5'4 



NA TURE 



[March 29, 1906 



Huddleston, Birnham, and Mojsisoviks. The quota- 

 1 ion from Tennyson on p. 233 has got astray, mainly 

 in punctuation. 



In conclusion, we would ask attention to the re- 

 markable tour de force, or rather lour d'esprit, en- 

 titled " The Influence of Oxford on the History of 

 ( ieology " (p. 219). In this. Plot's work as a " critic " 

 is compared with that of Steno as a "prophet"; 

 Kidd, an Oxford chemist, appears to be regarded as 

 having furnished a serviceable brake to the wheels of 

 Button's chariot; while Buckland's abandonment of 

 the Noachian deluge as a geological factor, only 

 to accept several deluges in place of it, is held up as 

 a claim upon our gratitude. Hen- we think we see 

 Prof. Sollas revelling in his mission as an artist; 

 yet he paints far too frankly, and has no desire to 

 deceive us. The pigments have been made in an 



to the great loss the laboratory had sustained by the 

 deaths of Sir E. Carbutt and Sir B. Samuelson. 



The report of the executive committee for 1905 was 

 presented and approved for presentation to the Royal 

 Society on the motion of Sir J. Wolfe Barry, seconded 

 by Mr. David Howard. The scheme of work for 1906 

 was also approved. The report showed progress in all 

 directions. 



Some fourteen scientific papers of importance have 

 been published officially, while members of the staff 

 have contributed nine others to various journals. 



The second volume of "Collected Papers" is in 

 course of preparation. The scheme of work for rgo6 

 includes a research into the resistance of materials oi 

 construction to impact, the continuation of the wind 

 pressure and steam researches, the completion of the 

 work with the Ampere balance, and some experiments 



-The Sella Mass, Tyrol, the 



; of a supposed ; 



oral atoll. (From "The Age of the Earth, and other Geological Stud 



ancient university; but we see right through the 

 picture. We still prefer what we may consider as the 

 first draft of this address, a modest pamphlet issued 

 in Bristol in 1883, in which stress is laid on the pro- 

 gress of geological thought rather than on the bene- 

 fits to be derived from its academic retardation. 



THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY. 

 'pHE annual meeting of the general board of the 



*■ National Physical Laboratory was held at Bushy 

 House on Friday, March 16. There were present, in 

 addition to the chairman, Lord Rayleigh, the follow- 

 ing among others : — Sir John Wolfe Barry, Mr. 

 Beilby, Mr. Kempe, Mr. R. K. Graye, Colonel 

 Crompton, Mr. Hadfield, Mr. Gavey, and Mr. 

 Howard. 



In opening the proceedings, Lord Rayleigh referred 



NO. I90O, VOL 73] 



of great interest on the effect of the continued appli- 

 cation of high pressure to insulators. In the metal- 

 lurgical division a research into the properties of 

 aluminium bronze promises interesting results. 



The report announced the intention of the Govern- 

 ment, communicated to the Royal Society in December 

 last, to grant a sum of 5000/. for buildings during the 

 year, and the increase of the annual grant by 500?. 

 It referred also to the very successful meeting in the 

 House of Commons last August, under the chairman- 

 ship of Mr. Haldane, which led up to a petition, 

 signed by 150 members of the House, asking that the 

 grants should be increased, and the chairman was able 

 to announce that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had 

 recently intimated his intention of making the building 

 grant for the vear 10,000?. instead of 5000Z. , as 

 originally contemplated. We are able to add that this 

 increase was largely due to an appeal to the Chan- 



