5 2 



URE 



[Septembeh i'). [918 



1 band of young men « ho hahc 

 - submit themselves to experimei 

 I he wi iter i.f the 

 ■ his admiration of American adminis- 

 11 , perhaps, w hen h< sa} s thai! tin 



nt's 1 'I Vn 1- ai e staffed, not with 



dull, bureaucratic automatons, not with human dere, 

 petrifact9, bul with keen ipenunaindedi, .'11111 

 business men." This is the same form of 

 psychosis which led before the war to the adulation 

 ,1 German institutions and methods. There is, how- 

 ever, another tribute paid to the Amerkan with 

 which mini complete agreement can be expressed. 

 Vmeriear'9 chief success," says the w riter, " is largely 

 due to th. fai is the chief industry 



of the nation." We agree; the American lias an in- 

 tense belief in the value of education and in an 

 aristocracy of brains rather than of wealth. In this 

 respect England has much to learn. 



Recalled to Life, a quarterl) review devoted to all 

 that is being done lor the disabled sailor and soldier, 

 now appears with a new name, Reveille, and a new 

 editor, Mr. John Galsworthy in place of Lord Charn- 

 wood (H.M.S.O., -•.•>'. 6d.' net). In the issue for 

 Augusl (oi. Sii Robert Jones gives a graphic account 

 of the work now being carried out by surgeons in 

 the special military hospitals where disabled men are 

 treated. Experience lias shown that the principles 

 which have to fie applied in military orthopaedic cases 

 are those which were successfully applied in peace- 

 time to children who had suffered from infantile 

 paralysis. Before the war very few surgeons saw 

 more than occasional cases of wounded or divided 

 nerves. Now ever} convoy from France brings 

 many such cases. The technique of the suturing 

 of nerves has become one of the important 

 points in operative practice. Operations, such as 

 the grafting of bone, the transplantation of tendons, 

 and the plastic reformation of the face or of stumps, 

 which wen regarded as surgical curiosities in peace- 

 time, have now become matters of everyday experi- 

 ence. The chief lesson that the military surgeon has 

 learned from recent experience is that the re-education 

 of nerves, muscles, and joints which have been re- 

 formed by operation is by far the most important and 

 tedious part of successful treatment. "Muscles-," says 

 Sir Robert Jones, "can be made to learn to do things 

 thev never did before; bones can be arranged, and 

 the' cells will build them up to meet new emergencies; 

 nerve-ceffs will learn to send messages to the muscles 

 new work, and a new limb, as it were, will 

 ited." 



ording to tin Zeitschrift fur angewandte Chemie 

 for July j last, an association of German manufac- 

 ound dyes, recently formed in Berlin, 

 has been joined by nearly all the firms interested. 

 In ail -1 1 hing the economic interests of its 



members, the new association will act as a central' 

 medium for the distribution of raw materials both 

 now am! durii the transition period. 



A large depo 11 -if graphite" at Skaland, in Norway, 

 and under the control of the Metallurgists A. S. of 

 Bergen, has beet i ■ speeted, and now proves to be 

 sufficient^ sive to supply the Norwegian market 



for some vears to come. Any desired quality of pro- 

 duct can be made from the crudest material up to 

 of 07 per cent, purity. Electrostatic separation 

 is adopted. According i U.S. Commercial Reports 

 Way 23, iqiS), it is proposed to erect a plant capable 

 1 ting the home demand. 

 An engineer in Haugesund (Sweden) is at present 

 I on an invention in connection with the smelt- 

 ing of molvbdenum at a large works near, at which 

 255 I , VOL. I02] 



ding to Verdens Gang, June 30) it is hop. 

 Him. iiin tons oi molybdenum pet annum! 



Dr. Hkinkich Traun and Sons, of Hamburg, bavi 

 issued a four-page leaflet giving particulars 



" Faturan," an insulating material manufactured b\ 



them. It is a c lensation product of phenol and 



formaldehyde. It is non-hydroscopic, and scarcely 

 illi 1 I'll bj heat. A high insulation is maintained 

 to the absence of surface sulphur. Its tensile 

 strength is 2 5 to 3 kg. per mm. 2 , and its specific 

 gravity t2 to 1-3 in normal qualities. 



Mi ssrs. IIi\k\ Frowde wd Hodder and Stodghton 

 have in the press for publication in the series of 

 Oxford Medical Publications "The Early Treatment 

 of War Wounds," by Col. H. M. W. Gray, illustrated, 

 and " War Neuroses and Shell Shock," by Brevet 

 Lt.-Col. I'". W. Mott, illustrated. Tbe\ also announce 

 a in w edition of "Surgical Diseases of the Gall- 

 bladder, Bile Ducts, and Liver : Their Pathology, 

 Diagnosis, and Treatment " (including Jacksonian 

 prize esse] 1, by H. J. Waring, illustrated. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 August and September Meteors. — Mr. Denning 

 writes that between August 28 and September 12 he 

 observed 15.3 meteors, and determined a number of 

 radiant points of minor showers. The chief of 

 wen as under : — 



Radiant No. of 

 mi - 

 August 28-September 8 ... 0—2 S 



\ugust 2X-September 8 ... 265+63 7 



September 2-12 318+48 to 



August 2C)-September 8 ... 326+78 6 



Uigust 28-September 12 ... 332+ 5 8 



August 30-September 8 ... 333 + 57 'i 



August 31-September 12 ... 337—10 7 



August 29-September 1 ... 352+76 8 



The Cvgnids, No. 3 on the list, were very definitely 



marked, and that radiant, like several of the others,. 



remains visible during a long period. 



On September 8 two large fireballs were seen 

 by Mrs. Wilson at Totteridge at 7I1. 20m. and 

 ioh. 14m. (..M.T. The latter was estimated to 

 be four times as brilliant as Venus, and it broke 

 into time pieces in the latter part of its (light. It 

 had 1 long course of 170 miles, from 10 miles south 

 i,f Dunkirk to the North Sea about 40 miles north- 

 easl of Cromer. Its height was from 64 to 29 miles, 

 velocity 14 miles per second, and the radiant point 

 was ai 324 — 25° in Capricornus. 



Nova Monocerotis. — A detailed account of the 

 spectrum of Nova Monocerotis, as observed on 

 February -•, and March 1, is, and 27. has been given 

 by Dr. G. F. Paddock (Lick Obs. Bull., No. 

 The following bright lines win observed in addition 

 to those of hydrogen :— 4363, 4640, 4686, |oyi, 5007, 

 55 2 6±, 5''77±, 57561, all being described as faint 

 excepf the firsl two and the fifth. As in other novae, 

 the lines wen broad and complex, and each emission 

 band had a faint central absorption band. The bands 

 of hydrogen and 4640 were nearly symmetrical, while 

 the nebuliura lines were brightest on the violet sides 

 of ilu absorption bands. There were no narrow lines 

 suitable fot determinations of radial velocity, but the 

 central absorption bands appeal in have occupied 

 nearlv their normal positions. It is evident that the 

 sin had reached the nebular stage in the usual 

 sequeno of spectra when tins,- observations 

 made. \t the time of discovery by Wolf on 

 February 4, the magnitude of the nova was 8-5, but 

 previous photographs in the Harvard collection 

 show id that the maximum had already boon passed. 



