840 



NATURE. 



[August 26, 1920 



tions due to the rotation and revolution of the earth, 

 all weather changes are caused chiefly by variation 

 of solar radiation, the next step was clearly to bring 

 it into practice for forecasting. This has now been 

 done for Central Argentina with promising results, 

 but the ideal of daily measures of solar radiation is 

 not yet attainable, because more stations are required. 

 Even at Calama, which is nearly cloudless, good 

 observations are not always possible on account of 

 haze. 



The concluding paragraph of the report states : 

 "The ideal arrangement for this solar work would 

 be to carry it on in co-operation with the Smithsonian 

 Astrophysical Observatory. If the work at several 

 widely separated observatories could be directed by 

 one capable institution, so that the methods could 

 be uniform and the results comparable, and then if it 

 could be collected and weighted at the central oflfice 

 before cabling to the various weather surfaces of the 

 world, probably a complete and reliable day-to-day 

 record of the solar changes could be obtained which 

 would be of the greatest value to practical meteoro- 

 lo£?v. If the Smithsonian Institution is unable or un- 

 willing* to do this work, then it is hoped that observa- 

 tories will be established by several countries and some 

 direct method of exchange instituted." W. W. B. 



Cotton Industry Research. 



'T' HE British Cotton Industry Research Association, 

 -^ which was incorporated in June, iqig, has just 

 issued its first annual report. The association is com- 

 prised of 1408 individual members representative of all 

 branches of the cotton industry, and its council in- 

 cludes not only members of the great firms engaged 

 in the industry, but also those representing the various 

 associations of op>eratives. 



The association has appointed as its director 

 of research Dr. A. W. Crossley, who took up 

 his duties last Easter. A large mansion some 

 five miles from the Manchester Exchange, stand- 

 ing in 13I acres of ground, has been , bought 

 for the purposes of the association, to which it 

 is proposed to add extensive buildings, for which it 

 is intended to raise a special fund of 250,000?., to 

 accommodate the various departments of chemistry, 

 physics, colloids, botany, and technology, and to 

 appoint as heads of these departments highly qualified 

 men of science. In order to bring to the notice of 

 the members all available information of work done 

 in the past. Dr. J. C. Withers, of London, has been 

 appointed to direct the abstracting and indexing of 

 scientific and technical matters in connection with the 

 Records Bureau, and the council, in co-operation with 

 the Textile Institute, has arranged for the publica- 

 tion of abstracts from English and foreign papers 

 dealing with matters relevant to the textile industries. 

 It is proposed to establish an extensive library of 

 standard scientific works of reference and of scientific 

 and technical journals. A scheme of education falls 

 within the scope of the association, and already cer- 

 tain Oldham and other mills have arranged to. provide 

 scholarships in some branch of science for students 

 who are desirous of becoming members of the staff 

 of the association. The plan of research is intended 

 to cover the qualities of the cotton cuticle and the 

 influence thereon of different reagents employed in 

 rriercerisation, bleaching, etc.; the effect of reagents 

 on the strength and elasticity of the fibre, yarn, and 

 fabric ; the character of the change due to mercerlsa- 

 tion ; the nature of tendering in the various types of 

 fibre ; the variation in the phvslcal properties of sized 



NO. 2652, VOL. 105] 



j yarn with change in the colloid properties of the 

 j material used ; the action of the dyeing process, with 

 critical regard to the established purity of materials; 

 the nature of the dye solution, and the chemical 

 change in the latter during the dyeing process ; finally, 

 the devising of methods for obtaining exact informa- 

 tion as to the length of staple, the behaviour of fibres 

 under stress and strain, the degree of variation in 

 counts and in the diameter of yarn, relative twist, 

 the degree of resistance of yarn to weaving friction, 

 etc. Arrangements have been made for co-operation 

 with the Empire Cotton-Growing Committee (Board 

 of Trade), and in co-operation therewith the 

 Research Association has mad© a grant of 250?. 

 for 1919-20 to a student of botany at Oxford 

 in aid of botanical research in the subject of 

 cotton-growing. The joint committee has likewise 

 arranged for two other students to take up like work 

 in the ensuing session. The income of the asso- 

 ciation is derived from a call upon the members to 

 the extent of about 9000L and a Government grant 

 from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Re- 

 search of 7000/. The Department has shown the 

 greatest interest and given all possible help in the 

 furtherance of the objects of "the British Cotton 

 Industry Research Association. 



Sugar Cultivation in India. 



'T^HE existing world-shortage of sugar lends special 

 -*■ interest to all experimental work directed 

 towards any advance in the quantity and quality of 

 this essential crop. Sugar-growing and its improve- 

 ment are attracting an increasing amount of attention 

 in India, the area under sugar-cane having risen from 

 2,184,801 acres in igogr-io to 2,808,204 acres in 

 1917-18, while in addition the date-palm and palmyra- 

 palm occupied 184,412 acres in the latter period 

 ("Agric. Statistics for India," '1917-18, vol. i.). More 

 than half the sugar-cane is grown in the United 

 Provinces, chiefly Agra, and the Punjab accounts for 

 about one-fifth. Palm-sugar, on the other hand, is 

 chiefly associated with Madras, Bengal, and Upper 

 Burma, little being produced elsewhere. The output 

 of sugar for 1918-19 was 2,337,000 tons (Report on 

 Progress of Agriculture in India for 1918-19), but, as 

 this was insufficient to meet home requirements, a 

 large quantity had to be imported. Before the war 

 India was aJale to produce a surplus of sugar for 

 export, but as this can no longer be done the Govern- 

 ment is Investigating the possibility of reorganising 

 and developing the sugar industry of the country, and 

 a strong committee has been appointed to determine 

 future policy in this direction. Dr. Barber, who has 

 worked much on the problem, considers that a case 

 has been made out for the foundation of an Imperial 

 Sugar Bureau, of which the "whole duty will be to col- 

 lect and collate the results obtained In various direc- 

 tions, and thus be in a position to assist the isolated 

 efforts in difl'erent parts of the country with sound 

 advice, base3 on experience gained by a general survey 

 of the work done in India now and in the past and 

 that accomplished in other countries " (Annual Report 

 of the Board of Scientific Advice for India, 1918-19). 



Throughout India much work is being done on 

 the improvement of the sugar-cane and on the selec- 

 tion and breeding of varieties suitable for different 

 conditions and localities. At the cane-breeding station 

 !it Coimbatore, under the direction of Dr. Barber, a 

 lar^e number of hybrids have been raised and are 

 under observation, some of the seedlings proving verv 

 resistant to red rot and smut, two of the most serious 



