September 25, 1919] 



NATURE 



Prof. Milligan, who was also moderator of the 

 General Assembly, and clerk of senate in Aber- 

 deen, and he leaves a son and three daugfhters. 

 Thus truly the spirit of Aberdeen University was 

 bred in his bones, and inspired him throughout 

 his life. F. O. B. 



NOTES. 



Sir Richard (iLAZEUROOK's appointment as Director 

 of the National Physical Laboratory expired on 

 September 17 on his attaining the age of sixtv-five. 

 r Sir Richard had held the post with distinction for 

 ; twenty years, having been appointed on the founda- 

 tion of the laboratory by the Royal Society in 1899. 

 For the first two years the work of the laboratory 

 was carried out at Kew Observatory by the staff of 

 ! the observatory with the addition of three scientific 

 assistants. The income was approximately 5000/. 

 per annum. Soon afterwards Bushy House became 

 the home of the laboratory, and as its work extended 

 additional buildings were erected in the grounds. At 

 the present time these buildings probably provide a 

 space twenty times that of Bushy House, and the 

 staff now numbers about five hundred, nearly two 

 hundred of whom are women. The ordinary expendi- 

 ture of the laboratory just before the war was about 

 40,000/. per annum. During the war it rose to 

 iio.oooi. per annum. The rapid growth of the in- 

 stitution is the best proof that it met a real need, and 

 that it met it efficiently. It owes its success to the 

 administrative powers of the director and to the skill 

 he exercised in his choice of the men to fill the earlier 

 appointments. Without exception, these men have 

 distinguished themselves by their scientific work and 

 have contributed largely to the reputation the labora- 

 tory n6\v enjoys. Eighteen months ago the labora- 

 tory was taken over by the Department of Scientific 

 and Industrial Research, and, according to the report 

 of that Department for 1918-19 just issued, 154,000/. 

 is allocated to it for the current financial year 

 Although the laboratory does not attain its majority 

 under Sir Richard's directorship, he has had the 

 satis'faction of rearing it to a vigorous manhood, and 

 he will from his Cambridge home watch its growth 

 under Government auspices with interest. He is suc- 

 ceeded bv Dr. J. E. Petavel, professor of engineering 

 in the Victoria University of Manchester. 



Circular No. 39, dated September i, issued by the 

 Meteorological Office, mentions the retirement of 

 Rear-.\dmiral Sir John F. Parry and the appointment 

 of Rear-.\dmiral F. C. Learmonth, C.B., who suc- 

 ceeds as Hydrographer of the Navy, and consequently 

 as an ex-ofjicio member of the Meteorological Com- 

 mittee. A conference of meteorologists will be held 

 in Paris on September 30 and subsequent days, fol- 

 lowing the conference in London of the meteorolof<ists 

 of the British Dominions from September 23 to 27. 

 A note is given relative to the time of occurrence of 

 minimum air-temperature on the grass. The observa- 

 tions at Cahirciveen have been handled to test a sug- 

 gestion made that the grass minimum for the night 

 is frequently reached between sunset and 2ih. Since 

 April I, 19 1 7, the grass minimum at Valencia has 

 been set at i8h., and read daily without disturbance 

 at 2ih. Out of 850 observations made to June, 1919, 

 the numlx!r of occasions on which the phenomenon 

 was observed was loi, which seems to be accounted 

 for by a cloudy to overcast sky setting in durins? the 

 evening, followed by rain, mist, or drizzle, with a 

 wind of moderate force having a southerly component, 

 the sky previously, between i8h. and 2ih., being com- 

 NO. 2604, VOL. 104] 



paralively clear. The effect of terrestrial radiation is 

 clearly to be traced in the foregoing explanation. 



From the September issue the Technical Supple- 

 ment to the Review of the Foreign Press, formerly 

 issued by the General Staff of the War Oflice, is to 

 be known as the Technical Review. With the same 

 organisation and staff it will continue to provide a 

 digest of the technical Press of the whole world for 

 the benefit of engineers and manufacturers. .^t 

 present the articles in it consist either of abstracts 

 or of titles, with occasional short accounts arranged 

 under the heads : — Engineering construction and 

 transportation, mechanical engineering, mining and 

 metals, shipbuilding and marine engineering, elec- 

 trical engineering, aeronautics, chemical engineering 

 and industry, miscellaneous, recent publications, and 

 engineering index. The review provides for en- 

 gineering in general the information as to recent 

 progress which has been available for electrical en- 

 gineering for some years in Science Abstracts, and for 

 chemical engineering in Chemical Abstracts, as well 

 as in the abstracts published bv the Chemical Society 

 and the Society of Chemical Industry. 



.'Xn important collection of Lycaenidae and Hes- 

 peridse has recently come into the possession of Mr. 

 J. J. Joicey, and is no.w at the Hill Museum, Witlev. 

 This collection was made by Mr. Hamilton H. Druce, 

 who is well known as one of our greatest authorities 

 on the Lycaenidse and Hesperidae. .\ great many 

 types of species described by Mr. Druce, as well as 

 many of the types of Semper, are contained in the 

 collection. Entomologists desirous of comparing .inv 

 specimens in this collection are invited to write to 

 the Curator, the Hill Museum, Witlev, Surrey. 



rHROUon the courtesy of the Corporation of 

 London, a series of fortnightly lectures on industrial 

 problems will be delivered at the Guildhall at 

 4.30 p.m., commencing on October 7. The .speakers 

 will include Mr. E. J. P. Benn, Prof. Ripper, Dr. 

 Russell Wells, the Right Hon. Sir Auckland Geddes, 

 Sir George Paish, and the Right Hon. Lord Emmott. 

 Tickets for this series can be had on application to 

 the .Secretary, Industrial League and Council, 66 Vic- 

 toria Street, S.W.i. 



The New York correspondent of the Daily Mail 

 announces that, on September 18, Mr. Roland Rohlfs 

 reached an altitude of 34,610 ft. in seventy-eight 

 minutes in a 4oo-h.p. Curtiss triplane. The" flight 

 was observed by officials of the .\ero Club, who sealed 

 .Mr. Rohlfs's instruments, and, when he landed, sent 

 them to Washington for verification. The previous 

 record for altitude was that of 30,500 ft. attained by 

 Capt. Lang and Lieut. Blowes in January List. (See 

 Naturi:, January 9, p. 369.) 



It was announced by Sir Robert Hadfield at the 

 autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, \vhich 

 opened on September 18, that the Prince of Wales 

 had consented to become an honorary member of the 

 institute. Dr. Federico Giolitti, formerly professor 

 of metallurgical chemistry and metallography at 

 Turin, was presented with the Bessemer medal for 

 19 19 in recognition of his services to the science of 

 metallurgy. 



A LARGE neolithic graveyard, of the La Tene period, 

 has been found by Dr. B. Schnittger at G^stilren, in 

 Vestrogothia. Two quadrangular and ten circular 

 stone enclosures were set on a gravel esker and 

 covered by smooth slabs. The bones were burned, 

 and in hollows or urns. Similar graves are known 

 at Halleby and other places in Ostrogothia, but these 

 are the first discovered in Vestrogothia. 



