[90 



NATURE 



[May 9, 1918 



oil, and may be derived from the following sources : — 

 U.S.A. Gulf fields, U.S.A. Northern fields, Mexico, 

 Trinidad, Persia, Borneo, Burma, and the United King- 

 dom. The necessary samples of tars and mineral oils 

 will be provided free of charge to responsible persons 

 by the Government. All communications respecting 

 the award should be addressed to the Controller, 

 Munitions Mineral Oil Production Department, 

 8 Northumberland Avenue, W.C.2. 



The Australian Government has published a report 

 (Bulletin No. 6) by its Advisory Committee of Science 

 and Industry on alcohol fuel and engines. A (previous 

 report was noticed in Nature of October i8 last. The 

 present rqoort, which is much fuller, gives the result 

 of a considerable mass of experimental work. The 

 numerous ways of obtaining alcohol from various 

 vegetable products are discussed in .relation to Aus- 

 tralian climatic conditions. An excellent account is 

 given of the effect on stationary in'ternal-combustion 

 engines of the proposed change of fuel ; experiments 

 to determine this were carried out in the engineering 

 laboratory of Melbourne University. The main con- 

 clusions reached are that the world-supply of liquid 

 mineral fuels is not sufficient to meet the world 

 demand; enteiprises for the production of mineral oils 

 in Australia have not so far proved successful ; no 

 crops suitaible for the production of alcohol are ait 

 present grown in Australia in sufficient quantity to 

 meet existing local liquid-'fuel requirements; the most 

 suitable crops would be sorghum sitalks, cassava, and 

 sorghum grain; and experiments indicate that petrol 

 at 40-5^. per gallon is equivalent to alcohol at 3od., so 

 far as fuel costs per b.h.p. are concerned. The Com- 

 mittee decided to recommend that a Government sub- 

 sidy be granted in order to encourage the proposed new 

 industry. 



Major Sydney Harold Baker, of the Gloucester- 

 shire Regiment, was killed in action on March 23, 

 aged thirty-seven, and by his death natural science 

 loses an earnest student and an experienced teacher. 

 The son of Mr. James Baker, of Clifton, he was 

 educated at Bristol Grammar School and Jesus Col- 

 lege, Oxford, where he held an open scholarship. 

 Graduating with honours in 1903, he continued his 

 reading at Charlottenburg. After a short period at 

 Loretto he became science master at Abingdon School, 

 and entered upon the congenial task of developing 

 his subject in new and handsome buildings. To 

 this he devoted himself with much enthusiasm 

 until the outbreak of war, when he offered 

 himself for service. His promotion was rapid. 

 He became captain in February, 1915, intelligence 

 officer in France in the following September, and 

 major in Salonika in August, 1916. Invalided home 

 early in 19 17, after a senior course at Aldershot he 

 was placed in temporary command of an entrenching 

 battalion in France. Here he met his end, after 

 holding a redoubt for thirty-six hours. Major Baker 

 was a man of untiring energy, much personal attrac- 

 tiveness, and great range of interests and knowledge. 

 Few men have combined more successfully the gifts 

 of scientific and of literary training. 



By the death of Mr. Donald Salter, on March 22, 

 from wounds received in action, meteorology has lost 

 an earnest worker of great promise. Mr. Salter be- 

 came a memoer of the staff of (the British Rainfall 

 Organisation in 1908 in his eighteenth year, and, 

 until joining the Royal Engineers early in 1916 

 under the Derby scheme, was responsible as carto- 

 grapher for the preparation of the numerous rainfall 

 maps which appeared in the publications of the 

 Oi-ganisation. He rendered invaluable assistance to 

 Dr. Mill in the progressive development of the carto- 

 NO. 2532, VOL. lOl] 



graphic methods carried on at Camden Square, some 

 of which (he himself initiated. Mr. Salter was of an 

 extremely modest and retiring disposition, with a charm 

 of manner that greatly endeared him to his friends. 

 A rapid and efficient worker, he invariably maintained 

 that high standard of accuracy which is a tradition at 

 Camden Square. He had marked artistic tastes, and 

 devoted most of his Jeisure to their cultivation. After 

 a brief period in the Ordnance Survey Department, 

 Southampton, he saw active service in France until 

 invalided home in October, 1916. Last year he ob- 

 tained a commission in the Royal Garrison Artillery, 

 and he was mortally wounded while carrying on the 

 duties of section commander near his gun at the be- 

 ginning of the recent great offensive by .the Germans. 



Mr. Alfred Gordon Salamon, who died recently 

 in his sixtieth year, will be remembered chiefly in 

 connection with the chemistry of brewing, to which 

 he made various original contributions. His main 

 service to brewing, however, was rendered less by 

 original research than by the interpretation and direc- 

 tion of the practical applications of chemical know- 

 ledge among brewers at a time when the art of brew- 

 ing was only gradually emerging from conditions 

 mainly empirical. Many members of the Royal 

 Society of Arts will remember his Cantor lectures 

 on yeast, which helped to make known in this country 

 the classical work of Hansen, and he was successful 

 as an early advocate of the use of raw grain as an 

 adjunct to malt in the brewery. Mr. Salamon con- 

 tributed to the Transactions of the Institute, of Brew- 

 ing (of which he was elected president in 1907) papers 

 on this subject and on experiments in malting, and 

 to the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry 

 papers on the influence of phosphates in fermenting 

 worts and on the manufacture of caramel. He was 

 joint author of a successful process of gas purifica- 

 tion by the removal of sulphur by the use of "Weldon 

 mud," and also of processes connected with the manu- 

 facture of cyanides ; and he did some technical work 

 in connection with the manufacture of artificial per- 

 fumes. He had at one time a large practice as a 

 brewers' analyst and consultant, but during later years 

 he devoted himself more to general technical chemis- 

 try^ especially in its legal aspects. He possessed a 

 keen forensic instinct, and his advice and help in 

 unravelling chemical puzzles arising in connection 

 with patent-law disputes were valued by leading 

 members of the Bar who were more particularly con- 

 nected with this branch of litigation. Mr. Salamon 

 was for two years chairman of the London Section 

 of the Society of Chemical Industry, in which he took 

 a very active interest, as he also did in the Institute 

 of Chemistry, of which he had for many years been, 

 and was still up to his death, the honorary treasurer. 

 He was popular in his profession, and will be mourned 

 by a wide circle of chemical friends not only at home, 

 but also on the Continent and in America. 



Spring this year has somewhat resembled that of 

 last year, except that the early days of May this 

 year have been much colder. The reports issued by 

 the Meteorological Office show that the cold spells 

 which have prevailed with such persistence in London 

 have been common over the whole of the British 

 Islands. March was, for the most part, dry, mild, 

 and sunny; the mean temperature at Greenwich 

 was 44°, which is 2° above the average, and 5° 

 warmer than March, 1917. The mean temperature 

 for April this year was 45°, which is 3° below the 

 average, but 2° warmer than April last year. The 

 warmest week since the commencement of spring is 

 the week ending March 23, when at Greenwich the 

 mean temperature was 48-2°, which is 5-4° above the- 



