264 



NATURE 



[April 20, 191 1 



undergo s}>ontaneuus disruption like thoir parents. Recent 



as \\\\s theory of succo&^ive atomic transformation is, it 



may be regarded as proved; proved by matheniaii 



analysis and quantitative obstrvations, provd by its • 



planation of a V • ' - ' • I phenomena, j):-- ! '• 



successlul predi' iisly unknown 



haps th' most 1: .ilxiut it is ill.. 



and t 



mutai 



learn- 



^oinj^ 



UtilisUi^ ill' iiii<nsi- >iiii^\ v)i iiiir ii.iiul.u 



formations of radium, or its emanation. 



in irin.;r-.>uiiiL' the lifr-hi.stt>r\ of tilh- r . ,..^,, 



,r lull would other- 



u :..iii(>n altogether. 



K ih: i-l.i'ilion, and has ^<>t 



s. lilts, but it i.s ti.M> early ii> 



.s|.' aiv wiiii t-criai!i;\ oi iii';: lui-ailin^. Oil'; cM'-Ilsioil of 

 I 111- disintegration ih'or\, lioui\<r, s.-.-ms iinavoid- 

 ..able. I li<' iM>W' 1 I'l sj)oniani(>us disniplion, inv<ilvini4 lln- 

 creatii nis (Uil <>t oM, ran hardls Ih llir 



excUis! .ir:i-r;ini, r.idiuin, tliuriuin, ,iiul a f.\v 



otiicr '.l::;;^:!;. ■ • Weight; il must rather be 



an lull' r< lit pixi; .,• in-rally. 



rill- i)r'-..,i(|i'ni (i.is.ii \\i;ii .1 I, w ii'inarks of loial intf-rr-st. 



riir i^rcat advanci-s that 1 lia\'' sl<tjtchrd, " he said, " an-, 

 of cuursi , at irihiilalilf in thr main to I'luropcan worl-ci-rs. 

 \rt wc may, 1 think, t.il-co some satisfaction in th-- fact 

 that I'-.ilIiits and students of tlie universities in this part 

 of the world, or graduates who have gone home from here, 

 have contributed somewhat from time to time. I h<-se 

 Australasian contributions include work on the general 

 theory of solution, on the mobilities of ions, on electrode 

 potentials, on conductivity in aqueous and other solutions, 

 on the dynamics of chemical change, on gaseous ions, and 

 on radio-active phenomena. The older universities of Aus- 

 tralasia are growing, and new ones are arising, as in 

 Brisbane and Perth. Naturally and inevitably there is a 

 tendency nowadays to ask of universities a greatly increased 

 attention to more utilitarian developments of science. It is 

 so in England, where, for instance, the University of 

 Sheffield devotes a great department to the metallurgy of 

 iron and that of Leeds cultivates its schools of textile 

 fabrics, <!\' ini;, and domestic economy. It is so in Aus- 

 trali.'i, w'.ier. there is a steady pressure put upon the 

 universities to develop increasingly on the lines of technical 

 schools. All this is, doubtless, as it must be ; but it is 

 beset with a certain danger. The risk is that the whole 

 energies of these institutions, where teachers are always too 

 Tew, and equipment is never too plentiful, will be directed 

 towards the useful applications of science, and science itself 

 will be neglected. 1 hi-, if it occurs, will be a pitiful result, 

 and will not tend to raise Australia among the intellectual 

 countries of the world. Let us be a practical people and 

 have due regard to utility ; but let us also have some means 

 and leisure to cultivate the vastly more interesting in- 

 utilities, for hus only can we hope to increase Australasia's 

 contribution to the true advancement of science." 



The evening lectures were two in number, one on January 

 lo, by Prof. G. C. Henderson, professor of history in the 

 University of Adelaide, who chose for his subject the 

 " Mutation Theory of Evolution in History." The lecturer 

 said that from 1870 onwards evolutionary philosophy has 

 pervaded all departments of intellectual activity, and has 

 stimulated patient and painstaking research in all directions. 

 Physical evolution, or evolution in the organic world, was 

 one thing ; psychical evolution, or evolution of human life 

 aiid affairs, was another and very different thing. He 

 wished, he said, to state plainly that they could not apply 

 the current theories of organic evolution to the history of 

 any race of human beings. Few people would care to denv 

 that the champions of the cwganic theory of evolution had 

 rendered invaluable service, not only to science, but even 

 to religion. They had challenged and laid low many a 

 doctrine that was little better than a superstition ; they 

 had forced religious men to discriminate more carefully 

 between what is metaphorically and what is literally true; 

 and they had converted many an ignorant dogmatist into 

 an earnest and reasonable seeker after truth. But it must 

 not be imagined that victory had been all on one side. By 



NO. 2164, "^OL. 86] 



.. diMerefiLvb b' ' 

 ir from recent ; 

 ;.).; iiiinkers in thy jii-.iiv.n uin ui.uoj.;, 

 1' di^<po!>ed to reckon with the influe-rK 



-l\ more fr.'iiiklv .ind full', than :h' -. 



