434 



NATURE 



[July 31, 1919 



The annual report of the Board of Scientific Advice 

 for India, just to hand, gives a very comprehensive 

 summary of the work carried out by the different 

 departments for the year 1917-18. The section 

 reports deal with applied chemistry, astronomy, 

 meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, geology, geodesy, 

 botany, agricultural bacteriology, forestry, zoology, 

 ■veterinary science, and medical research. 



The first number of Science and Industry , the official 

 organ of the Commonwealth Institute of Science and 

 Industry, is just to hand. The aim of the new journal 

 is to serve as an authoritative medium for the expres- 

 sion of Australian scientific thought and aspirations. 

 Contributions are welcomed at the same time from 

 all independent scientific workers. The object of the 

 new institute is the co-ordination of scientific research 

 in the Commonwealth. At present there is a paucity 

 of trained scientific workers and much overlapping. 

 The inaugural number contains articles and notes of 

 primary interest to Australian industries, e.g. the 

 prickly pear pest, the obligation of science to pastoral 

 industry, applications of veterinary research, the 

 artesian water problem, sheep-fly investigations, etc. 



The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for July 4 

 contains a paper on science and industry in Australia, 

 which was read by Sir John McCall, whose death on 

 June 27 is so deeply lamented. The paper sketches the 

 development of agriculture in the Commonwealth, and 

 sets forth the hopes for the future, especially in view 

 of what is being done to promote scientific research 

 and study. Australia contains vast mineral resources, 

 particularly coal and iron, and the manufacture of iron 

 and steel should be greatly facilitated by the excellent 

 metallurgical coke derived from the coal of New South 

 Wales and Queensland. Now that the steel industry 

 is established in the continent, it is expected that wire 

 and tinplate manufactures will be greatly stimulated. 

 In regard to more scientific manufactures also, pro- 

 gress has been made during the war, and, with 

 further development, they should be capable of pro- 

 duction at much lower prices than those at which they 

 can be obtained from Germany. 



Dr. R. E. Slade, director of research of the British 

 Photographic Research Association, has presented a 

 report upon work in progress or contemplated. A wide 

 programme of research has been drawn up and pre- 

 liminary experiments have been made on a large number 

 of subjedts. The history of photographic science and 

 industrial development shows that, since the publica- 

 tion in 189 1 of the researches of Hurter and Driffield, 

 practically no new methods of attacking the problems 

 of photography have been introduced. Many workers 

 have improved and worked out further details, ofi the 

 old-established methods, and very considerable ad- 

 vances have been made, but the time now seems ripe 

 for entirely new methods of photographic research. 

 The association is using all the means at its disposal 

 to initiate such new methods, and is making progress 

 in this direction. Some experiments have been made 

 on gelatin, which, though not suitable for publica- 

 tion, will iDe of great use in future work. Progress 

 has been made in investigations of photographic 

 emulsions, and a communication on this subject will 

 be circulated shortly. Success has been attained in 

 staining wood black or grey right through. This 

 black wood, which was made in Germany before 

 the war, is used by manufacturers of cameras and 

 optical instruments, and the gre}' wood for picture- 

 frames and furniture. The process, for which an 

 application for a patent has been filed, should be 

 suitable for use on a large scale, and also be 

 • economical. Results of research, whether theoretical 



NO. 2596, VOL. 103] 



or experimental, which are of general interest, and 

 not of immediate use for application to specific 

 problems of the industry, are published at the first 

 opportunity to increase knowledge in photographic 

 science generally, and to induce other workers to 

 devote their attention to theoretical photographic 

 problems. The offices of the association are at 

 Sicilian House, Southampton Row, London, W.C.i, 

 and the secretary is Mr. A. C. Brookes. 



A NEW volume by Mr. E. H. Chapman will shortly 

 be added to the Cambridge Nature Study Series, pub- 

 lished by the Cambridge University Press. The title 

 is "The Study of the Weather," and the aim of the 

 book is to provide not only a series of practical exer- 

 cises on weather study, but also a simple introduction 

 to the study of modern meteorology. 



Mr. Charles Baker's current list of second-hand 

 scientific instruments is now available for distribu- 

 tion. The catalogue gives particulars of more than 

 1500 pieces of apparatus which can be examined at 

 244 High Holborn, London, W.C.i. Mr. Baker 

 holds a large stock of materials for colour photo- 

 graphy, and can undertake the immediate delivery of 

 standard material. Every instrument included in the 

 list is guaranteed, and customers can, in certain cir- 

 cumstances, have pieces of apparatus for three days 

 on approval before actually purchasing. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



A World Survey. — ^The Pari* Bureau des Longi- 

 tudes is proposing to make use of wireless telegraphy 

 to determine the geodetic position of certain points on 

 the earth's surface which shall be considered funda- 

 mental, and may be used as reference points for future 

 geodesy. Triangulations have been made and arcs of 

 longitude measured in different regions of the world 

 which have been co-ordinated, but it is possible that 

 the attachment of these may be improved. The closing 

 error in the longitude of the sphere, or the amount 

 by which the sum of the arcs circumscribing the earth 

 differs from 24 hours, is about a fifth of a second 

 of time. The details of the plan at present suggested 

 are that Paris, Shanghai, and a third point in the 

 neighbourhood of San Francisco shall be taken as 

 primary points. The latitude of each is to be deter- 

 mined, possibly with the prism astrolabe, and the 

 difference of longitude between each consecutive pair 

 measured. It is suggested that the clocks at Paris 

 and Shanghai may be compared by means of signals 

 from the radio-telegraphic station at Lyons, those at 

 Shanghai and San Francisco by signals from Hono- 

 lulu, whilst signals from Annapolis would serve for 

 the comparison of the clocks at San Francisco and 

 Paris. This is the main feature of the scheme, to 

 which subsidiary details will be added. It is proposed, 

 for instance, that the position of a point in New 

 Zealand, the antipodes of France, shall be determined, 

 and naturally it is hoped that Greenwich will take 

 part in the operations and form one of the points of 

 reference. 



Solar Physics at Cambridge. — The sixth annual 

 report . of Prof. Newall, the director of the Solar 

 Physics Observatory at Cambridge, which relates to 

 the year ending March 31 last, shows that the staff 

 is returning after war service, and that one member 

 only is absent, Capt. W. E. Rolston, who is with 

 the Army in Cologne. The staple work of the in- 

 stitution is divided under three heads : — (A) Stellar 

 work, which at present consists mainly of the classi- 

 fication of stellar spectra, and the arrangement of 

 these in sequence in relation to the intensities of 

 characteristic lines. (B) Solar work, the observational 



