

December ii, 1919] 



NATURE 



387 



iible load, and of a pivot bearing. (2) The pressure 

 in a viscous liquid moving through a channel with 

 di\erging boundaries. 



Manchester. 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, November 18. — 

 Prof. F. E. Weiss, deputy chairman, in the chair. — 

 Prof. T. H. Pear: The elimination of wasteful effort 

 in industry. Owing to the impossibility of being able 

 to distinguish sharply between physical and mental 

 effort in tlie investigation of the problems of economis- 

 ing human energy, physiology and psychologv must 

 work side by side. VVhile in many industries improve- 

 ment of the external conditions of work, such as tem- 

 perature, ventilation, humidity, and illumination, was 

 rapidly proceeding, less had been attempted in the 

 direction of improving the methods of work them- 

 selves. Examples of such efforts illustrated the im- 

 portance of certain fundamental principles. The first 

 was the adjustment, both in total length and in dis- 

 tribution, of rest-pauses. By introducing suitably 

 chosen rest-pauses and by modifying the working atti- 

 tude of girls who were engaged in folding handker- 

 chiefs, the output increased 300 per cent., while the 

 folders worked only forty-five minutes in each hour, 

 and were less fatigued than before. The second prin- 

 ciple was the substitution of habitual movements for 

 constant acts of decision. By rearranging the method 

 of "assembling" a braid machine, so that the parts 

 were not only put together in a more efficient order, 

 but were more easily found b\- the workman, sixtv-six 

 units were assembled by a man in one da\- instead 

 of eighteen. The third was the elimination of useless 

 movement. By this means the separate actions 

 required to lay a brick had been reduced from iS to 5 ; 

 the output increased from 120 per man per hour 



to 350- 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 17.— M. L^on 

 Guignard in the chair. — C Moureu and k. Lepape : 

 The stabilisation of acrolein. Preparation of acrolein. 

 A mixture of potassium bisulphate (5 parts) and 

 potassium sulphate (i part) is recommended as the 

 best catalytic agent for dehydrating glycerol to acro- 

 lein, and full details of the Ijest method of carrving 

 out the preparation on the large scale are given. — 

 J. Carpentier : .\n account of the presentation (made 

 on November 10) of colour kinematographs of the 

 G.iumont establishment. Progress in the application 

 of three-colour photograph} to the kinematograph has 

 I). en rapid, and it is now practicable to take kinemato-' 

 graphic views in colour. — Sir J. J. Thomson was elected 

 a foreign associat ■ in succession to the late M. Dede- 

 kind. — ("1. Bouligand : Solutions of the equation 

 A!< = Ai«, analytic and limited in an infinite domain, 

 /I ro on the frontier. — N. E. Norlund : The calculation 

 <if finite differences. — H. Dulac : IJmit cycles. — O. 

 ■Mayer : Ruled surfaces of the fourth order. — P. 

 Humbert : The approximate calculation of the ele- 

 inriits of critical Jacobians of a high order. — E. 

 Belot : The structure of our stellar univer.se, deduced 

 from the dualist and vortex cosmogonv. — Ci. Fayet : 

 Return of Finlay's periodic comet. This is identical 

 w ith the comet discovered by Sasaki at Kyoto (Japan) 

 nil October 25. From data calculated by the author 

 ii was again found bv M. Schaumasse at Nicp on 

 November 9. — M. Michkovitch : Observation of Fin- 

 l.iv's periodic comet made at the Marseilles Obscrva- 

 lory with the 26-cm. Eichens equatorial. The posi- 

 tions of the comet and comparison star are given for 

 November 10. The comet was well defined and of 

 about the ninth magnitude. — M. fliacobini : Observa- 

 tions of the Sasaki (Finlav's) comet made at 

 th< Paris Observatory. Positions ai-e given for 

 NiA. mber 12 and 16. — P. Cholardet ; Observations 

 NO. 2615, VOL. 104] 



of Finlay's periodic comet (1919^) made at the 

 Besangon Observatory. Position given for Novem- 

 ber 13. — A. Schaumasse ; Observations of Finlay's 

 periodic comet made at the Nice Observatory. Posi- 

 tions given for November 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. — 