Munedm, prulessur uf ;;eokij;) in i;.- 

 iand, who cho>e for Ins subjcti, " ' 

 iiu .-Vlps," which was illustrated by soju- oi i.ie .-; 

 irkably beautiful slides that have ever been produ i 

 I wonderful region. 



J lie evening of January 13 was devoted to a combined 

 con\'-rs,i/i()iii- ■fi'tvn bv the asstxiation and the Royal Soci'fiy 

 of N. \v .South the Great Hall of the University, 



when a nuinl' .its were shown in the hall itself, 



and, in addition, trie laboratories of the en;:' 

 biological, and physics schools were thrown ojc 



J. T. Lahy c'.vhibited a fine model of the Brennan i:.-j 



During the evening th'- Muell. r memorial medai, "for 

 researches in natural scienc-," \>.as presented by the Presi- 

 de 111 (I'ruf. Masson) tu .Mr. Keib-ri Ktheridge, curator <>( 

 til.- .\ustralian Museum, in reioj^nition of his researches in 

 ji.il.i'ontology and .Australian ethnography. 



The following extracts from the presidential address.-s 

 in the various sections will fiv- s^mm,. \Af.^ of the wide 

 scope of the meeting. 



In .Section A, Prof. I.nViv d 'v-cent .^dva^c.•^ 



in Physi ting to find, said Prof. 



Laby, tli. he. Australasian universi- 



ties are advancing science m all p;irts of the world. y\'< 

 of the theories and discoveries in radio-activity we < 

 to Prof. Rutherford (Chri.stchurch) ; new views .?- '- 

 conduction of electricity through gases to Prof. 

 (Sydney); important contributions to the theory o: 

 President Maclaurin (Auckland) ; many and varied re- 

 searches in ionisation to Dr. Kleeman (.Adelaide) ; tli" 

 organisation of metallurgical research at the Natior.al 

 Physical Laboratory. London, to Dr. Rosenhain (M !- 

 bourne); the estabUshment of an institution for the trair -i^ 

 of those engaged in optical industries of London to Mr. 

 Chalmers (Sydney); of spectroscopic research to P.'"f. 

 Du(!ield (Adelaide); while Gray (Melbourne), Lusby (S -i- 

 ney), Glasson (Adelaide), Florance (New Zealand), are ■]' 

 contributing researches in physics from various En;: 

 laboratories. It is to be hoped, he continued, that in 

 future an increasing amount of such investigations wi'; 

 carried out in Australasian laboratories, so that :: 

 laboratories will < <>me to be generally regarded not mc: ;• 

 as places wh ng knowledge is expounded, but 



where new kn s obtained, where there flourishtKi 



an enlightening spirit of investigation. "When our labora-,. 

 tones come to be generally regarded in the light I have^ 

 described, it can but increase their reputation in all direc- 

 tions and make the community have that confidence in 

 science which is so typical of the German people, and so 

 intimately connected with their unprecedented industrial 

 progress." 



In Section B, Prof. Bertram Steele chose for his subject^ 

 " Inorganic Solvents." He said the solubility of a pure* 

 substance depends very obviously on the nature of the- 

 solvent. We thought of barium sulphate as being a most 

 insoluble salt, being insoluble in weak or strong acid or 

 alkaline solutions ; but it should be borne in mind that 

 all such solutions contained water, and by the substitution 

 of pure sulphuric acid for the water it would be found 

 that a large quantity of barium sulphate could be got 

 into solution. Liquefied ammonia, largely used at present 

 on the commercial scale for the manufacture of ice, was; 

 a solvent of quite unique properties, and it has been found 

 that two classes of substances, which from the study of 

 their reactions alone or in water solutions were classified 

 as " acid amides " and ammonium salts, would be regarded 

 to-day as something equivalent to the acids had they been 

 first investigated in liquefied ammonia. .Ml facts pointed 

 to the conclusion that the nature of the solvent plays a 

 most important part in conditioning the behaviour of a 

 given substance in solution. The result of recent work in 

 this field showed that present theories were likely to be 



