March 30, 19 16] 



NATURE 



105 



of style and of charm in French men of science, and 

 the meeting was made into a little festival. A bust 

 of Pasteur was installed in the place of honour, a 

 prize was decreed to M. Schloesing, that veteran of 

 the Academie des Sciences, who is now in his ninety- 

 second year, and a most admirable address was given 

 by M. Gaston Bonnier. It is true that English men 

 of science, likewise, are well able' to instal busts, 

 decree prizes, and give addresses. But France does 

 it better, for she is not afraid, as we are, of magni- 

 loquent oratory. And M. Bonnier not only gave his 

 audience an address, but also read them a poem, "A 

 la gloire de Pasteur " — a poem which won the Grand 

 Prix of the Academie Frangaise last year, the work 

 of M. Charles Richet, professor of medicine in Paris, 

 a man honoured by all physiologists in France, and o\'er 

 here. This noble poem is published, with M. Bon- 

 nier 's address, in the Revue Scientifique, March ii-iS. 

 The reference to Lister is delightful : — 



Honneur a toi, Lister, qui. .seul dans cette foule, 

 T'opposant au.x cJameurs des savants et des sots, 

 Pendant qu'un vain torrent de critiques s'edule, 

 En admirant I'a-teur, sus dompter nos fleau.v. 



But the whole poem deserves study. Truly, a pleasant 

 little festival of gratitude, goodwill, and reverence ; 

 and while these quiet men of science were celebrating 

 in Paris the glory of Pasteur, the batteries of Verdun 

 were thundering out the everlasting glory of France. 



The Times and other London daily papers recently 

 made reference to Dussaud's invention of the so-called 

 "cold light" which, it was suggested, was being used 

 for the searchlights mounted on Zeppelins. So far as 

 we have been able to ascertain, the device rests on the 

 plan of overrunning a metallic filament lamp at any- 

 thing from 50 to 150 per cent, higher voltage than the 

 normal. The candle-power of a filament lamp pro- 

 gresses approximately as the 3-6th power of the voltage, 

 and the efficiency of an overrun lamp is high. The 

 safety of the filament is secured by applying the cur- 

 rent only momentarily, and the flicker of the light is 

 avoided by employing a nest of lamps, which are 

 lighted in succession by the use of a motor-driven 

 rotary switch provided with the appropriate number of 

 contacts. The British patent specification speaks of 

 " low-voltage lamps " (less than 25 volts), which re- 

 striction may be conditioned by the length of time re- 

 quired to raise the filament to incandescence. The device 

 has been applied to kinematograph lanterns, the in- 

 terval between the excitation of two successive lamps 

 being arranged to correspond with the interval between 

 successive pictures. 



A\ article on recent Zeppelins appears in the Times 

 of March 25, under the name of Mr. George Prade. 

 It appears to be the most trustworthy statement yet 

 available, and is based on an examination of the 

 remains of LZ. 77, brought down by French artillery 

 near R^vigny. Super-Zeppelins are dismissed as pro- 

 ducts of the imagination, and the latest Zeppelin 

 proves to be a very natural outcome of the results of 

 prior experience. LZ. 77 appears to have weighed 

 32 to 33 tons, and to have carried li tons of bombs. Its 

 defensive armament consisted of six machine-guns, 

 used in pairs on the top and two cars, and nothing in 

 the nature of cannon was found on the airship. From 

 the dimensions, length 52:;ft. and diameter :;:: ft., it 

 appears unlikely that the' highest speed attainable with 

 the engines developing the full 000 to 1000 h.p. would 

 exceed 65 m.p.h., a speed much below tha't of recent 

 aeroplanes. It may be doubted whether the pointed 

 tail now adopted is intended to reduce resistance, and 

 the form is more probablv due to considerations relat- 

 ing to manoeuvring and control. The height of the 



NO. 2422, VOL. 97] 



airship at the beginning of its flight is said to be 

 6000 tt. ; the burning of fuel on the outward journey, 

 together with the discharge of bombs, would give 

 10,000 ft., the last 2000 of which would occur at a 

 great rate. Germany is estimated to have about 

 forty Zeppelins at the present time, and to be produc- 

 ing new ones at a rate of perhaps thirty-five per year. 

 Most of the existing airships are used for patrolling 

 and scouting over the North Sea, this being their 

 legitimate ofifensive function. 



.\ MEETING was recently held in Manchester, under 

 the presidency of the Lord Mayor, of engineers and 

 others called together by the Council for the Organisa- 

 tion of British Engineering Industry, to hear an ad- 

 dress by Mr. T. C, Elder, of the British Electrical and 

 Allied Manufacturers' Association. It was pointed out 

 that whilst we are now engaged in a deadly militan.' 

 struggle with Germany, we are also engaged in a 

 scarcely less vital economic strife which is going on 

 now, and will increase in intensity after the struggle of 

 arms has ceased. The measures of defence mainly 

 suggested were chiefly of a fiscal and preventive char- 

 acter such as one speaker suggested, namely, that of 

 putting '"a ring fence round Germany." So long, 

 however, as our manufacturers choose to look for a 

 remedy in purely fiscal changes, so long will they fail 

 of any effective defence against German productive 

 enterprise, for it is clear to any impartial inquirer that 

 her industrial position is due to her lavish educa- 

 tional provision for all grades of education and to the 

 encouragement given to pure and applied science more 

 than to any other cause. Many important "key" in- 

 dustries are in her hands because of the perfection to 

 which the products required have been brought. 

 Amongst these, dye products stand pre-eminent with an 

 annual importation of nearly two millions, of which 

 1,800,000/. come from Germany, vitally affecting an 

 industry, that of textiles, valued at 200,000,000/., and 

 employing about one and a half million people. The plain 

 truth of the matter is, as a writer dealing with the 

 histon,- of "British Dyes, Ltd.," recently stated, "that 

 the Germans held the coal-tar colour industr\^ in their 

 hands because they deserved it," and until we take like 

 far-seeing educational measures, our triumph in this 

 rivalry will not be gained. 



We regret to learn of the death of Prof. O. Lignier, 

 professor of botany in the University of Caen, and of 

 distinguished eminence by his work in palaxibotany. 



The family of Lieut.-Col. C. Stonham, whose death 

 was announced in N.ature of February 24, has pre- 

 sented his collection of British birds to his old school, 

 the King's School, Canterbury-. 



L\ the course of a review in last week's N.\ture, 

 "G. B. M." referred to a report that the librar}' of 

 the Patent Office had been closed as a war economv. 

 We are glad to be assured that this is not the case; 

 and in the interests of those who find the librarv of 

 value we hasten to announce that it will remain open 

 as usual. -, 



The Lancet announces that the annual oration of 

 the Medical Society of London is to be given this vear 

 by Sir St. Clair Thomson, who has selected for' his 

 subject "Shakespeare and Medicine." The date has 

 been fixed for Monday. May i, so as to bring the 

 oration into line with the official Shakespearean cele- 

 brations. 



We are ver>- glad to be able to record that Prcrf. 

 Mark Baldwin, who was reported to have been lost 

 by the torpedoing of the cross-Channel steamer 

 Sussex on Friday last, is safe at Wimereux, with Mrs. 



