oute effects of ionisation, or, what comes to the sé thing, for the weakening of the inner effects, every feature of the halo becomes explained by the Sebi of integral ionisation—that is, by the curve which s' mplyy sums the effects of the several Bragg curves. V would then find an explanation of the appearance of successive rings and of the appearance of the effects of the extreme or limiting ray at such an early tz oe) of development. If we assume that the process whith: results in 'th formation of a halo under the influence of the a is essentially similar in nature to that which is 1 sponsible for the photographic image under the stim lus of light, the desired explanation"of the weakenir of the inner features is forthcoming, For ‘the ‘ phenomenon of reversal or of solarisation, well knot to photographers, would assuredly lead to the we The repetition of stimuli at or near the same spot is see ea e marked in the inner than in the outer parts of the halo, \ and the ionisation accumylating in the re n- traversed by the external limiting a rays is” toa arg extent exempt from the effects of repetition. _ Now there are features in common between halo image and the photographic i - Both . brought about by ionisation in a sensitive medium. There is so much indirect evidence for this view the we can scarcely doubt its truth. The salts of iron i many forms have been found to be photographically sensitive. In the photochemistry of chlorophyll y appear to play a fundamental part in Nature. — we may interpret the fact that the halo may be obit i ated by heat, as proof of instability. Finally, photographic plate i is affected by the @ ray in a mani not readily distinguished from that due to Lag Halos have been found which show all the ance of reversal. In them we find the penumbra placed by a band which is darker than the regior lying within. Normal halos in its nigairod b contrast, well show the peculiar change which affect the reversed halo. It is the negative of a halo. Wb is this appearance due to, if not to reversal ?. The « effe must arise from very intense ionisation. — 1 has cleared the inner pupil more or less, but She tition of stimuli has not been sufficient to affect t penumbra in the same manner. If these views — me i eRe en. nature of the phenomena which lead to the b up of the halo. We may regard the radio-activ nucleus as emitting, for countless ages, radiati which slowly act, according to the laws affecting th latent photographic image, upon the surro medium. We must suppose the electric charge me the a ray to affect the stability of the sensitive minera ionising the constituent atomic systems, and, finalh producing stresses and, possibly, displacements, whic are revealed in the increased colour absorption. __ Hitherto I have more especially dwelt upon theoretical halo. I venture to think that the agre ment sets beyond any doubt not only the radio-acti origin, but also the general mode of devclopaieil halos. I shall now refer to some details in wh the observed halo is not in. perfect agreement with t curve of ionisation. In the case of the thorium halo the measured ithe sions of the halo are in very perfect accord with ft ionisation carve. The agreement seems generally perfect as we could expect. There is, however, a ver small appearance of misfit in the location of the fir. 4 ring. The estimates I have made of the radius 0 Es Auaust 9, 1917] NATURE 477 first ring have consistently shown a small deficit. mall as it is, we should notignore it. For there is ‘reason to suspect that our knowledge of the -of the a ray of thorium itself, which is largely sp ble for the position of the first maximum upon 2 curve, is incomplete. The facts appear to show at the accepted range of the ray from thorium is Pesta The evidence for this is both interesting nd important. _R therford long ago pointed out that there appeared exist a connection between the range -of an a ray i the duration of life of the element from’ which it The speed of the a particle seemed to be re: “the Shorter the period of transformation, ge r and Nutall re-investigated the accepted ranges | the @ rays of the radio-active elements, and estab- ished Rutherford’s inference. Plotting the logarithms f the range and of the period of transformation ainst each other, they ascertained that for each ail of elements there is a straight line along which e points found for the several q@ rays lie, and—in case—lie with astonishing accuracy. is. _ one notable discrepancy. That excep- in the case of the range of the a ray from "tself. It is a few per cent. too great accord- ‘observations. It is also, admittedly, the ficult to measure with accuracy. ated into the distances obtaining in the halo, w per cent. are almost beyond the limits of accu- r which may be fairly claimed. But the evidence slight misfit is based on many observations and ay | t. fa the case of the uranium halo there is also a dis- pancy between the curve arid the observations as ds the position of the first ring; but the mag- > of the discrepancy is: more considerable than -misfit.referred to above in the case of the thorium . And here we have no reason to throw the blame ‘any error in the accepted value of the ranges of s of U, and U;. The curve of ionisation due rays of these chemically inseparable elements een investigated by Gates and Nutall. The ‘s “pst are explained on the assumption that e of 2-5 cm. and U, a range of 2-9 cm. "And these determinations accurately fit the The position of the maximum:on sation curve is mainly determined by these sh ful measurements ‘of the first ring of the | halo reveal this small but definite discordance the radius of the ring and the position of the ximum of the curve. It will be seen that the sec- 1 of the ring—the feature numbered 1 in Fig. < oe mk lie accurately above the centre of the maxi- _ The ring has a radius which is distinctly too ‘That the ring essentially corresponds with the eat maximum of the curve seems beyond doubt. ‘find no other record of this maximum. There ns no apparent escape from the conclusion that the aga is so largely due to the rays from U, and s been formed by rays of greater range than the = range of the rays now emitted by these € _ granite in which this halo-ring has been © «dis very ancient, certainly not younger than De an period. Similar rings, but not so sharp ioe measured. have been found in the Carbon- granite of Cornwall. In younger granites I “not succeeded in finding them. It would be ar to measure this ring in the younger supposing they have been formed in these Such measurements would make quite clear ther or not the abnormal dimension of this first g is really due to the former existence of a longer NO. 2493, VOL. 99] , not average range of the rays responsible. If the misfit of: the first ring proves to be inexplicable in any deficiency of our knowledge of the ranges of the uranium isotopes, and. especially if we are “able to get evidence that it is confined to the more ancient rocks, then it will be difficult to escape the direct conclusion that, however brought about, there was a former greater range of the a ray of the parent element of the uranium family. There is a certain temptation to accept such a con- clusion, for there is a strange contradiction in the evidence advanced for the duration of geological time. The conclusion that the halo reveals a former greater range for the a ray from U, carries with it the former more rapid decay of that element. All the difficulties and contradictions» respecting the age vanish if this indeed occurred. It will only require a few words to’ state the present position. of the matter. From measurements of the rates of denudative pro- cesses at the earth’s surface, and of the quantities accumulated, the evidence is, with wonderful consist- ency, in favour of a period of about 100 millions of years having elapsed since those processes came into existence. By making certain assumptions some 150 millions of years might be claimed, and even, inconceivably, somewhat more. What other evidence have we? The only major limit which astronomy appears to give us would be in favour of an_age even less than 100 millions of years. I refer to the duration of solar heat.. It is quite certain that the earth was bathed in abundant sunshine even in Cambriar times; but solar heat of the present intensity’ cannot be accounted for on any known source of supply for too millions of years. From lunar theory we do not seem able to get a major limit. We must remember that we are not discussing the age of the earth as an astronomical unit. The geological age is the period of denudation only. Well, then, a genera- tion ago very brilliant work was done by Kelvin on the period since the solidification of the surface rocks. But the thermal data involved became invali- dated in the light of Strutt’s discovery that heat- producing radio-active elements exist all over the earth’s crust. But if radio-active science in this way has closed one avenue of approach to the age problem, it has opened up another. Rutherford pointed out that the - accumulation of radio-active products of decay in ancient rocks and minerals should afford a measure of the age in much the same manner as, from the amount of sand which has fallen through, we compute time by the hour-glass. In thisconnection Strutt’s work on the amount of helium accumulated in materials of various geological ages will ever be memorable. The amount of accumulated lead, however, possesses, in © some respects, less liability to error. The measure- ment of the ratio of the quantity of lead to the quan- tity of parent radio-active element in the case of uranium has occupied the attention of several investi- gators. The conclusion as regards the accumulation of lead in uranium-bearing minerals: seems to be— although not without conflicting evidence—that the earth’s geological age is not»less than some _ 1500 millions of vears. Now, while we must admit the possibility of con- siderable variations in the rate of denudation over the past, yet the statement that the rivers are now pouring some ten times as much dissolved matter into, and transmitting some ten times as much sediment to, the ocean as they did in past times is, I think, quite inadmissible. All efforts to explain so extra- ordinary an increase—whether we suppose it to be tem- porary or permanent—have so far failed. But the uranium series of radio-active elements is 478 NATURE [Aucusr 9, 1917. not the only one available in the application of Ruther- ford’s method of compitting the age. There is quite as good evidence that the thorium series ends in an_ isotope of lead as there is for the same conclusion respecting the uranium series, Now, in dealing with the atomic weight of the lead found in Ceylon thorite, Prof. Soddy recently carried out, on a large scale, a very careful chemical analysis of this mineral, and determined the quantity of lead pre- sent, When we calculate, on the basis of his results, the age of the mineral, we get about-140 millions of years. The rocks to which this determination applies -are very-ancient—certainly pre-Cambrian. The result is, therefore, in good agreement with the conclusion derived from denudation. Is this a mere coincidence? Before this recent result it was known ‘that the indications of thorium-derived lead were opposed to those of uranium-derived lead, and those who upheld the longer age .urged that the lead derived from. thorium must be unstable, and must turn into some- thing else over geological time. But the view that thorium lead is not permanent is one beset with diffi- culties. From this we see that the uranium and the thorium families of elements give, at the present time, con- tradictory evidence respecting the age of the earth. The latter apparently agrees in a remarkable manner with the indications of the surface changes of the globe; the former does not. And now the measure- ments of the uranium halo admit, of the interpretation that they indicate the failure of uranium-derived lead as a true indicator of geological time. For if the range of U, was, indeed, in remote times longer than it now is, then we must suppose that its rate of decay was at that period faster than it is to-day. Or we may suppose that, however derived, in remote times rela- tively short-lived uranium isotopes existed which have died out during geological time. I am far from con- tending that this view is free from difficulties. On the other hand, our ignorance of the mode of origin of radio-activity and of its pessibilities is very consider- able. © ‘ ; If we have to admit that the evidence of the halo on the age problem is not yet complete, we can refer to a still more important matter upon which the testi- mony of the halo admits of no uncertainty. Until the radio-active origin of halos was ascertained it was impossible to pronounce on how far, in remote periods of earth-history, radio-activity might have ‘affected the chemical elements. Thus it would have been a quite allowable speculation to suppose many of the elements to have been derived as end-products of radio-active families the activity of which has only comparatively recently become extinct. The halo enables a very general answer to be given to such speculations. A substance such as brown mica—and this is one of the most widely diffused of rock minerals—is sensitive to a radiation, and ‘integrates its effects with the same _certainty as the photosensitive plate integrates the effects of light. A mineral containing a minute trace of a radio-active substance beams, throughout the ages of geological time, upon. the medium in which it is*‘contained. If the medium is sensitive the accumulated effects in general persist for our inspec- tion, and in the halo we ‘are, in consequence, able to - identify the presence of quantities of radio-active sub- stances of almost inconceivable minuteness. Imagine that stellar magnitude which would be recorded upon ° a photographic plate exposed uninterruptedly for scores : of millions of years! We see from this that the unaffected plate of mica is evidence for the absence of even the feeblest a radiation from surrounding or included elements, just as the blank photosensitive plate is proof of the \ NO. 2493, VOL. 99| ‘tion of powers to those who are able and willing Britain. the gulf between elementary and post-elementary ‘on them. The Board of Education should gi If we can get rid of the network of rigid we shall have got a great deal done. an absence of luminous influence. No definite halo- ducing effects have been observed other than which may be referred to the known _ radio-ac elements. j i Thus we find that the study of the conditions which call the halo into existence affords a criterion for determining the absence of any general elemental evolution during the period of geological time. When geological time began any earlier evolutionary process. must have already come to an end, with the sole exceptions of the known families of radio-active su stances. This result, which is a priori by no means evident, is of importance to our views on the physical history of the earth. Only from the minute hiero glyphics we have been considering could such informa- tion have been derived. Fg a -7q 4 + UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL _ INTELLIGENCE. | le Oxrorp.—The Rhodes trustees have decided tom a grant of 1oool. towards the fund whieh is bei raised for the endowment of a permanent professor-— ship of forestry in the University, and the trustees of the University Endowment Fund are allowing the payment of 250l. per annum, which they have hith made towards the payment of an assistant profes to be carried this year to the professorship of fore fund. otek Sete : me A cHair of zoology has been established in University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, and applicat for the filling of it are invited. : le Tue following bequests have been made to Ameri educational institutions by Col. O. H. Payne 200,000l. each to Yale University and the New Yor Public Library; i00,o00l. each to the Cornell Univer sity Medical College and Phillips Academy, Andove: Mass.; 40,0001. each to Hamilton College, Cli N.Y., and the University of Virginia. — Tue Ellen Richards research prize, value 200 offered by the Naples Table Association for Prom Laboratory Research by Women for the. best — written by an American woman embodying new servations and new conclusions based on inde laboratory research in biology (including psycho! chemistry, or physics. The competing essays must | received before February 25 next. Application fort are obtainable from Mrs. A. W. Mead, 823 Waylar Avenue, Providence, R.I., U.S.A. ; Lorp Hatpane presided at a meeting of Uniy Extension students at Oxford on August 6, and ¢ livered an address in which he urged that in edu tion, as in most other things, unless we have a d ea the work in the various localities, we shall not very much progress. He suggested the inaugur of from seven to ten educational provinces in The general object should be to break — cation. They should be unified into one great orga whole of national education, and the universities exert a permeating influence in every province province without a university at one extreme, an presentatives of the local education authority a other. The best men in the locality should be co- on the provincial councils, and the teachers, seco and elementary, should also have an important much latitude as possible to the provincial authoriti regulati r Ne ; ‘ E r NATURE 479 Avcust 9, 1917] _ One of the most important changes which the war as brought about in our educational institutions has been the rapid conversion of the engineering labora- ories of our universities, colleges, and schools into training centres for munition-makers or into munition works. The number of those trained who are now work of national impertance must be very large. 3 to a report of the Education Committee of e London County: Council the institutions under its traih 3000 per annum, while the output of fauges from the institutions employed in their manu- ture exceeds 30,000 per annum. Between one and two red woodwork instructors in the employ of the cil have become proficient in metalwork, and the re- markable results which have been obtained by sending According - ~ m and women without any previous experience of netalworking through a five or six weeks’ training lave taught the committee the desirability of devoting luch more attention to instruction in workshop pro- esses and a in educational institutions after he war. | itherto such training has been left to the ‘ies, but recent experience has shown that it t to form a more intimate part of the work of the cal schools. It is of importance to ascertain to hat extent the experience of authorities in other parts he country agrees with that of London. _WeE have received from Delhi a copy of the report a conference held in January last of the directors see Nature, March 8, p. 38). The conference was pened by the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, who, in ne course of his inaugural address, urged-the direc- ors in their work of developing technical education n India not to overlook the claims of agricultural nd commercial education. He said the great advance nade by scientific agriculture during. the last half entury justifies us in pressing forward with a policy agricultural education in India, and though the irectors would not ciaim to speak as experts on the gricultural side, their educational experience quali- ss them to give useful hints with regard to an dvance along this road. Again, on the commercial de of education, he expressed surprise to find how tle has been done in spite of India’s large and grow- § commerce. Compared with a technical institu- n, a commercial school is a relatively cheap it tion, and one would think that there was a sat Opening in the big towns of India for good nercial schools. In technical training in its frower sense he said sight must not be lost of practice in outside works. Laboratory , however good, is no real substitute for the = of the workshop. The directors discussed, g other subjects, the teaching of science in the schools of India. It appears that in -the er classes of Madras schools elementary science igatory. In Bombay science is compulsory in Svernment high schools, ‘and the University de- nds a study of science from matriculation candi- ites, though it conducts no examination in science this stage. In the provinces which come under Calcutta matriculation the position of science ching is not satisfactory. In Bengal there is actically no science teaching whatever in schools r Indian pupils. One of the optional subjects for l€ matriculation examination is elementary chanics, but very few candidates offer this sub- _ Geography is also an optional subject for matri- lation. Otherwise, no provision whatever is made nh the Calcutta University matriculation for the aching of science. Looking to the peculiar difficul- s which underlie the educational problem in Beng:1l, Was thought practical ‘science should be made obliga- ry and be included in the school-leaving certificate. _ NO. 2493, VOL. 99] ectors eS ‘onda! * te public instruction for the various provinces of India. Tue Association of Headmasters, which, it will be remembered, is concerned with secondary education, has adopted. and. circulated an “educational policy” ~ which may be taken to embody the considered opinion - of the headmasters of the secondary schools in this country as to what are desirable educational changes to meet the conditions which will follow the declara- tion of peace. Their policy insists, among other points, that elementary education should be considered. as a preliminary or preparatory stage. It is not yet possible. to require that no one shall be allowed to leave school in order to earn money_ before the age of eighteen; but it is possible to provide that no child’s education shall wholly cease on its leaving the elementary school, and that up to the age *of eighteen education shall never be wholly subordinated. to the ability to earn- wages. There must be a con- siderable increase (1) in the number of secondary schools—i.e: schools which provide some form of whole-time general education as distinct from technical training up to the age of eighteen, and (2) in facilities for part-time education. The chief needs in respect of secondary education enumerated by the policy are :-— (a) More extensive and more varied provision for children capable of profiting by a definite course of education up tothe age of eighteen. (b) The encour- agement and assistance of a much larger number of children to take full advantage of such provision. This involves the lengthening of school life by means of (1) the provision of adequate scholarships and main- tenance allowances; (2) the requirement ,that all pupils who enter a secondary school shall continue in attend- ance at some such school until the age of sixteen. (c) As in the case of elementary schools, the expendi- ture of much more money in attracting competent persons into the teaching profession. With reference to the curriculum it is stated that one of the most serious dangers to secondary education lies in the over- crowding of the time-table through the conflicting demands of an ever-increasing number of subjects. In framing curricula the first consideration should be to guard against this overcrowding, and to ensure that sufficient time is available for the adequate treatment of the subjects which are taught. No boy should be allowed to specialise until he has attained a satisfac-~ tory standard of general education. This standard should be that which a boy of ordinary ability may be expected to reach at the age of sixteen. The sub- jects of a general education should include as a rule Scripture, English, history, geography, mathematics, science, and ordinarily two languages other than the pupil’s own—in most cases these should be French and Latin. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. z Paris. Academy of Sciences, July 9.—M. Ed. Perrier in the chair.—L. Maquenne and E. Demoussy: The influence of mineral matter on the germination of peas. Peas have been germinated in sand moistened with distilled water containing varying known amounts of metallic salts and the length of the roots measured after six days’ germination. Twelve metals were used in these experiments, details being given of the results obtained with each one. Calcium would appear to be the only element which, in the absence of any other, is capable of producing normal germination, and the amounts required are extraordinarily small. The growth of the stem will be the object of further researches.—E. Ariés:. The sign of the specific heat of saturated vapour in the neighbourhood of the critical state—A. Thybaut : Tautochrone curves—G. L. le Cocq: All | known systems of .hyperstatic suspension bridges are 480 NATURE [Aucust 9, 1917. derivatives of isostatic suspension bridges, and the latter are only particular cases of one single and unique system which includes all.—M.. Siegbahn ; High-frequency spectra. Some of. the work recently published by MM. R. Ledoux-Lebard and A. Dauvillier has been anticipated by the author and E. Friman ‘(Phil. Mag., July, 1916).—P. Chevenard : The mechan- ism of the tempering of carbon steels. The results of the experiments described completely confirm the con- clusions recently published by MM. Portevin and Garvin.—A.' Portevin: The manganese steels. The steels were submitted to very slow cooling, seventy-five _ hours in pons from 1300° to 100° C.. The results, given in detail, differ considerably from the effect. of a normal annealing (three to five hours from 1000° C.). a, Urbain: A ~ method of determining molecular weights. The method is based-on determinations of the boiling point of a mixture of the liquid the mole- cular weight of which is to be measured with a non- miscible liquid, such as water, and the composition of the distillate. Examples are given of the measure- ment of the molecular weights by this method of benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and limonene.—Mile. Y.. Dehorne: The presence of the genus Stromato- porella in the Senonian in the neighbourhood of Mar- tigues (Bouches-du-Rhéne).—L. Bordas: The egg de- position of Rhynchites conicus and the anatomy of its larva. This parasite has caused great damage to apple, pear, cherry, and peach trees in Rennes and its neighbourhood.—A. Compton : Cerebrospinal ere and meteorology . July 16.—M. Camille Jordan in Lacroix : py roxenites of Madagascar.—G,. Bigourdan ; A gardener- astronomer of the seventeenth century, Elzéar Féronce : Calignon de Peyrins and the reciprocation of the pendulum.—G. “Gouy :; Interferences with large differ- ences of path.—G. A. Boulenger : poison apparatus of snakes. the chair.—A. Remarks on a recent communication of Mme. Marie Phisalix.—]. Priwaloff : The convergence of conjugated trigonometrical series. —E. Vessiot: The canonical. equations and develop- ments in series of celestial mechanics.—M. Amsler : The development in a continued fraction of a quadratic irrational.—V. M. Hegly: Flow over a weir in a free sheet with lateral contraction—-MM. Luizet and Guillaume: QOccultations observed during the total eclipse of the moon of July 4, 1917, at the Lyons Observatory.~-St. Procopiu; Induction apparatus for detecting projectiles in wounds. A modification of the Hughes induction balance in which a galvanometer replaces the telephone. The deviations of the galvano- meter vary with the distance of the projectile from the surface.—A. Colani: Study of the system water, uranyl oxalate, sodium oxalate.—A, Pictet, O, Kaiser, and A. Labouchére : The alcohols and bases of vacuum tar. Six alcohols and six bases were isolated. The alcohol of lowest boiling point was proved to be #-methyl- cyclohexanol (hexahydro-p-cresol). The. other alcohols were not identified, but belong to the hydroaromatic series. It is probable that these alcohols exist in the coal, since the benzene extract contains these alcohols in practically the same proportions as the vacuum tar. —Em. Saillard: The action of acids on the rotatory power of saccharose and invert-sugar in the presence of soluble salts.—F. X. Skupienski: Sexuality in. the Myxomycetes group of fungi.—Mme. M. Phisalix ; The subjective value of the evolution of the poison appa- ratus of snakes and the physiological action of the poisons in systematic classification—MM. Denier and Vernet : The bacteriological study of the natural co- agulation of the latex of Hevea brasiliensis.—A. Policard and B. Desplas: The histological mechanism of granulation of wounds in many NO. 2493, VOL. 99| ‘the Itzas. The felspathic ortho-amphibolites and ortho- The evolution of the - igs Mental Aspect of Sound. ByJ. G: becae Fae wines 46: BOOKS RECEIVED... | Scientific Treatise on Smoke Abatement. By Hamilton. Pp. xiii+155. (Manchester ; Sherrat coal Hughes.) 5s. net. History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan ‘boa, oul By P..A. Means. Pp. raibbersi rues (Cambridge, Mass.: The Peabody Museum.) % Notes on the Order of my a ories and Alphabet. | By R. E. Dennett. Pp. 18. (Lagos: Cote ae Printer.) The African Table of Periodic Law. By R. EL Dennett. Pp. 12. (Lagos: Government Printer.) — Studies in Psychology. Contributed by Colleagues and Former Students of E. Bradford. ‘Titchener. Pp. 337- (Worcester, Mass.: L. N. Wilson.) « Results of Atmospheric-Electric Observations made’ Aboard the Galilee (1907-8) and the mn sgn : By L. A. Bauer and W. F. G. Swann ash Carnegie Institution.) The Magnetic Work of the Galilee. . L. A Bauer, W. J. Peters, and J. A. Fleming. (' ‘ashin ton: Carnegie Institution.) q The Magnetic Work of the Carnegie (18Gnk8): By L. A. Bauer, W. J. Peters, J.. P. Ault, and: J; Ace Fleming. Some Discussions of the Ocean. papas ro Work (1905-16). By L. A. Bauer and W. J. (Washington: Carnegie Institution.) of -A Class-Book of Organic Chemistry. By Prof, ja Cohen. Pp. viii+344. (London :. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 4s. 6d. ni ER SS) SUR core a » i 4 4 3 1 aa | CONTENTS. re eae Charts and ‘Projections sca ths eee ae Our Bookshelf :— Taggart: ‘*Cotton Spinning ” Bastin : ‘‘ How to Know the Ferns.”—C. H. W. Findlay: ‘* Chemistry in the Service of Man” . Chemistry and the War. By Sir 3 E. pepe RMS tc Meaty. Ss er ae 6 Science and Industry. (Jtustrated.) aS aoe a Rainfall and Gunfire. By E. L. Hawke. SR OLOME easy fe NS) ice Ss ee Our Astronomical Column :— ie Bx. Discovery ofa New Star --/5 AfeGegeln (a eg Stellar Motions and Absolute Magnitudes ..... 47 Union Observatory, Johannesburg. ........ @ The Examinations for Class I. of the Civil Service 4 a Radio-active Halos. II. (With Diagram.) eae Profs J. Joly, F.R.S. oe University and Educational Intelligence sna As ee ‘oe Societies and Academies : Books Received . ; SRS Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND €O., Lip, ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. a Advertisements and business letters to ke addressed to Publishers. : Editorial Communications to the Editor Telegraphic Address: Puusis, -LONDON. Sa Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. — oa, ate ee NATURE a _ THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1917. _ AVIATION AND AIR-POWER. 1) ) Air Pore: Naval, Military, Commercial. By ee and H. Harper. Pp. viii+ 262. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1917.) ge ice 7S. 6d. net. (2) The Aviation Pocket-book for 1917: A Com- endium of Modern Practice and a Collection desele Notes, Formulae, Rules, Tables, and i “oi to Aeronautics. By R. B. _ Matthews. Fifth edition. Pp. xix+ 300. ail (Lon ndon :. Crosby Lockwood - and Son, 1917.) 6d. net. | he [ee of Aerofoils and Aerodynamic dies: A Text-book for Aeronautical Engineers, ‘aughtsmen, and Students. By A. W. Judge. . x+298. (London: Whittaker and Co., 17.) Price 15s. net. IR-POWER "isa non-technical survey of the position of aviation and its future, in the military and civil senses. The book s political as well as technical issues, and in re: says that dominion of the air must | ultimately the dominion of the world. aturally enough, we find that Britain is to lead world, but on the whole the book depends for s sub ject-matter on the ideas and propositions ow well known in aeronautical technical circles, id the dominion looked for appears tobe in the rts of peace rather than in those of war. ‘The book adds one more to the number of well- served tributes to the prowess of the British lot « ; the war, and voices a fairly generally ld opinion that natural aptitude for flying is a t and characteristic: asset of the nation. It not be forgotten that the war provides an sce ‘sporting instincts which will be absent m the more humdrum work of the civil pilot, the genius of the Germans for the organisa- of her labour should not be lost sight 1 our efforts to avoid the ‘suppression of indi- ity. The authors point out that in the pre- it war the Germans reaped an initial advantage sie use of large numbers of mediocre aero- s, the organisation of the Allies for obtaining premacy being said to have been ineffective summer of 1916. e wars the authors foresee huge raiding : dit: ons by aeroplanes, the airship being y discounted by reason of its vulnerability to ack. On the other hand, aeroplanes are rela- ly safe from land-fire, although the proportion ; y be escorted by faster machines of a fighting 38, whilst for long expeditions means will have discovered of keeping formation, the ten- cy being for units to separate and lose contact, seed themselves more liable to attack 1 the opposing aircraft. a result of these bombing tactics we are driven underground. Arsenals, No. 2494, VOL. 99] Zz 43 es ? ma chines brought down in this way is steadily | asing. During raids each bombing squadron | Govern- ment buildings,-and factories of national import- ance are all to hide their diminished heads. It is to be hoped that the aeroplane will not be such a terrible weapon of offence as is portrayed by the writers of “ Air-Power.” Fortunately, the discussion of the technical details of the future aeroplane gives hope for a reasonably lengthy period in which to adjust ourselves to the new world that is to be. The future aeroplane is to travel at 200, 250, or even 300 miles an hour, and to accomplish this with safety the area of the wings is to be variable to a great extent between high speed and cruising speed. They are to have petrol turbines instead of the present reciprocating engines; many of them may be used in one aeroplane, which will probably be a multiplane. There is to be a Trans- atlantic service doing the journey in forty-eight hours, and air travel is to be the ideal form of _ touring, because there will be no dust and no petrol fumes, apparently not éven from the tur- bines. With such a machine it is surprising to find that the authors are doubtful of their pilots, and ‘say that careless pilots must not on any account be allowed to take charge of eee or the public might get timid. The programme outlined is scarcely ever out- side the bounds of poSsibility, but views on avia- tion will have changed greatly long before the programme is completed. If-the authors do not convey their full enthusiasm to their readers, it is hoped that they are helping to make known the growing conviction that aeronautics is going to take a not unimportant place in the future history of the nation. (2) Engineering pocket-books, no matter ‘what the branch dealt with, must contain a certain amount of common matter, and in the case of the aviation pocket-book the formule for the strength of struts and beams and the permissible loading of ball-bearings are instances of this common ground- ing. The specialised part of pocket-books comes from the standard text-books of the branch, and in aviation these books are still in the early stages of development. The formule and ‘tables of the pocket-book are correspondingly meagre. The aerodynamical information with which the book opens is correct enough, so far as it goes, but one may doubt its assistance to designers, . who have much more recent and complete informa- tion at their disposal. On the subject of stability the book is very weak, and the brief note on lateral stability is valueless. The author has given the method and formule used in the design offices when devising pro- pellers, and as these are of a standard type the pocket-book will form a source of handy reference. It is probable that in the near future the theory will be extended, but not superseded. Engines are described mainly by the reproduction of the reports of trials, but some of the notes on tuning and engine faults are taken from the older subject of motoring, and should provide valuable assistance to those concerned in. the use of aeronautical engines. Gc 482 NATURE [Aucust 16, 1917 a There are many other interesting features in the pocket-book, amongst which may be mentioned the tables of meteorological data, a description of compass errors and their elimination, scouting and signalling, a glossary of aeronautical terms, and a bibliography of aeronautics. The pocket-book makes a good beginning at collecting the skeleton tables and formule of the aeronautical industry, and may be expected to grow and keep pace wa the text-books of the day. (3) This book, one of a series of four contem- plated by the author, consists of a collection of papers from various sources, of which the most prominent are the aerodynamical laboratories at the National Physical Laboratory and at Auteuil. The collection is uncritical, and in some cases the author is out of his depth. This is the case in the discussion of dynamical similarity, and more generally on all the: Ereore cas topics dealt with in - the book. Aeronautics is still so new that work only three or four years old may need modification in the light of more recent experience before it can be used: safely in a general scheme which includes this later work. It is the absence of these modifi- cations which renders. the book very little better than the original papers, and only so far as it leads to a wider distribution of knowledge has jit any value. The author limits the scope of his book to that part of aerodynamics which refers specifically to the performarfce of an aeroplane, and leaves to a separate volume the aerodynamical data which are concerned in the discussion of. stability and control. It is clear that the author is handicapped by the restrictions which war places on publica- tion, and considerable revision and addition may be expected at the end of hostilities. THE GLASTONBURY LAKE-VILLAGE. The Glastonbury Lake Village: A Full Description of the Excavations and the Relics Discovered, 1892—1907. *e A. Bulleid and H. St. George Gray. Vol. Pp. xxxv—xl+.353-724 + plates lix—ci. (Glastonbury Antiquarian Society, 1917.) Price, 2 vols., 31. 