April 9, 1903] 



NA TURE 



54i 



The Elliott prize for scientific research will be given this 

 year, the Pioneer Mail announces, to the author of the best 

 original essay composed during the year 1903 giving the 

 results of original research or investigation by the essayist 

 on chemistry. Any native of Bengal, including any 

 Eurasian or domiciled European residing in Bengal, may 

 compete for the prize. Essays of competitors must be 

 sent in to the president of the Bengal Asiatic Society by 

 the end of December, 1903. Preference will be given to 

 researches leading to discoveries likely to develop the in- 

 dustrial resources of Bengal. 



The following earthquakes have been reported within 

 the last week : — April 3. — Several earthquake tremors, two 

 of them alarmingly violent, have occurred during the last 

 three days, in the Andijan region. Similar shocks have 

 been felt contemporaneously in the Southern Urals. April 

 4. — Violent shocks of earthquake are reported from various 

 parts of the province of Catania. A shock of earthquake 

 was felt at 2 a.m. at Mentone. Houses were shaken. 

 There was no recurrence of the shock, which only lasted 

 half a second. 



A NEW turbine steamer was launched at Dumbarton from 

 the yard of Messrs. Denny Bros., on April 4, for the Cross- 

 Channel service of the South-Eastern and Chatham Rail- 

 way. The new vessel is of the same type, though larger, as 

 the vessels which have been successful on the Clyde. The 

 machinery will consist of Parsons's turbines, three being 

 fitted, with three lines of shafting. In manoeuvring, the 

 centre shaft runs free, and the two side shafts then take the 

 place of ordinary twin screws. The builders have under- 

 taken that this vessel shall have an average sea speed of 21 

 knots, and it is expected that the vessel will perform the 

 voyage from Dover to Calais in forty-five to fifty minutes. 



Reciter's Agency is informed that Dr. T. Rubin, of 

 Upsala, the leader of the scientific expedition which has 

 been dispatched to Africa by the British South Africa Com- 

 pany, has left England. He was accompanied by Dr. 

 Stoehr, the medical officer. After conferring with Sir David 

 Gill, the Astronomer Royal at Cape Town, Dr. Rubin and 

 the other members of the expedition, who will join him in 

 South Africa, will leave for Chinde en route for Fort Jame- 

 son. He will then confer with the Administrator of North- 

 East Rhodesia, and at once proceed to the work of the 

 geodetic survey. 



The Geographical Journal announces further details of 

 the programme of the International Geological Congress to 

 be held in Vienna in August next. There will be discussions 

 on overfolded or overthrust planes relating to the structure 

 of the mountains of Scotland, the Jura, and the Alps. A 

 special sitting will be devoted to questions concerning the 

 geology of the Balkan Peninsula and the East. The surface 

 geology of the town of Vienna will also be discussed. The 

 extensive engineering works carried out in the neighbour- 

 hood during the last ten years have exposed many deposits 

 which have led to important discoveries by Prof. Suess. A 

 paper on the subject will be illustrated by a large geological 

 map on a scale of 1 : 10,000, and numerous sections. 



The Board of Trade has informed the secretary of the 

 Engineering Standards Committee that the sum of 3000Z. 

 has been included in the Board of Trade vote, for 1903-4, as 

 a contribution towards the funds of the Engineering 

 Standards Committee for that year only, on the understand- 

 ing that the Treasury is not thereby pledged to continue 

 the grant in later years. The actual expenditure under the 

 vote will have to be authorised by the Railway Department 



NO. 1745, VOL. 67] 



of the Board of Trade on the recommendation of a com- 

 mittee specially appointed for the purpose by the Institution 

 of Civil Engineers. The committee appointed by the In- 

 stitution includes : — the president and the senior vice-presi- 

 dent of the Institution of Civil Engineers; Mr. James Man- 

 sergh, F.R.S., Sir John Wolfe Barry, K.C.B., Sir William 

 Preece, K.C.B., Sir Benjamin Baker, K.C.B., and Sir 

 Douglas Fox, past presidents of the Institution; Mr. Archi- 

 bald Denny ; with a representative of the Board of Trade. 



The spring meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects 

 was held in the rooms of the Society of Arts last week, 

 when the annual report of the council was presented, and 

 new officers were elected. The report states that a com- 

 mittee of the council has, during the past year, been con- 

 sidering the possibility of raising a fund for the construc- 

 tion of an experimental tank at Bushey, in connection with 

 the National Physical Laboratory there, in accordance with 

 the resolution passed at the summer meeting held in 

 Glasgow in 1901. The proposal is still under consideration. 

 A cordial invitation from the Lord Mayor of Belfast (Sir 

 Daniel Dixon) to hold a summer meeting in that city has 

 been accepted by the council, and a further invitation, to 

 include a visit to Dublin, has been received from the presi- 

 dent of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland (Mr. 

 J. H. Ryan), and has also been accepted. A gold medal of 

 the Institution has been awarded to Captain G. Russo, 

 R.I.N., for his paper on the navipendular method of experi- 

 ments as applied to some warships of different classes, and 

 a gold medal to Prof. S. Dunkerley, for his paper on the 

 straining actions on the different parts of a crank shaft. 

 Among the numerous papers read during the three days of 

 the meeting the following may be mentioned ; — On the 

 effect of modern accessories on the size and cost of war- 

 ships, Mr. W. H. Whiting; on the lines, of fast cruisers, 

 Vice-Admiral C. C. P. FitzGerald ; the training of engineers 

 in the United States, Prof. W. E. Dalby ; the modification 

 of the mean pitch due to twisting the blades in screw pro- 

 pellers, Prof. Angelo Scribanti ; the screw as a means of 

 propulsion for shallow draft vessels, Mr. A. F. Yarrow; 

 marine installations for the carriage of refrigerated cargoes, 

 Mr. R. Balfour ; and the corrosion of metal pipes on board 

 ship, Mr. A. W. Stewart. 



A demonstration of the Orling-Armstrong system of 

 wireless telegraphy and telephony was given at the Alex- 

 andra Palace on Thursday last. We have already referred 

 to this system on several occasions in Nature, and described 

 the capillary relay which is used as a receiver some time 

 ago. The transmitter is so connected that both the primary 

 and secondary circuits of the induction coil are simul- 

 taneously earthed, a combination which it is claimed pro- 

 duces remarkable effects. An experiment was shown in 

 which two bombs were exploded at a distance of three or 

 four hundred yards, the earths of the transmitter being 

 about one hundred yards apart; either bomb could be ex- 

 ploded at will, the receiving circuit of each being syntonised 

 to a different period. Syntonisation is effected with a tele- 

 phonic receiver which actuates a sensitive flame in a tuned 

 chamber ; the flame heats a platinum wire in the relay 

 circuit. Presumably, therefore, it is the period of the 

 interrupter which is syntonised, not the oscillation period of 

 the spark ; apart from this objection a sensitive flame does 

 not appear a very practical arrangement. Wireless tele- 

 phony from a distance was also demonstrated ; the received 

 speech was plainly audible, but owing to the fact that a key 

 had to be depressed or released for speaking or listening 

 respectively, conversation was not possible ; this is, however, 

 a minor difficulty, which can doubtless be overcome. It is 



