December 15, 1910] 



NATURE 



21 



subjected in each case; and it is therefore less 

 than the former figure by the smelting losses of 

 various kinds. The latter form of return would be 

 decidedly the more useful, but is the more ditticult to 

 obtain correctly. It is, however, essential that one 

 or other of these two methods be adopted, and not 

 sometimes the one and sometimes the other. 



The report also deals with the number of persons 

 employed in producing the mineral output of the 

 various countries, and there is perhaps no portion of 

 the statistical records before us in wnich more diver- 

 gent methods of enumeration are made use of. 

 Some countries return indiscriminately men, boys, 

 women, and girls, and , some Europeans and 

 natives all under the same heading, whilst 

 others separate these categories. In Germany 

 the usual practice is to return the full number 

 of all names on the register, ill or well, at 

 work or idle, working whole shifts or only parts, 

 working throughout the year or only for a portion, as 

 the number actually employed. The present writer 

 does not know with certainty what the practice is in 

 Great Britain, and doubts whether there is any gener- 

 ally accepted practice ; certainly there is none that 

 has legislative sanction. Most managers in this 

 country simply return the number of men on 

 their books on the day when the return is 

 made out ; a few seem to consider that the 

 number of shifts worked in the year divided by the 

 the number of shifts worked in the year 

 divided bv the number of actual working days. A 

 better method probably would be to take as the 

 average number of men employed daily the total 

 number of shifts worked in the year divided by the 

 number of possible working days. A still more exact 

 method has been proposed by some authorities, and 

 is carried out in some places on the Continent, 

 in connection with schemes of insurance, namely, 

 to take the total number of hours worked 

 in a year by the whole of the workpeople 

 employed, and to divide this figure by some standard 

 figure which shall represent the average number of 

 working hours in a year ; this average number might 

 for the United Kingdoin be taken as 2400, namely, 

 ^5oo days of eight hours. Obviously here, again, an 

 international agreement is indispensable. Further- 

 more, it is necessary to decide whether any, and if 

 so, which of the mine officials shall be included in 

 the list of mine workers ; the general practice appears 

 to be to include subordinate officials but none of the 

 staff and none of the office employes, but here again 

 much diversity of practice exists. 



Further difficulties arise with reference to the classi- 

 fication of mine workings, our distinction between, 

 mines and quarries being quite different from that 

 which obtains in other countries. There is no uni- 

 formity of practice in respect of the substances which 

 ought properly to be included in a return of mineral 

 output, and it is an open question whether, e.g. brick- 

 clay should be included as well as fire-clay, salt derived 

 from sea water as well as rock-salt, and so forth. 



Enough has been said to show that the figures in 

 the report before us must be used cautiously, and 

 that it is unwise to attempt to draw deductions from 

 them unless their meaning is quite fully understood in 

 each case. No doubt this fact detracts considerably 

 from the utility of such a report but it need hardlv 

 be said that not the slightest blame can be imputed 

 to those responsible for the report for the existing 

 state of affairs. The work of the statician should, 

 however, always be more than the mere unintelligent 

 accumulation of figures, and here there is ample scope 

 for someone who could persuade the principal mining 

 countries of the world to agree upon a common basis 



NO. 2146, VOL. 85] 



for drawing up the essential elements of mineral 

 records. 



.At the recent International Congress of Mining and 

 Metallurgy, the question of the unification of mineral 

 statistics occupied a prominent position, and, in fact, 

 the only resolution that was thought worthy of being 

 brought before the general meeting, and was 

 unanimously adopted, was to the effect that the con- 

 gress should urge upon the various Governments there 

 represented the importance of the adoption of an in- 

 ternational system. The report just published bv the 

 Home Office is only another proof, if such were 

 indeed needed, of the urgency of such a step, and it 

 is greatly to be desired that our Home Office would 

 take upon itself to lead the way in this matter. It 

 has for many years past made a special feature of the 

 collection of international mineral statistics, and it 

 would be eminently appropriate that Great Britain 

 should inaugurate an attempt to arrive at an inter- 

 national understanding ; there can be no doubt that 

 the other Great Powers interested in the question 

 would heartily welcome such a step, and that an 

 international commission could easily enough arrive 

 at a satisfactory arrangement. Until this has been 

 done, all the expense, care, and trouble involved in 

 I producing part iv. of the " Mines Reoort — Colonial and 

 j Foreign Statistics," must necessarily be to a large 

 ! extent wasted, since it cannot but fail in givine a 

 proper comparative view of the world's mineral in- 

 dustry. Henry Lolis. 



iVOT£5. 



The Times correspondent at Stockholm reports that th- 

 Nobel prizes, amounting to more than 8000J. each, wer^ 

 distributed by the King of Sweden on December 10 with 

 the usual ceremonial. All the prize-winners were present 

 to receive their prizes and give the statuton.- lecture, except 

 the winner of the prize for literature, Herr Paul Heyse, 

 who was prevented by his advanced age from attending. 

 The other recipients were Profs. Van der Waals Cphysic?), 

 Wallach (chemistry), and Kossel (medicine). 



The Physical Society's annual exhibition, which is to 

 be held on Tuesday, December 20, will be open both in 

 the afternoon (from 3 to 6 p.m.) and evening (from 7 to 

 10 p.m.). Prof. }. A. Fleming, F.R.S., will give a dis- 

 course at 4.15 p.m., and again at 8 p.m., on some 

 improvements in transmitters and receivers for wireless 

 telegraphy, and Mr. R. W. Paul will give a number of 

 kinematograph demonstrations of some physical pheno- 

 mena. Most of the leading makers of scientific instru- 

 ments are sending apparatus to the exhibition. 



The opening address by Dr. Muir, C.M.G., F.R.S., to 

 the South African .Association for the Advancement of 

 Science was delivered before a large audience in Cape 

 Town on the evening of October 31, the day of the arrival 

 of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to open the Union 

 Parliament. The main subject dealt with was " The 

 State's Duty to Science," and the South .African news- 

 papers all agree that nothing more important or more 

 suitable for the occasion could have been chosen. The 

 State was viewed in succession as an educationist, a land- 

 owner, a health guardian, and as a patron of pure science, 

 and under each head illustrations were given from the 

 past actions and present needs of Cape Colony. The 

 chief part of the address is reproduced elsewhere in this 

 issue. The Minister of the Interior, General Smuts, in 

 pioposing the usual vote of thanks, threw out some hope 

 that the day of university reform in South .Africa was not 



