758 



NA TURE 



[June io, 1922 



The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. 



T 



'HE first meeting of the General Assembly of this 

 Union, which was held at Rome at the beginning 

 of May, was attended by delegates from the fourteen 

 countries which at present form the Union, and also 

 by a number of representatives from several other 

 countries which, though belonging to the International 

 Research Council, have not yet joined the Union. 



The Union, which was constituted at Brussels in 

 1919, has for its object the promotion of the study 

 of geodetic and geophysical problems and of inter- 

 national co-operation in research. It covers not only 

 the ground with which the former International 

 Associations of Geodesy and Seismology dealt, but 

 its sections provide for similar activities in meteor- 

 ology, terrestrial magnetism, physical oceanography, 

 vulcanology, and scientific hydrology. 



The m.eetings of the Union and its constituent 

 sections were held in the rooms of the Reale Accademia 

 dei Lincei on May 3-10, and were preceded by an 

 official reception of the delegates and members of 

 the Astronomical and of the Geodetic and Geo- 

 physical Unions by the Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion at the Capitol, at which His Majesty the King 

 of Italy was present. 



As the meeting in Brussels in 1919 was held for 

 the special purpose of constituting the International 

 Research Council and the Unions which are related 

 to it, no scientific discussions took place there ; 

 since then the organisation of the Union and its 

 sections has entailed a considerable amount of work. 

 At Rome, therefore, each section had to prepare its 

 plans for international work, and in the case of 

 geodesy and seismology, to review the progress which 

 had been made since the last international meeting. 

 In all sections good progress was made, and plans 

 were adopted for the work which will be put in hand 

 in the period which will elapse before the next meeting 

 of the Union in 1924. 



In geodesy the programme was a heavy one, for 

 ten years have elapsed since the last meeting of the 

 International Geodetic Association at Hamburg in 

 1912. Very interesting summaries of the work which 

 it has been possible to carry out during this period 

 Avere presented by the delegates of the various coun- 

 tries, and these will be published in the report of the 

 section of geodesy. It had been suggested at Brussels 

 that the study of variation of latitude should be con- 

 fided to the Union of Astronomy instead of to that 

 of Geodesy. The question was fully discussed at 

 Rome by a committee representing the two Unions, 

 and it was decided that the subject should remain 

 with the Section of Geodesy, a joint committee of 

 geodesists and astronomers, with Prof. Kimura as 

 chairman, being appointed to direct the work. 



To carry out the decisions of the Section, and to deal 

 with any matters which might arise, an executive com- 

 mittee was appointed, as well as a General Committee, 

 on which each country adhering to the Section will be 

 represented. The General Committee will be consulted 

 on matters which go beyond the powers of the executive 

 committee in the interval between two meetings. 



For each principal branch of technical work a 

 reporter was appointed who will prepare a statement 

 on the progress made in it for the periodical confer- 

 ences, and will also facilitate co-ordination between 

 workers in different countries. Mr. W. Bowie of the 

 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey continues as president, 

 with Lieut. -Colonel G. Perrier of the French Geodetic 

 Service as secretary. 



As the International Seismology Association was 

 still in being at the time of the Conference at 

 Brussels, no change could then be made, and the 



Section of Seismology was only constituted at 

 Rome, when Prof. H. H. Turner, of Oxford, was 

 elected president, with Prof. Rothe of Strasbourg 

 as secretarj/. The subjects for discussion included the 

 study of microseisms, the depth focus of earthquakes, 

 and proposals for studying explosion phenomena 

 and wave propagation. Much work was done in 

 organising the Section, and in planning work to be 

 undertaken before its next meeting. The work now 

 being done at Oxford and at Strasbourg is to be 

 carried on, and to this the Section will give such 

 assistance as it can. 



Meteorology is represented in the Union by a 

 Section which is a new organisation in so far as it 

 does not replace a pre-war institution of a corre- 

 sponding character. Its relations to the Inter- 

 national Meteorological Committee, which has been 

 in existence for many years, came up for discussion ; 

 this committee consists of a certain number of 

 Directors of meteorological services, and at its 

 periodical conferences, such as that which met at 

 Paris in 1919, many questions are discussed which 

 arise from the relations existing between the meteoro- 

 logical services of different countries. It was 

 agreed that, in addition to questions of this char- 

 acter, there were many investigations for which 

 international co - operation was essential, which 

 directors of meteorological services might find it 

 difficult to include in their work. Such investigations 

 might with advantage be initiated by the Section, 

 and at Rome plans were discussed for work of this 

 character. The composition of the atmosphere at 

 high altitudes, and the physical conditions prevailing 

 in the stratosphere, were specially considered as 

 being subjects in which an increase of our knowledge 

 is highly desirable, and plans for work upon them 

 were adopted. It is clear that the two organisations 

 would in no way overlap, but that the work of each 

 would usefully supplement that of the other. Sir 

 Napier Shaw was elected president of the Section, 

 with Prof. Eredia of the Italian Meteorological 

 Service as secretary. 



The Section of Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity 

 was fully occupied with a long programme dealing 

 largely with methods of observation and with the 

 reduction of results ; no particular method of scale- 

 value determination was agreed upon in view of the 

 diverse types of instruments in use. The selection 

 of one observatory in each country which should 

 take part in the international comparison of instru- 

 ments was advocated, and a committee was appointed 

 to formulate a scheme for such intercomparisons. 

 Other committees were formed to deal with polar- 

 light observations, with earth currents, and observa- 

 tional work in atmospheric electricity. Dr. C. Chree 

 was elected president, with Dr. L. A. Bauer as 

 secretary. 



The Section of Physical Oceanography had held 

 one meeting in Paris in January 1920, at which 

 committees were nominated to facilitate co-operation 

 in oceanographical work in the Atlantic, in the 

 Pacific, and in the Mediterranean. At Rome these 

 were confirmed, and the recommendations of the 

 Tidal Committee for improving the collection of 

 tidal i^feformation and data, and for attaining uni- 

 formity in their reduction, were adopted. A proposal 

 to provide, by means of a committee or a section, for 

 the co-ordination of biological work in oceanography 

 with the physical work of the Section, was adjourned 

 until the next conference in order that opinions 

 from various countries might be obtained. H.S.H. 

 the Prince of Monaco continues as president, with 



NO. 2745, VOL. 109] 



