414 



NA TURE 



[August 23, 1894 



the vegeto-alkaloids, upon which he laboured for many years 

 — sometimes alone, and sometimes in conjunction with 

 Matthiessen and others. These researches deserve to be 

 classical if any researches do, and they occupy an entire depart- 

 ment of organic chemistry." Another subject to which Dr. 

 Wright devoted great attention was the determination of 

 chemical affinity in terms of electromotive force. The 

 versatility of his genius is shown by the different subjects of 

 his numerous papers. Isomeric terpenes, the smelting of iron 

 in blastfurnaces, some points in chemical dynamics, and certain 

 voltaic combinations, are a few of the subjects taken up by him. 

 In 1SS9 he commenced a series of valuable communications to 

 the Royal Society, on " Ternary Alloys," and the seventh part 

 of the series was read before the Society at the beginning of 

 last year. Thorough and conscientious in everything he under- 

 took. Dr. Wright will always be regarded with esteem 

 throughout the world of science. 



The Paris Societc d'Encouragement pour I'lnduslrie 

 Nationale is constantly giving evidence of its usefulness. The 

 latest proof of this is to be found in the publication of a circular 

 on the " Unification des Filetages el des Jauges de Trcfilerie." 

 The Society has had the question of a standard screw-pitch and 

 wire-gauge in hand since the end of 1891. It was, however, 

 only three months ago that a meeting was held for the purpose 

 of discussing the various systems suggested, and at that meeting 

 the scales expounded in the pamphlet before us were accepted. 

 To secure uniformity in the manufacture of screw-threads, the 

 Society proposes a system, to be known as the " Systcme 

 Frani;ais," in which the pitch increases in steps of half a milli- 

 metre, from a screw having a diameter of six millimetres and a 

 pitch of one millimetre (No. o) to one having a diameter of 148 

 millimetres and a pitch of lo"5 millimetres (No. 19). The for- 

 mula which, in this system, allows the diameter (D) correspond- 

 ing to any pilch to be deduced is D = />(/■ + 8) - I "5 -^ i "3, 

 where / is any pilch expressed on the adopted scale. By means 

 of this, it is possible to extend the new system to screws of any 

 diameter, and the number of the screw of which the diameter 

 had been thus determined would be equal to the number of half- 

 millimetres expressing the pitch, minus two. For screws less 

 than six millimetres in diameter the standard drawn up by M. 

 Thury for the Socicti- des .^rts of Geneva is adopted. In ad- 

 dition to promulgating these standards of screw construction, the 

 Sociclc d'Encouragement has developed a decimal system of 

 gauging wires. In this system, the numt)ers of the wires express 

 their diameters in tenths of millimetres ; thus, a No. 7 wire has 

 a diameter of o^^ mm. Such a method of designating wires is 

 as simple as it is scientific. In France and other countries using 

 metric sLindards, the introduction of the new system will be 

 comparatively easy ; but we regret to say that in this land of 

 complicated weights and measures, there is little hope of its 

 adoption. 



The general tilting of the German and Austrian .Vlpenvcrein 

 was held this year in Munich from August 8 to 11. At the 

 end of the Congress several tours were conducted into the 

 Bavarian and Austrian highlands. The Congress was attended 

 by more than 6000 members, by delegates representing -Mpinc 

 clubs in other countries, by Bavarian Slate delegates, and 

 others. Business matters were smoothly arranged, the Central 

 Committee showing an annual income of /9850, and in 

 addition /^Sooo in hand. There are now 214 local s:ctions of 

 the Alpenverein, each of which pays a certain portion of the 

 fees of memlwrship to the Central Committee and retains the 

 rest for independent income and outlay. Out of an unostenta- 

 tious tjeginning, twenty-five years ago, has grown a club with a 

 mem)>erihip of over jl,ooo, and a many-sided activity and 



NO. I 295, VOL. 50] 



vigour of life promising a still greater future. The object of 

 the Verein is to improve travelling in the Alps, and to increase 

 our knowledge of them. Again, the management of the guides is 

 entirely conducted by the Verein ; the guides being occasionally 

 placed for a short course of training in some central town. The 

 Munich section is the largest of the Alpenverein sections, and 

 was therefore well able to entertain the members generously. The 

 h.alls in which the great festival of the Congress was held on 

 Thursday, the 9th inst., were decorated on a magnificent scale. 

