April 8, 1922J 



^Wmh the Safeguarding of Industries Act, judgment 

 has been given by the referee in arbitrations regarding 

 the following articles. Against the name of the 

 article is shown the decision of the referee, i.e. 

 whether it has been properly or improperly included 

 in, or excluded from, the lists of articles chargeable 

 with duty under Part I. of the Act : 



ArticU. Judgment. 



Calcium Carbide . . . Properly excluded. 



R. Lactose Improperly included. 



Cream of Tartar, Tartaric Acid, 



Citric Acid .... 

 Planimeters and Integrators 



(Planimeter type) . 

 Calculating Cylinders 

 Mucic Acid .... 



NA TURE 



453 



Current Topics and Events. 



Improperly included. 



Properly included. 

 Properly included. 

 Properly included. 



lactose arid that of 

 and citric acid, the 



In two cases, viz. that of R, 

 cream of tartar, tartaric acid, 

 decisions are against the Board of Trade, and those 

 substances are accordingly withdrawn from the lists 

 of dutiable articles as from March 25, which is the 

 date of signature of the awards. The Chemical Age 

 of March 25 announces that an inquiry which should 

 have opened into a complaint that barium peroxide 

 had been wrongly included in the list had been de- 

 cided by agreement between the producers and con- 

 sumers. It is quite clear from these results that 

 sufficient care had not been exercised by the persons 

 concerned in drawing up the list in the first case, and 

 if the announcement in the Observer of March 26, to 

 the effect that the Board of Trade were to recommend 

 the repeal of the Act, is correct, it would appear that 

 the difficulties of working such a measure had become 

 too great to justify its further continuance. 



An exceptionally severe frost was experienced in 

 most parts of England in the early morning of April 2, 

 and the minimum temperatures reported to the 

 Meteorological Office were in many places unprece- 

 dented for April. The temperature in the screen at 

 Kew Observatory was 26°, which is the lowest April 

 reading since observations commenced more than 

 half a century ago. At South Farnborough, Hants, 

 and at Benson, Oxon, the sheltered thermometer 

 registered 21°. In consequence of the clear sky 

 which prevailed the exposed thermometer fell gener- 

 ally about 10° below that in the screen, and at 

 Shoeburyness the reading on the ground was 11°. 

 At Greenwich Observatory the sheltered thermometer 

 registered 25° and the terrestrial radiation tempera- 

 ture was 15°. The records at Greenwich, extending 

 back to 1 84 1, show only one instance of a lower 

 temperature in the screen in April, the thermometer 

 registering 23° on April 17 in 1847. There was a 

 reading of 25° on April i, 1859. Very heavy snow- 

 storms were experienced in the south-western districts 

 during the night of March 31 and on the following 

 day, the ground being covered to a great depth. 

 The storm was due to a disturbance moving from 

 Gjrnwall across the English Channel. This storm area 

 was followed by a region of fairly high barometric 

 pressure which accompanied the cold snap. | 



NO. 2736, VOL. 109] 



The Council of the Optical Society is arranging a 

 programme of papers dealing with motor head lights, 

 having reference more particularly to the optical 

 problems involved. The question of " glare " or 

 " dazzle," and the methods proposed for overcoming 

 it will be considered alike from the point of view of 

 the optician, the lamp manufacturer, and the road 

 user. The meeting will be held at the Imperial 

 College of Science and Technology, South Kensington, 

 on May 11, and any one desiring to contribute to the 

 discussion, to exhibit models, or to give experimental 

 demonstrations is requested to communicate with the 

 honorary secretary of the Society, Mr. F. F. S. Bryson, 

 Glass Research Association, 50 Bedford Square, W.C.i. 



The Times announces that the Mount Everest 

 expedition was to leave Darjeeling on March 26 for 

 Tibet. Brig.-Gen. C. G. Bruce, chief of the expedition, 

 was accompanied by Col. E. L. Strutt ; Mr. G. L. 

 Mallory, of last year's expedition ; Dr. T. G. Long- 

 staff ; Maj. E. F. Norton; Dr. A. M. Wakefield; 

 Mr. T. H. Somervell : Capt. J. Noel ; Capt. G. Bruce ; 

 and Capt. E. J. Morris. Capt. G. Finch and Mr. C. 

 G. Crawford remained behind to superintend the 

 transport of the oxygen outfit upon which a great 

 part of the success of the expedition depends. It 

 will be noticed that the party is considerably larger 

 than the one that made the successful reconnaissance 

 last year. No trouble seems to have been experienced 

 in enUsting porters among the hillmen. It is hoped 

 that by April 6 the whole expedition will have 

 assembled at Phari Dzong ready to set out and estab- 

 lish advanced bases in the Rongbuk and East Rongbuk 

 valleys. A considerable time will be spent in training 

 the porters in the use of ropes and ice axes and, in 

 consequence, no delay is anticipated from the fact 

 that the oxygen apparatus has not yet reached India. 



For the purpose of carrying on the Ice Patrol 

 Service provided for by the International Convention 

 for the Safety of Life at Sea, the U.S. cutter Seneca 

 has been detailed for duty off the Newfoundland 

 Banks. According to the North Atlantic Meteoro- 

 logical Chart for April, this vessel was to go to sea 

 in February 6 with orders to locate icefields and keep 

 in touch with the drift of icebergs. About April i, 

 when the ice has moved well south, the U.S. cutters 

 Tampa and Modoc will join the patrol, the three 

 vessels continuing their work throughout the season 

 of dangerous ice conditions. On getting in touch 

 with the ice, the Seneca will report to the Hydro- 

 graphic Office, New York, either direct or through 

 any vessel within reach. Daily wireless messages 

 will advise ships at sea. All messages will be sent 

 in plain English. Masters of trans- Atlantic vessels 

 are asked to report to the patrol vessels the location 

 of icebergs or drift-ice and the temperature of the 

 water every four hours between latitudes 39° N. 

 and 48° N. and between longitudes 53° W. and 44° W. 

 These data are required in order to ascertain the 

 branches of the Labrador current. 



