724 



NATURE 



[June 3, 1922 



the Safeguarding of Industries Act had, in many- 

 instances, placed in the way of research, he char- 

 acterised research itself as a " Key Industry," and 

 he hoped that the Government would put every 

 facUity in the way of research workers to enable them 

 to obtain without delay the apparatus they required. 



The idea of establishing an International Hydro- 

 graphic Bureau was suggested some years before the 

 war, and the project took definite shape when the 

 Admiralty called an International Hydrographic 

 Conference in London in July 191 9. Twenty-four 

 of the maritime states of the world were represented 

 and steps were taken to establish a permanent 

 bureau. A committee was appointed which, after 

 nearly two years' work, devised an organisation that 

 proved acceptable to the states represented. Captain 

 Spicer-Simson, the secretary-general, gives some 

 details regarding the Bureau in the Geographical 

 Journal for April. The aim is to establish close 

 and permanent association between the hydrographic 

 services of various states, to co-ordinate their efforts 

 with the view of rendering navigation easier and safer, 

 and, so far as possible, to obtain uniformity in 

 hydrographic documents. The Bureau is consult- 

 ative only and has no authority over national 

 hydrographic offices, which remain entirely inde- 

 pendent. It will have a collection of all charts and 

 works published by the various hydrographic and 

 other offices, and will collect papers bearing on hydro- 

 graphy and navigation. An important duty of the 

 Bureau willj be the collection and distribution of 

 information on the subject of hydrographic surveys 

 and other publications which are being prepared in 

 the various national offices, and it will also undertake 

 the organisation of an International Hydrographic 

 Conference, if possible, every five years. The 

 Bureau is directed by a board, of which the present 

 members are : Vice-Admiral Sir J. Parry, president ; 

 Rear- Admiral J. M. Phaff (Netherlands) ; Captain 

 S. H. Miiller (Norway), and Captain G. Spicer- 

 Simson (Great Britain). The address of the Bureau 

 is, 3 rue du Port, Monaco. 



The British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Associa- 

 tion has just issued, in its Quarterly Bulletin, a Union 

 List of periodicals of interest for reference on industrial 

 metallurgy. The service provided by 14 libraries in 

 London, Birmingham, and Manchester is clearly 

 indicated, so far as concerns the 118 periodicals which 

 have been selected. Since one of the main functions 

 of the Industrial Research Associations is to serve as 

 distributing centres for scientific and technical in- 

 formation to their members, such a key-index should 

 prove of great value and will doubtless be followed by 

 other bodies for their own special subjects. It may 

 also be taken as an indication of the interest that is 

 likely to be taken in the proposed World List of 

 Scientific Periodicals of the Conjoint Board of 

 Scientific Societies. 



Mr. Harry Allcock, in a pamphlet entitled 

 " The Power of the Penny," advocates a system of 

 decimal coinage of which the shilling would be 



NO. 2744, VOL, 109] 



the unit, divided into ten pennies of a new series, 

 each of which would be worth li of the existing 

 penny; in other words, an existing sixpence would 

 represent five of the new pennies. His view is that 

 the present time is specially favourable for a reform 

 of this kind, which would contribute to the reduc- 

 tion of postal and other charges, which have been 

 raised from id. to ijd., to a penny of the new issue. 

 One thing is obvious, that the currency is at 

 present in an unsatisfactory condition requiring 

 the careful consideration of experts, and the possi- 

 bility of adopting a decimal system might well 

 form part of such an inquiry. Mr. Allcock has not 

 dealt with the question of fractions of a penny. 

 Each of his new pennies would have to be divided 

 into ten smaller coins, representing ^\ of the existing 

 penny in value : in other words, the old-fashioned 

 halfpenny would have to give place to a new coin 

 of higher value. 



That well-known optical toy, the kaleidoscope, is 

 occasionally used to illustrate the principles of 

 reflection and to study symmetrical patterns. A 

 simple modification has appeared under the name of 

 a " patternscope " in which two metallic reflectors 

 and a glass window form the three sides of a hollow 

 triangular prism about 3 in. long and closed at both 

 ends. A number of small curvilinear pieces of 

 celluloid and glass of different shapes and colours 

 are enclosed, which together with their reflections 

 form an endless variety of beautiful patterns which 

 can be seen through the window more comfortably 

 than is possible through the eyepiece of the kaleido- 

 scope, and also can be seen by more than one person 

 at one time. Either end of the prism may be used 

 as the base, each having a different coloured design 

 on the inside and so adding to the number of patterns 

 obtainable. The instruments are sold by Messrs. 

 " Patternscopes," 85 Duckett Road, Harringay, 

 London, N.4. 



Dr. L. Silberstein, mathematical physicist of the 

 Research Laboratory, Eastman Kodak Company, has 

 been appointed an associate editor of the Journal of 

 the Optical Society of America. 



Sir William Phipson Be ale, who died on April 

 13 last, bequeathes, on the death of his wife, sums 

 of 5000/. and 200/. to the Royal Institution of Great 

 Britain and the Mineralogical Society respectively. 



Dr. Gordon Holmes will deliver the Croonian 

 Lectures of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 

 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, June 8, 13, 15, 20, at 

 5 o'clock, at the College, Pall Mall East. His subject 

 will be : " The Symptoms of Cerebellar Disease and 

 their Interpretation." 



At the anniversary meeting of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society held on May 29, the following 

 officers were elected : President : Lord Ronaldshay ; 

 Vice-presidents : Sir Francis Younghusband, Col. 

 Sir Charles Close, Dr. D. W. Freshfield, Lord Edward 

 Gleichen, Sir T. H. Holdich, and Sir J. Scott Keltic ; 