35. net. C Bains volume completes the record of one of the most important excavations which have recently been carried out in this country. It falls into two parts: first, a descriptive catalogue of the objects discovered in the course of the excava- tion, prepared by a’competent archeologist, Mr. ot. George Gray, who was trained in the new school of archeological work under General Pitt. Rivers, the pioneer in scientific processes of ex- cavation; secondly, articles on plants, wild and cultivated, by Mr. Clement Reid; on the remains of birds, by Mr. C. W. Andrews; and an im- portant series of papers by Prof. Boyd Dawkins on wild and domesticated animals, the inhabitants of the village, the range of the Iberic race in the prehistoric Iron age, and the place of that race in British ethnology. The catalogue prepared by Mr. St. George Gray is a good piece of ethnographical work, each NO. 2494, VOL. 99] | survivors returned and reoccupied their hou: specimen being carefully described with a lavis a display of illustrations. Indeed, it is more thar a mere catalogue; it might be better described as, a handbook for the archeologist, because he not. only describes the specimens with which he i dealing, but compares each article with similar objects found elsewhere, and gives careful refer- ences to a large number of papers in scientific journals. It might be worth considering whether this part of the book might be reprinted in a cheaper form for the use of field workers. — In order to complete the survey of this interest- ing site it may be hoped that the chance of re- covering the village burial-ground will not. overlooked. In its absence some important quesd - tions must remain unanswered. In Britain during the prehistoric Iron age inhumation and cremation were both recognised methods for the disposal of the dead. ‘This was probably the case in Glaste bury, and though a good deal of pottery has bee recovered, it is as yet impossible to say how much of it may have been used for fuera p " . poses. = The valuable series of papers” Contributed Prof. Boyd Dawkins enables us to understand th physical types of the people, their connection vil other races, and in some measure, with the helj of the articles found -on the site, to reconstruc their local culture. From the sporadic distrib tion of the human bones, as well as their gener: isolation, he believes that we must suppose that t: general massacre of the inhabitants occurred, this conclusion is amply supported by nae violence found on some of the skulls, Like he neighbours, they seem to have been subject © Belgic tribes which at the time of the Roman co quest had become the dominant power in soutl nel Britain. The Lake-village was probably storm and sacked by some Belgic tribesmen when th took’ possession of Somerset some time betw Ceesar’s invasion and the Claudian conquest. - _M. Salomon Reinach has shown in the case— “some of the Celts of Gaul, these Belge we possibly head-hunters, and a "weak settlement this would be likely to provoke attack. In places, like Wookey Hole and Worlebury, s But at Glastonbury the whole populatiogtl m™ have been wiped out or enslaved, and the si es remained uninhabited down -to the present ¢ Possibly they were too weak to make effec ect resistance. The scarcity of weapons, even am people occupied in pastoral and industrial put suits, is striking; out of 107 objects of iron, .¢ seven could be classed in this category. At same time, though sporadic fires used to o¢ there seems to have been no general conflagrat As regards the racial affinities of the inhabita they were members of the Iberie stock, the ol -element as yet traced in the existing Euro peoples. They were closely connected with t neighbours, the Silures, and probably they their Iberic tongue when. they passed und er rule of the Goidels, and learned, in the Bre age, to speak Gaelic. This Gaelic tongue in its turn replaced by the Brythonic— Vi NATURE 483 land in. the prehistoric Iron age. © Neither the Igic nor the Roman conquest left any physical ks on this isolated community, hidden away ‘the marshes. The best way of understanding their mode of is by a comparison with that of the inhabitants other similar settlements. The Worlebury , their neighbours, were in the same stage of ture as the Lake-villagers : practised the same spinning, weaving, pottery-making; grew same wheat, barley, and beans; had the same ‘ic animals, and lived in the same sort of s, with this difference, that at Worlebury the huts were sunk.in the ground, instead of being supported by artificial foundations in a marsh, they were protected from attack by massive é walls, instead of palisades. © _ We have said enough to indicate the value of elaborate survey of an interesting, isolated pr rehi istoric community. on which the Glastonbury \ntiquarian Society and the editors, Dr. A. Bulleid nd Mr. St. George Gray, are to be congratulated. “MECHANICS AND METALLURGY. Guida Pratica del Meccanico Moderno. By rturo Massenz. (Manuali Hoepli.) Pp. iv+351. (Milano: Ulrico Hoepli, 1917.) Price 4.50 lire. 2) Tempera e Cementazione dell’ Acciaio. By ario Levi-Malvano. (Manuali Hoepli.) Pp. “Sng (Milano: Ulrico Hoepli, 1917.) 4 lire. SHE present volume forms one of the excei- 4 lent series of which Messrs. Hoepli have ww published some 600, dealing with the arts nd sciences, This work is intended chiefly for me men and for students of technical and in- trial schools who are about to start their works Brief descriptions are given of the arious small tools and appliances met with in a jodern shop, with particulars of the operations ir which they are intended. The text and ustrations are suggestive rather than fully planatory, though a series of exercises accom- mies each chapter, thus permittina the student follow what he reads. Simple mathematics : introduced where necessary to elucidate any cular point. The heat treatment which tals necessarily undergo in the’ course of work- ‘is explained. The book concludes with an tion of the different systems of screw- s and of the uses of the various machine- ad ber, 7’ Betis volume attempts to give in a_ small apass a comprehensive account of the harden- 5 of. steel for industrial purposes. It is a oroughly _up-to-date- little manual, being y rewritten from an earlier work published 'the same firm. The first part of the work is oted to theoretical metallurgy—the constitu- 1 of iron, the iron-carbon system, effects of t treatment and mechanical treatment on the “ul of steels, etc.—and mentions the work t has been done on the subject by the leading 0. 2494, VOL.99| Si, Cc a Breton—when the Brythons_ ruled the | warmly European metallurgists during the last twelve years or so. In the practical part the various operations of hardening and cementation are described, together with the furnaces used, while the methods of temperature measurement—Seger cone, Féry thermocouple and pyrometer, etc.— are touched on. As an introduction to some larger work on the subject this handbook can be recommended to readers who have attained to some fluency in Italian. The book is well illustrated and printed, and in a form convenient for the pocket. Ba ete OUR BOOKSHELF. Experimental Building Science. By J. Leask Manson. Pp. vii+210. (Cambridge : Af the University Press, 1917.) Price 6s. net. Tuis book is an indication of the more intimate relations which are growing up between pure science and industry, and provides a course of simple experimental work which should be within the reach of students destined to become respon- sible for the manifold operations comprised under the term “building construction.’ explains the fundamental laws of physics and chemistry, and draws upon building materials and the everyday devices employed in buildings for his illustrations of these laws. The underlying principles, as he points out, are necessarily devoid of any novelty, but the practical illustrations are numerous and well chosen. Starting with an explanation of density and of water and air pres- sure exemplified by reference to water supply and drainage problems, the structure of materials is next shortly dealt with, and then the application of force, which section includes some useful spring balance experiments. The physical section con- cludes with some account of heat, and the last third of the book is devo*ed to elementary chemis- try. The diagrammatic figures are very fully ‘written up,” which should help the student. Partly a text-book, partly a laboratory manual © also supplied with test questions, the book is cap- able of a wide application, and should prove useful to the enlightened student of building who realises that if he is to maintain his position in later life he must at least know something of the funda- mental laws of natural science as appliéd to his work. > - Treatise on Hydraulics. By M. Merriman. Tenth edition, revised with-the assistance of T. Merriman. Pp. x+565. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price 18s. 6d. net. Since the cet publication of this book in 1889 there have been many notable advances in hydraulics. The eighth edition was entirely re- written, the ninth (1911) reset, and the present edition. contains supplementary sections which bring the volume up to date. General principles are treated in the first three chapters; the flow through orifices, over weirs, through tubes, pipes, and conduits; together with the flow of rivers, : The author — 484 ¢ NATURE [AucusT 16, 1917 are dealt with in chaps. v. to x. The work done on vanes, and water-wheels and turbines take up the following three chapters, and the book closes -with chapters on naval hydromechanics, pumps and pumping. The space devoted to the flow of water is large by comparison, and includes, in addition to the usual subjects, the flow through fire-hose‘and in fountains. Biel’s formula for the flow in pipes and channels is discussed, and results calculated from it are compared with those given by Kutter’s formula. The treatment of this section is adequate and good. The book contains many illustrations, mostly outline diagrams, and while these illustrate very well the principles discussed, the inclusion of a larger number of. working drawings would have been better. This remark applies particularly to the sections dealing respectively with turbines and pumps; the latter has no working drawings whatever, and both sections could bear consider- able expansion. Hydraulic machinery is dismissed in three and a half pages, with four inadequate © sketches, regarded from the point of view of the student who desires to know how the appliances are actually constructed. — Throughout the entire volume there are copious references to articles in periodicals, other books, transactions of societies, etc. 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 Plea for the Fuller Utilisation of Coal. . . THE suggestion in your article of July 26 on the Fuel Research Board of *‘the employment of coke- oven gas to supplement the output of suitably situated gas works, and the more extended use of water-gas,” is timely, and it certainly does not err on the side of excess. | ‘ As pointed out in a paper which I read before Section G of the British Association in 1906, “if all the foundry coke which is used in this country were made in by-product recovery ovens, the resulting yield of gas would be more than _ 160,000,000,000 cub. ft. per annum, or more than is used in one year in the whole of the United Kingdom”; and, as regards the distance to which the gas might be con- veyed, it is scarcely an exaggeration to. say that the economic limit of supply is the coast-line of Great Britain. The possibility of conveying gas over long distances is scarcely realised in this country, although in the United States gas has for many years past been’ piped at high pressures over hundreds of miles. The need for a cheap supply of power is beginning to make itself felt. Not unnaturally we turn to electricity; but over long distances gas is a very, formidable competitor. The question of fertilisers is also attracting atten- tion. . For years past we have been spending some- thing like 15,000,000l. per annum on importing nitrate of soda from Chile, and wasting, an equivalént amount of nitrogen by our primitive methods of using coal. We are beginning, too, to realise the importance NO. 2494, VOL. 99| of the great coal-tar industry which we have allowed — at by the ordinary method of carbonisation, but with | -account. duce a material as free as possible from: all imp to slip into German hands: sige In every direction we are confronted by problems which depend for their solution on a fuller utilisa-— tion of our great national asset. re, “4% The burning of coal in its raw state was long ago — denounced by the late Sir William Siemens as “a barbarous practice’’; but habit is strong, and our — business men have been too busy making money to give much thought to economy in power production. — Recent events have violently jolted us out of our — ancient grooves, and there is now a disposition to consider novel proposals on their “merits. ae I showed in a paper read before the Society. of — Arts in March, 1906, that coal-gas made at the pit’s mouth could be delivered in London at a price at which it would oust coal from the home -and from — many industrial processes. My proposals may be briefly summarised as follows :— oe 5a (1) The whole of the coke-oven gas now wasted would be utilised, and a part of the additional gas required generated from small coal at the pit’s mouth out oo to illuminating power. (2) The waste heat from’ the retorts would t utilised to raise steam for compressing the gas. (3) The exhaust steam would be used to gene: . water-gas. 5 < -(4) The gas would be piped to wherever requi and delivered under sufficient pressure to charge storage cylinders of motor vehicles. ksi (5) Chemical works would be established near collieries to deal with the ammonia, tar, ete. __ In this way practically the whole of the availz heat of the coal would be turned to account, inst of wasting some go per cent. of it, as is done in generating electricity by steam4power; and th residuals, the whole of which are wasted when is burnt under a boiler, would be; turned to- The question bristles with points of scientific terest, but I have already trespassed long enoug on your space and on the patierice of your readers. ake , ARTHUR J. Mar University Hall, Carlyle Square, ae Chelsea, S.W.3. Devitrification of Quartz Glass. tee IN an article by Audley, published in the Transactior of the Ceramic Society, vol. xvi., part i., p. 124, it easily devitrified. The statement is repeated in the article on the us of zirconia in the issue of Nature of July 5, and he previously found its way into much of the literatu dealing with quartz glass. The alleged superiority quartz glasses containing zirconium or titanium oxi is due to some experiments carried out by Thomas” the laboratory of Borchers at Aachen, and publishe the Chemiker Zeitung in 1912. These exper were shown by me (Chem. Zeit., 1913, p. 589), 4 independently by others, to be untrustworthy, qua glasses containing zirconium and titanium oxides bei in fact, more liable to devitrification than quartz g prepared from pure silica. The purer the quartz g is the less is its tendency to devitrify after prolongs exposure to heat. Quartz glass manufacturers in n' . oon country are well aware of this, and endeavour to A--CSm The Wallsend Laboratories, eee Wallsend-on-Tyne, August 7. 9 ae 16, 1917] NATURE 485 : HE REVISION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS. *HE committee appointed by the Lords Com- - missioners of H.M. Treasury to consider and port upon the scheme of examination for Class I. the Civil Service has reported under date une.20, 1917 [Cd. ‘8657]. It gives, in the first “place, an historical summary showing the ations in the scheme first adopted wheri the inciple of open competition came into effect May, 1855- With its apologia for the pre- ninanc, given to classics we need not concern elves in view of the amendments it proposes. The revised scheme which it outlines provides examination in two sets of the subjects. First, mpulsory set, including an essay, and papers on lish, contemporary questions, general scien- ific principles and methods, and translation from > modern language (or from Latin, if desired by ern language students); to each of these 100 is assigned. There is also a compulsory e wace examination to test alertness and intelli- nce; to this 300 marks are cian All this $s very reasonable. he second set of subjects is optional; candi- lates may offer (a) languages; (b) history; (c) oC ri omics, law, etc. ; (d) mathematics and science ; ee an additional translation paper in a language. For ‘the first time the modern languages are laced on a par with Latin and Greek, 200 marks 2 assigned for translation, etc., and 200. for history and literature of the country in each thematics gets its proper place; 800 marks assigned to the subject—4oo0 for lower and ‘mathematics respectively. Science also ilarly treated, the marks, e.g., for physics equal to those obtainable for Latin, viz. 400. ing is, for the first time, brought within he scope of the examination and may also earn a marks. Another important new subject is atisticS, which is valued at 100 marks. didates offering ‘science subjects are very y required to produce evidence that they ave received laboratory training in an institution iniversity rank; but there i is, of course, to be boratory test in the examination itself. the whole the scheme may be regarded as ‘satisfactory ; it provides opportunities for trained efficiently on varied lines to gain 3 to the important posts to which these nations ultimately lead; and it will now be ault of the provincial universities if their immni are not found among those who serve the ate in this way. And after the scheme has been peration for some years there should be in the : ranks a fair proportion of men who have a good scientific training, while the remainder not not suffer from that complete ignorance of ntific principles and methods which charac- rises most of our existing mandarins. 0 Esoiree, the new scheme will not alter the dle system by which service in those depart- pot the public service not open to public “NO. 2494, VOL. 99] _ position. competition are chosen so very largely from the ranks of classical scholars. It may still be pos- sible, e.g., for an authority on- medieval English literature to be primarily responsible for technical education and for there to be no representative of scientific knowledge, training, and education among the highest officials of the Board of Educa- tion or among the chief administrators of the funds devoted to, scientific and industrial research. In an appendix to the report specimen papers are set forth. The one in general science (for all candidates) is interesting and on the right lines ; it asks for just that amount of general scientific knowledge likely to benefit all public servants ; and a wide choice is to be allowed. Quality in the answers is to be sufficient, and accuracy of state- ment and clearness of expression are to be essen- tials. The compulsory paper on social, political, and economic subjects is also on the right lines ; it re- quires a candidate to have some clear ideas as to, the way we are governed and as to the questions underlying the proper conduct and sevelumest of our trade and commerce. The age limits for candidates remain as at present—twenty-two to twenty-four. This will pre- judice candidates from the provincial universities ; but if it helps to lead to a later age of entry and to make the requirement of a four years’ course for an honours degree more géneral, it will have done useful-work. The provincial universities would dc well to combine to fix their minimum age of entry at eighteen, with a standard of educational efficiency equal to that required from present candidates for the intermediate examination for the initial degrees. The committee has. done valuable work, and we may be sure that the experience and advice of the two fellows of the Royal Society who were members of it—Sir Alfred Ewing and Sir Henry Miers—have contributed in no small degree to the wise decisions which have been taken. J. WERTHEIMER. THE NEW EDUCATION BILL. R. FISHER introduced the long-expected Education Bill in the House of Commons on August 10, and it was read a first time. The. reforms which the Bill outlines have long been overdue, but they have been delayed by the exigencies of our system of government, with the importance it has attached to the claims of the different political parties, which have year after year placed at the head of the Board of Education Ministers with no knowledge of the. educational needs of the country, little apprecia- tion of the intimate connection between educa- tional efficiency and industrial and mercantile supremacy, and chiefly concerned with securin advantages for the party to which they owed their But in Mr. Fisher we have a Minister of Education who is an educationist conversant with every grade of our educational system and dominated by the idea that “ eaucanon is one of 486 NATURE | sip Ge [AucusT 16, 1917 the good things of life, which should be more widely shared than has hitherto been the case amongst the children and young persons of the country ”—to quote his own words. lf his Bill eventually becomes an Act embodying the reforms he described in his introductory speech, it will mark a turning-point in English education and will place the nation firmly on the road lead- ing eventually to real educational efficiency. But the Bill is at its best only an instalment of what is wanted and what must be secured if our educational system is to be complete. As Mr. Fisher explained in his speech, the Bill does not affect the government of the universities, or of those institutions of, secondary, technical, and other higher forms of education which are not main- tained or aided by local education authorities. It does not deal with the scholarship system, the training colleges, or libraries, and the establishment of a satisfactory pensions scheme for teachers in secondary, technical, and other schools at present outside the State scheme of pensions. These pressing matters are, we are told, to be included in separate measures, but in view of the demands which the war must continue to make on the Government and the House of Commons, it is difficult to be optimistic as to the chances of early legislation in the direction of improving and _ extending our higher education. Yet Mr. Fisher’s Bill marks a great step for-. ward, and it has received, we are glad to know, a general welcome. It assumes the adminis- trative structure erected by the Act of 1902, .and the educational work of the country will continue to be entrusted to the authorities on whom it was devolved by that Act. The general framework of the Bill and the specific proposals of the Government were clearly explained in Mr. Fisher’s speech, from which the following summary has been made :— The Government desires :—First, to improve the ad- ministrative organisation of education. ect ) Secondly, to secure for every: boy and girl in this country an elementary school-life, up to the age of fourteen years, which shall be unimpeded by the com- peting claims of industry. ; i Thirdly, to establish part-time, day, continuation schools, which every young person in the country shall b2 compelled to attend unless he or she is undergoing some suitable form ‘of alternative instruction. ' Fourthly, the. development of the higher. forms of elementary education and the improvement of the physical condition of the children and young persons under instruction. Fifthly, to‘consolidate the elementary-school grants ; and Sixthly, to make an effective survey of the whole educational provision of: the country and to bring pri- vate educational institutions into closer and more con- venient relation to the national system. é A duty is imposed upon the councils of every county and county borough to provide for the progressive development and comprehensive organisation of educa- tion in their respective areas and to submit schemes ‘to the Board, and in order that this function may adequately be discharged it is proposed to remove the ‘twopenny limit of the amount to be raised for higher forms of education which was imposed by the Act of 1902. The council of a county or county borough will, NO. 2494, VOL. 99] in other words, plan out an educational policy. Before submitting its scheme to the Board the council will be required to consult the authorities having power in the county under Part 3 of the Act of 1902 with reference to the mode in which and,the extent to which any such authority will co-operate with the county, and the Board will be informed as to the co-operation to be expected from any such authority. There are some educational problems which can be most conveniently considered in relation to an area larger than a county or county borough, and by bodies representing a wider constituency. The supply of -elementary teachers, for instance, could be best dealt within relation to the large areas. So, probably, could a scheme for scholarships to be held at the secondary schools or the universities. Or, again, the provision and utilisation of secondary schools might be more scientifically planned and with less fear of overlapping in the large area than in the small area. It is, of course, possible under the existing law for authorities to combine for any one or all of such purposes. 4 The Bill provides distinct statutory authority for the formation of bodies which we may call provincial asso- ciations. The Board ‘will be empowered by statute to provide for the establishment of provincial associations after consultation with the authorities concerned, the local education authorities being empowered to delegate administrative and educational functions to these asso- ciations, and conversely the associations bein, empowered to exercise any function so del gated. There will be county and county borough authorities obliged to submit comprehensive schemes-o education for their respective areas, and these will b gradually supplemented by provincial associations for those educational purposes which,are most conveniently dealt with in relation to areas larger than those of thy county and county borough. : as The cducation given in public elementary schools _ not to be considered an end in itself, but a stage in th child’s education destined to lead to other stages. Loca education authorities,‘under Part 3 of the Local Educa tion Act of 1902, will be required to make adequat provision, either by special classes or by means ¢ central schools, for what may be termed higher elemet tary education. The Bill provides not only for introduction of practical instruction at a a stages, but also for the preparation of children f further education in schools other than elementary, am for transference at suitable ages to such schools. The Bill includes a series of proposals designed improve and to strengthen the existing fabric of elemet tary education so as to secure to every child in the ki dom a sound physique and a solid groundwork — knowledge before the period when the part-time syste begins. The establishment. of nursery schools | children under five years is encouraged, and the education authorities are empowered fo raise the a at which normal instruction in the elementary scho begins to six, as soon. as there is an adequate suf of nursery schools for the younger children in the ar The law .of school attendance is to be amend as to abolish all exemptions b’tween the ages of 1 and fourteen, and further restriction is to be plat upon the employment of children during the elem tary-school pe-iod. The first of these proposals r upon the belief that children are introduced to normal instruction of public elementary schools at tender an age. At. four or five years sleep and f are far more important than letters, and, wher the home is good, the child should be encouraged stay with its mother. It is not proposed to com the provision of nursery schools, but to en such schools, attendance at which must be volunt to be aided from the rates, and in the development these schools, which will often be cpen-air schools NATURE 487 improvement in the health of young children may ably be looked for. ~~ ; second proposal involves as its consequence the on of what is known as the half-time system. system has been condemned by every educatignist very social reformer. It is bad for the physique children; it is injurious to the intellectual pros- of the half-timer, and it has been shown not only the work upon which the children are engaged is such as to develop the higher forms of industrial ty, but also that when the half-time system is admitted in the textile industry it spreads to other of employment as well. ; third measure for improving elementary-school tion is the further regulation of the employment dren during the period of daily elementary-school The Government desires a full period of school unimpaired by the oes sms of empioy- , for all children of the working population. At esent moment the effect of our elementary-schooi ion is greatly harmed by the work which is ed on children out of schcol hours. They are to be employed for three hours before the school and for some hours after the school closes, and neral opinion of inspectors is that of all reforms ng elementary education there is none more vital the enforcement of strict limitation of the em- xyment of children in their school-going days. The il proposes that no child under twelve shall be em- d for profit, and here the Bill has been anticipated aws passed in some large municipalities. No under fourteen shall be employed on any day on he is required to attend school before the close ool hours or after 8 p.m. on that day, or on other ys before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. The Bill provides at the local education authorities, if satisfied on the of the school medical officer or otherwise that ild is being employed in such a way as to be udicial to health or education, may forbid or regu- e that employment. If the local education authority decide that it would be wise to contiriue the ary education in the elementary schools either 1¢ boys or the girls in their area or of boys or girls particular occupations in that area up to the ifteen they shall be empowered to do so. most novel ‘provision in the Bill is that, with exceptions, every young person no longer under gation to attend a public elementary. school end such continuation school as the local edu- authority of the area in which he resides may for a period of 320 hours in the year, or the nt of eight hours a week for forty weeks. The ceptions are the following :—Attendance at s will not be required in the case of a young person received to the satisfaction of the Board suit- -time instruction up to the age of sixteen, or assed the matriculation examination of a univer- f the United Kingdom or an examination recog- -an equivalent to that, or is shown to be un- or deficient for part-time instruction. In other every young person who has not received a full- ication up to the age of sixteen shall receive a e education up to the age of eighteen, either in provided by the local t part-time instruction shall be given by day; is made to ensure that the young person who ed to attend continuation classes shall not be unduly long hours during the days on which are held, and that he or she shall be given ble interval for food, rest, and. washing be- work and school. The classes are not to be held ‘or any holiday or half-holiday which a young » 2494, YOU. 99] ucation authority or in | under their direction, such as the schools estab- | ‘by manufacturers in their works. The Bill pro- | ; | against the injurious effects of industrial pressure by be taken out of the employers’ time, and | | freedom. person is accustomed to enjoy. The proposal comes to this, that any young person who has to undergo full time for instruction will be liberated from industrial toil for three half-days a week during forty weeks—two half-days to be spent in school, while one will be’a_ half-holiday. The Bill rightly attaches great importance to physical 3 education. Physical training is already an_ element, perhaps not a sufficient element, in our elementary- school curriculum, and grants have recently been sanc- tioned for organisers of physical training ip public elementary schools. The present Bill gives physical training a place in continuation schools. Every boy and girl in those schools will receive physical training. Ii goes even further. It empowers th2 local education authority to establish nursery schools for young chil- dren, to maintain playing-fields, school baths, or school game centres, and equipment for physical training, and it extends the powers and duties with regard to medi- cal inspection now possessed by the local education authorities in the case of elementary schools and secondary schools provided by them, and continuation schools under their control. ; In commending the Bill to the consideration of the House, Mr. Fisher said :—‘* We have reached a point in our history when we must take long views. We are a» comparatively small country, and we have incurred the hostility of a nation with a larger population, with a greater extent of concentrated territory, and with a more powerful organisation of its resources. We cannot flatter ourselves with the comfortable opinion ~ —TI wish we could—that after this war the fierce rivalry of Germany will disappear and hostile feeling alto- gether die down, and this in itself constitutes one reason for giving the youth of our country the best preparation which ingenuity can suggest. There is another reason. We are extending the franchise. We are making a greater demand than ever before on the civic spirit of the ordinary man and woman at a time ~ when the problems of national life and of world policy, as to which this House will-be called on to decide, have become exceedingly complex and difficult. How oe can we expect an intelligent response to the demands - which the community proposes to make on the con- structive judgment of its men and women unless we are prepared to make some further sacrifices in order to form and fashion the mind of the young? ‘We assume that education is one of the good things of life, which should be more widely shared than has hitherto been the case amongst the children and young persons of the country. We assume that education should be the education of the whole man, spiritually, intellectually, and physically; and it is not beyond the resources of civilisation to devise a scheme of educa- tion, possessing certain common qualities, but admit- ting at the same time large variation, from which the - whole population of the country, male and female, may derive benefit. We assume that the principles upon which well-to-do parents proceed in the education of their families are valid mutatis mutandis for the fami- lies of the poor, and that the State has need to secure for its juvenile population conditions under which’ mind, body, and character may be harmoniously: de- veloped. We feel also that, in existing circumstances, the life of the rising generation can only be protected. a further measure of State compulsion. But we ar. that the compulsion proposed in this Bill will be no sterilising restriction of wholesome liberty, but the — essential condition of a large and more enlightened It will tend to stimulate the civic spirit, promote general culture and technical knowledge, and diffuse a steadier judgment and a_better-informed opinion through the whole body of the community.” 488 NATURE ee / = [Avaust 16, 1917 : THE REGENERATION OF THE BRITISH SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT TRADE AFTER THE WAR. M Ue attention is being paid at present to the capture of Germany’s foreign trade after the war, and the same arguments’ that apply in other spheres hold good for the scientific instru- ment trade as well. The Germans, thanks to their efficient organisation and methods of educa- tion, had been able, at the time the war broke out, to attain a supreme position in this branch of their export trade. To quote one instance from statistics : Germany exported to Russia alone, in 1913, mathematical, physical, and chemical instru- ments to the value of nearly two millions sterling, and chemical and pharmaceutical products to almost the same amount. While corresponding figures are not available in a complete form for: ‘similar British products, there is every reason to believe that they represent only a small fraction . of these amounts, The following notes, based on conversations — the. writer had with the directors of two of the leading German manufacturers of physical and chemical apparatus,’ will explain the reason for Germany’s success and point out the direction in - which British manufacteters should proceed after the war. In nearly every case the German youth desiring to adopt scientific instrument making as a trade has to serve a long apprenticeship in the particu- lar branch to which he intends to devote his energies.. This training is supplemented by courses in elementary science (including in many cases mathematics) held in the continuation schools (Gewerbeschulen), of which there are one or more in any town of importance. Thus, in addition to knowing how to construct an instru- ment, the German craftsman generally knows exactly what function that instrument is intended to perform—he crystallises his scientific notions into his daily work. ‘He also realises the value of precision. It is highly important, therefore, that English instrument makers should be afforded more ample facilities for obtaining this scientific training at the same time as _ their workshop experience, in order to avoid the mere mechanical repetition which thetr practical ex-" perience calls for. ’ In Germany between instrument-making firms and college and university teachers, with the result that new forms of apparatus are being continually evolved for: proving a given law or explaining a scientific phenomenon. A perusal of the catalogues of Kohl, Enencke, and other firms will show the diversity of apparatus that were current articles . with these houses. It is to be hoped that after the war some pub- lishing house will consider the -advisability of establishing a periodical devoted to the theoretical and practical side of instrument making. Ger- many possesses more than one such organ, viz. the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde (with its | supplement, Deutsche Mechaniker-Zeitung, de- NO. 2494, VOL. 99] . ‘the same time one of the many organs of the - scientific training, is incalculable. Y ‘sive system of propaganda, by means of elaborate. “i I death of a well-known French biologist, _For many years a sufferer, he hastened his end there is closer rapprochement | last book, which was published this year, is € voted to the practical side of instrument maki and Der Mechaniker. The former journal is’ Ae Physikalisch-Technische Re ae the Ger- man National Physical Laboratory). Whenever a — purely physical instrument is designed in that institution, the experimental data leading up to its — design, as well as the mechanical details, are published in the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde, — the editorial staff of which includes one or more © members of the Reichsanstalt staff. The value of such a journal to instrument makers, especially — when their own staff includes men with a *horong ns Again, in order to make scientific products known abroad, the Germans resorted to an exten- descriptive catalogues printed in the language the country with which they wished to deal: Many of these catalogues embrace almost every know instrument for teaching and other purposes. British manufacturers, my German informan told me, are quite as capable as the Germans constructing instruments of precision equal” every respect to the German products. There no reason, therefore, why they should not s a large share of the business that was doe ; Germany in pre-war days, provided they (1) steps to construct a more comprehensive ra of apparatus; (2) keep pace with modern scien requirements ; (3) keep in closer touch ~ British men of science; (4) give m attention to the publication of catalogues foreign languages; and (5) establish a journal embodying the peculiar features of the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde. E. S. Hopcson. DR. FELIX LE DANTEC. : is with regret that we have to record Félix Le Dantec, at the age of forty-eight ye: generous’ work in the war hospitals, though deed the flame of his life always burned too qui to last long. Of Breton extraction and precocious ta I Dr. Le Dantec studied in Paris under Pas Metchnikoff, and other great masters. His d torate thesis dealt with intra-cellular digesti the Protozoa. Although he returned at times similar investigations, e.g. on Sporozoa - Bacteria, he was led by temperament and by i cumstancés to a kind of life which the pure in est gator often fails to understand. On the one han Le Dantec was, as he said himself, an intellectu adventurer; he could not desist from the p of the elusive—What is life? What is indi ality? What is personality? What is What is evolution? What is knowledge? titled “Savoir.” On the other, he had vocation of a teacher, and fulfilled it wit extraordinary industry and enthusiasm, unsparif of his own vital resources. We refer not so m uC to his work as lecturer in Lyons and préparatet : : ee ee -Aveust 16, 1917] NATURE 489 n Paris, but to his extraordinary writing of books, vhich we see an heroic effort to win a way to ness for himself and others. Thus we have “La matiére vivante,” “La Théorie nouvelle de | vie,’’ “Evolution individuelle et Heérédité,”’ ‘Traité de *Biologie,” “Le Déterminisme bio- »gique,” ‘‘ Les Influences ancestrales,” “La Lutte u elle,’’ and at least ten more! Le Dantec was a biologist of the mechanistic he held to a hard-and-fast determinism ; ; a devoted disciple of Lamarck; he made endeavours after scientific clarity as d to what he regarded as superstitious entalism, metaphysical verbiage, and intel- hypocrisy. While many of his radical ave been criticised as too abstract and sim- not gripping the actual facts of life, many were certainly luminous and useful, such as hat of the organism continually trafficking with S environment, sustaining itself by functioning, ; cation de la vie-par la vie.” Of the man there is no doubt: his whole life spoke rage, sincerity, a passion for veracity, a lingness to follow what he thought was truth leresoever it led him. nate NOTES. large magnetic storm was’ re- rded at Kew Observatory. It began with a udden commencement” at about 4.14 a.m. on ust 9. The ‘sudden commencement’? was un- y large, especially in D (declination). In H J force) it was not visibly oscillatory, con- of a rise of about 110 y (I1y=1x10-° C.G.S. it). In D it was distinctly oscillatory, an easterly wement of about 4’ being followed by a westerly vement of about 17’. The extreme westerly posi- m of the needle was reached about 4.50 a.m. on fust 9, when the needle pointed 34' more to the than it did when the storm began. The D trace ighly oscillatory at times, especially between -and 10.30 a.m. on August 9. Conditions became ich quieter after 11 a.m., and continued so until Oo p.m. on August 9, when there was a recr-idescence = storm. The extreme easterly position was ad about 0.24 a.m. on August 10. The storm etty well subsided by 4 a.m. The total range of § it was approximately 55’. The disturbance generally speaking, waxed and waned in in- ity with that in D, but did rot show so much sment between 11 a.m. and 9.20 p.m. on August 9. = recrudescence after 9.20 p.m. on August g was, wever, conspicuous. The lowest and highest values 0: August g-I0 a IGeT) It 9.30 a.m., the latter about 9.30 p.m.; the total was about 370 y. During the greater part of ¢ the vertical force trace was not much dis- bed. The value of the element was slightly de- ed during the morning hours of August 9, and Was a considerably larger depression between p-m. on August 9 and 2 a.m. on August ro. The of the element during the course of the disturb- Was about 250 y. The disturbance was of the usually accompanied by aurora. Tt was announced in Nature of August 2 that the iation proposed to hold a conference in The announcement was based upon a ar, dated July 24, asking persons who intended present to communicate with Mr. E. E. Lowe No. 2494, VoL. 99] next. Were both recorded on August 9, the former (Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester), who is hon. secretary of the association. A circular dated August 2, signed by the members of the Executive Committee, has now reached us, and we learn from it that the proposed conference will not be held, as a sufficient number of promises to attend has not been received. Tue High Commissioner for New Zealand has been informed by cable that reports of the damage done by the recent earthquake in the southern part of North Island were much exaggerated, and that the earth- quake was in no way destructive. . Mr. Cuartes T. Druery, who died on August 8, was a naturalist as well as a horticulturist of eminence. At a time when not many horticulturists were inclined to see beyond the horizon of their gardens, Mr. Druery - | did much to encourage the wider outlook which has now become more general. His passion for the study of-ferns, and in particular for the abnormal and mon- strous forms, led him to see that the science of gene- tics must be called in to help to explain the ways of cultivated as well as of wild plants. Of alert mind, he recognised at an early date the importance of Mendel’s work, and it was his pen that wrote the first English translation of Mendel’s famous memoir. In recognition of his services to horticulture his name was enrolled among those of the sixty original reci- pients of the Victoria Medal of Horticulture. A gifted linguist, Mr.