i6o 



NATURE 



[February 2, 1922 



RflNTGEjf SociEir (at Institution of Electrical Engineers), at 8.15. 

 — W. H. Wilson : A New High-tension Generator for X-ray and 

 other work.— H. 0. Head: Canny Eyall Diathermy Apparatus; 

 lonostat; A New lontoquantimeter ; New X-ray Protective 

 Material.— H. E. Donithorne : The Taylor Jones Electrostatic 

 Oscillograph; A New Design of Gold Leaf Electroscope.— C. 

 Andrews: A New Boiling-water X-ray Tube.— F. K. Butt and 

 Co., Ltd. : Diathermy Apparatus.— E. E. Burnside : A New Model 

 of X-ray Table. 



TFBD.VESDAr, Februart 8. 



RoTAL College or Stjuoeons of England, at 5.— Prof. A. G. T. 

 Fisher : A Research into the Pathology and ^Etiology of Osteo-. 

 arthritis, with Observations upon the Principles underlying 

 its Treatment (Hunterian Lecture). 



Institution of .Automobile Engineers (at Institution of Mechani- 

 cal Engineers), at 8.— E. L. Bass: Engine Lubrication. 



RoTAL SociETi OF ARTS, at 8.— E. V. Evans: Some Solved and. 

 Unsolved Problems in Gas Works Chemistry. 



Medical Societx of London (at 11 Chandos Street, W.l), at 9.— 

 Sir Leonard Rogers : Amoebic Liver Abscess : Its Pathology, 

 Prevention, and Cure (Lettsomian Lectures) (2). 

 THURSDAY, Pebruaht 9. 



Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 3.— Sir Napier Shaw : 

 Droughts and Floods (2). 



Rotal. Society, at 4.30.— Pro6a6?e Papers.— Sir J. A. Ewing : The 

 Atomic Process in Ferromagnetic Induction.— Prof J. W. Nichol- 

 son : Problems relating to a Thin Plane Annulus.— Prof. T. H. 

 Havelook: The Effect of Shajlow Water on Wave Resistance.— 

 R. H. Fowler and S. N. H. Lock : The Acrodvnamics of a Spin- 

 ning Shell. Part II.— F. P. Pidduck : The Kinetic Theory of a 

 Special Type of Rigid Molecule.— J. E. Jones : The Velocity Dis- 

 tribution Function and the Stresses in a Non-uniform Rarefied 

 Monatomic Gns.— H. Bnteman : The Numerical Solution of Linear 

 Integral Equations. 



London Mathematical Society (at Royal Astronomical Society), 

 at 5. — H. Hilton : Conies on the Pseudo-sphere.- W. P. D. Mac- 

 Mahon : The Theory of Closed Repeating Polygons in Euclidean 

 Space of Two Dimensions.— G. H. Hardy and J. E. Littlewood : 

 Dirichlet's Series with a Barrier of Singularities. 



Institution of Civil Engineers (Students' Meeting), at 6.— E. J. 

 Kingston-McCloughry : The Design of Modern Water-turbines. 



Optical Society (at Imperial College of Science and Technology), 

 at 7.30.— Annual General Meeting.— F. W. Preston : The Structure 

 of Abraded Glass Surfaces.— A. J. Dalladay and P. Twvman : 

 The Stress Conditions Surrounding a Diamond Cut in Glass. — 

 Lt.-Col. J. W. GifFord : A Supplementary Note on Achromatic 

 One-Radius Doublet Eyepieces.— F. Twyman and A. J. Dalladay : 

 Change in Refractive Index at the Surfaces of Glass Melts. 



Chemical Society (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers), at 8.— 

 Sir Ernest Rutherford : Artificial Disintegration of Elements. 



Institute of Metals (London Section) (at Sir John Cass Technical 



Institute, Jewry Street, E.C.3), at 8.— R. T. Rolfe : Gun-metal. 



FRIDAY, February 10. 



Physical Society of London (at Imperial College of Science and 

 Technology), at 5.— Annual General Meeting.— Dr. E. A. Owen 

 a~nd Bertha Naylor : The Measurement of the Radium Content 

 of Sealed Metal Tubes.— Sir William Bragg: The Crystal 

 Structure of Ice.— Dr. K. Grant: A Method of Exciting Vibra- 

 tions in Plates. Membranes, etc., Based on Bernouilli's Principle. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 5.— Anniversary Meeting. 



Royal College op Surgeons of England, at 5.— Prof. A. C. Pan- 

 nett: Hydronephrosis (Hunterian Lecture). 



King's College Engineering Society (Anniversary Meeting) (at 

 Institution of Civil Engineers), at 5.30.— F. W. Macaulay : Water 

 Engineering. 



Junior Institution of- Engineers, at 8.— Questions and General 

 Discussion. 



Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 9.— Prof. W. D. Halli- 

 burton : The Teeth of the Nation. 



PUBLIC LECTURES. 



(A number in brackHs indicates the number of a lecture 



in a series.) 



THURSDAY, February 2. 



Infants' Hospital (Vincent Square, . S.W.I), at 4.— Dr. W. M. 



Feldman : The Physiology and Pathology of Ante-natal and Early 



Post-natal Life (1). 

 King's College, at 5.30.— Dr. O. Faber : Reinforced Concrete (3). 

 St. John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin (Leicester Square, 



W.C.2), at 6.— Dr. J. L. Bunch: Drug Eruptions (Chesterfield 



Lecture). 

