October 28, 1915] 



NATURE 



233 



discovery of a fossil elephant at Chatham. Owing to ' 

 tlie possibility of air-raids over the metropolis, and the 

 consequent disorganisation of traffic, the council has 

 decided that the time of the evening meetings shall be 

 changed temporarily from 8 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. 



We regret to record the death of Lieut. J. Gordon 

 Hollingsworth, of the loth Battalion of the Middlesex 

 Rrgiment, who was killed in the Gallipoli Peninsula 

 ^ August 12. He was the second and only surviving 

 \\ of Mr. A. T. Hollingsworth, one of the managing 

 directors of Engineering. He was reported "missing" 

 <ome weeks ago, and it was only on October 15 that 

 iitlicial announcement was made that he fell gallantly 

 leading his men in an advance which took place soon 

 after the landing at Sulva Bay. He was educated as 

 an engineer, and joined the staff of our contemporary, 

 being later elected a director of Engineering, Ltd. 



In a review of Dr. E. Hindle's book on ''Flies in 



Relation to Disease," published in Science for July 16, 



the remark was made that the author had been killed 



in Africa. Referring to this statement, Prof. G. H. F. 



jNuttall writes from Cambridge: — "Dr. Hindle has 



[never been in Africa, and he is alive and well. He is 



tpecting to leave for the front at any moment as a 



ivisional signal oflficer in the R.E. I shall be much 



)Uged to you if you will help me to make the facts 



lown, as the statement in Science has caused un- 



cessary pain to Dr. Hindle's friends in many parts 



the world." 



A CORRESPONDENT, Writing from Amsterdam in the 

 \imes of October 22, contributes incidentally some 

 iteresting observations on the effects of distant gun- 

 ring. "At more than one point in the southern 

 )ntier" of Holland, he says, "one hears the guns 

 )m the French front," the distance being about a 

 indred miles. " It is difficult to say whether one 

 illy hears them with one's ears or whether one feels 

 »m. It is not, at this distance, a definite sound so 

 "much as a jarring and throbbing of the air. But it is 

 audible, or sensible, enough that one can pick out the 

 detonations of pieces of different calibre, the almost 

 continuous low muttering (for heavy work was going 

 on) of the smaller guns being punctuated at intervals 

 with the double shock of something much bigger." 



At the annual statutory meeting of the Royal Society 

 of Edinburgh on October 25 the following were 

 elected as council: — President: Dr. J. Home; Vice- 

 Presidents : Prof. F. O. Bower, Sir T. R. Eraser, 

 Dr. B. N. Peach, Sir E. A. Schiifer, the Right Hon. 



r J. H. A. Macdonald, and Prof. R. A. Sampson; 



riieral Secretary: Dr. Cargill G. Knott; Secretaries 

 Ordinary Meetings : Dr. R. Kidston and Prof. A. 



ibinson; Treasurer: Mr. J. Currie ; Curator of 

 Library and Museum: Dr. J. S. Black; Councillors: 

 Principal A. P. Laurie, Prof. J. Graham Kerr, Dr. 

 I,. Dobbin. Dr. E. M. Wedderburn, Dr. W. B. Blaikie, 

 Principal O. C. Bradley, Dr. R. S. MacDougall, Dr. 

 W. A. Tait, Dr. J. H. Ashworth, Prof. C. G. Barkla, 

 Prof. C. R. Marshall, Principal A. Crichton Mitchell. 

 Sir William Turner, former president, is a permanent 

 member of council. 



NO. 2400, VOL. 96] 



In addition to the awards announced in April for 

 papers read at the meetings, the council of the Institu- 

 tion of Civil Engineers has made the following awards 

 for papers published in the Proceedings without dis- 

 cussion during the session 1914-15 : — A Telford gold 

 medal to Mr. James Forgie (New York) ; Telford pre- 

 miums to Messrs. J. R. Mason (Dunedin, N.Z.), Harold 

 Berridge (Aden), C. R. White (London), C. S. 

 Churchill (Roanoke, Va.) ; and the Trevithick pre- 

 mium to Mr. A. Poulsen (Lemvig, Denmark). The 

 Indian premium for 1915 has been awarded to Mr. 

 C. W. Anderson (Midnapore, India). The ninety- 

 seventh session of the Institution will be opened on 

 Tuesday, November 2, at 8 p.m., when Mr. Alexander 

 Ross, president, will deliver an address, and will 

 present awards made by the council for papers read 

 and discussed or otherwise dealt with during the past 

 session. 



A meeting of the National Illumination Committee 

 of Great Britain was held on October 20, when Mr. W. 

 Duddell was elected chairman of the committee in 

 succession to the late Mr. Edward Allen. Reports on 

 observations carried out at the instance of the com- 

 mittee at a number of technical laboratories, on the 

 height to which the flame of the Hefner amylacetate 

 lamp should be raised to afford a light of one inter- 

 national or English standard candle, were discussed, 

 and their further consideration was postponed until 

 fuller details of some of the observations and other 

 reports which had been promised had been obtained. 

 A report prepared and sent by Dr. E. Ott, of Zurich, 

 on researches which had been carried out in Switzer- 

 land on the effect of atmospheric pressure, humidity, 

 and vitiation on the light afforded by the Hefner 

 standard lamp was considered, and it was decided, 

 subject to Dr. Ott's consent being obtained, to prepare 

 a translation of the report for communication to the 

 British technical Press. 



The Mining Magazine of October 14 contains an 

 article on weights and measures dealing in a practical 

 manner with the question of the necessity for some 

 reform in our present system. The substitution of the 

 metric system is advocated, but more from the point 

 of view of the technical man than from that of the 

 general trading community. It is pointed out that the 

 modifications which the adoption of the metric system 

 would introduce in mining and metallurgical work 

 are not such as to cause any inconvenience, while on 

 the other hand the confusion which at present exists 

 owing to the various tons, gallons, etc., recognised 

 in the mining profession would be entirely obviated. 

 It is also suggested that if the adoption of the metric 

 system is regarded as too revolutionary for the Eng- 

 lish-speaking nations, or if the present is not a suitable 

 time for conducting an agitation in its favour, some 

 steps can at least be taken by technical men towards 

 simplifying the British system and agreeing upon a 

 common usage. Various examples are given with the 

 object of illustrating the need for a less complicated 

 and more practical system. The general adoption of 

 the short ton, which is much used in mining circles 

 for recording ore mined or developed, is strongly 

 advocated. Engineers are advised to use the metric 



