June 28, 19 17] 



NATURE 



330 



'; On June 8 a party of seventy persons enjoyed a visi^ 



i to a large munitions factory in the East of London, 

 employing 2700 men and 800 women, where the manu- 

 facture of shells proceeds with a possible output of 

 16,000 a week. Here the whole of the making of a 

 shell was seen, except the filling, from the time that 

 the steel billet is put into the furnace to the time when 

 it is passed into the hands of those who test them to 

 detect faults in completed shells. The accuracy ob- 



i served in the noaking is so fine that those cast out are 

 but a small fraction of one per cent. Another party 

 accompanied Prof. G. S. Boulger to the Chelsea 



, Physic Garden, and listened to a paper read by the 

 guide, whilst Dr. Boulenger entertained a large num- 

 ber at the Zoological Gardens with a pap>er on " Rep- 

 tiles in Captivity," followed by a perambulation of the 

 gardens. Variety was afforded by a paper on 

 "Tokens of London," by Mr. W. Dale, and a lecture 

 by Dr. Daydon Jackson, the secretary of the Linnean 

 Society, on " Famous Trees and Gardens of London." 

 At the delegates' final meeting Sir Daniel Morris, 

 K.C.M.G., was chosen to be president for 1918-19, 

 but the place of meeting has not yet been decided 

 upon. 



THE FUTURE OF THE X-RAY INDUSTRY. 



T^HE future of the British X-ray industry will de- 

 ■■■ pend upon the ability of the British manufac- 

 turers to hold their own against those of other coun- 

 tries. The world's markets will be captured by that 

 country which can combine the largest capital with 

 the greatest initiative and fertility of invention. 

 British manufacturers in other directions in the past 

 have been able to hold their own ; there is no reason 

 why the British X-ray industry, if sufficiently capital- 

 ised and guided by the best skill in tfie country, should 

 not be able to do the same in open competition with 

 other countries. 



American manufacturers have already advanced to 

 the stage of amalgamation and pooling of interests. 

 The capital invested amounts to a considerable sum — 

 250,000/., or thereabouts. This means active propa- 

 ganda in the future and severe competition in all 

 markets. On the Continent the industry has been 

 fostered by several large electrical firms, which by virtue 

 of their resources and capital have been able to initiate 

 research and perfect the technical details of the appa- 

 ratus. 



In England up to the present such methods have 

 been conspicuous by their absence ; the trade has been 

 in the hands of a number of small firms, the combined 

 capital of which would form only a fraction of that 

 invested in the American amalgamation. It would 

 appear, then, that if British firms are to hold their 

 own and command a share in the world's markets, a 

 determined effort must be made now to reorganise the 

 industry. Co-operation is urgently needed; financial 

 aid must be forthcoming either in the form of a 

 Government subsidy or by private endeavour. Another 

 important step would be the formation of an advisory 

 comrnittee consisting: of physicists, medical men, and 

 technical experts. The duties of this committee would 

 be to advise on new apparatus and the best methods 

 to employ for its production. Such a committee might 

 also act in an advisory capacitv to hospitals and 

 medical men on technical "and other points. 



We welcome the announcement of the formation of 

 a section of the British Electrical and Allied Manu- 

 facturers' Association as a step towards this end. 



Already the section has been able to co-operate with 

 the Government in research work connected with the 



improvement of essential instruments, and it is hoped 

 that tl^iis will only be a preliminary to wider investi- 

 gations." The field is a wide and an ever-increasing 

 one, and well worthy of the consideration of financiers 

 as a profitable investment for capital. 



The keynote to success is efficiency, and none but 

 the very best technical apparatus can hope to hold its 

 i own in the world's markets. Initiative in the organ- 

 I isation of the industry and the production of new types 

 I of apparatus would be the first step towards the re- 

 covery of a place in the world's markets. PubUcity 

 is another step towards that end; this must be secured 

 by collaboration with the radiologists, who by attract- 

 ing workers from all parts of the world would direct 

 their attention to the apparatus used in the clinics and 

 teaching centres throughout the country. Side by 

 side would arise an active British School of Radiology 

 and a large industry devoted to the perfecting of the 

 apparatus used in the various departments of its 

 activity. 



NO. 2487, VOL. 99] 



THE ARGENTINE SOCIETY OF NATURAL 

 SCIENCES. 



nr HE Argentine Society of Natural Sciences, founded 

 -'• on the plan of the British Association and kin- 

 dfed societies, held its first general meeting in 

 Tucuman at the end of last November, and at the 

 same time celebrated the centenary of the foundation 

 of the Argentine Republic. The society began its 

 activities five years ago by the publication of an ex- 

 cellent small journal, Physis^ which we have several 

 times- noticed; and it intends in future to hold a 

 biennial congress, by which the aims and progress 

 of science may be made more widely known to the 

 people. Its founders realise that hitherto scientific 

 studies in the Argentine Republic have been prose- 

 cuted chiefly by foreign travellers and by foreigners 

 temporarily resident in the country-; and they hope, 

 by a more systematic organisation of university 

 teaching, and by rousing the federal and provincial 

 Governments to a more sympathetic attitude towaras 

 scientific research, to follow up this pioneer work at 

 home. We appreciate their ambition, and wish the 

 society all success. 



The congress in Tucuman was welcomed by the 

 Governor of the Province in an appropriate speech, 

 and its scientific session was opened by the address 

 of the president. Dr. Angel Gallardo, director of the 

 National Museum, Buenos Aires. Dr. Gallardo, as 

 a distinguished biologist, referred to the studies to 

 which he has devoted his life, and' explained in a 

 popular manner the fundamental importance of bio- 

 logical research to modern man, especially in such an 

 environment as that of tropical and sub-tropical Soutn 

 America. He briefly reviewed the methods to be 

 followed, and incidentally alluded to the manner in 

 which Darwin's work on the pampas aided him in 

 propounding his theory of evolution. He also men- 

 tioned with natural pride the important researches of 

 the late Dr. Florentino Ameghino on the fossil mam- 

 mals of Argentina, which made known a new world 

 of life and led to speculations of great interest. 



The technical work of the congress was arranged 

 under eight sections : I. Geology, geography, and geo- 

 physics, presided over by Dr. E. Hermitte, who spoke 

 of the economic applications of geology; II. Palaeon- 

 tology, with Dr. Carlos Ameghino as president ; 



III. Botany, presided over by Dr. C. M. Hicken, who 

 referred to some features in the flora of Tucuman ; 



IV. Zoology, with Dr. E. L. Holmberg as president ; 



V. Anthropology, ethnology, and archaeology, with 



