68 



NATURE 



[September i8, igig 



as analytical and works chemists. In addition to ttie 

 usual training in chemistry and allied subjects, glass- 

 working, instrument-making, and plumbing are also 

 to receive attention. Detailed information mav be 

 obtained from the Principal. 



Under the Government scheme of financial assist- 

 ance for the higher education- of ex-Service officers 

 and men, the total number of grants awarded by the 

 Board of Education now amounts to g^joo, including 

 4000 officers and 5500 men. The courses in respect 

 of which grants have been awarded include more 

 than 2500 for engineering and technological subjects, 

 between 800 and 900 for classics, philosophy, and 

 literature, and about 1200 for pure science and 'mathe- 

 matics. Applications are still being received in targe 

 numbers, and are being dealt with at the rate of more 

 than 100 a day. 



The new session of the Sir John Cass Technical 

 Institute will commence on Thursday, September 21;. 

 The courses of instruction provided are specially 

 directed to the technical training of those engaged in 

 chemical, metallurgical, and electrical industries and 

 in trades associated therewith. Full facilities are 

 provided _ for those wishing to carry out work asso- 

 ciated with the industries in which they are engaged 

 or to undertake special investigations and research. 

 Special courses of higher technological instruction 

 form a distinctive feature of the work of the institute. 

 The curriculum in connection with the fermentation 

 industriss includes courses of instruction on brewing 

 and malting, bottling and cellar management, and on 

 the microbiology of the fermentation industries, k 

 connected series of lectures in fuel and power, com- 

 prising liquid, solid, and gaseous fuels and their 

 application, elech-ical supply and control, the trans- 

 mission of power in works, fuel analysis and technical 

 gas analysis is also included in the svllabus of the 

 chemistry^ department for the forthcoming session. 

 Full details of the courses are given in the syllabus 

 of the institute, which can be had on application at 

 the office or by letter to the Principal. 



with the solar system. This hypothesis explains 

 simply two well-established facts.-^A. Soret and R.- 

 Couegpel : A multiple-valve microphone. — .A. Boutaric : 

 The calculation between the ratio of the vapour- 

 pressure of a solid and that of the surfused liquid at 

 varying temperatures.— J. Guyot and L. J. Simon : 

 The action of dimethylsulphate and the alkaline 

 dimethylsulphates on dry alkaline bromides and 

 chlorides. — J. Delpech : The pure " B " powders. 

 These specimens were prepared by complete solution 

 of the nitrocellulose, followed by a filtration through 

 cotton-wool under pressure. The powder thus pro- 

 duced is transparent, and doubtful portions can be 

 detected by inspection. — MM. Vermorel and Danfony : 

 The comparative usefulness of ordinary Bordeaux 

 mixtures and mixtures prepared with the addition of 

 casein for the preservation of grapes. The addition 

 of casein is very advantageous. — MM. G. Berlrand, 

 Brocq-Rousseau, and Dassoriville : The destruction of 

 bed-lice by chloropicrin. Quite moderate amounts of 

 chloropicrin suffice for the practical disinfection of 

 beds. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



The Exact Diagnosis of Latent Cancer : An Enquiry 

 into the True Significance of the Morphological 

 Changes in the Blood. By Dr. O. C. Gruner. 

 Pp. vii4-7g. (London : H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd., 

 igiQ.) ys. 6d. net. 



The Planting, Cultivation, and Expression of_ Coco- 

 nuts, Kernels, Cacao, and Edible Vegetable Oils and 

 Seeds of Commerce. A Practical Handbook " for 

 Planters, Financiers, Scientists, and others. By 

 H. Osman Newland. (Griffin's Technological Hand- 

 books.) Pp. vi-(-iii-fxi plates. (London: Charles 

 Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1919.) 6s. net. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September i.— M. L^on Guig- 

 nard in the chair.--.A. Lacroix : The mineralogical 

 and chemical constitution of the volcanic lavas of 

 Tibesti. Fourteen complete rock analyses are given, 

 together with a general account of the minerals 

 present.— G. Humbert : The measurement of the 

 ensemble of the positive classes of Hermite, of given 

 discriminant, in an imaginary quadratic bodv. — E. 

 Cosserat : Some stars possessing a total annual proper 

 motion of more than 05'. The movements of stars 

 mentioned by A. van Maanen in 1915 and 1917, and 

 one pointed out by Wolf in 1916, have been studied 

 by means of the photographic catalogue of the 

 Toulouse Observatory. The positions of seven stars 

 are provisionally given possessing a proper motion of j 

 more than o;;'. — M. Tilho : The raw materials and 

 railways of tropical Africa north of the equator. A 

 discussion of the best railway scheme, taken in con- 

 junction with existing railwavs, for opening up 

 northern .Africa. — E. Kogbefliantz : New observations < 

 on ultra-spherical series.- — G. Guiilanmin : Contact 

 forces in heterogeneous solids, with special reference 

 to reinforced concrete. — B. Jeiihowslty : Orbit of 

 Metcalf's comet 1919b. The calculations are 

 based on observations made on August 21, 22, 

 and 23.— C. L. Cliarller : The spiral nebulae. As a 

 working hypothesis it is supposed that spiral nebulae 

 are formed bv the collision of an extra-galactic bodv 

 NO. 2603, VOL. 104] 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Science and Sociality. By Sir Arch. Geilcie, O.M., 



K.C.B., F.R.S 45 



Botany of Cultivated Plants. By F. K 46' 



Our Bookshelf . 47 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Sea-fishery Investigations and the Balajjce of Life. — 

 Prof. Walter Garstang ; Prof. W. C. Mcintosh, 



F.R.S 48 



Dr. A. G. Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S. By H. B. D. . 49 



Dr. Charles A. Mercier 50. 



The British Association at Bournemouth 51 



Section A — Mathematical and Physical Science — Open- 

 ing Addre,ss by Prof. A. Gray, M.A., LL.D., 



F.R.S., President of the Section 52 



Section B — Chemistry — Opening Address by Prof. P. 

 Phillips Bedson.b.Sc, President of the Section 59 



Notes 63 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Comets 66 



The Blink Microscope 66 



Irrigation in Egypt and the Sudan. By Dr. Brysson 



Cunningham 67 



University and Educational Intelligence 67 



Societies and Academies 68 



Books Received 68 



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ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 

 Publishers. 



Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic Address : Phusis, London. 

 Telephone Number : Gerrard 8830. 



