548 



NA TURE 



[October 6, 1898 



was narrated receiving it with more or less marked 

 incredulity. 



A short time ago, however, Seiior Ameghino was shown 

 a number of fresh ossicles from Patagonia, of somewhat 

 smaller size than coffee-berries, which he at once 

 recognised as comparable with the somewhat larger 

 bones commonly found in association with the remains 

 of certain species of Mylodon from the pampean deposits 

 of the Argentine, and which have always been regarded 

 as indicating the presence of a dermal armour in those 

 animals. These ossicles, it appears, were extracted from 

 a badly preserved body-skin, which seems to have been 

 exposed for some time to the action of the weather, and 

 consequently to have become considerably discoloured. 

 In thickness this skin measured about two centimetres ; 

 and its hardness and toughness were such that it could 

 be cut only' with a chisel or hatchet. In its deeper layer 

 were embedded the ossicles ; and in those places where 

 it was least damaged it was covered with coarse reddish 

 grey hair, from 4 to 5 centimetres in thickness. 



The skin evidently belonged to an animal hitherto 

 unknown to science ; and, in spite of the absence of the 

 limbs, the presence of the ossicles seems to afford 

 decisive evidence that it indicates an existing small repre- 

 sentative of the ground-sloths, more or less intimately 

 related to the typical group of the genus Mylodon. 

 Moreover, in the colour of the hair it agrees with Lista's 

 description of his unknown animal, which he confidently 

 asserted to be an Edentate. Senor Ameghino seems, 

 therefore, to be fully justified in regardmg the two 

 specimens as pertaining to one and the same species, 

 and that species to be a living representative of the 

 MegalothertidcE^ hitherto known only in the fossil. For 

 this animal the name of Neoniylodon listai is proposed, 

 but the specific title should be amend ed to listcp.. 



Dermal ossicles are only known to be developed 

 in certain species of Mylodon and Glossotherium, and 

 have not been detected among the remains of the smaller 

 ground-sloths characteristic of the Patagonian formations. 

 The presumption accordingly is that the new animal 

 is more or less closely allied to these genera, from which, 

 indeed, its right to distinction has yet to be demon- 

 strated. 



This animal is doubtless nocturnal, and also of rare 

 occurrence, and some time may therefore probably elapse 

 before a perfect specimen is obtained. Till that event 

 happens naturalists must be content with the fact that a 

 survivor of the old ground-sloths exists in the interior of 

 Patagonia. 



/report on a national physical 

 labora tor v. 



'yHE Committee appointed in August, 1897,10 consider 

 ■*■ the desirability of establishing a National Physical 

 Laboratory have issued their report. The Committee 

 consisted of Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. (chairman). Sir 

 Courtenay Boyle, K.C.B., Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., 

 F.R.S., Sir John Wolfe Barry, K.C.B., F.R.S., Prof. 

 W. C. Roberts-Austen, C.B., F.R.S., Mr. Robert 

 Chalmers, Prof. A. W. Riicker, F.R.S., Mr. Alexander 

 Siemens, and Dr. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S. The questions 

 referred to them were as follows : — 



"To consider and report upon the desirability of estab- 

 lishing a National Physical Laboratory for the testing 

 and verification of instruments for physical investigation ; 

 for the construction and preservation of standards of 

 measurement ; and for the systematic determination of 

 physical constants and numerical data useful for scien- 

 tific and industrial purposes — and to report whether the 

 work of such an institution, if established, could be 

 associated with any testing or standardising work, 

 already performed wholly or partly at the public cost." 



NO. I 5 10, VOL. 58] 



The following are extracts from the report of the 

 Committee : — 



In general, the committee are of opinion that the appliances 

 and facilities of the Standards Office and of the Electrical 

 Standardising Laboratory are fairly adequate for the performance 

 of their statutory duties. They understand, however, that on 

 account of the want of means for the chemical analysis of the 

 materials used in the construction of standards, those offices 

 would find some difficulty, without extraneous assistance, with 

 regard to any new standards that might be required. 



They further desire to point out that many physical constants 

 and data and numerical expressions are necessarily used in con- 

 nection with standards and the standardising of instruments. 

 Some of the data now in use at the Standards Office are known 

 to require correction, and in the case of others further investiga- 

 tions appear to be desirable. There is, however, no legal 

 obligation on the Board of Trade to establish new data and 

 numerical expressions, and, in consequence of the smallness of 

 the staff of the office the work of the Department is limited to 

 that which is strictly enjoined by the Acts of Parliament. The 

 Department is at the present time chiefly dependent for more 

 exact knowledge on such investigations as may be undertaken 

 at the Bureau International des Folds et Mesures at Paris, or 

 by foreign institutions similar to that contemplated in this 

 country. 



There is much evidence that further facilities are needed by 

 the public for standardising and verifying of instruments, both 

 for scientific and commercial use ; and also that it would be of 

 great benefit to trade if means were provided for the public 

 testing of the quality of certain classes of materials. In par- 

 ticular the committee desire to draw attention to the evidence 

 which has been laid before them as to the difficulties arising in 

 certain Government departments in their dealings with con- 

 tractors and others which might be overcome by the establish- 

 ment of an independent testing authority. It would neither be 

 necessary nor desirable to compete with or interfere with the 

 testing of materials of various kinds as now carried out in 

 private or other laboratories ; but there are many special and 

 important tests and investigations into the strength and 

 behaviour of materials which might be conducted with great 

 advantage at a laboratory such as is contemplated in the 

 reference. As illustrations we may mention investigations into 

 the behaviour of metals and other substances under continuous 

 or alternating stresses, which investigations are not, so far as 

 we know, conducted at the present time at any testing institution 

 in this country, and which could only be undertaken with 

 satisfactory and authoritative results at a public laboratory. 



For many years the testing of certain instruments has been 

 carried out at the Kew Observatory under the direction of 

 the Kew Observatory Committee of the Royal Society. There 

 is much evidence that the existence of these tests has been 

 of great benefit to both science and industry. On the one 

 hand it enables the maker to give, or the purchaser to obtain, 

 an independent and trustworthy statement as to the quality of 

 the instrument. On the other hand, the existence of the tests 

 has led in many cases to a marked improvement of the instru- 

 ments ; and similar results may be anticipated by an extension 

 of these facilities to other branches of industry. 



The Kew Observatory is a Government building leased to the 

 Royal Society at a nominal rent, situate in the Old Deer Park, 

 Richmond, which is Crown property. The institution has no 

 endowment, the Gassiot Fund producing about 470/. per 

 annum. From the Meteorological Office it receives annually 

 400/. , part of which is the ordinary grant made to a first-class 

 meteorological station, the remainder being for scientific assist- 

 ance. The fees received for the verification and testing of 

 instruments amount to about 2000/. per annum. The institution 

 is self-supporting, and has usually a small annual balance which 

 is devoted to scientific investigation and to the extension of the 

 work, including the erection of new buildings, when required. 

 The funds at the disposal of the Observatory Committee are, 

 however, quite inadequate to any considerable extension of its 

 operations. The work done with restricted means has been 

 very useful. The total number of instruments annually verified 

 or tested is about 22,000. Among these are included watches, 

 thermometers, sextants, barometers, and other apparatus used 

 for scientific or industrial purposes. Evidence was given of the 

 beneficial effect which Kew has exerted on the watchmaking 

 trade, and it is noteworthy that this is due to the introduction 

 of tests for which there was little or no previous demand on the 



