I 62 



NATURE 



[September 29, 192 1 



by the local inhabitants, proved to be useless. No 

 possible way was discovered of ascending the cliffs 

 surrounding the Kamgshung glacier. Attention was 

 then turned to the upper valley of the Kharta, about 

 which nothing could be learnt from the inhabitants. 

 Ascending the glacier at the head of the valley the 

 explorers ascended gentle slopes through deep snow 

 to a col at 23,000 ft., from which it appeared possible 

 to reach the northern ridge of Mount Everest. Soft 

 snow and warm weather prevented any further ad- 

 vance, so that efforts were concentrated on preparing 

 a -base as high as possible. With this end in view 

 a camp was established about eighteen miles up the 

 Kharta Valley at about 17,500 ft., a second camp at 

 about 20,000 ft., and a third camp at the 23,0'oo-ft. 

 col. It is possible a fourth camp was to be* made 

 between 23,000-24,000 ft. on the slopes of Mount 

 Everest itself. Messrs. Mallory and Bullock left 

 Kharta on August 31 for the advanced camp to await 

 suitable weather conditions. Mr. Raeburn has re- 

 joined the expedition. 



The Quest, with the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition 

 on board, was given an enthusiastic send-off on leav- 

 ing Plymouth for the south on September 24. The 

 first stage of the journey is to the Salvage Island, a 

 small group of rocky islets occasionally visited by 

 Portuguese fishermen, but otherwise uninhabited, 

 lying 160 miles south of Madeira and 85 miles from 

 Teneriffe. From there the Quest will sail via St. 

 Paul's Rocks, South Trinidad, Tristan da Cunha, and 

 Gough Island to Cape Town, where she is due about 

 December i. Sir Ernest Shackleton announces that 

 the expedition is fully equipped for deep-sea research 

 and meteorological work, and will pay particular 

 attention to magnetic observations. In wireless equip- 

 ment the ship has two transmitting sets, one with a 

 night range of 2000 miles, a receiving set fixed on 

 board, two shore sets which can if necessary be used 

 in her lifeboats, and a small set for the seaplane. A 

 slight change in plans is announced ; after returning 

 from the Weddell Sea via South Georgia and Bouvet 

 Island the Quest will visit Cape Town a second time 

 before leaving for the Marion and Heard Islands and 

 the Pacific. 



The number of ordinary scientific meetings of the 

 Chemical Society to be held during the coming year 

 has been increased with the object of affording greater 

 facilities for papers to be read before the society. 

 The first meeting will be held at Burlington House on 

 Thursday, October 6, at 8 p.m. Following the custom 

 of the last few years, the council has again arranged 

 for the delivery during the session of three special 

 lectures which, by the courtesy of the council of the 

 Institution of Mechanical Engineers, will be held in 

 the lecture-hall of that institution (Storey's Gate, 

 S.W.i). The first, entitled "The Genesis of Ores," 

 will be delivered by Prof. J. W. Gregory on Thursday, 

 December 8, at 8 p.m. On February 9th, 1922, Sir 

 Ernest Rutherford will lecture on " Artificial Dis- 

 integration of Elements"; while the last lecture, by 

 Dr. H. H. Dale, entitled "Chemical and Physiological 

 Properties," will be held on June 8, 1922. 

 NO. 2709, VOL. 108] 



The Scientific and Technical Group (of members) 

 of the Royal Photographic Society has just issued the 

 third quarterly number of '"Photographic Abstracts." 

 It contains nearly 300 classified abstracts of pub- 

 lications concerning photography from practical and 

 theoretical points of view, besides descriptions of the 

 published resuks of those whose pleasure or duty it 

 is to investigate the innumerable scientific problems 

 connected with photography and its applications to 

 the various branches of science and industry. There 

 is also a classified list of about ninety recently 

 issued patents, which deal chiefly with details of 

 mechanism, given in title only, with full information 

 as to the country of origin, the date and the official 

 number, and finally an index of authors' names. 

 Practically speaking, the journal is a descriptive index 

 of the progress of photography in all its various 

 aspects and applications, and it should meet with a 

 wide appreciation, not only by photographers, but also 

 by students, scientific investigators, photographic 

 manufacturers, and those engaged in any industry in 

 which photography is utilised. Those who conduct 

 the journal merit hearty congratulations that they 

 have in the third number brought it to such a pitch 

 of perfection. 



The Department of Scientific and Industrial Re- 

 search announces that the MS. copy of the " Biblio- 

 graphy of Lubricants " compiled by the Lubricants 

 and Lubrication Inquiry Committee, referred to in the 

 Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for 

 1919-20 (Cmd. 905), has been placed in the library of 

 the Department at 16-18 Old Queen Street, West- 

 minster, S.W.I, and is available for reference. Owing 

 to the expense which would be involved, it is not 

 possible to print this bibliography as originally in- 

 tended. The bibliography contains in a classified form 

 references to every paper on lubricants and lubrica- 

 tion which was considered by the Committee as being 

 of definite importance. It is divided into two main 

 parts, the papers being classified according to authors 

 and subjects. The references themselves are divided 

 into two sections, one dealing with .the chemical, the 

 other with the engineering and physical aspects of the 

 subject. 



Free public lectures are to be delivered at the Horni- 

 man Museum, Forest Hill, S.E., each at 3.30 o'clock, 

 as follow: — On October 8, "The Life and Habits of 

 Mason Bees," F. Balfour-Browne ; on October 15, 

 "The Egyptian Pyramids," Miss M. A. Murray; on 

 October 22, "Dredging for Marine Animals," H. N. 

 Milllgan ; on October 29, "The Folk-lore of Sea- 

 faring Men," E. Lovett ; on November 5, "A 

 Naturalist on the African Lakes," Dr. W. A. Cun- 

 nington ; on November 12, "Insect Collecting and Its 

 Value," F. Balfour-Browne; on November 19, "The 

 Dawn of History in Egypt," Miss M. A. Murray; on 

 November 26, "The Natural History of Dogs," H. N. 

 Milllgan ; on December 3, " Exploring on Lake 

 Mceris (Lower Egypt)," Dr. W. A. Cunnington ; and 

 on December 10, "Folk-lore Records from Italy, 

 France, and Belgium," E. Lovett. 



The annual meeting of the American Metric Asso- 

 I elation will be held at Toronto on December 29 next. 