- Druery wrote on subjects other than horticulture.. Quite recently he published a volume of verse—of a humour. akin in type to that practised by early Victcrians—and his many friends were compelled to admire, not only the versatility, but also the youthfulness of mind of a man who, though of advanced age, proved himself younger than most of those of a later generation. Dr. A. CaLMETTE, director of the Institut Pasteur, | Lille, and Dr. L. Martin, director of the Hépital Pas- teur, have been appointed to subdirectorships at the Institut Pasteur, Paris. Tue G. C. Greenwell silver medal of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engin- eers has been awarded to Prof. W. G. Fearnsides for his paper on ‘‘ Some Effects of Earth-movement on the Coal-Measures of the Sheffield District (South York- shire), and the neighbouring parts of West Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire. *’ AccorRDING to the Journal of Industrial and Engineer- ing Chemistry, the Seaman: gold medal, which is each year awarded by the American Museum of Safety for the promotion of hygiene and the mitigation of occu- | pational disease, has been. conferred upon the Julius King Optical Company of New York, for their appli- ances against the dangers of ultra-violet and infra-red light. Major J. C. Woops has been awarded the Gaskell prize of the Medico-Psychological Association of Great Britain and Ireland, consisting of fifty guineas and a gold medal, and Dr. M. Krohn a replica of the medal in silver and the sum of fifteen guineas. Tue National Academy of Sciences of the United States has received from Miss M. H. Elliot the sum of 8000 dollars to establish a fund in memory of her late father, Daniel Giraud Elliot, and has accepted the trust. A medal, to be known as the Daniel Giraud Elliot gold medal, and an honorarium will be awarded annually for a paper, essay, or other work in some branch of zoology or palzontology published during the year. The award is not restricted to naturalists resident in the United States. Drs. H. F. Osborn, . 490 NATURE [Aucust 16, 1917 i . C. D. Walcott, and F. A. Lucas have been appointed judges for the bestowal of the medal and honorariuny. it is expected that it will be possible for the first award to be made in April, 1918.- Tue mycological collection of the late Dr. J. W. Ellis has been acquired by purchase by the herbarium at Kew. is especially rich in micro-fungi, and includes a series of mounted specimens of thosé of economic import- ance.. There are also 330 microscopic slides, An Aerial Postal Service between Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia has already been established, as we read in the Journal of the Society of Arts, August 3. The first post was inaugurated on June 24 between Naples and Palermo, and three days later the next service, from Civita Vecchia on the mainland to. Terranuova—Pau- sania (Sardinia). In the first trip from Naples- to Palermo, a seaplane was used, carrying a heavy mail, ' flying at a height of 1500 to 2000 metres at 140 kilo-. metres (say ninety miles) an hour, reaching Palermo in less than two hours and a half. The service from Civita Vecchia to Sardinia was opened on June 27 by two seaplanes, each carrying 100 kilogrammes of mail in watertight bags. .The passage was nade in an hour and forty, minutes, leaving Civita Vecchia at 6.20 a.m. and reaching Terranuova about 8 a.m., and the return journey was made in about the same time. An appeal for the loan of prismatic compasses for use in the Army has been issued by the Countess Roberts. used for map-making and surveying, would be accept- able. The instruments would be engraved and regis- tered under the lenders’ names to facilitate their return, when possible, after the war. They should be sent to the Manager of Lady Roberts’s Field Glass Fund, 64 Victoria Street, S.W.1: Tue Cavendish lecture of the West London Medico- Chirurgical Society was delivered on June 22. The lecturer, Capt. Andrew Macphail, Canadian Army Medical. Corps, who is professor of the history of medicine at McGill University, Montreal, took as his subject “‘A Day’s Work.” In a word-picture of con- siderable power he described the: medical organisation of that part of the Army concerned with the attack on, and capture of, the Vimy Ridge. ‘The Medical Ser- vice, above all other sefvices, has done its perfect work. It has yielded an army without sickness. 1 have never seen a case of typhoid, and the few in- fectious cases are of the nature_of children’s diseases. Except for a few days on the Somme, I have not seen more flies than one would see on a_ well-kept farm. Purified water is put into the men’s bottles. To drink from an unauthorised source is a crime. Wells are examined even whilst they are yet under fire, and food is scrutinised before every meal. Men are bathed as methodically as they are fed, and by fire and steam the advances of the humble, but friendly, louse are discouraged. One acquires a ceftain pity for this most dependent and helpless of all creatures —his means of livelihood are so restricted and he is so unbeloved.”’ He finally concluded with some in- spiring sentences on the outlook, the lessons of the past, and the messages of war. Tue Eugenics Review for July (vol. ix., No. 2) contains an abstract of an address by Judge Henry Neil on the Mothers’ Pension System, of which he is the founder. The State legislature of Illinois eleven years ago inaugurated the system, and at the present time thirty other States have adopted it. pensions are maintenance grants made in respect of children under fourteen to a parent, who is a “ proper NO. 2494, VOL. 99] It comprises nearly 1600, dried specimens, -public money has been effected, the cost | being about one-third that incurred by institutional Any good prismatiz compass, such as is. Pennsylvania (vol. vii., No. 4, December, 1916) contain Mothers’ guardian ”’—that is to say, of established good char- acter, but too poor to feed, clothe, and ‘‘homeé” her children adequately. The money is provided by general taxation, and the pensioned mother is put on the county pay-roll and’ receives her cheque every month. Jf she prove herself unable to handle the money properly her pension may be revoked, but very few cases of any abuse of this kind occur, and prac- tically about three-fourths of the destitute children in the thirty States in which this pension system has been adopted are now looked after at home. Super- visors, appointed by each State, see thatthe children are properly cared for, and an immense saving in pér child care. | : z Drs. BROWNING, Gulbrausen, and Thornton ive a further contribution on the antiseptic properties of flavine and brilliant green, with special reference to their suitability for wound treatment, in the British Medical Journal for July 21, p.70. Flavine compounds and brilliant green are antiseptics which exert a slowly progressive bactericidal action. Concentrations of these substances, which at first inhibit, and finally kill, bacteria, are without harmful effect on the tissues locally or generally. Flavine compounds are enhanced in their bactericidal potency by the presence of serum, while brilliant green, in common with most other antiseptics, is reduced in its activity by serum. Bril- liant green satisfies requirements for application by repeated irrigation in aqueous solution (1 : 2000), while with flavine, since it is most potent in the presence of serum, the indication is to arrange the wound. dressing so that it may act in a serum medium. Operative measures are an essential preliminary to the effective use of therapeutic antiseptics in wounds, since the antiseptic can act only when brought into intimate contact with the infected tissues. Yo WueEn Mr. and Mrs. Routledge finished their inves- tigations on Easter Island in 1915, they touched at Pitcairn Island, and there engaged two brothers, direct descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Charles Young, aged twenty-eight, and Edwin Young, aged twent five, to serve as hands on their yacht Mana. On thei arrival in England these young men were sent to the Royal College of Surgeons to undergo examination by Prof. A. Keith and Dr. W. Colin Mackenzie. This is the first opportunity enjoyed by European anthro- pologists of examining members of this interesting community. From their report, published in the August issue of Man, it appears from examinatio of their genealogy that their ancestral compositio: should be 13/32 parts British and 19/32 parts Tahitian Prof. Keith sums up the result of the examination as follows :—‘‘I regard the two Pitcairn Islanders a decidedly more Tahitian than European in the physical characteristics. In facial features Charles i European, Edwin is not, yet in actual shape of th head the case is reversed—Charles has the Ci Tahitian head, Edwin rather the European; in textur of hair the¥* are Tahitian rather than European. If size of brain they are typical of neither British no Tahitian, but incline rather to the second than to tt first. But there can be no question of physical di generation; they are both. splendidly developed men. They belong to the sixth generation of the descendant of the mutineers—six generations in 127 yearé. = re VD1Ce Tue Museum Journal published by the University. an account of the University expedition to the Amazon 1913, under the superintendence of Dr. F. H. Chure and Mr. W. C. Farabee. An interesting account 18 | * . NATURE. 491 - f the Macusi and Wapisiana tribes, representa- the Carib and Arawak linguistic families. cusis practise the custom of the couvade, the a child is born, taking to his bed tor a period of careful eating for the father extends them to a year after he leaves his bed. Their nired to marry blood relations. A man must marry ‘cousin from another village and take her home to : village. He may, and often does, marry two and he can take a wife outside his family only there are no cousins available. They will not ne shot by a gun or arrow, and their diet is to fish and fruit. The rubber traffic and the of foreigners have been fatal to the natives of ion. There are but two survivors, two sisters, once-important Zapara tribe. It is well that a ic examination of them has been made before come extinct. H. U. Hatt publishes in the Museum Journal University of Pennsylvania (vol. viii., No. 1, ow ? | of the Yoruba tribe of the hinterland of Lagos, Southern Nigeria. Before a burial a masked ' wearing. the shroud of the dead man dances his relations, condoles with them, and discusses in which they and the dead man were in- . Offerings made ‘to -his mask are supposed passed on to the deceased in deathland. To that the dead man has gone to heaven, a person nting him is hidden in a room close by, and questions regarding the fate of the deceased. son, known as Egun, seems to have been ally regarded merely as an incarnation of the man, but he has now developed into a kind of whose function it is to carry away persons who ecome a nuisance to their neighbours—scolds, es, scandalmongers. In his public character touch is fatal, and.to threaten an Egun with violence, or for ‘a woman to disrespect- him, is an offence punishable with death. ‘August number of the Fortnightly Review nas Holdich discusses the suggestion of a | of the southern Slavs into one great Jugo- tionality. The federation would include Croats, and Serbians, and extend from the n to the southern borders of Serbia, covering f at least 75,000 square miles, and containing on of more than twelve millions. It would ia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Styria, southern Carinthia, possibly part of and Slavonia and Syrmia. One of the great ‘would be the question of Dalmatia and lespite the nationality of their inhabitants, Adriatic lands are geographically more re- Italy than to the Balkan lands. Dalmatia is from Bosnia by the natural barrier of the ps, and would scarcely serve as the chief sea the Jugo-Slav State. That outlet, Sir aas Holdich thinks, should be at Salonika. It is § to note that’ the author suggests the river from near its source to the Danube as part orthern boundary, but he proposes that a new hould be chosen for Serbia at Nish, less 0 aggression than Belgrade. t part of a ‘Bibliography of Fishes,” the Dr. Bashford Dean and Dr. C. R. Eastman, been published by the American Museum of Pe - It consists of the first instalment of a list of titles of papers, arranged under 2494, VOL. 99] —- fe system is interesting, because they are re- hn, 1917) a well-illustrated paper on a collection of | authors’ names, and is a large octavo volume of 718 pages. When completed it will include some 40,000 titles. The authors regard the time as opportune for the preparation of a compendious list of papers dealing with fishes, since the group is fairly well known, and there is now increasing difficulty in dealing with the literature in the absence of any special bibliography. Further parts will complete the list of titles by the inclusion of anonymous publications and pre-Linnzan works. Then will follow a summary of general biblio- graphies in which papers dealing with fishes are listed} an account of works describing voyages and expedi- tions in which fishes are observed and described; and a list of periodicals relating to fish culture. A subject- index is in course of preparation, and in this part reference will be made to the index of authors’ titles. These titles will not be repeated, the papers being identified by the author’s name, the year of publica- tion, and a number indicating order of publication should more than one paper have been published by the author during the same year. Fossil as well as recent forms are included. In general the bibliography deals with the morphology, development, physiology, pathology, distribution, and habits of fishes, but works on angling are not as yet considered. Tue fourth part of the Annals of the Durban Museum (vol. i., pp. 291-431) is a list of the sea- fishes recorded from Natal, and is the work-of Dr. J. D. F. Gilchrist and Mr. W.-W. Thompson. It is purely a systematic list, containing no reference to the local occurrence, or habits, or uses of the species re- corded, and its size is due to the inclusion, under each specific name, of the authors who have already de-~ scribed the species and of the publications in which these descriptions have appeared. _ Mr. Henry J. Howarp records the first-known British gathering of the Mycetozoon, Physarum car- neum (Journ. Roy. Microscop. Soc., 1917, part iii., June, p. 265). It was first found on dead wood on Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs, by Dr. Sturgis in 1908. Previous to Mr. Howard’s gathering, only one other European specimen was known, from the grounds of Collegia de Campolide, Lisbon. Mr. H. M. Steven, Carnegie research scholar in the University of Edinburgh, has published, in the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society (vol. xxxi., July, 1917, ‘pp. 131-55), an impor- tant paper on the relation of the Chermes group of insects to British forestry. These insects, which were not clearly described until recently, are remarkable for their obscure and complicated life-history. They attack conifers, and do much damage to ordinary plantations of various pines and of common larch, spruce, and silver fir. Mr. Steven gives an elaborate account, with seven figures, of the species known to exist in Britain, which are now assigned te. four genera, Chermes (in a restricted sense), Cnaphalodes, Pineus, and Dreyfusia, each with two species. He admits that once a plantation is formed there is no practical method of dealing with these pests; but, as healthy, vigorous trees are scarcely attacked, much may be done in the way of prevention: by choice of species clearly suitable to the conditions of the area. Certain exotic species. which are at present relatively immune, may be often chosen, and amongst these are valuable trees, like Japanese larch, Sitka spruce, and Corsican pine. Steven’s distinct contribution to pre- ventive measures is based on observations that Chermes insects were often widespread in tree nurseries, and did most serious damage imme- diately after a plantation had been formed. Fumi- gation with hydrocyanic acid gas generated from potassium cyanide effectually kills insects on nursery 492 NATURE fj aoa meee [AucusT 16, 1917 ~— stock, and young trees thus treated when planted ou have a good chance of establishing themselves in their new environment. Subsequent infection; though possible, does little harm. THE current number of the Science Reports of the Téhoku Imperial University (second series, Geology, vol. iv., No. 2) contains a useful contribution to our knowledge of the distribution of the genus Giganto- pteris by Prof. Yabe, with descriptions of three Asiatic species by K. Koiwai. The genus Gigantopteris was. founded by Schenk for ‘some fernlike fronds from the Lui coalfield in south-central China, for which he originally proposed the name Megalopteris in ignor- ance of its previous use by Dawson. Dr. D. White in 1912 (Proc. U,S. Nat. Mus., vol. xl., p. 493, 1912) recorded the occurrence of a new species of Giganto- ees. in Permian beds in Texas and Oklahoma, and rought forward evidence in favour of including Schenk’s genus in the Pteridosperms. Prof. Yabe now records the occurrence of Gigantopteris in some new Asiatic localities, and discusses the geological and geographical range of the genus; he recognises four species, White’s G. americana of Permian age and three from Permian and Triassic strata in Man- churia, Corea, and southern China. The chief in- terest of the paper lies in the additional data. with regard to the distribution of Gigantopteris in space and time. Prof. Yabe also contributes a paper on “Problems concerning the Geotectonics of the Japan- ese Islands,” with critical reviews of various opinions expressed by previous authors. The same publica- tion includes a paper by I. Hayasaka on ‘A New ’ Hydrozoan Fossil from the Torinosu Limestone (Lower Cretaceous) of Japan,’”’ for which he founds the genus Circoporella, thus directing attention to its close alliance with Circopora, a genus instituted by Waagen and Wentzel for a itype from the Productus Limestone in the Salt range in India. The figures given by Hayasaka resemble sections of certain cal- careous Algz, but the resemblance may be superficial. In the Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa, vol. xix. (1917), p. 33, Prof. Schwarz records the discovery of diamonds in the Molteno Beds of Molteno, Cape Province, associated with other detrital minerals, such as might arise from the decay of a crystalline schist. He quotes Mr. E. J. Dunn as agreeing with him that important evidence is thus furnished that the South African diamonds are older than the igneous pipes which have brought them in many places to the surface. In the same volume (p- 54) Mr. P. A. Wagner describes from Jagers- fontein nodules of. ultrabasic character, peridotite and garnet-diopside-eclogite, which contain graphite, and regards them as fragments of deep-seated equivalents of the diamond-bearing kimberlite in which they occur. Mr. Wagner, in the discussion on Prof. Schwarz’s paper (Proc. Geol. Soc. South Africa, 1916, p. xli), evidently recognises the divergence of view, and asks for fuller evidence that the detrital splinters are true diamonds. The much-desired section reaching down to an eclogite mass, either traversed by, or merging into, a pine of kimberlite, is unfortunately not yet revealed in South Africa. THE cider-apple crop would appear to offer possi- bilities of a substantial and wholesome addition to our food supplies in these days of stringency. According to recent estimates the average English crop is not less than 200,000 to 250,000 tons, whilst that of France approaches 23 million tons. Much of the surplus not absorbed by the cider industry has in the past been wasted owing to the difficulty of providing any satis- factory alternative outlet. In some seasons the jam NO. 2494, VOL. 99] search Station it seems more probable that the manufacturer has taken considerable quantities of the sharp or acid varieties, but the sweet and bitter-swee ot varieties which form the bulk of the crop have hitherto proved quite intractable, the tissues preg ugh and leathery even after prolonged boiling. his de-— fect has been commonly ascribed to the relatively high tannin content of the cider apple, in which case it is” difficult to understand the satisfactory results obtained at the jam factory with some of the sharp varieties. From experiments carried out by Prof. B. T. P. Barker at the University of Bristol Horticultural Re- difficulty is associated with the pectins of the fruit. The Bristol experiments, of which a brief account is given in the July issue of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture, have shown that the yield of soluble pec~ tins from apples is substantially increased by digestion with weak acid, and that by suitable application of this treatment, using a dilute solution of tartaric a the most resistant apples can be reduced to pulp and _ converted: into a palatable jam. Citric acid serves equally well, or, if available, acid fruit or fruit juices can be used with advantage. oe i In the current Bulletin (vol. vii., No. 2, for June, 1917) of the Seismological Society of America, there are two studies of recent Californian earthquakes. The Tejon Pass earthquake of October 22, 1916, is described by Prof. J. C. Branner, and the Santa Bar bara Channel earthquakes of April 12 and 20, 191 by Mr. A. C. Mattei. The epicentre of the earlier ant more important earthquake (of intensity 7) seems have been near the summit of the Tejon Pass, y is about sixty miles north-west of Los Angeles; Prof. Branner supposes, that the earthquake was du to a movement along the fault which traverses the pas in the E.S.E. direction. It has been suggested, thoug on insufficient evidence, that this fault is a continue tion of the San Andreas fault along which the Sai Francisco earthquake of 1906 originated. All thre earthquakes here described visited thinly populated di: tricts, and the maps of isoseismal lines which ace pany the papers can only be regarded as approx In the same number Mr. Otto Klotz gives a notice of the late Prince Galitzin, and also a r determination of the velocity of the L or surface v In adopting the value of 230 km. per minute, he Siders that more extended data will confine amendment of this value within one’ per cent. _ THE report on the work of the Imperial Ins just presented to the Executive Council stat apart from confidential reports to the Admiralty Ministry of Munitions, the War Trade Depart and other Government departments, reports were pleted on the composition, value, and comm prospects of raw materials from eighteen countries the Empire overseas, while the inquiries received a answered related to as many as thirty British countri A possible new raw material for paper manufact is indicated by the increasing use of wattle bark British tanners. Large quantities of the spent bark are likely to be available in the United Kingdom, amd) investigations conducted at the Imperial Institute sk that, though the yield of pulp from the bark is what low, the material is promising for the prod of brown paper and the cheaper grades of white cream papers, such as newspapers. Arrangements” being made at a British paper mill for a large-st trial of the spent bark. A special monograph deal with the occurrence and utilisation of zine ores thre the world, with special reference to the British Emp is in preparation. An inquiry has been received fi Zanzibar regarding the disposal of clove stems, W before the war were shipped principally to CT iti« ‘ Avaust 16, 1917] NATURE 493 he possibility of distilling oil from them has been liscussed with a number of essential oil distillers, and a result it appears probable that a market may be for the stems for that purpose. -P. P. Popjarotsky has for some years been in- ating the occurrence of chlorophyll in various nimals (* On Chlorophyll in Animals and on the Fate Chlorophyll in the Animal Organism,” Moscow, 5). He finds that a Fagg pigment, giving an ption band between lines and C of the ectrum, can be extracted from the wings and elytra f a number of Orthoptera, and from the skin of ie frogs (Rana esculenta, Hyla arborea). As the nd described coincides exactly with that shown by extract of 2 green leaf, such as that of Robinia, » concludes that chlorophyll itself is t in these limals. He suggests that chlorophyll in animals be e derived from ingested plant material escaping festion wholly or in part, or it may be the result ‘symbiosis. He states also that the hyll band tween B and C may be observed in spring in_the : of grass-fed herbivcrous animals, such as cows d sheep. Dr. Podjapolsky has been able to recog- i 7 lid ot or gh bY ¥) UITIe py! extract of the contents of the stomach of € mammoth discovered in a glacier at Beriosov, 1 now if probably caused a regurgitation of bile into the mach. Ibis surprising that the author makes no empt to explain his use of the term chlorophyll, d gives no reference to the work of Willstatter, 10 has, of course, clearly shown that crude chloro- contains four distinct pigments, two green and well-known “Index of Spectra’”’ compiled by ; been further extended by the recent publication of pendix X. The principal tables refer to the arc ark spectra of gadolinium, gallium, germanium, -holmium, indium, and copper, and to the spectra hydrogen and helium. Most of these have been ught well up to date, but the extension of the band frum of helium by Fowler, and the important ob- rations of the “proto-helium” lines by Paschen, ear to have been overlooked. In the case of fents having very complex spectra, the tables have mn shortened by the exclusion of the fainter lines, L t will still be necessary to refer to original sources spectral series, dnd in this connection it noted that Dr. Watts continues to use the term ation-frequency”” when ‘“waye-number”’ is _ References to recent literature are very ous, and the new appendix will be a valuable those who are engaged in spectroscopic investi- SRS. Masson er Cir (Paris) have in preparation appearance in their series ‘‘ Collection Horizon, tis de Médecine et de Chirurgie de Guerre’ :— “Troubles mentaux de guerre,” Prof. J. “Blessures de la Moelle et de la Queue de Drs. G. Roussy and J. Lhermitte; ‘ Electro- c de guerre: Clinique. Conseil de réforme. Je et interprétation,”’ Prof. A. Zimmern; and tions of ** Hystérie-Pithiatisme et Troubles d’ordre réflexe en Neurologie de guerre,” J. and J. Froment; “‘Formes . cliniques des ions des Nerfs,” Mme. Athanassio-Benisty; ‘‘ Les Sures de l’abdomen,’’ J. Abadie. ' numbers and in the brilliancy of the meteors. | probably the best Perseid display witnessed at Bristol ~ - not only chlorophyll but also bile pigment in — preserved at Petrograd. From the position | the animal it would seem to have slipped back- | rds on the ice, and its violent efforts to recover | Marshall Watts (London: W. Wesley and Son) © | Noon. information is required. Formule are given | aies de la Plévre et du Poumon,” Prof. R. Gré- | OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Tue Aucust Meteors or 1917.—Mr. W. F. Den- ning writes that at Bristol the weather conditions were very favourable for observation’ on Saturday, August 11. The number of meteors visible to one observer , in 4h. 4om. watching, gh. 1om. and 14h. rom. Green- wich Mean Time, was 219, of which 195 were Per- seids. Mr. Denring was assisted in recording the shower by a friend, Mr. P. O. Wright, who, alter-— nately with the former, counted the meteors as they appeared. A few rather brilliant objects were seen, four being estimated to equal Venus and nine to Jupiter, while there were many first magnitudes. radiant was situated in the usual position at 45°+58°, and the point was well defined. The maximum of the shower occurred between 13h. and 14h. G.M.T., when : ; | more than one meteor per minute appeared, though de novo by the animal, or it may | the moon, a little past the last quarter, was shining in the heavens. On the whole the shower was de- cidedly brighter than the average, both in point of It was since 1898. Of the minor showers of the epoch there was comparatively little evidence, but there was a prominent shower of Cygnids from about 292°+50°. The meteors were bright, and at the ends of their flights burst with flashes of bluish-white light. This shower was also well observed contemporary with the Perseids in August, 1893. New Evsments or Mars.—An investigation of the discordance between the positions of Mars deduced from observations and those computed from New- comb’s tables’ has been made by Dr. F. E. Ross, and published by the Nautical Almanac Office, U.S. Naval Observatory (Astron. Papers, vol. ix., part ii.). The following new elements of the orbit of the planet are given :— Fundamental epoch, 1900 Jan. o, Greenwich Mean T, time from this epoch in Julian centuries. Mean Longitude :— 1=293° 44! 51-46"+(53 rev.+222117-33")T + 1-1184"T?. Longitude of Perihelion :— ™=334° 13' 553° +6626-73"T +0-4675"T*—0-0043"T*. Eccentricity :— x e= 19247-168" + 18-9895" T —0-0158"T?. =0-0933 1290 + 0-000092064T — 0-000000077T?. Longitude of Node :— : 6=48° 47’ 11-19" +2775-57"1—0-005"T?—o-0192"T?. Inclination to Ecliptic :— i=1° 51’ 1-20"—2-430°T +0-0454"17. Logarithm of Mean Distance :-— log a=o-182897034. ; Theory and observation, which were discordant to the amount of six seconds of arc in R.A. in 1905 and 1907, are brought into more satisfactory agreement by these elements. Tables for correcting the heliocentric positions are given. : ELEMENTS OF Sun’s RotaTion.—A new determina- tion of the direction of the sun’s axis has been made by Th. Epstein (Astronomische Nachrichten, 4892). It is based upon observations of fifty-eight spots in various latitudes, made in the years 1903 to 1910. The value obtained for the longitude of the ascending node of the equator is 73° 59-2’, and for the inclination of | the axis to the ecliptic 82° 43-7’. These are in very | close agreement with Carrington’s values, and there is evidently no sufficient reason to modify the existing tables for physical observations of the sun. ual © “~ 494 NATURE, THE BRITISH SYNTHETIC COLOUR INDUSTRY IN WAR TIME... Bi? lecture delivered to the Society of Arts by Mr. C. M. Whitaker in December last merits a more than passing notice as illustrating the difficulties in the way of British dye producers during the war period and the manner in which a commend- able degree of success has been obtained in coping with the dye shortage. It deserves to be more gener- ally known that even before the war British firms were already opposing a resolute front to German competition. ‘These firms not only issued pattern- cards and circulars comparable in style with those sent out by their foreign rivals, but they also dealt with the difficulty of language by printing these manuals of instruction in the principal European tongues. Even in 1906 these instructions had been furnished by the pioneer firm of Read Holliday and Sons, Ltd., in all these languages, end also in Japanese. Very early in the development of the colour industry this firm had acquired the Schutzenberger and Lalande patent for dyeing indigo by the modern scientific process. with hydrosulphite, and even to-day the older dyers some- times refer to this method of indigo dyeing as the ‘** Holliday ’’ vat. The lecturer pointed out from his own personal knowledge that the practice of sending out practical dyers to assist the firm’s clientéle of dye-users in their application of the colouring matters is not exclusively a German procedure. The above-mentioned firm and its *successors, British Dyes, Ltd., have afforded their customers this expert assistance for more than thirty years. At the outbreak of war the British dye industry was in the hands of four or five firms, who together controlled a capital not greatly exceeding half a million sterling, and the problem confronting this group of industrialists was how to replace the former German import of dyes having an annual value of about 1,800,000l. Even in peace times such-a problem would be incapable of immediate solution, but taking into account the distractions of war, the results obtained in the last two years are distinctly encouraging. The vulnerable point in the British position was not, how- ever, that of lack of capital, but rather the bad habit ’ which had arisen of buying from abroad intermediate products which could with comparatively little expert knowledge be converted into finished dyes. | An addi- tional handicap arising from this cause was the short- age of chemists having the necessary works experience. Attention is being concentrated on these two vital points. The two leading firms, British Dyes, Ltd., and Messrs. Levinstein, Ltd., have taken into their employment a large number of college-trained chemists, some of whom are exercising their talent for research _on the essential intermediates, while others are acquir- ing works experience in the supervision of industrial processes and in the handling of men. sas It is impossible for those untrained in organic chemistry to have any correct perception of the amount of preliminary work which precedes the production of a coal-tar dye. The complete manufacture of an ordinary synthetic black may involve twenty-one dis- * tinct chemical operations. Other modern products re- quire even more processes. The British dye firms cer- tainly deserve full credit for their success in coping with the vitally urg-nt requirements of the Allied Governments in equipment colours. alone furnished the military authorities with 145,000 lb. of wool khaki dyes in the fateful month of December, 1915, when Army requirements were increasing to an - enormous extent. This supply of wool khaki dyes has been maintained, together with prodigious amounts of cotton and linen khaki colours. The armies of our NO. 2494, VOL. 99] One British firm [ Italian and Russian Allies have also been largely s plied from British sources. The appearance of thé » uniforms of soldiers returning on leave is the bes testimonial to the fastness of British-made khaki dyes. showing that these colours can withstand the severes war conditions. 2 In the valuable discussion which followed the lecture the points of interest raised were question of the multiplicity of names for the same dye and the possibility of simplification in this respect, the German monopoly of bromine, and the relations of the dye-producing industry and teaching institu- tions. — G. T. Morcan. — = THE ROTATION OF THE MOON.' ! 