 An exhibition of maps and models was held in the Academy 

 of Sciences. The relief of the Jungfrau Group, by Simon, 

 modelled to a scale of i:io,ooo, attracted great attention. The 

 surest proof of the success of the Alpenverein in its efforts for 

 Alpine travelling is its popularity among the mountain inhabit- 

 ants. They honour it for the good it has done their wild 

 country and for the intercourse it has opened up. Meanwhile 

 ihe Alpenverein plays its part worthily in the wider arena ol 

 science as journalist, cartographer, meteorologist, geologist, 

 botanist, and all in no small measure. 



Dr. p. Miqdel contributes to the Diatomiste an important 

 paper on the re-establishment of the size of diatoms. This 

 takes place, according to this observer, mainly by the activity ol 

 the nucleus. The protoplasm within a micro-frustule clothes 

 itself with a thick extensible membrane, frees itself from the 

 valves which imprison it, attains the normal size,and then secretes 

 a siliceous envelope. No process analogous to conjugation 

 could be detected by Dr. Miquel in a vast number of obser- 

 vations on many different species. Me proposes the abolition 

 of the terms auxosporeandsporangial frustule, as not expressing 

 accurately any process which actually takes place in the multi- 

 plication of diatoms. 



The Department of Science and Art has issued the following 

 list of successful candidates for National Scholarships, Royal 

 Exhibitions, and Free Studentships, awarded upon the results 

 of the May Examinations this year. National Scholarships for 

 Mechanics — .Vrthur H. Harker, 23, fitter, Pontefr.ict ; Eilward 

 R. Amor, 18, engineer apprentice, Devonport ; John T. 

 Rieley, 25, science teacher, Birmingham ; Charles B. Brodigan, 



24, draughtsman, London. National .Scholarships for Chemistry 

 and Physics— Charies .\. West, 24, teacher, Tottenham, 

 Middlesex; Willi.am H.White, 15, student, Ipswich; Harry 

 Dean, 17, student, M.anchesler ; William C. Reynolds, 24, 

 pharmacist, London ; John Lister, 18, student, Stockport. 

 National Scholarships for Biological subjects — Ernest Smith, 



25, assistant teacher, Huddersfield ; Frank H. Prober!, 17, 

 student, London. National Scholarships— George >L Uussell, 

 22, shipwright apprentice, Portsmouth ; Samuel SlansficM, 21, 

 engineering student, Todmorden ; Gilbert T. Morgan, 23, 

 chcmi-t, Huddersfield ; William G. H.ill, iS, student, Notting- 

 ham ; Arthur S. Cox, 17, student, Southampton ; Frederick T. 

 Munton, 25, joiner, Derby ; George Wilson, 22, mechanic*! 

 engineer, Sheffield ; George E. Ashforth, 16, student, MtB- 

 Chester ; George L. Overton, 19, watchmaker, Bradford, Vorks; 

 Norton iiaron, 21, engineering student, Ulceby, Lines.; I'.mcst 

 E. L.Dixon, 18, student, London. Royal Exhil)ilions— Frank 

 Fisher, 19, engineer, Brighton; Clare ice Smith, 18, student, 

 Brighton ; William H. Eccles, 18, apprentice druggist, Barrow- 

 in-Furness ; Frank G. Edmed, 17, student, Brighton; Henry 

 T. Ilildage, 19, filter, Altrincham ; Robert H. Watson, 24, 

 student, Dublin ; Harold Hibberl, 16, student, Manchester. 

 Free Studentships— John W. Button, 23, tool fitter, Oldham ; 

 George II. Stanley, 17, student, London ; Waller Eraut, 19, 

 mechanical engineer's apprentice, London ; I. William Chubb, 

 23, draughtsman, London ; Robert H. H. Duncan, 15, studcnl, 

 Sunderland ; George George, 18, student, Bristol. Percy 



