December io, 1914] 



NATURE 



403 



previous years, and the difficulty of getting rubber 

 balloons of really good quality has been greatly 

 intensified by the war. During both 1912 and 1913 

 between fifty and sixty satisfactory balloon ascents 

 were obtained, but the average maximum height in 

 1913 showed a distinct falling off compared with 

 previous years. This was due to the balloons, of 

 which the quality and workmanship are of the utmost 

 importance. During the present year, although fresh 

 sources of supply have been tried, the quality of the 

 balloons has still further deteriorated, with the result 

 that in many cases a premature bursting of the bal- 

 loon has occurred and a maximum height of some 

 five only instead of some fifteen kilometres has been 

 attained. Since the details of the ascents have remained 

 the same, the poor heights reached must be due to 

 defective balloons. 



There is an old proverb that misfortunes never come 

 singly. The ascents at Manchester have ceased since 

 the beginning of this year, and a run of persistent 

 ill-luck in the finding and return of the instruments 

 has been experienced; also the station of the Meteoro- 

 logical Office at Pyrton Hill, Watlington, ceased to 

 be available in the spring. The present station is at 

 Benson, about six miles W.S.W. of Pyrton Hill, a 

 place equally suitable, but the compulsory removal 

 of the station dislocated the regular routine work of 

 the investigation during the first half of the year. 

 From these various causes the number of successful 

 balloon ascents this year in the British Isles can 

 scarcely reach twenty-five, since the war has, for the 

 time being, cut off the supply of balloons, and the 

 very poor returns from the first half of the year 

 cannot be made up by an extra number of ascents in 

 the latter part. 



It has been an unsatisfactory state of affairs that 

 balloons should have been obtained from foreign 

 firms, but chenper and better balloons were so obtain- 

 able. It is hoped that arrangements may shortly be 

 made for the supply from an English firm. 



There is another way in which the investigation may 

 be influenced by the war. In England compressed 

 hydrogen can be obtained cheaply and conveniently 

 in steel cylinders, but in some of our colonies these 

 cylinders cannot be obtained. Failing this source of 

 supply hydrogen is most easily produced from calcium 

 hvdride, the free lift of the' hydrogen in air being 

 equal to the weight of hydride used. Apparently the 

 calcium hydride can only be obtained in Germany. 



There is no information about what is occurring on 

 the Continent. The international days are fixed until 

 the end of the year, but after December, if ascents 

 continue in Gerinanv and Austria, it does not seem 

 likelv that we shall know the dates. Also the meet- 

 ing of the International Committee which was to have 

 been held in England next year can scarcely now take 

 place. 



In the investigation of the upper air the value of 

 the individual observations is decidedly increased by 

 a well-planned system of co-operation, but happily 

 there are many problems which may be attacked with- 

 out such co-operation, and we may hope that the 

 work mav go on with equal vigour as in the past, 

 excepting' that the necessary funds are not likely to be 

 increased by the heavy expenses due to the war. 



International Seisniological Association. — The fifth 

 meeting of the International Seismological Association 

 was to have been held early last September at Petro- 

 grad, under the presidency of Prince Galitzin. Soon 

 after war was declared, it was announced that the 

 meeting was postponed, and, indeed, with the presi- 

 dent a Russian, the secretary a Hungarian, and a 

 committee including Germans, Englishmen and 

 Japanese, no other result could be expected. The 

 formal meeting of the -association once every two or 

 NO. 2354, VOL. 94] 



three years is not, however, the most useful work 

 carried out under its auspices. The permanent com- 

 mittee of the association, with its headquarters at 

 Strassburg, was engaged in collecting materials that 

 could not fail to be of the greatest service. The com- 

 pilation of the annual catalogues of perceptible earth- 

 quakes and of those registered at distant stations 

 would alone justify the existence of the Association. 

 To all this useful work, there must for the present 

 be an end, and, even if the threads of the organisation 

 are ultimately resumed, there will be a long delay 

 in the issue of the next catalogues, and there will 

 be many imperfections in the lists of perceptible 

 shocks. In the registers of seismological observa- 

 tories, the effect of the war will probably be less 

 serious, for the network of stations established in the 

 British Colonies and in allied and neutral countries is 

 practically world-wide. The late Prof. Milne's de- 

 cision to maintain the organisation which he created 

 outside the control of the International Association is 

 thus likelv to have most beneficial results. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM IN 

 THEORY AND PRACTICE.^ 



D' R. GUSTAVE GILSON, director of the Royal 

 I Belgian Museum of Natural History, has 



j recently given to the scientific world his views on the 

 i general theory of a natural history museum in a 

 I magnificent quarto volume. The following is a brief 

 ; abstract of his conclusions. 



A universal museum being obviously impracticable, 

 I a regional museum is all that can be attempted, and 

 ! the "region" must be limited according to circum- 

 I stances. The collections of the museum must be 

 '< acquired by systematic observations conducted by one 

 j or more officials {chefs d^ exploration) specially trained 

 I for this particular work, and the exploration must 

 ! include the acquisition not merely of individual speci- 

 I mens, but also of such material, drawings, plans, 

 ! photographs, and records as are needed to give a full 

 i account of the environment. "The museum ought 

 only to accept with suspicion a specimen that has not 

 \ been collected by its own officials and furnished witli 

 i data written down at the moment of its discovery." 

 I The museum is not primarily an institution for the 

 dissemination of scientific information among the 

 t populace, but a progressve institution dedicated to the 

 advancement of knowledge, free from all pedagogic 

 trammels and from every preoccupation alien to the 

 investigation of nature, and thus playing an important 

 part in the humanitarian mission of the development 

 of natural history : " le musee renseigne, mais 

 n'enseigne pas." Nevertheless, the museum may 

 without being false to its ideals, expound to the people 

 many of the results of its work, and become a valu- 

 able teacher in a line, and by methods different from 

 those of the schoolmaster. 



The regional museum must preserve collections on 

 a generous scale, but these must be properly kept in 

 suitable storehouses (conservatoires) under the con- 

 stant supervision of trained curators (conservateurs). 

 Dr. Gilson makes some strong remarks on the failure 

 of many museums to take due care of their treasures. 

 Besides the main collections there should be others, 

 such as the " comparative " department, containing 

 examples of similar objects from other places for study 

 in connection with those of the region. These speci- 

 mens may, of course, be acquired by gift or purchase. 

 There should also be a public collection of examples 

 judiciously selected ; " here everything useless is harm- 



1 "Le Music d'Histoire Nattirelle Modeme — sa mUsion, <on organisa- 

 tion, ses droits.'' Extrait des M^moires du Masee royal d'Histoire 

 natur^lle de Belgique. By G. Gilson. Pp. xii-f-256. (Bruxelles : I'Academie 

 I Royale de Beleique, 1914.) 



