March i6, 1922] 



NA TURE 



351 



that future issues will conform to the standard aimed 

 at by the promoters, and certainly achieved at the 

 outset. The entire absence of an endeavour to in- 

 fluence "the purchase of particular oil shares — an 

 unfortunate feature of so many petroleum publica- 

 tions — is a sound poUcy which, if adhered to rigidly, 

 will go far to establish this journal on a firm basis. 



^^^^^ii 



N the Annual Report for 192 1 of the Council of 

 Institution of Mechanical Engineers it is 



ounced that the Thomas Hawksley Gold Medal 

 for 1922 for the best paper published in the society's 

 proceedings of the previous year has been awarded 

 to Prof. E. G. Coker for a paper written in conjunction 

 with Dr. K. C. Chakko and Mr. M. S. Ahmed on 

 " Contact Pressures and Stresses." Other awards 

 are grants of 20/. each to Mr. R. L. Smith and Mr. 

 G. E. Sandland from the Sir Robert Hadfield prize 

 fund for their communication entitled " An Accurate 

 Method of determining the Hardness of Metals, 

 with particular reference to those of a High Degree 

 of Hardness." Prizes from this fund will not be 

 offered again, and the unexpended balance of the 

 capital sum will be used for assisting research. It 

 is also announced that a scheme has been established 

 in conjunction with the Board of Education for the 

 award of National Certificates and Diplomas on the 

 results of group part- and full-time courses at 

 approved technical schools and colleges. 



The second annual report of the Industrial Fatigue 

 lioard to the Medical Research Council (pp. 65, 

 H.M.S.O., 1922, IS. td. net) is far more than a 

 mere Report of the Board ; only fourteen of its 

 sixty-five pages are devoted thereto. The remainder 

 consists in an instructive and valuable analysis of 

 the published work of the Board, divided into the 

 following five sections : — (i.) scope and method of its 

 investigations ; (ii.) hours of labour, spells, rest 

 pauses, etc. ; (iii.) other conditions of work, such as 

 temperature, humidity, ventilation, and lighting ; 

 (iv.) methods of work, including vocational selection 

 and guidance, and time and motion study ; and (v.) 

 miscellaneous points, e.g. organisation, human and 

 technical factors in efficiency. The Secretary of the 

 Board, Mr. D. R. Wilson, is to be congratulated most 

 heartily on the report and on his successful organisa- 

 tion of its varied activities. Of these it is noteworthy 

 that a large proportion (one half of the reports issued 

 by the Board and of papers based on work done for 

 it) have been contributed by investigators who have 

 received special training in experimental psychology. 



There has recently been issued " A List of Seismo- 

 logical Stations of the World " as vol. 11, No. 15, of 

 the Bulletin of the National Research Council 

 (U.S.A.). It was compiled under the auspices of the 

 Section of Seismology of the American Geophysical 

 Union, with the co-operation and assistance of the 

 Research Information Service of the National Re- 

 search Council. This list is incomplete owing to con- 

 ditions prevailing generally after the world-war, and 

 it is desired to correct and complete the information 

 in the files of the Research Information Service in 

 NO. 2733, VOL. 109] 



preparation for a revised edition of the publication. 

 To that end a further revised questionnaire is being 

 distributed with the printed list. Extra copies of 

 the questionnaire are available, and will be sent to 

 all who have additional information to contribute. 

 It is requested that every one who notes errors or 

 omissions in the Ust as issued should bring these 

 to the notice of the Section of Seismology of the 

 American Geophysical Union, addressing communica- 

 tions in care of the Research Information Service, 

 National Research Council, 1701, Massachusetts 

 Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., U.S.A. It is 

 hoped, further, that complete as well as accurate 

 information may be supplied concerning all stations 

 not now fully described. 



Brief statements on the position of the various 

 research committees appointed by the Institution of 

 Mechanical Engineers from time to time appear 

 in the Report of the Council for the past year. The 

 Committee on Alloys Research under the chairman- 

 ship of Sir John Dewrance has completed its work 

 on aluminium alloys and is continuing that on the 

 alloys of iron. Research work on the stresses in 

 tools and material cut has been carried out by Prof. 

 E. G. Coker, using polarised light and transparent 

 models, for the Cutting Tools Research Committee, 

 also under the chairmanship of Sir John Dewrance, 

 and Col. Compton has experimented on the simplest 

 form of cutting. Work for the Hardness Tests 

 Research Committee, under the chairmanship of 

 Dr. W. C. Unwin, has been carried out by Dr. T. E. 

 Stanton at the National Physical Laboratory on 

 the comparison of ball and cone tests and of scratch 

 and indentation tests for very hard steels. The 

 Steam - Nozzles Research Committee, under the 

 direction of Capt. H. Riall Sankey, has investigated 

 the efficiency of Parsons' nozzles ; the expenditure 

 of this committee during the year exceeded 900/., and 

 a balance of less than 200/. remains. Work for the 

 Wire Ropes Research Committee, of which Mr. C. W. 

 James is chairman, has been carried out by Dr. W. 

 Scoble on repeated bending tests of wire ropes. 



The representative meeting at Glasgow of the 

 British Medical Association will begin on July 21. 

 The statutory annual general meeting commences 

 on July 25, and the presidential address will be 

 delivered by the president-elect. Sir William Macewen, 

 during the same evening. Prof. J. Graham Kerr 

 is to give a popular lecture on tlie evening of July 

 28. The following have been elected presidents of 

 sections: Prof. T. K. Monro, medicine; Dr. G. M. 

 Robertson, neurology and psychological medicine ; 

 Mr. A. S. Percival, ophthalmology ; Prof. R. Muir, 

 pathology ; Prof. H. A. Thomson ; Mr. R. MacN. 

 Buchanan, microbiology (including bacteriology) ; 

 Prof. J. A. Mc William, physiology ; Dr. A. K. 

 Chalmers, public health ; Prof. A. Macphail, anatomy ; 

 Prof. J. Glaister, industrial diseases and forensic 

 medicine ; Mr. L. A. Rowden, radiology ; and Sir 

 Robert W. Philip, tuberculosis. The honorary local 

 general secretary is Dr. G. A. Allen, 22 Sandyford 

 Place, Glasgow, W. 



