[axuary 23. 19 ig 



NATURE 



4'3 



No German glass is used, and during thi 

 a considerable amount ol excellent optical glass has 

 made by the range-finder manufacturers them- 



Mr. John' Murr iy's in 



.vino forthcoming books: "Travels 

 in Egypt and Mesopotamia in Search of Antiquities, 



1913," Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge, 2 vols., illus- 

 trated, in which i- given the sti 1 luthor's mis- 

 sions i" Egypt, thi Great Oasis, and Mesopotamia, the 

 result! ivat'tons at Acevan and Nineveh and 

 a, and particulars of the excavations 

 in Assyria and Babylonia from [782 to 1913; a new 

 and revised edition of "Heredity," Prof. J. Arthur 

 Thomson, illustrated; "The Adventure of Lit'-." Major 

 K. W. McKenna, R.A.M.C., dealing vvitM the question 

 of the origin of 1 i f * - . and showing thai, in tin' develop- 

 ment of higher form-, and the "survival of the fittest," 

 intelligence, and not brute strength, has been the 

 dominating factor; and "Hints to Farm Pupils," by 

 I Walford Lloyd, tin aim of which is to put in con- 



terms tin- most important features of farming 

 which a pupil must master. The volume will contain 

 tnal "Calendar of Farm Work." 



OUR ASTRONOMIC !/ COLUMN. 



'I'm Comei [786 II. ["his cornel is of interest as 

 being iIt lirsi of the ■ :ighi comets discovered b) Mis-. 

 Caroline Hterschel. M was observed for eighty-two 

 days, being visible to the naked eye for a fortnight. 

 Ih. observers wen Maskelyne (Greenwich), Wol- 

 (Chislehurst), Mechahi and Messier (Paris), 

 .,n. I Reggio and Cesaris (Milan). Miss Margaret 

 Palmer, who has made a. re-investigation of the orbil 

 urn., No. 7441, finds the following ellipse as 

 the most probable orbit : — 



T = 1786 July 7 '91^59 Berlin M.T. 

 °> =324' 5/ 59"23 I 

 &=!94 : 27' n-37" 17S60 



' = 5°* 55' 5'97'J 

 log q =9-6128774 



log* =9-9995992 

 Period = 9373 years. 



Ih. observations are fairh satisfied bj orbits 

 from an ellipse with period 3300 years to a parabola. 

 Perturbations by Mercury, Venus, the earth, and 

 Jupiter have been applied. 



Parallax 01 1111 Barnard Star.— Astr. Nach. 

 71) contains a determination of the parallax 

 ..f this star, made h\ photograph} al Pulkova b} Dr. 

 S. Kostinsky. He finds 0-622" ±0-022", a larger value 

 than those found in America, which group themselves 

 II.. yivis f, jr ih.- proper motion in 

 R.A. 00438s., in d :<>"■ Place at 1 poi h 



1017-47.; 17I1. 53m. 46-4565., +4 C -7' 57^ s " (equinox 

 of 1917-0). Photographic magnitude, ro-6.; photo- 

 visual (with yellow filter), 9-4. 



THE BRITISH SCIENCE Gl II. I> AND ITS 

 EXHIBITIONS. 



AT a dinner given al Prim, s' Restaurant on 

 January 15 several speeches were made con- 

 cerning the results of the British Scientific Products 

 Exhibition held by the British Scieno Guild in Angus: 

 embei last, and also the work of the guild 

 f..r the advancement of science and its application 

 to industry. 



102] 



Ih. Marquess of Crewe, president of the exhibition 

 committee, was in the chair. After the usual I.e. al 



toasts he proposed "Th< British Scii uild," 



alluding to the valuabli ,[ work which it 



had conducted sine.- its foundation in [905. The war 

 had brought home to everyone the value of scientific 

 in. thod and knowledge, not only as a weapon in war, 

 but also in industry and education. In these respects 

 our adversarj Germany had truly eaten ol thi tn 

 knowledge, but that fruit had turned to poison because 



of the spirit in which it was eaten. Our task must be 



to dissociate science from this disastrous spirit, a. 

 show that the proper applications of science, pursued 



with reverence and humanity, added immensely to 

 the happiness ol mankind. The guild had pursued 

 two main objects, which were, however, , :. 

 related, li desired, first, to secure fuller attention to 

 science in the general education of youth. While a 

 sound general education was necessary as a pre- 

 liminary to technical specialisation, this general educa- 

 tion should contain a fair proportion of scientific- 

 studies. 'The s.cond object of the guild was to pro- 

 mote the higher branches of scientific research and to 

 encourage their application to industry. As the 

 Minister who brought into being the Department of 

 Scientific and Industrial Research, he observed with 

 pleasure the closer relations being established between 

 science- and industry and the growing recognition of 

 the benefits of industrial research — results which were 

 due, in a large measure, to the influence of the British 

 Si i. ia e < .uild. The exhibition had proved a wonderful 

 revelation of the possibilities of science. He hoped 

 that it would be a permanent feature in the industrial 

 life of ih. country, and that in future the guild would 

 continue to flourish and play its part in the advance- 

 ment of learning and science. 



Lord Sydenham, who replied on behalf of the British 

 Science Guild, referred to some of the difficulties en- 

 countered at the outbreak of war. For a long time 

 we were dependent upon improvisation for articles 

 urgently needed by the Army, Navy, and Air Service, 

 and it was due to the efforts of British men of science 

 that these needs had been met. Lord Sydenham pro- 

 ceeded to mention various instances of discoveries 

 made in this country but afterwards developed abroad. 

 Perkin's discoveries in relation to dyes furnished a 

 well-known example. Helium gas was first discovered 

 in the sun by Sir Norman Lockyer, and twenty-six 

 • us later was identified on the earth by the late Sir 

 William Ramsay, these two distinguished men b( ing 

 the founders of the guild. The Americans are now 

 producing it in large quantities as a non-inflammable 

 gas foi ih. inflation of airships. The British Science 

 Guild aimed at the co-ordination of science, education, 

 and industry. The British Scientific Products Exhibi- 

 tion had shown what British men of science could do. 

 Another exhibition on a larger scale was planned for 

 the present year. In the difficult reconstruction period 

 science and scientific methods of direction in the 

 Government could do a great deal to recreate national 

 ul provide happier and healthier conditions 



of life. 



Mr. F G Kellaway, M. P., Parliamentary Seen 

 Ministry of Munitions, in proposing "The Exhibitions 

 of 1918 and I'll..." said that events during the war 

 had aptl\ illustrated the romance of applied sci< 

 Experience belied the idea that John Bull was a 

 sluggish .an! lethargic person. It would be fitter to 

 -1 riplion uttered by Milton two bundled 

 and fiff. years ago: "A nation that is not slow and 

 dull, but a quick, ingenious, searching spirit, acute 

 at invention." In proof of this he would mention 

 two inventions relating to defence against hostile air- 



