88 



NATURE 



[March 23, 19 16 



in the hole numbered 2 of his disc, and rotating it to the 

 stop at zero, two short currents are sent out, which 

 move the arm of the selector to the second group of a 

 thousand subscribers. A repetition of the rotation 

 with the finger in the hole 5 moves the arm of a 

 second selector on to the fifth hundred, and so on 

 until the actual subscriber wanted is reached. When 

 the receiver is hung up the sender's connection with 

 the selectors is broken. The arrangements of the cir- 

 cuits of the selectors are shown by figures, and the 

 author, M. E. Goustet, considers an automatic system 

 of this kind the only solution of the present difficulty 

 of apportioning the blame for delays between the sub- 

 scriber and the personelle of the exchange. 



In the Scientific American of February 12 there is 

 an account of an invention by Mr. J. B. Flowers of a 

 new phonetic machine. The complete apparatus is 

 still at an experimental stage, but much has been 

 accomplished. Mr. Flowers has investigated the 

 physical nature of whispered sounds lasting 

 for short periods, say, the i/5oth of a second; and 

 as a recorder he makes use of Einthoven's string 

 galvanometer, acted on by an acoustical transmitter. 

 The oscillations of the galvanometer were all photo- 

 graphically recorded on a revolving drum, and it is found 

 that there is a definite form for each whispered sound. 

 Thus there is'al ways the same picture, say, for the sound 

 B, and the number of times this picture is repeated in, 

 say, I /50th of a sec. — /regwency— determines pitch, while 

 amplitude of the components of the picture determines 

 intensity. Thousands of experiments have been made, 

 and thus Mr. Flowers has constructed a new phonetic 

 alphabet, each letter of which has always the same 

 form or curve. The next step was the invention of 

 another instrument which would record the speech 

 patterns, not as sounds, but as variations in intensity. 

 This is accomplished with the aid of sensitive elec- 

 trical resonators, varying in pitch ; these act on a 

 beam of light which vibrates on a selenium cell, and 

 the sound patterns are reproduced by varying resist- 

 ances acting on an electrically-driven pencil and drum. 

 Sf>eech sounds ma}' also be directly recorded in this 

 way, without the use of the string galvanometer. It 

 is this part of the apparatus that appears to be incom- 

 plete, but it is said that the record so obtained "is 

 fully as easy to decipher as that of a siphon recorder 

 used in cable telegraphy." 



Prof. O. D. Chwolson, in a paper, " Sur les poids 

 atomiques," in the Bulletin de V Acadimie Itnpdriale 

 des Sciences (Petrograd), discusses the numerical 

 values of the atomic weights from the point of view 

 of the part played by the number 4, that of the helium 

 atom, which radio-active change has shown to be 

 an integral part of the atoms of the radio-active 

 elements. He shows that the number of elements 

 approaching the value /^n is one and a half times 

 greater than those approaching the value 4n + 2, where 

 n is an integer, and that whereas the first class tend 

 to approach the whole number, the second class tend 

 to avoid it. Considering the departure of the atomic 

 weights from whole numbers of the form ^n he dis- 

 covers a preference for the values comprised within 

 o and ±05, and between ±1 and +1-5, which may be 

 attributable to the presence of arl atom of hydrogen. 



In connection with the University of Calcutta, " ex- 

 tension lectures " are being delivered, and that on 

 January 10, by Dr. P. C. Ray, the dean of the faculty 

 of science of the University, is before us. The lecture 

 consists of a brief r^sumi of original chemical re- 

 searches carried out in Bengal in the last twenty 

 j'ears, and as an appendix a list of 126 papers contri- 

 buted to various societies, such as the Chemical 



NO. 2421, VOL. 97] 



Society, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 

 and, others, is given. Some of these papers are of 

 very considerable value and interest, and indicate en-. 

 1 thusiastic work on the part of this newly created^ 

 \ school, which is mainly due to the example and work 

 j of Prof. Ray himself. Prof. Ray's first published work 

 was the " History of Hindu Chemistry," written about 

 thirteen years ago, in which he showed there was con-, 

 siderable scientific spirit and also more or less empirical, 

 work amongst the ancient Hindus, as indicated in> 

 their religious writings, "Tantras," etc., written in 

 ancient Sanskrit. It is, of course, only a man like 

 Prof. Ray, well acquainted with Sanskrit and with ai 

 thorough knowledge of modern chemistry, who could/ 

 have written such a work. In this book Prof. Ray 

 deplored the decline of scientific spirit in India, and 

 " lamented that the spirit of inquiry had died out 

 amongst a nation naturally prone to speculation and 

 metaphysical studies." He now writes: — "Little did 

 I dream that in the course of a decade or so I should 

 have to revise the estimate I then formed of the 

 capacities of my own countrymen and chronicle that a 

 bright chapter is about to dawn in our life-history." 

 It certainly appears from the present activity of 

 original chemical research in Bengal that a new spirit 

 is abroad, and it is to be hoped that this will quickly 

 spread over the remainder of India, and that the same 

 spirit of research will embrace all the other sciences. 



The Amateur Photographer and Photographic News 

 have just issued their seventh annual " Empire Num- 

 ber," an enlarged number that appeals espetially to 

 the Colonies and Overseas Dominions and those in this 

 country who seek a more intimate relationship with 

 them. It is well illustrated, and includes contribu- 

 tions, both pictorial and literary, from Africa, Aus- 

 tralia, India, and other parts of the British Empire. 



A NEW and revised edition of Yarrell, Newton, and 

 Saunders's " Historj' of British Birds," edited by 

 W. Eagle Clarke, is in course of preparation for pub- 

 lication by Messrs. Gurney and Jackson. The late 

 Mr. Howard Saunders placed all his collected notes 

 for a new edition of the work at Mr. Eagle Clarke's 

 disposal. A feature of the new edition will be a 

 coloured plate of each species, the work of Miss L. 

 Medland. 



The following volumes are in preparation for 

 Messrs. Longmans and Co. 's "Text-books of Physical 

 Chemistry" — Electro-Chemistry, partii.. Dr. E. B. R. 



j Prideaux ; Practical Spectrographic Analysis, Dr. 



I J. H. Pollok; Crystallography, T. V. Barker. For 

 appearance in ihe same firm's "Monographs on In- 

 organic and Physical Chemistry" the following are in 

 preparation : — Electrolytic Dissociation Theory, Dr. 

 J. C. Philip; The Physical Chemistry of Flames, 

 J. E. Coates ; Clays, Dr. J. W. Mellor ; Catalysis of 

 Gas Reactions, D. L. Chapman ; The Electro- 

 Chemistry of Non-Aqueous Solutions, J. W. McBain ; 

 Catalysis in Liquid Systems, Dr. G. Senter; The 

 Rare Earth Metals, Dr. J. F. Spencer; Hydrates in 

 Solution, Prof. E. A. Washburn; Adsorption, V. 

 Lefebure and A. M. Williams. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Opposition of the Minor Planet (4) Vesta. — G. 

 Stracke has calculated an ephemeris for this planetoid 

 for the period including the coming opposition on April 

 15 (Circular No. 502, Astronomische Nachrichten). 

 Vesta is the only one of the very numerous swarm ^ 

 of lesser planets that at times becomes visible to the 

 unaided eye, and although this opposition is not the 

 most favourable possible, yet it occurs towards peri- 



