NA TURE 



489 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1895. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



Wf.dxesday. 



THE British Association meeting at Ipswich has now 

 practically come to an end. The stream of 

 strangers which set towards the town a week ago shows 

 signs of retiring, and, in the course of a day or two, the 

 ancient and interesting county town of Suffolk will have 

 returned to its normal condition. The meeting has been 

 ,'i very pleasant one for all, and the delightful weather of 

 ihe past week has naturally attracted a large attendance 

 at each of the many enjoyable excursions to places of 

 interest in the surrounding country. The .\ssociation has 

 often met in places far richer in educational and scientific 

 institutions than Ipswich, but it has rarely met in a 

 centre within easy reach of picturesque scenery offering 

 more facilities for geological observation, or possessing a 

 greater abundance of objects of interest to students of 

 antiquities. This, combined with the fact that papers of 

 extreme value have been communicated to each of the 

 Sections, will make the meeting memorable to all who 

 have attended it. As we shall follow our usual custom of 

 giving reports of the work done in the .Sections, it is 

 unnecessary here to do more than refer to one or two of 

 the papers and discussions which have excited general 

 interest. 



The subject of scientific research was brought up in 

 Section .A by Sir Douglas Galton's description of the 

 Reichanstalt, Charlottenburg. After giving a full account 

 of the construction, endowment, and management of that 

 institution, which has for its object "the development of 

 pure scientific research and the promotion of new applica- 

 tions of science for industrial purposes," it was pointed 

 out that, in this countr)', there is no Government depart- 

 ment which approximates to it. Recognising our de- 

 ficiency in this respect, the suggestion was made that a 

 committee of inquiry take the matter up, with the idea of 

 formulating some definite proposal for the establishment 

 of a central institution where standardising and research 

 could be carried on without interruption. If the ideas 

 with reference to such an institution should take tangible 

 shape, as we sincerely hope they will, the Ipswich meeting 

 will be remarkable in the annals of the Association as one 

 from which a new departure in national enterprise began. 

 The joint meeting of Sections A and B, on Friday, was 

 marked by two important communications on argon and 

 helium. By methods which command the admiration of 

 every one who can appreciate scientific inquiry. Lord 

 Rayleigh showed how he had measured the refraction and 

 viscosity of the two new gases. The refractive index of 

 argon turns out to be 0-961, while that of helium appears 

 to be as low as o'i46 ; both being compared with dry air. 

 With the viscosity of drjairas the standard of comparison, 

 those of argon and helium were respectively i'2l and 

 o'96. Another interesting matter referred to by Lord 

 Rayleigh in the course of his communication was the 

 nature of the gas from the mineral spring at Bath. Some 

 months ago, before the discovery of terrestrial helium, 

 Lord Rayleigh and Prof Ramsay examined samples 

 of that gas for argon, but without finding the new 

 element. The results were such, howe\cr, that an 



NO. 



I351, VOL. 52] 



examination of the gas for helium was lately undertaken, 

 and Lord Rayleigh was able to say that he had pro\ed 

 spectroscopically that helium really exists in the Bath 

 gas. The question as to the nature of helium itself was 

 elucidated by Prof. Runge in his contribution to the dis- 

 cussion of " the evidence to be gathered as to the simple 

 or compound character of a gas from the constitution of 

 its spectrum." It may be remembered that a short time 

 ago. Prof. Runge contributed to these columns an article 

 on the analysis of spectra by investigation of the periodic 

 distribution of wave-lengths. He took the spectrum of 

 lithium as a typical e.\ample of a spectrum which could 

 be resolved into two spectra, the lines in each of which 

 were connected by a simple formula. Taking his own 

 observations of the spectrum of helium, Prof Runge 

 showed that helium is not an element but consists of two, 

 and not more than two, elements. The conclusion is 

 arrived at because the helium spectrum can be resolved 

 into two sets of lines each apparently distinct from the 

 other. 



Of all the Sections, those of Geography and Anthro- 

 pology have attracted the largest attendance, owing 

 doubtless to the fact that the subjects dealt with could be 

 easily followed, and are of general interest. But, besides 

 the more or less popular papers of a resurrectionary 

 character, a large number of distinctly new subjects have 

 been brought up and discussed. The difficulty has been 

 to find time for the long lists published in each da/s 

 Journal, and this difficulty is increased by the apparent 

 inability of some of the readers of papers to express 

 their conclusions in concise language. On account of 

 the lack of this quality, the time for discussions has in 

 several cases been very- limited, and thus the first aim of 

 a meeting of scientific men has been defeated. 



At a meeting of the General Council, the question of 

 .Antarctic exploration was brought forward by the Royal 

 Geographical Society, with a view to co-operation, and to 

 the undertaking being unanimously advocated by the 

 scientific societies of Great Britain and Ireland. The 

 Council expressed their sympathy with, and approval of, 

 the effort which was being made to organise an expedition 

 for the exploration of the .-Vntarctic Sea, but did not con- 

 sider that any further action could usefully be taken by 

 them at present. 



As to the official affairs of the Association, Prof. 

 Schafer has been elected General Secretar\' in the place 

 of Sir Douglas Galton, the present President. Sir W. H. 

 Flower has been elected to represent the Association at 

 the International Congress of Zoology at Leyden. 



The retiring members of the Council were Prof Lan- 

 kester. Prof Liveing, Mr. Preece, Prof. Reinold, and 

 Prof J. J. Thomson ; and the new members elected to 

 serve on the Council were Prof \'ernon Harcourt, Prof. 

 Poulton, Prof. \V. N. Shaw, Mr. Thiselton-Dyer, and 

 Prof J. M. Thomson. 



The General Committee resolved on Monday that Sir 

 Joseph Lister be appointed President-elect for the meet- 

 ing at Liverpool next year. Prof Ilcrdman, Mr. J. C. 

 Thompson, and Mr. W. E. Willink were appointed local 

 secretaries for that meeting, and .Mr. R. Bushell local 

 treasurer. The Vice-Presidents-elect nominated for the 

 meeting were the Lord Mayor of Liverpool (1896), the 

 Earl of Sefton, the Lord- Lieutenant of the County of 

 Lancaster, the Earl of Derby, Sir W. B. Forwood, Sir 

 H. E. Roscoe, Mr. W. Rathbone, and Mr. W. Crookes. 

 .'\n invitation to hold the meeting in 1897 in Toronto, 

 supported by cordial letters from British Columbia, from 

 the University of Toronto, and Colleges of Manitoba, was 

 accepted. 



The following is a synopsis of the grants of money 

 appropriated to scientific purposes by the General Com- 

 mittee this morning. The names of the members entitled 

 to call on the General Treasurer for the respective grants 

 are prefixed : — 



