9 8 



NATURl-l 



[October 3. 1918 



from the Upper Coal Measures ol Newcastle (N.S.W.). 

 1 the ph) logenj ol the I rtsi eta m bi 



1 From such studies in Australian palaeontology, 



1 hoi gi\ es us (t.c, pai i i ) an exampli e,i 

 this in the type "I .1 new order, the Protomecoptera 



.1 \mi remarkable fossil From tin- Ipswich [Queens- 

 land] beds . . . tlic direct connecting-link between the 

 Palaeozoic Palaeodictyoptera on mi, hand, and thi 

 recent Mecoptera mi the other." 



In describing these primitivi mi tabolous insects, and 

 comparing them with Neuroptera, rrichoptera, and 

 I epidoptei a, \li . I ilK ai ,1 laj s stress on the pn si no 

 in the Mecoptera and Planipennia c.i a frenulum or 

 group of wing-couplinp bristles, comparabli with the 

 well-known organ cm thi hind-wing ol most moths, 

 and argues thence in support ol Dr, Handlirsch's con- 

 tention for a close relationship between all these orders 

 in .1 very shorl bul important note (Entom. ' - 

 vol. xxix., p. 99) Mi. Tillyard points oul thai a 



1 ilum of simple type is present in those minute 



primitive moths the Micropterygidae, which have 

 usually been regarded as devoid of that organ. In 

 flius enforcing evidence Fur the relationship of archaic 

 members of various orders ol insects, the author well 

 justifies his use of the morphological method in 

 entomologv. G. II. C. 



THE PROMOTION OF TEXTILE 

 INDUSTRIES.' 

 THE Departmental Committee appointed by the 

 ■*• Hoard of Trade to consider the position of the 

 textile trades after the war has presented a most 

 interesting report, which is unanimous except for 

 small details concerning certain tariffs. 



The reporl sets out very clearly the dominant posi- 

 tion of the Allied countries in respect of the raw 



materials of the more important textile trades, and 

 lays special emphasis on the exceptional and powerful 

 position which the British Empire holds with regard 

 to the production in particular of wool, jute, and the 

 finest qualities of cotton. The Committee is par- 

 ticularly insistent thai this position must be safe- 

 guarded by continuous and systematic scientifii re- 

 search on the raw materials to improve production 

 both in quality and yield. A striking illustration 

 is quoted to show how scientific sheep-breeding in 

 Australia has improved the quality of wool clipped 

 pei head; whilst special emphasis is laid on the urgenl 

 necessity * for the systematic and scientific stud) of 

 the growing of cotton. The fringe of this latter sub- 

 ject lias onlv just been touched, and there are immense 



possibilities in the production of cotton modified bj 

 tin grower to suit the user. 



immittee, moreover, advocates scientific re- 

 1 mi the fundamental principles underlying the 

 various manufacturing processes of the several textile 

 ' ■'" ind it is significant thai this Committee, 

 composed 1. ,,1 prominent manufacturers, em- 

 phasises so belief that such research will 

 stimulate h ienl and prosperity of the in- 

 dustries repn it. Three important lines of 

 inquii v an sugj ed : 



(1) Scientifii 1 ronnecticn with raw 



materials. 



(2) Scientific resean h . w in [he im- 

 provement of processes such as carbonising, carding, 

 spinning, weaving, dyeing, bleaching, printing, and 

 finishing. 



i;) Technical investigation with ird to the im- 



I in ul in. 11 hinei j 



-.1 l>v th, 1: •• ..1 

 War. 1918. 



The machinen and methods oi the present da\ are 

 adapted to suil He various types oi textile fibres com- 



monlj produced, but it is Considered thai scientific 



'li in connection with the raw materials will 

 evolve and s.iei 1 special types suited to the products 

 required, and that then the cultivation ed thesi types 

 mighl In encouraged. In manufactures the discover} 

 of the mercerising process oi cotton and the production 

 of artificial silk an quoted as instances to show that 

 greai improvements can he effected in existing pro- 



I esses and ill tile llisl ,i\ el j .,1 elllil el\ new I I] 



The ("ommitte, i. els unable to recommend the com- 

 pulsory adoption of the metric system at the present 

 time s ( i far as the textile trades .in- concerned. The 

 great British textile trades, more particularly the 

 cotton trade, are so predominanl in the world that 

 similar industries in other countries have had, in the 

 mam, to follow their lead and accept their technical 

 standards, whilst all the textile machinery used in this 

 country and supplied h\ British manufacturers to 

 foreign manufacturers is based upon British measures. 

 The yard is the standard of measuremenl for textile 

 goods in almost all the great markets of the East, of 

 the I nited States of America, and throughout the 

 British Empire, and the largei proportion of our tex- 

 tile export trade is done with non-metric countries. 

 In fail, ii is considered thai thi adoption of the metric 

 s\si.in can hi- brought about in this country, so far as 

 the textile trades arc: concerned, onlj with the full con- 

 currence and co-operation of the whole British Empire 



and th. t nited Stales of America. 



The report criticises tin British svsterh of technical 

 • mil .ui education, which, in the opinion of the Com- 

 mittee, has failed to supply the textile industries with 

 a sufficient number of highly trained workers and 

 managers. It is suggested indirectlj thai the Educa- 

 tion Act of 1902 is partly responsible for this, in that 

 the management of the majority of technical sihools 

 was then vested in municipal bodies, which are elected 

 for quite different purposes, and rarelv prove attrac- 

 tive to local manufacturers a drawback not corrected 

 by the co-option from outside tin- local education 

 authorities of manufacturers on school management 

 sub-committees. It is noteworthy that this' Com- 

 mittee, composed mainly of large employers, considers 

 that it is urgently necessary to awaken the employers 

 of the textile industrv to the valui of adequate educa- 

 tion, panic like h (1 f their highei staffs. R. 11. P. 



the Positie 

 is. \<i. nri 



NO. 2553 



IRISH SEA PLANKTONS 

 '"pill, importance of studying the common plankton 

 ■*■ organisms is shown by Prof. Herdman in his 

 'Spolia Runiana," where, basing his lesults on more 

 than ten years' systematic collecting and working oul of 

 standard plankton hauls in the Irish Sea. he points out 

 how the results depend mainly on the presence of onh a 

 lew genera ami species which appeal at certain seasmis 

 with great regularity and constitute the bulk of the 

 food supplj available in the sea. He therefore makes 

 a c.n. I'll analysis of the quantitative distribution of 

 1 In six commonest copepods as representative of Hie 

 zooplankton, each belonging i" a separate genus, ami 

 the seven commonest diatom genera as representative 

 of the- phvtoplankton, and the results show thai the 

 seasonal distribution of these forms i- remarkably con- 

 stant, I tins the diatoms have two maxima in the 

 year, the larger in soring, the lessei in autumn, the 

 copepods always increasing after .mil not with the 

 diatoms, sci trial their maximum is in the summer. 

 The dial. mi- an tlius the for, runners uf (lie small 



1 " Spolia Runiana." III. '• Distribution , if (Vrtnin Diatoms and Cope- 

 coda throughout the Year." By Prof. W. A. H,-,,lman. Journ. Linn. Soc 



■in:' 1 KXtV., p. 95, I9l8. 



