152 



NATURE 



[April 19, 191 7 



tht; bureau, has- recently made a series of observa- 

 tions at steel works in the United States with the 

 object of determining the best methods to use in the 

 measurement of the temperatures in Bessemer and 

 open-hearth practice. He finds that the present 

 methods involve differences of temperature between 

 consecutive Bessemer teems and between successive 

 melts in the open-hearth furnace which may exceed 

 50° C, and strongly advises the use of some form of 

 optical pyrometer using monochromatic light, in order 

 to introduce greater certainty in the conditions which 

 determine the propertips of the steel produced. In the 

 complete paper, which 'is to be issued by the bureau, 

 details of the methods adopted are to be given. At 

 present information is available in abstract only in 

 the Transactions of the American Institute of Mining 

 Engineers, before whom Dr. Burgess gave an account 

 of his work at the New York meeting in February. 



Prof. McAdie, the director of Blue Hill Ob- 

 servatory, proposes a, new temperature scale in which 

 the freezing point of water is to be taken as looo, 

 and the absolute zero —273° C, as o. He points out 

 the objections to the present scales ; and the suggested 

 scale, if we could make a new start, would certainly 

 have some advantages. For meteorological purposes 

 the Centigrade degree is too large, since it is possible 

 to express mean values of temperature with accuracy 

 to within a few tenths of a degree, and a difference 

 of 1° C. in the mean summer temperature of a place, 

 for example, makes quite an appreciable difference in 

 the climate; but a quarter ai this, about i on the 

 suggested scale, would not be appreciable, so that it 

 would suffice on it to express values to the nearest 

 whole degree. The advantage of starting from the ab- 

 solute zero is very great, especially to those who have 

 to deal with radiation and to artillerists or airmen, who 

 are concerned with +he density of the upper strata, but 

 the suggested scale would involve the printing of four 

 figures, which is one too many. 



From an article contributed by M. Renouard to 

 ha Nature of March 31 it appears that in France the 

 metric system has not yet ouSted all the old customary 

 denominations of measure in many trades, especially 

 those connected with the textile industry. For 

 example, in the hosiery trade, sizes of stockings for 

 children are indicated in terms of the old Paris inch, 

 while the numbers denoting the lengths of ready-made 

 articles for grown-up people relate to the same ancient 

 measure : thus, size " 36 " signifies a length of 36 in. 

 Again, in the north of France the widths of cloths 

 and linens are denoted by such fractions as 2/3, 4/4, 

 7/8, the widths being the corresponding fractions of 

 the "aune" of 120 centimetres. It is true that traders 

 are not always aware of the origin of the symbols 

 they employ, and there is an amusing- instance of this 

 in .the case of certain silk stuffs invoiced "15/16," 

 which some shopkeepers from ignorance have repre- 

 sented to their customers as " fifteenth- and sixteenth- 

 century tafTetas." ^ Gold and silver fringes and ribbons 

 are sold according to numbers which correspond to 

 their widths in terms of the old Paris " line." 

 Numerous examples of the persistence of ancient or 

 foreign systems of measure occur also in the lace 

 trade and in the numeration of silk and cotton yarns. 

 Although so many anomalies still exist as regards 

 measures, the old customan,' weights, on the other 

 hand, appear to have been completely superseded in 

 France by metric denominations. 



The appearance of the decennial index of the Bio- 

 chemical Journal induces us to make a mental 

 review of the biological chemistry of recent years. 

 Although first issued in 1907. it was not until five 



NO. 2477, VOL. 99] 



years later that this journal was taken over by the 

 newly formed Biochemical Society, for which it has 

 since been edited by Profs. W. M. Bayliss and A. 

 Harden. According to the original idea, opportuni- 

 ties for chemists and biologists to forgather were to 

 be provided by establishing a biochemical club. But 

 the club, shortly after its foundation, was trans^ 

 formed, to the regret, perhaps, of many of its 

 members, into the present Biochemical Society. This 

 society was instituted for the purpose of facilitating 

 intercourse between those biologists and chemists 

 who are interested in the investigation of problems 

 common to both. The title " Chemistry of the Living 

 Organism," used in its widest sense, might perhaps 

 be suggested to include all such problems. It will 

 be acknowledged that the society has attained its 

 object to a marked degree, and the index of the 

 Biochemical Journal is a witness to the valuable 

 work which has been accomplished by the society 

 through its members. The names of nearly all the 

 well-known workers in biological chemistry are to 

 be found in this index, and the subjects of their 

 labours range from the distribution of maltase in 

 plants to the treatment of trypanosomiasis. Those 

 who ever have occasion to refer to the literature of 

 biological chemistry will certainly find this index a 

 valuable adjunct to their libraries. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Planet Mercury.— This object will be favour- 

 ably visible to the naked eye on clear evenings during 

 the remainder of the present month. Its light varies 

 considerably owing to change of phase, but with good 

 conditions the planet shines more strongly than a 

 star of the first magnitude. About an hour after sun- 

 set it should be readily discerned above the W.N.W. 

 horizon when the sky is clear. It will set as under : — ■ 



h. m. 



April 19 

 20 

 21 

 22 



24 . 



The planet will arrive at its greatest elongation on 

 April 24, when it will set about 2h. lom. after the 

 sun. The above are Greenwich mean times ; for 

 summer time one hour must be added. 



Comet 1917a (Mellish). — Prof. Stromgren has cir- 

 culated the folio A^ing revised elements and ephemeris, 

 calculated by J. Braae and J. Fischer-Petersen from 

 observations on March 21 (Lick), March 25 (Kortig- 

 stuhl), and March 30 (Copenhagen) : — 



T=I9I7, April 10-6285 G.M.T. 

 a> = 120° 3673"| 

 0,=^ 8f 2377'U9i7-o 

 / = 32° 23-57'J 

 log q =9-28448 



Ephemeris : Greenwich Midnight. 



Decl. Log r Log A Mag. 



- 1' 26-9 9-5732 00 132 5-2 



3 7-8 9-6331 0-0340 5-6 



4 28-9 9-6852 0-0529 6-0 



5 35-5 9-7309 0-0701 6-3 



6 31-3 9-7713 00858 6-6 



7 19-1 9-8076 0-I002 6-8 



Laboratory Work in Astrophysics. — An instructive 

 account of the relation of laboratory investigations to 

 astrophysical research has been given by Dr. A. S. 

 King (Pub. Ast. Soc. Pacific, February). Apparatus 



