NATURE 



[May 8, 1919 



is noted that in the testing of balloon fabrics no 

 satisfactory equivalent for exposure to weather has 

 been found, confirming experience in this country. 

 There was a greatly increased demand for standard 

 analysed samples as furnished by the Bureau, 



The engineering section of the Bureau is responsible 

 for the control of a large amount of routine testing 

 work of various kinds, some of which is carried out 

 in branch laboratories. For work in aerodynamics a 

 new building and wind-tunnel have been provided; 

 the latter is octagonal in section, the distance between 

 opposite faces being 4^ ft., and a wind-speed of ninety 

 miles per hour is obtained with an expenditure of 

 85 h.p. Autographic instruments for measurements 

 on aeroplanes in flight have been designed. Much 

 work has also been done on materials for aircraft con- 

 struction and the strength of aeroplane parts. The 

 inspection and testing of cement and concrete for the 

 Government and the public are on a large scale, and 

 have included investigations relating to concrete ships. 

 Stress reversal tests on reinforced concrete beams 

 have been carried out. Lubricating oils have been 

 investigated. The textile division has given atten- 

 tion to aeroplane and balloon fabrics ; a cotton fabric 

 for wing-covering was produced with the aid of the 

 manufacturers which was considered superior to linen, 

 and has been widely used. 



In the metallurgy division considerable developments 

 have taken place, and a brief description is given of 

 the new laboratories and equipment installed, which 

 will be found of interest. As at the National Physical 

 Laboratory, light alloys for the construction of air- 

 craft and aircraft engines have received a great deal 

 of attention, and evidence of co-operation appears in 

 the adoption of a programme to supplement work 

 done here. Stress is laid on the necessity for the sys- 

 tematic study of constitution to secure further progress. 

 The properties of metals at high temperatures are being 

 investigated. Ceramics is also a subject on which 

 much research is in progress. 



This brief survey will suffice to show that the report 

 contains evidence of a vast amount of scientific and 

 industrial research which will be of the greatest 

 interest and importance to those who are working on 

 parallel lines in this country. A special feature of 

 the work of the Bureau is the attention given to 

 methods of making available for ready reference 

 throughout the country the results of the various 

 investigations. Four separate series of publications 

 are issued : (i) scientific papers, (2) technologic papers, 

 (iii) circulars, and (iv) miscellaneous publications : 

 these are widely distributed to institutions and 

 libraries. The need in this country of more effective 

 means for the rapid dissemination of technical in- 

 formation among those to whom it is of value has 

 been very apparent during the war, and in the con- 

 sideration which is now being given to this matter 

 the methods adopted bv the Bureau will be found to 

 merit careful examination. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Birmingham. — Dr. S. W. J- Smith, F.R.S., assistant 

 professor at the Imperial College, South Kensington, 

 and for many years secretary of the Physical Society 

 of London, has been elected to the Poynting chair of 

 physics in the University. 



Cambridge. — Sir Ernest Rutherford, Cavendish pro- 

 fessor of experimental physics, has been elected to a 

 fellowship at Trinity College. 



Dr. H. Hartridge, of King's College, has been 

 appointed demonstrator of physiology until Septem- 

 ber 30, 192 1. 



NO. 2584, VOL. 103] 



Mr. Bennett Melvill Jones and Mr. James Wyvill 

 Lesley have been elected to junior fellowships at Em- 

 manuel College. Mr. Jones was placed in Class I. 

 of the Mechanical Sciences Tripos, 1909, and has 

 been awarded the Air Force Cros's for his work with 

 the Royal Air Force, of which he has been a tem- 

 porary lieutenant-colonel. Mr. Lesley was placed in 

 Class I., Part I., of the Natural Sciences Tripos in 



1910, and obtained the agricultural diploma. He was 

 awarded a scholarship of the Board of Agriculture in 



191 1, and was a student of the John Innes Institu- 

 tion, 19 12. He was temporary captain in the 

 K.R.R.C., gained the Military' Cross, and was 

 a prisoner in Germany, 1917-18. 



Dr. Boon has been appointed to the chair of 

 chemistry at Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh. 



Mr. R. W. H. Hawken has been appointed to 

 succeed Prof. A. J. Gibson as professor of engineering 

 in the University of Queensland. 



We learn from the Morning Post that a donation 

 of io,oooZ. has been given to the Cape University bv 

 the National Bank of South Africa. 



Mr. W. J. John, formerly a wireless telegraphy 

 engineer under the Admiralty, has been appointed 

 lecturer in electrical engineering at the East London 

 College. 



The Times announces that Dr. James Younger and 

 his wife have given 30,000^. to provide the University 

 of St. Andrews with a memorial hall. The main 

 hall, to be used for University purposes, is to have 

 an organ and to accommodate a thousand. There 

 will also be a smaller hall. 



An ingenious astronomical model for schools and 

 colleges, devised by Dr. W. Wilson, was described 

 in Nature of May 2, 1918, p. 173. Demonstrations 

 on the uses and working of this model are being given 

 by the inventor in the show-room of Messrs. George 

 Philip and Son, Ltd., 32 Fleet Street, and the con- 

 cluding one will be on Saturday, May 10, at 11.30 a.m. 



Mrs. Ellen Morgan has bequeathed loool. to the 

 University of Liverpool for a John H. Morgan 

 scholarship to be awarded to students of the Uni- 

 versity who have passed the Matriculation Examina- 

 tion and intend to proceed to a degree of faculty of 

 engineering, and who or whose parents are too poor 

 to defray the ordinary expenses of pursuing an 

 academic career at the University. 



By the will of Dr. J. Percival, late Bishop of Here- 

 ford, the following bequests will be made : — loooZ. to 

 Appleby Grammar School ; 2000L to Clifton Col- 

 lege; loooL each to Queen's College, Oxford, and 

 Trinity College, Oxford, all for helping scholars of 

 distinguished ability who are in need of assistance 

 to meet educational expenses ; and loooZ. to the Bishop 

 of Hereford for the education of one or two boys or 

 girls. 



The President of the Board of Education has ap- 

 pointed a Departmental Committee to inquire into 

 the position occupied by English (language and litera- 

 ture) in the educational system of England, and to 

 advise how its studv may best be promoted in schools 

 of all types, including continuation schools, and in 

 universities and other institutions of higher education, 

 regard being had to (i) the requirements of a liberal 

 education ; (2) the needs of business, the professions, 

 and the public services ; and (3) the relation of English 

 to other studies. The chairman of the Committee is 

 Sir Henry Newbolt, and the secretary Mr. J. E. Hales, 

 to whom all communications should be addressed at 

 the Board of Education, Whitehall, London, S.W. i. 



