1 88, 



NATURE 



[May 8, 1919 



of the meetings. The final meeting of the 

 members of the conference was held at the Palais 

 d'Orsay at a banquet presided over by M. 

 Loucheur, the Minister of Industrial Reconstruc- 

 tion, at which Lord Moulton was also present. 



During the meeting of the conference some in- 

 teresting papers were read. Prof. H. Louis gave 

 an excellent summary of the magnetic concentra- 

 tion of poor iron-ores, a subject of special import- 

 ance to our Allies at the present moment. 



Dr. F. Cottrell reported fully on the recent pro- 

 duction of helium in the United States, describing 

 the new plant which has been erected in the 

 U.S.A. for the freezing of gases by the cylinder- 

 expansion process. Helium is one of the most 

 recent and best illustrations of the co-operation of 

 science and practice. First detected in the sun by 

 Sir Norman Lockyer by means of its spectrum, and 

 afterwards found in the earth by Sir William 

 Ramsay, it was detected in gases from subter- 

 ranean sources by various observers, especially 

 by Prof. Moureu, who published his results in the 

 Annales de Chimie in 1915 and 1916, and gave 

 some further particulars of his researches in the 

 discussion on Dr. Cottrell 's paper. At the com- 

 mencement of the armistice the practical work 

 done in the United States, following that carried 

 out in connection with the British Admiralty Board 

 of Invention and Research (see Nature, February 

 20), had resulted in the accumulation of a large 

 quantity of helium, which is now available for 

 other than warlike purposes. 



On April 16 many of the delegates visited the 

 devastated region of Chauny, Tergnier, and St. 

 Gobain. This is classic ground for the 

 chemist, as it was here that the Leblanc soda 

 process was first installed on a large manu- 

 facturing scale, and the Gay-Lussac tower was 

 also originated there, its inventor being a director 

 of the St. Gobain Company. The date, 1665, on 

 the ruined portal of the glass factory shows its 

 antiquity. The ruin wrought by the invaders was 

 systematic and complete ; in the villages not even 

 the humblest cottage remained uninjured, and 

 what was an industrious and prosperous com- 

 munity has been totally ruined : let us hope for a 

 short time only. 



The Inter-Allied Council has a big task in front 

 of it, and the first thing will be for the various 

 members of the council and committees to get to 

 know each other. Not only has the work to be 

 done, but the right men have also to be chosen 

 to do it. It will be some time before the dif- 

 ferent nations, speaking different languages and 

 looking at matters from different points of view, 

 can so organise themselves that they can accom- 

 plish their task smoothly and efficiently. But the 

 goodwill and determination which exist should be 

 sufficient to enable them to achieve success. The 

 various chemical societies in this country will no 

 doubt communicate their wishes and ideas to the 

 Federal Council, and by the end of this summer 

 it should be possible to put forward some prac- 

 tical scheme and a carefully considered pro- 

 gramme, 



NO. 2584, VOL. 103] 



THE ROYAL ACADEMY. • 



A VISIT to the Royal Academy cannot fail to" 

 ^^ be of interest to those who take pleasure 

 in the ways of Nature, the varying moods of 

 which are shown in so many of the pictures ex- 

 hibited. Unfortunately, it has to be admitted that 

 while there is much of interest to the scientific 

 worker in each year's exhibition, there is also 

 much that is jarring by reason of its lack of 

 adherence to the truth. So much adverse com- 

 ment is passed upon the works of the exhibitors 

 by artistic critics at the opening of the exhibition 

 each summer that it is perhaps natural for artists 

 to make greater efforts to meet this criticism than 

 a purely scientific criticism, which in general, 

 though well deserved, remains unvoiced. To the 

 man of science no result can be pleasing which 

 is produced merely for the sake of effect and in 

 its production overrides the laws of Nature. As 

 an example of this type may be cited "Off the 

 Western Land " (198) in the exhibition which 

 opened at Burlington House at the beginning of 

 the present week. It is difficult to believe that 

 the combination of colours there depicted on the 

 sea and in the sky could ever be approached in 

 Nature. In the same way the colouring of the 

 clouds in "The House on the Sea Wall" (309) 

 cannot be passed over without comment. The 

 complete semicircular rainbow in " Passing 

 Storm" (232) seems to be independent of the 

 presence of raindrops in its formation. While 

 rain is seen to be falling in one part of the sky, the , 

 artist appears to have gone out of his way to 

 indicate that .there is no rain in another part of 

 the bow, the cumulus cloud behind showing up 

 with absolute clearness. 



A study of the landscapes in successive exhibi- 

 tions reveals the fact that an artist may often be 

 known by his clouds, just as surely as by the type 

 of country which he chooses for his subject. The 

 typical cloud in a Leader is the soft cumulus, 

 always produced with admirable effect. Arnesby 

 Brown is another whose works may readily be 

 distinguished by the cloud forms depicted, though 

 the meteorologist is not always able to pass an 

 entirely favourable verdict upon the result. The 

 cloud effect in "A Village by the Sea " (96) by 

 this artist deserves, however, its meed of 

 praise. Peter Graham's mountain scenes gene- 

 rally show patches of mist amongst the hills, 

 while this year, in "A Shower across the Hills" 

 (150), falling rain has been introduced with a 

 very pleasing result. A study of the fairly 

 numerous pictures in which a portrayal of rain 

 is attempted leads to the conclusion that the 

 subject is far from an easy one to treat success- 

 fully. In "By the Woodside " (H. Sylvester 

 Stannard, 673) an unpretentious but natural sky 

 showing through the trees adds much to the 

 success of the picture. Snow scenes have at- 

 tracted an unusually large share of attention in 

 this year's exhibition, and they are generally dealt 

 with successfully. In "Through the Woodland 

 Snow " (J. Farquharson, 19) the soft, moist look 



