628 
assistance was given whole-heartedly, and that the 
soldiers had the full advantage of the high general 
standard of civil sanitary administration in this 
country. Furthermore, the Army Sanitary Officers 
were recruited from the ranks of medical officers of 
health. To these facts, to the excellent Army medical 
organisation, to the Army schools of instruction in 
hygiene, and to the fact that the sanitary lessons of 
the South African War had been learnt, we must 
attribute the relative freedom from intestinal infections 
during the Great War. The investigations made during 
the War have advanced our medical and hygienic 
knowledge, and thus the Army will be able to repay its 
indebtedness to civilian sanitarians by adding to our 
means of preventing disease in the ordinary course of 
civilian life. 

. Radiophones. 
(1) Radio Phone Receiving: a Practical Book for 
Everybody. Edited by Prof. Erich Hausmann. 
Pp. viit183+14 plates. (London, Bombay and 
Sydney: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1922.) gs. net. 
(2) Direction and Position Finding by Wireless. By 
R. Keen. Pp. xix+376. (London: The Wireless 
Press, Ltd. ; New York: Wireless Press, Inc., 1922.) 
Qs. 
(3) Wireless: Popular and Concise. By Lt.-Col. 
C. G. Chetwode Crawley. Pp. 92+8 plates. 
(London : Hutchinson and Co., n.d.) 1s. 6d. net. 
(4) The Wireless Telephone: What it is, and How 
it Works (including Directions for Building a Simple 
Receiver for Wireless Telephone Broadcasts). By 
P. R. Coursey. Pp. vit+113. (London: The Wire- 
less Press, Ltd.; New York: Wireless Press, Inc., 
1922.) 2s. 6d. 
(5) Crystal Receivers for Broadcast Reception. By 
P. W. Harris. Pp. 75. (London: The Wireless 
Press, Ltd.; New York: Wireless Press, Inc., 
1922.) 1s. 6d. 
(6) Mast and Aerial Construction for Amateurs : 
Together with the Method of Erection and other Useful 
Information. By F. J. Ainsley. Pp. 82. (London : 
The Wireless Press, Ltd.; New York: Wireless 
Press, Inc., 1922.) 1s. 6d. 
(7) The Perry Auto-Time Morse System: an Aid to 
the Rapid Acquirement of Speed in the Transmission 
and Reception of the Morse Code. By ¥. W. Perry. 
Pp. 16. (London: The Wireless Press, Ltd. ; 
New York: Wireless Press, Inc., 1922.) 6d. 
A. CONSTANT struggle has been going on for the 
. last ten years between the users of the adjectives 
* and “radio.” It is hoped that the ques- 
tion will be solved by international agreement. In 
NO. 2793, VOL. 111] 
“* wireless 
NATURE 

[May 12, 1923 
America “radio” is in general use, but in thiscountry 
it is probable that “wireless” will be used by many 
experts for several years to come. 
stood why authors who have written books on “ wire-— 
less” should be loath to change, but that they should — 
have a strong following seems odd. In our opinion, — 
“radiophone”’ is a suitable contraction for “ radio- 
telephone,’ and “radiophone communication” is — 
better than ‘‘ wireless telephone communication.” 
Whether we like it or not, there is no doubt that 
listening to radio broadcasting has become an every- 
day incident in many households. Until about 
November 1920 practically the only use of radio- 
communication was for signalling between pairs of 
stations. That a message sent out from a station 
could be heard simultaneously at many others was — 
generally regarded as an inherent drawback to this 
system of communication, except in the case of a ship — 
in distress on the sea. In the United States radio- 
phone broadcasting began with news items and phono- 
graph music. 
having your own phonograph. You had to be content — 
with a record chosen by somebody else, at a time which 
he thought best. The stations now send out vocal 
and instrumental music, time-signals, accounts of — 
sporting contests, weather and stock-exchange reports, 
and so on. If broadcasting is to be a success, the 
programmes have to be good from both the recreational 
and educational points of view. The quality of the 
speech and music reproduced by the radiophones or 
the loud-speaking telephone must surpass the per- 
formance of a gramophone. The programmes must 
be sent out daily at definite times and with absolute 
punctuality. Lastly, inexpensive and easily operated — 
receiving apparatus must be readily procurable. 
A development which will probably take place in the 
immediate future is the simultaneous transmission of 
different programmes. This can easily be done by 
using different wave-lengths. The element of choice 
will certainly make the broadcasting more attractive. 
From the programmes published in America we learn 
that the radiophone “ cheers the hospitals,” brings 
“church services to the home-bound” and “ enter- 
tainment and news to the isolated.’ A claim is also 
made that radio broadcasting tends towards greater 
national and international harmony. 
On the other hand, Mr. Perry in the preface to (7) 
advises every one to learn the Morse Code so as to 
listen-in to radio-telegraphic messages, which, he says, 
is far more interesting than broadcast radiophone 
concerts. In his opinion the constantly changing 
personal messages sent out “open up a vast field of 
interest, amusement, and knowledge.” His book is 
to help the reader “to maintain a healthy interest 
It is easily under- _ 
The latter item was not so good as — 
A 
at aie ad 

