7 
} 
és 



May 19, 1923] 
Tue director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 
undoubtedly does a public service when he forces 
upon the attention of the House of Commons and the 
general public the undesirable results that may follow 
from the thoughtless lack of control of smoke pro- 
duction in neighbouring industrial suburbs. There 
‘can be no doubt that heavy deposits of soot such as 
are borne by the evergreens at Kew are clear indica- 
tion of atmospheric contamination which will markedy 
lower the vitality of the plants in the Gardens and in 
some cases may actually prevent their successful 
cultivation. When smoke particles are so numerous 
gaseous contamination with sulphurous acid is to be 
feared, and the evidence is conclusive that these acid 
impurities directly injure green foliage at the same 
time that their accumulation in the upper layers of 
the soil may injure root growth. The experimental 
Tesults obtained by Drs. Crowther and Ruston and 
their colleagues in the agricultural department of the 
_ University of Leeds have supplied convincing examples 
of the extreme consequences that may follow indus- 
trial pollution in an industrial area, and the Kew 
authorities are wise in directing public attention to 
the danger before it has reached more serious pro- 
portions. At present, probably the greatest damage 
arises at Kew from the deposits of dark-coloured 
tarry material upon the leaf surfaces cutting down 
the supply of light which reaches them and clogging 
the pores through which are carried on gas exchanges 
vital to their healthy existence. Apparently the 
atmospheric pollution at Kew can be traced in the 
main to the industrial area on the opposite side of the 
Thames, and it is to be hoped that, as a result of the 
_ action taken by the director of the Gardens and by 
_ the Coal Smoke Abatement Society, prompt steps 
_ will be taken to bring about a cessation of a nuisance 
- which, it must be emphasised, has frequently been 
shown to be capable of prompt control. 
ARRANGEMENTS have now been completed for the 
celebration of the centenary of Pasteur at Paris 
and Strasbourg. The programme is as follows :— 
At Paris on Thursday, May 24, there will be a 
reception by the President of the French Republic 
at the Elysée; on Friday, May 25, a visit will be 
paid to the Institut Pasteur and tomb, and in the 
afternoon there will be a ceremony at the Sorbonne 
under the presidency of the President of the Republic ; 
on Saturday, May 26, there will be a visit to the 
Ecole Normale, followed by a reception at the Hétel 
de Ville; on Sunday, May 27, a reception will be 
given by the Sociétésd’Amitiés Frangaisesa l’Etranger, 
and there will be a soirée at the Opera and at the 
Théatre Francais; on Monday, May 28, there will 
be a banquet at Versailles; and on Tuesday, May 
29, l'Institut de France is giving a garden-party at 
Chantilly. Thursday, May 31, will be spent at 
Strasbourg; the Pasteur monument will be un- 
veiled, and a banquet will be held at midday; in 
the afternoon a visit will be paid to the Palais du 
Rhin, and the Pasteur Museum and the Hygiene 
NO. 2794, VOL. 111] 
: NATURE 
IR ES 
factory solution. 
' that of neighbouring stations. 
679 
Current Topics and Events. 
Exhibition will be opened. The celebrations will 
‘conclude with a reception at the Hétel de Ville in 
‘Strasbourg. 
THE question of the deterioration of stonework in 
buildings is a matter of general economic importance. 
In the cases of our historic buildings and ancient 
monuments, prevention of the serious decay and 
gradual demolition of tooled surfaces and main struc- 
tures constitutes a special problem which has engaged 
the attention of many investigators for a considerable 
time without, however, finding any generally satis- 
The investigation involved is very 
complex and needs to be approached from different 
angles with the help of wide scientific knowledge. 
Accordingly, it has been decided to set up under the 
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research a 
special committee of the Building Research Board to 
report on the best methods by which decay in building- 
Stones, especially in ancient structures, may be pre- 
vented or arrested. The following committee has 
been appointed: Sir Aston Webb (Chairman), Mr. 
R. J. Allison, Prof. C. H. Desch, Mr. A. W. Heasman, 
Mr. J. A. Howe, Sir Herbert Jackson, Dr. Alexander 
Scott, and Mr. H. O. Weller. All communications 
should be addressed to the Secretary, Department of 
Scientific and Industrial Research, 16 Old Queen 
Street, S.W.1. 
PRACTICAL broadcasting was discussed at an infor- 
mal meeting of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 
on April 23. Mr. Shaughnessy, of the Post Office, 
in opening the discussion, pointed out that in America 
official reports are calling for a radical change in 
present arrangements so as to remedy the existing 
confusion. The problem for the British authorities 
is how best to serve the potential listeners in Great 
Britain, the number of whom he estimated at about 
two millions. The amateur experimenters are in a 
very small minority. The possible alternatives are 
(1) a super-station, (2) a number of broadcasting 
stations of medium power, and (3) any number of 
irresponsible stations. The method adopted has been 
to form eight areas, each served by a medium power- 
station, the wave-length of each station being as 
different as possible within the prescribed limits from 
They had been placed 
at the centres of thickly populated districts, for this is 
the justification for a popular entertainment. There 
is no easy way of detecting those who have circuits 
which interfere with the general distribution. The 
average listener wants to select his programme, but 
if he is too near a broadcasting station it is very 
difficult to tune it out. Those who are some distance 
away from a station have a much better chance of 
picking up the programmes given by several stations. 
The tendency at present is to send out sounds which 
can be readily heard on the cheapest type of crystal 
set. The general opinion was that it was advisable 
to encourage the use of the best apparatus, 
