May 20, 1920] 



NATURE 



Z77 



The Sorby research fellowship has been awarded to 

 Dr. F. C. Thompson, of the department of applied 

 .sciences of the Lniversity of Sheffield, for research 

 into the constitution of the alloy steels. The fellow- 

 ship, which is tenable for five years, is awarded by a 

 committee appointed by the council of the Royal 

 Society and the University of Sheffield from a fund 

 bequeathed by the late Dr. H. C. Sorby. 

 Dr. Thompson holds the degrees of Doctor of Metal- 

 lurgy (Sheffield) and Bachelor of Science (London). 

 He was a Carnegie research scholar of the Iron and 

 Steel Institute, is a member of many bodies con-, 

 cerned with physical and metallurgical matters, and 

 has published a number of papers on metallography 

 and allied subjects. 



The Dr. Jessie Macgregor prize for medical science, 

 of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, is to 

 be awarded in July to the applicant who presents the 

 best record of original work in the science of medi- 

 cine, published or unpublished, but must not have 

 been published earlier than three years prior to the 

 date of award of the prize. The prize, which is of the 

 value of 75L, is open to women medical graduates of 

 the University of Edinburgh, or to those who have 

 taken the triple qualification and before being qualified 

 studied medicine for at least a year in Edinburgh. Ap- 

 plications for the prize, with a record of the work of 

 the competitor, must be sent to reach the Convener of 

 the Trustees, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 

 by, at latest, June i. 



The Bureau of Education in India has issued a 

 pamphlet by Mr. R. K. Sorabji entitled " Facilities 

 for Indian Students in America and Japan." Mr, 

 Sorabji warns students that it is unwise for anyone 

 to visit the United States on an allowance of 50 or 

 60 rupees per mensem, even though the student may 

 make some money in the vacations; he requires from 

 150^. to 200L a year, of which he may earn 50Z. The 

 facilities for technical education and the cheapness 

 of it may attract the student to Japan, but the candi- 

 dates for admission to the colleges exceed the accom- 

 modation, and when a system of competitive examina- 

 tion is introduced, the youth trained in a Japanese 

 >chool possesses greater advantages than the Indian. 

 As is the case in the United States, the student will 

 require an allowance of from 100/. to 150L per annum, 

 and as the teaching is given in Japanese he must 

 acquire that language before he can derive any 

 advantages from Japanese institutions. 



Societies and Academies. 



LONDO.V. 



Roval Society, Mav 6. — Sir J. J. Thomson, president 

 in the chair.— R. H. Fowler, E. C. Gallop, C. N. H 

 Lock, and H. W. Richmond : The aerodynamics of a 

 spinning shell. This paper deals with the motion 

 through a gas or a body with an axis of symmetry 

 and a spin about that axis. The range of velocities 

 includes the velocity of sound in the gas. It has 

 sfKjcial reference to the motion of an ordinary shell 

 through air under gravity. The problem is approached 

 from the aerodynamical viewpoint. The force system 

 imposed by the gas is analysed into its most important 

 constituents by help of the theory of dimensions and 

 by detailed wind-channel experiments. The general 

 equations of motion are obtained in a vector notation, 

 and reduced to tractable approximate forms in certain 

 important special cases ; in particular, when the axis 

 of svmmetry and the direction of motion of the centre 

 of gravitv nearlv coincide. An approximate formal 

 solution of these last equations is obtained, and the 

 NO. 2638, VOL. 105] 



errors in the equations themselves and their solutions 

 are shown to be negligible. The solutions obtained are 

 submitted to the test of experiment, and the magni- 

 tude of the more important members of the force 

 system determined numerically as functions of the 

 velocity of the shell up to twice the velocity of sound* 

 At the same time the main assumptions made in the 

 analysis are verified. The experimental method used 

 is to fire the shell through a series of cards. The 

 shape of the holes left in the cards determines 

 accurately the angular motion of the axis of the shell. 

 From this the values of the chief components of the 

 force system are deduced. One of the principal results 

 is to determine accurately the spin required to render 

 the shell stable at any velocity. The behaviour of 

 the force components as functions of the velocity 

 appears to be of scientific interest, and of obvious 

 importance in technical ballistics.— Prof. W. E. 

 Dalby : Researches on the elastic properties and the 

 plastic extension of metals. This paper relates to a 

 new type of load-extension diagram recorded auto- 

 matically by an adaptation of an instrument already 

 described to the society. The extension of the test 

 piece is multiplied 150 times by the instrument. With 

 this magnification, about xhs extension is shown on 

 the negative, and the elastic line appears at a slope 

 of about 60°. The shape of the elastic line can there- 

 fore be studied and the process of extension can be 

 watched, so that stretching can be stopped at an 

 assigned value and the load removed and then re- 

 applied. The removal and re-application of the load 

 produce a loop on the diagram, and several such 

 loops can be described on each negative. Looped 

 diagrams taken from metals commonly used were 

 shown. Comparisons of these looped diagrams show 

 that each metal is characterised by its elastic line and 

 loops. A succession of plates was taken from a test 

 piece of high carbon steel stretched almost to break- 

 ing. These plates set end to end give a procession 

 of loops, and show that the loop area tends to a 

 maximum. The questions of time-interval between 

 the taking of loops and heat treatment between the 

 taking of loops are examined in relation to loop area. 

 It is shown that in the high carbon steel and alloy 

 steel lapse of time has little or no effect in restoring 

 elasticity, nor is the elasticity restored by boiling in 

 water. New data relating to the strength of materials 

 are given bv these diagrams, viz. : (i) The area of the 

 loop. (2) The rate of increase of the area of the loop. 

 (s) The maximum area.— C. T. R. Wilson : Investiga. 

 tions on lightning discharges and on the electric field 

 of thunderstorms. The investigations were carried 

 out at the Solar Phvsics Observatorv, Cambridge, by 

 methods already described (Proceedings, iqi6). Ap- 

 paratus has been added to secure a photographic 

 record of the readings of the capillarv electrometer 

 used in the measurements. Changes in the electric 

 field which occupy less than a tenth of a second are 

 recorded. The sudden changes produced in the poten- 

 tial gradient by the passage of lightning discharges 

 recorded in iQi'7 were positive in ±-^2 cases and nega- 

 tive in 270. The mean value of the electric moment 

 2QH (Q being the quantity discharged and H the 

 vertical"^ height through v^hich this charge is dis- 

 placed) of a lightning discharge is about 3 x 10"^ 

 e.s.u.xcm. or 100 coulomb-kilometres. The mean 

 Quantity discharged is of the order of 20 coulombs, 

 The magnitude of the ootentials attained in thunder- 

 clouds is of the order of' 10° volts. The rate of vertical 

 separation of charges in a thundercloud may amount 

 to some coulombs per second, i.e. the vertical current 

 through the cloud is of the order of some amperes. 

 .\ thundercloud or showercloud mav be regarded as 

 an electric generator, capable of maintaining between 



