Marcu 24, 1904] 
NATURE 
491 
is the training of the specialist officer in the Japanese 
Navy. He is encouraged to specialise according to the 
bent of his mind, whether in gunnery, torpedo or navi- 
gation, but apart from the special course in those sub- 
jects which he has to go through, each officer has to 
take up several other subjects not immediately bearing 
upon the one in which he is to be strongest. Here 
again are points to be studied and thought over, for it 
is certain that until very recently our specialist officers 
have been kept too much ina groove. The gunner has 
* Stuclx to his linstock,’’ the ‘‘ timonnier to his helm,”’ 
and though either might easily be called to do the 
other’s duty, they have seldom if ever changed duties 
and thus obtained experience. 
As rewards to specialist officers, the Japanese give 
the more important positions and earlier promotion, 
but no extra pay. We give extra pay but no earlier 
promotion; nevertheless, their expert knowledge bears 
fruit when selections are made for certain higher posts 
of the service. 
With the personnel at our disposal, and a naval 
administration which does not hesitate to throw down 
the barriers of prejudice standing in the way of sound | 
progress, may we not look to doing ‘‘ one better ’’ than 
any competitor in the naval world? The answer is, 
Yes, if the voice of science is clearly heard in its proper 
place. 
THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY. 
ape report of the National Physical Laboratory for 
the year 1903, which was submitted to the Board 
working, and shows that very satisfactory progress is 
being made. 
side the laboratory is in need of further support, even 
if it is only to continue to work as at present, whereas | 
it is eminently desirable that the work should be widely 
It is clear, however, that on the financial | 
If we turn, however, from these financial consider- 
ations to the technical parts of the report, we find 
nothing to cause dissatisfaction, but, on the contrary, a 
record of very valuable work accomplished. The 
laboratory has a double function to perform; it has to 
carry out tests, measurements and standardisations for 
the public, and it has also to undertake research work, 
often of a very difficult character, in connection with 
these measurements. Many of the tests which the 
laboratory is asked to make are, as a matter of fact, 
researches in themselves; some of these are quoted in 
| the report, and we may mention, as an example, a 
series of comparative tests on the materials used for 
lagging steam pipes. But apart from these there is 
a vast amount of experimental work to be done in con- 
nection with the fixing and reproduction of primary 
standards of all sorts, and it is very gratifying to see 
that attention is being given to these questions in a 
manner which gives promise of excellent results in the 
near future. We cannot refer to all the work of this 
kind which has been undertaken at the laboratory but 
may mention a few typical examples. 
Experiments have been carried out on the mercury 
| standard of electrical resistance, eleven resistance tubes 
extended so that the laboratory can undertake to carry | 
out a number of tests for which there is a demand, and 
which it is now obliged to refuse. These will in many 
cases necessitate a considerable increase in the equip- 
ment, which is at present very inadequate in many 
branches, and naturally also an increase in the annual 
expenditure, which will be only partially recouped by 
the fees derived from the tests carried out. It is also 
pointed out in the report that the staff is not large 
enough, and that the income should be sufficient to 
allow of higher salaries being paid to the assistants, 
as those which are at present paid are not liberal 
enough to secure the permanence of the services of 
men of the necessary ability. 
The net result of last year’s working was a loss of 
a little more than tool., the receipts being, in round 
figures, 10,200l1., and the expenditure 10,3061. The 
president and council of the Royal Society have been 
in communication with the Treasury, and it has been 
arranged that the grant of 4oool. shall be continued 
for another year (until April, 1905), and also that a | 
scheme for the future working shall be drawn up by 
the executive committee for the consideration of the 
Treasury. It is earnestly to be hoped that satisfactory 
arrangements will be made, and that the very valuable 
work which the laboratory can perform in the future | 
will not be crippled for want of funds. It is interesting 
to compare the Government grants to similar institu- | 
tions abroad which are stated in the report. The 
Reichsanstalt alone enjoys a grant of 16,o00l., the total 
grant to the various departments at Charlottenburg 
doing the same work as the National Physical Labor- 
atory being 40,0001. In America the grant to the 
Standards Bureau is 19,o00l., and in France the 
Laboratoire d’Essais had a grant of 550ol. for its first 
year’s working. 
NO. 1795, VOL. 69] 
having been constructed by Mr. Smith. The results 
of the measurements made with these tubes show that 
they agree among themselves to about 3 parts in 
100,000, and that the final result agrees with that of 
the Reichsanstalt to about 1 part in 100,000. Experi- 
ments on the standard (Clark) cell have shown that 
impurities left in the mercurous sulphate have a con- 
| siderable effect on the value of the electromotive force ; 
last Friday, is the first report covering a full year’s | 
it is hoped that a standard method of purification lead- 
ing to consistent results will eventually be obtained ; 
at present it is stated that the general result of the 
worl carried out and the tests on cells submitted for 
standardisation show that the Clark cell cannot be 
regarded as a trustworthy standard. The laboratory 
has also under construction a standard ampere balance, 
and when this is completed a Lorenz machine, to be 
presented by the Drapers’ Company, can be taken in 
hand. The laboratory will thus in time be in a posi- 
tion to give final authoritative determinations of the 
three fundamental electrical units. 
As typifying research work of a somewhat different 
character, we may refer to the work which the labor- 
atory is doing in connection with photometry. This 
is a subject in which the only standard we possess— 
the pentane lamp—is at best only a secondary standard, 
and one of a very unsatisfactory character. Worl is 
being carried out in connection with the variation of 
this standard with the barometric pressure, and with 
the amount of carbonic acid and water vapour present 
in the air. The result of these researches may lead to. 
a more accurate definition of the conditions for using 
the pentane lamp, but the laboratory also proposes to 
undertake experiments on some more definite standard, 
such as the radiation from a square centimetre of 
glowing platinum or from a perfectly black body at 
a definite temperature, which may lead to the establish- 
ment of a standard which can be regarded more as a 
primary standard. It is to be noted that the laboratory 
is using large bulb electric lamps as secondary 
standards, and it is probable that these will prove 
more satisfactory than the pentane lamp, especially as 
a standard which requires a chemical analysis of the 
atmosphere every time it is used will not be very 
practicable. Another research of very great practical 
importance, which is being carried out by Dr. Harker, 
is the investigation of the various methods of 
measuring high temperatures; an examination has 
already been made of the relative merits and 
accuracy of the different methods available for measure- 
ments up to 11009 C., the results of which have 
