4.14 



NATURE 



["November 24, 192 1 



Mr. R. G. Barker, of the British Dyestuffs Cor- 

 poration, has been appointed scientific director of the 

 British Launderers' Research Association, 



The British Medical Journal announces that the 

 Swedish prize entitled the Berzelius medal has been 

 conferred on Prof. E. Abderhalden, of Halle, for his 

 researches on biochemistry. 



At the ordinary scientific meeting of the Chemical 

 Society to be held in the lecture hall of the Institution 

 of Mechanical Engineers, Storey's Gate, on Thurs- 

 day, December 8, at 8 p.m.. Prof. J. W. Gregory will 

 deliver a lecture entitled "The Genesis of Ores." 



The Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology 

 is to be opened by Earl Buxton at Cambridge on 

 Monday next, November 28, at 3 p.m. The new 

 institute is a gift to the University from Mr. and 

 Mrs. Percy A. Molteno. 



The council of the Royal Meteorological Society has 

 awarded the Symons memorial gold medal for 1922 to 

 Col. Henry George Lyons, F.R.S., for distinguished 

 work in connection with meteorological science. ' The 

 medal, which is awarded biennially, will be presented 

 at the annual general meeting on January 18 next. 



Notice is given that applications for the Govern- 

 ment grant for scientific investigations for 1922 must be 

 received by, at latest, January i. They must be made 

 upon forms obtainable from the Clerk to the Govern- 

 ment Grant Committee, Roj'al Society, Burlington 

 House, W.I. 



Applications for grants from the Andrew Carnegie 

 Research Fund in aid of research work on the metal- 

 lurgy of iron and steel are now receivable by the 

 council of the Iron and Steel Institute. Application 

 forms may be obtained from the secretary of the 

 institute. They should be completed and sent in 

 before the end of Februarj'. 



At the meeting of the London Mathematical Society 

 to be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 15, in 

 the rooms of the Royal Astronomical Society, Bur- 

 lington House, W.I., Mr. J. H. Jeans will deliver 

 a lecture on "The New Dynamics of the Quantum 

 Theory." Members* of other societies will be 

 welcome. 



The following were elected oflficers and members 

 of council of the London Mathematical Society at the 

 annual general meeting held on November 17 : — 

 President: Mr. H. W. Richmond. Vice-Presidents: 

 Mr. J. E. Campbell, Mr. A. L. Dixon, Dr. W. H. 

 Young. Treasurer: Dr. A. E. Western. Secretaries: 

 Mr. G. H. Hardy, Dr. G. N, Watson. Other Mem- 

 bers of the Council: Dr. T. J. I'A. Bromwich, Dr. 

 L. N. G. Filon, Dr. H. Hilton, Miss H. P. Hudson, 

 Mr. A. E. Jolliffe, Mr. J. E. Littlewood, Mr. E. A. 

 Milne, Dr. J. W. Nicholson, and Mr. F. B. Pidduck. 



At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society 

 on Monday, November 21, the president announced 

 that Brig. -Gen. the Hon. Charles Bruce has been 

 offered the post of chief of the Mount Everest Expedi- 

 tion for next year, and has accepted the invitation. 

 From an account just received by the society from 

 NO. 2717, VOL. 108] 



Mr. Mallory of his final and successful effort to reach 

 the North Col, 23,000 ft., it is understood that tht 

 way from there to the crest of the north-east arete is 

 easy. Whether men suffering from the increasing 

 lassitude which the ascent will produce can prevail 

 against the wind and snow on the last 6000 ft. of that 

 exposed arete is what next year's expedition will have 

 to determine. 



The Times announces that the advance party of 

 Mr. V. Stefansson's new Arctic expedition has arrived 

 at its base on Wrangell Island, some 160 miles north 

 of North Cape, Eastern Siberia. The main party of 

 the expedition is expected to leave Nome, Alaska, 

 next March or April. Its chief object is to explore 

 the Beaufort Sea in order to discover if any land 

 exists in that uncharted area. Mr. Stefansson believes 

 that this can best be accomplished by small parties 

 travelling over the ice, depending on seals for food, 

 and thus able to remain for long periods away from 

 the base. Wrangell Island itself has been imperfectly 

 explored by Americans and, in 19 14, by the survivors 

 of the Karluk, the ship of Mr. Stefansson's former 

 expedition. No further details of the present expedi- 

 tion are yet available. 



In a paper read before the Royal Society of Arts 

 on November 9 Mr. D. R. Wilson gave a summary 

 of the work of the Industrial Fatigue Research 

 Board, the activities of w^hich have, unfortunately, 

 been curtailed owing to the demands in the interests 

 of "national economy." The study of industrial 

 fatigue is of quite recent origin. Its effects can be 

 judged in various ways, notably by the rate of output, 

 which follows a well-identified change throughout 

 the working day. In some cases diagrams for hourly 

 output throughout the week also reveal cumulative 

 fatigue, i.e. a distinct diminution of efficiency as the 

 week proceeds, and a corresponding improvement after 

 the recuperative pause at the week-end. The effects 

 of climatic conditions, giving rise to seasonal varia- 

 tions in output in certain industries owing to altera- 

 tions in conditions of temperature, humidity, etc., 

 are also interesting. A noteworthy fact is that, ac- 

 cording to researches in the silk-weaving industry, 

 output suffers a 10 per cent, diminution under arti- 

 ficial light as compared with daylight. Such work 

 has a direct bearing on national efficiency and pro- 

 ductive power. It is probable that much assumed 

 "slackness" is due to causes outside of the control 

 of the worker. It is a pity that these researches 

 should be limited by lack of support. 



At the opening meeting of the Illuminating En- 

 gineering Society on November 15 an account of 

 recent progress in connection with illumination was 

 presented by Mr. L. Gaster, who referred to various 

 recent official reports dealing with factory lighting, 

 the effect of kinema lights on the eyesight of actors 

 in studios, and motor headlights, as illustrating the 

 interest now taken by Government Departments in 

 various aspects of illumination. Afterwards a series 

 of short demonstrations of novel applications of 

 artificial light was given. This included several new 

 forms of motor-car headlights, systems of "artificial 



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