350 



NATURE 



[June 28, 1917 



and showed that with two five-hour periods per day 

 the journey to India could be accomplished in four 

 days. Under the stage which aeroplanes have now 

 reached, the carriage of mails and passengers to 

 India seems quite a feasible proposition; the 

 meteorological conditions along the tracks that might 

 be followed, except at the Biitish end in the winter, 

 are quite good. Crossing the Atlantic is another 

 matter, especially from Europe to America ; the 

 shortest track, from Ireland to Newfoundland, is in 

 the winter a region of gales, mostly from some -wes- 

 terly point, and If the more favourable weather that 

 prevails further south is sought, the distance is about 

 doubled. Lord Montagu's suggestion is that certain 

 levels should be assigned to certain types of traffic, but 

 it has been estimated that at any given time one-half of 

 the earth is covered with clouds, and a pilot above a 

 sheet of clouds cannot keep his course, as there is 

 nothing to tell him the strength and direction of the 

 air drift to which he is exposed. It follows therefore 

 that a pilot aiming at a definite place must fly low 

 enough to see the earth at frequent intervals; in or 

 above a cloud sheet he would have no horizon and 

 could not rely on astronomical observations for his 

 position. Thus the traffic to which the highest levels 

 were assigned would be at a great disadvantage. 



The Executive Committee of the Conjoint Board of 

 Scientific Societies presented its report on the work of 

 the last six months at the fourth meeting of the Board, 

 held at the Royal Society on June 13, Sir Joseph J. 

 Thomson in the chair. The report indicates that a 

 number of important questions of scientific and indus- 

 trial importance has occupied the attention of the 

 Board. Various bodies are at present interested in the 

 formation of a census of the mineral resources of the 

 Empire. It was agreed to enter into communication 

 with these bodies and to make suggestions with .a 

 view to the publication of information in a form 

 useful to the general community. Interim reports 

 were received and approved on the necessity for an 

 anthropological survey of the British people, on the 

 best methods for carrying on the International Cata- 

 logue of Scientific Literature, and on an inquiry into 

 the desirability or otherwise of the adoption of the 

 metric system throughout the British Isles. The 

 sub-committee on National Instruction in Technical 

 Optics reported that a scheme approved by the Board 

 of Education had now come into operation (see 

 Nature of May 24 and June 14). A sub-committee, 

 having considered special cases of magnetic disturb- 

 ances revealed by a magnetic survey of the British 

 Isles, and their possible connection with the occur- 

 rence of iron ores, recommended a detailed investiga- 

 tion of two test areas, in order to ascertain how far, 

 under the conditions of the British iron ores, the 

 magnetic survey was likely to prove of economic 

 value. Arrangements for carrying out the investiga- 

 tion are in progress. An agricultural sub-committee, 

 with the Earl of Portsmouth as chairman, reported 

 that it is at present devoting itself mainly to engineer- 

 ing questions. It is engaged in collecting informa- 

 tion with regard to the transport of raw materials to 

 farms and agricultural products from them, to the 

 power required for this purpose, and for seasonal 

 operations on the land, with the view of comparing 

 the relative advantages and costs of steam or internal- 

 combustion engines and electrically operated machines. 

 A sub-committee was appointed to report on what is 

 at present being done to ascertain the amount and 

 distribution of water power in the British Empire. 

 A complete report of the first year's work of the 

 Board will be published in due course. 



NO. 2487, VOL. 99] 



We notice with regret the announcement of the 

 death on June 19 of Dr. Robert Bell, F.R.S., formerly 

 chief geologist of the Geological Survey of Canada. 



The King has been pleased to award the Edward 

 Medal of the First Class to the representatives of Mr. 

 Andrea Angel and Mr. George Wenborne, who lost 

 their lives in endeavouring to save ithe lives of others on 

 the occasion of a fire which broke out at the Silver- 

 town Chemical Works on January 19 last. 



In order to celebrate the centenary of the birth of 

 Henry D. Thoreau, the Humanitarian League (53 

 Chancery Lane, W.C.2) has arranged a meeting to 

 be held in the Caxton Hall, Westminster, on the even- 

 ing of July 12. The chair will be taken at 8 p.m. by 

 Sir John L. Otter, J. P., and short addresses will be 

 given by various speakers. Admirers of Thoreau 's 

 writings are invited to be present. 



In a recent issue (June 14, p. 312) we directed atten- 

 tion to a report that the Prime Minister and others were 

 awakened by the sound of the explosions at Messines 

 on June 7. The evidence In favour of the sound 

 having been heard in and near London is, however, 

 insufficient, and information since received from 

 Flanders throws doubt on the statement. An officer of 

 the Royal Engineers, Who was onfy a mile from the 

 largest mine when it was fired, describes the noise 

 as "not so very great"; while another, who was at 

 a distance of eight miles, saw the flash, waited for the 

 noise, and heard only a slight "phit." A contrary 

 wind might, of course, have tilted the sound-waves 

 over the latter observer, but the wind seems to have 

 come from the direction of the front, for the air at 

 the time on the west side was charged with lachryma- 

 tory gases. Moreover, a well-prepared explosion is 

 seldom noisy. 



The governors of the Vv^est of Scotland Agricultural 

 College have recently issued, in the form of a bulletin 

 (No. 81), a summary by Principal W. G. R. Paterson 

 of certain schemes for the training and employment, 

 particularly In rural occupations, of discharged dis- 

 abled sailors and soldiers. The three schemes dealt 

 with were selected from eight submitted In response 

 \f) an offer of prizes placed at the disposal of the 

 governors through the generositv of an anonymous 

 donor. Each scheme is outlined and critically dis- 

 cussed by Mr. Paterson, who contributes also a com- 

 prehensive memorandum drafted independently for the 

 consideration of the governors of the college. It 1=; 

 nt>t possible within the compass of a short note to 

 indicate adequately even the essential features of the 

 different schemes, and it must suffice to commend their 

 suggestiveness as to the useful part that may be played 

 in the solution of the problem bv the regeneration of 

 our villages, the establishing of colonies of small- 

 holders, the setting up of Isolated holdings, and the 

 revival of a number o,f subsldiarv rural industries, as 

 well as the development of new industries. 



"La Nature (No. 2279, June 2, 1917) devotes a 

 special article to the question of the method of choos- 

 ing an employ^. It Is a plea for a more scientific 

 treatment of the problem of adjusting the work to 

 the worker, so that the right person is put to the 

 work for which he is naturally adapted, and also that 

 the work itself should be analvsed, with the object of 

 discovering' what particular qualities, both mental and 

 physical, it will demand, and, having discovered these, 

 to train the workc along those Jines. The writer 

 quotes with approval the attempts made In America 

 in the direction of scientific management of labour. 

 He describes various tests, such as tests of. manual 



