70 



NATURE 



[March 28, 1918 



and for which the close supervision of men in works 

 is important. 



But there are numerous industrial problems which 

 can best be dealt with in a central laboratory ; let me 

 give some instances of what I mean. Such, for 

 example, are : — 



(i) Investigations into methods of standardisation 

 or of measurement generally. 



(2) Investigations into the physical and mechanical 

 properties of materials used in many trades. 



(3) Investigations useful to a trade which has no 

 fixed centre, but is widespread over the country. 



Or again, (4) a central laboratory will be of service 

 as a means whereby information as to large questions 

 of general interest, investigated either at the central 

 laboratory itself or at the local special laboratories, 

 may be circulated and time saved by placing at the 

 disposal of any special laboratory requiring them the 

 results obtained elsewhere. 



Let me take these heads more in detail. I will post- 

 pone the consideration of No. i — standardisation 

 problems — to my next lecture. It is sufficient to re- 

 mark here that the work already done in this direction 

 has been very great, and to point out that unification 

 vjI standards used in various trades is highly desirable, 

 and can be secured only by the existence of a central 

 standardising institution working in close co-operation 

 with local institutions. 



Turning then to (2)— investigations into the proper- 

 ties of materials used in many trades — -the work done 

 on light alloys affords a good example of this, work 

 for which the British Aluminium Co. has recently 

 shown its appreciation by sending a generous donation 

 of 500L to the funds of the laboratory. 



Or, again, the following are a few of the problems 

 which it has been recently stated need solution to 

 satisfy the needs of one important industry : — 



(i) An investigation into the physical properties of 

 alloy steels. 



(2) An investigation into the conditions affecting the 

 flow of liquid fuel through an orifice with reference 

 to : (a) proportions of orifice; (b) temperature of fuel 

 and air ; (c) viscosity of fuel. 



(3) An investigation of the stress distribution in irre- 

 gularly shaped members — crankshafts and the like. 



(4) An investigation into the wear of bearings. 



(5) Investigations into the material suitable for valves, 

 cylinders, and other parts of internal-combustion 

 engines. 



(6) The efficiency of radiators for such engines. 



(7) An investigation into the cause of the lubricating 

 properties of oils with the view of framing a specifica- 

 tion for such oils. 



It is obvious that the results of all these investiga- 

 tions, while of special importance to the automobile 

 industry, are of great interest to others. Any of them 

 could go on in a properly equipped laboratory, while 

 it is clear that to carry out many a very complete 

 physical and, in some cases, chemical equipment is 

 needed. 



And that leads to another very important point. A 

 special laboratory, if it is to be really of use, must be 

 complete. Many of the investigations just indicated 

 involve thermal and electrical measurements of high 

 accuracy. Elaborate apparatus is involved and a skilled 

 staff to use it. These conditions can be satisfied onlv 

 if the laboratory possesses a large and varied staff, 

 capable of advising on each special point as it arises, 

 and the necessary outfit of delicate and expensive appa- 

 ratus. In many instances the difficulty lies in the de- 

 velopment of the method of measurement and the 

 calibration and standardisation of the apparatus em- 

 ploved rather than in the actual experiments. 



Of to take another instance. There have been 

 NO. 2526, VOL. lOl] 



some conferences lately with regard to research in 

 refractories, and it was clear that there is much work 

 to be done and ample opportunity for the development 

 of research in special laboratories in close contact with 

 the industry, whether at Sheffield, Middlesbrough, or 

 South Wales, for steel-making and other metallurgical 

 processes, or in the Potteries for the china and earthen- 

 ware trades. It was clear, too, that there was much 

 work which could best be done at a central institution 

 such as the National Physical Laboratory. Such work, 

 for example, would embrace, among other things, an 

 investigation into many of the physical and other pro- 

 perties of refractories. 



As instances of (3) — investigations useful to a trade 

 which has no fixed centre — I may give the following: — 



(i) A research has been in progress for some time 

 at the laboratory into the heating of buried cables carr}-- 

 ing electric currents. In connection with the Wiring 

 Rules Committee of the Institution of Electrical En- 

 gineers much has been done to determine the tempera- 

 ture to which the cables used in house wiring are 

 raised in various circumstances, and to fix the safer 

 currents to be used in each case. Our knowledge of 

 the temperature reached in cables when buried in the 

 ground is very scanty and somewhat conflicting ; much 

 depends on the nature of the covering used to protect 

 them, and possibly something on the nature of the soil. 

 Cables laid in ducts, again, differ from those protected 

 merely by the ordinary forms of lead or other covering, 

 and yet the life of the insulation depends in great 

 measure on the temperaiture reached when the current 

 is flowing, and thus regulates the carrying capacity of 

 the cable. Thanks to the co-operation of supply authori- 

 ties in many parts of the country, much valuable 

 information has been collected, and, though the re- 

 search at the laboratory proceeds but slowly, results of 

 great importance are being obtained. Such a research 

 needs large appliances, and currents up to eight or ten 

 thousand amperes will be employed. It needs also the 

 resources of a fully equipped physical laboratory in 

 order to measure accurately the terhperature differences 

 due to varying conditions ; when complete it will be of 

 value to all supply companies. This is true of many 

 other electrical tests and experiments ; the results are 

 of wide application ; it is desirable that they should 

 be widely published. > 



(2) The building trade offers another example of this 

 kind. Brick and stone, wood and iron, have been 

 used for long, and their properties when employed for 

 building construction are generally well known. This 

 is less true of other more modern materials— ferro- 

 concrete, for example. There are rules — based no 

 doubt on the best experience available — for estimating 

 the strength of beams, columns, and floors, but there 

 is much scope for inquiry. Accordingly, at the m- 

 stance of Sir John Cowan, of the firm of Messrs. Red- 

 path, Brown, and Co., who is bearing the expense, 

 apparatus is being built to test columns up to 15 ft. or 

 20 ft. in length, and floors of considerable size. War 

 conditions again are interfering, but the work is pro- 

 gressing slowly and must be done. There are other 

 materials besides ferro-concrete urgently calling for 

 examination. Nor is the strength of the materials the 

 only factor to be considered. Materials transmit heat 

 in very varying amounts, and the comfort of a house, 

 to sav nothing of the cost of living in it, will depend 

 on whether it is possible easily to keep it warm in 

 winter and cool in summer. 



(3) Recently we were asked to compare the heat losses 

 from two enclosures exactly alike in all respects, except 

 that the one was roofed with corrugated iron, the other 

 with some preparation of asbestos. It was found that 

 the latter cooled 20 per cent, faster than the former; 

 the loss of heat depends, in part on the conductivity 



