April 3, 1919] 



NATURE 



8.9 



number of rejected instruments has exceeded iz. per 



nt. for some time past. Further, of the numerous 



-ocks of chnical thermometers which have been 



received from chemists and stores throughout the 



country, the number of unsatisfactory instruments 



tails between q and lo per cent. It is' of interest to 



lote that the French Government has recently issued 



decree rendering compulsory the testing" of all 



clinical thermometers sold in France. The limits of 



. rror adopted are in agreement with those in force in 



this country, but the French decree very considerably 



<=:tricts the types of instruments which may be oflfered 



r sale. 



At a special general meeting of the Geological 

 (ciety, held on March 26, the following resolution 



•' council was carried by 55 votes against 12 : 



That it is desirable to admk women as fellows of 

 ,e society." In submitting the motion, Mr. G. W. 

 L.amplugh, president of the society, said :— " It will 

 be wnthin the recollection of most of the fellows 

 that the question of the admission of women to candi- 

 dature for the fellowship of the society has been raised 

 on more than one occasion in the past. It was con- 

 sidered in i88q and 1901, and, again, more svs- 

 matically in 1908-9, when a poll of the fellows 

 as taken and three special general meetings were 

 iii^ld, with inconclusive results. It is generally recog- 

 nised that the course of events since these dates has 

 materially changed the situation. Women have been 

 welcomed to our meetings as visitors, and we have 

 had many examples of their qualifications for fellow- 

 -Iiip in the excellent papers which they have from time 

 to time contributed to the society. The value of these 

 papers has been appreciated by all geologists, and has 

 been repeatedly acknowledged by the council in its 

 awards. Therefore, in the opinion of the council, it 

 i> no longer reasonable to maintain a sex-bar against 

 qualified candidates for the fellowship of the society, 

 and I am empowered by the council to submit the 

 above-mentioned resolution for your consideration." 



At a meeting of the Royal Microscopical Society on 

 March 19 Lt.-Col. Clibborn made a proposition that 

 the society should at once take measures to design 

 and specify the British standard microscope. He sug- 

 gested that (i) the stand should be designed, not as a 

 concrete whole, but so as to admit the successive addi- 

 tions of other standard parts ; (2) all fittings, other than 

 optical, should be standardised; (3) each part should 

 in made of the material best suited to the strains and 

 wear it has to undergo ; and (4) the design should aim 

 at simplicity, a balance of the moving body in all posi- 

 tions, perfect rigidity, uniformity of movement round 

 the arc traversed by the moving body, and artistic 

 finish. It should not require clamping. Attention was 

 directed to aluminium-bronze and rubel-bronze as 

 materials more suitable than brass to secure rigidity 

 for the stand; also to die-casting as a means of pro- 

 ducing castings in unlimited number, and requiring 

 little or no machinery. The manufacture should be 

 carried out by precision tools and precision grinding to 

 limit gauges, so that all the parts of all instruments 

 would be interchangeable. It is to be noted that in 

 1916 a committee of the British Science Guild drafted 

 full specifications for six types of microscopes (see 

 Journal of the British Science Guild, January and 

 November, 1916). This does not appear to be referred 

 to by Col. Clibborn. 



The ttristees of the British Museum have decided 

 that henceforth for the rest of his official career Mr. 

 C. E. Fagan's title shall be Secretary of the Natural. 

 HistorA' Departments, British Museum. 



We regret to announce the death on March 29, at 

 eighty-six years of age, of Dr. Henry Wilde, F.R.S., 



NO. 2579, VOL. 103] 



distinguished by his work in applied electricity and 

 other branches of ph\-sics. 



The annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute 

 will be held on Thursday and Friday, May 8 and 9. 

 On the opening day the Bessemer medal for 1019 will 

 be presented to.Prof. Cav. Federico Giolitti, of Turin. 



The Silvanus Thompson memorial lecture of the 

 Rontgen Society will be delivered by Prof. W. M. 

 Bayliss on Tuesday, May 6, at the Royal Society of 

 Medicine. The subject will be "The Electrical 

 Changes in Active Tissues." 



According to a paragraph in the Times Trade 

 Supplement for March 29, the National Council of 

 Scientific and Industrial Research in Canada has pro- 

 posed, with the approval of the Dominion Government, 

 to establish a Scientific Research Bureau on the lines 

 of the Bureau of Standards at Washington. 



At the annual general meeting of the Chemical 

 Society, held on March 27, Sir James J. Dobbie was 

 elected as president in succession to Sir William J. 

 Pope, Dr. H. J. H. Fenton and Prof. James Walker 

 were elected as vice-presidents, and the new ordinary 

 members of council are Prof. F. E. Francis, Mr. j . 

 Addyman Gardner, Dr. C. A. Keane, and Sir Robert 

 Robertson. 



Applications are invited by the Royal Society for 

 the two Mackinnon research studentships which are 

 awarded annually for research in (1) astronomy, 

 chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and physics, arid 

 (2) anatomy, botany, palaeontology, pathology, physio- 

 logy, and zoology. The scholarships are each of the 

 value of i5oi. .Applications must be received not later 

 than June i. 



Summer time in 'Great Britain came into force on 

 Sunday, March 30, and will continue until the night 

 of September 28-29 next. In Canada a motion to 

 institute summer time this year was defeated in 

 the Dominion House of Commons on March 27, 

 while the British Columbia Legislature has passed a 

 Daylight Saving Bill, operative from March 29. 

 Much confusion must result from these different 

 decisions. The railways of Canada have put summer 

 time into operation, and so have the chief cities and 

 towns, but in rural districts the old standard will be 

 maintained. 



We learn from Science that Mr. Secretary Lane 

 has appointed a Commission of mining and metal- 

 lurgical experts to visit Europe to observe and assist 

 reconstruction methods in the devastated regions of 

 France and Belgium. The members of the Commis- 

 sion are Dr. F. G. Cottrell, chief metallurgist of 

 the U.S. Bureau of Mines (chairman): Mr. G. S. 

 Rice, chief mining engineer of the Bureau ; Prof. 

 F. H. Probert, consulting engineer of the Bureau and 

 professor of mining in the University, of California; 

 Mr. R. H. Cameron, consulting chemist of the 

 Bureau, and Mr. H. S. Gale, of the U.S. Geological 

 Survey. 



In accordance with the express wish of the late Dr. 

 John Foulerton, his executrix and sole legatee has 

 transferred to the Royal Society 20,000^ National War 

 Stock, the interest upon which is to be employed by 

 the president and council in making awards to 

 students, especially younger students, of sufficient 

 amount to enable them to devote themselves, under 

 the supervision and control of the president and 

 council, to original research in medicine, to the im- 

 provement of the treatment of disease and the relief 

 of human suffering. All awards are to be subject to 



t]v rondltirinc tli-it nT^nilwi-.. of lv>tll ^rNP*; :irf> to he 



