November 17, 192 1] 



NATURE 



1^5 



British Scientific Instrument Research Association. 



T^HE British Scientific Instrument Research Asso- 



■■• ciation has recently issued its third annual report, 

 which gives a very brief account of the further develop- 

 ment of the organisation of the association and of 

 the researches m progress. The membership com- 

 prises some twenty-five or more of the principal 

 instrument-making firms of the country ; the director, 

 Sir Herbert Jackson, is assisted by a scientific staff 

 of seven members, in addition to the secretary. The 

 present chairman of the association is Mr. Campbell 

 Swinton. 



Three years are a short time in the life of a research 

 institution. Much of the time has, no doubt, been 

 spent in the preUminarj* planning of the programme 

 of research, in securing staff, and in providing and 

 installing what must still be a somewhat modest 

 equipment. It is to the credit of the staff that they 

 have already succeeded in producing results, along 

 more than one line of investigation, of definite value 

 to the members of the association, and, no doubt, 

 ultimately to the users of scientific apparatus and to 

 science generally. The lines ot work which have 

 been mainly followed are clearly indicated by the 

 report, though, since the knowledge acquired by a 

 research association remains, for a time at least, con- 

 fidential to its members, the details given of the results 

 achieved are somewhat limited. 



Experiments have been made in the production, on 

 a small scale, of optical glasses of new types, directed 

 more particularly to the provision of a substitute for 

 alum in apochromatic lenses and some other special 

 requirements in optical design. Information has been 

 obtained with regard to neutral-tinted glasses of uni- 

 form spectral absorption and coloured glasses for 

 photographic purposes, which it is hoped may lead 

 to production on the manufacturing scale.' The 

 durability of optical glasses has been the subject of 

 special study, and research on the viscosity of glass 

 has been promoted, and has led to a new "method of 

 determining viscosity applicable to glass at high tem- 

 peratures. 



Much attention has been devoted to abrasives and 

 polishing powders. In this work considerable suc- 

 cess has been attained, and results of theoretical 

 interest, as well as of practical value, have been 

 secured. It is understood that a general account of 

 these will be published. Cements for prisms and 

 lenses have been investigated and some improvements 

 are recorded. Other materials to which attention has 

 been given are a wax mixture for use as a temporary 

 adhesive and solders of high and of low melting point. 

 The orogress made should be of definite value to 

 optical instrument-makers as well as in other allied 

 ind'TStries. 



The other main section of the work relates to elec- 

 trical and X-rav apparatus. Probably the most notable 

 success so far achieved by the research staff of 

 this section has been the production of a con- 

 veni^-nt regulator of new t^-pe for X-rav tubes, 

 which enables the tube to be "hardened " or 



"softened" as desired, thus considerably exiendir.^ 

 the life and usefulness of the tube. An investigation la 

 in progress which it is hoped will lead to manufac- 

 turmg improvements in the focussing of X-ray tubes. 

 The wave-form tor use in the generation ot X-rays 

 is also being studied. Other mvestigations which 

 have been undertaken relate to the magnetic properties 

 of materials used in galvanometer coils and to insula- 

 tors and insulating varnishes and enamels. 



Many of the research associations so far formed 

 have tew facilities for carrying out research under 

 their own immediate control, and, in common with 

 others, the British Scientific Instrument Research 

 Association has devoted some portion of its funds 

 to the promotion of investigations by other institu- 

 tions and individual workers into problems of import- 

 ance to its members. The National Physical Labora- 

 tory is collaborating with the association in an inves- 

 tigation relating to radio-luminous paint. Work of 

 great importance to the electrical instrument-maker 

 has been done at the laboratorj' in the production 

 of a resistance material of small temperature coeffi- 

 cient similar to '"manganin," samples of which are 

 being supplied to the association for trial by its 

 members under manufacturing conditions. Researches 

 undertaken by individual investigators include the 

 examination of liquids suitable for level bubbles, the 

 (work already mentioned on the viscosit\- of glass, the 

 study of magnet steels, and questions arising out of 

 an investigation of tissue-paper as a wrapper for 

 polished glass surfaces. The design and con- 

 struction of an integrating nephelometer may also be 

 mentioned. 



The aim of a research association must be to im- 

 prove British industry' and enable it to compete more 

 successfully in both home and foreign markets bv the 

 utilisation of the most advanced scientific knowledge 

 and methods. This implies the cordial co-operation of 

 its members for the common good, and the extent to 

 which this principle is brought into operation affords 

 some measure of the advantage which the members 

 are likely to derive from their association. The prin- 

 ciple appears to have been adopted more fully by the 

 British Scientific Instrument Research Associaticm 

 than by some others, and this is of good augurv for its 

 future success. The list of subordinate investigations 

 with which the report concludes, due to individual 

 inquiries, indicates how valuable the assistance of 

 such an association may be to its component members 

 if the director and his staff are allowed reasonable 

 freedom in the use of their loiowledge and exf)erience 

 to remove the difficulties met with by individual 

 members in the course of their work and in giving 

 advice for the improvement of their products. Inves- 

 tigations carried out for one of the associated firms 

 are paid for by the firm, and thus add to the revenue 

 of the association. The help which can be given in 

 this manner will increase steadily in importance as 

 the staff gains experience in dealing with the technical 

 problems of the instrtiment-maker. 



Arctic Medusae. 



■yVTE have received copies of parts ot the Report of 

 the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18; the 

 Medusae and Ctenophora are dealt with bv Dr. H. B. 

 Bigelow. the Polychaeta by Dr. R. ^^ Chamberlin, and, 

 in the portion devoted to the Crustacea, the Cumacea 

 bv Dr.W. T. Caiman, the Isopoda bv Mr. P. L. Boone, 

 the Amphipoda by Mr. C. R. Shoemaker, and the 

 NO. 2716, VOL. 108] 



i parasitic Copepoda by Dr. C. B. Wilson. The col- 

 I lection of Medusae, which is only the second which 

 ! has been made on the Arctic coast of America, com- 

 I prises species well known either from some part of 

 ; the North Atlantic or from its .Arctic tributaries. One 

 species only is new. Dr. Bigelow refers to the im- 

 portance, especially to ths oceanographer, of estab- 



