264 



NATURE 



[May 25, 1916 



iucts. Important work might also be done in 

 studying the development of districts differing 

 videly in climate and temperature. 



A vote of thanks to Mr. Fisher was proposed 

 )y Sir Alfred Keogh and seconded by Sir John S. 

 t'oung. Sir Alfred Keogh expressed the hope that 

 he scheme described by Mr. Fisher would be 

 nstrumental in promoting constant interchange of 

 ,'iews between men of science in this country 

 md in Australia. As an illustration of the prac- 

 ical applications of science, Sir Alfred referred to 

 he care of the wounded and their treatment 

 luring convalescence. A striking instance had 

 )een the suppression of typhoid fever. To-day 

 here are only twenty-two cases in the British 

 Vrmy in France, whereas if we had gone on in 

 he old way the number of cases would probably 

 lave reached 80,000 or 100,000. 



The Lord Mayor and Mr. Andrew Fisher have 

 )een elected vice-presidents of the Guild; and the 

 Executive Committee for the year 1916-17 is con- 

 itituted as follows : — President, Right Hon. Sir 

 kVilliam Mather; chairman of committees, Sir 

 >Jorman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. ; vice-chairmen 

 )f committees. Sir Hugh Bell, Bt. , Hon. Sir 

 ohn Cockburn, K.C.M.G. ; honorary treasurer, 

 light Hon. Lord Avebury ; honorary assistant 

 reasurer. Lady Lockyer; deputy chairman, Sir 

 5overton Redwood, Bt. ; vice-presidents. Sir Wil- 

 iam Phipson Beale, Bt. , K.C., M.P., Surgeon- 

 general Sir Alfred Keogh, K.C.B., Major 

 )'Meara, R.E., C.M.G., Right Hon. Lord Syden- 

 lam, G.C.M.G., G.C.S.L, F.R.S. ; hon. secre- 

 aries, Sir Alexander Pedler, CLE., F.R.S., Dr. 

 ". Mollwo Perkin ; other members, Captain 

 Jathurst, M.P., Dr. G. T. Beilby, F.R.S., Mr. 

 /V. H. Cowan, M.P., Prof. R. A. Gregory, Sir 

 lobert Hadfield, F.R.S., Prof. A. Liversidge, 

 ^.R.S., Sir Philip Magnus, ' M. P., Dr. T. A. 

 vlatthews, Mr. Robert Mond, Prof. John Perry, 

 ^R.S., Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., F.R.S., Mr. 

 Uan A. Campbell Swinton, F.R.S., Lady Napier 

 5haw, Mr. Carmichael Thomas, Dr. R. Mullineux 

 iValmsley, Dr. Howard S. Willson, and Colonel 

 Mr John S. Young, C.V.O. 



NOTES. 



The Summer Time Bill received the Royal Assent 

 in May 17, and came into force at 2 a.m. on Sunday, 

 day 21. From now until the end of September three 

 ystems of time-reckoning will be legal, namely, (i) 

 Greenwich Time, for tides and other occurrences of 

 lavigation and astronomy ; (2) local time, which is 

 lased on distances from Greenwich in latitude and 

 ongitude, and determines lighting-up times ; and (3) 

 >ummer Time; which is an hour in advance of Green- 

 v^ich Mean Time. The third clause of the Act states 

 hat " during the prescribed period any expression of 

 ime in any Act of Parliament, Order in Council, 

 trder, regulation, rule, or by-law, or in any time- 

 able, notice, advertisement, or other document, is to 

 nean 'Summer Time.'" Orders as to Hghting-up 

 nust, however, be excluded from the field of operations 

 if this clause, as they refer to an interval and not to a 

 •articular hour. Time-tables showing lighting-up 

 imes in different parts of the kingdom are in common 



NO. 2430, VOL. 97] 



use, and are given in many calendars and almanacs. 

 These times are determined by actual sunrise or sun- 

 set as points of reference, being at present half an 

 hour before and after respectively. The sun rises to- 

 day, for example, at nearly 4 a.m. in London and sets a 

 little before 8 p.m. ; lamps of vehicles must, therefore, 

 be lighted up to 3.30 a.m. G.M.T., and after 8.30 p.m. 

 The corresponding times at Glasgow are 4.38 a.m. for 

 sunrise, 8.38 p.m. for sunset, and lighting-up times 

 to about 4 a.m. and after 9 p.m. All these times are 

 ultimately based on Greenwich Time, with the neces- 

 sary differences ; and it will be a problem for many a 

 village policeman to decide when lamps have really to 

 be lighted. Symotts's Meteorological Magazine for 

 May, in an article deploring the adoption of the 

 measure, prints a letter from Sir Napier Shaw, direc- 

 tor of the Meteorological Office, instructing observers 

 to record their observations and attend at their offices 

 and observatories according to the hours of Greenwich 

 Mean Time, as heretofore, which shows that in the 

 Government meteorological service the Act is simply 

 to be ignored, as it must be in meteorological work 

 generallv. So far as we know, not a single daily 

 paper has shown an intelligent appreciation of the 

 relation of daylight to time-standards, but we are glad 

 to acknowledge that, in the technical Press, the Elec- 

 trical Review has consistently condemned the principle 

 involved in the new measure, as well as contested the 

 claims put forward bv its advocates. It remains to be 

 seen whether the promised social and economic advan- 

 tages of the Act will justify the use of Summer Time 

 over the whole kingdom either during the war or 

 after. 



At a meeting held at Burlington House on May 2^, 

 attended b}- representatives of many leading firms con- 

 cerned with chemical industries, it was resolved that 

 British firms engaged in the chemical and allied trades 

 should form an association (i) to promote closer co- 

 operation and to place before the Government the 

 views of the chemical trade generally ; (2) to further 

 industrial research ; and (3) to facilitate closer co-opera- 

 tion between chemical manufacturers and various uni- 

 versities and technical schools. 



In an interesting and suggestive address delivered 

 at the inaugural meeting of the Ferrous Section of 

 the Metallurgical Committee of the Advisory Council 

 for Scientific Researcii on May 8, Sir Robert Hadfield 

 put forward a proposal for the establishment of a 

 Central Bureau of information as to materials existing 

 within the British Empire. .As he pointed out, when 

 it is a question of the adoption of a new inetallurgical 

 invention or development, it is absolutely necessary to 

 know the locality and extent of the inaterials which 

 will be required. Neither the work of the Geological 

 Survey, nor that of the Department of Mines in the 

 Home Office, nor that of the Imperial Institute really 

 covers this field. It is true that Dr. Strahan, the 

 director of the Geological Survey and Museum, Jermyn 

 Street, has recently begun the issue of a series of 

 special reports on the mineral resources of Great 

 Britain. But ' something very much broader and 

 bigger than this is required. How restricted is the 

 scope of activities of the Geological Survey may be 

 illustrated from the fact that it does not include 

 Ireland. The ores existing in that countr}- are 

 not known officially in this country at all ; and the basis 

 of such information as does exist rests upon the 

 partial work of one man, who is remunerated to the 

 extent of 100?. per annum. Moreover, the maps issued 

 by the Geological Survey in this country do not furnish 

 sufficient information as to minerals of economic value. 

 With proper organisation the value of metallurgical 

 products within the British Empire could be very 



