September 29, 192 1] 



NATURE 



161 



instead of a man of science, and we may put our own 

 interpretation upon this view. Sir Thomas Holland 

 appears, however, to have consulted two members of 

 the Viceroy's Council, one of whom was probably the 

 legal member, before censuring the official and firms 

 involved in the Calcutta munitions case, and the 

 gravitv of his offence was that he did not consult the 

 \'iceroy himself. But surely it is the duty of the 

 legal member of the Council to advise his non-legal 

 colleagues, and if Sir Thomas Holland had his ap- 

 proval that ought to have been sufficient. If nothing 

 can be done in India without consulting the Viceroy 

 personally, administration will be slower than ever. 

 The truth seems to be that Sir Thomas Holland made 

 many enemies by his attacks on profiteers, and their 

 hostility, with that which lawyer administrators often 

 displav towards scientific men who enter what they 

 consider to be their own special preserves, has resulted 

 in the removal of one who was to them a troublesome 

 Minister. Whatever may be said in favour of the 

 strictlv legal view of the case, common sense is on the 

 side of Sir Thomas Holland, who may be assured that 

 his action will be supported by scientific workers everj-- 

 where. The claim that a Minister of Industries 

 should necessarily be a lawyer is one against which 

 we must enter the strongest protest both on account 

 of science and of efficiency, ^^'e trust that when Par- 

 liament meets the whole question will be raised in 

 the interests of probity and justice. 



The announcement in the Times of September 24 

 of the successful synchronisation of speech and action 

 in kinematography by means of photographic films 

 bearing suitable sound records is the natural outcome 

 of the work expended on this problem in numerous 

 different countries. Sweden, through MM. Bergland 

 and Frestadius, has apparently been fortunate enough 

 to reach success first. It is indeed surprising that 

 the achievement has been so long delayed. Speakixig- 

 films, apart from synchronisation, have been in exist- 

 ence for a long time, having been first made by Ernst 

 Riihmer about 1900, and called by him the "photo- 

 graphophone." Riihmer made his films by photo- 

 graphing upon them the fluctuating light proceeding 

 from a "speaking arc," and the reproduction was 

 effected by making use of the well-known property of 

 selenium of controlling a telephonic current when 

 actuated by variable illumination. More recently 

 (Proc. Phys. Soc., vol. 32, p. 78) Prof. A. O. Rankine 

 has nxade speaking-films by a different method, in 

 which the voice imposes fluctuations of intensity on 

 a beam of light issuing from a constant source, the 

 reproduction from the film record again being by means 

 of selenium. The whole problem is closely related to 

 telephony by light, of which a description was given 

 in Nature of February 5, 1920 (vol. 104, p. 604). In 

 photo-telephony the speech is transmitted by light and 

 reproduced immediately ; in speaking-films a photo- 

 graphic record is made for future reproduction. The 

 Times article does not make quite clear bv what 

 process M. Bergland makes the sound-film, but it 

 probably does not differ fundamentally from those 

 previously used. The novelty of M. Bergland 's work 

 appears to be the successful realisation of synchronism 

 NO. 2709. VOL. 108] 



between the picture-bearing and the sound-record- 

 bearing films. This has been done by the obvious 

 method of running the two films on the same shaft, 

 both during the taking of the double record of action 

 and speech and during reproduction. In addition, 

 sufficient valve amplification to actuate a loud-speaking 

 telephone has been successfully applied to the selenium- 

 controlled currents. 



A PUBLIC meeting was held in Edinburgh on Septem- 

 ber 13 last under the auspices of the National Union of 

 Scientific Workers, when Prof. H. Levy delivered an 

 address entitled "The Function of the Scientist in 

 Organised Research." Prof. Levy laid stress on the 

 fact that by research new fields of inquirv' were being 

 opened up and new crafts being created. The status of 

 the work itself, as well as that of the worker, must 

 therefore receive consideration. Any tendencv to make 

 research a commercial undertaking was deprecated as 

 liable to stifle investigations of fundamental import- 

 ance, though possibly of an abstract nature. For the 

 direction of research it was suggested that the best 

 administrators would be men of scientific attainments 

 who understood the conditions best adapted for good 

 work ; men of science must therefore be trained in 

 administration. On the other hand, the idea of train- 

 ing the administrator in research was regarded as out 

 of the question, the two faculties being, when ap- 

 proached in this order, diametrically opposed. As 

 regards the status of the research worker, it was main- 

 tained that such security of tenure must be granted as 

 would admit of unfettered criticism, and that the re- 

 muneration attached to appointments of a scientific 

 nature, whether administrative or practical, should 

 correspond with that attached to posts of a similar 

 grade in other branches of Government service. The 

 co-operation of men of science of all kinds was neces- 

 sary in order to promote the interests of research. 



Dispatches from Col. Howard Bury to the Times 

 describe the further efforts of the Mount Everest 

 Expedition to find a practicable route to the summit 

 of the mountain. Unfavourable weather at the 

 end of August having interfered with mountain 

 climbing. Col. Howard Bury and Mr. Wollaston ex- 

 plored the lower valley of the Kamachu from the 

 expedition's base at Kharta. They crossed the Sam- 

 junla at 15,000 ft. and the Chogla at 16,100 ft., 

 reaching a remarkable lake called Ruddamlamtso, 

 which is regarded as holy and is the destination of 

 annual pilgrimages. Two thousand feet above the 

 lake is the village of Sakideng, once a place of con- 

 siderable size, but now practically deserted since a 

 pestilence wiped out the inhabitants. From Sakideng 

 Col. Bury descended the Kama and Kamachu valleys, 

 which were found to be densely forested. The Arun 

 Valley was reached at about 7500 ft. The village of 

 Lungdoe, some 4000 ft. above the river, was found 

 to lie in a region of great fertilitv and luxuriant crops 

 of millet, cucumbers, and pumpkins. 



Later news from Col. Howard Bur}-, published in 

 the Times, is to the effect that the approach to Mount 

 Everest up the Kamachu or Shinchu Valley, indicated 