2 a interesting résumé of the progress of our know- * ledge of the moon’s rotation, together with — considerable:amount of original work, is given in the memoir before us. The author recalls the remarkable control, which the earth exerts on the rotation; the line joining the poles of the moon’s equator and orbit always passes through the pole of the ecliptic, whic lies between them, 13° from the first, 53° from the second; both poles revolve round the pole of the eclipt in 18-6 years. The earth’s action has also forced period of rotation to coincide with that of revoluti the existence of this action is still in evid from the fact that all secular and ia period terms in the _moon’s_ revolution h their- counterpart in the rotation; for exam the secular acceleration in longitude has the effect of making us gradually see a diff hemisphere, ; Much attention has been given of late years to th “physical libration,” especially the annual term, whic is considerably the largest. Different determination of its coefficient show a surprisingly large range; th largest value is that of M. Puiseux, 19-1’, derived fror forty Paris photographs covering a period of fifteen years the other values range from 5-7’ to 1-0’. We have | -divide these figures by 220 to obtain the apparent shi seen from the earth. This gives 5-2" for the Puis value; it does not appear that the numerous me observations of the crater Mésting A will permit. large a value. aes : ca In studying the problem mathematically, the a makes use of some methods introduced by MM. Zinr and Charlier, which have appeared in earlier Meda landen. He denotes the three principal moments — inertia of the moon by A, B, C. A is abou diameter pointing towards the earth, and C abo axis of rotation. The three ratios (C—A)/A, (C—B)/ (B—A)/A, are denoted by k,, k., k;. It is shown t stability demands that B be greater than A, 1.e. moon’s equator is elongated towards the earth; k,, k, have different signs, C lies between A a and the rotation is unstable. It is shown that k,, may be either both positive or both hegative; in ft first case C, B, A are in descending order of mz nitude, in the second case B, A, C; the latter involve rotation about the longest axis, which teresting as a theoretical possibility, but it is s later not to be the actual case. Hence k,, k, are positive. k, is stated to be about 0-000627; the val of k, corresponding with the physical libration” efficients of Franz, Hayn, and Puiseux are o 0000157, and o-001178 respectively. The last makes k, negative, and therefore indicates u motion, another reason for concluding that the coefficient is too high. However, it is shown controlled rotation may exist, even when the conditi¢ of stability are not satisfied. me 1 “ Uber die Rotation des Mondes.” Von Axel Jénsson. Meddelana Lund Observatory, ser. ii., No. 15. (Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup, 1917- > Avcust 16, 1917] NATURE 495 § The suggestion has been made that the moon may be a perfectly rigid body, but may have sensible the interior may be partly fluid; the final chapter of the memoir discusses the changes in the equations of motion to which these hypotheses give rise, but does not express any opinion as to their tenability. Phe preceding chapter gives the numerical calculation fa large number of coefficients, using Brown’s ex- xressions for the moon’s co-ordinates, and different mptions for the values of k,, Rk, Fs. é ASC. D.-C. ADAPTATION AND DISEASE." “HE time has come to bring before biologists in - general the contributions of medical research the last quarter of a century to the study of lution. The fact of evolution all thinking minds ccept, but as to how evolution has been, and is ting, brought about is a very different matter. The sht truly centres upon the cause or causes of varia- ion—whether the tendency to vary is something. in- rent in living matter, numerous variations present- ng themselves through this inherent tendency, of thich those that are best fitted for their environment lone survive, or whether it is primarily and essentially rought about by forces acting from without upon a | atively labile living matter : whether, that is, varia- on is inherent, proceeding from within, or acquired, roceeding from without. But this basal problem has been largely neglected - the biologists, the fight all these years waging sund the secondary problem of the transmission of equired properties to the offspring. Herbert Spencer nade this transmission of acquirements one of his principles.” Weismann violently? opposed the doc- fine, carrying with him latter-day biologists, until r. Bateson, replete with his studies upon Mendelism, aches the antipodal suggestion that when a new rope: manifests itself in any individual of any cies, it is impossible to regard it as an acquire- ent: it is not new, but its manifestation is due to ss of properties already possessed. Evolution, like ‘squid, progresses backwards, what appears to be “new property is on the contrary primeval. Prof. ateson’s address on Heredity at the International ntial address at Melbourne in 1914, were quoted in ttenso. That which to outward seeming is the mplest form of life is verily in constitution the most arvellously complex: the higher forms of life are e lower - - 2 The truth seemed to be that valuable and fascinating } are the studies for the establishment and amplifica- on of Mendel’s law, that law deals only with the terplay of allelomorphs, with the combinations and mutations of positive and negative unit properties Sse by the species. It~only establishes the tent of variation possible within the boundaries of @ species. But no amount of intérplay of properties ready possessed by the species will result in the oduction of individuals which are outside the species. Sir Ray Lankester recently laid down that the one Macy in all Lamarckian doctrine was that adopted y Herbert Spencer, namely, what he termed “direct laptation.’? There is really no such thing. The pposed mysterious property of direct adaptation is Ways due to survival by selection of organisms which ried in many directions. 1 Abstracts of four Croonian Lectures delivered at the Royal College of hysicians on June 14, 19, 21, and 26, by Prof. J. G. Adami, F.R.S., Tem- ry Lient. 1C A.M.C a Sir F. Ray Lankester has in the British Medical Journal taken excep- nh to the use of this word ; the author agrees that ‘‘ vigorously” better tpr-sses his meaning. ~ -NO. 2494, VOL. 99] x PSSECC ange of shape under the sarsiog strains; also that- ‘id; th Congress’ in London in¢1913, and his Presi-. Now if_there be one fact that is constantly being impressed upon the student of immunity and the workers in pathogenic bacteriology, it is that direct adaptation, 1.e., specific modification in response to specific alteration in environment (within limits which he would lay-down) is one of the basal phenomena of living matter. It seems useful, therefore, to marshal in order the data bearing upon these matters as they present themselves to those engaged in medical re- search. Problems of this nature are a priori most likely to be solved by experiments upon the very simplest, and again upon the most complex forms of life. For. problems of adaptation and heredity the bacteria possess the supreme advantages of rapid reproduction: coupled (according to our present knowledge, or want of knowledge) with a complete absence of the disturb- ing influence of sex and conjugation. Certain bio- logists are unwilling to regard the products of asexual binary division as true generations. One very dis- tinguished biologist had said that a long cultivation of a bacterial growth is “tone continuous individual.’’ This is an impossible. position. The very idea of individual connotes independent, or potentially inde- pendent, existence. We might with equal logic, basing ourselves on the continuity of the germplasm, declare that all living beings constitute one continuous individual. : Adaptation in the Bacteria and the Evolution of the Infectious Diseases. : It is absurd to expand the Batesonian hypothesis and imagine that whenever man e man he acquired the germs of all bodily ills, and that the purely human ailments were already there. Some diseases, like tuberculosis, have been with us from the remotest historical times, and even from pre- historical, as witness the late’ Sir Armaud Ruffer’s studies in palzopathology upon mummies of early dynasties, and the recognition of caries and pyorrhoea in permian fishes and tertiary three-toed horses. This is only to be expected. The bacteria are among the earliest of all forms of life. Drew, from his studies of the calcareous ooze of the Florida lagoons, showed that a dentrifying bacillus caused the deposition of chalk out of sea-water. Walcott has discovered Cyanophyceze and possible micrococci in the oldest of all sedimentary rocks, the Algonkian. But this does not mean that all orders of patho- genic bacteria and microbes have always been with us. Zymotic phenomena must run parallel with geo- logical. The vast majority of fossils are remains of © species and genera which have’ passed» away, but certain species, and, indeed, certain genera, have existed unchanged through countless ages to the present day. The brachiopod Lingula of the Cam- brian rocks is to be found to-day living buried in the sand between the tide-marks in the Tropics. The pearly Nautilus, Limulus, Ceratodus, and Anaspides have remained apparently unaltered for extraordinarily long periods of geological time. The same would seem to be true with respect to zymotic diseases and their causative agents. Many of the plagues and epidemics mentioned by early writers are unrecognisable to-day. The tritest ex- ample of a disease which has come and gone is the malignant “sweating sickness,’”’ which, first noted in 1485, was last heard of in 1551. As regards diseases still with us, whatever view be taken regarding the origin of syphilis, it is certain that this was unknown in Egypt and in Rome at the time of Galen. Diphtheria and cholera, both with absolutely charac- teristic symptoms, were unknown in Europe until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Even if these ‘ 496 NATURE [AucusT 16, 191 two diseases had been locally endemic for long periods in some districts, we may come to the same conclusion as is reached in many cases of the geographical dis- tribution of animals and plants. When a form intro- duced into a continental area rapidly spreads over that area, its previous absence is to be explained as due to the fact that the form in question originated at some period after the separation of the different continental areas. In this very war two new diseases, hitherto unknown, have made their appearance— trench fever and trench shin. How, then, can we picture to ourselves the evolu- tion of an infectious disease? In the first place, it is to be noted that pathogenic microbes are singularly diverse in their affiliations—there is scarcely a genus of micro-organism but has its representative or repre- sentatives among the pathogenic organisms—moulds, . yeasts, fission-fungi, spirochzetes, filterable viruses and chlamydozoa, amcebe, flagellat¢ and ciliate pro- tozoa. Every pathogenic microbe has closely related Species differing from it in little beyond that the one. is virulent, the other not. Next, the allied species are found ‘suggestively grow- ing in the cavities or on the surfaces of the body in the same habitat as the virulent forms, or, again, in the water and foodstuffs taken by the animal. leads to the conclusion that pathogenic microbes at some period or periods have originated from forms saprophytic on the body: surfaces, or in the foodstuffs, that they have originated by adaptation of these forms to growth, not on, but within, the tissues. : We possess abundant examples of experimental adaptation of bacteria to new foodstuffs, to foreign sugars, glucosides, fats, etc., from Pasteur onwards. The observations of Penfold, Twort, Massini, and others upon the accustomance of bacteria to new sugars and their acquirement of the power of ferment- ing the same may be’ mentioned. The bacilli taking on these new powers were not mutants, the outcome of chance variation, but the acquired new property — was definitely the result of a particular environment. Major F. B. Bowman has prepared a simple experi- ment which demonstrates that not some, but all, the members of a culture of bacilli, subjected to the same environment in a fluid medium of growth containing a'foreign glucoside—isodulcite—acquire the new pro- perty. : Here, then, contrary to Bateson, we have evidence of positive acquirements from without, and, contrary to the Lankesterian dogma, we can so arrange our experiment as to obtain, not evidence of variation in many directions, but evidence that organisms placed in a given environment all vary in one identical direc- tion with clockwork regularity. ; If this be true regarding other properties, it must be true regarding the acquirement of virulence. Asa matter of fact, Thiele and Embleton, at University College, had experimentally taken a harmless sapro- phytic form, the B. mycoides, accustomed it gradually to grow at the temperature of the body, and then, em- ploying the dead bacilli to induce anaphylaxis and increased susceptibility, had, upon making a second injection, succeeded in obtaining the active growth of the bacilli in the tissues of the guinea-pig—and with this found that the bacillus was now virulent, killing other animals when injected into them. With these examples for consideration, is it possible for medical men not to believe in direct adaptation? The Adaptation to Disease-producing Agencies in the Higher Animals. It is in respect to these new acquirements in the higher animals that we obtain the deepest insight into the processes involved, and that through the abundant, not to say overwhelming, studies of the last thirty NO. 2494, VOL. 99] ‘ing it inert and harmless. This. thing positive, something added; there can be no a the typhoid bacillus or the cholera spirillum, inst in the process of immunisation certain tissues — / genic organisms. ‘typhoid bacilli his blood serum has a different p - whole British Army now agglutinates the — years upon immunity. Yet although every man woman of the day discusses familiarly’ matters suc as typhoid inoculation, diphtheria antitoxin, and tuber culin, not a single general biologist has dwelt: seri ously upon the significance of these studies Immunisation is direct adaptation. Take the familias examples (to medical men) of immunisation to th phytotoxins, abrin, the active principle of the jequirity bean, and ricin, of the castor oil plant. The rabbit and guinea-pig have never come across these in nature They are, in fact, intensely poisonous. One gram o ricin is adequate to kill 1,500,000 guinea-pigs. Feec these small animals with minute and progressively increasing doses, and eventually they can be given 100 times the fatal dose. And now I c.c. of the blood serum of the immunised animal will destror ten, one hundred, or one thousand times the fatal dose, according to the grade of immunity induced; Clearly, the blood serum now contains antitoxic suk stances, bodies which combine with the toxin, : The antitoxin has elaborated and excreted into the blood by certain of the animal, and once these cells have acquired th property of elaborating an antiricin, they continue to produce it for weeks and months. Here is the-:acquin ) ment of a new property—the acquirement is some native hypothesis of loss of inhibitory factors. is it a chance variation: the power can be prod in any mouse or rabbit or guinea-pig with absc certainty. Nor is it a matter of the survival of fittest. The case of diphtheria and tetanus toxins, the production of antitoxins against these tox absolutely parallel. The tissues can be educate elaborate, and elaborate in excess, a body sub which neutralises the toxin, and, once started, continue for weeks and months to elaborate the toxin. It has been shown that it is the cells th take up and fix the toxins which elaborate the ar toxins. It is, however, only a minority of the path genic bacteria that form and excrete ectotoxir poisons which are discharged into the fluid of grow! the majority do not excrete toxic substance. Nev theless the body can be immunised against these though here the immunity is of a different order. is bacteriolytic—a process of digestion. The flu the body gain the power of dissolving and dig these bacteria That power has been acquired millions of soldiers subjected to anti-typhoid tions. : This fact of the acquirement of a power part of the body fluids to digest the bacteria can be demonstrated. Every student of medicin heard of Pfeiffer’s reaction, in which the peri fiuid of a guinea-pig given progressive injectic forming a favourable culture medium for these bi teria now causes a rapid swelling up and dissoluth so that they melt away like sugar in water. body have gained the property of elaborating f which digest and dissolve the bacterial bodies, now, with little or no general reaction, the withstands many times the fatal dose of these pat And this reaction is in gen narrowly specific, so that it is employed to guish, for example, between closely related of spirilla. _Nor is this necessarily merely a temporary acqi ment on the part of the individual. For months 4 aman has been given one or two doses of ¢ constitution, or, as we are accustomed to term” contains specific “‘anti-bodies’—agglutinins. ~~! ‘Avcust 16,1917]. “ NATURE 497 © acilli of typhoid, paratyphoid A and paratyphoid B, ind that aos year or more after inoculation of the ers. Smallpox, naturally acquired, usually confers lifelong immunity. We here observe the working fa law which, if recognised, has not been dealt with dequately by biclogists. In 1896 Wiegert, the frankfort pathologist, laid down the law.otf inertia— ie law that once a cell is stimulated to perform a srtain act, it continues to perform that act for some me after the stimulus has ceased to be in operation. ere is something beyond mere inertia; the functional tivity once started, at least in the order of events ader consideration, continues too long to be com- arable with physical momentum; rather there ap- ears to be the setting in motion of a cyclic process | intercellular reactions and ceunter-reactions, the starting the ether. It is preferable, therefore, to ploy a non-committal term, and to speak of the “law ven, both from among the bacteria and morbid ates in man. . = Next; to advance further, evidence obtained from edical research shows that acquirements, whether of sfect or excess, are capable of being passed on to the sxxt generation. There is abundant evidence of this the case of the bacteria, and here the longer the vironment has acted on a given species of microbe, e longer the microbe retains the impressed property, t as he could not state dogmatically that there is biochemical property that is specifically fixed in se lower forms, stiJl less could he regard any quirement as being permanently fixed. With regard to higher animals, difficulties are intro- ced by intra-uterine ‘existence, so that the only clear ent alone has been subjected to the noxious or other lence. If the lymph contains soluble toxic sub- ces, it is evident that the germ cells are not pre- ‘from absorbing them, and, like the other tissue from being influenced: by them. There are examples, clinical and experimental, of the ‘upon the male germ cells of lead, nitrate of , tuberculin, abrin, ete. The most conclusive ervations are those of Prof. Stockard, of Cornell ical College, New York, in which, by subjecting le guinea-pigs for some little period to the fumes alcohol, he found not merely that the offspring stunted and enfeebled, but that by crossing un- ated offspring of alcoholised fathers, which them- es had not been subjected to alcohol, the progeny ¢ third generation showed more extreme condi- is of defect than did their parents. The import- e of these observations upon the understanding of man family histories and inherited neuroses, etc., 3 very great. he preceding are cases of what has been termed allel induction. So long ago as igor the lecturer ated out how what we now term the endocrine ins—the organs, that is, of internal secretion—are ely associated with the generative organs, and influences from without acting upon these organs ising an excess or defect of their internal secre- is, are capable of affecting the germ cells, so that € is a definite possibility that the same order of urbance which affects one or other endocrine organ the parent may present itself in the offspring. #. E. W. MacBride has recently expressed the l€ opinion, and there is to be seen in this possi- ty or probability the solution of a long-standing culty, namely, the admission that there is one sible group of cases for which the Lamarckian ory holds true, and this, oddly enough, along the es of Darwin’s discarded hypothesis of pangenesis; y it is not by specific corpuscular pangens, but by ised secretions that the germ cells are influenced. NO. 2494, VOL. 99] abit.’ Of this law numerous examples may be_ 3s to be considered are those in which the male The Physico-Chemical Basis of Immunity and Evolution. It had been shown that the studies upon pathogenic bacteria and upon immunity prove conclusively the existence of direct adaptation of a definite order, both in the lowest and in the highest forms of life. It is along these lines that medical research is surely lead- ing. us. Believing that workers in medicine are in the right, where is it that the other biologists have gone wrong? The latter, from the morphological trend of their studies, have perforce conjured up separate individual particles or structures, each the bearer of an indi- vidual property or group of properties. Their concep- tions have perforce been in the terms. of specific atomies. In his pangenesis hypothesis Charles: Dar- — win evolved such a conception, and in his great sanity cast it aside. Weismann rioted in such, with his ids, idants, and determinants, all figments of the imagina- tion. The same tendency is shown and carried for- ward in full vigour by the modern Mendelians. Suppose we start, instead, from known facts and known phenomena, and upon these endeavour to build up our idea of the nature of the germ cell and of the organic basis of heredity. First, as to the constitu- tion of living matter. We know that whatever form of life we investigate, animal or plant, mammoth or microbe, whatever form we analyse, or_ whatever tissue—leaving out of account water and certain vehicular salts to which no specific vital functions can be attributed—just one order of highly complex com- pounds is common to and to be isolated from all, and these are the proteins. This universal presence in itself indicates that they are intimately associated with vital functions. When isolated chemically they are inert; in other words, living matter contains pro- teidogeneus, rather than proteid substances. Much attention has to be given to the study of the chemistry of the proteins in relationship to metabolism: the huge size of the protein molecule, close to the, limits of visibility under the highest power of the microscope ; its great molecular weight; the impossibility of gain- ing identical analyses of two samples of the same protein, even if, like haemoglobin, crystallisable; the structure of these molecules; their dissociation into smaller complexes, the peptones; their further dis- sociation into amino-acids; the synthesis of the poly- peptids. The protein molecules may, therefore, be > represented as a ring or chairt-of linked peptone mole- cules, each having its ring of glycocoll nuclei with swinging side-chains. In the much simpler bodies with which the organic chemist is in the main con- cerned, bodies like the carbohydrates or the benzol derivatives, we know how the transfer of a given radicle from, the alpha to the delta position, for ex- ample, upon a ring may bring about a profound change in the chemical and physical properties of the compound. ‘When two carbon atoms are united together there are, or may be, six free affinities, and when these are satisfied by six different monovalent groups, twelve different isomeric arrangements are possible. What must be the possibilities in a protein like haemoglobin, with zoo and more carbon atoms in the complex, and hemoglobin is simple compared with the nucleoproteins. If the biophores, or molecules of living matter, be at least proteidogenous, obviously it is not necessary to demand a separate determinant, a separate mole- cule for each specific property; it is simpler to regard properties inherent in the biophores as an expression of the constitution of the same, of the mode of linkage of the various nuclei, their number, and the nature of their side-chains... This conception is within the bounds ‘of physical possibility; Weismann’s ids and idants cer- tainly are not. 498 NATURE ; a [Aucusr 16, 191 Accepting this conception of the chemical consiitu- tion of the essential living matter as a working hypo- thesis, we know that in conjugation the one constitu- ent of the germ cells contributed in an approximately equal portion by both parents to the zygote, or ‘fer- tilised ovum, is the nuclear chromatin, and as heritage of properties may come equally from either parent, in the nuclear chromatin must reside the main heritable and character determining’ material. The conclusion is inevitable that the essential biophoric molecules are conveyed in the nuclear chromatin. The cell-wall, the cytoplasm, and the nuclear membrane are all conserva- tive agents, tending to preserve the biophores from sudden change from without, but, while conservative, this system is exposed to constant change, particularly in the more active tissue cells. The system is not inert, but is constantly reacting with the external - medium in which the cell finds itself. The semi- permeable cell membrane, while preventing the en- trance of some substance,. freely permits the entrance of others, whether directly or after a preliminary dis- sociation into smaller molecules by the action of extra- cellular enzymes. Once foodstuffs are taken into the cytoplasm they are, if necessary, broken down into yet > simpler molecules by intracellular enzyme action. Foodstuffs are not utilised by the cell as such, but only after dissociation and disintegration, and then either by oxidation to supply energy or, on the other ~hand, to be built up in growth. biologists. They speak of inorganic bodies (crystals) growing by agglutination, organic bodies by intussus- ception. ‘Intussusception,’ * imbibition,’ *‘ intercala- tion,” and ‘interpenetration,’ are all inane -terms; they cannot possibly explain how two molecules of living matter appear where there was but one before, two grains of wheat where but one was put into the ground. Growth is one of the great underlying pheno- mena of living matter, and zoologists and botanists have in a simple Topsy-like manner been satisfied that the phenomena occurs—and have left it at that. In- crease in the amount of living matter means multi- plication of the molecules of living matter, and this multiplication can only take place after the manner of the growth of a crystal, by ions arranging themselves into radicles, and radicles arranging themselves in a particular order, until in orderly sequence the neces- sary radicles become built up, identical in arrangement with the pre-existing molecule, in association with which the group has become developed. This con- ception is materially aided by the recognition that crystallisation does not of necessity demand the pro- duction of rigid rectilinear figures. Lehmann in 1904 first directed attention to the existence of ‘fluid crystals’’; in 1906 Adami and Aschoff pointed out. that these fluid crystals are frequent in the animal organism. As D’Arcy Thompson remarks, “the phenomenon of liquid crystallisation does not destroy the distinction between crystalline and colloid forms, but gives added unity and continuity to the whole series of phenomena.” Weismann’s doctrine of the continuity of the germ- plasm is erroneous; it is not the germplasm which is eternal; merely there is a potential continuity of mole- cular arrangement .and constitution. The functional and vegetative activities of the organism and the cell, along with the essential nature of metabolism and enzyme action, emphasise that these matters of adaptation and evolution have to be approached from the aspect of function and the: dynamics of living matter, rather than from the point of view of cell statics. ‘“‘ Function precedes structure,” and the study of -cell function must afford the key. race) As regards the acquirement. of the new power of NO. 2494, VOL. 99} molecules be not present in too great a number, This matter of growth is wholly neglected by the other ‘versity of Michigan, and the later work of Abd be this interaction, and at a slower rate, due t indeed, interpret not a few phenomena which attracting and then reproducing a series of sid digesting and utilising a foreign protein, it is see from what has been said that these proteins are com plexes of amino-acids; and the number of the indi vidual amino-acids is limited. Proteolytic e already in existence, whether intra- or extra-cellular do not attack the foreign protein as a whole, bt must be regarded as dissoclahne ar everyda amino-acids from the complex. But doing ‘this, t take the simplest case, the relative number of mole cules of the different amino-acids presented to the ce may come to differ from the normal, or, again, the simpler complexes due to the breaking down of th foreign proteins may not be identical in constitutiol with those which the cell and its biophores had bee! accustomed to utilise in growth. In either case tl constitution of the biophores may become altered as they are ‘built up. Where enzyme-like bodies, such as the toxins and phytotoxins, become introduced inte the cytoplasm, their toxic function must be regarded as due to their power of dissociating the living mol cules, by detaching certain radicles. If the tox ae ics is given for the living molecules to attract and b up again the lost radicles, and by the law of h if this process be constantly repeated, particular radicles are now to be built up in excess of the nee of the cell, and, undergoing discharge, become antitoxin bodies of the blood and bedy fluids. That this conception of the mechanism of imm and progressive adaptation is substantially corré was strongly supported by the long-continued and at mirable studies of Prof. V. C. Vaughan, of the Ui halden, of Berlin, and his pupils. pers" The prevalent conception of the Mendelians th parental properties remain segregated in the cells is open to attack. In the zygote, the fer germ cell, and in all the tissue cells derived therefro it is inconceivable that two orders of biophores, active living molecules, can exist floating in a com nuclear sap, undergoing growth, building up chains and radicles, discharging certain of these, undergoing dissociation from time to time, with the two rea¢ting upon each other, and without certain amount of interchange, without the one ha» a greater affinity for side-chains elaborated by other and building these into its system. There more latent state, this same interchange mus place in the germ cells. Along these lines it i possible to interpret the facts of Mendelism, hypothesis of determinants fail to obtain explanati Briefly, each species must be regarded as hay for its essential living matter a distinct organic ec pound, a compound as distinct as any inorganic s but differing from that.simpler salt in that wher the central ring, or chain, is to be regarded as ha a relatively fixed constitution, the radicles com that ring or chain are to be regarded as ca which may vary in constitution, so that wi species there may be various strains, just as speak of various strains of crystalline haemo obtained from different samples of human blood It is possible to replace an impossible hypot based upon supposititious independent and transpe determinants by one based upon our present ledge of the composition and properties of t and outstanding constituent of living matter— teins. To one who regards life, not from the logical point of view, in terms of form, but f physiological, in terms of function, who rega as a moving equilibrium, who regards it as in AucusT 16, 1917] NATURE 499 “a state of persistent and incomplete recurrent satis- action and dissatisfaction of certain proteidogenous molecules,” and metabolism as the primary and basal characteristic of living snatter, for such a one Prof. Bateson’s stumbling-block does not-exist. — The hypothesis of a backward evolution by the pro- rressive removal of inhibitory factors, like the base- ss fabric of a vision, fades into nothingness once it is confronted by the proof that direct positive acquire- ments can be brought about experimentally. It enters into the limbo of the past as an exumple of the Spen- ‘rian tragedy—that of, a deduction destroyed by a as a ‘ UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL = INTELLIGENCE. ‘Lonpon.—M. L. de la Vallée Poussin, professor in ie University of Ghent, is to act temporarily as lec- urer in Sanskrit and Tibetan at the School-of Orien- al Studies. Tue Gladstone memorial prize of the London School #f Economics and Political Science has been awarded > Olive Wright. ; “Miss Sir W. Watson Cueyne, Bart., has been elected arliamentary representative of the Universities of dinburgh and St. Andrews. - Mr. Artuur T. Botton has been appointed curator of Sir John Soane’s Museum, - Lincoin’s Inn Fields, A succession to the late Mr. W. L. Spiers. ~ Major F. C. Purser has beer elected to the chair of the Theory and Practice of Physic in the Schools f Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ire- ‘Dr. A. W. Aston has been appointed: principal of he mechanical and electrical. engineering department f the Stoke-on-Trent Central School of Science and ‘ech ology. 3e ge git _Dr. W. H. We cu has resigned his position as head f the department of pathology at Johns Hopkins Miversity to take up the directorship of the School “Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. W. G. McCallum, Columbia University, succeeds him at Johns Hop- ns University. § aces in the Pilcher Reseagch Laboratory attached to edford College for Women, Regent’s Park, N.W.1. laces are available for post-graduate work in science - in arts, preference being. given to research in ience, and, at the present time, to any investigation mnected with the war. Applicants must state their Ualifications, the nature of the research, and the triod for which application is made. ation may be. obtained from the principal of the lege. ) ‘Many letters have been received by the chairman of British, Prisoners of War- Book Scheme (Educa- dnal) testifying to the usefulness of the scheme. Fur- ler contributions are urgently needed. In the tech- ical and scientific sections the prisoners’ demand for Joks is very large, but the works asked for are rarely tainable as gifts, as the owners generally nee1 them w their own use, while second-hand copies, sufficiently p to date, are proving increasingly difficult to procure. 1 these circumstances the committee is compelled make large purchases of new copies of up-to-date Ooks of the above character, and, for this, ample unds are essential. Donors to the scheme will recog- se that their gifts do not merely help to save the risoners from mental starvation, but also increase NO. 2494, VOL. 99} sees - “APPLICATIONS: are invited for a limited- number of’ Further infor-- | Tournier : their value as a commercial and professional asset after the war. Offers of books (which should always b> accompanied by a detailed list) are also invited and should be addressed to Mr. A. T. Davies, C.B., ‘* Prisoners of War,” Board of Education, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, S.W.7. SPEAKING last week at the Oxford summer Bri 3 of university extension and other students, Prof. W.H. Perkin said that certain industries, which at_one time appeared to be firmly established in this country, had left them to flourish abroad, and inquiry into the reason for this resulted in the conclusion that the cause of our failure-had been our neglect of scientific methods and lack of appreciation of the value of re- search. At the commencement-of the war Germany had, .roughly, ten times as many advanced students engaged in research work as there were in this coun- try. It must be clear to everyone that we could not hope to compete with Germany while such a state of things existed, and it was entirely due to our lack of appreciation of the importance--of research that so many of our industries had already gone to Germany and so many were in process of being transferred when the war broke out. But in tackling and solving difficult manufacturing operations it was not too much to claim that the scientific men in our universities had shown how valuable they could be to. the manufac- turers, whether it be in connection with munitions of” war or in the development of purely industrial opera- tions. There could be no doubt that the war had already brought about this. welcome chang ta much closer association between the manufacturer and the scientific worker was growing up, such, indeed, as had not previously existed in this country. There were, of course, not a few who were afraid that the introduc- tion of work of industrial. importance into our uni- versities, and especially into such universities as those of Oxford and Cambridge, would have a bad effect on these institutions. They feared-that the lofty academic spirit which had always pervaded our older universi- ties would suffer from contact with the realities of com- mercial life, and while he could understand the sus- | picion which was always associated with any radical change in old-established traditions, he failed entirely to see why the introduction into the students’ career of some of the conditions of the life which so many — must ultimately adopt should be’ in any way -preju- dicial. He was certain that purely academic.work and industrial research could go along side by side to their great mutual advantage. , : SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Paris. Academy of Sciences, July 23M. Paul Appell in the chair.—Ch. Lallemand: Remarks on the extension to the sea of hourly time zones. The extension to the sea of the system of hourly zones in use on land, suggested in January last by J. Renaud, has been adopted by France for warships and mobilised vessels, and the “Service Hydrographique de la Marine has published a planisphere of the hour zones. In Great Britain a committee appointed by the Admiralty has unanimously recommended the adoption of the same rules for British ships.—E. Haug: The extension to- wards the west of the strata of Basse-Provence.—M. Leau: The measurement of linear ensembles.—M. The experimental determination of the efficiency of marine engines and boilers.—V. Valcoviet : The position of the point of arrest in movement of uniform rotation.—J. C. Sela: A new stream of stars © in Sagittarius——A. Guébhard: A new manner of re- garding volcanic action and ‘the pseudo-eruptive ap- 500 NATURE [Aucusr 16, 1917 4 pearances of granite—M. Dealloni: The facies of the Lower Miocene to the south of Tell and the fauna of the Cartennian of Uzés-le-Duc, Algeria.—(The late) A. Cochain: Considerations on volcanic © action.—C. Sauvageau : The proper motion of the chromatophores. —M. Molliard: The artificial production of a gall.— V. Galippe: Normal parasitism and microbiosis.— W. T. Porter: Observations on traumatic shock. It is shown that the increase of respiration produced by. the administration of carbon dioxide is of great service in cases of shock; three examples of this treatment following severe operations are cited. in-»which good results were obtained. ' WasHinetan, D.C. National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings, vol. iii., No. 6 (June 15).—H. Nyquist:. The Stark effect in helium and neon. An improvement of Lo Surdo’s method is applied.—F. W. Clarke -and R. M. Kamm: New analyses of Echinoderms. A progressive enrich- ment in magnesia, following increase of temperature, is unmistakable.—C. B. Davenport : Utilising the facts of juvenile promise and family history in awarding naval commissions to untried men. A study, with family charts, of a number of naval officers.—Gladys A. Anslow and Janet T. Howell: The triplet series of radium.—C, Barus: The measurement of small angles by displacement interferometry.—S. Flexner: Mechan- isms that defend the body from poliomyelitic infection, (a) external or extra-nervous, (b) internal or nervous. A report upon the results of recent experiments.