FEBRUARY I, I917| 
NATURE 
437 
come welling out from beneath the sea and from rocks 
on the shore in most of the bathing-places and else- 
where. Some difference of opinion exists as to the 
condition of the underground waters in such districts, 
in particular as to the existence of subterranean 
basins filled with water up to a certain level as distinct 
from underground rivers, and Dr. De Marchi dis- 
cusses Grund’s views in this connection. There is in 
southern Italy another Karst region in the arid por- 
tions of Puglia, but in this case the fissures are much 
smaller, and the author here finds conditions under 
ag the bed of water is not much above the sea- 
evel, 
Mr. A. GRANGER, the chief inspector of weights and 
measures for Birmingham, has written a pamphlet 
entitled ‘‘Our Weights and Measures ’’ (published by 
Messrs, Eyre and Spottiswoode, price 6d.), suggesting 
certain modifications of the imperial system of weights 
and measures with a view to its simplification. He 
appears to be of opimion that such a radical change 
as the displacement of our weights and measures by 
the metric system is not practicable, and his plan is 
to modify the present system so as to make it as 
convenient and rational as possible. His proposal 
involves the introduction of a new pound weight equal 
te half a kilogram, which for all ordinary purposes 
means an increase of the present pound by to per 
cent., and a new gallon, also 10 per cent. greater 
than the present one, practically equivalent to 5 litres, 
or 4 dekalitre. This would not disturb the plan of the 
imperial system; for example, the legal definition of 
the gallon as containing ten imperial pounds of dis- 
tilled water would still hold good. His idea is in- 
genious, but it seems probable that if any change is 
effected in our weights and measures it will be in the 
direction of adopting:the metric system in its entirety, 
rather than modifying the present imperial units, 
THE investigation which M, Guillaume, of the 
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, Paris, 
has been conducting into the changes undergone by 
steels used as length standards has shown results of 
interest to engineers and scientific workers (La Nature, 
January 6). Briefly summarised, his conclusions are 
as follows :—The most important point in connection 
with the use of steels in the tempered state for the 
preparation of standards of length is that of the 
“ stabilisation”’ of the steel. It may be said generally 
that between o° and 100° C. the transitory variation 
in length (like that in glass or in the nickel-steels) 
is proportional to the square of the temperature. With 
stoving carried to a high limit of duration, the totat 
variation between o° and 100° C, is about 5 microns. 
At ordinary temperatures this variation is only of the 
order of a small fraction of a micron per metre length. 
For tempered steels stoved for only a short time, the 
transitory variation is much greater. To conclude: 
as regards tempered carbon-steels, the variations of all 
kinds before stoving are appreciable and rapid, but 
can be so minimised as to cease to be prejudicial to 
the use of such steels for industrial end standards. 
Tue Times Engineering Supplement for January 26 
is the annual review number, and contains much 
interesting matter relating to the progress of engineer- 
ing in 1916. Experience has accumulated during the 
past year regarding the features of ship-construction 
which are calculated to enable a ship to remain afloat 
after torpedo or gunfire attack. Longitudinal sub- 
division, while practicable in warships at great cost, 
is impracticable in an ordinary cargo vessel, and it is 
considered doubtful whether transverse water-tight 
subdivision would enable a cargo ship to resist torpedo 
attack. Wihile merchant vessels can be greatly im- 
proved to protect them from torpedo attack, considera- 
No. 2466, VoL. 98] 
tions of design, economy of construction, and carrying 
and earning power make it preferable to arm the ship. 
This is the course which will probably be adopted in 
the new tonnage now building. In America, owing 
to the enormous demands on the steel industry, it has 
been found impossible to keep abreast with the 
demand for shipbuilding material. This has led to 
a revival of wooden shipbuilding, and a number of 
wooden hulls are now being constructed in the Seattle 
district and at various points on the Pacific Coast. 
Tue South African Journal of Science for October, 
Ig16, contains a report of the address to Section B. 
(Chemistry, Geology, Metallurgy, Mineralogy, and 
Geography) of the South African Association for the 
Advancement of Science by the president of the sec- 
tion, Prof. J. A. Wilkinson. The address deals with 
two general questions: first, the organisation of the 
South African Union for the fuller development of its. 
industries and resources, and, secondly, the necessity 
of research in order to develop existing industries and 
establish new ones. Dealing with the first question,. 
Prof. Wilkinson points out_that hitherto South Africa 
has existed on its raw materials, which are exported 
whilst articles manufactured from them are imported 
He gives a long list of imported articles, the most 
important being coal products, earthenware, glass, 
cement, condensed milk, paper, sugar products, oils,. 
fats, and waxes, and medicinal preparations which 
could be manufactured from the natural resources of 
the colony. Some of these are, in fact, manufactured 
there, but the quality is not so good as that of the 
imported articles, and this is stated to be due to the 
lack of effective chemical control lin the industries. 
It is urged that South Africa is not sufficiently self- 
contained, and that the necessity of establishing 
chemical industries with chemists, not merely 
engineers and business men, in control is vital. With 
regard to the second question, the position of the 
tannin bark industry of Natal now (tannin was syn- 
thesised by E. Fischer and K. Freudenberg in 1913): 
is compared with that of the natural indigo industry 
in 1880, when indigo had been synthesised in the 
laboratory, but the long period of development which 
made it a commercial success was only beginning. 
It is argued that had as much time and money been 
spent on the scientific investigation of natural indigo 
as were spent on the synthetic dye, the vegetable 
product would have been placed beyond competition. 
The lesson afforded by indigo should be applied to the 
case of tannin. Prof. Wilkinson considers that the 
prime mover in research must be the State, and sub- 
mits a comprehensive scheme for its inception and 
organisation. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Comer 1916b (Wotr).—The following ephemeris of 
this comet, for Greenwich midnight, is given by Dr. 
Berberich in Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4870 :— 
R.A. Decl Log A Bright- 
ey Te S : . ness 
Feb. 2 17 9° 0 =5) 1 Bea 0-4406 10'5 
10 Abe 26 5 4 19:9 0-4182 12-3 
18 aol EAs 36 3 27:0 03951 145 
26 hetateate SR ere a 2 22°1 0°3716 17-0 
Mar. 6 fac 19 48 sri oh “3476 20-1 
14 ba 38 2 +0 2355 0:3235 23:8 
22 ae IGT 28 2 4:0 0:2995 28-1 
30 19°16 34° 3) 55:T > 02758-3371 
The brightness is expressed in terms of the bright- 
ness at the time of discovery, 1916, April 3. It is 
probable that the comet will become a naked-eye object 
during the summer. 
