78 



NATURE 



[March 17, 1910 



From Dr. Fielding H. Garrison we have received re- 

 prints of articles on " Josiah VVillard Gibbs and his Rela- 

 tion to Modern Science " and " Physiology and the Second 

 Law of Thermodynamics," which have appeared in the 

 Popular Science Monthly, May-August, 1909, and the New 

 York Medical Journal for September 25, 1909. The author 

 is assistant librarian to the Army Medical Library at 

 Washington. His writings, notably the one on Willard 

 Gibbs, afford a lucid exposition of the principles of thermo- 

 dynamics based on an intimate study of the large mass of 

 literature which has centred round this important branch 

 of physics. Most conspicuous, too, is Dr. Garrison's clear 

 appreciation of the debt which experimental science owes 

 to the late Prof. Gibbs for original work essentially mathe- 

 matical in character. What mathematics can and must do 

 for science, and, on the other hand, what it should never 

 trry to do, are points often ill understood, even by workers 

 on physical science that have been trained on orthodox 

 academic lines, and few people have presented the case so 

 effectively as has been done by the army doctor who has 

 written these papers. 



A SERIES of experiments have been made recently at the 

 Bureau of Standards at Washington to determine the 

 proper source of light to combine with the mercury arc to 

 produce the best imitation of average daylight, and the 

 results are embodied in a paper by Mr. H. E. Ives in the 

 November (1909) number of the Bulletin. It appears that 

 of the ordinary lights, the Welsbach mantle, the carbon, 

 the tungsten, and the tantalum filament glow lamps are 

 all nearly complementary in colour to the mercury lamp, 

 and have, therefore, only to be combined with the latter 

 in suitable proportions to produce satisfactory imitations 

 of daylight. The best proportions are 1 candle-power of 

 mercury light to 057 candle-power of Welsbach light, 

 054 of tungsten, or 0-50 of carbon glow light. The watts 

 per candle-power required are 080 for the tungsten and 

 1-4 for the carbon filament combinations respectively. 

 Although the Welsbach cannot be compared in this way, 

 the author finds from the cost of running that the Welsbach 

 mercury combination compares closely with the tungsten 

 mercury one in efficiency. 



The Journal de Physique for February contains a com- 

 munication, made to the Socidt^ fran^aise de Physique by 

 M. Charles Lallemand, on tides in the earth's crust (see 

 Nature, October 14, p. 457). After a description of the 

 double horizontal pendulum of Hecker, the author explains 

 how the diurnal tilting of the crust, due to the heating of 

 the tropics, may be separated from the smaller semi- 

 diurnal tilt due to the solar tide, and gives diagrams show- 

 ing the extent of each as determined at Potsdam. The 

 first has a semi-amplitude of the order 10-20 thousandths 

 of a second of arc, the second 2-6 thousandths. Further 

 investigation allows the lunar tide to be determined, and 

 this is found to have a semi-amplitude of the order 10 

 thousandths. It is hoped by the help of still more sensitive 

 apparatus to detect the half-monthly tide, which should 

 have a semi-amplitude about half that of the semi-diurnal 

 solar tide. 



The Bausch and Lomb Optical Co., 19 Thavies Inn, 

 E.C., has afforded an opportunity to a representative of 

 Nature to examine the Balopticon lanterns which it has 

 just produced and see a demonstration of their functions. 

 The lanterns are designed for transparent or opaque pro- 

 jection, and they combine neatness with efficiency. The 

 arc-lamps are of special design and of small dimensions, 

 and the bodies of the lanterns are designed to suit the 

 lamps, so that the lanterns, as a whole, are delightfully 

 compact. The lamp-case is lined with asbestos, and the 

 NO. 2107, VOL. 83] 



top has the form of a light-tight ventilator, securing a 

 minimum heating effect during operation. The ventilating 

 arrangement is really very satisfactory, and the whole 

 mechanical construction is commendable. The lantern 

 suffers, however, from the merits of its qualities, inasmuch 

 as an ordinary arc -lamp cannot be used with it. Notwith- 

 standing this, the Balopticon, which is made in various 

 models, provides, at a reasonable price, a projection 

 apparatus which is well designed and should be extensively 

 used. An instructive pamphlet referring to the Balopticon 

 lanterns is issued by the Bausch and Lomb Optical Co. 



The first volume in celebration of the jubilee of Prof. 

 Arrhenius was noticed in Nature of February 3. The 

 second volume (Zeitschrift fiir physikalische Chetnie, 

 Band 70) has now been issued. It contains forty-five 

 papers by chemists of every nationality. The attention of 

 both supporters and opponents of Arrhenius 's theory of 

 electrolytic dissociation may be directed to the article by 

 Mr. G. N. Lewis " On the Use and Abuse of the Ionic 

 Theory." 



Various articles of glassware for laboratory use, in- 

 cluding beakers, retorts, boiling, Erlenmeyer, and Kjeldahl 

 flasks, have been forwarded for inspection by Messrs. 

 John J. Griffin and Sons, Ltd., of Kingsway, London, 

 W.C. They are made from a new variety of laboratory 

 glass now being produced by the Rhenish Glass Works, 

 Cologne-Ehrenfeld. This glass is said to be equal to Jena 

 ware as regards resistance to the action of water and of 

 various chemical reagents, whilst having an appreciable 

 advantage in price. The apparatus submitted, though 

 perhaps a little heavier than usual, is well made, and 

 satisfactory in lustre and general appearance. Its re- 

 fractoriness towards the action of water, acids, and alkalies 

 could, of course, only be proved by trial, but in this 

 respect the behaviour of the glass is attested by certificates 

 quoted, including one from the Physikalisch-Technische 

 Reichsanstalt at Charlottenburg. After a preliminary 

 treatment of the articles for three days, water at 18° C. 

 acting during seven days extracted only 0002 milligram 

 of alkali (Na,0) from each 100 sq. cm. of surface exposed, 

 and in three hours at 80° only 0-009 milligram was re- 

 moved. The material is therefore classed as " water- 

 resisting " glass. Other tests adduced show the extent of 

 the action exerted by boiling solutions of sulphuric acid, 

 sodium carbonate, and sodium hydroxide upon the glass 

 during specified periods, and also the effects of sudden 

 change of temperature. The results go to show that the 

 new glass is a very satisfactory material for chemical 

 apparatus. 



In addition to the books referred to in " Forthcoming 

 Books of Science " (Nature, March 10), the following 

 works are announced : — " Tomatoes and How to Grow 

 Them," F. R. Castle; "Mushrooms and their Cultiva- 

 tion," T. W. Sanders; "Bees for Profit and Pleasure," 

 H. Geary; "Window and Indoor Gardening," T. W. 

 Sanders (Collingridge) ; "A Book about Sweet Peas," 

 W. P. Wright; "Garden Guide," W. P. Wright 

 (Headley); "Radio-chemistry," A. T. Cameron (Dent); 

 "The History of Chemistry," vol. ii.. Sir Edward 

 Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. : "Last Words on Evolution," 

 E. Haeckel ; "The Evolution of Man," E. Haeckel, 

 translated by J. McCabe, 2 vols., new edition ; " The 

 Story of Creation," E. Clodd, new edition (Watts); 

 " A Text-book of Nervous Diseases," Drs. W. A. Turner 

 and T. G. Stewart; "The Practice of Surgery," W. G. 

 Spencer and G. E. Gask ; " The Malarial Fevers, Haemo- 

 globinuric Fever, and the Blood Protozoa of Man," 

 Captain C. F. Craig (Churchill). 



