NOTES 109 



or the attempt to grant free first-class fares to all members of Parliament 

 irrespective of their ability to pay for themselves. 



From leaflets circulated by the Department of Scientific and Industrial 

 Research we note that twenty-three Research Associations have now been 

 licensed by the Board of Trade. The Jute Industry Research Association 

 and the Cast Iron Research Association have been approved by the Depart- 

 ment but have not yet been licensed, while the Aircraft Association and the 

 Research Association of Liquid Fuels for Oil Engines are still under considera- 

 tion. The Lord President of the Council has established an Inter-Depart- 

 mental Committee on Patents with the following terms of reference : " (i) To 

 consider the methods of dealing with inventions made by workers aided or 

 maintained from public funds, whether such workers be engaged (a) as research 

 workers, or (b) in some other technical capacity, so as to give a fair reward to 

 the inventor and thus encourage further effort, to secure the utilisation in 

 industry of suitable inventions and to protect the national interest. (2) To 

 outline a course of procedure in respect of inventions arising out of State- 

 aided or supported work, which shall further these aims and be suitable for 

 adoption by all Government Departments concerned." 



It is also announced that the first B. A. report on Colloid Chemistry and its 

 Applications will be reprinted by H.M. Stationery Of&ce, to which, therefore, 

 applications for copies (price 2s. 6d.) should be made either direct or through 

 any bookseller. 



In a paper read before the Historical Section of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science entitled, " Sir William Osier's Last Historical 

 Discovery," Mr. J. Christian Bay dealt with Osier's research on the work of 

 Nicholas of Cusa (1401-64). It appears that Cusa possessed some know- 

 ledge of static electricity, that he performed experiments, and in general was 

 far in advance of his time in his ideas on magnetism. He may be regarded as 

 having anticipated Gilbert by some 150 years ; but the fact that it has taken 

 over 500 years to bring his discoveries to light removes a good deal of their 

 value ! 



A. T. Dempster, of the Ryerson Laboratory, Chicago, announces that he 

 has been able to confirm Aston's discovery that lithium consists of two isotopes 

 of atomic weights 6 and 7 (with a relative accuracy of 2 parts in 700) . He 

 found also that the proportions of the lighter to the heavier atoms varies 

 from 1:4 to I : 12 according to the experimental conditions. To give the 

 accepted atomic weight for lithium (6-94) the portion of the lighter constitu- 

 ent should be, however, only xV that of the stronger. 



During the war it became necessary to apply a Brinell hardness test to 

 materials whose softness or thinness made it impossible to apply this test in 

 its usual form. A machine for use in these cases was devised by Messrs. H. 

 Moore and R. Mather at the Research Department, Woolwich, and described 

 by the former to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in January 192 1. 

 The machine, modified for general use, is now manufactured by Alfred Herbert, 

 Ltd., of Coventry, to whom we are indebted for the following particulars : 

 The hardness of the specimen is estimated from the size of the dent made 

 when a very small steel ball (e.g. of i mm, diameter) is pressed on to its surface 

 by a dead load not greater than 50 kilograms weight. This depression is so 

 small that the thickness of the specimen need not exceed one-hundredth of an 

 inch. The test has been applied to cutlery blades, to phosphor-bronze hair- 

 springs, and to brass cartridge cases in their finished state (i.e. when ready for 

 firing). It is also being used to explore strain hardening. The degree of 

 hardening by plastic deformation of metals generally increases with increasing 

 amounts of permanent strain. Thus if a metal object, originally of uniform 

 hardness, is unequally strained, the distribution of strain will usually be 

 indicated by differences in hardness from point to point. It is evident 

 that this small ball testing machine provides a most convenient method of 



