August 4, 1923] 



NA TURE 



^7S 



manufacturers were held on Monday, July 2. In the 

 morning the visiting party was received by the 

 Chambre Syjidicale des Maitres Verreries, and was 

 welcomed by its president, M. L. Houdaille, who 

 described to the visitors how the French glass manu- 

 facturers are all united in one body— the Chambre 

 Syndicale — which is divided into six sections repre- 

 senting various branches of the industry. The work 

 of these sections is organised in such a way as to 

 prevent ruinous competition between members, and 

 at the same time encourages individual research and 

 development. In the afternoon a joint meeting was 

 held with the Societe des Ingenieurs Civils, in the 

 course of which the following papers were presented : 

 " La Methode Scientifique dans ITndustrie," by 

 Prof. H. Le Chatelier ; " Les Verres, Opaques et 

 Colores, et les Glacures Ceramiques de Meme Espece," 

 by Dr. A. Granger ; "La Dilatation des Verres et 

 Cristaux," by M. Lafon ; "Specifications for Glass 

 Products," by Prof. W. E. S. Turner; " Improve- 

 ments in the Design of Recuperative Glass Pot 

 Furnaces," by Mr. T. Teisen ; and "The Physical 

 Properties of Boric Oxide Glasses," by Mr. S. English 

 and Prof. W. E. S. Turner. During the week, visits 

 were paid to glass works at St. Denis, Rheims, 

 Chantereine, St. Gobain, Chauny, and Cirey. A visit 

 was also paid to the sand quarries at Nemours and 

 to the forest and castle of Fontainebleau. Altogether, 

 some thirty British members of the Society and their 

 friends took part in the visit. Encouraged by the 

 success of this and the visit in 1920 to America, it 

 is proposed to arrange other tours as opportunity 

 arises. 



A MEMORANDUM regarding the probable amount of 

 monsoon rainfall in 1923 was submitted, in the early 

 part of June, to the Government of India by Mr. 

 J. H. Field, officiating Director-General of Observa- 

 tories. For the purpose of a forecast of the monsoon, 

 India is divided into five sections, and the several 

 conditions which are favourable for the various 

 sections are given — the conditions ranging over a 

 large part of the globe, and at different seasons of 

 the year. It is noted that a marked feature of the 

 weather in May was the comparative absence of 

 temporary advances of the monsoon in the Arabian 

 Sea, where the monsoon proper was behind time. 

 Details are given of the influencing conditions in 

 different parts of the globe, and from these it is 

 concluded that there would be some delay in the 

 establishment of normal monsoon conditions within 

 the Indian area, but it was estimated that the delay 

 was not likely to be prolonged. With regard to the 

 total amount of monsoon rainfall, it seemed that in 

 the Peninsula there should be a small excess, with a 

 corresponding excess in Mysore and Malabar. For 

 northern India and Burma no forecast could be 

 issued. Recent telegraphic communications from 

 Bombay received in the middle and towards the end 

 of July state that the agricultural outlook is now 

 satisfactory over almost the whole of the Bombay 

 Presidency, where enough or more than enough rain 

 has fallen nearly everywhere. According to usual 

 custom a further monsoon forecast will be issued 

 NO. 2805, VOL. I 12] 



in August ; past experience shows that the earlier 

 forecast issued in June is usually on the whole the 

 more successful. 



A MURAL tablet to the memory of the great 

 naturalists and lifelong friends — Frederick Du Cane 

 Godman and Osbert Salvin — was unveiled at the 

 Natural History Museum on July 28 by Lord Roth- 

 schild, and was accepted by the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury on behalf of the Trustees of the British 

 Museum. Upon the death in 1919 of Godman, who 

 was for many years a Trustee and a generous bene- 

 factor to the Museum, a Committee was set up with 

 the object of placing in the building a memorial to 

 him and to Salvin, who had died in 1898, and it was 

 decided to use the balance of the money collected as 

 the nucleus of an exploration fund for the benefit of 

 the Museum ; to this Fund Dame Alice and the 

 Misses Godman later added the sum of 5000/. The 

 memorial was designed by Sir Thomas Brock, and 

 after his death the task was completed by Mr. Arnold 

 Wright. Godman and Salvin, both of whom were 

 fellows of the Royal Society, will be remembered for 

 the remarkable work entitled " Biologia Centrali- 

 Americana," which was planned by them, and finally 

 completed by Godman after Salvin's death. It 

 consists of sixty-three volumes ; the first forms the 

 introduction, fifty-one deal with zoology, five with 

 botany, and six with archaeology. For the work the 

 aid of many specialists was called in, but Godman 

 and Salvin themselves undertook the chapters on 

 birds and diurnal lepidoptera. The whole of their 

 marvellous neo-tropical collection was presented to 

 the Natural History Museum ; many of the specimens 

 they had themselves collected during their travels 

 in Central America and Mexico. In addition, 

 Godman's gifts to the Museum were many and 

 valuable. The tablet hangs on the wall at the head 

 of the main stairs in the Central Hall on the east side 

 of the statue of Darwin. 



The Report for the year 1922 of the National 

 Physical Laboratory extends to 227 pages and is 

 provided with an index of 24 pages. Sufficient 

 information is given to allow the reader to understand 

 the methods in use at the Laboratory and to follow 

 the advances made. The diagrams and illustrations 

 add materially to the value of the report from this 

 point of view. The number of tests made during the 

 year is still on the down grade, as one would expect 

 from the statistics of trade. The various research 

 boards and government departments continue to 

 depend on the Laboratory for the conduct of the 

 investigations they initiate, but the Executive Com- 

 mittee has found it advisable to appoint a research 

 committee consisting of Sirs J. J. Thomson, W. H. 

 Bragg and E. Rutherford to assist in the organisation 

 of research at the Laboratory. This committee has 

 made valuable suggestions as to the future work and 

 needs of the Laboratory. There have been few 

 changes in the senior staff during the year, and those 

 that have taken place are due to other government 

 departments claiming men with special knowledge. 

 An extension of the metallurgy building which had 



