October i6, 1919] 



NATURE 



135 



are of importance to the industry, and in particular 

 for the publication monthly of a fishery journal con- 

 taining all information in regard to scientific results, 

 statistics, statutes, orders, foreign intelligence, com- 

 mercial information, and all other information likely 

 to be of benefit to those carrying on the industry. 



(5) That the Fishery Departments and the Educa- 

 tion Departments of the three kingdoms be requested 

 to co-operate in providing a scheme of education on 

 the general lines laid down in the report. 



NOTES. 



The British Association, as an outcome of the com- 

 prehensive review of scientific work during the war, 

 which formed a conspicuous part of the programme 

 .of the recent meeting in Bournemouth, has addressed 

 the following resolution to the Prime Minister and the 

 Treasury: — "The British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, in reviewing the results of scientific 

 method applied to military and other practical arts, 

 recognises that the successful issue of the war has 

 sprung from the efforts of scientific men concentrated 

 on those problems, and with the conviction that the 

 well-being and security of the nation are dependent on 

 the continuous study of such matters, would urge on 

 H.M. Government the necessity for apportioning an 

 adequate sum from that allocated to home administra- 

 tion and the upkeep of the fighting forces for the 

 purpose of a definitely organised scheme of research, 

 as, for example, on problems connected with health, 

 food, and commerce, on explosives, on chemical war- 

 fare, and on physical and engineering problems bear- 

 ing on military work." Similar resolutions, in vary- 

 ing terms according to the special cases, have been 

 forwarded to the First Lord of the Admiralty, the 

 Secretary for War, the President of the Board of 

 Trade, and the Ministers of Health and Food. 



The appointment, as recently announced, of Prof. 

 S. J. Chapman to be joint Permanent Secretary of 

 the Board of Trade, owing to the transfer of Sir 

 William Marwood to the Ministry of Transport, will 

 be welcomed by all who know him. Prof. Chapman, 

 who had held 'the professorship of political economy 

 at Owens College, Manchester, since i<)oi, acted 

 during the war as head of the temporary Industrial 

 (War Inquiries) Branch of the Board of Trade, and 

 in 1918 'was appointed head of a new General 

 Economic Department created for the purpose of 

 assisting the Permanent Secretary in relation to ques- 

 tions involving economic policy. He is a fellow and 

 member of council of the Royal Statistical Society, to 

 the Journal of which, and to that of the Manchester 

 Statistical Society, he has made numerous contribu- 

 tions bearing mainly on the cotton industry of Lanca- 

 shire. 



In the Times of October ii is a letter from Prof. 

 J. Johnstone on the subject of the extension of terri- 

 torial waters in relation to deep-sea fishing. It is 

 pointed out that the information at present available 

 is not sufficient to enable satisfactory regulations to be 

 drafted, and that, therefore, administrative authorities 

 should not be given legislative powers which they 

 cannot exercise properly. Prof. Johnstone also states 

 that scientific investigation of our sea fisheries has 

 never been properly organised and supported, and is 

 in a worse condition now than it ever was. We agree 

 with him that fishery investigations in this country 

 have been quite inadequate, and we hope in the near 

 future to see the establishment of an organisation 

 for the comprehensive scientific study of the sea, so 

 important for a great maritime nation, on a scale 

 proportionate to the magnitude of cur interests. 

 NO. 2607, VOL. 104] 



Changes in the Meteorological Office staff have 

 recently been made, and the following appointments 

 have been announced : — Mr. R. G. K. Lemp- 

 fert becomes assistant director, and takes general 

 oversight of observations and stations contributing 

 observations to the Office. Mr. Lempferi entered the 

 Meteorological Office in 1902, and has been superin- 

 tendent of the Forecast Division since 1910. Lt.- 

 Col. E. Gold becomes assistant director, in charge of 

 forecasting. Col. Gold graduated as Third Wrangler 

 in 1902, and was elected Fellow of St. John's College, 

 Cambridge, in 1906 ; he was Schuster reader in dyna- 

 mical meteorology from 1907 to 1910, and he then be- 

 came superintendent of statistics at the Meteorological 

 Office. On the formation of the meteorological sec- 

 tion of the Royali Engineers in 1915 he was appointed 

 to the command of the overseas contingent at G.H.Q., 

 France. Capt. D. Brunt is made superintendent of 

 the work for Army services. Capt. Brunt was in the 

 meteorological section of the Royal Engineers during 

 the war, and acted under Col. Gbld. Mr. Carle Salter 

 becomes superintendent on the staff of the Meteoro- 

 logical Office for the British Rainfall Organisation. 

 Mr. Salter has recently been assistant director of the 

 British RainfalJ Organisation, which has now come 

 under the control of the Meteorological Office. 



In connection with the International Meteorological 

 Committee, appointed by the International Conference 

 at Innsbruck, 1905, a meeting of available members 

 was held at the Meteorological Office, London, on 

 July 3-9 last, and a copy of the minutes which have 

 been printed has reached us. Since 1905 the com- 

 mittee has met in Paris (1907), Berlin (1910), and 

 Rome (1913). The July meeting was of a semi-official 

 character, and was really to prepare the way for the 

 Paris meeting, which commenced on September 30. 

 The president, Sir Napier Shaw, in his introductory 

 statement directed attention to the changes caused by 

 the great war, and especially to the new meteoro- 

 logical organisations developed. It was felt that the 

 extent and detail of international co-operation must 

 be much greater in the future than it had been in the 

 past, but the problems are essentially of the same 

 nature as formerly. The great development of avia- 

 tion has introduced new requirements in respect of in- 

 formation concerning the upper air obtained by pilot- 

 balloons or in other ways. The hours of observation 

 for Europe were considered; ih., yh., i3h., and i8h. 

 have become general, but it has been suggested that 

 preference might perhaps be given to 3h., gh., i.sh., 

 and 2ih. Consideration was given to North Polar 

 investigation in co-operation with .Amundsen's ex- 

 pedition, ;md there was a proposal for the estab- 

 lishment of a meteorological station in the Island of 

 Jan Mayen for observations from the summer of 1920 

 to the autumn of 1922. Necessarily much attention 

 was devoted to the coding of messages and to the 

 method and nature of the observations. 



The Harveian Oration will be delivered at the 

 Royal College of Physicians by Dr. Raymond Craw- 

 furd on Saturday, October 18, at 4 p.m. 



We regret to record that "Engineering has suffered 

 a severe loss in the death of Mr. B. .Mfred Raworth, 

 who had long been a member of the staff, and 

 taken a prominent position in the editorial manage- 

 ment during the past thirteen years. Mr. Raworth 

 was a trained engineer, and had considerable experi- 

 ence prior to joining the staff of Engineering in 1882. 

 He was a member of the Institution of Mechanical 

 Engineers, of the Iron and Steel Institute, and of the 

 Institute of Metals. 