—J. B. Brinsmade and E. C. Kemble: The occurrence of har- monics in the infra-red absorption spectra of diatomic gases. The discontinuities in the structure of these bands -force the conclusion that the angular velocities are distributed among the molecules in the discon- tinuous manner predicted by the older form of the quantum theory, and the proved existence of harmonics is almost equally good evidence that the vibrational energy of the molecules is distributed in the same manner.—W. Wilson : cathodes by electron emission. mechanism to that causing the emission from heated pure metals.—E. C. Miller: and dry matter in the leaves of corn and the sorghums. Under the conditions of these experiments the sorghums, particularly milo, absorb water from the soil and transport it to the leaves more rapidly in proportion to the loss of water from the plant than does corn, and thus the sorghums can pro- duce more dry matter for each unit of leaf area under severe climatic conditions than can the corn plant.—C. Barus: Note on complementary Fresnellian fringes.— ——C. Barus: The displacement interferometry of long distances. In preceding notes two methods for measur- ing small angles have been suggested. Application is here made to the determination of distances, and it is shown that an object at about a mile should be locates to:about 30 ft. BOOKS RECEIVED. Morphology of Gymnosperms. By Coulter and Prof. C. J. Chamberlain. Revised edition. Pp. xi+ 466. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press.) The Nutrition of Farm Animals. By Dr. H. P. Armsby. Pp. xvii+743. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 11s. net. _ A First Course in Hisher Algebra. By Prof. H. A. Merrill and Dr. C. E.. Smith. Pp. xiv+247. NO. 2494, VOL. 99] Prof; 33--M; ‘clusions. The loss in energy of Wehnelt” The emission of the_ electrons from Wehnelt cathodes is due toa similar Daily variation of water. (New ! York: The Macmillan Co. ; Co., Ltd.) 6s. 6d. net. Dutch N.W. New Guinea: A‘ Contribution to ‘th Phytogeography and Flora of the Arfak Mountains, etc. By L. S. Gibbs. Pp. iv +226, (London : “Taylor and Francis.) 12s. 6d. {a Le Paludisme Macédonien (Collection Horizon). B y P. Armand-Delille, P. Abrami, G. Paisseau, and H. Lemaire. Pp. viii+ 109. (Paris: “Masson et Cie.) ) 4 francs. iq Problems in Dynamics (with Full Sahiviohs): Atma Ram. Pp. 245+diagrams 16. (Lahore.: ‘Atm Ram and Sons.) ‘3 rupees. The National Food Supply in Peace and War. Prof. T. B. Wood. Pp. 44. esas i At University Press.) 6d. net. ; -A Defence of Idealism; Some Questions and Con- By M. Sinclair. Pp. xxi+396. (Londons Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 12s. net. : London: Macmillan’ and : CONTENTS. Aviation and Air-power ..... The Glastonbury Lake Village. ... ..... Mechanics and Metallurgy. By E. S. H.. Our Bookshelf Letters to the Editor:— es A Plea for the Fuller Utilisation of cat —Major ‘Arthur J. Martin ae Devitrification of Quartz Glass. —A,: C. Michie 258 The Revision of the Civil Service Examinations. By Prof. J. Wertheimer : : The’ New Education Bill >.>. 2 3s ae The Regeneration of the British Scientific Instra ment Trade after the War. Dr. Félix Le Dantec : 4 Bais S058 Sa%5 504 aes bea 3 Our Astronomical Column: Is Fi The August Meteors of 1917 . . New Elements of Mars . . ». 2 ant of Sun’s Rote peed Oe ee Leese Time. By Prof. G. T. Morgan, F.R.S. = oa ‘The Rotation of the Moon. By A. we, 3 ‘fe Adaptation and Disease. By Lt.-Col. - G. Adami, y PRS... ae University and Educational Intelligence ows é Societies and Academies ....... bar tee i Books Received . . ©.....:-. Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Lip, ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. Advertisements and business letters to be addressed ' ‘a Publishers. Editorial Communications to the Editor Telegraphic Address: Telephone Number: Puusis, Lonpon. GERRARD 8830. pense NA . URE 501 THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 7. NEW BOOKS ON PLANTS. 1) The Principles of Plant-Teratology. By W. C. - Worsdell. Vol. ii.- Pp. xvi+ 296+ plates 26-53. aaa The Bay Society, 1916.) Price 25s. ae Bee nous to Live Stock. By H. C. - (“Cambridge Agricultural Monographs.”’) Pp. vi+ 119. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1917.) Price 6s. net. ~ Herbs Used in Medicine (First Series), with _ Descriptive and Explanatory Notes. By Mrs. pa: D. Ellis. Pp. 32. (London: National Herb- > ng Association, 1917.) . Price 3s. ‘British Wild Wiowiness Their Haunts and Asso- ciations. By W. Graveson. Pp. xv+ 320. (Lon- don: Headley Bros.) Price 7s. 6d. net. N our notice of the first volume of Mr. Worsdell’s ‘‘ Principles of Plant Teratology” ATURE, February 22, 1917) reference was e to the scope of the work and to the. author’s ws as to methods of morphological investiga- . The second and final volume deals with the lower of the vascular plants, the term “flower ” ne tuding not only the flower of Angiosperms, but also the “cones ” of Gymnosperms and vascular cryptogams and the sporophylis of ferns. _ There are three main sections, entitled “ Differen- n,” “Simplification,” and “ Adventitious .” Under the first head are grouped the 0 ving phenomena : Proliferation; forking and Sciation ; disruption, a term applied to the split- ing of the maize-cob, a female inflorescence, into he e constituent branches which are normally united } form the cob; positive dédoublement, including ase in number of the members of a whorl phylly) and increase in number of the whorls leiotaxy); dialysis, splitting or dissociation of : pets and metamorphosis. Simplification in- u ; abbreviation of the inflorescence and flower, n: stion of floral axes or floral leaves, cohesion | suppression. Adventitious flowers are rare: a Ww Cases are cited, and the remarkable instance of _Nepaul barley i is described. Most of the phenomena described under Differen- ation are regarded as reversionary, though a imber of those due to metamorphosis are recog- sed as progressive. The flower is considered evolved from an elongated leafy shoot, the cone ; ming an intermediate stage; hence prolifera- which involves an elongation of the axis * ond the normal, is a reversionary process. On = other hand, granting that “simplification ”’ of e flower by means of cohesion and suppression its members represents one of the main pro- pes of floral evolution, teratological phenomena cohesion and suppression are regarded as pro- ssive in nature, while those involvi ing dissocia- ON are reversionary. The splitting to a greater "less degree of the corolla of .a gamopetalous ver into its component petals is not unusual. . for instance, in Campanula; this is a case. of No. 2495, VOL. 99] (low reversion, because the flower with united petals represents a higher state of evolution than the flower with free petals. On the other hand, the reverse phenomenon of union of petals which are normally distinct is progressive. But does it represent anything more than mere terminology to call one of these instances progressive and the other reversionary? And is there any ged in the suggested relationships ? The study of plant abnormalities is full of variety and interest, and rich in surprises; to have prepared. a book of reference on the sub- ject is to have earned the gratitude of one’s fellow- botanists. But Mr. Worsdell’s work would have claimed a higher position if fewer pages had been devoted to theorising; the réle of the recorder is° an eminently useful one. (2) Mr. Long’s book on plants poisonous to live stock in the United Kingdom forms a handy work of reference in a subject on which the litera- ture is remarkably scattered. The author has brought together many -facts from numerous technical reports and journals, and the compila- tion will be of great value to those responsible for the care and treatment of animals. The plants included are more or less common wild plants which might be eaten by grazing animals or be mixed with fodder, but reference is also made to com- mon ornamental plants known to be dangerous, such as laburnum, rhododendron, and cherry ~ laurel; and poisonous leguminous plants, such as Indian peas (Lathyrus sativus), Java beans (Phaseolus lunatus), and lupines, are described at length. Excepting ergot, fungi are not included. Poisonous plants differ widely in degree of harmfulness, and it is probable that under ordinary conditions many of the plants commonly regarded as poisonous are almost or quite harmless. In . a state of nature animals appear to avoid toxic or unwholesome plants and to be less readily poisoned than are domesticated animals. Individu- ality is also a factor, some animals having a depraved appetite for ‘unusual and unappetising food plants. The author quotes a remark of two American writers, that “there seems to be no way of accounting for the appetite or taste of stock.” This statement is perhaps especially true of sheep, which will eat greedily on one day plants which they could scarcely be persuaded to eat on the following day on the same range of hills. The toxic properties of the plant are often affected by conditions of soil, climate, and cultivation; for instance, Solanum nigrum, an almost cosmo- politan weed, varies so much that it has been - regarded as harmless in one country and poisonous in another. Again, a plant may be poisonous in all its parts, e.g. meadow saffron; or one part alone may be toxic, as the seeds in corn cockle. Frequently, as with buttercips, there are varia- tions in the poisonous character according to the season, and some parts of the plant are more toxic than others; the flowers are the moédst poisonous, and then the leaves and stem. The plants are arranged in systematic sequence. under their respective families. Evidence for in- DD 502 NATURE [AuGusT 23, 1917 © cluding the plant as poisonous is given in each case, the toxic principle is described, as are also the symptoms, and references are given to the bibliographical list at the end of the volume. A short chapter is devoted to plants which lie more or less under suspicion of being poisonous, and there is also a brief account of the effects of wild plants on milk. .(3) Mrs. Ellis has written some useful descriptive text to a series of sixteen good coloured draw- ings by Miss Ethel Barlow illustrating some of the common herbs used in medicine. (4) Mr. Graveson writes for the general reader. In a series of twenty-eight chapters he describes as many flower-rambles made between March and Sep- tember. His style is discursive, but conveys some information on the life-history of the commoner wild plants. There is a good deal of “folk-lore ”’ derived from well-known sources, and also plenty of quotations from the poets. The best feature of the book is the series of plant-sketches by Mr. J. Wood, which are included in the form of full- page plates. IS THE ANGLO-SAXON DOOMED? The Passing of the Great Race; or, The Racial Basis of European History. By Madison Grant. Pp. xxi+245. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1917.) Price 8s. 6d. net. N this work Mr. Grant takes up a theme which was broached by Dr. Gustav Retzius in his Huxley lecture to the Royal Anthropological Insti- tute in 1909. In speaking of the two competing types of European—the ‘tall, long-headed, blue- eyed Nordic type, and the short, round-headed, dark-eyed Alpine type—Dr. Retzius expressed himself thus :— : “There may lie in the circumstances to which I have called attention a very real danger of the North European dolichocephalic race not being able to hold its own. Just as it has been ousted during the past thousand years from Germany and other countries in Central Europe by the dark-haired, small-statured brachycephali, so, too, will it probably have to yield place ‘here [England] and be reduced in numbers; perhaps by degrees disappear entirely out of the father- land of their ancestors, by reason of the ever- increasing might and power of industrialism, with which they seem ill-fitted to cope successfully in the long run. The prospect is depressing, it cannot be denied, but the development of things in the world is not seldom harsh and unmerciful.” * That is the opinion which an excellent repre- sentative of the Nordic type formed of the future of his race in Europe. In a broad way Mr. Grant’s book deals with the fate of the Nordic type in the United States of America, and from stray statements, which appear in a somewhat disjointed manner throughout its pages, we gather that the future of the Nordic type is as sombre in America as in Europe. “One often hears the statement made,” writes Mr. Grant, 1 Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Institute, 1909, vol. xxxix., p. 300. NO. 2495, VOL. 99| immigrants now,” says Mr. Grant, “largely repr i “that native Americans of colonial ancestry are of mixed ethnic origin. This is not true. At” the time of the Revolutionary War the settlers in the thirteen colonies were not only purely Nordic, — but also purely Teutonic, a very large proportion — being Anglo-Saxon in the most limited meaning — of that term.” ; 5 4 Mr. Grant evidently uses “Teutonic ’’ as a term — for men of the Nordic type inhabiting modera Germany, and forming less than a sixth of the population of that Empire, but as “Teutonic ”’ in ordinary language has come to be equivalent to German, it would be a scientific gain if anthropolo-_ gists could agree to apply the term ‘Teutonic’ for the designation of the round-headed, fair-— haired non-Nordic prevalent and predominant German racial type. That, however, is a side-issue ; the main matter is that everyone who has investi- gated the problem will agree with Mr. Grant that the men who secured the United States (and Canada) as a home for white men were almost a pure embodiment of the Nordic type. We expected Mr. Grant to give us the results of systematic inquiries and exact figures as to the prospects of the type in the modern population of the United States. We know how in recent years millions of the competing dark-haired, round-headed type have — left Central Europe and crowded into the manufac- turing centres throughout North America. ‘Our sent lowly refugees from persecution and other social discards. . . . European Governments took the opportunity to unload on careless, wealthy, and hospitable America the sweepings of their jails and asylums.” 4 Races from the shores of the Eastern Mediter. ranean are crowding into the Southern States; the negro is more prolific than the native white man. “As in all wars since Roman times,” so Mr. Grant avers, “the little dark man is a winner from the breeding point of view.” There are ample and trustworthy statistics to prove that the descendants of the original colonists are much less prolific than other and different human stocks which have recently arrived in America. It must be admitted that there is a danger of the fair heritage gained by the enterprise and courage 0 the Nordic pioneers—a heritage in which the bes’ traditions of Anglo-Saxon life were established— passing to a type of man that the early colonists” would not have shed a drop of their blood to save. It is just for that reason we wish that the authot of this book had stated his case somewhat dif ferently in a work which has the alluring titles) “The Passing of the Great Race.” A. Ko ae A Text-book of Histology. By Prof. H. E. Jordai and Dr. J. S. Ferguson. Pp. xxviiit+79 (New York and London: D. Appleton and Co. 1916.) Price 15s. net. & ie appearance of another text-book dealing mainly with human histology and obvious! designed chiefly for medical students natural Avcust -23, 1917] NATURE 593 from previous text-books on the same subject. Although histology, like every other branch of biology, continues to progress, yet in such a limited and well-explored field as human histology nearer approach to finality has been reached than in any other branch of biology, and there- fore the need for a new text-book is less vious. We may say then at once that Prof. Jordan d Dr. Ferguson have produced an eminently andy text-book. Its bulk has been limited not nly in the matter of number of pages, but also in the not less important respect of size of page, d its weight is still further reduced by the type f binding adopted, which, oddly enough, re- se mbles that which has long been popular in the case of copies of the Bible. The plan of the book ows the well-known lines familiar in most text- ks of histology, viz. the various types of ssues are dealt with seriatim and then an ac- a count of the structure of the principal organs of body is given. Since, as we have already ated, there is an evident determination on the 1] of the authors to keep the size of the book ithin modest limits, the essential facts are stated shortly and succinctly as possible, and although the student is made aware of conflicting views on Pp bints where uncertainty exists, yet no space is wasted in prolonged discussion of such disputes. _ What, however, is more prominent in this work than most similar text-books, and what strikes ; as wholly admirable, is the presence of merous explanations of the functions of the ctures described. After all, one main reason y histology is studied is for the purpose of cidating function, and what might easily student becomes lighted up with interest when e . made to understand what the structures e for. q A feature of great importance in any text-book of histology i is the nature of the illustrations, and n this matter we regret to say that in our opinion th authors have followed a wrong method with gard to many of these. A large proportion con- ist of half-tone reproductions of photographs of jal sections. Such figures are in our opinion mo st unsatisfactory, for there is inevitably much blurring of outlines. If it be urged that it is mportant to represent what a student will actually ec in the specimen and not the teacher’s inter- station of it, we may rejoin that this is precisely what photographs do not show. The distinctions foduced by differential staining are lost, and no on ever looks at a section without continually turning the fine-adjustment screw of the micro- Scope and bringing various levels of the section in furn into sharp relief, whereas the best photograph Teproduces clearly only the structures that lie at a single level. The large proportion of the photo- | graphic figures seriously detracts from the merits of the book. On the other hand, the insertion of a considerable number of simple outline explana- NO. 2495, VOL. 99] inyites attention to the points wherein it differs | become a mass of wearisome detail to the : tory diagrams, such as those of the embryonic development of the pancreas and the descent of the ovary, are of great assistance. As is perhaps natural in American authors, the references cited relate too exclusively to the results of American workers. On the whole, however, the clearness of the descriptions, the emphasis of essential points, and the neglect of secondary details combine to make this in our opinion a valuable text-book. E. W.. M. OUR BOOKSHELF. A Pocket-book for Chemists. By T. Bayley. Eighth edition. Edited by R. Ensoll. Pp. xvi+425. (London: E. and F. N. Spon, Ltd., 1917.) Price 7s. 6d. net. Tue ‘‘Chemist’s Pocket-book” by T. Bayley, of which the last and seventh edition was published in 1900, has servéd for many years as a useful laboratory companion. In this new issue, edited - by R. Ensoll, the contents of the previous edition have been rearranged, much obsolete matter has been omitted, and a number of tables have been added. The subject-matter is grouped under the head- ings of (1) mathematical data; (2) weights and measures ; (3) physical data ; (4) general analysis; (5) gravimetric analysis; (6) volumetric analysis; and (7) miscellaneous. The first three sections contain a comprehensive series of useful data of reference, conveniently arranged in tabular form. In the section on general analysis the methods described.are restricted to the analysis of sugar, wine, beer, spirits, and milk, and to a number of examples of indirect analysis, a selection which seems to bear but little relation to the require- ments of the average chemist. The tables of factors included in the section on gravimetric analysis have been carefully chosen and are well arranged. Some of the methods of standardisation described in the section on volumetric analysis could be revised with advantage, as they are not fully in accord with those of modern analytical practice. The concluding section, “ Miscellaneous,” contains a number of data, such as instructions in bending and cutting glass tubing, cleaning labora- tory vessels, etc., which seem peculiarly out of keeping with the proper objective of the book. In future editions the space thus occupied could be advantageously made use of to extend other portions of the contents. This re-issue, which is published in the form of a handbook, has been very carefully edited and is likely to maintain the utility of the earlier editions. C. A. K. Food. By Dr. A. Hill. (“Manuals of Health,” 1.) Pp. 64. (London: S.P.C.K., 1917.) Price gd. | Foop is a subject of predominant interest at the present time, and it is important that sound knowledge concerning its use and function should 504 NATURE [Aucust 23, 1917 a be widely and assiduously disseminated. In the main Dr. Hill’s book is a useful contribution towards this object. In chap. i., on ‘‘ The Need of Food,” the author has put the case clearly, though some improve- ments might be suggested. The calorimeter illustrated, for instance, is far removed from that actually used. Nor is it strictly accurate to say that the body must receive as: much nitrogen as the kidneys excrete in urea. What really happens is that the kidneys excrete as much urea as is presented to them to be eliminated, this amount being no trustworthy measure of the nitrogen needs of the body. In chap. ii. an attempt is made to give a simple account of the chemistry of food. It is doubtful if it is worth its place. The main part of the booklet is devoted to a consideration of the nourishing value of various foods. The information is on the whole sound, though in many ways this chapter could be shortened with advantage. Some statements also require qualification, such as that the presence of sugar with protein in the stomach leads to a forma- tion of uric acid in the system; that “gelatin can- not take the place of protein” (p. 35); that “gastric juice does nothing to break up the fat- saturated lumps” of flour and butter in pastry (pp. 36 and 37); and that no other kind _ of food gives so wood a return for its cost as cheese. Too much stress also is laid on the content of protein in a food as a measure of its nutritive value, and the author argues too rigidly from. the assumption that a working man requires 4 oz. (1135 grm.) of protein per day in his diet. On p. 13, by oversight, a man’s weight— 75 kilos—is translated as 13 st. 9 lb., whereas it should be 11 st. 11 lb. The booklet should prove useful. 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 Terminology of Parthenogenesis. Tue word “ parthenogenesis * has become established in biological science to signify the production of offspring by a _ virgin mother. The term does not embrace reproduction by buds or by fission, but refers to parentage by a mother who produces egg- cells similar to those which are, in the vast majority of instances, fertilised by male sperm-cells before pro- ceeding to develop. In these instances (distinguished as instances of “‘ parthenogenesis’’) the egg-cells pro- ceed to develop without fusion with the male repro- ductive element or sperm-cell. Parthenogenesis may accordingly be defined as an exceptional and historically super-induced modification of the normal process of sexual reproduction or gamo- NO. 2495, VOL. 99| ‘| Such females are always “parthenogenetic” i , in close contact with it. These secondary develo genesis in which the female gamete or egg-cell does not unite with a male gamete or sperm-cell to form a ‘zygote,’ but proceeds to develop independently. The term should not be applied to reproduction by unfertilised unicellular “‘ spores’? common in the lower plants and protozoa, nor to any cases except those in which the “* parthenogenetic’’ reproductive cell is either (1) a normal egg-cell capable of sexual zygosis, or (2) demonstrably a comparatively recent modification such an egg-cell. The latter is an important group, and at one time these modified egg-cells—in- capable of fertil:sation—were incorrectly described as ‘““pseud-ova”’ (Huxley). The egg-cell thus independ- ently developing may be described as ‘autoblastic ” and the process as ‘‘autoblastesis.” And again the autoblastic egg-cell may be described as “* lipospermic and the embryonic history as one characterised by “lipospermy"’ or ‘“‘lipospermia,” Eo Lal A difficulty of nomenclature has lately arisen in describing and discussing the offspring so preduced- for instance, when the eggs of the frog have been ex- perimentally induced by the mechanical method of Bataillon (scratching with a needle) to develop so as to give rise to tadpoles, and even adult frogs, without fertilisation by sperm-cells. ersight the tadp oe sSVeCCIa By ov so produced have been referred to as ‘* parthenogenetic and by a similar error the broods of greenfly produce without the intervention of a male parent have beet called ‘‘ parthenogenetic young.” Clearly the word ‘parthenogenetic’? has been, and must be, used t describe the virgin mother, and therefore cannot a the same time be applied to her offspring withot causing confusion. It seems to me that the wor ‘‘impaternate,”’ or ‘‘ fatherless,” should be used for # offspring. I have failed to excogitate any other teri which will so well meet the case. Pe If we call individuals so produced ‘ autoblasti term applicable to the egg-cells which give rise 1 them—we leave it doubtful as to whether we may no be referring to their future reproductive capacity rathe than to their origin; and if we call them “lipospe: mic we may possibly intend by this word to indicate the they are devoid of male reproductive gonads, and nt merely that no sperm-cells were concerned in the genesis. The term ‘‘impaternate” is readily i gible and admits of no such ambiguity. eg A further difficulty in regard to the nomenclature ¢ virgin reproduction or parthenogenesis is that the wo1 ‘virgin’? and its Greek equivalent refer to the cond tion of the mother, and not to the history of the egg cells which she produces and passes from her bod The “virgo intacta” is an adult female who has mi been “covered” or “‘impregnated’” by a male, or, — use another term, has not been “*mated.’’ In mg species of frogs and fishes, and in many other 2 animals, the female parent is always a “virgo 1 strict sense of the word. The fact that the eg not “‘autoblastic,’’ but are fertilised after they- the mother’s body, does not alter her physiological ee dition or ‘‘status ’’ in any way as compared with # of a mother whose eggs on being deposited by her : capable of “ lipospermic”’ embryogenesis. She is ‘“mated’’ or “impregnated.” The difference betw her and the more familiar impregnated or fecun mother arises from the persistence in the one ¢é of the original and primitive method of free — charge of both the female and the male reprod cells into the water in which the parents live, and, contrast, the secondary development in the other ¢a (comprising a vast variety and number) of arramj ments for the fertilisation of the egg-cells while st actually within the protective body of the mother” ‘4 (CL, ~ Aucust 23, 1917] NATURE 505. s are determined by the fact that they favour 1 economy and certainty in the operation of the male gametes or spermatozoa, and by their provision #f advantageous maternal protection to the minute s-cells and the early stages of their growth when sed. In non-aquatic animals intra-maternal fer- ation of the egg-cells is obligatory. The egg-cells which are freely discharged and fer- ed by free-swimming sperm-cells “in the open” ay be called ‘‘planktogamic” (plankton=freely wimming), whilst egg-cells which are subjected to the condary protective arrangements may be called either hysterogamic”’ (hysteron=uterus), if fertilised within > oviductal chamber of the mother, or “ propylo- mic”’ (propylon=a gateway), if fertilised on the sur- ereto (as in the case of many Crustacea and of some “There is no word in use to indicate the physio- wical status of an adult female which is no longer virgin,” but has been “mated” or *‘ covered,” and is received into her oviduct sperm-cells from a male. fe might designate such a female as a “mate” in con- ist to a “virgin,” but ‘“‘mate’’ is in ordinary use rf any kind of comrade. Though the words “ wife”’ -spouse’’ have too definite a reference to human al and social status, yet the Latin word “conjux,” lying as it does a ‘‘ conjugium ” (the significance of sh is given in Virgil’s account of wind-fertilised es, “sine ullis conjugiis vento gravide’’), might ee as the antithesis of “virgo.” Any female ‘ing hysterogamic egg-cells is accordingly a “*con- ,”’ whilst one discharging “ planktogamic,” or it may “ propylogamic,” egg-cells is a “ virgin.” the existence of “‘ hysterogamesis” leads on to that nomenon which was by Aristotle as a y important “‘differentia’’ in the classification of mals, and is loosely described as “viviparity.”’ als which pass a large part of their embryonic vth within the mother’s body and are born naked ‘with much of the shape and locomotive capacity the adult are called ‘viviparous.’ But seatty mals are viviparous, for the birth-product is a thing whether it is a naked egg-cell or more sss advanced in de t. The enclosure of the -product in a shell or case, which has given rise le term “ oviparous,” is not of any value as indi- ig the real degree of development of the young at , for in some cases unfertilised egg-cells, in others @ discs of developing embryonic cells (as in birds, ), and in yet other cases well-shaped young rang- from the early larva of some invertebrates up to completely formed miniature of the adult, as in e€ of the shell-bearing snails, may be enclosed in an eggshell when “laid*’ by the mother. There ceordingly no great general importance to be ched to the distinction between ‘viviparous’? and iparous”’ animals. The eggshell has, of course, its ective value, but the exact phase and nature of the 5 pong within it must be considered in any com- of the reproductive processes of different ly all May now show how far the considerations and the aptive terms here suggested apply to certain cases of what is usually called parthenogenesis, is better designated ‘‘autoblastesis’’ or ‘lipo- ) The greenflies, or Aphides, are, as are all insects, acteristically hysterogamic. They are propagated Males and mating females (conjuges) in autumn. the spring and summer broods are females only. ¥ are virgins, and produce true egg-cells which are blastic and develop into several succeeding genera- | of impaternate females (lipospermia or partheno- NO. 2495, VOL. 99] % genesis). The egg-cells of these virgin mothers are modified so as to be incapable of zygosis, whilst the maternal structures connected with hysterogamesis (maternal fecundation) are aborted, although the intra- uterine gestation is retained and the young are born naked in a fully formed condition, whence they are said to be ‘‘ viviparous.” : (2) The phyllopod Crustacean Apus normally = beg birth to egg-cells encased each in a delicate eggshell. These are autoblastic, and produce with very rare exceptions only impaternate females. At rare intervals, owing to conditions not ascertained, a few impaternate males are hatched from some of the eggs, and “ pro- pylogamic” fertilisation of the s-of some of the virgin mothers of the same generation then takes place. (3) The breeding queen bee (Apis) and the breeding queens of some other hymenopterous insects are at the same time both parthenogenetic and gamogenetic! They are definitely “ conjuges,” or mated females, but some of their eggs are hysterogamic and give rise to females only, whilst others are agamic (lipospermic) and give rise by autoblastesis to impaternate males (drones) only. This remarkable double character of the “queen” is due to the fact that the sperm-cells of drone received by her into her spermatheca can be withheld from contact with the egg-cells about to be laid or ° admitted to them according to circumstances. Fer- tilisation of the egg-cell is (to use a French term) “* facultative.” 2 (4) Silkworm moths and some other female Lepi- doptera sometimes lay eggs without having mated or come into contact with a male. Not infrequently these eggs, which in normal conditions should be hystero- gamic, proceed to develop by autoblastesis, and produce impaternate males and females. This lipospermic re- production is stated to have been experimentally car- ried out through three successive generations. The autoblastesis can be favoured, if not determined, by brushing the shell of the egg with a camel’s-hair neil. (5) The female of the common frog is, like that of nearly all bony fishes, in all circumstances a “virgin.” Her eggs are planktogamic. Other Amphibia may be propylogamic or even hysterogamic. When received into carefully purified water, the un- fertilised eggs of the common frog, which are naturally enveloped, each in a jelly-like coat, can be caused to enter upon the curriculum of cell-division and em- bryonic growth by scratching the surface of the dark- brown egg-cell. with a needle. The impaternate off- spring thus produced have been reared to late stages of the tadpole phase, and more rarely to the adult form. The impaternate or fatherless young thus reared have, so far as at present recorded, always proved on examination to be males. Other cases of lipospermia or autoblastesis, suchi as those revealed by the experiments of Loeb, Deslages, and others, could, I think, be with advantage sum- marised by the use of some such nomenclature as that here suggested. Autoblastesis is contrasted with gamoblastesis, but its occurrence is not “ spontaneous.” It depends upon either mechanical or various chemical conditions which could be enumerated and classified. E. Ray LaNnKESTER. The Scandinavian Languages. In the scheme of examination (see NaTurRE, vol. xcix., Pp. 475), it is curious to see Norwegian and Danish, which have the same dictionary, separated by the very different Swedish language. ‘TIS RS August 14. 506 NATURE [Aucust 23, 1917 THE CIVIL AERIAL TRANSPORT . COMMITTEE. N?2 time is going to be lost in facing the new problems arising from the war, and in setting to work on them at once at the earliest fav ourable opportunity. The title, ‘Civil Aerial,” of the committee shows how the experience of the novel warlike conditions are to be utilised in peaceful applica- tion, in a flying post at least of an airplane, and possible extension to the large airship for pas- senger service across the sea. Throwing intellectual timidity overboard, we no longer await the sequence of events, watch- ing the progress of the rest of the world to see what is best, and reap the advantage of waiting and at no expense. The economy of this cunctando policy has proved illusory. — Unlimited money, poured out in war like water, has solved these problems, and the leisurely hesitation of official timidity has been flung aside on the scrap- heap of unload- ing initiative and expense of experi- ment on _ private enterprise. Going. back in human imagina- tion as far as his- tory can carry us, we always find the obsession of the poet and artist dreamer for human flight. ‘In Chaldzan, Assyrian, and Babylonian ages we have only the sculptured repre- sentations to go by; but Homer, A=schylus, Plato describe the flight of the gods through the air as a matter of course, and blame the engineer inventor, Prometheus, for being so slow to put the idea into action for his fellow-men, Dedalus and Icarus, as Jules Verne has blamed us of his own time by implication. In the Greek play Old Ocean arrives at the wing's as the deus ex machina, a flying machine, dismounting from his mechanical. four-footed bird, an Arimaspian griffin, after a single flight to the Caucasus from the Pillars of Hercules— Gibraltar and Jebel Musa. This is his radius of action, as the bird is said to be anxious to return to the perch in his cage. The daughters of Ocean have already put in an appearance as Chorus on their winged chariot, careful, they tell us, to lighten the load by removing their sandals, and so reluctant to put their bare feet on the ochreous earth of \the volcanic mountain-top of the Caucasus. NO. 2495, VOL. 99] } | | | | LA LEGGENDA DI ALESSANDRO. { | | | | | _ would work mechanically except on the st _ scale of the dragon-fly. _to be followed up here any further. | jaunty poetic imagination has never ceased _ reproach the engineer descendants of Prome Such details of scientific interest escape the attention of the classical schoolmaster, absorbed in the grammatical parsing; and he would hate to be told of their existence, for fear the inquiring scientific boy should start asking questions he could not answer himself. - Not only in Chaldzan, Babylonian, Hebrew, Chinese legends, of Ishtar, the prophet Habak- kuk, and the Bronze Dragon, but in Greek art also, the mysterious réle of the fabulous griffin can be traced, such as the supporters of the theatre stall in Athens of the priest of Dionysus; also in the bas-relief in St. Mark’s, Venice, repre- sentation of the legend of Alexander, as told by Callistheneés, flying in his chariot of sixteen-griffin power, but room only for two in the sculpture (reproduced in the photograph); capable of being used also asa submarine. The artist has followed closely the description of Callisthenes in giving Alexander a long stick in each hand to steer the unbridled griffins. A savoury lump of mea fixed on the end, and the griffins follow this wi their eyes and fly after it. Many similar sculptures could orSheblail traced in our own cathedrals if only a tra in search was made. a So the griffin is the crest to be selected . app priate for the Civil Aerial Transport Commit and not a winged figure as Icarus, which ne v2 Pennae non hor datae. The romantic history of the subject is too ¥ And © for declaring the problem impossible mechani To-day they can turn on him with the unansv¥ able—“I always told you so.’’ But man had to wait all these previous zons for the n power, not the mere power of the imagin “AUGUST 23, 1917] | NATURE 597 § - but of a real machine strong and light enough 3 to raise itself in the air with a man astride. This was the gift ready-made by the motor-car, of the petrol engine and no boiler. Twenty-two years ago a valiant attack was launched by Maxim (Nature, August, 1895), but he was obliged to make his machine big enough to take up a boiler in it, and here he was beaten. If Maxim failed then, it was certain no one else had a chance of success in a flying machine— He that it wroghte couth ful many a gin. _ The committee is well provided with the maginative element, ready to go one better than ules Verne and Peter Wilkins; and the historian it must take in hand an adequate account of artificial flight before it.came to birth less than ten years ago. A beginning has been made in Riaeirableme in Mythus Sage und Dichtung,”’ blished by the I.L.A. in 1910, and produced der Government encouragement years before we poe a start. But the most important epoch in actual history was July 25, 1909, when Bleriot 4 ale the Channel passage, about the time Chavez was unfortunate in meeting his death in the noment of victory of crossing the Simplon in the § The imaginative talent of the committee must me _supplemented and checked by a_ Lardner enius, to work out the sober arithmetical details a guide i in the actual design, similar to those by the Committee on Steam Communica- with India, 1830, and entrusted to the al Lardner. reckless optimism of a“Brunel and Scott ussell must be discounted to its true value by the fiticism of sober figures, as in Lardner’s report ) the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, 1835, in inting out the commercial fallacies of wild-cat themes, and the need for a Government subven- nm, demanded already for aerial transport to ake a start in the commercial aeronautics dis- ussec by Mr. Holt Thomas before the Aero- autical Society, and reported in the Morning ost of May 31 last. However learned he may be in Geometry, the Oet and artist has never studied so far as into nical Similitude. The artist paints his rel Michael with graceful wings in full flight, nd invites us to imagine his diminutive figure, pdragon-ly scale in the picture, as enlarged to i On the small scale of the picture, flight ay be possible with the wing and horse-power able. But when the linear scale is enlarged nfold the weight mounts up a thousandfold, but i y a hundredfold in wing area, and the lift is 1 times too small at the same speed, or, say, @ times too small if the speed is increased on ce) mide? s law. n the airship design, for a given diameter of ti on, say, across the Atlantic, or radius of as in a joy ride to the North Pole and ack, an immediate. application can be made of foude’s law, as in the Engineer for May } E016. the laws of mechanical similitude are not if " NO. 2495; VOL. 99] =o L1ecna tior quite so simple for a flying machine heavier than air, but a _ calculation can be made on the basis that in a given flight the horse- power-hours and petrol will vary inversely as the square of the speed, so that half the petrol will serve if the speed is increased 4o per cent., or that the same supply will carry over a double flight. No difficulty will be felt of tide or draught of water at the terminal port, and the height of the course can be varied so as to choose the favourable current of air. But we must not anticipate further the labours of the scientific mem- bers of the committee, as they will prefer to carry out these calculations unassisted. An aerial postal service between Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia has already been established, as we read in the Journal of the Society of Arts, August 3 (see Nature for August 16, p. 490). The commercial success of an Atlantic airship service is well within sight. Meanwhile, to begin with, a pleasure trip to the North Pole may be contemplated here, as likely to attract the patron- age of the enterprising traveller and give confidence to the public. “Advertised to leave Bergen in latitude 60° early on a Saturday morning, the airship, at fifty-knot speed, would be over the North Pole at midday lunch on Sunday, and back again to land the passengers on Monday night. How does the pilot know when he is over the Pole; and when there, how can he find his way back by compass ? These are questions for the new navigation required in aerial transport, still to be written. An important course, such as that to America or Japan, taken on the great circle, will pass very close to the Pole, so that a slight detour to please the passengers need not add appreciably to the mileage. Here the old method of Lunars will come to the front again, displaced in ordinary low latitude by the superiority of the chronometer. Nansen lost his- way back from the Arctic Circle when his chronometer had run down, altnough the moon stared him in the face, inviting a lunar distance observation, which he could have taken with accuracy enough by a piece of string and the assistance of the nautical almanac, -as described in Lord Kelvin’s lectures—a revival of ancient methods of navigation such as were employed by Ulysses. G. GREENHILL. THE “ISLE OF WIGHT” BEE DISEASE. Dias mortality among bees which passes by the name of “Isle of Wight ” disease continues with unabated severity, and has now spread to nearly every district in England, destroying in- numerable colonies in its progress and threatening to annihilate, or at least reduce to insignificant proportions, the bee-keeping industry in this country. Even in time of peace and unrestricted import, this would be a grave misfortune; at the present time, when sugar in every form is needed for human food and is steadily becoming scarcer, it is a national disaster which for some unaccount- 508 NATURE [AUGUST 23, I917 3 able reason appears to have escaped the attention absence of honey bees the work of pollination of the authorities, The mortality which has acquired the popular name of “Isle of Wight ’’ disease from the fact that it was first observed about twelve years ago in that island and for some time was practically confined to it, is in reality not so much a disease as a group of diseases, all of which are fatal and produce the same macroscopic symptoms in the affected insect. The condition known as “crawling ”’—that is, the inability, more or less pronounced, to fly in spite of desperate efforts—- the distortion of the wings, the fecal discharge known. as “‘dysentery,” the dwindling of the num- bers of the worker bees, and their sudden and apparently unaccountable death in large numbers are considered by the average bee-keeper to justify him in declaring his bees affected with ‘Isle of Wight ”’ disease, but none of these symptoms are truly diagnostic. 5 The honey bee, as was pointed out in an article in Nature of March 2, 1916, has singularly little power of expression, and the writer of the present article has observed the distortion of the wings at one time supposed to be characteristic of the disease in an apparently healthy bee killed in an entomologist’s “killing bottle.” Some, if not all, of the symptoms referred to may be present when- ever bees die of a virulent disease, while there are at-least three natural agencies, and possibly more, which cause the “sudden death of bees in large numbers,’’ which Zander ’* says is the most obvious way by which bee disease can be deter- | mined. These agencies are (a) Nosema apis, (b) ameceboid parasites, and (c) certain yeasts present in fermenting pollen. The first of these alone causes microsporidiosis, the true infectious “Isle of Wight” disease, but the outcome of the confusion of all these maladies under one name has been a vast amount of loose — talk and unscientific remedies, to use no harsher term. A preparation of coal tar, a combination of several germicides, hydrogen peroxide, sulphate of quinine, and even pea-flour have all been put forward as sovereign remedies and extensively sold to distracted beekeepers. Confident claims that this or that race of bees is immune to the disease have been put forward from time to time. and well-meaning but wholly unscientific attempts have been made to resuscitate the waning industry in places where the mortality has been highest by the introduction of new stocks either of alleged resistant strains or of healthy, but of course sus- ceptible, colonies from some district supposed to be free from infection. The result has generally been disastrous, and there are now many parts of England, where formerly there were hundreds of colonies, in which the industry of bee-keeping has been almost abandoned in despair and a honey bee is a rare insect. What then is the remedy? Without conceding all the claims that bee-keepers have made as to the value of their charges in fertilising the blossom of fruit trees—for it must be admitted that in the 1 “ Handbuch der Bienenkunde,” vol. ii. NO. 2495, VOL. 99| performed by other insects—it is allowed that b keeping is an important national industry. — nectar in flowers, if not collected and turned i honey by bees, is lost to the service of man, and now more than ever it is desirable to accumulate ‘and utilise every kind of food that can be pro- duced at home. va 4 At the same time, the individual bee-keeper is helpless. Even in the rare cases where he is a man of science, he has no means of effecting a cure if his bees are attacked; still less has he the means of preventing infection, The control, and where possible the eradication, of contagious disease is a matter for Government intervention, but the Bee Diseases Bill which was twice intro: duced into Parliament by the Board of Ag culture was abandoned owing to the active oppost- tion of a certain section of the bee-keepi n munity. The Government can scarcely be blame for relaxing its efforts to control the diseas in view of the lukewarm support it has receive from the persons who would have benefited ha those efforts been successful. The only hog appears to be in the universities, the Nation Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, or in # last resort the wealthy benefactors, who n conjointly form a National Bee-keeping Ins for the improvement and development of the 1 dustry, the study of disease, and the improvemse of the breeds of bees kept in the British Isle The lines on which further research shou conducted are more or less indicated by the resul already achieved. The organism that causé microsporidiosis is known, its life-history is fairh well understood, and the conditions under Nosema flourishes and the principal mez infection have been ascertained. What i desired is a suitable treatment and a study conditions under which recovery can be secured. It is, of course, unwise to reas closely from analogous diseases in other ar but it is at least possible that the investiga that are being made into ameebic dysentery in m may give some clue to the discovery of a mi of dislodging the parasite from its home cells of the bee’s stomach, or of paralysing” activities of the “‘planont” before they are to effect their lodging there. At the presen scientific research in bee-keeping is alm a standstill, and a new departure is needed. it too much to hope that some of those have devoted themselves to the study of epid diseases in man should apply their experie the service of a humble but useful form ¢ bandry ? NOTES. WE learn from Science that Dr. R. A. Millike acting as the representative of the U.S. Nationa search Council in general charge of scien ic tions referred to the council, that Dr. C. E. | hall is in charge of the development of the instruments used in connection with -aeroplan that Dr. A. Trowbridge has organised an im -branch of scientific service for the U.S. A . | Avcust 23, 1917} 3 NATURE 599 rance. The Carnegie Corporation of New York has oted an appropriation of 10,000l., or so much of hat sum as may be necessary, to the Carnegie In- titution of Washington to meet incurred y the National Research Council during the war. Tue following committee to deal with problems ither psychological, or having a psychological aspect, 1 connection with the war has been oe by e U.S. National Research Council: Messrs. J. cKeen Cattell, G. S. Hall, E. L. Thorndike, R. lodge, S. I. Franz, G. M. Whipple, C. E. Seashore, kB. Watson, and R. M. Yerkes. AccorDiInc te Engineering a Chemical Industries Sureau is in course of formation in Sweden, the object ‘which will be to bring together the Swedish chemical dustrial interests, to keep in touch with changes ad developments within its domain, and to further speci irements of the chemical industry in its Tue fifth annual meeting of the Indian Science Con- yess will be held in Lahore on January g to 12 next, nder the presidency of Dr. G. T. Walker, F.R.S., tor-General of Observatories. The sectional sidents will be :—Dr. L. Coleman (Agriculture), Dr. fali Mahomed (Physics and Mathematics), Dr. G. J. owler (Chemistry), Dr. Choudhuri (Zoology and thnology), Mr. R. S. Hole (Botany), Mr. E. S. Pin- Ic (Geology). Dr J. L. Simonsen, of the Presidency silege, Madras is the honorary secretary for the & Joun Stirtinc-Maxwett has undertaken the ties of Assistant Controller of Timber Supplies for Wer to have to record the death, on August , of Prof. S. B. Kelleher, Erasmus Smith professor | mathematics in the University of Dublin. Tue death is announced, on: July 27, of Dr. W. B. arke, professor of geology in the Johns Hopkins hiversity, director of the Maryland State Weather rvice, and State geologist for Maryland. Tue Charles P. Daly medal for geographical re- arch has been awarded by the American Geographical ciety to Mr. G. G. Chisholm, lecturer in geography the University of Edinburgh. The inscription on ; medal reads:—‘‘To George Goudie Chisholm, Slar, teacher, author. Through sustained research d broad generalisation he has created a world-wide erest in the geographical basis of commerce.”’ HE David Livingstone centenary medal of the erican Geographical Society has been awarded to x M. V. Ballivian, president of the Geographical y of La Paz, Bolivia. The previous recipients of are Sir Douglas Mawson and Col. Roosevelt. , CATALOGUE of current journals dealing with mistry and chemical industry, and the libraries in ich they can be consulted in the United Kingdom, yeing prepared by the Society of Chemical Industry. journal list comprises about 5000 titles, and con- As journals from well-nigh every country, almost all which periodicals were, it is believed, current at the inning of the war. Chemistry and chemical industry : treated in a very broad spirit, the list including nals dealing with all industries in which chemistry ters. Some 8oo libraries will be listed, so that from : completed catalogue it is hoped that any chemist be able to find the most convenient library in ich he can consult any particular journal. The nF : i ig the catalogue during the ensuing winter _ NO. 2495, VOL. 99] -meda Tue Petroleum (Production) Bill introduced by Mr. Long in the House of Commons on August 15 may have proved a surprise to many, who probably had not realised that the discovery of petroleum in this country is possible ; indeed, various favourable indications have long been evident. In no industry has there been such prodigious waste; there has been the rush of pioneers boring throughout a district where oil has been proved; there has been the frequent gush of oil which could not be dealt with, leading to losses of millions of gallons. With the possibility of the industry being established in this country we should profit by past experience gained in the rich oil-producing countries, and this Bill is to be heartily welcomed as an impor- tant step, providing as it does for investing in the Government all rights to get petroleum, and arrang- ing for leases and defining petroliferous areas, payment ot fixed royalties, and the general control through the Board of Trade. The Government thought it right, in view of possible adventurous schemes, to put the matter forward at once in order that unfortunate enterprises might be checked. Whilst private enter- prise might undertake the exploratory borings, this is surely such a speculative business, and yet of such vast importance. if expectations are realised, that it would af-pear desirable that the preliminary work at least should be liberally assisted, or entirely borne, by the National Exchequer. DuRING excavations at Horncastle a short time ago a human skeleton was discovered. The bones were in a very good state of preservation, and indicated that the body had been buried on its back, at full length. By its side were a long sword, a large spear, and a smaller one, all of iron. These have just been pur- chased for the Municipal Museum at Hull. The re- mains are of Anglo-Saxon date, and were probably. brought to this country by the Angles, and as these people came largely from Angle-land, in the district now known as Sleswick, the relics may be said to relate to an early Teutonic invasion of Lincolnshire. The sword is remarkable for its length, is double-edged, and, though naturally slightly corroded, is in a very fair state of preservation. Its total length is 33 in., it is 12 in. in width, and it tapers at the top in order to ac- commodate the handle. Quite apart from the archzo- logical value of this collection, the sword is of par- ticular value, as these weapons are very rarely found in Anglo-Saxon burials, though spears and other weapons are not uncommon. In his work on ‘The Industrial Arts of the Anglo-Saxons” Baron De Baye points out that the scarcity of swords is due to the fact that only individuals belonging to the upper classes were buried with this weapon, and that no doubt the swords were preserved as family treasures and left to heirs or friends. In the Museum Journal of the University of Penn- sylvania (vol. vii., No. 4, December, 1916) is a reprint of an ancient Babylonian map showing part of the agricultural area of the city of Nippur, prepared about 1500 B.c. It throws a welcome light on an obscure provision in the celebrated law code of King Ham- murabi. The map describes the custom of blowing a horn at the village gates to notify to the shepherds of the plains that the grazing season was over. Thus rural villages in which the people congregated for mutual defence appear to have been so arranged that the village buglers were able to make the shepherds and farmers hear the sound of the horn throughout the whole land of Babylonia. In the Scientific Monthly for July (vol. v., No. 1) Prof. Leo Rettger discusses some of the newer concep- tions of milk in its relation to health. He emphasises | the nutritional value of milk as milk, irrespective of 510 NATURE A [AucusT 23, 1917¥ J whether it is whole, skim, sweet, or sour milk. Many persons have little or no tolerance for sweet milk, while sour milk, or buttermilk, is well borne. On account of. the highly important known food substances which are present, namely, fat, sugar, casein, lactalbumin, and certain inorganic salts, and of the as yet poorly understood vitamines, or accessories, milk has a most stimulating influence on bodily growth and strength, and is therefore an important factor in regulating and preserving health. THERE is considerable need for an ‘ink’ for the skin for localisation marks. It should stain the skin such a colour that it will show up against iodine, be unaffected when rubbed with alcohol, ether, acetone, etc., last for some days under a dress- ing, and not damage or inflame the skin. Capt. Finzi gives the following formula, which fulfils all these requirements :—Acid. pyrogallic., 1 gram; acetone, Io c.c.; liquor ferri perchlor. fort., 2 c.c.; sp. vini meth., ad "20 c.c. The mixture keeps well, "and can be applied with a brush. The mark is brownish- grey at first, but after a few hours becomes a brilliant black (Archives of Radiology and Electrotherapy, No. 204, July, p. 38). ‘ WE have received a copy of the report on explora- tions and field work of the Smithsonian Institution for 1916 (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. Ixvi., No. 17). The volume contains short reports from about thirty investigators in yevlogy, zoology, botany, archeology, ethnology, and astrophysics in various parts of the world, from the United States, Cuba, and Venezuela to South Africa and Borneo. The result of these investigations is to enrich the National Museum with material for exhibition and research. The outbreak of war practically cut off all the supply of animals for the National Zoological Park, as the trade was formerly almost wholly in German hands. ° The New York, Philadelphia, and National Zoological Parks sent a representative to South Africa, aided by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution, and he was .successful in securing a certain number of ruminants, birds, and reptiles, chiefly from the Zoological Gardens at Pretoria. It should be noted that some of the excellent photographs in this volume are of permanent scientific value, although it claims to be only a sum- mary of work done. A VERY concise and admirable summary of the ‘*Moults and Sequences of Plumages of the British Waders,”’ by Miss Annie Jackson, appears in British Birds for August. This is apparently meant to serve as an introduction to a detailed description of the plumages of the several species on the . British list, which will prove a very useful piece of work, since it will not only summarise what has already been written on this theme, but also include much original work by Miss Jackson. Only during recent years has this subject been seriously investigated, the earlier collectors caring for little but adult males in their nuptial dress. Hence it is that none of the great col- lections of skins examined in the course of the pre- paration of this pxper contain skins of the oyster- catcher, stone-curlew, greenshank, or red-necked phalarope, showing the transition from the first winter to the first summer plumage. But these are only a few of many gaps in our knowledge of this matter which have yet to be filled. In a lecture published in the May issue of the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society ‘Lord ‘Dunraven advocates the nationalisation of the marine and fresh- water fisheries. He suggests that the State should NO. 2495, VOL. 99| take over these industries in the same way as it now controls or works others of national importance. Government acquisition, control, and devel on would, he expects, result in the cheapening of aha food, ‘and also in a very great increase of revenue, since the State would acquire the original and inter mediate profits. The lines of development are sug gested. Methods of preservation of fish by cold stor age, salt curing, canning, and analogous processe should be applied on a large scale, and means of dis- tribution of fresh fish should be greatly extended. Methods of ‘“‘scientific fertilisation of fish-cul should be practised on a very much broader basis tha has hitherto been attempted. . In this way the au ot hopes to see the fresh-water fisheries developed a salmon cheapened again to its original price of 4d per Ib. He advocates the removal of tesha Chote methods of fishing and the re-opening of many d formerly closed to trawling, and generally urges th adoption of many of the recommendations of the Ir shore Fisheries Committee of 1913. ~ a M. Jous. Scumipt contributes an interestin pe ‘cl on the occurrence of the wild hop in Denmark th Comptes Rendus des travaux du Laboratoire de Cai berg (1917, vol. ii., part 6). By the distribution” inquiry forms throughout the country a corsiderab mass of information was collected, especially fro forest officials. This shows that the wild hop is col monest in Funen and most rare in West Nba is not found on several small islands.. The wild t propagates by seeding as well as by the vegetatiy process. The seedlings grow slowly, do not flower | t first year, and probably. but rarely in the or The flowering time at one locality in North n was found to occur (1911-15) at the end of July or 1 beginning of August, the male plants commencing | flower somewhat earlier than the female. The hop h not hitherto been found in prehistoric deposits in mark, and it is therefore uncertain whether it e there prior to human habitation. Generally the hop is of small value for brewing purposes, as i tains but little bitter resins. Some plants, hoy V were obtained which contained as much as 1 of this constituent. The same author has found although the quality of ‘‘aroma” is absent from ° male plant, it can nevertheless be transmitted to t offspring through the male parent. When an Am ican male plant was crossed with a European plant the offspring plants gave hops which e3 typical ‘‘ American’’ aroma. WE have just received three recent ante of Be : Museums Aarbok, published in 1915 and 1916, of the most important articles is that by Prof. Nath on some plant remains found in the Hornelen dist at the mouth of Nordfjord. Since these cont Thursophyton Miller: they appear to be cont poraneous with the Middle Old Red Sandston generic name Thursophyton is new. There new genera: Bréggeria, of very doubtful affini Hyenia, a probable precursor of Sphenophyllum as an introduction to this paper and as a article Dr. C. F. Kolderup describes the geology west coast district in which the plant-bearir stones occur. He also reports on earthquakes Norway in 1913 and 1914. Zoological articles cor ip a preliminary note on the pelagic Nemertines of German South Polar Expedition, 1901-3, August Brinkmann, and a report on the Alcy and Madreporarian corals collected by the F the Michael Sars, and now in Bergen Muse the late~Prof. Jungersen. Mr. N. J. Foyn con , a second report on the climate of Bergen. Vo | analyses made in the neighbouring seas are co Avcust 2 3, 1917] NATURE Sil cated by Th. Hesselberg and H. U. Sverdrup, and T. Gaarder writes on oxygen in the fjords of Vestland. Ir is not generally recognised that the common British ragwort (Senecio Jacobaea, L.) is poisonous to cattle. Such would appear to be probable, however, from cases which have recently been investigated in the veterinary laboratory of the Board of Agriculture, and form the subject of a note in the Journal of the Board for July. Under natural conditions the - poisoning is a slow process, but with continuous doses the amount of poison which becomes available is suffi- cient in time to cause very serious symptoms, which often end in death. In ome case quoted visible symptoms of poisoning were not observed until forty- four days after feeding on ragwort commenced. No cure has yet been devised, and prevention resolves itself into removing the ragwort from the forage or eradicating it from the pastures. The winter and early spring grazing of infested land with sheep has been recommended for this purpose, and has been practised apparently without harmful results. It would Be canate. however, to conclude from this that sheep are immune to poisoning by ragwort, since there is reason to think that the flowering season—June to _ August—is the time of greatest danger. This aspect _of the matter is receiving further attention. __ Tue Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England for 1916 (vol. Ixxvii.) presents the usual features of special articles, notes, and official reports, although for obvious reasons the number of special articles is somewhat curtailed in comparison with past volumes. Dr. Russell and Mr. E. H. Richards con- tribute an article on making and storing farmyard -manure, which outlines various results of interest both for practice and for science obtained in recent investi- ‘gations at Rothamsted. Attention is again directed to kernel cake and meal by Prof. C. Crowther, in a summary of existing information as to the nature, use, and merits of these materials as food for stock. An interesting article on the origin-and character- istics of Welsh black cattle is contributed by Prof. . Bryner Jones. The annual reports of the scientific advisory officers of the society contain, as usual, many ‘matters of interest, of which we may note Sir John -McFadyean’s account of results obtained at the Royal Veterinary College in the investigation of Johne’s disease, and Mr. Cecil Warburton’s summary of the ‘present state of knowledge concerning the ox warble- fly. _ Various matters of immediate interest to agricul- turists are dealt with in Occasional Notes, No. 2 (July, 1917), issued by the Royal ‘Agricultural Society. The ge scope and arrangement of the opening number of this new series are retained, the various advisory officers of the society contributing the different sections into which the notes are classified. The notes are essentially practical, dealing, amongst other matters, With the growing of wheat, the raising of farm seeds, plant pests, motor tractors, and calf-rearing. _ In the Rendiconti del R. Istituto Lombardo, vol. |. (2) 6, Prof. Torquato Taramelli discusses the origin of the poppet of sand found in the island of Sansego and other islands off the Istrian coast, and finds geo- logical oo lg mage in favour of Italy’s claims to terri- tory which is the scene of the present military opera- tions. Among the numerous papers previously dealing "with the geological features of the islands of the » Quarnero basin many references occur to deposits of | sand and red earth, but Prof. Taramelli occupies him- Self mainly with the mass of sand overlying a cal- €areous base, which forms the island of Sansego. NO. 2495, VOL. 99] - This island has a surface area of about three square kilometres and a circumference of about seven kilo- metres, and is the outermost island of the Quarnero archipelago. In its composition this sand is largely identical with that deposited by the river Po off the Italian coast, while nothing similar is to be found in the neighbouring Austrian mainland. It is thus in- ferred that in the ae aaget period the northern por- tions of the Adriatic were occupied by a vast river basin of Italian origin, and that the natural frontier of Italy, based on geological considerations, extends up to the confines of this basin. Dr. L. F. Navarro contributes to the Revue générale des Sciences, 1917, p. 263, a most useful and interesting summary of what is known as to glacial phenomena in the Iberian peninsula. He points out that well-founded evidence of glaciation in ‘this area, outside the Pyrenees and certain high chains, was brought forward for the first time by W. Halbfass so recently as 1912. The references to literature, including the author’s own work, show how rapidly observation is progressing. No general mantle of ice has been traced, even in the Cordilleras; but a sheet of some magnitude, here called “‘un grand inlandsis,”” occurred in Leon. Two glacial episodes are recognised, corresponding to the Riss and Wiirm ages elsewhere in Europe. The author regards these as times when the present conditions in tse peninsula were exaggerated in the direction of greater humidity and greater cold. Glacialists, however, are coming to the conclusion that no great demands need be made upon humidity, provided that there is a sufficiently low temperature. THE revolution—a milder word would be inadequate —in the position of the British optical industry is one of the commonplace changes brought about by the war, and it is not surprising to find that the new conditions are reflected in the growth of the Optical Society, which is now thoroughly representative of the industry and is rapidly becoming as fully repre- sentative of those whose interest in optics has been of a more theoretical character. Advantage has very appropriately been taken of the improved outlook to issue the society’s Transactions at more frequent in- tervals and in a new form. The first number of the new series, of the same size as the Proceedings of the Royal Society, is chiefly occupied with a paper by Mr. J. W. French dealing with the grinding and polishing of glass. It is suggested that the processes involved are essentially different from those which apply in the polishing of metals. Evidence is brought forward to show'that,in the process of grinding, glass is removed in consequence of the formation of con- choidal fractures originating at the points of contact of the glass and the abrasive, rather than by a plough- ing action. Incidentally, an interesting method of grading partially worked surfaces is described. The first part of the polishing process consists in ploughing up the soft surface layer of the glass, which has a thickness of about eight wave-lengths, by coagulated lumps of the wetted polishing medium until all the material above the bottom of the deepest grooves has been removed. In the second part of the process, which begins when the water is allowed to dry up, the surface layer of the glass is liquefied by the pressure of the pitch tool and caused to flow until the surface becomes uniform. The paper is illustrated by a large number of excellent photomicrographs, and followed by a discussion in which alternative theories are sug- gested, and the views of some experienced glass- workers are given. The number is attractively printed, and gives an excellent start to a journal which should play a large part in establishing the optical industry 512 NATURE [AucusT 23, 1917 of this country on a secure foundation, a task in which the Optical Society, where manufacturers and scientific workers are brought into intimate contact with one another, is eminently fitted to lead. THE most recent contribution of the Bureau of Standards to the problem of the photometry of sources of light of different colours is Scientific Paper No. 299, by Messrs. Crittenden and Richtmyer, who have arrived at a number of general conclusions by collating the measurements made by more than a hundred observers. ° When two light sources of dif- ferent colours, such as a carbon and a _ tungsten filament lamp, are compared by a photometer de- pending on a setting for equality of brightness, a considerable amount of practice is necessary before consistent results are obtained by any observer not | specially trained. When a flicker photometer is used an observer of fair ability can readily get good results, but they differ from those given by the former method. The flicker photometer may give, e.g., the candle-power of a tungsten lamp 3 per cent. less as compared with a carbon lamp than does an ordinary photometer. If the colour sensation of the observer differs from the normal, his comparison differs in consequence, but the authors find that the Ives-Kingsbury method of standardising the eye by the use of glass cells containing aqueous solutions of potassium bichromate 72 grams, and copper sulphate crystals 53 grams, to the litre respectively, interposed between the photometer and two equal sources of light, enables such an observer to get results identical with those obtained with a normal eye. ; THE extent to which viscometers of various forms are now used for the classification and identification of oils and other liquids has led the Bureau of Standards to take up the question of a supply of standard liquids of known viscosities for the standard- isation of viscometers. The investigation of the most suitable liquids has been carried out by Messrs. E. C. Bingham and R. F. Jackson, of the Bureau, who con- clude that mixtures of 20, 40, and 60 per cent. by weight of ethyl alcohol in water, and solutions of sucrose in water containing 20, 40, or 60 per cent. by weight of sucrose, form the most suitable standard liquids. They give the viscosities and fluidities of these liquids. at temperatures from 0° C. to 100° C. at intervals ot ro° C. in a series of tables, and the variations of the fluidities with change of concentration and tempera- ture are shown by a series of curves. The simple shapes of these curves suggest that it would be better to use the fluidity rather than its reciprocal the vis- cosity, in all calculations on the subfect. Tue Tasmanian Government’s. Great Lake hydro- electric power undertaking, inaugurated in 1909 and opened last year, is described in the issue of the Engineer for July 27. It is based chiefly on a joint utilisation of twc rivers—the Ouse and the Shannon— the latter having its source in the Great Lake and the former in what are known as the Ninety-nine Lagoons. The Great Lake lies at a level of 3250 ft. above the sea, and the lagoons are seme 200 ft. higher. A curious feature of the two rivers is the great dis- similarity of their gradients, in spite of the fact that their sources are but a few miles apart, and their junction merely twenty miles or so downstream. At one point, about five miles south of the Great Lake, the Ouse is actually 1300 ft. below the Shannon. A dam has been built across the south end of the lake, giving an additional depth of 11-ft., and increasing the storage area from forty-two to fifty square miles. The catchment basin lies in the centre of the island, and is some 227 square miles in extent, and the annual pre- NO. 2495, VOL. 99| W.1, have issued a useful catalogue (No. 349) of and valuable bocks, comprising, a others, wor! dealing with Africa, America, Australia, ornithology, and physical and natural seience. been considered convenient that observations n ‘nomical records. _W Delphini, U Sagitte, S Cancri, RW Tauri, | Cygni, and W Urse Majoris. cipitation of rain and snow is upwards of 60 in. By — means of a diversion weir the water from the Shannon is turned into a canal, which serves a storage reservoir of 380 acres The power station is on the banks of © the Ouse, and this river receives the exhaust water. — The difference in level from reservoir to power station — — a net head of rors ft. of water, to elop a normal output of 4900 brake-h each of two turbines already installed. The i - tion has, in fact, proved so successful that an extension — is now in hand. Although at present only serving the — town of Hobart, the central position of the station — power to” in renders it convenient for the transmission of any point in the island. Messrs. BERNARD Quaritcu, Ltp., 11 Grafton Stree entomology, firm has purchased the existing stock of “ Biolog Centrali-Americana,” and has in preparation a detail prospectus of the work. : ee oy OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ASTRONOMICAL Day In a letter to the Observatory for August the As- tronomer Royal and Prof. H. H. Turner invite ex pressions of opinion from astronomers as to the desirability of adopting the civil day—i.e. the day commencing at midnight—in astronomical ephe ides; and, if thought desirable, as to the most able date for introducing the change. It has ust during the same night should all be of the same date. but this does not seem to them to balance the jection of having a time at variance with the reckoning. It is pointed out that the arrang which is convenient for observations of stars” convenient for observations of the sun, and change would probably be welcomed by navi The only serious difficulty seems to be the tinuity which would thus be introduced iato < A change of this kind could come into operation after some time, as the mn: ephemerides are prepared several years in adva OBSERVATIONS OF Mira Cetr.—In Ast. Nach. Prof. Nijland gives particulars of seventy-nine « vations of Mira made at Utrecht between July 1916, and February 15, 1917. The most p date of minimum was July 24, when the star magnitude 9-4. The maximum occurred on Nover ber 8 (J. D. 2421176), the magnitude then being 37 The following is a summary of recent maxima ¢ served by Prof. Nijland, together with a cor with Guthnick’s ephemeris :— Maximum Guthnick Obs.-G. Mag. J. D. 2420199 0209 — 10d 3:35 0527 0539 —12 3 0852 0875 — 18 3:5 1176 1201 —25 3°75 EciresinG Varras_es.