April i 



[918] 



NATURE 



115- 



Bernacchi, the physicist of the first Scott Antarctic 

 Expedition, 1902-4. The result is of obvious import- 

 ance in any theoretical explanation of aurora. The 

 plate, which is not reproduced here, deals with the 

 diurnal variation of the frequency of aurora as seen in 

 different geographical directions. A maximum of fre- 

 quency near 3 a.m. was observed in most directions, 

 from N. through E. to S.E., but not in all directions, 

 e.g. west. 



Fig, 2 shows in the clearest way that aurora at Cape 

 Royds was much more in evidence to the east than 

 to the west. The magnetic needle at Cape Royds 

 pointed about 30° east of south, i.e. the S. magnetic 

 pole of the earth lay north of N.W. Sir Douglas 

 seems to think that the greater frequency in the east 

 may be due to that being the direction of the open 

 sea, land areas prevailing to the west. It may mean, 

 however, only that Cape Royds lies within the zone of 

 maximum auroral frequency. 



Some of the author's conclusions are very sugges- 

 tive. " Making due allowance," he says (p. 206), " for 

 the obscuring effect of daylight . . . auroral pheno- 

 mena ... at Cape Royds favour the portions of the 

 sky which are (a) directed towards, (&) directed away 

 from, the sun, having regard for the position of the 



Fig. 2. — Distribution in azimuth of auroral phenomena 

 at Cape Royds. Graphical illustration of the rela- 

 tive frequency of auiora seen at Gape Royds in 

 relation to geoijraphical direction. Radius vectors 

 on scale such that i/8oth in. equals one hour's display. 



latter at the time of observation." Again, p. 207: 

 "Auroral displays at Cape Royds are distinguished by 

 the large proportion of curtains traversing the heavens 

 in a linear, or nearly linear, direction. A remarkable 

 daily sequence was observed in their trends. Always 

 (on the average) they appeared directed approximately 

 towards the sun. Thus, should a curtain persist for 

 any length of time, it was noted always to exhibit a 

 slow rotational movement counter-clockwise." On 

 p. 209 we read : "After due consideration the following 

 interpretation has been adopted : that at Cape Royds, 

 in the case of steady, straight bands and curtains, they 

 take up a position . . . approximately directed towards 

 the sun." In June and July aurora was visible every 

 day when clouds permitted, but the majority of the 

 displavs in these months "were much calmer and 

 [more] localised than during the preceding or succeed- 

 ing months." 



In the daily logs there are frequent indications of 

 the observer's impression that the aurora was at no 

 very greet height, and that its form was influenced by 

 Mti Erebus when it lay in that direction. Thus, of an 

 aurora on May 23 it is said : — " As it extended past 

 the cone of Mt. Erebus, there appeared a local bend, 

 curving outwards from the mountain . . . the lower 



NO. 2528, VOL. lOl] 



border appeared to show below the summit of the 

 mountain." Of a curtain on May 31 it is said: — "It 

 appeared to be very low over Mt. Erebus, and to touch 

 the . . . crater. At one stage it ringed the crater." 

 On June 21, we are told, "a strong luminous nebula 

 appeared on the N. flanks of Mt. Erebus. . . . The 

 luminous nebula stood out brightly between us and 

 the slopes of Mt. Erebus." 



In view of the apparent conflict between these ob- 

 servations and the measurements of auroral heights 

 made of late years by Prof. Stormer and others in the 

 Arctic, it is obviously desirable that the programme of 

 the next Antarctic expedition should include the 

 measurement of auroral heights after Prof. Stormer 's 

 method. A 25-km. base, such as Prof. Stormer used 

 in his latest observations, is, ho^vever, naturally fitted 

 only for measuring great heights, so it would be well 

 to have, in addition to a long base, a much shorter 

 one of 2 or 3 km., the two bases having desirably one 

 station in common. Sir Douglas tells us that the re- 

 cords of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 

 1912-13 supply much fuller information as to aurora 

 than those of the 1908 expedition, so we may look 

 forward to an even more valuable contribution from 

 his pen on a future occasion. C. Chree. 



T' 



THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE 

 NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS. 

 HE conference of the National Union of Teachers, 

 which was opened at Cambridge on Monday, 

 April I, gave a welcome opportunity for a declaration 

 of policy on the part of this large and influential body 

 on the question of the Education Bill now before Par- 

 liament. It is satisfactory to observe that the confer- 

 ence resisted all amendments to the Bill on the ground 

 that it was desirable to present to the House of Com- 

 mons a clear call in favour of the general principles 

 embodied in the Bill, and to trust to the future for 

 any desirable amendments in its provisions. It secures 

 at least the abolition of half-time, mainly prevailing 

 in the textile areas of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and 

 of the labour certificate, which took the intelligent 

 child from the schools at a premature age. It gives 

 the further advantage of continued education, both 

 general and special, within the working hours of young 

 people from fourteen to eighteen years of age, by which 

 means two and a half millions of adolescents will 

 continue within the healthy influence of the school in 

 preparation for life and in the right use of leisure, and 

 so promote a higher standard of citizenship, and thus 

 make fruitful the early training begun in the day 

 schools. 



In the course of her presidential address Miss Con- 

 way dwelt upon the extraordinary demand which would 

 be made on the teaching profession, not only in 

 meeting the requirements of the new Bill, but also in 

 sup)plying the grievous loss entailed by the present and 

 future exigencies of the war. Already some 20,000 

 teachers out of about 37,000 have been called up for 

 service with the Army in the field, 1000 of whom have 

 given their lives. Women, as in so many other 

 spheres of labour, have been called upon to fill the 

 places of men so withdrawn, but under onerous ^con- 

 ditions of much larger classes in schools, often dis- 

 organised, and they have nobly and successfully re- 

 sponded. The adequate training of the teacher is 

 admitted to be a matter of the most serious concern, 

 but it cannot be expected that the profession will con- 

 tinue to attract gifted men and women to its service, 

 especially that of women, upon whom the duty to a 

 much larger extent in the future will inevitably fall, 

 unless its status be raised, its prospects improved, its 

 emoluments increased, and suitable retiring pensions 



