762 



NATURE 



[August ii, 192 i 



to scientific communications presenting new points 

 of view, and the afternoons to administrative details. 

 This arrangement was disturbed in the course of the 

 week in order to provide more time for administrative 

 questions. 



The sessions for scientific discussions were opened 

 by a paper by Prof. V. Bjerlines giving theoretical 

 explanations, on the basis of wave motion at the 

 mutual boundary of two discontinuous media, of the 

 series of phenomena which had been set out by his 

 son, representing the result of observations upon the 

 Polar front in cyclones. This was followed by a 

 paper by Sir Napier Shaw on the structure of the 

 atmosphere and its thermodynamics, to suggest a 

 thermodynamic basis for the study of convection in 

 the atmosphere, and the transformations of energy 

 associated therewith. A paper by L. F. Richardson 

 directed attention to the necessity for studying pilot- 

 balloon observations in relation to the continuity of 

 mass, a subject which in spite of its importance has 

 hitherto not received adequate treatment. Prof, van 

 Everdingen gave an account of a method of obtaining 

 regular observations of pressure, temperature, and 

 humidity in the upper air bv means of aeroplanes, 

 using a balloon meteorograph with the usual clock- 

 work drum ; such observations had been carried out 

 on upwards of 340 occasions in the past year at 

 Soesterberg and other stations in Holland. .S. Fuji- 

 whara, of Tokyo, discussed turbulent movements 

 which are to be observed in clouds, and their relation 

 to eddies in water. Dr. W. van Bemmelen, of Java, 

 gave an account of comprehensive results of great 

 Importance of observations of wind in the upper 

 atmosphere up to 30 kilometres, obtained at the 

 observatory at Batavia. H. Kohler, of Holdda, dis- 

 cussed the study of the condensation of water vapour 

 in a cold atmosphere into ice crystals and super- 

 cooled watei^ drops, and the effects which may be 

 attributed to very small quantities of chlorides. 



L. F. Richardson discussed the application of the 

 geostropic principle to winds in the stratosphere. Dr. 

 A. de Ouervain, of Zurich, brought up proposals for 

 the establishment of a geophvsical observatory at the 

 terminus of the Jungfrau railwav. at a height of 3600 

 metres, which received the cordial commendation of 

 the meeting. P. Schereschewsky, of the Corps of 

 Mines, Paris, explained the method of determining 

 the winds in the upper air by means of sound-ranging 

 applied to detonators carried by pilot balloons, a 

 method which is aoplicable alike in clear and cloudy 

 weather. R. Sekiguti, of the Observatory of Kobe, 

 explained the application in forecasting of isobaric 

 charts for the level of three kilometres. Col. L. 

 Matteuzzi, director of the Meteorological Service ot 

 Italv, presented an atlas of the principal cloud forms, 

 and explained a method of applying the periodicity of 

 barometric oscillations to the anticipation of baro- 

 metric distribution in the future. O. Devik, of 

 Troms0, described a new method of observing balloons 

 and its application in forecasting. G. I. Taylor gave 

 an account of the result of his investigation of tur- 

 bulence in the atmosphere and its symmetric propaga- 

 tion in the three dimensions. M. Dongier discusse'l 

 the observations of temperature and wind at the Eiffel 



Tower and the discontinuities which they disclose, 

 J. Bjerknes directed attention to the unique accumu- 

 lation of observations of the upper air during the 

 war which had been communicated to the president 

 by the countries on both sides, and gave illustrations 

 of the observations on selected occasions in the study 

 of the method of the Polar front. P. Schereschewsky 

 gave an account of some new methods of forecasting, 

 and the proceedings of the meetings for scientific 

 discussion were concluded with a paper by L. F. 

 Richardson on ideal arrangements of stations on tne 

 map for the purpose of numerical computations for 

 forecasting. 



The business meetings were devoted largely to the 

 development of a scheme for the collection, compila- 

 tion, and publication of observations in the upper air 

 on an international basis, in continuation, with such 

 modifications as experience has syggested, of the in- 

 ternational scheme which was agreed upon at Petro- 

 grad in 1904 and supported by subventions from 

 Government organisations of nineteen countries. The 

 outline of a proposal was agreed upon, and the pre- 

 sident was requested to report it to the meeting of 

 the International Meteorological Committee to be 

 held in London in September. The commission 

 adopted resolutions in favour of a geophysical ob- 

 servatory on the Jungfrau, and also appointed a sub- 

 committee to deal with the question of the anomalies 

 in the audibility of the sound of explosions, which was 

 also the subject of a communication by Dr. de Ouervain. 



It was noticeable that the commission devoted the 

 greater part of its attention to the mode of dealing 

 with the observations of the upper air based upon 

 the supposition that there should be twenty-four days 

 in the year on which balloons for sounding the highest 

 layers of the meteorological atmosphere, including the 

 stratosphere, should be sent up in a sufficient number 

 of countries to secure a general representation of the 

 whole. At present the number of observations is ex- 

 tremely limited, and the reorganisation of the ob- 

 servations would need the support of meteorological 

 institutes in many parts of the world. Beyond point-, 

 ing out the urgent necessity for such observations 

 over the sea, the technique of which had already been 

 worked out by Teisserenc de Bort and the German 

 meteorologists, but which had not become inter- 

 national in any sense, the commission confined itself 

 to a general invitation to the meteorological organi- 

 sations of the globe for co-operation on the inter- 

 national days. 



An account of the proceedings of the meetings 

 would be incomplete without reference to the hos- 

 pitality of the citizens of Bergen. It will be remem- 

 bered that the greater part of the inner town was 

 destroyed by a disastrous fire five years ago, and it 

 has not yet been rebuilt ; all the hotel accommodation 

 was required for tourists, and the delegates to the 

 meeting were all entertained with cordial hospitality 

 bv the foreign Consuls and the citizens of Bergen, 

 and also honoured by an official dinner given by the 

 municipality, at which the Chief Burgomaster pre- 

 sided. The municipality also placed its ancient and 

 picturesque Council House at the disposal of the com- 

 mission for the meetings. 



TT ARDNESS, as recent correspondence in Nature 

 ■*■ -* (vol. cvi., pp. 377, 440, 534, 599, 662, November, 

 1920-January, 192 1) has shown, is a subject of interest 

 to both the engineer and the physicist. Whatever may 

 be the exact physical significance of the term, there can 

 be no doubt that measurements of this property, or 

 NO. 2702, VOL. 107] 



A Small Brinell Hardness Testing Machine. 



group of properties, are of increasing practical im- 

 portance. In the Brinell method of measuring hard- 

 ness, as commonly applied, a steel ball of diameter 

 about I cm. is applied to the surface of the test piece 

 under a load of the order of 3000 kg., and the size 

 of the resulting impression is measured. In practice 



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