458 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Meteorology was not well represented at the meeting, but Sir F. Stupart gave 

 an interesting description of the weather in Alberta (Canada), and pointed out the 

 remarkable fact that within the last few years the mean January temperature has 

 varied between — I5°F. and + 26°F. — an extraordinary range. 



The Seismology Committee reported that, owing to Mrs. Milne's decision to 

 return to Japan, the observatory at Shide had to be closed, and temporary 

 accommodation has been secured at Oxford. 



Two papers on pure mathematical subjects were read, one by Prof. H. Hilton 

 on " Certain Types of Plane Algebraic Curves? the other by Prof. A. R. Forsyth 

 " On Gauss 1 Theorem for Quadrature and the Approximate Evaluation of Definite 

 Integrals with Finite Limits." It was claimed that the latter paper may be of 

 considerable use in estimating the areas of curves, for by suitably choosing the 

 ordinates, instead of taking them equidistant, equal accuracy can be obtained 

 with only about half the number of points. 



Papers were also read by Dr. Housloun on " A Contribution to the Theory oj 

 Quanta? and by Dr. T. E. Stanton on " The Viscosity of Liquids at High Pres- 

 sures." 



An important contribution on Spectra^ by Dr. L. Silberstein, will, fortunately, 

 appear in full later in the Philosophical Magazine. Dr. Silberstein's theory is an 

 extension of Bohr's, in that he supposes that the atomic nucleus is not a sphere, 

 but unsymmetrical. In this way it is possible to account, not only for Balmer's 

 spectral series, but also for the shifts and multiplications of lines in spectra which 

 increased resolving power continues to reveal. 



Sir O. Lodge propounded a Theory of Vision in which he supposed the black 

 pigment of the retina, or the visual purple, to contain certain elements which are 

 stimulated into electron emission by light of definite frequencies. A three-colour 

 vision would require three distinct elements. Calculations on Bohr's theory 

 showed that in heavy atoms electrons of the necessary natural frequencies existed. 

 Prof. Porter pointed out that this was somewhat like the accepted photoelectric 

 explanation of both vision and photography. If there were three types of 

 electrons in the visual purple, their natural frequencies would need to be in the 

 proportion 2:3:4 roughly. 



The meetings of the Section terminated with a vote of thanks to the President, 

 proposed by Sir O. Lodge, and seconded by Lord Rayleigh. 



Experimental Farming (G. W. Harris, Salthams Farm, Chichester) 



There is a marked activity at present on the part of various official bodies who 

 have extemporised a life-long enthusiasm for agriculture, in spite of the ominous 

 fact that the Government have declared up to now no agrarian policy. This 

 omission is all the more serious when we note that County Councils are being 

 empowered and urged to purchase farms for small holdings and for experimental 

 purposes. 



It would seem that before many thousands are spent in this way (the cost of 

 some farms being so great that nothing under £4 per acre will produce reasonable 

 interest on the money), the first requisite is a Government policy. It is quite 

 possible that the Government have realised that some thought is necessary before 

 making an announcement, and that there are a few difficulties to be surmounted. 

 Hence the delay. 



The first question refers to the small holding. As we are not concerned in this 

 article with this part of the problem, we need only say that it has not yet been 



