3o8 



NATURE 



[June 19, 1919 



on )8 Lyrae before the Royal Institution in 1904 

 will be remembered. His photographic work in 

 stellar spectroscopy was awarded a gold medal 

 in the St. Louis Exposition of 1904, and a grand 

 prix by the Franco-British Exhibition of 1908. 



At Stonyhurst, Sidgreaves also, in his younger 

 years, taught mathematics and chemistry, and, as 

 a priest, physics, to the students of St. Mary's 

 Hall for twenty-five years with great success. 

 Everyone who came in contact with him was 

 attracted by his kindly and amiable disposition. 

 He effaced himself that others might have more 

 time for research work. He was elected a Fellow 

 of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1891, and 

 served for many years on its council. 



NOTES. 



Many subjects of importance are to be discussed at 

 the meeting' of the International Research Council, 

 to be held in Brussels on July 18-28. It may be re- 

 membered that the council arose out of Inter-Allied 

 conferences held in London and Paris last year (see 

 Nature, December 26, 1918). Steps are to be taken 

 at Brussels to establish the federation in its final 

 form. The statutes of the council are to be discussed 

 and also those of international unions of astronomy, 

 physics, mathematics, geodesy and geophysics, and 

 other departments of science. There will be a report 

 of a committee on international co-operation in 

 chemistry, and one on the foundation of the federation 

 of societies of pure and applied chemistry. The im- 

 portant question of the biological exploration of the 

 North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean will also be 

 brought forward. The executive committee, consist- 

 ing of MINI. Picard (chairman), Vol terra, Lecointe, 

 Hale, and Schuster, acting upon the views expressed 

 at the conference held in Paris in November last, 

 has unanimously decided to recommend to the coun- 

 cil that the following nations, which were neutral 

 during the war, be invited to co-operate : — Denmark, 

 Spain, Holland, Monaco, Norway, Sweden, and 

 Switzerland. It is suggested also that Czecho- 

 slovakia and Finland should be considered as possible 

 co-operating nations. The executive committee was 

 appointed as a temporary body only, entrusted with 

 the duty of bringing forward proposals at Brussels, 

 and promoting the formation of national councils, the 

 federation of which will form the International 

 Council. It may be dissolved when the International 

 Council is finally constituted. 



In the first issue of the Crucible, a magazine 

 recently started by the science students of the Uni- 

 versity of Aberdeen, there is a characteristically 

 trenchant article by Prof. Soddy. Under the metaphor 

 of new wine into old bottles, Prof. Soddy points on 

 one hand to the praiseworthy labours of the junior 

 staffs in our universities in carrying to a high degree 

 of efficiency the teaching of experimental science to 

 thousands of eager students, and on the other to lack 

 of prevision on the part of the authorities In en- 

 couraging research. It is safe to say, indeed, that 

 the conservative instincts of the governing bodies, 

 many members of which have not the least conception 

 of what is meant by scientific research, tend rather to 

 discourage than to encourage the hard-worked assis- 

 tants from engaging in any form of research work. 

 Even, the Carneme Trust for the Universities of 

 Scotland, one of the primary objects of which was to 

 promote scientific study and research, has expended 

 out of its millions only some 14 per cent, on research 



NO. 2590, VOL. 103] 



of all kinds, including historical, linguistic, and 

 economic subjects. According to Prof. Soddy, the 

 loss on the money saved, occasioned by the deprecia- 

 tion of British investments during the war, would 

 have maintained several first-class research professor- 

 ships since the Trust was founded. In short, how 

 can science as a progressive factor in civilisation get 

 a fair chance in ancient institutions largely governed 

 by medieval conceptions? This is virtually Prof. 

 Soddy's complaint; and it is one calling for serious 

 reflection and strenuous endeavour on the part of all 

 who have the welfare of the nation at heart. 



A RELIEF expedition under Capt. Godfred Hansen 

 of the Danish Navy, has left Copenhagen to place a 

 dep6t of stores for Capt. Roald Amundsen in Grant 

 Land. Capt. Hansen, who in 1903-5 was second-in- 

 command of Amundsen's expedition in the Gjoa has 

 according to the Morning Post, sailed in a Danish 

 Government vessel for Upernivik, in Greenland. In 1 

 July he hopes to reach North Star Bay in lat. 76° N., * 

 where he and his party will winter. In the sprincf they 

 will start north, taking Eskimo with them, and will 

 travel via Cape Morton and Kennedy Channel to 

 Fort Conger, Greeley's quarters from 1881 to 1883. 

 The majority of the party will remain at Fort Conger 

 and engage in hunting, while the leader and one other 

 man will push on to Cape Columbia, a distance of 

 about six hundred miles, in order to leave a year's ' 

 rations, together with guns and ammunition and a 

 detailed description of the route by Knud Rasmussen, 1 

 the Danish explorer of North Greenland. Returning ' 

 to Fort Conger, Capt. Hansen and his men will leave 

 for Greenland in the autumn as soon as Kennedy 

 Channel freezes. It is most improbable that Capt. 

 Amundsen in the Maud will reach Grant Land next 

 summer, since his drift across the polar basin will 

 probably occupy at least three years, but in the event 

 of his ship being crushed, the dep6t will be invaluable. 

 In any case, it will serve him well in the course of 

 time, unless the Maud is carried east of Greenland. 



One result of the war has been that the tendency in 

 Germany is more and more in the direction of' co- 

 operation. From two recent translations which Sir 

 Robert Hadfield has had prepared, to whom we 

 are indebted for copies, we note that the techno- 

 logists of Germany are convinced that technical 

 interests can only be furthered by combination. The 

 union of technical men was formed so long ago as last 

 December, with the support of most of the German 

 technical societies, for the purpose of securing for 

 the technologist that recognition of his importance 

 which has apparently been denied him hitherto. The 

 new body seems to have been primarily inspired as 

 an offset to the pernicious and undermining influence 

 of certain groups who are trying to gain the ascend- 

 ency in Germany. In the propaganda publication the 

 Union states that a technical expert succeeded in 

 saving some 20,000 tons of coal a month in an ex- 

 plosives factory without diminution of output. Another 

 body to be formed is the German Empire Industrial 

 League, which is a combination of existing groups, 

 and will embrace an organisation styling itself the 

 Joint Executive of Employers and Employed. It^ is 

 hoped that all industrial interests will find expression 

 in this new body. 



We regret to learn that official information has been 

 received that the Cape Provincial Council, Cape Town, 

 has decided to exterminate the herd of elephants in 

 the Addo Bush Reserve. With the exception of a 

 small herd in the Knysna Forest, these are the last 

 survivors of the wild South African elephant. The 

 animals in the Addo Bush Reserve have become a 



