January i, 1920] 



NATURE 



447 



Reports for the several branches of the office show the 

 variety and extended work now undertaken. Any 

 future report will presumably be made through the 

 Air Ministry, to which the Meteorological OtTice is 

 now responsible. 



Experiments have been carried out by Prof. Garelli, 

 of Turin, on behalf of the Italian Government, with 

 the view of extracting nitrate of ammonia from sur- 

 plus stocks of explosives. According to La Nature 

 of November 29 last, the explosive mixture is placed 

 in special receptacles, a fixed quantity of water added, 

 and the whole allowed to stand. \ dense solution of 

 nitrate of ammonia is then formed, which is separated 

 by decantation. Powdered peat is then added to this 

 solution, and after mixing and drying the product thus 

 obtained it becomes a species of manure which is 

 called "nitric peat." This material, which has the 

 appearance of a blackish powder, has the following 

 composition :— Water, 178 per cent.; ash, 188 per 

 cent. ; nitrate of ammonia, 428 per cent. ; and organic 

 matter, 206 per cent. Tests for ascertaining its value 

 as a fertiliser have been carried out in the .Alba dis- 

 trict of Italy, and the results show that the action 

 of this fertiliser is nearly equal to that of nitrate of 

 soda. 



Dr. .\. E. H, TuTTO.N has recently published in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Royal -Society (A, vol. xcvi., pp. i-j6-84) 

 the results of an exhaustive study of the crystallographic 

 properties of the monoclinic double selenates of the 

 ■ cobalt group, R,Co(.SeO,),,6H20, where R stands for 

 potassium, rubidium, caesium, and ammonium succes- 

 sively. Only the potassium and ammonium salts of 

 the group had previously been studied. The results 

 fulfilled expectation, and fully accorded with those 

 obtained for the zinc, magnesium, nickel, and iron 

 groups, and for the eight known groups of the 

 analogous double sulphates. The dominating facts 

 brought out are, first, the progressive character of 

 all the crystallographic and physical properties fol- 

 lowing the alkali metals concerned, potassium, 

 rubidium, and caesium; and, .secondly, the almost per- 

 fect isostructure of the crystals of the ammonium and 

 rubidium salts of the group. 



The .Vustralian Institute of .Science and Industrv has 

 published at Melbourne a pamphlet on "Engineering 

 Standardisation," by Mr. Gerald Liphtfoot. The 

 objects of standardisation in chea|jening manufacture 

 and reducing maintenance charges and stocks, and 

 in securing interchangeability of parts, are discussed. 

 The British Standards Association is described, and 

 under its influence other similar bodies are being 

 formed in various countries. It is argued that if 

 .Australia neglects to take action, it will be imprac- 

 ticable to develop her engineering industries at the 

 same level as in other countries. The institute desires 

 to carry out research work on lines similar to those 

 in the case of the U.S. Bureau of Standards and the 

 National Physical Laboratory. The outline of a 

 scheme for the formation of a Commonwealth En- 

 gineering Standards .Association is given. It is men- 

 tioned that there is a multiplicity of voltages in elec- 

 trical supply in .Australia, and that merchants have 

 to stock lamps for about twenty ditTerent voltages. 

 NO. 2618, VOL. 104] 



Vol. xhi. of the Transactions of the Rochdale 

 Literary and .Scientific .Society contains the papers that 

 have been read before the society during the years 

 1917-19. These papers, some fifteen in number, are 

 entirely devoted to local subjects, and are mainly con- 

 cerned with the history of the town and its institutions. 

 There is a short article by Mr. E. L. Tavlor on the 

 Rochdale Grammar School (an old foundation dating 

 back to 1564), two papers on the old Rochdale roads 

 by Dr. .Ashworth and Mr. -\. P. VVadsworth, an 

 annotated list of Querns found in the Rochdale dis- 

 trict by Mr. J. L. Maxim, and a topical contribution 

 by Mr. G. E. Leach on the connection of Rochdale 

 with Peterloo in 1819. Of immediate interest to 

 scientific readers we may note the interesting presi- 

 dential address by Dr. .Ashworth, in which he gives a 

 brief but clear statement of the great and important 

 part which Lancashire men and institutions have 

 played in the striking advances which have taken place 

 in electrical science during' the last hundred vears. 

 The Rev. T. .A. JelTeries contributes a short but sug- 

 gestive paper on the natural transformations in the 

 vegetation of Blackstone Edge, in which he traces the 

 life-cycle of its plant associations. Dr. Ashworth's 

 paper on atmospheric pollution in Rochdale provides 

 the local authorities with a valuable mass of facts on 

 which to base legislative action to mitigate the evils 

 of smoke, unfortunately inevitable in large industrial 

 areas. .Altogether, the volume is an excellent example 

 of the kind of research work, both historical and 

 scientific, which it is the peculiar province of local 

 societies to undertake. 



.A \OLUME devoted to the " Life and Letters of 

 Silvanus Phillips Thompson " has been prepared bv 

 his wife and his daughter. Miss Helen G. Thompson, 

 and will be published by Mr. T. Fisher Lmwin in the 

 .spring. Many of the letters relate experiences on 

 journeys abroad,, some record adventures of the anti- 

 quarian in pursuit of early scientific literature, while 

 others tell of battles for truth in some field or other. 

 .\ few chapters deal solely with Thompson's scientific 

 and public work, and contain appreciations of his 

 books and original papers. Throughout the work 

 there are many indirect testimonies to the warmth of 

 personal regard which the frank geniality of his nature 

 won for" him and to the influences he exerted on the 

 lives of those, he met. 



Messrs. George Bell and Sons, Ltd., will publish 

 almost immediately "The Year-book of the Universi- 

 ties of the Empire " for 1920, edited by W. H. 

 Dawson. The latest list of the Cambridge Univer- 

 sity Press includes : — The late Prof. J. H. Poynting's 

 "Collected Scientific Papers," edited by Dr. G. A. 

 Shakespear and G. Barlow, with biographical and 

 critical notices by Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir Joseph 

 Larmor, Sir J. J. Thomson, and Dr. G. -A. Shake- 

 spear; "An Introduction to the Study of Cytology: 

 An Outline of the Main Kacts of Cytology for Ad- 

 vanced Students," Prof. L. Doncaster; "The Founda- 

 tions of Einstein's Theorv of Gravitation," E. Freund- 

 lich, translated by H. L. Brose ; "A History of 

 English Philosophy," Dr. W. R. Sorley; "Discovery 



