September [g, [918 



NATURE 



47 



in Tasmania, New South Wales, and South Africa, 

 but as regards the rest of the Empire there is an 

 entire lack of data upon which to form any trust- 

 worthy estimate whatever. Mo wonder thai the 

 committee confesses to a feeling of disappoint- 

 ment and concern. 



ry commendable effort was made, in 

 January last, by Mr. A. N'ewlands, a membi 



1 tmmitti e, to Mire, 1 public- attention to the 

 matter, and the statistics which he then put for- 

 ward in a paper read before the Royal Societ) ol 

 Arts, though admittedly incomplete, servt 

 useful purpose of furnishing a basis for preliminary 

 estimates in regard to the- United Kingdom. \s 

 the information was summarised in Naturi oi 

 May 9, there is no occasion to dilate upon it here. 

 The committee's comment is that "while the pos- 

 sible water-powers of the United Kingdom are 

 omparatively small, yet, occurring- as they do at 

 no great distance from industrial regions, the) are 

 relatively valuable, and every effort should be 

 made by close investigation 10 ascertain their com- 

 mercial value at an early date." 



The outstanding fact, however, about natural 

 supplies of water-power is that their efficient and 

 economic development depends upon the acquisi- 

 tion of extensive data, involving prolonged and 

 laborious observation. It is not sufficient to take 

 a few gauge readings, or to record variations in 

 level over several months, or a vear or two. If 

 the investigation is to be of real practical value it 

 must extend over a long series of years. And 

 herein lies tin- difficulty of dealing, instanter, with 

 a situation which by long neglect has been allowed 

 to become acute. N'ot until hydrometric studies 

 have completely determined the range of condi- 

 - from maximum flood to minimum flow can 

 the design of headworks be safely taken in hand. 

 So, even if observations be commenced to-morrow, 

 a lengthy interval of time, as things are reckoned 

 in these rapid days, must elapse before they are 

 complete enough for action to De taken on them. 



In these circumstances it is obvious that where 

 the outcome is. at all problematical, or the com- 

 mercial advantages not strikingly attractive, there 

 will be a reluctance on the part of private in- 

 dividuals to undertake the necessary research 

 work. Scientific bodies, how ever willing to assist, 

 are certainly not equipped with funds for the 

 purpose. It is natural, therefore, to look to the 

 to finance such undertakings, the more so 

 as the water-powers, when defined and available, 

 should be exploited, not for individual or merely 

 local benefit, but for the advantage of the whole 

 community. 



Dmmittee's report idvocates the principle 

 of State initiative. It recommends that the British 

 ernment should bring to the notice of the 

 Indian and Dominion Governments the necessity 

 for a systematic investigation of all reasonably 

 promising sources of water-power, and where such 

 an inquiry would be beyond the capabilities of anv 

 governing body, the report recommends that it hi 

 dealt with by an Imperial W'atet -Power Board, the 

 constitution of which should be of a widely repre- 

 XO. 2551, VOL. 102] 



sentative character. Finally, it suggests that 

 "since it is unlikely that privatl capital will be avail- 

 able for many years for hydraulic development on 

 any large scale, powers should he obtained for the 

 State to assist or to undertake such development 

 if thoughl advisable. " 



These are the main conclusions of the report, 

 with the general trend of which we venture to 

 think public sentiment and technical opinion will 

 entirely concur. It now remains to be 

 whether any action on the part of the Government 

 will follow. Continued neglect of the matter can 

 only be attended by consequences not merely 

 inimical to immediate national interests, be- 

 economically prejudicial to the welfare of 

 1 cling generations. Brysson Cunningham. 



PHYSICAL AXD CHEMICAL COXSTAXTSA 

 r'HE valuable publication before us makes one 

 -L realise that the country is waking up, if 

 slowly. It is very significant that only in the fourth 

 year of the war a Government Department should 

 be sufficiently alive and receptive to agree to issue 

 a book of constants such as this, bearing as it 

 does on a problem indissolubly bound up with the 

 future of the race. 



Both Germany and ourselves have been giving 

 the closest attention to the commercial develop- 

 ment, of the various processes for the fixation of 

 nitrogen. It was well known that Germany was 

 ahead of us, and the Munitions Inventions Re- 

 search Laboratory accordingly concentrated on the 

 problem. Its staff soon realised that a detailed 

 compilation of the physical and chemical con- 

 stants involved was a virtual necessity. Hence 

 the present publication, which is to be regarded 

 as a first instalment of constants compiled by Dr. 

 Todd and his colleagues under the direction of 

 Dr. J. A. Harker, F.R.S., whose name is a 

 guarantee, were one needed, of the soundness of 

 the physics and chemistry of the publication before 

 us, and for which we have nothing but praise. 



Considerable skill has obviously been exercised 

 in employing the material to the fullest advantage, 

 more especially in those cases where a scrutiny 

 of the literature served only to show that the data 

 available were meagre. Careful acknowledgment 

 is paid to the several well-known existing books 

 of constants, happily now no longer confined to 

 the German tongue. 



But the present work is not to be regarded as 

 a mere compilation of constants. It is a good 

 deal more than that. There are many points in 

 it of considerable technical importance which are 

 very fully discussed, to which the attention of 

 the practical man interested in such problems 

 should be directed. 



Half the book is divided into graphs, very 

 clearlv executed on a scale sufficiently generous to 

 permit of their accurate and rapid use. In many 

 of these virtually the full area of the page (11 in. 

 by 8 in.) is employed. 



1 •■ Physical and Chemical Data of Nitrogen Compounds. 1 ' Pp. 96 

 Ministry of Munitions, Munitions Inventions Department, Nitrogen Pro- 

 ducts Committee. 



