174 



NA TURE 



[August 4, 1923 



Muszkat ; on the equilibrium of a radiating gaseous 

 sphere, by Mr. W. Pogorzclski. The original text is 

 in Polish ; there is, however, a French translation or 

 r6sum6 of every item. The Society has about 120 

 n\embers, and its address is 69 Hoza Street, Warsaw, 

 Poland, By strenuous and careful work, the Society 

 should do much to promote the progress of physical 

 science in Poland. 



On September 17-30, the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science will meet at Los 

 Angeles with the Pacific and South-western Divisions, 

 and a number of other societies are also gathering 

 at the same place. The path of totality of the total 

 eclipse of the sun on September 10 passes close by 

 Los Angeles, so many distinguished astronomers who 

 have journeyed to the neighbourhood for observ- 

 ing the eclipse are expected at the meeting. Ac- 

 cording to Science, Section D (Astronomy) is to hold 

 joint meetings with the American Astronomical 

 Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 

 at the University of Southern California, at the 

 Mount Wilson Observatory and at the California 

 Institute of Technology. A symposium on " Eclipses 

 and Relativity," at which Dr. W. W. Campbell, 

 president of the University of California, Dr. C. E. 

 St. John, of Mount Wilson Observatory, and Dr. 

 S. A. Mitchell, of the University of Virginia, are to 

 deliver addresses, has been arranged for the opening 

 day of the meeting. 



" ^OLUS," on whose letters in the Wimbledon 

 Borough News we commented in our issue of June 30, 

 p. 889, has addressed to us a further letter in which 

 he renews his protest against the by-pass road planned 

 alongside Beverley Brook, and bespeaks our sympathy 

 for the human users of Wimbledon Common no less 

 than for the other animals. Unless the whole of the 

 Fitzgeorge estate is bought for the public (a somewhat 

 hopeless hypothesis), there will be roads of some kind, 

 and we are not aware of any scheme better than that 

 which was reached by representatives of the varied 

 interests concerned. It has, we understand, been 

 proposed that a belt of trees shall be planted to screen 

 the road, a practicable measure which has our full 

 support. No excessive stream of motor cars is 

 anticipated, and indeed our own experience of 

 Wimbledon Common is that small boys and the 

 scatterers of paper are more destructive of its natural 

 peace and beauty than is any of the high-road traffic. 



It is curious how often scientific announcements 

 made in British journals are overlooked by the 

 general Press at home, but appear later as messages 

 " From our own Correspondent " abroad. An 

 example of this is a message from the New York 

 correspondent of the Times, published in the issue of 

 July 30, upon the discovery, by Prof. J. B. ColHp, of 

 an insulin-like plant hormone to which he gave the 

 name " Glucokinin." The discovery was described 

 by Prof. Collip in Nature of April 28, p. 571. It 

 seemed scarcely worth while, therefore, to cable from 

 New York that it " was announced here yesterday by 

 P^oi. J. J. Wiltman, of the University of Minnesota, 



NO. 2805, VOL. 112] 



through the American Chemical Society," especialh 

 as Prof. Collip's own letter of three months ai;o 

 provided much fuller information. 



Mk. Alf.c Ogilvik has been elected chairman of 

 the Royal Aeronautical Society for the year 1923- 

 1924, in succession to Prof. L. Bairstow. 



The Secretary of State for the Colonies has 

 appointed Lieut. J. R. Stenhouse to be master of 

 the research ship Discovery, which, as announced 

 in Nature of April 21, p. 540, is to proceed to th< 

 neighbourhood of South Georgia and the South 

 Shetlands in order to obtain scientific evidence 

 bearing on the whaling problem. 



' With reference to a note in Nature (July 7, p. 19) 

 on the work in archaeology of the late Prince of 

 Monaco, Mr. F. Fawcett writes that while the excava- 

 tion of the caves and the collection of the relics are 

 due to the Prince, the building in which they art- 

 stored was constructed through the liberality of the 

 late Sir Thomas Hanbury of La Mortola. 



The Department of Scientific and Industrial 

 Research requires a research engineer to take charge 

 of the Building Research Board's Experimental 

 Station, East Acton. Candidates should be honours 

 graduates in civil engineering, or possess equivalent 

 qualifications, and if possible have had experience 

 in research in building materials and construction. 

 Applications, with testimonials, etc., must be made 

 in writing by, at latest, August 20, to the Secretary, 

 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 

 t6 Old Queen Street, S.W.i. 



Applications are invited for the Yarrow scholar- 

 ships in connexion with the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers. The scholarships vary in value from 50/. 

 to 100/. per annum and are open to British subjects 

 who, desiring to become engineers, lack sufficient 

 means to enable them to pursue their practical or 

 scientific training. The regulations concerning the 

 scholarships are obtainable from the Secretary of 

 the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George 

 Street, Westminster, S.W.i. The latest date for 

 the receipt of applications is September 30. 



The following awards have been made by the 

 Royal College of Physicians : The Baly gold medal, 

 given every alternate year to the person who shall be 

 deemed to have most distinguished himself in the 

 science of physiology during the two years immediately 

 preceding the award, to Mr. J. Barcroft ; the Bisset- 

 Hawkins medal, bestowed triennially on some duly 

 qualified practitioner, who is a British subject, and 

 who has, during the preceding ten years, done such 

 work in advancing sanitary science or in promoting 

 public health as, in the opinion of the College, deserves 

 special recognition, to Dr. T. M. Legge. The Harveian 

 Oration on St. Luke's Day will be delivered by Prof. 

 E. H. Starling. 



In connexion with the visit of members of the 

 Society of Glass Technolog>^ to France, during the 

 first week of July, two meetings with French glass 



