6oO 



NATURE 



[July 7, 192 1 



direct bearing on oil, the results of this work are of 

 great interest to petroleum technologists generally, 

 and also presumably to those who are optimistic 

 enough to believe in Palestine as a potential oilfield. 



Part 2 of vol. xxii. of the Transactions of the 

 Optical Society contains the address of the president, 

 Mr. R. S. Whipple, which deals with the design and 

 construction of scientific instruments. Such instru- 

 ments must have as their principal characteristic the 

 property of giving results of a constant prescribed 

 accuracy, and all the important sources of inaccuracy 

 in them should be known. Errors should be capable 

 of elimination by adjustment of the instruments them- 

 selves, or if elimination is not possible, they should 

 be measurable by the instruments. The design of an 

 instrument involves the consideration of the magni- 

 tudes of the errors to which it may be liable, and it 

 is this preliminary survey which prevents the cost of 

 manufacture being increased by the removal of in- 

 significant errors while others more serious are allowed 

 to remain. Examples of well-designed slides, rotating 

 parts, screws, and nuts are given, and it is clearly 

 shown why they are good. A nut of unsound design 

 used on gun clinometers which the authorities pre- 

 ferred to one designed on geometrical principles is 

 also shown. The address will repay reading by all 

 instrument-makers who wish to meet the new demand 

 for scientific instruments in industry. 



The fourth report of -the Conjoint 3oard of Scientific 

 Societies shows that the board has received evidence 

 that scientific investigation is being seriously ham- 

 pered by the heavy cost involved in the publication of 

 results. An exceptional number of papers is being 

 communicated to the scientific societies, including 

 many held up during the war, while the resources of 

 the societies, which have not increased, are insuffi- 

 cient at present prices to publish even the normal pre- 

 war number. The country is thus in danger of being 

 seriously handicapped at a time when the rehabilita- 

 tion of industry is in most serious need of scientific 

 assistance. Much of the report is occupied with an 

 abstract of the third report of the Committee on the 

 Water-Power Resources of the Empire. It is shown 

 that too little is being done to ascertain the total re- 

 sources or to secure uniformity in investigation and 

 record. It is urged that steps should be taken to con- 

 vene an Imperial Water-Power Conference in London, 

 at which the various Dominions and Dependencies of 

 the Empire should be represented. The outcome of 

 such a conference might well be the creation of an 

 Imperial Water-Power Board, with extensive powers 

 to carry out a comprehensive policy for stimulating, 

 co-ordinating, and, where necessary, assisting de- 

 velopment throughout the Empire. The board has 

 also dealt with questions relating to the formation 

 of national research committees in connection with 

 the International Research Council formed in 1919, 

 with the collection of scientific data in the former 

 German colonies, and with instruction in technical 

 optics. The research on glues and other adhesives 

 initiated by the board as a war measure, at the 

 instance of the Air Ministry, has now been taken 

 over by the Department of Scientific and Industrial 

 Research. 



NO. 2697, VOL. 107] 



The trials of the motor vessel Yngaren were run 

 successfully off the Tyne on Tuesday, June 14, and 

 an account appears in Engineering for June 24. The 

 main engine of this vessel is of the opposed piston 

 type, with four cylinders 228 in. diameter by twice 

 456 in. stroke. When running at its normal speed 

 of 77 revs, per min. the engine develops 3000 indicated 

 horse-power (2700 brake horse-power), or 675 brake 

 horse-power per cylinder, and is therefore the highest- 

 powered Diesel cylinder as yet installed in any ship. 

 The ship is also notable on account of having but one 

 propeller. In view of the large power per unit and of 

 there being but one engine, the designers were con- 

 servative, and the metal and sections are more than 

 ample for the working stresses, with a large factor 

 of safety. The weight of the main engine is 375 tons, 

 and of the whole installation 600 tons. Starting is 

 exceptionally easy to accomplish, and contributory to 

 this result are hot pistons and hot jackets. During 

 the sea trials the outlet temperatures from the pistons 

 and cylinder jackets were 140° to 160° F. The 

 fuel injection into the main engine cylinders works on 

 the solid injection principle, and is effected at pressures 

 of 8000 to 10,000 lb, per sq. in. at full power and speed. 



The preparation of a compound which may contain 

 univalent oxygen is announced by C. W. Porter and 

 F. H. Thurber, of the University of California, in the 

 April issue of the Journal of the American Chemical 

 Society. The substance is obtained by the oxidation 

 of mesitol (2:4: 6-trimethylphenol) by silver oxide. A 

 red crystalline product was obtained, the molecular 

 weight of which indicated that it contained in com- 

 bination equimolecular amounts of unoxidised mesitol 

 and an oxidation product corresponding to one of the 

 formulae : 



O 

 O- , Jl 



CH, 



,CH, 



CH, 



CH, 



hCH, 



CH, 



It may, therefore, contain either univalent oxygen or 

 tervalent carbon. It is reduced to a saturated product 

 by the addition of an uneven number of hydrogen 

 atoms, indicating that it contains an odd electron, and 

 has therefore the characteristic properties of a free 

 radical. 



In consequence of the greatly increased cost of pro- 

 duction, the Association of Economic Biologists has 

 issued an appeal for financial assistance towards the 

 publication of the eighth volume of the Annals of 

 Applied Biology. In order that the present standard 

 of quality of the Annals may be maintained, it is 

 necessary that the sum of 250^ should be raised. 

 Workers in applied biology are therefore earnestly 

 invited to contribute to the appeal fund. Any con- 

 tribution, however small, will be acceptable, and 

 should be sent to the honorary treasurer of the asso- 

 ciation, Dr. A. D. Imms, Institute of Plant Patho- 

 logy, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden. 



Messrs. Macdonald and Evans, 29 Essex Street, 

 W.C.2, are about to begin, under the editorship of 

 Mr. G. W. de Tunzelman, the publication of a new 



