JUNE 25, 1914] NATURE 431 
emissivity and disintegration of matter at high ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE CIVIL 
temperatures. An inquiry into the thermal and SERVICE. 
secular behaviour of various well-known thermo- 
meter glasses has been carried out, and some ex- 
periments on the thermal conductivities of certain © 
highly insulating materials, which have been in 
progress for some time, are approaching com- 
pletion. 
Among the work of the metrology division we 
note some measurements on the silica standard 
metre constructed a few years ago. These fully 
bear out the high hopes which were originally 
entertained of this substance for the purpose. 
An important new departure is the testing of 
radium preparations. The new department, which 
has been placed in charge of Dr. Kaye, has already 
proved a boon to the radium-buying public. 
The engineering department has completed the 
work on wind pressure, and Dr. Stanton and Mr. 
Pannell have published a comprehensive and im- 
portant paper on the frictional flow of fluids in 
pipes. In this work the authors have been able 
to rationalise the results over a wide range of velo- 
cities (20-6000 cm, per sec.) and for fluids with 
viscosities so far apart as those of air and water. 
The well-known index-law of frictional resistance 
was found to be inadequate over the large range 
of velocities employed. 
The work of Mr. Bairstow and his colleagues 
in the aeronautical division has proved of the 
utmost value. The researches on stability and 
the gradual development of an aeroplane of com- 
plete stability (see NATURE, June 11, p. 388) have 
excited great popular interest and approval. A 
rolling-mill to deal with light alloys and a large 
7-ft. wind-channel are approaching completion. 
The results obtained in the laboratory of the | 
road-board have already justified its existence. 
Some useful mechanical and endurance tests on 
various types of road mixtures have been carried 
out under many conditions. 
The record of the metallurgical department is 
one of continued progress. The work on alloys 
research has proceeded apace, and much attention 
has been paid to the installation of the new equip- 
ment. We notice the proposed use of a kathode- 
ray furnace as a means of melting metals free 
from contamination. 
The year has seen a great increase in the 
utilisation by various shipbuilders of the facilities 
offered by the national tank. It is gratifying to 
learn that the alterations in design suggested by 
the tests resulted in a considerable diminution in 
the power required, amounting on an average to 
10 per cent. or more in the seventy odd models 
tested. 
It is impossible in a short notice of this char- 
acter to give anything more than the merest in- 
dication of a few of the fifty or more original 
papers which are reviewed in this report. Many 
of these are incorporated in the forthcoming 
eleventh volume of the “Collected Researches ” of 
the laboratory. We notice an attractive list of 
researches proposed for the next twelve months’ 
work. 
NO. 2330, VOL. 93] 
uae report (Cd. 7338, price 1s. 4d.) of Lord 
MacDonnell’s Commission on the Civil 
Service is now published, and its chief recom- 
mendations were referred to in our issue of 
April 16 (p. 180); they may be summarised as 
follows :— 
(1) That boys should be recruited only for per- 
manent service, and no longer as temporary boy 
clerks. 
(2) That in certain cases for which competitive 
examination is unsuitable, the appointment should be 
made by a selection committee. 
(3) That a greater number of women should be 
employed, their appointment to be made by suitable 
means distinct from that used for men of. similar 
grade. 
(4) That the method of open competition should be 
maintained, and more closely coordinated with the 
educational system of the country. 
The second of these recommendations concerns 
scientific and other professional appointments ; 
though patronage is often wisely exercised, such 
appointments will in future be made by a suitably 
and regularly constituted committee. The Com- 
mission expresses no opinion as to whether the co- 
ordination of examinations and education will give 
increased weight to science.’ For the lower ex- 
aminations the matter is left to the Treasury 
and the Civil Service Commissioners. For the 
Class I. examination the appointment of a com- 
mittee is recommended to consider the coordina- 
tion of the examination with university studies. 
On the plan of the Commission there will be the 
following four 
Methods of Appointment. 
1. OPEN CoMPETITION.—To be applied to most o1 
the clerical posts (the higher among them to be 
now called Administrative Posts), and to profes- 
sional appointments when the appointing age is 
less than twenty-seven. This involves some ex- 
tension of the method in the case of professional 
and technical appointments. There is a nut for 
the Civil Service Commissioners to crack in the 
recommendation that character is to be tested by 
written examination—or perhaps the recommenda- 
tion implies an interview. 
2. DirEcT APPOINTMENT BY THE Crown.—This 
method is at present used for high adminis- 
trative posts and for some professional posts. 
Under the proposals of the Commission, only high 
administrative posts will be filled in this way, and 
when such a post is filled by the appointment of a 
man from outside the Service, the appointing 
minister will lay before Parliament a statement of 
his name and qualifications. 
3. APPOINTMENT BY SELECTION COMMITTEE.— 
This method will be applied to professional posts 
when the appointing age is more than twenty- 
seven. There'will be public advertisement of the 
vacancy, a picked number of the applicants (or 
perhaps all the applicants if the number is small) 
will be interviewed by an appropriately con- 
stituted committee, and the most suitable thereby 
