AUGUST 19, 1921 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 351 



eliminated in the present work, by first dropping empty containers and sub- 

 tracting the heat given out by the empty container. If the heat loss is the 

 same in each drop the subtraction eHminates it. To keep it the same it has 

 been found necessary not to allow the escape of steam, which is likely to be 

 irregular. Hence, second, the calorimeter contained a steam dome into 

 which the steam could rise without getting out. A quick drop has often 

 been accomplished by melting a platinum wire from which the specimen 

 was hanging. After considerable trial a mechanical arrangement for drop- 

 ping has been developed which is more convenient and less expensive. It 

 was necessary to find a suitable material and then a compact design not 

 calling for great strength. 



The only results for many metals at high temperatures were recently ob- 

 tained by three German investigators, who used the vacuum-closed furnace 

 already mentioned. The results obtained in the Geophysical Laboratory 

 for the latent heat of nickel were about 30 per cent higher than theirs. It 

 is beheved that the Geophysical Laboratory method, though simpler and 

 easier to carry out, was free from several sources of error caused or aggravated 

 by the limitations of working in vacuum, and that the result obtained at 

 the Geophysical Laboratory, 73 calories per gram for the latent heat of nickel, 

 is accurate at least to 5 per cent. 



The paper was discussed by Messrs. FooTE, Mueller, Sosman, and others. 



H. H. Kimball, Recording Secretary. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Observations have recently been made by a Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 party on the Explorer to verify the magnetic disturbance reported in the 

 vicinity of Sentinel Point, southeastern Alaska. The maximum disturbance 

 was foimd to be just west of the Point, the ship's compass changing its di- 

 rection 55 degrees within a very short distance. The disturbance extends 

 entirely across Port Snettisham, at one place amounting to more than 20 

 degrees in midchannel. 



The securing of sea-water densities and temperatures has been begun by the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey observers at Portland, Maine, and Boston, 

 Massachusetts. It is the intention of the Survey to secure similar obser- 

 vations at all the principal tidal stations. 



At the invitation of Mr. Northcott, owner of the Luray Caverns, 

 Virginia, Dr. AlES Hrdlicka of the National Museum visited the 

 caverns on June 27 for the purpose of examining and removing certain bones, 

 enclosed in stalagmite, which were believed to be human. After considerable 

 difficulties, the entire deposit containing the bones was taken out in pieces 

 which showed the remains of most of the parts of a human skeleton ; but no 

 trace remained of the skull with the exception of a portion of the lower jaw. 

 The specimens have been donated to the Museum for further study. 



The headquarters of the Chemical Warfare Service in Washington have 

 been moved from the temporary buildings at 1800 Virginia Avenue to the 

 seventh wing of the Munitions Building. 



The Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, together with about a half 

 million dollars from the original appropriation made for the investigation of 

 nitrogen fixation, was transferred on June 30 from the jurisdiction of the War 

 Department to the Department of Agriculture. The Laboratory is now an 

 independent unit of the Department of Agriculture, under the direction of 



