48 



NATURE 



[March 9, 191(3 



A 



warded to the Advisory Council reports on formulas 

 for : — Blue enamel for sealing metallic wire into glass ; 

 lead glass suitable for electric light bulbs; lead glass 

 similar to above, but avoiding potassium carbonate; 

 opal glass designed to join perfectly with glass made 

 to the committee's formulas Nos. i and lo; high-tem- 

 perature thermometer glass ; a leadless opal glass which 

 unites with No. 19 and can be worked with it as an 

 enamel backing for thermometers, etc. ; thermometer 

 glass for ordinary temperatures. 



The fact that these formulas are available has been 

 reported to British glass-makers, from whom a large 

 number of applications have been received and are 

 now under the consideration of the authorities. 



With regard to research on optical glass, the Advi- 

 sory Council has asked that the Glass Research Com- 

 mittee shall keep in touch with the National Physical 

 Laboratory, to which a grant has also been allotted. 

 The primary object of the work of the laboratory will 

 be " the study of the process and condition of melting 

 and producing glass of good optical quality with special 

 reference to refractories and electric furnace methods, 

 with a view to putting the whole process of manu- 

 facture on a practical scientific basis." 



The line of investigation undertaken by the Glass 

 Research Committee of the institute is " the study of 

 certain specific optical e^lasses urgently required for 

 industrial purposes, with a view to their early pro- 

 duction by manufacturers. " 



REPORTS OF CARNEGIE FOUNDATIONS. 



COPY of the year-book for 1915 of the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington has reached us. As 

 usual, the bulky volume, which this year runs to 

 429 pages, contains not only detailed particulars of the 

 large amount of scientific research carried out under 

 the auspices of the institution, but full information of 

 the income and expenditure of the corporation, f he 

 total financial receipts for the year 1915 amounted to 

 243,000^., bringing up the grand total received since 

 the inauguration of the institution in 1902 to 2,331,300!. 

 The expenditure during 1915 may be summarised as 

 follows : — Investments in bonds, 41,240/. ; large pro- 

 jects, 154,100/.; minor and special projects, research 

 associates and assistants, 21,914/. ; publications, 9340/. ; 

 and administration, 9645/. The following list shows 

 the departments of investigation to which the larger 

 grants were made and the amounts allotted during 

 the year :— 



Department of Botanical Research ... 8,123 



Department of Economics and Sociology 600 



Department of Experimental Evolution ... 9,7^4 



Geophysical Laboratory I7»833 



Department of Historical Research ... 6,280 



Department of Marine Biology 3-830 



Department of Meridian Astronomy ... 5-276 



Nutrition Laboratory 9»oi3 



Division of Publications 2,000 



Solar Observatory 44,026 



Department of Terrestrial Magnetism ... 28,262 



Department of Embryology 6,436 



Total ;^i4i,463 



A table showing the p^rowth and extent of the insti- 

 tution's publications shows that, since 1902, two 

 hundred and ninety-nine volumes, embracing a total 

 of more than 79,000 pages of printed matter, have been 

 issued. 



The executive committee of the Carnegrie Trust for 

 the Universities of Scotland has submitted to the 

 trustees its report on the administration of the trust 

 for the year 1014-15. 



NO. 2419, VOL. 97] 



Under the third quinquennial scheme of distribution, 

 which came into operation on October i, 1913, a sum 

 of 203,250/., or 40,650/. per annum, was allocated 

 among the Scottish universities and colleges. Of this 

 sum 21,250/. was applicable towards providing books, 

 etc., for libraries; 100,750/. towards the cost of new 

 buildings and of permanent equipment; while 21,250/. 

 was assigned towards endowments for lectureships 

 and other general purposes. 



The operations of the trust under the research 

 scheme were atlected considerably by the \*ar, though 

 the expenditure for the year under the scheme reached 

 6957/. During the year six fellows and nine scholars 

 were engaged on military duty, and in these cases the 

 fellowship or scholarship has been kept open in case 

 the recipient should be able subsequently to resume 

 research work. Notwithstanding adverse conditions, 

 the experts have been able to report favourably upon 

 the work accomplished during the year. 



For the academic year 1915-16, seventeen fellow- 

 ships and thirty-three scholarships were awarded, and 

 fifty-three grants Nvere made. Four of these fellow- 

 ships and nine of the scholarships were awarded to 

 graduates who are at present engaged on military duty, 

 and they, too, are being held over in the hope that 

 the holders may be able to take up their research work 

 again at a later date. 



In the laboratory of the Royal College of Physicians 

 the effect of the war has also been felt, and the 

 ordinary activities have to a large extent given place 

 to special work adapted to the circumstances of the 

 time. 



During 1914-15 the expenditure of the trust on 

 assistance in payment of class fees has been further 

 diminished by the war, which has depleted the Scottish 

 universities of so many of their students. As com- 

 pared with a sum of 41,789/., which was paid on 

 behalf of 3901 individual beneficiaries for 1913-14, the 

 expenditure for the year under review was 33,847/. 

 on behalf of 3246 individual students. During the 

 year a sum of 704/. was voluntarily refunded by or on 

 behalf of eighteen beneficiaries for whom class fees 

 had been paid by the trust. This is the largest sum 

 vet received in this way in any one year. 



The report is provided with 'four appendices dealing 

 respectively with : the grants to universities and col- 

 leges, the post-graduate study and research work done 

 by the fellows and scholar.Sj the amount of the assist- 

 ance rendered to students, and an abstract of the 

 financial account for the year. The list of publica- 

 tions by fellows, scholars, and grantees received by 

 the committee during the year runs to about six pages, 

 and an examination of it shows that very many 

 branches of science have derived benefit from the 

 trust, which is being admirably administered. 



THE SUPPORT OF THE HIMALAYA. 



THE major prominences of the earth's surface are 

 in some way compensated by a defect of density 

 underlying them, with the result that they do not exert 

 the attractive force, either in a vertical or in a horizontal 

 direction, which should result from their mass. A 

 study of the distribution of this compensation shows 

 that there is a general balance between it and the 

 topographv, such that the weip^ht of any vertical 

 column through the crust of the earth is, on thf 

 average, constant, whatever may be the elevation o\ 

 the surface. To this condition the term isostasy has 

 been applied, which does not merelv denote a static 

 condition, but implies a power of adjustment of the 

 compensation to the variation in load produced by 

 surface-denudation and transport. 



1 Ah- tract o' a lectu-e d-lKce'l b''o-e the Geological Sock ty of Lor.dor 

 on February 2 by Mr. R. D. 01dh.-im, F.R.S. 



