488 



NATURE 



[August 22, 1918 



the southern parts of Weddell Sea resembles that 

 of the McMurdo Sound area in having a uniform 

 winter temperature, instead of a sharp descent to 

 a minimum^ A steady Fohn effect of wide radius 

 from the mountains of the Antarctic continent 

 would explain this anomaly, as would also the 

 incursion of relatively warm air from lower lati- 

 tudes associated with incurved cyclonic N.E. 

 winds in the eastern part of Weddell Sea. 

 Dynamic heatingf in the jree air, without the 

 intervention of high land, is also within the. bounds 

 of possibility. R. C. Mobsman. 



NOTES. 



While the British Association has suspended its 

 annual gatherings for the last two years, the Society 

 italiana per il Progresso delle Scienze, the head offices 

 of which are at 26 Via del Collegio Romano in Rome, 

 sends us a very attractive programme of the tenth 

 meeting, which is to be held in Pisa on October 16-19 

 under the presidency of Prof. Ferdinando Lori and the 

 secretaryship of the indefatigable Prof. Vincenzo Reina. 

 The success of the meetings at Rome in 1916 and at 

 Milan and Turin in 1917 has convinced the council 

 that it will be interpreting the wishes of the members 

 in continuing even in war-time to maintain its 

 activity in promoting the advancement of knowledge 

 in the country. We notice that such subjects as 

 mathematics, physics, chemistry, and aeronautics do 

 not figure in the proceedings of the sections, which 

 are to be devoted mainly to geological and mineralogical 

 papers in Class A, biological and medical in Class B, 

 and economical in Class C. It is the object of the 

 nteeting to pay a large amount of attention fo the 

 study of the mineral resources of Italy. At the same 

 time the Italian Thalassographic Commission is 

 organising a subsection of Class B on fisheries, and 

 is presenting an annual report, while similar reports 

 are being presented by the Glaciological Committee and 

 the National Commission for the Development of 

 Scientific and Industrial Progress. The Italian Asso- 

 ciation for the Study of Building Materials is to meet 

 in Pisa at the time of the congress. The opening 

 meeting of the scientific gathering is to be held on 

 Wednesday, October 16, at 10 a.m., in the Aula Magna 

 of the University, when an inaugural address will be 

 given by Prof. Raffaello Nasini on "A Proposal for an 

 Inventory of Italy's Mineral Wealth." In addition to 

 the sectional meetings, nine general lectures have been 

 arranged for the mornings of the subsequent days, 

 while the sections will meet in the afternoons, and an 

 excursion will take place on the Sunday. 



The recent flight from England to Egypt, made by 

 two R.A.F. officers and two mechanics, is an excellent 

 example of the possibilities of aircraft with regard to 

 long cross-country flights, and shows in an unmis- 

 takable way that the commercial use of the aeroplane 

 after the war could be very rapidly developed. If a 

 flight of 2000 miles can be satisfactorily made with- 

 out special preparation on an ordinary service machine, 

 it is fairly obvious that there are practically no limits 

 to the possibilities of commercial aviation when the 

 whole attention of designers can be given to the sub- 

 ject, and when the excellent research facilities which 

 we possess can be devoted to the elucidation of the 

 new problems involved. The war hfts worked wonders 

 in promoting the development 01 aeronautical en- 

 gineering, and such feats as the above leave little doubt 

 that one of the good after-effects of the war will be 

 the immediate application of our greatly increased 



NO. 2547, VOL. lOl] 



knowledge of aviation to the problems of international 

 commerce. The question of long oversea flights is 

 fraught with more difficulties than attend long flights 

 overland, but there are many who think that a cross- 

 Atlantic flight is already within the bounds of possi- 

 bility. The future of the aeroplane is bright with 

 promise, and the declaration of peace will doubtless 

 inaugurate a new era in the annals of commercial 

 transport. 



Mr. Charles Herbert Scott, whose death is an- 

 nounced, was born in i860 at Lincoln, and was a 

 member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 

 He was an authority upon linoleum manufacturing 

 machinery, and was the patentee of many of the 

 machines used for this process. 



We regret to note that Engineering for August 16 

 announces the death of Mr. Daniel Makinson Fox in 

 his eighty-ninth year. After a varied railway experi- 

 ence at home and abroad, Mr. Fox acted as principal 

 engineer of the Sao Paulo Railway in Brazil. He was 

 a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and 

 read a paper in 1870 on the Sao Paulo Railway. 



The death of Mr. Bramah Joseph Diplock, an- 

 nounced in the Engineer for August 16, will be 

 regretted by many who took an interest in his well- 

 known invention, the pedrail. Although he had no early 

 technical training, Mr. Diplock's insight into things 

 mechanical was remarkable, and he held some 100 

 patents in 'connection with transport machinery. 



The Mary Kingsley medal of the Liverpool School 

 of Tropical Medicine for research in tropical diseases 

 has been awarded to Dr. Griffith Evans, the discoverer 

 of the trypanosome of Surra, a disease of horses and 

 camels of India, Burma, and the East. Dr. Evans, who 

 was born in 1835, has been a member of the Veterinary 

 Department of the Army, and made his discovery in 

 1880. He contributes on the occasion of the award 

 of the medal an interesting autobiographical note to 

 the Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasiiology for 

 July (vol. xii.. No. i). 



Some additional information regarding the Hog 

 Island shipyard has been obtained by Lloyd's Register 

 of Shipping, and appears in an article in the Engineer 

 for August 16. The methods adopted for training the 

 men are of interest. No skilled labour' could be ob- 

 tained, and a school was started, which provides daily 

 from 300 to 400 men for the yard. A section of a ship 

 has been built, where men are taught riveting, caulk- 

 ing, erecting, bolting up, pipe fitting, and any trade 

 necessary. It is marvellous to see how quickly and 

 how well they learn^ The first ship was launched on 

 August 14. and when it is considered that not fewer 

 than two-thirds of the men who have built her never 

 saw a shipyard until about six months ago, it must 

 be admitted to be a wonderful performance. 



The U.S. National Research Council, acting as the 

 Department of Science and Research of the Council 

 of National Defence, has appointed a committee to 

 investigate the fatigue phenomena of metals. Prof. 

 H. F. Moore, of the engineering experiment station 

 of the University of Illinois, is chairman. The. com- 

 mittee is charged with the responsibility of developing 

 a knowledge of the strength and durability of metals 

 subjected to repeated stresses, such as ship structures, 

 crank-shafts of aircraft engines, and heavy ordnance. 

 It is expected that much of the experimentation re- 

 quired will be done In the laboratories of the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois at Urbana under the personal direction 

 of Prof. Moore. 



