July 5, 1917] 



NATURE 



371 



on history, linguistics, and ethnology were often lack- 

 ing in the learning of the true scholar. Some of his 

 less ephemeral work was published about two years 

 ago. under the title of " Sva " ("Myself"). His ser- 

 vices to the Empire in promoting kindly relations be- 

 tween the European and the natives of India are his 

 best monument. 



The eleventh annual report of the British Science 

 Guild, together with the account of the proceedings 

 at the annual meeting on April 30, has now been 

 published in booklet form. In addition to particulars 

 of the work of the Guild during the past year, the 

 report contains a summary of progress in regard to 

 the promotion of scientific and industrial research, 

 and a series of appendices refers, among other matters, 

 to "The Metric System and the Textile Industries," 

 " Endowment of Education and Research," and 

 "National Instruction in Technical Optics." The 

 report of the eleventh annual meeting of the Guild 

 includes the addresses by Lx)rd Sydenham on 

 national reconstruction, the Rt. Hon. H. A. L. 

 Fisher on science in education and industry, and 

 Mr. H. G. Wells on science in the curricula of our 

 schools and universities. Lord Sydenham makes 

 a number of stimulating suggestions in regard to the 

 reform of education and the development of the mate- 

 rial resources of the Empire with the view of solving 

 the many crucial problems that may be exf>ected to 

 arise after the war ; Mr. Fisher points out that educa- 

 tion in scientific knowledge and method need not be 

 divorced from the studv of "humanistic" subjects; 

 while Mr. Wells pleads for the removal of the barriers 

 set up against the latter studies by insistence on the 

 acquirement of such knowledge solely through the 

 medium of the Greek and Latin langiiages. The 

 booklet is obtainable from the offices of the Guild, 199 

 Piccadilly, W.i, at the price of t^. 



Notwithstanding the great loss of life caused by 

 the explosion at Ashton-under-Lyne on June 13, the 

 area over which the sound was heard was remarkably 

 small. All the recorded observations lie within a con- 

 tinuous area, extending chiefly in the north-north-west 

 direction to the villag-e of Church, near Accrington, 

 distant twenty-one miles from Ashton. In the opposite 

 direction, the sound-area is not well defined, but the 

 boundary probably passes about six miles from the 

 source of sound. There is no evidence of the observa- 

 tion of multiple reports, the sound at all places more 

 than a few, miles from Ashton being a single boom. 

 The shaking of windows immediately after the report 

 points to the existence of long-period air-waves travel- 

 ling with a velocitv slightly less than that of the 

 sound-waves. Though the number of British explo- 

 sions which have been investigated is small, it is worth 

 noticing that those with double sound-areas occurred 

 during the winter months (namely, Spithead minute- 

 guns on February i. 190 1 : Hayle explosion on January 

 5, 1904; and East London explosion on January 19, 

 1917), and those with single sound-areas during the 

 summer months (namely, Spithead reviews on July 17, 

 1887, and June 26, 1897; St. Helens explosion on 

 May 12, 1897, and Ashton-under-Lyne explosion on 

 June 13, 1917). In Japan, according to Prof. Omori, 

 nine out of eleven recent Asama-yama explosions with 

 double sound-areas occurred in the winter, while ten 

 out of eleven explosions with single sound-areas 

 occurred in the summer months. 



In the Revue Scientifique for June 9 Prof. Jean 

 Massart advocates the formation of " Une Or- 

 ganisation Scientifique Interalliee," in order to 

 facilitate the exchange of books, students, and 

 men of science amongst the Allied countries, 



NO. 2488, VOL. 99] 



for the publication of resumes of scientific 

 work, and for the establishment of scientific 

 institutes. For some years international scientific ex- 

 changes have arranged the dispatch of scientific pub- 

 lications from one country to its neighbours post free. 

 It is suggested that this system should be extended so 

 as to permit the free transport of all scientific publica- 

 tions which have no commercial character. Many 

 countries provide travelling scholarships for students 

 who have completed a course of study, but if the 

 annual programmes of work in all universities were 

 equalised it would be possible for a student to take 

 part of his degree course in one country and another 

 part in an Allied country. Prof. Massart also advo- 

 cates the exchange not only of professors (an example 

 which America has set), but also of librarians, keepers 

 of museums, astronomers, doctors and surgeons of 

 large hospitals, etc Finally, the creation of purely 

 scientific institutes by the co-ordinate action of the 

 Allies is recommended. These research institutes 

 should be independent of teaching, and would be 

 attached to neither schools nor museums. For many 

 sciences the precise situation of the research centre 

 would be immaterial. For such sciences as botany, 

 zoology, meteorologA-, etc., separate institutes would 

 be required in each of the large climatic and geograph- 

 ical zones of the earth. Thus for biology there might 

 be an Arctic Institute in the north of Russia, equatorial 

 institutes in Ceylon, the Congo, and Brazil, and so on. 

 The strengthening 0/ commercial, industrial, and poli- 

 tical relations between the Allies is being urged upon 

 us ; as the author says, it is not less important to ex- 

 change "ideas and men." 



Sir Henry True.man Wood will retire in September 

 next from the post of secretary of the Royal Society 

 of Arts, which he has held since 1879, having pre- 

 viously been editor of the Journal and assistant secre- 

 tary. He will be succeeded by Mr. G. K. Menzies, 

 who has been assistant secretary of the sciciety since 

 1908. The council has decided to institute an annual 

 lecture dealing with the application of science to in- 

 dustry in order to commemorate Sir Henry Wood's 

 long association with the society. The Albert medal 

 of the society for the current year has been awarded to 

 Orville Wright, " in recognition of the value of the 

 contributions of Wilbur and Orville Wright to the 

 solution of the problem of mechanical flight." Re- 

 ferring to this award, the report of the council says : — 

 "In 1896 the Wrights began to experiment with gliding 

 machines, continuing the work of Lilienthal and 

 Pilcher, which had been cut short by their deaths. 

 Having obtained considerable success with ' gliders ' 

 — for Orville Wright on one occasion succeeded in 

 making a soaring flight of ten minutes — in 1903 they 

 fitted an engine and propeller to their machine, and 

 with this apparatus they were able to make short 

 flights. Inasmuch as this was the first apparatus in 

 which a man was carried in the air by mechanical 

 power, though Langley and others had previously 

 made small mechanical flying machines, it may fairly 

 be considered the first aeroplane in the present accepta- 

 tion of the word. The machine was patented in 1907. 

 The validity of the patent has never been confirmed 

 by any legal decision, but practically the British 

 Government admitted its validity by a payment to the 

 inventors in 19 14 of 15.000!. After the initial difficul- 

 ties had been overcome by the patient labours of the 

 Wrights, t^e machine developed rapidly. It mav be 

 true that in the present aeroplane not much is left of 

 the machine described in the 1907 patent, but the 

 changes, apart from the improvements in the engine 

 on which the modern aeroplane mainly depends for 

 its success, have all been legitimate developments of 



