March 2, 1922] 



NATURE 



291 



radiation hypothesis of chemical reactivity, and 

 iggests the following results for non-electrolytes : — 

 le bond can be broken only by radiation of definite 

 j[uency v, the most intense impact resulting only 

 ionisation. External illumination as a criterion 

 lould be large for unimolecular decomposition or 

 insformation, considerable for reversible reactions, 

 ^ecially the effect due to the radiation exciting the 

 idothermic process, and inappreciable for irrevers- 

 le combination. Corresponding frequencies are 

 lectively absorbed or emitted. The energy change 

 double, corresponding to the attainment of the 

 itical unstable equihbrium and of the normal stable 

 ite. For the complete change in intrinsic energy 

 -\\ = n\i{v -v') per mol. The system can ac- 

 cumulate absorbed radiant energy up to a limit of 

 one quantum per electron. It emits in quanta, but 

 absorbs and scatters continuously. The frequencies 

 and energ^^ changes are altered by solvents, but not 

 by intermediate compounds. 



December 13, 1921. — Mr. T. A. Coward, president, 

 in the chair. — Laura E. Start: Sea Dayak fabrics 

 and their decoration. The patterns of part of the 

 group of Iban cloths collected during the Cambridge 

 Expedition to the East Indian Archipelago in 1899 

 are traditional. They are symboUcal, and in some 

 cases designate the rank or tribe of the wearer. 

 Anthropomorphs, zoomorphs, and phyllomorphs form 

 the chief motives, and of these the animal patterns 

 predominate. For the origin of the Ufe-history of 

 patterns, in which man, the frog, the crocodile, the 

 shrew, and the tiger are used symbolically, we must 

 go back to the Proto-Malay stock, from which the 

 Iban probably sprang, or consider the patterns a 

 development due to the Ibans themselves. 



January 6. — Joint Meeting with the Manchester 

 Sections of the Society of Chemical Industry, the 

 Institute of Chemistry, and the Society of Dyers and 

 Colourists. — Dr. Edward Ardern in the chair. — A. 

 Harden: Biochemical method. The methods and 

 the difficulties of obtaining trustworthy results 

 in biochemical research are due to the many factors 

 which involve the living organisms. The occurrence 

 of vitamins in foodstuffs, the differences between 

 the various kinds of vitamins, the serious effects of 

 ill-chosen diet for children, and the destruction of 

 vitamins by heat and contact with air were discussed. 



Society of Glass Technology, February 15.— The 

 president. Dr. M. W. Travers, in the chair. — F. W. 

 Hodkin and W. E. S. Turner : The relative advantages 

 and disadvantages of limestone, burnt Ume, and slaked 

 lime as constituents of common glass batches con- 

 taining soda ash and saltcake. Pt. II. The rates 

 of melting depend upon the form of alkah and lime 

 used as well as the relative amounts of hme and soda 

 used. In the case of glass such as that used for bottles 

 made on automatic machines, and containing about 8 

 per cent, of hme, the soda ash burnt hme batch appeared 

 to be the most readily melted. With lime-containing 

 glasses, the melting is assisted by the addition of 

 small amounts of other oxides, particularly of mag- 

 nesia. In the case of glasses containing about 12 per 

 cent, of lime, the slaked Hme containing batches 

 generally melted most readily. A discussion followed 

 the paper, and the remainder of the meeting was 

 taken up with a debate on the subject of "The 

 Melting of Glass." A number of questions on the 

 subject had been submitted by members, and formed 

 the basis of the discussion ; this being continued from 

 the Leeds meeting in November 1921, at the general 

 request of members. 



NO. 2731, VOL. 109] 



Diary of Societies. 



MONDAY, March 6. 

 Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 5. — ^General Meeting. 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers (Informal Meeting), at 7. — 



E. Ambrose and others : Discussion on E.H.T. Cable-testing. 

 Aristotelian Society (at University of London Club, 21 Gower Street, 



W.C.I), at 8.— S. N. Dasgupta : The Logic of the Vedanta. 

 Royal Institute op British Architects, at 8. — Special and Business 



Meetings. 

 Royal Society of Arts, at 8.— Prof. A. F. C. Pollard : The Mechanical 



Design of Scientific Instruments (3). 