—A further important bution to the study of eclipsing variables has } made by Prof. H. N. Russell in collaboration w Mary Fowler and Martha C. Borton (Astrop. Journal, vol. xlv., p. 306).. The observational were provided by the Harvard Observato the form of 2101 observations of the phot graphic brightness of the six eclipsing va The resulting Avcust 23, 1917] - NATURE S#3 — curves for these stars were compared with those de- rived from visual observations, and it was found that identical geometrical elements gave a satisfactory re- tion of both the visual and photographic curves. Light-curves with the same epoch of mid- eclipse, however, do not satisfy both sets of observa- tions, the difference amounting to as much as twelve minutes in the case of S. Cancri. The differences in velocity of the visual and photographic rays which would be required to explain the discrepancies in the case of the six stars in question from —o-g to +5-1 metres per sec., and are so iscordant as to furnish no evidence in favour of an explanation based upon differences in velocity of light of different colours. On the contrary, the observations e the identity of the velocity of light of the different wave-lengths within a few metres per second. The discussion strengthens the view that the typical eclipsing binary f large consists of a small, bright, dense com- onent of ss A, or thereabouts, and a large, faint component of much lower density, of Class G, or € . It is considered highly probable that the com- oot of low density represents the earlier stage of volution. In addition to the already astonishing amount of information which has been derived from the study of eclipsing variables, it is expected that re ! it will be possible to determine the rela- yn of-colour-index to surface brightness, and thence linear diameters of all stars of known colour- dex and parallax, and the angular diameters of all of known spectral type. DRUM-FIRE. HE following is an abbreviation of a letter by * Mr. G. F. Sleggs which in the Times Tuesday last. The conclusions arrived_at are the ssult of eighteen months’ experience at the Front :— There is a fundamental and peculiar difference be- tween the sound emitted by a gun and that of an sxploding shell. When the gun is fired the sound- yave produced is of a totally different nature from that broduced by the burst of a shell. In the former case the im; of the gases leaving the muzzle, as it ere, ‘“‘strikes’’ the atmosphere in the direction in which the gun is pointed, but the burst from the shell fauses a sound-wave of uniform intensity all around, s the gue emanating from the high explosive are ot confined in any direction, as is the case with the sordite of the gun, the aig; Sa es béing at the Every soldier who has been to the Front nows that if you stand in front of a field gun or 1a a. oe whilst firing even at a considerable distance se hundred yards), the crack is painfully intense ) the ears, and may even cause injury, whereas it a to stand close behind the gun with compara- ive impunity. In other words, the sound-wave from a jun is more concentrated along its line of fire than isewhere. No such difference is observable with a ll, its concussion being equally violent to the ear whether it explodes in front of or behind one. The laws of sound say that the intensity of the und emitted from a body grows less in proportion the square of the distance of the ear from the Surce of the sound; in other words, at double the stance the sound is a quarter as great. This, of se, is identical with the laws of light, and applies y to the shell, but not to the gun, in the same fay as the ordinary law of the intensity of light fill apply to a candle, but not to a searchlight, which oncentrates its light along one path instead of dis- ibuting it equally all around. Hence we are driven te the conclusion that the wave of sound emitted by # gun is closely analogous to the wave of light emitted NO. 2495, VOL. 99] by a searchlight. The intensity of the ray from a searchlight only diminishes gradually, and this analogy is borne out by the peculiar fact, familiar to those who have beén in the trenches, that the German machine-guns, or rifle shots, always seem as loud whether the width of “No Man’s Land” is seventy yards or 500 yards. One of the most wonderful and, indeed, majestic of all sound phenomena in connection with artillery is the great “roll” that follows the discharge of a high-velocity gun. To hear this at its best one must visit a part of the front where the contour is rugged, or where the landscape is well wooded, and where houses and other excrescences are abundant, as at Arras. The repert of the cannon is followed at once and continuously by a majestic echoing roll that may be compared to a mixture of thunder and the music of a mighty bass orchestra. This rolling sound seems to travel forward as though it were following the flight of the shell, and is, in- deed, mistaken by some for the actual sound of the shell. The real explanation, however, is that it is a series of echoes from the thousands of heterogeneous ex- crescences in the surface of the landscape, each of which sends back its echo to the ear, the whole com- bining to form a continuous trail of sound. Now the fact that this continuous sound travels in the direc- tion of the shell, and hence in the line of fire of the gun, also fits in with the searchlight analogy; as otherwise if the sound of the firing gun were not concentrated along its line of fire this chain of echoes would not appear to flow in any definite direction, and thus one of the most grandiose aural phenomena that the ear can receive would not exist. The above considerations give rise to a remarkable and surprising fact, which, indeed, arises in theory and is borne out in practice. This is, that at a certain distance and upwards from the firing-line the sound of the German guns will be greater than the sound of our own, because -we are in front of the German guns but behind the British, and although the latter are nearér to us, yet the sound of the former will appear louder and sharper because of the peculiar nature of the sound-wave emitted from the muzzle of a gun, the noise being nearly all concentrated in the direction of fire. Thus, when approaching the firing-line before a big attack, the sound of the Ger- man guns often appears to preponderate over our own, giving one the apprehensive impression that the enemy’s artillery is in superior strength to our own, and it is only in coming into the artillery zone that ~ the British superiority is perceived. Another point illustrating this is the origin of the word “drum- fire.’ This term (trommel-feuer) was first used by the Germans to describe the effect of our massed artillery on an unprecedented scale on the Somme. Now to the British, who were, of course, behind the direction in which their artillery was firing, this term would never have occurred, for to be behind a British bombardment there is but little resemblance to a drummer’s tattoo, the whole sound being merged into a dull and heavy roar of guns; but to the German generals behind their lines every shot from the British guns would stand out as a sharp staccato note, the whole combining to give the impression of the rat-a- tattat of a mighty drum tattoo. From these conclusions it will. appear that the further one is behind the firing-line the greater is the tendency for the sound of the German guns to pre- ponderate over our own, although the latter may be in much greater strength, and the probability is that the greater part of the noise of firing audible on our coasts comes from the German artillery and not the British, although the sound of shell bursts may tend to modify maiters. 514 NATURE [AUGUST 23, 1917 : THE TREATMENT OF WAR WOUNDS. WE are wont to classify the patients in our military hospitals into sick and wounded. In reality all, or nearly all, are suffering from bacterial infections. And the essential difference between the sick and the wounded lies in this, that the sick are suffering from infections spontaneously contracted, the wounded from infections induced by mechanical injuries. My theme is the treatment of this latter class of infections. They are distinguished by certain quite special features. In spontaneous infection we have to deal with microbes which have fought their way into the body, and generally only a single species of microbe will have done this. In wounds we have microbes mechan- ically driven in, and every sort of microbe which exists in external Nature may thus be introduced. But let me, before embarking upon the question of their treatment, first tell you something about the | *¥ic. 1.—Method of pyo-sero-culture. A, Pipette which has been implanted by the wet-wall metnod, and has then been filled in by the wash and after-wash procedure with unit-volumes of serum. By the side of the pipette to the right is ranged a series of drops representing the series of unit-volumes of serum blown out in order from the pipette, and, finally, to the right of the drops is a series of lines representing linear implantations made uponagar. B, Results of the series of linear implantations made with the unit-volumes of the patient’s serum. C, Results of the series of linear implantations made with the unit volumes of the normal serum which was used as a control. “natural agencies by which the inroads of microbes are combated. You are, of course, aware that we are .guarded against microbic infection by our blood fluids and our white blood corpuscles. ‘THE Bopy Fturps. Let me begin with the blood fluids, and let me take you directly to the following experiment. I call it the -experiment of pyo-sero-culture—i.e. the experiment in which we implant pus into serum to see which of the microbes of the wound can grow in the blood fluids. We. procure for our experiment a _suppurating wound. We take from it a specimen of pus contain- ing a large variety of different organisms. At the ‘-same time we take from the patient’s finger a sample 1.By Sir Almroth E. Wright, C.B., F.R.S. In its original form this lecture was delivered at the Royal Institution on March g. It was supple- mented by additional matter relating to antiseptics and the method of Carrel, - and was printed in full in the Lance of June 23. Parts of the lecture of purely technical interest have been omitted. NO. 2495, VOL. 99| obtained with normal serum. q of blood; and we take a specimen also of our own When the serum has issued from the clot we take capillary pipette, fit a rubber teat to the barrel, inscribe a mark upon the stem at about, say, one-thi of an inch from the tip. We now aspirate a little p into the stem, drawing it up only so far as our fiduciz mark, and, blowing it out again, leave a wash of pu upon the walls. This done, we sterilise the tip of the pipette, and then aspirate into the stem a series of unit. volumes of serum, dividing each volume off from the next by a bubble of air. The pipette when filled i this manner presents the appearance shown in Fig. } and we have in the proximal end our first and heaviest implantation of pus, and in the distal end our last and lightest implantation. The pipette is now placed in incubator to allow every microbe which is capable of growing in serum to do so. After an interval of six or more hours we proceed to our examination. What we do is to blow out our series of unit-volumes of serum in separate drops and examine under the microscope; or, better, we plant out a sample of each drop upon a separate seed-bed. Here in B and © you have the results of such cul- ture represented diagrammatically— the meagre crop in B being that ob-— tained with the patient’s serum, and the more copious crop. in C being that ‘ And you have in the next figure (Fig. 2) a drawing of an agar tube implanted from a _ pyo-sero-culture made with the serum of a wounded man. In the upper part of the agar tube you see two seed-plots implanted - from the distal portion of the capil- lary stem. These have remained sterile. In the middle of the tube you see four plots implanted from the unit-volumes of serum which occu- pied the middle region of the capil- lary stem. These have grown colonies of only one species of microbe—the streptococcus. At the bottom of the tube you see seed-plots implanted from the proximal end of the capil- lary stem. These are overgrown with colonies of staphylococcus. But no doubt interspersed with, and over- grown by, these are also colonies of streptococci. If, instead of cultures = from the patient’s serum, I had been Fic. 2,—A por showing you here cultures from normal serum, what you would have seen would have been a much larger number of fertile seed-plots, and the seed-plots implanted from the proximal end of the pipette would have shown a assortment of different colonies. We learn from such experiments three lessons : that in the uncorrupted serum in the distal region + the pipette only two species of microbes from tI wound can grow and multiply; secondly, that in ft corrupted serum in the proximal end of the pipette | the microbes of the wound can grow; sk thire we learn from a comparison of the wounded serum with the normal serum that the former o more resistance to microbic srowth, and is less eas corrupted by the addition of pus. : Cause of the Corruption of the Serum. Experiments of this kind clearly do not tell us th cause of the corruption of the serum. That corruptio Avucust 23, 1917] NATURE S15 , - be due to some chemical substance contributed the pus to the serum or to something special the character of the bacteria implanted. This int we can clear up as follows. We go ck to our very septic wound. We clean it lly by syringing. That leaves us with wound cavity clean but still abundantly in- ote We then take the little cupping apparatus shown in Fig. 3. We apply it to the walls wound, using light pressure. Then, puncturing ached rubber tube with the needle of a hypo- syringe, we withdraw the contained air, and ur | until the time for redressing the wound comes When we now go back to our wound we find two quite different. discharges. We have in the al cavity of the wound a thick pus containing - broken-down leucocytes and pullulating with all of bes. In the body of the lymph leech we ' Since we had on every part of the walls the same amount and kind of bacteria! infec- since we are in each case dealing-with the lymph and leucocytes, this difference of re- mputable, not to our having in the lymph different bacterial implantation, but to the fluid - : Me PTT 7 aa ERT LY h leech in position, showing technique for exhausting the air. 1 this the problem is, as-you see, only in- resolved. We have learned that the cor- the lymph is not determined by the nature ial implantation; we have reason to think ed by a larger affiux of lymph; and it looks ats ge have something to do with the break- wn of the leucocytes. But we have not yet put upon the particular element that takes away the serum its power of inhibiting microbic and converts’ it into a congenial pabulum for ner of micro-organisms. et me in this connection invite you to consider—for may phe put us on the path for the solution proble ilum for microbes, and to distinguish three classes minous substances. First would come digested Y - It is familiar matter that these furnish congenial pabulum for microbes. In the form of me we use them for all our artificial cultures. ad category of albumens would be native albu- s. Muscle, milk, and eggs furnish such albumens. Before they can be assimilated, whether by our- elements by digestion. To that end we, and a ive ferments. NO. 2495, VOL. 99 | nearly clear lymph containing well-preserved | s and only a very few staphylococci and | pressure having furnished a larger proportion | uids. ; are not like digested albumens, directly assimil- | “number of microbes also, are furnished with | and dissolve the ingested microbes. There is yet a third class of albu- - » mens. I would venture to call these defended or pro- tected albumens. These cannot, like the digested albumens, be directly assimilated. Nor can they, like the native albumens, be directly digested. They are specially defended against the attack of digestive fer- ments. The albumens of the serum fall into this class. of *‘defended albumens.”” It is well known with re- spect to serum that it has an antizymotic, and in par- ticular an antitryptic, power—a power of neutralising digestive ferments, and in particular trypsin. You will, perhaps, not immediately perceive that the fact | that the serum is antitryptic in any way elucidates our h leech in situ adhering by negative © : | another way and then consider. m—a scheme of classification of the albu- | ous substances. I would propose to classify them | when endangered takes steps to protect itself non- _the point of view of their capacity to furnish | 4 | or by microbes, they must be broken down into | | experiment. problem. But let us take that fact and put it in Let us, instead of saying that the serum has an antitryptic property, say that it has a power of preventing its constituent albu- mens being converted into pabulum for microbes, and immediately, as I think, light is projected upon our problem. For once we envisage the facts in that way we are immediately impelled to inquire whether the serum’s power of inhibiting bacterial growth may not be due to its power of neutralising digestive ferments, , and whether the corruption of the lymph in the cavity | of the wound may not be due to a collapse of its defence against proteolytic attack. That is a point which is very easily settled by direct And let me now show you what happens when we add trypsin to a serum which has been im- planted with microbes. I have here two tubes of a serum implanted two days ago with a minute quantity of pus containing a variety of different microbes. To the one I added trypsin, the quantity added being less: than that required to neutralise its antitryptic power. The other tube of the implanted serum served as a control. Both tubes were then placed in the incubator. And you see the difference. The trypsinised serum is turbid with microbie growth. That is, we have here exactly the same result as that obtained in our pyo- sero-culture in those volumes of serum which were cor- rupted by a heavy implantation of pus; and the same result also as was in the lymph leech experiment ob- tained in the discharges in the wound cavity. Our control serum has, as you see, remained almost per- fectly clear. That is exactly the same result as was obtained in our pyo-sero-culture in the distal end of our tube, and again in our lymph leech experiment in the cavity of the lymph leech. And the doctrine that the antitryptic power is the protector, and trypsin the corrupter, of the blood fluids wins further support from the following facts :—(1) In every suppurating wound there is, as we shall presently see, a source from which trypsin can be derived. (2) Blood fluids which inhibit microbic growth are strongly antitryptic; and blood fluids which we find teeming with microbes are tryptic. (3) Examination of the blood shows that all wounded men have a markedly increased antitryptic power, and heavily wounded men (vou saw in our pyo-sero-culture what results from this) on an average a three- or four-fold increased anti- tryptic power. That clearly teaches that the bodv specifically against all microbic infections of the blood fluids. Tue Leucocyrtes. I now pass on to consider the leucocytes and the part they play in the destruction of microbes. You already know with respect to leucocytes that they can emerge from the blood-vessels, burrowing their way out through small pores in the capillary walls; that they make their way to every focus of infection; that they ingest microbes when these have first been prepared by the :action of the blood fluids; and, finally, that they can, if things go favourably, digest 2 There would by consequence in connection with the leucocyte be NATURE [AucusT 23, 1917 { e three functions to study. First would come emigra- tion, then phagocytosis, and lastly intracellular diges- tion. Emigration has up to the present been studied only in the interior of the organism. You will realise that means that it has been studied only in a difficult setting and in the presence of all manner of disturbing factors, and you will appreciate that we want now a new and better technique. For we require for the treatment of the infected wound to find out how best to call out the leucocytes; and how, when occasion requires, to restrain their emigration. I have in connection with this a technique to de- scribe to you; but first I want you to appreciate what we can and what we cannot expect from leucocytes in the matter of locomotion. Leucocytes can, we know, make their way out through small openings. They can also travel over any ordinary surface. They can edge their way along faster when lightly compressed between two surfaces. They can crawl along strands, creep through a meshwork, and climb a scaffolding. But they are unable to climb a vertical glass wall. And again, they are unable to swim, and so once they get into open fluid they simply go to the bottom. We may liken them to very minute slugs crawling along sur- faces and climbing trellises, but brought up short by any considerable barrier of fluid. : f yi ‘ * 7 aie : B ! Fic. 4.—Drawing of four flattened capillary tubes. A, filled in with blood ; B, a similar tube after centrifugalisation showing above the “ white” and below the “red clot”; C and D, similar tubes after incubation. Leucocytic emigration is in each case visible to the naked eye as an ' opaque white band occupying the lower portion of the white clot. In D, where physiological salt solution been imposed upon the white clot, the band of emigration is much broader than in C. All these points must be considered when seeking for a technique for the experimental study of emigration, using for that study specimens of blood withdrawn from the body. The containing blood-vessel can up to a point be imitated by a glass tube, and we can, to facilitate observation, use tubes drawn out flat, such as.shown in Fig. 4. But the artificial differs from our natural capillary in having impermeable instead of per- meable walls. This, of course, makes emigration through the walls impossible. None ‘the less, these tubes supply what we want for the study of the move- ments of leucocytes. We can institute races along the length. But first certain preparations must be made. The course Company has undertaken t provide an addition to the University laboratorie in the department of human anatomy, which wi supply a dissecting-room for the use of women students A woman assistant demonstrator will be appointed t teach under the general direction of the professor ¢ human anatomy. It is hoped that the building wi = be available for use in October next. THe sum of toool. has been bequeathed to. th American Association for the Advancement of Scien by Mr. W. H. Stephens, of Lowville, New York. Co.umpia University has received the sum | tonio, Texas, which will make possible the op of the doors of the university this autumn to w students. AN educational campaign against tuber throughout the Army at home and abroad has _ bet undertaken by the National Council of the Y.M.C.. The campaign will be conducted by means of inforn tion imparted in the huts of the association. Dr. Sutherland will inaugurate the work by giving address on ‘‘Consumption: Its Causes and Cur at the Central Institute of the Y.M.C.A., Tottenh: Court Road, on Tuesday, September 4, at 7.30 | Tue Tootal Broadhurst Lee Company has dec to set aside r1o,oool. a year for five years for promotion of research and education. Accordi the Times the provisional committee on research — education for the cotton industry will, at the cl of the current holiday season, issue a prospec the new organisation. This definite industrial federation of the cotton trade will be followed establishment of institutes and laboratories. textile research associations in the woollen tra been formed. Tue President of the Board of Education pointed a. departmental committee to inquire int principles which should determine the fixi salaries for teachers in secondary and technical sche schools of art, training colleges, and other institut for higher education (other than university ins’ tions), due regard being had to such differential in respect of locality, duties, qualifications, other relevant considerations as is consistent necessary for the organisation of the teaching - throughout the country on a system conducive 1 efficiency of national education. The comm not asked to consider the question of the amou which existing salaries should be improved in ticular areas or schools, or the sources from ¥ the amounts required for that purpose sho provided. Bete ta WE have received from the British Esperant ciation, 17 Hart Street, W.C.1, an interesting pai by Mr. Bernard Long, entitled ‘‘ Esperanto and | We Need It.” Mr. Long considers that whatever tions may become necessary or desirable wi present enemies after the war, it would be b use a neutral language, whenever possible, thai accentuate existing differences by employing any of national tongues, with their attendant ‘‘ atmosphe q -Aveust 23, 1917] NATURE 519 and associations. He strongly recommends Esperanto as a neutral language for this purpose, remark- that it is already well known both in Germany ~' in Austria-Hungary. Moreover, classes for speranto have been formed in many internment camps among both civilian and military prisoners. The knowledge of this auxiliary language has enabled prisoners of different nationalities to converse together. t is, indeed, to be expected that prisoners in a foreign country should keenly realis2 the advantages of a anguage common to themselves and their gaolers. Tue fourth annual meeting of the conference cn jew Ideals in Education was held, August 14 to 21, t Bedford College, London, under the presidency of Earl of Lytton, and was, like its predecessors, argety attended by persons representative of a wide ange of educational! interests, lay and professional. fhe main subject of debate was the problems pre- ented by the system of universal continuation schools ow er the consideration of Parliament. The dis- ssion was opened by the President of the Board of education himself, who spoke of the continuation schools s a potential great ** University of England,” the best d most durable national memorial of the war, and nvited missionary effort to commend the principles his present Bill to popular opinion, and to secure ts smooth working if it should be passed. In the uubsequent sessions the oonference considered the pecial problems that confront the urban and rural ontinuation schools respectively. With Se a to the ormer, it was agreed that the main difficulty lies a the treatment of boys and girls condemned to mono- onous unskilled labour, and that, in dealing with this reat section of our juvenile population, educational annot be separated from social and industrial -eform. THE report of the committee appointed by the North- ast Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders pon the education of apprentices has now been issued, nd has been accepted generally by the other engineer- ig and shipbuilding associations in the north-east istrict. The scheme in brief provides for elementary ducation up to twelve and a half vears of age approxi- ately, followed by three years’ full timé at a junior nical school. The bulk of the boys (a) then pro- sed to ordinary apprenticeship with two or three half- ays per week at continuation classes up to eighteen s of age; the best (b) are to spend half-time per eek in the works and the other half in the technical bllege up to the same age. Group (a) then proceeds ordinary apprenticeship with optional evening asses. Group (b) is divided again at eighteen years of ¥e, the majority proceeding to ordinary apprenticeship ith optional evening classes, while those of special jality proceed to the full applied science degree course ading to the B.Sc. in engineering or naval architec- ire. The details of the scheme comprise majiy in- resting features. Junior day technica]-schools should be regarded as a distinct type of higher school, in no mse inferior to a secondary school; this point is to urged upon the Board of Education by a deputation esenting the Institution. An advisory committee S to be appointed to be associated with the manage- Ment of the schools in a consultative capacity. Youths Passing out of these schools are to have preferential aeatment in the matter of appointment to apprentice- ip. The latter point is of great importance, and if opted throughout the country will be instrumental the suppression of the premium system, and also of he method which some firms adopt of taking as prentices without premiu.n those lads only who are as of employees, irrespective of their previous train- ig. The scheme is excellent on the whole, and will vide facilities for any intelligent lad possessing grit OO ) rise to the top of the educational ladder and to _ NO. 2495, VOL. 99] qualify for the highest posts no matter how lowly he may start. There is just one point open to criticism. The best lads who are selected for university courses will be handicapped at matriculation if no foreign lan- guage is taught prior to the age of sixteen. It would be well to include, say, two hours per week in the junior technical school curriculum; this would have the effect of bringing the products of these schools into line with secondary-school boys starting apprenticeship at sixteen. The report is well worth studying by all interested in education. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Paris. Academy of Sciences, July 30.—M. Paul Appell in the chair.—The president announced the death of M. F.C. Grand’Eury, correspondant of the section of botany.— G. Bigourdan: The propagation of the sound-wave produced by gun-fire to great distances. Direct deter-- minations of the velocity of sound in the air could be made to-day over distances nearly ten times those utilised in the earlier experiments made between 1736- and 1822.—H. Le Chatelier: The tempering of steel. Summarising recent researches by Portevin, Cheve- nard, and Dejean, the author concludes that, starting with the eutectoid with o8 per cent. carbon, initial. state austenite, the final state may be perlite with slow cooling, troostite, martensite, or austenite being. the final products as the rat of cooling is increased. The last case can only be practically realised in the presence of 2 per cent. of manganese or a slightly higher proportion of nickel——M. Balland: The altera- tions of biscuit bread. The flour used is the same as. that of which ordinary bread is made, but it is baked in a cooler oven for a longer time. It has a thicker crust, highly resistant to the action of external in- fluences, and keeps good for from fifteen to twenty days. —A. Nodon: Observations on the eclipse of the moon of July 4, 1917. The observations were made at Bor- deaux under good atmospheric conditions, and the results appear to indicate a luminosity due to the surface of the moon.—E. Belot: The physical and ballistic history of the lunar voleanoes.—M. Portevin : The carburation of iron by alkaline cyanides and cyanates. At temperatures of 750° C. and goo° C. the addition of a proportion of cyanate to potassium. cyanide results in a_ considerable incredse in the amount of carbon taken up by the iron.—P. Dejean: The formation of troostite and martensite.—A. Colani : The action of metaphosphoric acid upon the oxides of molybdenum. At a red heat metaphosphoric acid acts upon MoO,, giving a slight reduction and evolution of oxygen.—H. Travers: The rapid estimation of man- ganesé and chromium in metallurgical products. The method is based on oxidation with ammonium per- sulphate and subsequent titration with sodium arsenite and is applicable to certain chrome steels.—L. Vialleton : Ontogenic relations of the pelvic and thoracic bands in the tetrapod vertebrates.—A. Lécaillon: The signi- fication of the colour-changes normally produced in certain non-impregnated eggs of Bombyx mori and ~ the formation, in this species, of true caterpillars of parthenogenetic origin—H. Colin: The antiseotic pro- perties of nitrous fumes. In the absence of oxygen, nitric oxide is devoid of antiseptic properties. The centrary results obtained by Priestley were due to nitric acid produced by the simultaneous presence of air and water.—P. Portier: Researches on symbiotic micro-organisms in the animal series—-MM. Wein- burg and P. Séquin: Serotherapy of gas gangrene in man. An account of the favourable results obtained by a mixed serum.—P. Armand-Delille: Remarks on the parasitological aspects of malaria contracted in Macedonia. NATURE [AUGUST 23, 1917 520 August 6.—M. Paul : Appell in the chair.—aA. | recently been reported from South Africa. It wi Lacroix: The granulated rocks of a leucitic magma | pointed out that the best known South African truffle studied- with the aid of the holocrystalline blocks of the Somma.—G, Humbert; The continued fraction of Stephen Smith.—H. Le Chatelier and B. Bogitch; The refractory properties of silica. Work supplementary to results published in an earlier paper (C.R., 1917, p. 64). A brick made from refractory clay, crushed at a temperature of 1500° C., flattened and showed rounded edges, whilst, with silica, the first action of the pressure produced no appreciable effect. On breaking the test piece by increasing the pressure, the pieces corresponded in shape with those normally ob- served with hard materials. Good silica bricks con- tain between 3 per cent. and 5 per cent. of basic oxides, and the weight of sulphates obtained after attack by hydrofluoric and sulphuric acids is between 8 per cent. and 14 per cent. Results are given of the resistance to crushing after one hour at 1600° C. of a ° number of good commercial silica bricks.—P. Sabatier and G. Gaudion: A new case of reversible catalysis : direct formation of nitriles starting from amines. of the same carbon chain. Benzylamine passed in the state of vapour over reduced nickel at 300° C. to 350° C. is converted into benzonitrile, toluene, and ammonia, one-third of the amine being converted into the nitrile. _isoAmylamine behaves similarly.—H. Hildebrandson : Some remarks on the possible influence of violent cannonades on rainfall.—]. Guillaume : Ob- servations of the sun, made at the Observatory of Lyons, during the first quarter of 1917. Observations were made on sixty-four days, and are grouped in tables. giving the number of spots, their distribution in latitude, and the distribution of the faculz in latitude.—A. Colani: Study of the system : water, uranyl oxalate, ammonium oxalate.—E. Rengade: The puri- fication of salts by claircage or by fractional crys- tallisation. The word claircage is applied to the dis- placement, by means of water or an appropriate solvent, of the impure mother liquor impregnating the crystals. The case of ammonium nitrate mixed with a small proportion of sodium chloride is dis- cussed in detail. the reactions being followed micro- scopically.—A. Cochain: The existence of an approxi- mate centre of symmetry in the figure forméd by the directing lines of the Alpine system. ‘The tectonic in- terpretation of this quasi-symmetry.—J. Deprat: The frontal zone of the preyunnanaise sheets in the regions of Bao-lac and Cao-bang.—J. Amar: The physio- pathology of effort. Effort is defined as a maximum muscular action generally sustained, sometimes in- stantaneous. The present paper deals with the relations between respiration and effort both in the normal and pathological states.—O. Bailly: Does the law of mass-action govern diastatic reactions? Earlier work has been in the direction of measuring the re- action-velocities of diastatic reactions: the author gives reasons for preferring to study the final equi- librium state, and for this it is necessary to choose reversible diastatic reactions carried out in homo- geneous media. The case chosen is the synthesis and hydrolysis of @-methylglucoside, making use of the experimental data of Em. Bourquelot and Em. Verdon, and here the experimental values and those calculated from the law of mass-action are in good agreement. Care Town. Royal Society of South Africa, June 20.—Dr. L. Péringuey, president, in the chair—-H. V. Exmer: A case of hermaphroditism. \A description of the body of a person of unsound mind. who had the outward appearance of a Kaffir girl—I. B. Pole Evams: The genus Terfezia. A truffle from the Kalahari. Choero- myces, a truffle hitherto unknown to Africa, has NO. 2495, VOL. 99] belong to the genus Terfezia. The distinction betweer Cheeromyces and Terfezia was indicated, and a scription given of a truffle (7. Claveryi, Chat.) recentl sent from the Griqualand West district in the Kala- hari. BOOKS RECEIVED. The Theory and Use of Indicators: An Account o the Chemical Equilibria of Acids, Alkalies, and Indi cators in Aqueous Solution, with Applications. By Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux. Pp. vii+375. (London: Constable and Co, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. A Bureau Internaticnal des Poids et Mesures. Mesure Rapide des Bases Géodésiques. By J. R Benoit and C. E. Guillaume. Cinquiéme éditic Pp. 283. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) The Thyroid Gland in Health and Disease. By Dr. McCarrison. Pp. xvii+286. (London: Bailliére Tindall, and Cox.) 12s. 6d. net. ? a. Stanford’s Half-inch Map of the Battle Front: Ostend, Zeebrugge, Bruges. (London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. Laws of Physical Science. By Dr. E. F. North Pp. vii+210. (Philadelphia and London: J. Lippincott, Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 5 Standard Method of Testing Juvenile Mentality the Binet-Simon Scale. By N. J. Melville. Pp. xi 142. (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincot Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. pac ens a Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis. B W. W. Scott and others. Pp. xxxi+864+plates iii (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co.; London: Crosb Lockwood and Son.) 30s. net. . CONTENTS. PAG New Books on Plante 2°32 Ge 3 Is the Anglo-Saxon Doomed? ByA. K. ..... Another Text-book of Histology. By E. W.M. . 50 Our Bookshelf ....... “ae ee ae Letters to the Editor:— "geen eee The Terminology of Parthenogenesis.—Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F. RS. os ae es The Scandinavian Languages,—-T. R. R.S..... The Civil Aerial Transport Committee. (J//us- trated.) By Sir G. Greenhill, F.R.S. : The ‘‘Isle of Wight” Bee Disea eee rer ba Wee oe es, o ee eee ie ger ee eee ga Our Astronomical Column :— t. E The Commencement of the Astronomical Day ... | Observations of Mira Ceti . Eclipsing Variables . .-. . Drum-fire .. ... . scien eeee og idk epg ae We tal a The Treatment of War Wounds. (/ilustrated.) By — Col. Sir Almroth E. Wright, C.B., F.R.S.... . oe ee ee ee ee ee -_ 2+ e © © © © © © @ © Pee Ne sk ee 2, 6 terre . University and Educational Intelligence ..... 5 Societies and Academies Books Received eer he to 6.58 Se ee 0) ©. Jeg ee eee ea Editorial and Publishing Offices: MACMILLAN AND CO., Lrp., ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. — Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to Publishers. ae Editorial Communications to the Editor Telegraphic Address: Puusts, LONDON. Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830. VA L URE 521 __ THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1917. . . SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. Annals of the Royal Society Club. The Record of a London Dining-Club in the Eighteenth and _ Nineteenth Centuries. By Sir Archibald Geikie. _ Pp. xv+504. (London: Macmillan and Co., 4 bioseri: 1917.) Price 18s, net. HIS is a delightful book, not only for fellows ‘of the Royal Society, not for scientific circles pity, but for all those who love the biographical de of racters of English folk. Moreover, the story the Royal Society, and of the Club, its inner nd more sociable group, is concerned with the oP ge modest, let us say of the English society f the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. person, whatever his rank, could find admission to «this circle without intellectual distinction, while with such distinction none was of origin humble to fail of a welcome. And, from its beginning onwards, habitually entertaining as its guests the most dis- tinguished men of the day. t is impossible to fix the date of the origin of Royal Society Club, for, like most of such bodies, it grew rather than was founded ; ; it grew put of such tavern parties as Samuel Johnson loved. At took definite form about 175 years ago, when it was called the “Royal Philosophers,” a abbreviated to “The Royals.” After some ees from tavern to tavern the Club settled ‘OO allie there for forty years. The title of “ Club” crept 1 , at first colloquially, then was formally adopted. he hour of dinner slowly descended from 4 clock to 6.30, where it still remains. The sketch of the history of the Club by idmiral Smith, pleasing and genial as it is, still But a sketch. For the fuller history before us Club most happily found its annalist—for in he form of annals the book is written—in Sir irchibald Geikie, during whose presidency the oyal Society had a representative almost as dis- inguished in literature and humanity as in tience. Sir Archibald Geikie knew intimately the rees of his illustrative materials—in Horace Valpole, Boswell, Mme.. D’Arblay, Sir Henry lolland, the “ Dictionary of National Biography,” ad so forth. From these and other records he has itten a volume which will not by any means be onfined to the circle for which in the first instance was written... Not the least of its attractions is the series of ees thirty mune in number; among them a int of Hogarth’s fine portrait of Martin Folkes eeeect 1741-52). Hogarth dined ‘more than ice with the. Club. [he records of the Club, a few gaps apart, have en. kept. with care, the ‘earlier volumes daintilv ound in red .morocco. _In them we read f much. hearty feasting and good fellowship. tra meetings had to be held for the eating of NO. 2496, VOL. 99] No - 10S! interesting section of English society; or, to — them. - Mr. Hanbury is thanked for “a mighty chine of beef of 112 lb. weight,” a joint at which Lord Rhondda would gravely shake his head; in 1754 Lord Anson from the Admiralty sent a turtle which weighed 115 lb.; afterwards gifts of these succulent cattle, from him and other friends, be- came more frequent. Lord Marchmont more than once bestowed on the Club a “ particular dainty in ' the shape of pickled salmon, as sent to the East | Indies. 