590 



NATURE 



[July 8, 1920 



accorded to the Lorraine steel works by Germany 

 in the matter of coke supplies, since the Germans ^ 

 have failed to carry out their obligations under 

 the terms of the Peace Treaty, and have delivered 

 only about one-third of the tonnage promised, not- 

 withstanding the fact that there are large stores 

 of furnace coke in Westphalia. Since Great 

 Britain has been short of basic pig iron for a long 

 time, and there is every prospect of the shortage 

 continuing, some such reciprocal arrangement as 

 that put forward might be of advantage to both 

 countries. 



The Commission states that there is no doubt 

 that economy in fuel consumption is very fully 

 effected, owing to the absence of cheap and suit- 

 able fuel and the dependence of the works upon 

 Westphalian coke. All the waste heat is utilised 

 at every works. The blast-furnace gas is suitably 

 cleaned and fully absorbed. The works at Home- 

 court may be cited as an instance. Before the 

 war they were producing 9000 tons of pig iron 

 and 7000 tons of steel weekly, and they used only 

 280 tons of coal, all the remaining power being 

 produced from blast-furnace gas. This is quite 

 typical. The molten metal is taken from the blast 

 furnaces to the mixers in the adjacent steel works 

 and the sensible heat thus utilised. 



A study of the report leaves the impression that 

 the development of the iron- and steel-producing 

 areas in Lorraine which have passed from German 

 to French management presents problems which 

 will call for patient consideration, dispassionate 

 counsel, and scientific treatment, if they are to 

 be surmounted successfully. The formidable posi- 

 tion which Germany had built up between 1871 

 and 1914 has been lost to her by the war. It 

 remains to be seen what France will make of 

 the heritage which has passed into her hands. 



Obituary, 



We regret to note that the death of Mr. 

 John W. W. Drysdale is recorded in the 

 Engineer for June 25 as having occurred on 

 June 21. Mr. Drysdale was in his seventy-second 

 year, and was one of the founders of the well- 

 known Glasgow firm of Drysdale and Co., Ltd. 

 He finished his education at Glasgow University 

 under Prof. Macquorn Rankine, and thereafter 

 started a small works in conjunction with a fellow- 

 student, Mr. Lewis J. Pirrie, son of Principal 

 Pirrie of Aberdeen. Centrifugal pumps formed 

 their outstanding speciality from the first, and the 

 firm has acquired a wide reputation for its pro- 

 ducts. Mr. Drysdale was a member of the In- 

 stitution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scot- 

 land. 



We announce with great regret the death, at 

 the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank, 

 of Surgeon-General W. C. Gorgas, of the U.S. 

 Army, so well known for his work in combating 

 yellow fever and malaria. 



NO. 2645, 'V'OL. 105] 



Notes. 



The Lord President of the Council, as president of 

 the Committee of Council for Scientific and Industrial 

 Research, has appointed Dr. J. S. Flett, at present 

 Assistant to the Director in Scotland, to be Director 

 of the Geological Survey and Museum. Dr. Flett 

 succeeds Sir Aubrey Strahan, who retires this month. 

 Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, Assistant to the Director in 

 England, also retires. 



Sir John Cadman, Mr. W. B. Hardy, and Prof. S. 

 Young have been appointed by an Order in Council 

 members of the Advisory Council to the Committee 

 of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial 

 Research. 



It is announced that Sir T. Clifford AUbutt is to 

 be sworn a member of the Privy Council. 



The secretaryship of the Royal Irish Academy, 

 vacant through the death of Prof J. A. McClelland, 

 has been filled by the election of Prof. G. H. 

 Carpenter. 



The Barnard medal of Columbia University has 

 been awarded to Prof. Einstein " in recognition of his 

 highly original and fruitful development of the funda- 

 mental concepts of physics through the application of 

 mathematics." 



Dr. E. Solvay has been elected an honorary 

 member of the American Chemical Society. 



The Medical Research Council has recently estab- 

 lished at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine 

 a national collection of type cultures from which bio- 

 logists in general, and bacteriologists in particular, 

 may obtain authentic strains of recognised bacteria 

 and protozoa for use in scientific work. The scheme 

 is under the general direction of Dr. J. C. G. Leding- 

 ham, while Dr. R. St. John Brooks has been appointed 

 to the post of curator of the collection and Miss 

 Mabel Rhodes to that of assistant curator. It is 

 proposed to collect and maintain bacterial strains 

 from all departments of bacteriology, human, 

 veterinary, and economic, and already considerable 

 work has been done towards the formation of a repre- 

 sentative collection on these lines. The efforts of 

 the staff are, however, at present particularly directed 

 towards the securing of fully authenticated strains 

 responsible for or associated with disease in man 

 and animals. The bureau proposes to supply cul- 

 tures on demand to all workers at home and abroad, 

 and, as a rule, a nominal charge per culture will be 

 made to defray postage and media. Strains sent for 

 identification and maintenance should be accompanied 

 by particulars as to source, date of isolation, etc. In 

 due course a catalogue will be prepared for publica- 

 tion. 



In Nature of January i last an account was given 

 of the Cawthron Institute of New Zealand, founded 

 for the furtherance of scientific research in relation to 

 agriculture and other industries. The scope of the 

 institute has since been extended by the establish- 

 ment of a biological department, of which Dr. R. J. 

 Tillvard, the eminent Australian entomologist, hitherto 