 .\. Baldit ; The effect produced by the electricity of 

 rain on an insulated wire. An in.sulated wire exposed 

 to rain behaves as a potential equaliser. The disturb- 

 ;mces known to occur in electrical systems with air- 

 cables during rainstorms arise from the terrestrial 

 electric field.- .\. Clieron : .Vn apparatus for the simul- 

 taneous examination of the same stereoscopic plate 

 by two p<"rsons. — .\. Lartigne : \ new form for the 

 formula; of line spectra. The formula, deduced from 

 the point of view of general mechanics, is 



4X10YMY2, 1 ' \* 



A,„= -r^,^ — ( ](^ + — ~ . , (Angstroms, 



in which A is the Vifave-length, N„ the Rydberg uni- 

 versal constant, p a constant, and ni = (q — p), differ- 

 ing only slightly from consecutive numbers. For 

 p = 2, and m = (; — 2 = 1, 2, 3 . . . 29, the formula is 

 identical with Balmer's original series for hydrogen. 

 — G. .\. Hemsalech ; The luminous phenomena ob- 

 served in tlie neighbourhood of a plate of graphite 

 carried to a high temperature by an electric current. — 

 H. Ungemach : A remarkable deposit of clialcostibite 

 in Morocco. This mineral is rare, and has hitherto 

 been found in only three localities, in minute quanti- 

 ties and as small crystals. The deposit at Rar-el-.'\nz, 

 in Morocco, is extensive, and the crystals are large 

 and well formed. One mea.sured 9X4x1 cm. — R. 

 Soueges : The embryogenv of the Polygonaceae. 

 Development of the embryo in Rume.x and Rheum. - 

 M.M. P. Maze, Vila, and M. Lemoigne : The trans- 

 formation of cvanamide into urea by the micro- 

 organisms of the soil. Of the three organisms 

 chosen one, B. coli, has no action upon cyanamide ; 

 the others, B. prodigiosus and B. cloacae, convert the 

 cyanamide completely into urea, traces only of am- 

 monia being found. — H. Bierry : Carnivora and the 

 three class«;s of food. It appears improbable, from 

 both observation and experiment, that carnivora can 

 thrive on a diet deprived of both fats and carbo- 

 hydrates. — F. Mesnii and M. Caullery : A normal pro- 

 cess of fragmentation, followed bv regeneration, in a 

 polychetal .Vnmlid, Syllis' gracilis.— A. Krempf : De- 

 velopment of muscular layers in the larva of an 

 .\nthozoa (Pocillopora cespitosa) at the primitive stage 

 of tetraradial symmetry. — F. d'H6relle : The rSle of 

 the protecting micro-organism in bird-typhus. — C. 

 Nicolle and C. Lebailly : The evolution of the spiro- 

 chetae of recurrent fever in the louse, as followed in a 

 series of sections of these insects. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Psychologies. By Sir R. Ross. Pp. 69. (London : 

 J. Murray.) 2S. 6d. net. 



La Colloidotherapie : Resultats Cliniques. By Dr. 

 ). Laumonier. Pp. ii + 283. (Paris: F. .Mean.) 

 5.50 francs. 



.\ New Chapter in the Science of Government. By 

 B. Branford. Pp. xlviii+190. (London: Chatto and 

 Windus.) 5*. net. 



.\ .Studv of Trade Organisations and Combinations 

 in the United Kingdom. By J. Hilton. Pp. :38. 

 (London : Harrison and Sons.) i.v. net. 



.Mtitude and Health. By Prof. F. F. Roget. 

 Pp. xii-l-i86. (f.ondon : Constable and Co., Ltd.) 

 12s. net. 



Forest Woods and Trees in Relation to Hygiene. 

 Bv Prof. A. Henrv. Pp. xii + 314. (London : Con- 

 stable and Co., Ltd.) i8s. net." 



