206 



NATURE 



[October 21, 1915 



Whitehead, on " Space, Time, and Relativity,' and 

 one by Prof. Nunn, on "Sense-data and the Physical 

 Object." There will be two symposia, one on " Recog- 

 nition and Memory," and one on "The Theory of 

 the State." 



The death is announced, at eighty-two years of age, 

 of Colonel T. E. Vickers, C.B., who played a leading 

 part in the development of the great steel firm of that 

 name. He was (says the Times) among the pioneers 

 in the early 'seventies of the open-hearth process of 

 melting steel, and achieved a great success, notwith- 

 standing the paucity of scientific knowledge and the 

 lack of instruments for ensuring precision in regard 

 to temperatufe, etc. The River Don works, now one 

 of the great industrial establishments of the country, 

 were inaugurated in 1866, in order to meet the in- 

 creased demands resulting from early successes, 

 and since then developments have followed each other 

 in rapid succession in connection with heavy forgings, 

 gun-making, armour manufacture, shipbuilding, and 

 corresponding industries, so that long before Colonel 

 Vickers 's retirement in 1909 the firm had become one 

 of the most renowned in the world. Colonel Vickers 

 was awarded the Howard quinquennial prize by the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, "in recognition of the 

 part taken during his career in developing and im- 

 proving the production of steel for important engineer- 

 ing purposes." 



In view of the possibility of fires which may arise 

 from further attacks by hostile aircraft, the Com- 

 missioner of Police of the metropolis directs attention 

 to the warning published in June last, recommending 

 that a supply of water and sand be kept readily 

 available for dealing with incendiary fires. It is sug- 

 gested that chemical liquid fire extinguishers should 

 not be purchased without a written guarantee that 

 they comply with oflficial specifications. The specifica- 

 tion issued by the Board of Trade (Circular 1560) has 

 reference to the ordinary type of extincteur In which 

 water charged with carbonic acid gas Is used as the 

 extinguishing liquid; it Indicates the chief points of 

 construction, testing, and maintenance to which atten- 

 tion should be directed in connection with such appa- 

 ratus. As regards dry powder fire extinguishers, the 

 public is warned that no trust can be placed 

 in them for effectively controlling fires such as are 

 likely to be caused by bombs, whether explosive or 

 incendiary. In dealing with such outbreaks of fire, 

 the prompt and Intelligent use of water or sand, or of 

 both, is considered to be the best, simplest, and most 

 economical procedure. 



We regret to announce the death of Dr. Charles 

 Callaway, of Cheltenham, who was one of the pioneers 

 in the study of the Archaean rocks of the British Isles. 

 Dr. Callaway was born at Bristol in 1838, and was 

 educated for the Nonconformist ministry, which he 

 afterwards relinquished for education work and 

 geology. In 1874, when he read his first paper before 

 the Geological Society, much remained to be 

 done in distinguishing the Cambrian rocks from 

 those of earlier date, and in establishing the broader 

 grouping of the latter. The extent of his 

 NO. 2399, VOL. 96] 



geological work is shown by the fact that more than 

 twenty papers by him have been published in the 

 Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, descrip- 

 tive of the older rocks of Shropshire, the Malverns, 

 Anglesey, Assynt and other regions in the north-west 

 Highlands of Scotland, and parts of Ireland. In some 

 of these regions he was the first to Identify the occur- 

 rence of subdivisions of the Cambrian rocks and to 

 ascertain their relation to the Archaean groups. In 

 the latter he introduced the terms Uriconlan and Long- 

 myndian. The value of his work was recognised by 

 the award to him In 1885 of the Wollaston Fund of 

 the Geological Society, and in 1903 by the award of 

 the Murchison medal. Among the more important 

 of his papers In the Quarterly Journal of the Geo- 

 logical Society may be mentioned "The Pre -Cambrian 

 Rocks of Shropshire" (1879-1882) and "The Age of 

 the Newer Gneissic Rocks of the Northern Highlands " 

 (1883), but many others have been published In the 

 Geological Magazine and in the Proceedings of the 

 Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club, of which he was 

 a past-president. Dr. Callaway was also a writer on 

 ethical subjects. 



To the October number of the Fortnightly Review 

 Mr. J. B. C. Kershaw contributes an article on the 

 scientific and engineering aspects of the war. It Is 

 pointed out that this Is the first great war In which 

 the striking advances of scientific knowledge of recent 

 years have been allowed full play, and how great has 

 been the Influence in every direction. The subject Is 

 dealt with under four headings — the petrol motor and 

 its application to land transport and aviation ; smoke- 

 less powders and high explosives ; the use of inflam- 

 mable liquids and poisonous gases ; the legal and moral 

 aspects of some of these recent developments. The 

 combination of high power with lightness In weight 

 of the petrol motor rendered possible, first, the auto- 

 mobile, and then the dirigible balloon and aeroplane. 

 The automobile has revolutionised the question of sup- 

 plies to the front, and warfare on Its present scale 

 would otherwise have been impossible ; troops fighting 

 In districts long since denuded of food supplies are 

 remarkably well catered for, and the Inhabitants saved 

 from starvation. The haulage of heavy siege guns, 

 the use of armoured motor-cars, the rapid movement 

 of troops, and the efficient motor ambulance service, 

 all emphasise the utility of the petrol motor. The 

 results from aviation are of immense Importance — In 

 directing and controlling artillery fire, and in observa- 

 tion work. Discussing explosives, the writer, having 

 described briefly the composlton and characters of 

 smokeless and high explosives, points out how the 

 Invisibility on discharge In daylight enables batteries 

 to be hidden, and how the sniper is able to perform 

 his deadly work undetected. The section on the use 

 of inflammable liquids is largely historical, " Ger- 

 many's step forward in this direction, however, in 

 reality Is a step backwards towards barbarism," the 

 use of such methods dating back to very early times. 



A VALUABLE memoIr on the evolution and morphology 

 of the Palaeozoic star-fishes and brittle stars has just 

 been published by the United States National Museum 

 (Bulletin 88). The author, Mr. Charles Schuchert, re- 