 Civic Education League (at Leplay House, 65 Belgrave Road, 



S.W.I), at 8.15.— Miss Barbara Low: Psycho-analysis in relation 



to Civics. 



FRIDAY. February 3 

 Meteorological Office (South Kensington), at 3.— Sir Napier 



Shaw : The S+ructure of the Atmosphere and the Meteorology 



of the Globe (3). 

 University College, at 5.— Prof. G. Elliot Smith : The Evolution 



of Man (1) ; at 6.— Miss B. Jeffries Davis : London and its 



Records. 

 King's College, at 5.30.— Rev. Dr. P. A. P. Aveling : Matter, 



Mind, and Man.— Dr. H. W. Williams : The Peoples of the 



Caucasus (3). 

 Tavistock Clinic for Functional Nerve Cases (at the Mar.y Ward 



Settlement, Tavistock Place, W.C.I), at 5.30.— Dr. H. Crichton 



Miller: The New Psychology and its Bearing on Education (2). 



SATURDAY, February 4. 



S-4LTERS' Hall (St. Swithin's Lane, E.C.4), at 10.30 a.m.— Dr. M. O. 



Forster : The Relation between Pure and Applied Chemistry. 



NO. 2727, VOL. 109] 



London Day Teainino College, at 11 a.m.— Prof. J. Adams : The 



School Class (3). 

 HoRNiMAN Museum (Forest Hill), at 3.30.— E. Lovett : The Folk-lore 



of Natural History. 



MONDAY, February 6. 

 University College, at 5.15.— Sir Gregory Foster : The University 



of London : Its History, Present Resources, and Future Possi- 

 bilities (1). 

 City of London (Boys') School, at 5.30.— Miss Rosa Bassett : The 



Dalton Plan of Self-education (1). 

 King's College, at 5.30.— Prof. C. L. Fortescue : Wireless Trans- 

 mitting Valves (3).— Dr. J. Steppat : Recent Developments in 



German Education and Student Life (3). 

 TUESDAY, February 7. 

 King's College, at 5.30.— F. H. Rolt : Accurate Measurements in 



Mechanical Engineering: The Use and Testing of Gauges (2). 



WEDNESDAY, February 8. 



School of Oriental Studies, at 5.— W. Doderet : Racial Types in 



the Bombay Presidency. 

 HoRNiMAN Museum (Forest Hill), at 6.— W. W. Skeat : The Living 



Past in Britain (3). 



THURSDAY, February 9. 

 University College, at 5.15.— Prof. J. E. G. de Montmorency : 



Welsh and Irish Tribal Customs (1). 

 King's College, at 5.30.— Dr. O. Faber: Reinforced Concrete (4). 



— M. Bcza : Nereids in Roumanian Folk-lore. 

 Tavistock Clinic for Function.al Nerve Cases (at the Mary Ward 



Settlement, Tavistock Place, W.C.I), at 5.30.— Dr. H. Crichton 



Miller: The New Psycholog.v and its Bearing on Education (3). 

 St. John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin (Leicester Square, 



W.C.2), at 6.— Dr. W. Griffith: The Skin Eruptions of Syphilis 



(Chesterfield Lecture). 



FRIDAY, February 10. 

 BIeteorological Office (South Kensington), at 3.— Sir Napier 



Shaw : The Structure of the Atmosphere and the Meteorology 



of the Globe (4). 



SATURDAY, February 11. 

 London Day Training College, at 11 a.m. — Prof. J. Adams : The 



School Class (4). 

 HoHNiMAN Museum (Forest Hill), at 3.30.— Miss M. A. Murray: 



The Domestic Life of the Ancient Egyptians. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Influenza Problem 129 



An Elusive Group of Marine Organisms. By Sir 



W. A. Herdman, C.B.E., F.R.S 130 



The Theory of Probability. By Dr. Harold 



Jeffreys 132 



The Royal Society Catalogue 133 



Our Bookshelf . 134 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Fossil Buttercups.— Mrs. Eleanor M. Reid ... 136 

 The Accuracy of Tide-predicting Machines. — H. A. 



Marmer; The Writer of the Article 136 



The Oxidation of Ammonia.— Prof. J. R. Parting- 

 ton : ^^7 



A Specimen of Wrought-iron Currency from the Kisi 

 Country, Sierra Leone Protectorate, West Africa. 

 {Illustrated.)—^. C. Gale and Capt. E. R. 



Macpherson 138 



Molecular Structure of Amorphous Solids. — Prof. 



C. V. Raman ... " 138 



Forecasting Annual Rainfalls. — Prof. Alexander 



McAdie i39 



Units in Aeronautics.— A. R. Low 139 



Some Problems of Long-distance Radio- 

 telegraphy.— I. By Dr. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S. . 140 

 Obituary: — 



Sir Ernest Shackleton, C.V.O. By Dr. Hugh 



Robert Mill I43 



Sir William Christie, K.C.B., F.R.S. By Sir 



F. W. Dyson, F.R.S I45 



Dr. Emile Cartailhac I47 



Notes 147 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Total Solar Eclipse of next September 152 



The Pleiades 152 



Chemistry at the British Association 153 



Rehtia, the Venetic Goddess of Healing 154 



British Mycology 154 



University and Educational Intelligence . . • • '55 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers 156 



Societies and Academies 156 



Official Publications Received I59 



Diary of Societies ... ^59 



(Index.} 



