January ;, 191 5] 



NATURE 



sn 



to be used in various circumstances. He shows that 

 the attainment of a high degree of sensitiveness is in 

 the first instance a question of neatness of design, 

 and that high thermo-electric power is of secondar}- 

 importance. For absolute measurements, in order to 

 make the surface receiving the radiation definite in 

 area, he attaches to each junction a small strip of 

 tinfoil, and has already determined the radiation con- 

 stant o- for black-body radiation by means of the in- 

 strument. The result, tr =5-61 x lo-*^ watt cm.-- 

 degree-*, is about 2 per cent, lower than the value 

 generalh' given. 



The mid-December issue of the Journal of the In- 

 stitution of Electrical Engineers contained a report on 

 the standardisation of symbols, which has been issued 

 by the International Electrotechnical Commission. 

 Differentiation between italics and ordinary Roman 

 letters is not encouraged, as both appear the same 

 in ordinary handwriting, and " Gothic " type is aban- 

 doned. Of course, for the greater part, the old and 

 generally accepted symbols are adhered to, but there 

 are some notable exceptions. For " work " A is 

 recommended, W for energy, and P for power. While 

 t is adopted for temperature, the Continental hiero- 

 glyphic which does duty for 6, but has a likeness to 

 the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet as written here, 

 as well as to the partial differential and the printers' 

 reader's deletion mark, is given as a second substi- 

 tute. The small Greek w, used here for ohms, is 

 adopted for 2-/T, and in consequence the German 

 practice of designating ohms either by O (a regular 

 trap owing to its similarity to zero) or Q (which is 

 here employed for megohms) is "provisionally recom- 

 mended." Other symbols adopted are I for current 

 instead of C, which is allotted to capacity, e for 

 dielectric constant, X for reactance, Z for impedance, 

 and S for reluctance, also a subscript in for maximum 

 values. Arc sin x is to replace sin-'.r, the comma or 

 full-stop is to be used for the decimal point, and the 

 comma is to be replaced by a white space for dividing 

 off thousands. Finally, the commission will recom- 

 mend next year that the name Siemens is to replace 

 the old mho on the rare occasions that a unit of 

 conductance is required. 



In the current issue of Electrical Engineering there 

 is an interesting article on the transmission of electric 

 power from Sweden to Denmark across the Sound 

 through a submarine cable which will carry current 

 at 25,000 volts pressure. The width of the Sound at 

 this point, namely, between Helsingborg and Elsinore, 

 is only about 35 miles. Power will be supplied from 

 the network of the South Swedish Power Companv, 

 which has several water-power stations, and provision 

 is made for a total power of 5000 kw. to be trans- 

 mitted to Denmark. This will be utilised for the 

 existing network of the North Zealand Electricity 

 Company, and will include supply to Copenhagen. 

 The case is a typical one for which international trans- 

 mission should be useful, for, while Sweden has both 

 water-power and cheap coal, Denmark has neither. 

 One cable has already been laid, but it is proposed 

 that it should only be used experimentallv at first, and 

 possibly two years may elapse before the Danish net- 

 NO. 2558, VOL. 94] 



work is permanently connected up to the Swedish one. 

 Although this will be the first instance of a submarine 

 supply of electric light and power for industrial pur- 

 poses between two countries, there have nevertheless 

 been a few other cases of electric power transmission 

 i from one country to another. Xancy, Toul, and 

 j Verdun get part of their electric power supply from 

 German Lorraine, or at any rate did so before the 

 I war, and there is also electric power transmission 

 I from Silesia in Germany to Austria, and from the 

 I south of Switzerland to Italy. Moreover, the Rhein- 

 felden Works supply current both to the Swiss and 

 German sides of the Rhine. 



As mentioned in a recent article (Nature, Decem- 

 ber 3) the House of Commons' Select Committee on 

 Patent Medicines formulated a number of recom- 

 I mendations as to the enactment of new legislation, 

 i and the administration of existing laws, controlling 

 : the advertisement and sale of secret remedies. We 

 ' learn that a committee of the General Medical Coun- 

 cil has had these recommendations under considera- 

 I tion, and completely endorses them. One of the pro- 

 ! posals is that the administration of the law should 

 ' be co-ordinated and made part of the functions of a 

 \, Ministry of Public Health when such a department is 

 i created, and that in the meanwhile it should be under- 

 ! taken by the Local Government Board. With refer- 

 ence to this proposal, the committee in its report urges 

 the necessity for the immediate creation of a Ministry 

 of Public Health. The report has been approved by 

 the General Medical Council. 



' The publication of the new British Pharmacopoeia 

 i will be followed closely by several books based upon the 

 j information contained in the official work. Three of 

 : such to be issued by Messrs. J. and A. Churchill 

 I early this year are : — " Materia Medica," fourteenth 

 j edition, by Dr. W. Hale White; "The Book of Pre- 

 : scriptions," tenth edition, by Mr. E. W. Lucas; and 

 \ "The Book of Pharmacopoeias," by Mr. E. W. Lucas 

 { and Mr. H. B. Stevens, this being a new book con- 

 i taining about 5000 formulas, British and foreign, 

 . arranged on a comparative system. 



j Mr. H. K. Lewis, 136 Gower Street, W.C., 

 announces that the new edition — the sixteenth — of 

 I "The Extra Pharmacopoeia," by W. H. Martindale 

 [ and W. W. Westcott, will be published in the course 

 I of a week or two. The work will be issued in two 

 I volumes, as on the last occasion, and will embody 

 much new matter as well as the necessan,- revision to 

 bring it into conformity with the new British Phar- 

 macopoeia. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Bright Meteors of December 29 and 31.— Mr. 

 W. F. Denning reports that fine meteors were ob- 

 served by Mrs. Wilson at Bexley Heath on December 

 29, 6h. 59m., and December 31, iih. 14m. The 

 former was twice as brilliant as Jupiter, and its path 

 was from 94° + 43° to 91^° + 24^°. It was also observed 

 at Bristol and at Essex. The radiant was at 261° + 61°, 

 and height of the meteor sixty-seven to fort\--six miles,' 

 path forty-four miles, and velocity eighteen miles 

 per sec. The meteor of December '31 was a fireball 



