166 
NATURE 
[FeBruary 3,-1923 

to study the fundamental properties of single cotton 
hairs, the existing data being very scanty; the 
Photographic Research Association is investigating 
the properties of silver haloids and gelatin; the 
Portland Cement Research Association is endeavour- 
ing to ascertain the exact nature of the compounds 
constituting Portland cement; and the perfection 
of an abrasive and a polishing powder by the Scientific 
Instrument Research Association followed an in- 
vestigation of the primary phenomena of grinding 
and polishing. 
Two interesting examples of the interplay of 
“pure”? and “‘ industrial’’ research are given. On 
one hand, the knowledge gained by an investiga- 
tion into the fundamental physiology of living and 
dead food-stuffs has cleared up the mystery of the 


‘‘ brown-heart’”’ of apples, which has caused severe 
losses in shipments from Australia. The “ disease ”’ 
has been attributed to insect injury in the orchards, 
but is now known to be due to the effect of the carbon 
dioxide engendered by the fruit itself in the badly 
ventilated holds of the ships., On the other hand, 
the study of the structure of coke at the Fuel Research 
Station has led to the conclusion that carbon in this 
form is a vitreous substance of great hardness, which 
profoundly affects the problem of the allotropy of 
this element. Some of the results obtained were 
described in NATURE of January 27, p. 133. 
The industrial research associations are com- 
paratively young bodies, but such as have already 
issued reports on investigations undertaken have 
given ample justification for their existence. 

The Gold Coast Survey. 
‘THE Survey Department of the Gold Coast, which 
was closed during the war, was reopened in 
1920 by the present Governor, Sir F. G. Guggisberg, 
who had formerly initiated the survey of a consider- 
able portion of Nigeria. The long cessation of survey 

warp and split the woodwork of boxes, instruments, 
and tent-poles. The surveyors, of course, have to face 
malaria and other forms of sickness. 
An important part of the new Survey Department 
is the Survey School at Odumase for the training of 
Fic. 1.—A field survey camp on the march. 
work on the Gold Coast had left matters in a back- 
ward state. To cope with immediate needs the de- 
partment was strengthened, and it is believed that 
by 1924 the lost ground will have been regained and 
the country will be provided with a modern survey 
department. Lieut.-Col. R. H. Rowe is in charge of 
the new department, with Maj. G. H. Bell at the 
head of the field- work. The survey parties are 
organised in three sections which refit in England 
from July to September, when they leave for the 
Gold Coast in order to take full advantage of the 
“dry ’’ season. Each section is divided into several 
completely equipped “‘ field camps,”’ under European 
surveyors. 
The country that has been surveyed during the last 
two field seasons has been mainly dense tropical 
forest, presenting great difficulties to the surveyor. 
Lines must often be cut through the forest in order 
to reveal the surface features. Even in the dry 
season there are climatic difficulties. From December 
to March the harmattan frequently occurs and ob- 
scures the vision. At other times the dry winds 
NO. 2779, VOL. 111] 

native surveyors. A three years’ course in the school, 
followed by four years’ service with the Government, 
qualifies a native to start in private practice. There 
are apparently good openings in this profession for 
African surveyors. 
In addition to the Topographical branch of the 
survey there are two others—the Cadastral and the 
Records and Reproduction branches. In the Cadas- 
tral branch a great deal of work on land surveys and 
town plans has been done. The Records branch is 
gathering material for gazetteers and handbooks of 
the country, and the Reproduction section is engaged 
in printing road-maps, statistical maps, and diagrams. 
The topographical sheets of the survey on a scale of 
1 to 125,000 are not being printed in the colony, but 
by Messrs. W. and A. K. Johnston (see NATURE, 
November 11, p. 647), to whose courtesy we owe the 
accompanying illustration (Fig. 1). About 15,000 
square miles have already been surveyed, and it is 
expected that the present season’s field-work will 
practically complete the maps of the Gold Coast 
Colony itself and also a large area in Ashanti. 

