350 



NATURE 



[February 8, 1900 



use different renderings of the same name, and one at 

 least of them has no consistent system. Thus, one 

 island appears as Meshdoshapsk in the map and text, 

 and as Meshdusharsky in the appendix ; the name of a 

 well-known Russian geologist appears as Chernysheff 

 and Tscherneyschew (p. 288) ; the letters, which are 

 translitered (p. 266) as "aya" in the case of Novaya, 

 are abridged to "a" in the name Dolgaya, which there- 

 fore appears as Dolga. Belootchia and Belushja are no 

 doubt renderings of the same word. Hut nomenclature 

 is after all a matter of detail, and Mr. Pearson and 

 Colonel Feilden are to be congratulated on a valuable 

 contribution to the natural history of one of the least 

 known regions of Europe. J. W. G. 



INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF WEIGHTS 



AND MEASURES.^ 

 'X'HE International Committee of Weights and Mea' 



•■• sures at Paris issue from time to time " Travaux ^^ 

 Memoires" with reference to the investigations and com- 

 parisons undertaken at their Bureau during certain 

 periods. Ten such volumes have been published since 

 1881 — Tome i. to Tome xi. — and during last year a 

 further volume, Tome ix., was distributed. This latter 

 volume contains the final account by Dr. J. Rend Benoit 

 and Dr. Max Thiesen of the comparisons made at the 

 Bureau of forty standard kilograms, " Prototypes nation- 

 aux" with the "Prototype International K," which is 

 kept at the Bureau. These national standard kilograms 

 have long since been forwarded by the Committee to the 

 several High Contracting States who (including Great 

 Britain) have joined the Metric Convention of 1875 '■> and 

 the introductory account of the comparisons of these 

 •standards was given in Tome viii. (1893), the final 

 account having only now been issued, although it deals 

 with comparisons made so far back as 1884. 



The unit of mass of the kilogram is determined by a 

 solid piece of metal, iridio-platinum, in the form of a 

 cylinder (of the height and diameter of 30 millimetres), 

 and the comparisons of the forty cylinders included 

 weighings in air and in water ; the numerous observa- 

 tions made by Dr. Thiesen being stated in detail in 

 Tonrie ix., the observations and reductions of the hydro- 

 static weighings alone occupying 229 pages of this large 

 volume. The balances used were made by M. Bunge, 

 of Hamburg (1879), and more recently by Messrs. A. 

 Ruprecht and H. Schoss, of Vienna. Of the Bunge 

 Balance an illustrated description is given in Tome ix., 

 and of the original Ruprecht Balance in Tome i. of " Le 

 Travaux et Memoires." The balances were so designed 

 that any two kilograms under comparison could be auto- 

 matically interchanged from one side of the balance to 

 the other without disturbing the balance-case, and any 

 minute weights could be added to either pan by the ob- 

 server without approaching the case. The results appear 

 to have been highly satisfactory, the probable error of a 

 final comparison of two kilograms not exceeding 

 0-002 mg. Such comparisons are inexhaustible, and 

 therefore it is not surprising to find that no two of the 

 kilograms were found to be absolutely alike. 



The final density of the standard kilogram, No. 18, 

 forwarded to Great Britain, appears to have been 

 21-5454, corresponding to a volume o'^ C of 46-414 

 millilitres. The actual difference of No. 18 from the true 

 kilogram was found to be : — No. 18 = K-f- 0-070 mg. 



By theWeightsand Measures (MetricSystem) Act, 1897, 

 it is provided that " No. 18 " is to be the legal standard 

 of this country, from which all other metric weights and 

 all measures having reference to weight are ascertained ; 

 and its precise equivalent in terms of the pound 



1 " Travaux et Memoires du Bureau International des poids et mesures " 

 (Paris, 1898.) 



NO. 1580, VOL. 61] 



avoirdupois has been found to be 2-20462234 lb., or the 

 pound equals 045359243 kg. 



The investigations of this Bureau as to modes of 

 weighing and methods of reduction, have attracted the 

 attention of all engaged in exact metrological inquiry, 

 the results of the investigations being referred to in 

 modern text-books on physical science ; and in the 

 present volume the several corrections and reductions 

 found to be necessary in the precise weighings made by 

 Dr. Thiesen during the years 1884-8 are fully stated in 

 his excellent account. 



NOTES. 



The poll for the election of a Parliamentary representative 

 of the University of London, in succession to Sir John 

 Lubbock, opened on Tuesday morning, and will close on 

 Saturday. The result will be declared at the University on 

 Monday next, at noon. On Tuesday evening the number 

 of votes recorded for each of the candidates was officially 

 declared to be: Sir Michael Foster 255, Dr. Collins 156, 

 and Mr. Busk 119, and we trust that when the poll is 

 declared next Monday the numbers will be of the same rela* 

 tive order of magnitude. Graduates of a University which 

 promises to become in the near future an even more powerful 

 means of promoting scientific interests and encouraging in- 

 tellectual activities than it has been in the past, should see 

 for themselves that the return of any other candidate than Sir 

 Michael Foster would be disastrous. It is unfortunate that 

 sharp electioneering practice induced a number of the graduates to 

 give their names as supporters of Mr. Busk and Dr. Collins before 

 Sir Michael Foster entered the lists ; but if they have the 

 courage of their convictions they will seriously consider whether 

 a promise made without a knowledge of the candidates \vho 

 would contest the seat should not be withdrawn. Petty differ- 

 ences of opinion and individual grievances ought to be put on 

 one side upon an occasion like the present, and the electors 

 should vote for the candidate who would have the greatest 

 influence upon the advancement of the University as a whole. 

 Some weeks ago we expressed surprise that the Highland 

 Agricultural Society of Scotland had not contributed towards 

 the cost of Prof. Ewart's experiments on telegony and other 

 subjects of special interest to breeders. From a contemporary 

 we learn that the Society last week voted 200/. in aid of the very 

 costly investigations, and that the former chairman (Sir John 

 Gilmour), in a letter urging the secretary to make a grant, stated 

 that he intended sending a donation of 50/., and expressed the 

 hope that others would follow his example. As there was some 

 danger of the work collapsing for want of funds, this is alto- 

 gether satisfactory. Though science in the past, to the great 

 loss of the nation, has too often been systematically ignored, 

 better times may be coming, for the new century may bring with 

 it a higher appreciation of scientific methods, and thus keep us 

 abreast with the spirit of the age. 



In his lecture at the Royal Institudon on Friday last, Mr. 

 Marconi made a statement as to the use of his system of wireless 

 telegraphy in connection with the war. He is reported by the 

 Times to have said that six of his assistants have been sent out 

 to South Africa. The War Office intended that the wireless 

 telegraph should only be used at the base and on the railways ; 

 but the officers on the spot, realising it could only be of practical 

 use at the front, asked if the assistants were willing to go to the 

 front, and accordingly on December 1 1 they moved up to De 

 Aar. The results at first were not altogether satisfactory, 

 owing to the want of poles, kites, or balloons, which are needed 

 to elevate the vertical wires ; but the difficulty was overcome 

 by the manufacture of kites, in which work Major Baden- 

 Powell and Captain Kennedy, R.E., took part. It has been 



