May 13, 1920] 



NATURE 



339 



bridge with arms of about the same resistance, A 

 suitable thermo-electric couple is provided by copper 

 and constantan, an alloy of about 60 per cent, copper 

 and 40 per cent, nickel. A moving-coil galvanometer 

 of coil resistance 10 ohms or less is suitable, with a 

 balancing resistance placed in series to give a con- 

 venient scale deflection. 



It is a sign of the spirit which we have so long 

 worked to encourage, to find on opening last month's 

 issue of Beania, the excellently produced journal of 

 the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation, an article by Mr, E. B, Wedmore urging the im- 

 portance of co-operative scientific research. Mr, Wed- 

 more points out how the war has taught us the value 

 of concerted action, and shows that combined rather 

 than individual research facilities are particularly 

 necessary in view of the present shortage of scien- 

 tifically trained technical men. Among articles which 

 follow, indicating some of the enormous industrial 

 structures already raised on foundations of scientific 

 endeavour, is one by Mr, W. E. Hughes sketching the 

 many uses to which the electro-deposition of metals has 

 been put. An interesting example is the building up 

 of worn engine parts, such as crankshafts, by de- 

 posits of iron — a practice developed by the Royal Air 

 Force in face of some difficulty during the war. The 

 author, however, points out how the serious lack of 

 educational facilities has hampered British progress 

 in these branches of electro-metallurgy. Another 

 interesting article by Mr, A, B, Searle deals with 

 the preparation of tungsten and its important uses in 

 the filaments of modern incandescent lamps and of 

 the three-electrode ionic valves upon which many of 

 the recent developments in wireless telegraphy are 

 based. Notwithstanding the large amount of research 

 that has led up to the present processes, the author 

 characterises them as " making the best of a bad job." 

 If means could be found for melting the purified 

 tungsten economically, the quality of the filaments 

 would be greatly improved. Unfortunately, however, 

 this cannot be done at present, he concludes, owing 

 to the extraordinarily high melting point of the metal 

 (more than 3000° C) and the difficulty of heating it 

 to this temperature out of contact with carbon. 



That " small things often very considerably affect 

 the destinies of great ones " is the appropriate motto 

 chosen to introduce a paper on lubricants read by 

 Mr. G, F. Robertshaw at a meeting of the Institu- 

 tion of Petroleum Technologists on April ig. One 

 object of the paper was to urge a plea for uniformity 

 in the methods of examining lubricating oils. At 

 present there is a diversity of practice which is liable 

 to produce confusion and uncertainty in judging 

 lubricants from the physical and chemical data 

 obtained in testing them. For instance, there are 

 half a dozen kinds of instruments used for deter- 

 mining the viscosity of oils, and the results are 

 expressed in different terms, depending upon the par- 

 ticular viscometer employed. Hence an appeal is 

 made that the absolute viscosity, or some convenient 

 multiple or sub-multiple of it, should uniformly be 

 used as the standard method of expression. The 

 paper also, it may be noted, affords a convenient 

 NO. 2637, VOL. 105] 



reference to the somewhat extensive literature upon 

 lubrication," Without compiling a complete biblio. 

 graphy, the author directs attention to many useful 

 sources of information, historical, scientific, and 

 practical. On the question of "oiliness" — a property 

 possessed by good lubricants which at present cannot 

 be specified in definite terms — it is remarked that this 

 property is not necessarily proportional to viscosity. 

 Whilst the late Sir Boverton Redwood's dictum is 

 still true, that viscosity is our most valuable test of 

 lubricating quality, there yet remains the fact that 

 for the same viscosity the fixed vegetable and animal 

 oils have usually a greater "oiliness" than mineral 

 oils. 



A NEW view of the nascent state is put forward by 

 C, Zenghelis in the Comptes rendus of the Paris 

 .Academy of Sciences for April 12, Experiments are 

 described which show that the chemical activity of 

 such gases as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon 

 monoxide is increased by bringing them in contact 

 with solutions in very minute bubbles. This fine state 

 of division is obtained by forcing the gas through 

 cartridges of paper, the pressure inside the cartridge 

 being so adjusted that the gas does not bubble 

 through, but reacts with the dissolved body in the 

 pores of the paper. Before each experiment a blank 

 was made with each cartridge alone to prove that 

 the paper had no action on the solution. Under 

 these conditions hydrogen was proved to reduce mer- 

 curic chloride to calomel, potassium nitrate to nitrite, 

 carbon dioxide to formaldehyde, and substances giving 

 a sugar reaction. With oxygen gas ammonia was 

 oxidised to nitrous acid, and methyl alcohol to 

 formaldehyde. With nitrogen and hydrogen sufficient 

 ammonia was produced in half an hour to give a 

 reaction with Nessler- solution. Carbon monoxide 

 reduced iodic acid and sodium molybdate. All these 

 reactions took place at ordinary temperatures. Fuller 

 details of the experiments will be published later. 



Prof. A. N. Whitehead is publishing almost imme, 

 diately through the Cambridge University Press the 

 Tarner lectures delivered by him in November last. 

 The volume will be entitled "The Concept of Nature," 

 and form a companion to the same author's " Enquiry 

 Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge." 

 It will, however, be less mathematical than the earlier 

 work. 



The Cambridge University Press announces the pub- 

 lication in June of "The Influence of Man on Animal 

 Life in Scotland: A Study in Faunal Evolution," by 

 J. Ritchie. As the title implies, the book will deal 

 with the bearing of man upon the character and 

 composition of the fauna of Scotland. It will be fully 

 illustrated and contain eight maps. 



The latest catalogue (No. 401) of Mr. Francis 

 Edwards, 83 High Street, Marylebone, W.i, gives 

 particulars of 757 books on the Far East — China, 

 Japan, and the Malay Archipelago; also of the Far 

 North-East of Asia, including Siberia and Kam- 

 tchatka. Many of the works are scarce, but the 

 majority are listed at greatly reduced prices. Th« 

 catalogue will be sent free upon request. 



