March ii, 1920] 



NATURE 



55 



be mentioned Lord Rothschild, Sir Ronald Ross, Prof. 

 E. B. Poulton, Lt.-Col. Winn Sampson, Mr. F. E. 

 Beddard, Prof. J. Stephenson, Dr. H. O. Forbes," Mr. 

 R. F. Scharff, Prof. J. P. Hill, Dr. S. Kemp, Dr. 

 B. Daydon Jackson, Prof. J. Graham Kerr, Mr. 

 S. Monckton Copeman, Mr. G. T. Bethune Baker, 

 Dr. E. J. Allen, Dr. H. H. Thomas, Dr. C. Christy, 

 and Prof. J. E. Duerden. 



The half-vearlv council meeting of the National 

 1 tiion of Scientific Workers, presided over by Mr. 

 S. Baker, of the National Physical Laboratory, 

 s held, at University College on March 6. The 

 lid growth of the union has necessitated the ap- 

 ntment of a full-time secretary, and Major A. G. 

 uirch has been appointed to fill that office. The 

 -rarch committee in its report outlined the function 

 this body and that of the research council, which 

 it is hoped will shortly be constituted. It will 

 consider how best industry and public administration 

 1 nild be kept in close touch with the development 

 scientific knowledge, and ensure that the views 

 ■nd conditions of employment of scientific workers 

 vliall receive consideration from all bodies bringing 

 forward schemes for research in science or for the 

 administration of research. It was felt that the State 

 should not subsidise industrial research associations 

 unless such bodies display an anxi.ety to ensure that 

 the direction of research shall be in the hands of 

 those who have shown capacity for leadership in 

 scientific work. A report on patent rights presented 

 by Mr. A. A. Griffith emphasised the opinion " that 

 the only satisfactory way of remunerating salaried 

 inventors is to pay them adequate salaries ; a salaried 

 inventor receiving an adequate salary should have no 

 claim whatever to any extra payment because his 

 work proves unexpectedly remunerative." On the 

 motion of Miss A. B. Dale, the council unanimously 

 agreed to "protest strongly against the differential 

 treatment of men and women as regards the method 

 of recruitment to the Civil Service and the salary 

 scales offered therein as recommended by the Re- 

 organisation Sub-Committee of the Civil Service 

 National' Whitley Council." 



February was unusually warm over the southern 

 portion of the British Isles, and at Greenwich Ob- 

 servatory the mean temperature for the month was 

 439°, which is 4° above the normal ; the mean, how- 

 ever, was higher in 1914, when it was 449°, and the 

 jneans of both maxima and minima readings were 

 also higher. There were four days with a shade tem- 

 perature of 60° or above, whilst there is no previous 

 February at Greenwich with more than two such 

 warm days since 1841, and in all only seven days as 

 warm during a period of seventy-nine years. Frost 

 in the shade only occurred on four nights during 

 the month, and the lowest temperature was 27°. The 

 duration of bright sunshine was eighty-seven hours, 

 which is thirty hours more than the normal, and 

 there were three days at Greenwich with eight hours 

 and more of sunshine. Rainfall was much below the 

 normal, and in London there was no day during the 

 month with a fall of 01 in.; the total measurement 

 ^as 039 in., which is the driest February since 1895 

 NO. 2628, VOL. 105] 



and 1896. Rain was measured only on eight days. 

 The whole winter, December, January, and February, 

 has been unusually mild over England, and at Green- 

 wich the mean temperature for the three months was- 

 428°, which is 35° warmer than the average for sixty 

 years. The winter of 1915-16 was slightly warmer^ 

 and the winter of 1898-99 was warmer by about 1°. 

 The warmest winter during the last eighty years, 

 1868-69, was warmer than the winter just ended by 

 nearly 2°. 



In view of the prevalence of disease amongst honey- 

 bees during recent years, it has become a matter of 

 practical importance to be able to distinguish with 

 certainty between individuals which have died from 

 disease and those the' death of which is merelv the 

 result of old age or exhaustion. Mrs. Pixell-Goodrich 

 contributes an interesting paper on this subject to the 

 Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science (vol. Ixiv.,, 

 part 2). It appears that during the summer, when 

 actively engaged in collecting honey and pollen, the 

 worker-bees very soon wear themselves out and die a 

 natural death at the age of about six weeks. 

 Senescence — or perhaps one should rather say exhaus- 

 tion from over-exertion — is accompanied by well- 

 marked and easily recognisable changes in the nerve- 

 cells of the "brain." The cytoplasm of these cells 

 undergoes gradual reduction in quantity, until only 

 a vestige remains around the nucleus. The examina- 

 tion of the nerve-cells appears to be the most trust- 

 worthy method yet proposed for determining the age 

 of bees, but, unfortunately, it involves a considerable 

 amount of labour in the case of each individual 

 examined. 



The Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards for 

 July 12, 19 19, contains the results of the measure- 

 ments of the index of refraction of air for wave- 

 lengths 2000 to 10,000 tenth metres at different tem- 

 peratures and pressures made by Messrs. W. F. 

 Meggers and C. G. Peters to meet the demands of 

 modern accurate spectroscopy. The Fabry and Perot 

 interferometer was used in the measurements, the 

 plates being of glass or quartz 42 cm. in diameter 

 and 06 to 08 cm. thick. They were rendered 

 partially reflecting by films spluttered from a metallic 

 cathode in vacuo. Iron or copper arcs and neon or 

 argon tubes served as sources of light. The inter- 

 ference rings were photographed and the diameters 

 of the first three measured. Between the limits of 

 pressure used — 73 to 76 cm. — the refractive index was 

 found proportional to the pressure. The variation 

 of the index with temperature between 0° C. and 

 30° C. is not sufficiently well represented by the usual 

 fi-i proportional to density law. The index of refrac- 

 tion at normal temperature and pressure is given by 



the equation 



o'ooo5738X- 



which shows no 



sign of an appreciable absorption band in the infra- 

 red part of the spectrum. 



The annual report of the Institution of Mechanical 

 j Engineers gives particulars of the various researches 

 , which are being carried on under the direction of 

 • the institution. The following grants were made by 