 Society of Chemical Industry (at Chemical Society), at 8. 

 Surveyors' Institution, at 8.— B. P. Davies : The Analysis of 



Building Costs. 

 Royal Geographical Society (at iEollan Hall), at 8.30.— C. E. N. 



Bromehead : The Influence of its Geography on the Development 01 



London. 

 Society of Chemical Industry (London Section) (at Chemical 



Society), at 8.— W. Cullen : Gold MetaUurgy of the Witwatersrand, 



Transvaal. 



TUESDAY, MARCH 7. 



Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 3. — Sir Arthur Keith : 

 Antliropological Problems of the British Empire. Series I. — Racial 

 Problems in Asia and Australasia (3). 



Royal Society of Arts (Dominions and Colonies Section), at 4.30. — 

 Major Sir Humphrey Leggett : Tanganyika Territory (formerly 

 Gennan East Africa). 



Anolo-Swedish Society (at Swedish HaU, Harcourt Street, W.l), at 

 5.30.— Dr. r. A. Bather : The Sea-lilies of Gotland and Dudley. 



Zoological Society of London, at 5.30.— N. S. Lucas : Report on 

 the Deaths which occurred in the Society's Gardens during 1921. — 

 F. Balfour Browne : The Life-history of the Water-Beetle Pelobius 

 tardus Herbst.— Dr. R. Broom : The Temporal Arches of the Reptilia.— 

 F. W. Urich, Dr. H. Scott, and Dr. J. Waterston : Note on the 

 Bat- Parasite Cyclopodia greeffi, and on a new Species of Hymenopter- 

 ous (Chalcid) Parasite bred from it.— S. K. Montgomerj' : Direct 

 Development in a Dromiid Crab. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 6. — A. C. Walsh and W. F. 

 Stanton : The Improvement of the Port of Valparaiso. 



Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (Technical Meeting), 

 at 7. H. W. Lee : A Chart for finding the Depth of Focus of a Lens.— 

 H. Farmer : Direct Photography : a fully efficient alternative and 

 addition to our present system. 



RONTGEN Society (at Institution of Electrical Engineers), at 8.15.— 

 L. H. Clark and B. D. Watters : Comparisons between the Thera 

 peutic, Photographic and Ionisation Effects of Ultra-Violet and of 

 Beta Radiation.— E. E. Burnside : Apparatus for deep X-ray 

 Therapy. 



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8. 



Institute of Metals (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers), at 

 10 A.M. — Dr. G. D. Bengough : Notes on the Corrosion and Protec- 

 tion of Condenser Tubes.— At 2.30.— F. Adcock : The Internal 

 Mechanism of Cold-Work and Recrystallization in Cupro-Nickel. — 

 Research Staff of the General Electric Company: The Effect of 

 Impurities on Recrystallization and Grain Growth. — Dr. H. Moore 

 and S. Beckinsale : Further Studies in Season-Cracking and its 

 Prevention. Condenser Tubes. 



Geological Society of London, at 5.30.— Baron F. Nopsca : The 

 Geological Importance of the Atavistic Reptilian Fauna of the 

 Upper Cretaceous of Transylvania. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 8.— W. A. Appleton : The Proper 

 Functions of Trade Unions. 



Institution of Automobile Engineers (at Institution of Mechanical 

 Engineers), at 8. — A. A. Remington : The Design and Function of 

 Laminated Automobile Suspension Springs. 



THURSDAY, MARCH 9. 



Institute of Metals (at Institution of Mechanical Engineers), at 

 10 A.M.— Prof. C. A. Edwards and A. J. Murphy : Tlie Rate of 

 Combination of Copper and Phosphorus at Various Temperatures. — 

 Dr. W. Rosenhain : Some Cases of Failure in " Aluminium " Alloys. — 

 Prof. F. C. Thompson and E. Whitehead : Some Mechanical Pro- 

 perties of the Nickel-Silvers. — Dr. D. Hanson and Marie L. V. Gayler : 

 A Further Study of the Alloys of Aluminium and Zinc. — A. West- 

 wood : The Assay of Gold Bullion. 



Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 3.— Prof. H. M. Lefroy : 

 The Menace of the Insect Pest : The Balance of Life in Relation to 

 Insect Pest Control (2). 



