34° 
NATORE 
[May 28, 1914 
following officers were elected vice-presidents :—Sir 
Wm. Chance, Dr. Kimmins, Col. Sir J. R. D. Smith, 
Sir Albert Rollit. An executive committee representa- 
tive of educational and social welfare associations, 
was also appointed, and Mr. Morley Dainow was 
elected secretary ; communications should be addressed 
to him at 22-24 Great Portland Street, London, W. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LonpDon. 
Royal Society, May 21.—Sir William Crookes, presi- 
dent, in the chair.— Prof. W. M. Hicks: The effect of 
the magneton in the scattering of a rays. The pre- 
sence of a magneton in an atom must exert some effect 
in scattering a or f particles passing through the 
atom. In order to test the order of magnitude of the 
effect, the orbits of charged particles moving in the 
equatorial plane of a magneton are discussed, and it is 
seen that the scattering produced is very considerable. 
The nearest approach of an a particle to the centre of 
the atom is of the same order as in’ Rutherford’s 
theory. The electrostatic repulsion of an a particle 
combined with the magnetic field of the atom will 
therefore be more effective, as the diminished velocity 
will render the particle much more susceptible to the 
magnetic forces.—Hon. R. J. Strutt : Luminous vapours 
distilled from the arc, with applications to the study 
of spectrum series and their origin.—I. (1) It is 
known that mercury vapour distilled away from the 
arc in vacuo remains luminous for some distance away 
from the region of discharge. It is now shown how 
to observe brilliant effects of the same kind from a 
large number of other metals. (2) As the luminous 
vapour moves away from tne region of discharge, the 
rate at which different constituents in the spectrum 
die out is not always the same. Both the subordinate 
series of lines in the sodium spectrum die out at the 
same rate, but the principal series dies out more 
slowly. The lines belonging to any given series always 
die out at the same rate, but another series may or 
may not die out at the same rate as the first. (3) In 
some cases the glowing vapour distilled from the are 
shows a band spectrum. The alkali metals show a 
continuous band beyond the limit of the subordinate 
series like that seen in absorption in the hydrogen 
stars.—W. T. Pawlow: The ionisation of gases by 
collision and the ionising potential for positive ions 
and negative corpuscles.—C. E. Stromeyer: The deter- 
mination of elastic limits under alternating stress con- 
ditions. The present paper deals exclusively with the 
question of endurance or fatigue qualities of metals. 
The apparently incongruous results obtained by pre- 
vious experimenters, including those by Wohler, made 
it appear probable that samples taken from different 
parts of a bar or plate might differ so much in quality 
that the law of fatigue would be masked by local 
variation of quality. The test pieces of the present 
first series (bending) were therefore shaped in such a 
manner that consecutive pieces were separated from 
each other in the original plate by only one inch. 
The test results were found to be very consistent and 
could be expressea by the formula S,—=FI1+C(10°: N)s, 
where S, is the nominal alternating stress which will 
cause fracture after N repetitions, Fl is the fatigue 
limit found by extrapolation from a series of tests 
resulting in fracture. and C is a constant. A com- 
parison was made of previous tests with the help of 
this formula, and it was found to agree well with those 
of Wohler, Baker, and Eden, Rose and Cunningham. 
The torsion fatigue tests were made with the same 
materials as used in the above tests, and the results 
also agreed very closely with the above formula, 
except that new values for Fl and C were found. The 
NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 
inquiry was extended to the measuring of the heat 
generated during fatigue tests. G. W. C. Kaye and 
W. F. Higgins: The emission of electricity from 
various substances at high temperatures. — Experi- 
ments have been conducted at temperatures from 
2000° to 2500° C. within a carbon-tube furnace at 
atmospheric pressure. Under these conditions the elec- 
trical emissions, in the absence of any applied poten- 
tial, have been measured for a number of substances 
(including the alkaline earths and the metals tin, 
aluminium, iron, and copper) on their introduction into 
the furnace. During their rapid volatilisation the- 
substances gave out large amounts of electricity 
which, with one exception, were negative in sign. For 
example, barium oxide and alumina generated nega- 
tive currents of the order of 4 amperes per sq. cm., 
boiling tin about 2 amperes per sq. cm., and boiling 
iron about 1 ampere per sq. cm. Boiling brass, on 
the contrary, produced a positive current of about 
0-5 ampere per sq. cm. The results have interest in 
connection with the problems of solar magnetism. 
Linnean Society, May 7.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, presi-. 
dent, in the chair.—H. N. Ridley: The botany of the 
Utakwa Expedition, Dutch New Guinea. The exten- 
sive collection of plants made by Mr. C. B. Kloss 
during Mr. Wollaston’s expedition to Mt. Carstensz, 
Dutch New Guinea, in 1912-13, is the most important 
collection of New Guinea plants brought to this 
country.. In spite of the large collections made by 
Dutch and German collectors, there are upwards of 
five hundred new species and eight new genera in the 
collection, many of great interest. The plants were 
collected at various heights from sea-level to an alti- 
tude of about 13,000 ft., where vegetation ceased. 
The areas explored may be divided into four botanical 
regions :—(1) The coastal region, where the flora was 
largely of Malayan affinity. (2) The foot-hills, rang- 
ing from 500 to 3000 ft. elevation, an area of dense 
forest, the flora still typically Malayan but containing 
a distinct Australian element. (3) The frontal moun- 
tain belt from 3000 to 8000 ft. elevation, the begonia 
and balsam region. Here cultivation ceased. Palms 
disappear, and the first of the Palaearctic forms are 
met with, such as Viola, Ranunculus, Hypericum, and 
Galium. (4) The main mountain range. Here the 
big forest trees disappear, and herbaceous plants show 
a marked increase.—G. W. Smith: The genus Lernao- 
discus, F. Miller, 1862.—Dr. J. C. Willis: A new 
natural order of flowering plants: Tristichacez, 
separated from Podostemacez.—Prof. C. Chilton ; 
Some terrestrial Isopoda from New Zealand and Tas- 
mania; with the description of a new genus, Noto- 
niscus.—G. CC. Champion: Curculionidz from _ the 
Indian Ocean. 
Geological Society, May 13.—Dr. A. Smith Wood-. 
ward, president in the chair.—C. T. Trechmann; The 
Scandinavian drift of the Durham coast, and the 
general glaciology of South-East Durham. Evidence 
relating to the pre-Glacial levels and contours of the 
land in the Permian and Triassic areas has been col-- 
lected and examined, and supports the conclusion that, 
immediately prior to the oncoming of glacial con- 
ditions, the land stood at not less than 100 feet above 
its present level. The fissures and depressions of the: 
Middle and Upper Magnesian Limestones have been 
instrumental in preserving relics of the material 
brought by the earliest ice-sheet. This material proves 
to be devoid of the ordinary glacial erratics of the 
North of England and Scotland. The Seandinavian 
drift proper occurs about midway between Hartlepool 
and Seaham Harbour. It is represented by a trans- 
ported shelly clay containing a fauna of Arctic 
affinities, which recalls that of some of the basement 