3? A specimen bill of fare at the “ Mitre” on January 23, 1758, was as follows :-— Present: Earl of Macclesfield (president), Earl of history, varieties of manners, and the | Morton, Lord Willoughby, Lord Charles Cavendish, Mr. Burrow (treasurer), and other nine members and three guests. Veale Soup Soup and Bouille Fresh Salmen and Smelts Cod and Smelts Two dishes of Chickens Ham Boiled Tae and Oyests Rump of Beef aladobe (a la daube) Lamb pye with Cocks-combs, etc. Lord Macclesfield was a mathematician and ' astronomer of some distinction. the Club was | | Johnson, Among the guests at various dates we find, taken.at hazard, General Oglethorp, the friend of Laurence Sterne, Pennant, Benjamin Franklin, Poniatowski, the Duc de Nivernais, Helvetius, Captain Cook, Paoli and Boswell, and, among scores of others, Henry Cavendish, -who dined more than once as the guest of his father, Lord Charles Cavendish. This friendly record, and that of the proposal of Henry on one of these occasions as a member of the Club, may take their place with the evidence of other memorials, such _ as joint laboratory work, to refute the story that down at the “Mitre,” in Fleet Street, and stayed | quite harmonious. the relations between father and son were not Sir Archibald draws a vivid _ picture of Henry Cavendish, an odd, pathetic fts of venison at times were so abundant that | figure, shrinking from society, indifferent to fame, yet seeking in his. constant attendance at the Club table a relaxation from his studies and a relief from his solitude. Partly on account of the long waiting list of the Club, partly to combine more formally intel- lectual discussions with the convivial, in 1847 the Philosophical Club was founded—in no rivalry with the Royal Society Club, for many fellows of the Royal Society were members. of both clubs. Ultimately, however, in rgo1, the new was merged in the parent club, the prosperity of which continues unabated. Its present “tavern ” is Prince’s Restaurant, in Piccadilly. Full of social gossip, gracefully and humorously told, this volume may be cordially recommended to all readers interested in the last two centuries of English home life. And to them another and a pregnant reflection may occur, namely, the great place, the dominant place perhaps i in British science, of the amateur. If in certain respects this character of us has been, and yet. may be, a source of weakness, in others, and especially in originality and touch with life, it has been a precious tradi- tion. In the pursuit of science more drudgery and more business are now required of us, but let us hope these may be gained without suffering the narrowness and sepa of an army of mere experts. C.- A: EE 522 NATURE [AUGUST 30, 1917 RINGS. Rings for the Finger: From the Earliest Known Times to the Present, with Full Descriptions of the Origin, Early Making, Materials, the Archaeology, History, for Affection, for Love, for Engagement, for Wedding, Commemora- tive, Mourning, etc. By Dr. G. F. Kunz. Pp. xviii+381. (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1917.) Price 28s, net. HE author of the volume before us is well known as one of the leading authorities in the world on all that pertains to the esthetic and scientific aspects of jewelry. If our memory has not misled us, in the preface to one of his books he claims to possess a collection of litera- ture relating to precious stones and jewelry which, in point of view of extent and complete- ness, is unsurpassed by any other private library. Unlike not a few owners of large libraries, he evidently does not allow the volumes to lie idle on the shelves; he takes them down and reads them, and notes down any item that strikes him as of unusual interest. His teeming notebooks have provided material for a series of books on sub- jects connected with jewelry, and now in this sumptuous volume, which is issued at a corre- spondingly sumptuous price, he pleasantly and discursively treats of an article of ornament that has for countless years played a conspicuous part in the domestic and ceremonial life of man—and especially woman. The origin of the ring is wrapped in obscurity. Dr. Kunz thinks that it may have been evolved in either or both of two ways. In very early times it was the practice to carry on the person a cylindrical seal, and no doubt it occurred to some- one that a convenient way of carrying it was to place it upon the finger. Another likely source was the knot; the true-lovers’ knot is familiar to-day, and a twisted piece of metal wire or a knotted cord was a favourite talisman in primitive times. The ring as we know it now has not been traced back farther than the Bronze age. Some sixteen years ago M. Henri de Morgan discovered in the valley of Agha Evlar, near the Caspian Sea, several sepulchral dolmens which, when opened, were found to contain a considerable number of metal, stone, and glass ornaments, among them being bronze rings. They are supposed to date back to about 2000 B.c., but the date- cannot be fixed because of the lack of inscriptions. |The rings found in the tombs at Enkomi, Cyprus, can be dated with greater precision; they are of Egyptian manufacture, and belong to the period of about 1400-1000 B.c. There appears to be no doubt that the manufacture of rings originated in Egypt and spread thence to Greece and to Italy. Among the Romans the wearing of rings was at first rigidly confined to senators and the patrician class, and it was not until the third century A.D. that these restrictions were swept away. The early form of ring was very simple, consisting merely of a bent piece of wire fastened to the scarab or whatever was the object worn; complete NO. 2496, VOL. 99] ~many of the more famous rings contained in th , excellent index. rings appear to have been first made in the Golden age of Egyptian civilisation, When the author passes on to the other topics discussed in the book, such as signet rings, in- teresting rings, betrothal and religious rings, and rings used as talismans or for healing, he traverses ground already to some extent trodden in his previous works. Some interest attaches to a form of ring seldom seen to-day, viz. the holo- lithic, i.e. one which is wholly—circlet and chaton —cut out of a single stone. Such rings were, however, common in days of archery, when rings made of agate or chalcedony were used to pro- tect the thumb of the hand holding the bow from being cut by the string as it straightened after the arrow had sped on its course. Five rings of the kind made of agate, carnelian, mocha-stone, or jasper were included in the collections which were bequeathed to the nation by Sir Hans Sloane in 1753 and led to the formation of the British Museum. The most wonderful hololithic ring on record is one measuring about 1} in. in diameter and cut from an unusually beautiful emerald; dependent from it are two fine emerald drops, and rose diamonds bordered with rubies are set in two collets. It was made to the order of the great Jehangir Shah, and was engraved with his name. _ After passing through man vicissitudes the ring was given to the British Fact India Company by the unfortunate Shah Shujah; and was afterwards acquired by Lord Auckland. In the last chapter the author describes carefull the modern manufacture of rings by means of machinery, and illustrates the various stages fro the wire to the finished article. Some idea of the magnitude of the industry may be gauged by the fact that a single factory in the United States has turned out upwards of three million ringss in ¢ year. : 4 Dr. Kunz in the course of the book describes British Museum collections, and constantly refers to the catalogues of the rings in that institution He gives a facsimile of a sketch made by Sit C. H. Read of a seal-ring on a finger of a bronz statue of the third or fourth century. A curious mishap has occurred on p. 86, probably in the course of paging the book: the last five line: at the foot of the nage, excluding the foot-note; should have been inserted in the middle of the page. Possibly had the publication of the boo been delayed a few months the following sentence on p. 160 might have been worded a little di ferently : “‘The gems with which they are set were bought by the Rev. Dr. John P. Peters from z Arab in the Kut-el-Amara region, where the British invaders of Mesopotamia underwent such a disastrous defeat.” The illustrations to book are, from the point of view of reproduction) of exceptionally high quality, but they appear have been selected a little at random. It is no clear why a letter from Admiral Peary and ont from Sir Sidney Lee and Mr. F. C. Wellstood we reproduced in facsimile ; they really add nothing & the value or interest of the book. There is af NATURE _ AvGuST 30, 1917] 523 TWO BOOKS ON MINERALS. OUR BOOKSHELF. 0) A Pocket Handbook of Minerals, Designed A Manual of Field Astronomy. By Andrew H. for Use in the Field or Classroom, with Little Holt. Pp: x+128. (New York: John Wiley _ Reference to Chemical Tests. By Prof. G. and Sons” Inc. ; London: Chapman and Hall, Montague Butler. Second edition. Ltd., 1917.) Price 6s. net. Pp. ix+ { 311+table in 5 folding sheets. (New York: _ John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman _ and Hall, Ltd., n.d.) Price r1s. 6d. net. ©) Microscopical Determination of the Opaque Minerals: An Aid ‘to the Study of Ores. _ By Dr.-J. Murdoch. Pp. vii+165. (New - York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: _ Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1916.) Price gs. 6d. net. HESE two books form a useful addition to the already large number of American publica- on determinative mineralogy. (1) Prof. Butler’s volume, now in its second Bitton, is specially designed for use in the field, zed can easily be carried in the coat-pocket. A ief account is given of each mineral, and there s a useful table of the most characteristic proper- ties of the different species, so that the recog- nition of a specimen should as a rule present little ty. The table does not, however, include specific gravity, one of the most generally useful means of identification. | Even in the field a Walker’s balance, or for smaller specimens the simple arm balance employed by Penfield, is avail- a The work appears on the whole to have been well done, though in a book containing so Buich detailed information there are— naturally ome points open to criticism. Oligoclase is Ol) di th escribed quite correctly as Ab:An—Ab;An, but a note is added that Ab=Na-.O.AI.O,.6SiO. and An=Ca0O.Al.O;.2SiO.. This is misleading, for ccording to general usage Ab only represents alf the amount of albite indicated by the former ormula. Garnierite is not now the most im- 20 ant ore of nickel. The “compact fibrous masses ”’ of crocidolite (blue asbestos) resemble in t: cture, not ordinary amphibole asbestos, but erpentine asbestos (chrysotile, better referred to y its older name, karystiolite). Again, it is not much use giving the value of precious stones per arat without specifying the size. _ (2) Dr. Murdoch’s book, on the other hand, is nded as a guide to students who wish to studv ie structure and composition of the opaque netallic ores in the laboratory, by examining the dlished surface under the microscope. There ai and the results that can be obtained, sllowed by tables for identification. The first lassification is by colour, the next by hardness, nd the third by the behaviour with reagents. 6 Be ectcn s earlier method of observing optical ‘characters of opaque minerals in arised light is described, but not his later ethod (Centralblatt fiir Min., etc., 1909, - 245), which promises to be of more general 3 : J. W. E NO. 2496. VOL. 991] a usefi hod : : : : ee Cee te methods | above that height is stippled light red. ' tracks. TuIs is a handy and lucid manual dealing with all the problems that arise if field work with a theodolite, namely, determinations of altitude, latitude, azimuth, time, and longitude. It con- tains a useful list of formule for obtaining any element of the astronomical triangle in which three elements are supposed to be known. Attention may be directed to the unusual notation; the polar distance, zenith distance, and colatitude are called Zz, p, and s respectively; this is because they are opposite the points Z, the zenith, P, the pole, and S, the star. The explanations refer through- out to the American Ephemeris, but the arrange- ment of the British Nautical Almanac is so similar that they will serve equally for it. All needful corrections, such as parallax and refraction, are explained, but the author deliberately refrains from introducing refinements that are of no importance for work in the field. It is evident from a study | of the examples that the degree of accuracy con- templated by the author is only of the order of the nearest 10”. A considerably higher degree of accuracy is attainable with field instruments of the © finest type, but the methods explained in the book will suffice, if carefully followed, to give this greater refinement. An appendix explains the use of the “solar attachment,” which is designed to solve the astronomical triangle mechanically, and give a direct determination of the meridian from an observation of the sun at any time. The accuracy attainable with it is stated to be not much greater than the nearest minute of arc. AnpreEw C. D. Gian Stanford’s Half-inch Map of the Battle Front in France and Flanders: Ostend, Zeebrugge, Bruges. War Map No. 23. (London: E. ‘Stan- ford, Ltd., 1917.) Price 2s. 6d. Tus sheet ‘is a continuation northward of the map of the British battle front in France and Flanders previously published by the same firm. It extends from Dunkirk in the west to within six miles of Flushing in the east, and southward to the latitude of Roulers, and so comprises the greater part of the plain of Flanders. There is | little high ground in this region, and the only contour shown is that of 125 ft. All the ire e method is successful so far as this sheet goes but on higher ground done on a uniform method the depth of colour would obscure the map. There are no spot heights, but they are scarcely re- quired in Flanders. Woods, lakes, and marshes are shown by conventional signs without colour- ing. Roads, railways, and canals are clearly ~ marked. As regards roads, apparently there is a differentiation into main-roads, by-roads, and This, however, is not stated in the ex- 524 NATURE [AuGuUST 30, 1917 planation. There are sufficient names, but crowd- ing has been avoided. The British front in June is shown by a red line. It is a Clearly: printed and useful map with a great amount of detail, and allows the progress of operations, both on the Belgian front and along the coast, to be closely followed. 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 taken of anonymous communications. ] is A Forecast of Coming Winters. A STATISTICAL examination of ancient records of winter temperatures in Western and Western-Middle , Europe led me to the conclusion, in 1904 and 1905, that periodicities of 443 and 89 years have the greatest | reality of the suspected 45-year or 89-year peri mere chance that exactly the winter 1916-17 turned out | to be the. first cold winter after so many mild winters as we experienced since the. beginning of this century, the first really cold winter since 1895 in W. Europe; nevertheless, a change in the weather-type about this time is in perfect agreement with the forecast. Since the publication of my first paper on this sub- ject I have been collecting and critically examining - all materials on winter temperature that are available on the Continent and in England, in order to trace the — vera causa that must. lie hidden behind such a period or complex of periods. I did not, however, succeed; even the Fourier analysis, applied to these data with the kind assistance of Dr: Van der Stok at the R. Institution of Meteorology, in De Bilt, failed to give a clue. There remained, however, a means of Beis | the icity. | If this periodicity were real, the curve ceueeeciitinial the thermometrical observations, made during the latter half of the nineteenth century, at some repre-— sentative stations in W. Europe, e.g. Paris and Utrecht (De Bilt), should fit in with the 89-year curve derived from the “historical data.” The result of such a comparison can be seen in the diagram, where 7 bel ed met: Sorter eer errr ttt rrr rt — z # She oe 4 ai of 17a |. ” x*ak bo, sf 2 *.° ° ma + 1 a ae - | ANs a iy z : Soo ° af ies a J y Be mos Co , la ° cv SG o7 oo LY « x" nae o Bi if A, 58 we ° 4 aT, [ed Pes! oe wae %- 1iO+ > oq we NN oe Ay Site oy ces 1 A ’ ° ‘ / ’ ° ’ N B 2 NA | 89-year periodicity of winter-tempera.ure in W. Europe. ‘‘a” and a (full-drawn lines), historical ; ** b,” ‘‘e” B, instrumental data. influence on the occurrence of mild and severe winters in this part of the world. These periodicities, un- doubtedly related to similar fluctuations in the sun’s activity, are especially manifest in lower winter tem-_ peratures at the beginning, and in higher winter tem- peratures in the latter part, of the periods. Thus, in the 89-year period 1828-1916, the winter temperature is generally lower .in the first and third 22-year inter- val, and comparatively high in the second and fourth; the interval 1828-49 being the coldest, the interval 1895-1916 the warmest part of the whole period. Not only the monthly means, but also the frequency of mild and severe winters, show this periodicity. So early as 1905 I pointed out! that a series of ‘warm winters might be expected in the following years, according to these: statistics, and that the year 1917 marked the beginning of a new period of com- paratively cold winters. Though it seems a matter of 1 “ Oscillations of the Solar Activity and the Climate ” (Proc. Roy. Acad. Sci., Amsterdam, vols. vii.-viii., 1904-5). NO. 2496, VOL. 99| the full-drawn line ‘‘a” gives the “‘ historical” 89-yeat curve, ““b’’ (dotted) the “ thermometrical”’ curve since 1852, the crosses marked ‘‘c”’ having been added i order to trace back the instrumental records to the yea 1828, although this part of the curve had to be take from less trustworthy data. All this applies only to the western part of Europe. The curves a and f represent the same data since 1852, simplified ant smoothed. Making allowance for a certain shiftin; of the phase in the latter part of the curve, the dip and crests show, I think, so much analogy as to pre clude a purely accidental conformity of the two curve compiled. from absolutely different data. < Want of space compeis me to refer the reader 1 my paper, just issued by the Amsterdam Academy 0 Sciences.* I must now confine myself to give a tabl showing the frequency of cold and severe winters i periods of 22 (223) years since a.D. 760; peric 2 “ Periodicity of Winter Temperatures in Western Europe since the Yea 760’ (Proc. Roy. Acad. Sci., Amsterdam, vol. xxv., 1917). : AUGUST 30, 1917] NATURE 325 No. XIII. thus running from 1828 to 1916. The de- ficiency of severe winters in the last column is striking. Frequency of (a) Cold, (b) Severe Winters, 760-1916. 89-year Period-year Period-year Period-year Period-year Period 1-22 23-45 45-67 -89 ; es ey, No. 2 Severe Cold Severe Cold Severe Cold Severe i (8), Gee ee Oo (0) | IL. Bett): 35 2 ae a C8) Zz *(@) y IIL. eet 8) hs Ae eee eT) rt {(o) Beate 5 (1) 2) i 2) - 1 (0) eas V. Soil) 2 ee a AO () Vi oe (2) a eee)” (0) oe WE, Britts) <3 th) a fe) iG) > Vill, re tO)” 2 eee (ay) 2. (1) 1X. - ©). -2--> 0) e220) Br (6) XxX. Mech) 2. (6) oe (2) 0 (0) ies 4G) 3 1). 0 (0) XII. Brett). 3 2 kre a (5) I -(0) XI me tt) S27 (Gp aa - (3) I ({o) VHII-XUHL 2:2 (0'7) 2°0 (05) 27 (1°7) o8 (02) /1-XIIL 23 (09) 17 (05) 24 (1°3) O8 (072) The conclusions of the whole investigation may be immarised as follows (all this relates, of course, to yinter temperatures in W. Europe) :— (1) Within each interval of 443 years (759-5-803-0 ae Sie ene 5), the first half is colder than the econd. _ _ [The difference in the amount of temperature-devia- on has been found on an average 20° per 44 winters; x the year 1383 on an average 26%. Exceptions, or apparent exceptions, from this rule, vo out of twenty-six cases since 760, none since 1200.| (2) Within each interval of 89 years, to begin with he year 7595 (1827-5), the first half is colder than e second. [The difference in the amount of temperature-devia- ion has been found on an average 22° per 8g winters. _ Exceptions from the rule, two out of thirteen cases nce 6 ea two doubtful ones; since 1116 one CCE otion. (3) The chance that the last quarter of an 89-year eriod. (826-25-848-5 . . . 1894-25-1916-5) contains a naller number of hard winters than the preceding nd following 22-year intervals is 0-88. Within the st quarter of an 89-year period the chance that any inter will be severe (or very severe) is less than (or 0-007), i.e. less than }(1) of the general chance. _the neighbouring 22-year intervals (e.g. 1872-93 nd 1916-37) this chance is about three (five) times eat. (4) Increased and accelerated activity of the solar rface corresponds in general with the winter-cold in Europe setting in more forcibly and quickly an usual ; inversely, a weakened and retarded activity _the sun corresponds with winters setting in more idly and in a later part of the period. The forecast for the périod 1917-38, derived from se statistics, indicates at least two very cold and one ' winter; the average winter temperature for twenty-two years being generally below the e9-year mean. C. Easton. "Amsterdam, June, 1917. Ste | 2 _ Auroras and. Magnetic Storms. )Wrtu reference to your note in Nature of August 16 Gferring to a magnetic storm on the night of August Io, it may be of interest to learn that an aurora s seen here that night. It was first seen a few nutes before 10 p.m. (G.M.T.), when it appeared a glow in the northern sky. -Two streamers were ast discernible at first, but they gradually increased ” numbers and became clearer, at the same time | No. 2496, vor. 99] growing longer and brighter and moving towards the west. The longest reached to the centre of the Great Bear. Small, sharp, and delicate streamers, although not prominent, were distinctly seen in the larger streamers. There was no colouring seen at all, but merely a white glow. By 11.15 all traces of it had vanished. L. Cave. Testing Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, August 21. An Unusual Rainbow. AN unusual rainbow display was visible at sea be- tween 6.30 and 7 p.m. on the evening of August 16. The primary and secondary bows were complete and of exceptional brilliancy. Between these two lay two arcs of a third bow, cutting the primary bow near the horizon and ending in the secondary bow about 20° above the horizon in the manner shown in the accom- panying diagram. The blue of this bow was towards the primary bow, and the red towards the secondary bow. This third bow cut the primary bow at an angle of 25°-30°. . Outside the secondary bow were visible two arcs of a fourth bow (less distinct than the others) which cut the secondary bow in much the same way as the third cut the primary. Unfortunately, I am unable to give you at present the ship’s position at the time when the phenomenon was seen. The sun’s altitude was about 7° when the bows were most clearly seen. The afternoon was warm and sultry and there was practically no wind. A thunderstorm took place at some distance from the ship during the afternoon. I shall be glad if any of the readers of Nature can give me an explanation of the phenomenon, which has caused considerable discussion among the officers of the ship: ‘ Attan J. Low. August 16. An Invasion of Ants. — YESTERDAY afternoon (Bank holiday) the weather suddenly became brilliantly sunny and very hot, after some days of gloom with rain and thick east wind atmosphere; and about five o’clock I became aware that apparently every ants’ nest in the garden had chosen that precise moment for the emergence of its winged inhabitants. There they were in myriads, swarming out of holes in the drive, gravel paths, flag- stones, the rock-garden, where they had been devas- tating Sempervivum clumps, and all over the lawns. They were nearly all the small red ant, only afew nests of the small black one. The tiny winged males. much outnumbered the large- bodied winged females, and both were attended by fussily anxious “workers”; by seven o’clock all were gone. Can ants delay their appearance above ground until the onset of suitable hot, dry weather? ELEONORA ARMITAGE. Dadnor, Herefordshire, August 7. : THE appearance in swarms of male and female ants for the nuptial flight is described by many observers. 526 NATURE [AuGUST 30, 1917 References will be found, for example, in Mr. H. K. Donisthorpe’s recent book on “British Ants” to the species Myrmica rubra and Lasius niger, which are probably those noticed by Miss Armitage. Her ob- servation is of interest in showing how “the workers direct the exodus of the winged forms when weather conditions become favourable.—Epiror. THE ADOPTION OF THE METRIC SYSTEM. ee controversy with reference to the metric system appears to have passed through two stages and to be approaching the climax of its third, and possibly final, stage. In the first stage the glamour of its uniformly applied denary scale, and of its carefully related standards of length, area, volume, and weight, carried the general public in an apparently wholehearted advocacy which was clearly reflected in the early divisions on the Metric Bill in Parliament. Advocates of the binary scale might attend metric meetings and tear up sheets of paper into two, four, and eight parts; theorists with the duo-denary scale might drag a red-herring across the trail; workers with the most convenient of the English weights and measures might voice their fears of a bad exchange in units of measurement; but the metric advocates carried the day, in most cases with a wonderful accompaniment of popular, if not business, en- thusiasm. The second stage was reached when the practical business men were actually forced to take cog- nisance of the movement and either accept, or work vigorously against, it. The natural thing hap- pened—how could it be expected that British controllers of industry—industry inductively developed—should be other than short-sighted and insular in their ideas? The nation which deliberately attempted to cut itself off from the Continent in the sixteenth century by adopting a different Latin pronunciation was not likely in the nineteenth to be ready to accept at once any Continental standard, even in weights and measures. Every conceivable objection was raised—and it is perhaps as well that this was so; for we now understand much more clearly the “pros and cons” of the case. Possibly the greatest difficulty, which has still to be overcome, is the inborn tendency not only of British, but also of all traders to vary their trad- ing conditions. “Tare and tret” accounts have onlv just vanished from -our book-keeping— 37 inches are still allowed to the yard; there are several pounds; apparently-a stone may be 8 lb., 14 lb., or 16 lb.; a hundred may be a hundred, or a hundred and twelve, or a hundred and twenty ~ (a great hundred) units; while we have also such things as “strikes,” “bags,” “boxes,” etc., of very questionable contents. Such variations tend to promote that “opportunism” which is at daggers drawn with the wider and more humane view of commerce. The tendency to perpetuate this heterogeneity is not only British; it is inter- national, and is undoubtedly one of the weaknesses which mankind as a whole must face and fight if NO. 2496, VOL. 99| larger opportunities for international service are to be won. . This inherent tendency explains why even among metric nations the metric system has not always conserved its pure form, and why among. non- metric nations the metric system has not been introduced even into recently developed industries. Man has to fight against himself, or rather against certain of his intuitive tendencies, to become the controller of his own environment. Thus, when Mr. W. R. Ingalls, in his paper read before the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy on May 24, confesses to thinking more clearly in the pound than in the kilogram, the present writer is re- minded of how for years his personal unit of weight was the 8-lb. to 9-lb. hare which he carried when accompanying certain of his relatives on their shooting expeditions. The suggestion undoubtedly is that the sooner we definitely teach our young people to work and think in carefully standardised units, instead of allowing them to adopt units accidentally coming within their cognisance, the better for us as a nation and for the world in the broadest sense. Have we yet realised the advan- tages of deliberate intent, as distinct from casual drift, in this and other similar problems which we must face? We are now in the third stage, in which the objections to the denary scale and the metric units have practically disappeared. Thus the two prob- lems which to-day are being seriously len are: (1) If the metric system is the only possible system that may be universally adopted, will the expense entailed in its adoption by non-metric countries be more than balanced by the advantages gained in the reasonably immediate future? : (2) If it is desirable to adopt wholeheartedly the metric system throughout our industries, how may this best be effected with reference to both our working staffs and the material means by which metric measurements may be made? 4 With reference to the first proposition, there is no need to discuss the possibility of the universa adoption of the British system rather than the metric system, for two reasons. The first is that there is no British system. Take the textile in: dustries as an example. The Bradford manuface turer speaks a more difficult textile language to the Leeds manufacturer than the Continental manu> facturer employing the metric system; and in stances might be multiplied. Again, the most standardised of all the British systems—the avoir dupois—scarcely bears signs of its British origifi| on its face. The second reason is that year Ey] year, month by month, and almost week by week, our industries are being more and more controlle from their laboratories—and all scientific labor tories adopt the metric system. What confusion, and mistakes there will ultimately be unle uniformity is here enforced ! 4 Looking at the problem from the broadest bast Mr. Ingalls’ paper is a delightfully unconscious: portrayal of the typical British (or American) atte tude of mind. We must make our drawings our own units, and if the French want them they, fe AUGUST 30, 1917 | NATURE 527 - must re-draw them. If Russia, China, and South _ America want British or American productions, _ they must buy them in our sizes. But surely we have attained a broader outlook than this? If not, the future for our industries is not of the brightest. Will Japan, for example, follow such a lead or take the broader view? _ Granted, then, that the metric is now the only _ possible universal system, will it pay Britain and the United States to adopt it? The answer to this question entails the consideration, in the first _ place, of wnat the expenses are likely to be, and, in the second, of what return may reasonably be expected. In the paper already referred to, and erly in an article on “The Metric System : Its Meaning for the Machine Shop,” appearing in the Times Engineering Supplement of May 25, the expenditure that would be entailed in making the proposed change is advanced as the main and most potent reason against the proposal. This argu- “ment is exactly that which advocates for the change would expect and wish to answer. The question is now brought down, or rather elevated, _to a practical issue which those who are for and those who are against must seriously face. Action ‘must be taken one way or the other, and a decision on this particular, and possibly dominant, issue may readily be arrived at. Instead of the writer ‘in question quoting only capital expenditure on gear cutters, drills and reamers, screwing tackle, measuring instruments, machine tools and gears, ‘let him also supply a trading account—a yearly turnover account—based upon a standard plant on which the expenses of the proposed change ‘may also be arrived at. Here is a simple one taken om the textile industries (a worsted drawing plant):— £ Total cost of installation aa * 1,120 Annual depreciation—allowance at 7} percent. perannum ... ... ee 84 Turnover of raw material 56,250 _ From this it must be evident that two of our greatest industries, cotton and wool, have much more serious questions to face than capital charges; and in these days, when we do not hesi- tate to spend 9,000,0001. a day on the war, there must be something more than a mere statement of xpenses, however small or however great, if such an objection as that advanced by the writer in the Times Engineering Supplement is to be seriously sonsidered. There must be a careful balancing ap, with all the disadvantages and the advantages in full view. The writer can state, without hesita- aon from personal experience, that at least in cer- ain of our industries not only would there be a rospect of recuperating from the inevitable ex- benditure within a reasonable limit of time, but 4 : . iso that from the day the metric system was dopted there would be a credit side to the account. “If, then, it be granted that it is desirable whole- leartedly to adopt the metric system, the prac- ical means of carrying this into effect should mmediately be thought out and the train laid and red. Here is straight away a splendid use for NO. 2496, VOL. 99] our schools and colleges. The task that will be set them is one which, if their teaching staffs will rise to the occasion, will revitalise mathematical knowledge, introducing inspiration in the place of the too often orthodox deadness and stimulating both the teacher and pupil. The task of supply- ing the necessary weights and measures might well be left in the hands of those who would first instruct, and then organise into an active force, the more capable of our men returning from the front on the declaration of peace. What an oppor- tunity for, organising and carrying into effect a movement that would be a credit even to a nation which has so valiantly helped to withstand, at all too short a notice, the onslaught of the greatest — military force the world has ever seen. The alternative to the compulsory adoption of the metric system throughout our industries at once is its gradual introduction trade by trade; but of the alternatives we prefer the former. Already certain manufacturers are prepared to run their factories on the metric system, and are only deterred from so doing by the necessity of training every fresh hand that enters their estab- lishment from non-metric factories. With this difficulty removed by suitable legislation, the ad- vantage is most markedly on the side of the metric system. At least, this is the firm opinion of those who have worked under both systems in British and Continental workshops and factories. A es ey PROF. W. B. CLARKE. fees death of William Bullock Clarke on July 27 deprived Maryland of one of its most distinguished men of science. He came of an old New England family, his ancestors having crossed in the “Mayflower.” He was born in Vermont in 1860, and after taking a degree at Amhurst College studied at Munich from 1884-87, where he obtained the degree of Ph.D. He returned the same year to Baltimore to the post of geological instructor at Johns Hopkins Univer- sity, and in 1894 became professor and head of the ~ Department of Geology there. He used his ~ vacations and spare time in working for the Geological Survey of the United States, on the regular staff of which he remained until 1907. Most of his work for the survey was on the Cretaceous and Kainozoic rocks of the coast dis- trict, and he helped in the geological survey of the country around Philadelphia and Trenton. His most important single piece of research is probably his bulletin on the Mesozoic echinoids of the United States. He was, however, led from research by his skill as an organiser. In 1892 he founded the Maryland State Weather Service, of which he remained director until his death. In 1896 he established the Maryland Geological Survey and became State geologist. Under his direction the State Survey issued a series of geological reports which are notable both for their breadth of view and their unusually excellent form. As State geologist he was responsible for the Road Service, on which, before its separation 528 NATURE (AUGUST 30, 1917 as an independent department, he was respons- ible for the expenditure of more than two million dollars. He was also entrusted with the represen- tation of Maryland on the re-survey of the bound- ary between that State and Pennsylvania. He was executive officer of the Maryland Forestry Board, and took an active share in the replanning of Bal- timore after the great fire in 1904. Meanwhile he had been continuously active in the development of the mineral resources of Maryland and in various spheres of educational and philanthropic work. His death will be deplored in this country by many friends who knew the charm of his per- sonality and by the still wider circle who knew of his success in scientific administration. NOTES. Two new orders have been instituted by the King in recognition of services rendered by British subjects and their Allies in connection with the war, viz. the Order of the British Empire and the Order of the Companions of Honour. The Order of the British Empire has ‘five classes, viz. :—Men: (1) Knights Grand Cross (G.B.E.); (2) Knights Commanders (K.B.E.); (3) Commanders (C.B.E.); (4) Officers (O.B.E.); (5) Members (M.B.E.). Women : (1) Dames Grand Cross. (G.B.E.); (2) Dames Commanders (D.B.E.); (3): Commanders (C.B.E.); (4) Officers (O.B.E.); (5) Members (M.B.E.). The first two classes, in the case of men, carry the honour of knight- hood, and in the case of women the privilege of pre- fixing the title ‘‘ Dame” to their names. The first lists of appointments to the orders have just been ‘issued, and among those named we notice the following :—To the Order of the British Empire: Lord Moulton and Lord Sydenham (G.B.E.); Mr. Dugald Clerk, Prof. H. S. Jackson, and (Mr. R. Threlfall (K.B.E.); Dr. Garrett Anderson, Prof. H: B. Baker, Mr. L. Bair- stow, Prof. W. H.. Bragg, Prof. S. J. Chapman, Mr. W. Duddell, Mr. F. W. Harbord, Prof. F. W. Keeble, Dr. Mary A. D. -Scharlieb, and Prof, J. F. Thorpe (C.B.E:); Prof. J. C. McLennan (O.B.E.). The fol- lowing have, among others, been appointed Com- panions of Honour: The Hon, E. Strutt and Prof. Ripper. ‘A COMMITTEE to inquire into various matters con- nected with the personnel and administration of the Army medical services has been appointed by the Secretary of State for War. The committee is com- posed of Major-General Sir F. Howard (chairman), Sir Rickman J. Godlee. Bart., Sir Frederick Taylor, Bart., Sir W. Watson-Cheyne, -Bart., Dr. Norman Walker, Lieut.-Col. A. J. Stiles, Dr. Buttar, and Dr. J. B. Christopherson (secretary). It. will begin its work in France, and afterwards carry out similar investiga- tions in this country. WE regret to eT: Tae Oye ah” ayer “hayes, iat otietceste ens SHAD: cates B = + atten “at ATES a Sree Bh ex 2 . petite <3 iz ine CRY ie ey * Sears Heiss bie 4 elf vase ner Cape