August 15, 19 18] 



NATURE 



471 



Meteorological Institute at De Bilt attributed the dis- 

 turbance to an explosion which occurred at a muni- 

 tions factory in the North of England. Accepting this 

 explanation of the phenomenon, a writer in Oester- 

 reichische Flug-Zeitschrift for January, 1918, regards 

 it as evidence of a strong current from north-west in 

 the upper air. This current is identified with the one 

 that carried the German airships over France when 

 returning from a raid in England last October, and 

 is referred to as the summer monsoon prolonged into 

 the autumn. 



The Germans are greatly troubled in finding a 

 satisfactory substitute for platinum. Now, however 

 (according to Metall iind Erz, May 22), they have 

 found that for certain purposes an alloy of nickel and 

 iron may replace platinum. The alloy — called 

 •platinite" — may be used in electric lamps. Nickel- 

 chromium is sufficiently resistant to chemical action to 

 make it a fairly good substitute for platinum for 

 laboratory purposes. Cobalt stands up to strong acids 

 even better than nickel. The low melting-point of 

 gold makes it unsuitable for some purposes, but the 

 melting-point may be raised by adding palladium. 

 The Bureau of Standards (U.S.) has recently tested 

 this latter alloy (known as "palau"), and found it to 

 be superior to platinum in some respects, though 

 inferior in others. 



The April Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards 

 contains a study of the electromagnetic moving-coil 

 galvanometer for alternating currents by Mr. E. 

 Weibel. After obtaining the equations of motion of 

 the coil, he shows that the deflections are proportional 

 to the component of "the electromotive force applied 

 to the coil in phase with the excitation of the 

 laminated magnet. The period is shortened by induct- 

 ance and lengthened by capacity of the external cir- 

 cuit. The intrinsic constants of the instrument are 

 easily determined by experiment, so that the behaviour 

 of the instrument under specified conditions is readily 

 foretold. The instruments which have been con- 

 -rructed on the lines laid down in the paper have a 

 'ositivity at low frequencies much greater than the 

 itlephone, greater than the vibration galvanometer, 

 and about equal to the best direct-current instruments. 

 At high frequencies of the order 2000 many pre- 

 cautions must be taken to ensure accuracy ; amongst 

 others, the moving coil and circuit near it should be 

 enclosed in a metal shield kept at the same potential 

 :is the coil. 



A TIMELY article on " Planning a Research Labora- 

 tory for an Industry," by Dr. C. E. K. Mees, of 

 Rochester, New York, appears in the July issue of 

 the Scientific Monthly. The research laboratory, for 

 (example, of a textile-dyeing business with an annual 

 turnover of 2oo,oooi. per annum should cost about 

 2000/. and the equipment about loooi. It should have, 



10 begin with, a staff of four with salaries totalling 

 2000L per annum. The organisation should be on the 

 departmental system — that is, there should be a head 

 of the laboratory and three heads of departments of 

 physics, chemistry, and biology respectively. As the 

 laboratory justifies itself, additions to the staff of each 

 flepartment will become necessary, and these additions 

 Aill be responsible to the heads of departments, 



1 1 though with further growth provision should be 

 made for their becoming heads of new departments. 

 I'he great object of the firm should be to get hold of 



a capable man for the head of the laboratory, as 

 success or failure depends on him. If such a man is 

 available it is best to leave the organisation in his 

 hands, for there is no evidence for the belief that an 

 investigator is not a £?ood administrator; 

 NO. 2546, VOL. lOl] 



■ To the Biochemical Journal for June Dr. J. C. 

 Drummond contributes an account of further work 

 on what has been called the "water soluble B," or 

 water-soluble accessory growth-promoting substance 

 (compare Nature, March 21, p. 52). The influence 

 of the substance upon the nutrition and nitrogen meta- 

 bolism of the rat was studied. The food consumed by 

 rats fed upon a diet deficient in the water-soluble 

 accessory substance seems to be reduced to that suffi- 

 cient to supply the calorific requirements of mainten- 

 ance, and, although the consumption may be increased 

 by the addition of flavouring agents {e.g. meat ex- 

 tract) to the diet, no growth is -observed unless the 

 agent contains the water-soluble substance. Addition 

 of an extract of the latter to the inadequate diet causes 

 a greatly increased food intake, immediately followed 

 by growth, and the amount of growth is proportional, 

 within certain limits, to the amount of accessory sub- 

 stance added. Evidence was obtained that the length 

 of time a rat can maintain its body-weight upon a 

 diet deficient in the water-soluble substance is directly 

 proportional to the age at which the restriction is 

 imposed. The only apparent deviation from the 

 normal nitrogen metabolism *by rats fed upon the 

 deficient diet was the appearance of creatinuria, accom- 

 panied by a slow wasting of the skeletal muscles. 

 The cause of the fatal decline which inevitably follows 

 a deficiency of the water-soluble substance was not 

 discovered, but symptoms of nerve disorder were 

 observed before death in three cases, .\ctively grow- 

 ing animal tissues (embryos, tumours), desiccated 

 pituitary gland, thyroid, thymus, testicle, and ovarian 

 tissues are deficient in the "water soluble B." 



The New York State Barge Canal, which it was 

 anticipated would be opened to navigation in the early 

 part of this year, is the subject of an interesting 

 article in the Engineer of July 19. It is the develop- 

 m.ent of a network of antique waterways dating 

 back, in part, to the beginning of last century. The 

 principal member of the system is the old Erie Canal, 

 linking up Lake Erie with the River Hudson ; this 

 was begun in 1817 and completed in 1825. As 

 originally constructed, it had a depth of 4 ft. and a 

 width of about 42 ft. Similar and adjacent enter- 

 prises followed, but ihe advent of the locomotive and 

 the development of railway construction exercised a 

 deterrent influence, so that ultimately seveial of them 

 failed and had to be shut down. The canals which 

 survived, although enlarged from time to time to meet 

 the growth in size of vessels, gradually lost influence 

 and declined into relative obscurity. In 1882 the 

 Erie Canal had a depth of only 7 ft., and the largest 

 boat carried was of 240 tons burthen. The scheme 

 just completed provides a minimum depth of 12 ft., 

 and minimum widths of 94 ft. in rock cuttings and 

 125 ft. in earth excavation respectively. The project 

 has, in fact, been so designed as to render it possible 

 to accommodate boats up to 3000 tons, though for the 

 present the bulk of the craft using the canal will 

 scarcelv exceed 1500 to 2000 tons. .\s yet there is a 

 lack of boats of a suitable type, and opinion is much 

 exercised on the matter; possibly the solution of the 

 problem may lie in the adoption of rein forced-concrete 

 construction. There are fifty-seven locks on the new 

 waterway, each 328 ft. long and 45 ft, wide. As the 

 dimensions of a looo-ton barge recently built — the first 

 of a fleet of such boats for service on the canal — are 

 152 ft. long and 22 ft. beam, there is evidently ample 

 margin for future expansion. AH the locks are- 

 operated electrically. The lock at Little Falls, with a 

 range in level of 40^ ft., is notable in that its range 

 is greater than that of any single lock on the Panama 

 Canal. The syphon 'lock at Oswego, with a range 

 of 25 ft., is the first of its type to be constructed in 



