112 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



the sources of information on early Indian history contained in manuscripts 

 written in Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese. To this end it has arranged 

 to have certain members of its staff instructed in Chinese and Japanese, 

 and has imported a learned doctor from the Monastery of Gaden, Tibet, to 

 give instruction in that language. The outstanding feature of the report is 

 the list of papers published by the Department of Physics in the University. 

 Prof. C. V. Raman and his research works have published i6 papers since 

 July 1919 and have 14 " under publication," while other members of the 

 staff have another 20 papers either published or in various stages of prepara- 

 tion. Sixteen of these have appeared in the standard English and American 

 journals. 



The report of the Fuel Research Board on The Winning, Preparation, and 

 Use of Peat in Ireland (H.M. Stationery Office, 35. net.) contains a very com- 

 plete account of the whole peat question so far as it affects Ireland. This 

 matter has, however, recently been dealt with in these " Notes " (Oct. 1920) in 

 connection with Prof, Purcell's lecture on The Peat Resources of Ireland. It 

 will therefore suffice if we summarise very briefly the recommendations of the 

 committee. They conclude that peat fuel may be won in Ireland on a scale 

 which would warrant the establishment of electric power stations at one or 

 more of the most favourably situated bogs. The peat winning should be 

 associated with the reclamation of land for agricultural purposes, and, to be 

 economically possible, must be carried out by machinery. This would lessen 

 the labour required, but the outstanding difficulty remains — namely, that 

 peat-winning is a seasonal occupation, making most of its demand on labour 

 from February to September. The committee, recognising this, and pointing 

 out that casual labour is a perpetual source of restlessness and discontent, 

 recommended that the peat industry should be coupled with an agricultural 

 colony in the hope that the two might be worked so as to supplement each 

 other. This suggestion, together with an estimate of the cost of running 

 an experimental colony at the Bog of Allen, was submitted to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, A sub-committee 

 of this department appointed to examine it very properly pointed out that, 

 since both agriculture and the peat industry require men during the same period 

 of the year, these industries could hardly supplement each other. Further, 

 it was shown that the cost of the experimental station had been most seriously 

 under-estimated. Here the matter appears to rest, except that the Fuel Board 

 has set up a Swedish peat machine at Turraun, and is experimenting at 

 Greenwich with the peat cut by it. 



We have received from the Fuel Research Board Technical Paper No. 1 

 (A new laboratory method for the assay of coal for carbonisation purposes) 

 and No. 2 (Report on the Simmance Total Heat Recording Calorimeter), and 

 from the Building Research Board its first Special Report (Sand-lime and other 

 concrete bricks). These papers contain detailed tests, descriptions, and 

 recommendations concerning the subjects with which they deal, and may all 

 be obtained from H.M. Stationery Office at a cost of a few pence. 



The inaugural meeting of the Institute of Physics was held on Wednesday, 

 April 27, in the rooms of the Institution of Civil Engineers. The chair was taken 

 by Sir R. T. Glazebrook, first President of the Institute, and the chief speakers 

 were Sir J. J. Thomson (the Honorary Fellow of the Institute) and Mr. A. J. 

 Balfour. 



Sir J.J. Thomson opened his remarks by referring to the very satisfactory 

 support the Institute had received from those qualified to join it. Its member- 

 ship roll contains 300 names, and, even including school teachers, it is estimated 

 that there are not more than 1,000 eligible persons in the country altogether. 

 He then went on, in a most amusing and interesting speech, to contrast the 

 condition of physical science as it exists to-day with its state when he com- 

 menced his scientific career some fifty years ago. In those days the only 



