July 14, 192 1] 



NATURE 



629 



from, is a series of seven jetties, 22 ft. wide, 

 leaving an intervening space of 32 ft. in width 

 between them and the quay. The object of this 

 is to enable barges to pass on the inner side of 

 the jetties, so that vessels may simultaneously dis- 

 charge their cargoes into barges on both sides 

 and, at the same time, land goods on the quay. 

 The jetties are equipped with cranes which are 

 able to command the vessel's hold, the inner 

 barges, and the quay. It should be pointed out 

 that a high proportion of the goods brought into 

 the docks at London is conveyed by barge or 

 lighter to their ultimate destination. 



The north quay is to be flanked by double-story 



sheds, of which so far only one is constructed. 

 These are designed in reinforced concrete, with 

 brick panelling. On the south side seven single- 

 story sheds of steel framing with corrugated-iron 

 covering have already been provided. 



At the western end of the new dock is a dry 

 dock 750 ft. long with an entrance 100 ft. wide 

 and a depth of water over sill of 35 ft. 



Connection between the new dock and the 

 adjoining Royal Albert and Victoria system is 

 made by means of a passage 100 ft. in width. 



The King graciously acceded to the request 

 that the new dock should be called the King 

 George V. Dock, and named it accordingly. 



Notes. 



The Osiris prize of 100,000 francs has been awarded 

 by the Academies of the Institute of France to Gen. 

 Ferris, C.M.G., Director-General of French Military 

 Telegraphs, in recognition of his work in the develop- 

 ment of wireless telegraphy for war purposes. Gen. 

 Ferris has been well known as an acknowledged 

 authority on wireless matters for many years, and as 

 the head of the French military wireless telegraph ser- 

 vices it fell to him to initiate the whole organisation 

 of the wireless arrangements in the fighting forces of 

 France during a period when greater advances were 

 being made than at any other time in its history. 

 He was responsible for the equipment and working of 

 the famous Eiffel Tower station and for the installa- 

 tion of the powerful station at Lyons in 19 17, as well 

 as for the completion of the still more powerful station 

 near Bordeaux commenced during the war by the 

 American Army. Gen, Ferris had much to do with 

 reducing the thermionic valve from a laboratory ap- 

 pliance to a piece of everyday wireless apparatus and 

 in devising wireless equipment for aircraft, and in 

 earlier days was one of the first successful experi- 

 menters with the electrolytic detector. In recognition 

 of his work the honorary degree of D.Sc. has been 

 conferred upon him by the University of Oxford. 



Sir Robert Hadfield has expanded his reply to the 

 American deputation of engineers who attended in 

 London to present him with the John Fritz medal into 

 an address of thanks, which has just been printed in 

 the form of a substantial pamphlet with numerous 

 illustrations. . The address sketches the services ren- 

 dered by British and American engineers to the Allied 

 cause during the war, outline? the record of the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, and gives an account 

 of the members of the American deputation. The 

 movement which has resulted in the establishment of 

 the United Engineering Society of the United States 

 is commended as having brought together a large 

 number of distinct technical institutions, housed them 

 in a common building, and provided a common 

 library, so furnishing an excellent object-lesson in the 

 organisation of scientific and technical effort. A 

 description Is then given of Sir Robert's own metal- 

 lurgical research work, especially in regard to the 

 invention of manganese steel, the alloy which pos- 



NO. 2698, VOL. 107] 



sesses such an unusual combination of mechanical 

 and magnetic properties, and of the alloy of iron and 

 silicon, now so widely employed under the name of 

 "low hysteresis steel" in the construction of trans- 

 formers and other electrical appliances. The conclud- 

 ing sections of the address deal with the growth of 

 science and the value of research to civilisation, the 

 subject being illustrated by an account of the history 

 of the Royal Society and of some of Its more famous 

 fellows. The present occasion Is a good one for 

 directing attention to the close bonds which unite 

 men of science and technologists in our own country 

 and in the United States, and to the advantages which 

 are to be derived from an even closer co-operation in 

 the future. 



The council of the Royal Society of Arts has 

 decided that in future the Colonial section of the 

 society shall be known as the " Dominions and 

 Colonies Section." 



Mr. a. J. Balfour has been elected president of 

 the British Academy in succession to Sir Frederic 

 Kenyon. M. Henri PIrenne, past-president of the 

 Belgian Academy, has been elected a corresponding 

 fellow, and Bishop G. F. Browne, formerly Disney 

 professor of archaeology in the University of Cam- 

 bridge, an honorary fellow of the academy. 



The following have been elected as officers and 

 members of council of the North-East Coast Institu- 

 tion of Engineers and Shipbuilders for the session 

 1921-22 : — President: Sir William J. Noble, Bart. 

 Vice-Presidents: Mr. C. VV. Cairns, Mr. A. Laing, 

 Mr. C. D. Smith, and Mr. R. Wallis. Members of 

 Council: Mr. B. C. Browne, Prof. C. J. Hawkes, 

 Mr. R. Hinchllffe, Mr. H. Laing, and Dr. J. E. 

 Stead. Hon. Treasurer : Mr. R. H. Winstanley. 



In accordance with the provisions of section 2 (6) of 

 the Dyestuffs (Import Regulation) Act, 1920, the 

 President of the Board of Trade has appointed a 

 Committee to advise the Board with respect to the 

 efficient and economical development of the dye- 

 making industry. The members of the Committee 

 are : — Mr. W. J. U. Woolcock, M.P. (chairman), Mr. 

 Percy Ashley, C.B". (Board of Trade), Sir Henry 



