December i, 1923] 



NA TURE 



793 



A Suggested Modification of "Proton" to 

 " Prouton " as a Memorial to William Prout. 



The amazing advances in our knowledge of the 

 composition and structure of matter achieved during 

 the past few decades constitute an important, if not 

 quite final, step toward the establishment of the 

 essential unity of the physical universe. 



In reviewing the epoch-making work of J. J. 

 Thomson, whose electrical theory of matter under- 

 lies all recent developments in this field, with that of 

 Rutherford, Ramsay, Soddy, Aston, and others in 

 England and elsewhere, one should not be unmindful 

 of the contribution made over a century ago by his 

 compatriot, Wilham Prout, an early apostle of unity. 



To all students of chemistry Front's hypothesis, 

 published in i8i6, to the effect that all of the elements 

 are formed from hydrogen by some process of con- 

 densation or grouping, has been familiar by reason of 

 the stimulus it has afforded to accurate experimental 

 work. Relegated for many years to the limbo of 

 discarded theories, it has at last emerged to increased 

 plausibility. Although of necessity less specific than 

 the hydrogen-helium theory of Harkins, it is corre- 

 spondingly simpler, and equally valid if the helium 

 atom, with its four protons and four electrons, be 

 regarded as an intra-atomic polymeride or condensa- 

 tion product of hydrogen. However intricately the 

 more densely populated communities of protons and 

 electrons may be arranged in the heavier atoms, the 

 one proton and one electron of the atom of hydrogen 

 certainly constitute the " first pair " in the chemical 

 Garden of Eden, or present the first stage in the 

 upward evolution of the elements. 



In recognition of the genius and insight of William 



Prout it is suggested herewith that the name " proton " 



"recently assigned to the unit charge of positive elec- 



icity, be modified, with some small sacrifice of 

 'etymological accuracy, to " prouton," a term with 

 distinctive historical connotation. 



Arthur Wesley Browne. 



Cornell University, 

 Ithaca. N.Y., U.S.A. 



An Uncommon Type of Cloud. 



In Nature of November 17, p. 725, Dr. Lockyer 

 puts forward a suggestion as to the physics of the 

 formation of " mammato-cumulus " cloud, namely, 

 that it is formed by descent of moist air into colder air 

 below, when there is a reversed vertical temperature 

 gradient, in the same way that " cumulus " clouds 

 are formed by an ascent of warm air (when there is 

 a normal temperature gradient) into colder air above. 



rAny satisfactory explanation of the formation of 

 this type of cloud would be welcome, but surely 

 " cumulus " clouds are formed by the adiabatic 

 cooling when moist air rises to a place where the 

 atmospheric pressure is lower. The general decrease 

 of temperature upwards is only necessary to make 

 such ascent of air possible. A descent of air, such 

 as Dr. Ixjckyer suggests, must be accompanied by 

 adiabatic warming, since the pressure is increased 

 whatever the general vertical temperature gradient 

 may be. It is true that some cloucl might be formed 

 by the mixing which might occur at the surface 

 of separation between two masses of nearly saturated 

 air at different temperatures, but this would not be 

 expected to form the dense globules of cloud actually 

 seen with this type of cloud formation. 



G. M. B. DoBSON, 

 Robinwood, Boar's Hill, Oxford, 

 November 17. 



NO. 2822, VOL. 112] 



In mv letter which appeared in Nature of November 

 17 I referred to Mr. Arthur Clayden as " the late, 

 when actually he is very much alive. How I came to 

 make this error I cannot understand, but I was most 

 probably thinking of Mr. Clayden as the late Prmcipal 

 of the Universitv College, Exeter, and so made the 

 mistake. I much regret the error, and shall be 

 glad if this correction of it can appear in an early 

 issue of Nature. William J. S. Lockyer. 



Norman Lockyer Observatory. 



Sidmouth, S. Devon, 



November 20. 



National Certificates in Chemistry. 



I HAVE observed on page 610 of Nature for October 

 27 a reference to the scheme of examinations for 

 national certificates in chemistry. 



The writer of the article, upon the basis of an 

 expression of opinion commencing with the word 

 " apparently," proceeds to criticise something on 

 which he is not fully informed. The scheme ts 

 " designed to secure all the advantages of internal 

 examinations and of reasonable freedom in the 

 arrangement of the courses of work to meet local 

 conditions and needs," and the writer need not fear 

 that there is any truth in the suggestion that before 

 courses of study are recognised they are modified or 

 mutilated by the Board of Education. 



So far as national certificates in chemistry and the 

 courses leading thereto are concerned, the Board acts 

 only in conjunction with the Institute of Chemistry. 



The experience of the first two examinations for 

 such certificates has amply demonstrated the useful- 

 ness of the scheme. No complaint of bureaucratic 

 intervention has been submitted either to the Board 

 or to the Institute. 



So far from insisting on " that machine-like uni- 

 formity beloved by bureaucrats," the examination 

 papers have, in fact, been set either by the local 

 schools or by their own affiliated groups — such as the 

 Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes. 



The view of the writer as to the need of " some 

 measure of central control and to some sound and 

 official organisation " is incontestable : those de- 

 siderata are precisely those which the scheme is 

 designed to attain. Richard B. Pilcher, 



Registrar and Secretary. 

 Institute of Chemistry, 

 30 Russell Square, London, W.C.i, 

 November 13. 



Mr. Pilcher will know that before an educational 

 institution can submit candidates for national certifi- 

 cates the course of study proposed must be approved 

 by the Board. This, of course, is absolutely necessary 

 and desirable, but it is at this stage that modifications 

 may be suggested by the Board — the alternative to 

 acceptance being refusal to place the institution 

 concerned on the approved list. I do not suppose for 

 one moment that modifications of courses proposed 

 are not necessary sometimes, but I do suggest that 

 the trend of the modifications is towards uniformity 

 of syllabuses. 



I have no suggestions to make, at present, on the 

 actual conduct of the examinations, and. I know that 

 the papers are set by the local schools and assessed 

 by gentlemen whose work is not questioned. My 

 reference was made distinctly to the pre-recognition 

 stage, and I can assure Mr. Pilcher that I did not 

 write without some knowledge. 



I would also point out that I was referring to 

 complete courses of work — including subjects ancillary 

 to the main subject, and covering a period of fron\ three 

 to five years. The Writer of the Article. 



N' 2 



