90 



NATURE 



[April 4, 19 18 



dealing with the branches of science concerned. These 

 arrangements have lapsed since the outbreak of war, 

 either informally, or, as in the case of the Inter- 

 national Geodetic Association, by the non-renewal of 

 the diplomatic convention which had constituted and 

 maintained the association. The convention was origin- 

 ally concluded in 1895, ^"d renewed in 1907 for a further 

 period of ten years, so that it ceased to exist last year. 

 In the course of 19 16, however, steps were taken by a 

 group of neutral States — Switzerland, Holland, Den- 

 mark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, and the United States 

 of America — to constitute amongst themselves, and 

 under terms resembling those of the old convention, 

 a small association which might maintain the work 

 of the wider body, if only in a restricted form ; this 

 neutral group is to dissolve two years after the con- 

 clusion of peace. Among other services, it has assured 

 the continuance of the international scheme for deter- 

 mining the variation of latitude. The question of the 

 future of international geodetic work has recently been 

 raised, perhaps a little prematurely, by M. Ch. Lalle- 

 mand, Directeur du Service du Nivellement de la 

 France. In a letter addressed to the delegates from 

 all the countries of the Entente to the lapsed associa- 

 tion, and also published in the Revue ginirale des 

 Sciences (February 28, Siipp., p. 17), M. Lallemand 

 advocates the foundation of a new body, to be confined, 

 at least initially, to the Entente countries. With this in 

 view he has sent out a draft of a proposed convention, 

 which, amongst its provisions, departs from former 

 practice in giving voting power to the different coun- 

 tries, not equally, but in some kind of proportion to 

 their relative importance. A special conference will be 

 called to discuss the proposals as soon as occasion 

 offers. 



From time to time the safety of the numerous pre- 

 historic remains on Salisbury Plain has been a matter 

 of anxious concern to antiquaries in consequence of the 

 use of the Plain by the military authoritiies. There has 

 been every evidence of goodwill on the part of the mili- 

 tary authorities, but their best intentions and en- 

 deavours have not been sufficient to prevent a con- 

 siderable amount of mischief being done. A valuable 

 step in advance has recently been taken at the. instance 

 of the Society of Antiquaries by -the appointment of 

 Lt.-Col. William Hawley, of Salisbury, ' the . able ex- 

 plorer of Old Sarum, as an inspector to watch over 

 the safety of ' these remains and report to the War 

 Office any injury with which they may be threatened. 

 It is to be hoped that his authority may be extended 

 in the direction of empowering him to take effectual 

 steps to prevent any such injiary. The safety of Stone- 

 henge itself is not so well assured as could be wished. 

 Since it was acquired by a public-spirited citizen of 

 Salisbury it has been placed in the charge of a custo- 

 dian employed by him, and watched , over by a police 

 constable, and for their accornmodation two cottages 

 had been provided in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 the monument. For some military reason which has 

 not been disclosed, the authorities have taken over 

 these cottages and ordered them to be demolished. As 

 there are no other cottages in the neighbourhood, the 

 necessary consequence seems to be that the custodian 

 and constable cannot exercise constant supervision as 

 hitherto. The Society of Antiquaries has adopted the 

 following- resolution, drawn up by its president. Sir 

 Arthur Evans: — "The Society of Antiquaries has 

 heard with concern that the War Office proposes to 

 demolish the two cottages by Stonehenge, which serve 

 as the domiciles of the custodian and the police con- 

 stable charged with the safe-keeping of the monument. 

 As these are the only available cottages in the neigh- 

 bourhood the society feels that such action may be 

 fraught with perilous consequences, and therefore begs 



NO. 2527, VOL. lOl] 



leave to direct the attention of the Secretary of State 

 for War to the urgent necessity of taking adequate 

 steps to protect this national monument from injury or 

 defacement." 



The Times of March 28 publishes a long Reuter 

 message from Stockholm containing parts 'of the 

 memorandum on the crisis which led to war drawn up 

 in August, 19 16, by the former German Ambassador- 

 in London, Prince Lichnowsky. The memorandum 

 decisively fastens upon Germany the responsibility for 

 the war, and is a document of high historical import- 

 ance, especially if the whole of it represents the British 

 attitude so truthfully as is done by Prince Lichnowsky 

 in the following reference to what is thought of science 

 and learning: — "In no place ... is an envoy's social 

 circle of greater consequence than in England. A 

 hospitable house with friendly guests is worth more 

 than the profoundest scientific knowledge, and a 

 learned man of insignificant appearance and too small 

 means would, in spite of all his learning, acquire no 

 influence. The Briton hates a bore and a pedant. He 

 loves a good fellow." 



Mr. H. J. Helm, whose death occurred last week 

 at Bromley, Kent, was for several years deputy-prin- 

 cipal chemist of the Government Laboratory, which 

 position he held on his retirement from the public service 

 in 1904. For a considerable period previously Mr. Helm 

 had been a superintending analyst in charge of chem- 

 ical matters connected with the assessment of revenue, 

 and his technical knowledge of the brewing, distilling, 

 and tobacco-making industries, as also of the legal 

 enactments by which the operations of these industries 

 are controlled, enabled him to render valuable assist- 

 ance in matters of fiscal chemistry to Sir Edward 

 Thorpe when the latter succeeded the late Dr. Jas. Bell 

 as-head of the laboratory. . CAutious and shrewd, Mr. 

 Helm had a marked sense of what was reasonably 

 workable in applying laboratory results to industrial 

 practice, and his advice tended always to assist in hold- 

 ing the balance fairly between the interests of the 

 Exchequer on one side and those of the manufac- 

 turing and general public on the other. He was of 

 somewhat reserved, but withal kindly, disposition, and 

 the news of his decease, albeit at the ripe age of 

 seventy-nine, will be heard with regret by many friends 

 and official acquaintances. 



The special correspondent of the Times at the War 

 Correspondents' Headquarters in France says that in- 

 formation as to the long-range guns which are shelling 

 Paris was obtained last December from prisoners. The 

 guns were said to be of 15 in., and fined down to about 

 8J in. They were, according to one informant, 79 ft. 

 long, and in the trials had carried 75 kilometres, and 

 were expected to carry 100 kilometres, or 62 miles. 

 More remarkable than the gun was the shell, which 

 was 59 in. in length and prolonged into a bottle neck 

 at the front, with two copper driving bands and rifling 

 extending in advance of these, the weight of the shell 

 being about 350 lb. The two copper driving bands 

 are i in. wide, and in front of these is a steel on iron 

 band of 3 in. or more, over which the rifling extends, 

 which would give the shell great stability in the air. 

 According to the latest information derived from 

 prisoners, the Times correspondent says, the gun 'si length 

 would probably be about 104 calibres — that is, 104 times 

 the diameter of the bore — which is getting on for twice 

 the length of any gun of the same calibre we make. 

 The muzzle velocity is estimated to be from 4500 to 

 .^000 ft. per second, and it is conjectured that the gun 

 is elevated to an angle perhaps as high as 55°, so that 

 the main part of the path of the shell would be in a 

 region where little air resistance would be experienced. 



