!\Iarch 27, 1902] 



NA TURE 



487 



the gardens of the Royal Botanic Society, Regent's Park, on 

 July 23 and following days ? It will be open to colleges and 

 schools of every grade, and the exhibits will include all that 

 bears upon Nature-study. Happily the project has secured very 

 inSuential support, and has aroused considerable interest. 



Sir John Cockburn, K.C.M.G., is chairman of the executive 

 committee, and Mr. Charles Savile Roundell, of 7 Sussex 

 Square, Brighton, is hon. treasurer. 



I shall be happy to furnish full particulars, or to meet anyone, 

 who may wish to see me personally, at any time by appoint- 

 ment either at the Botanic (iardens or in St. James's Street, 

 S.W. John C. Medd 



(Hon. Sec. pro lent.). 



Stratton, near Cirencester, March 19. 



Sounds associated with Low Temperatures. 



The accompanying extract from a letter recently received 

 from Norwich raises a question that I cannot answer. I have 

 never experienced the fact named. Have any of your corre- 

 spondents ever done so ? W. H. Preece. 



" On February 18 the temperature went down to zero here. 

 As my son walked about the sheds, he was struck by the 

 whistling noise the ground made, which he says he has noticed 

 each time such an extremely low temperature has occurred, and 

 he reminded me how we had once noticed it together a great 

 many years ago. Now what makes that whistling, and does it 

 always accompany a zero frost ? " 



Proofs of Euclid I. 5. 



I REGRET that in my letter of March 13 (p. 439, line 4) the 

 letters A, B were inadvertently used by me instead of B, C. 



I have tried Mr. Croome-Smith's proof (Nature, March 20, 

 p. 466) on a class of beginners, but it is difficult to convince 

 them that, in the words of the professional conjurer, " there is 

 no deception." 



A non-mathematical friend has just written, pointing out that 

 so long as we define a square as a four-sided figure having all its 

 sides equal and all its angles right angles, it is somewhat in- 

 consistent to trouble the beginner with proving properties of an 

 isosceles triangle the truth of which he can readily see for 

 himself at a glance. Either we should make him prove the 

 properties of a square or we might just as well define an 

 isosceles triangle as a triangle having two sides equal, and the 

 angles opposite these sides equal. G. H. Bryan. 



THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY. 



'TPHE Prince of Wales, who was accompanied by the 

 *■ Princess, formally opened the National Physical 

 Laboratory on March 19, in the presence of a distin- 

 guished company of men of science and others interested 

 in national progress. In declaring the laboratory open, 

 His Royal Highness said : — 



I am glad that my first duty as a Fellow of the Royal Society 

 should be to join with my distinguished brethren in opening 

 this institution, the direction and administration of which have 

 been entrusted to the Society by the Government. It is also 

 a great pleasure to assist in the inauguration of what may fairly be 

 called a new departure, for I believe that in the National Physical 

 Laboratory we have almost the first instance of the State taking 

 part in scientific research. The object of the scheme is, I 

 understand, to bring scientific knowledge to bear practically 

 upon our everyday industrial and commercial life, to break 

 down the barrier between theory and practice, to effect a union 

 between science and commerce. This afternoon's ceremony is 

 not merely a meeting of the representatives of an ancient and 

 world-renowned scientific society for the purpose of taking over 

 a new theatre of investigation and research. Is it not more 

 than this ? Does it not show in a very practical way that the 

 nation is beginning to recognise that if her commercial supremacy 

 is to be maintained greater facilities must be given for furthering 

 the application of science to commerce and manufacture? In 

 the profession to which I am proud to belong there are, per- 

 haps, special opportunities of gaining a certain insight into the 

 general trade and commerce of the world and of comparing the 



NO. 1 69 1, VOL. 65] 



commercial vitality of the different countries. And certainly 

 abroad one finds an existing impression, which was confirmed 

 by the experience of my recent and interesting colonial tour, that 

 the superior technical and scientific knowledge of our foreign 

 competitors is one reason why our hitherto preeminent position 

 in manufactures and commerce is so considerably threatened. 

 As a simple example I may quote the opinion of an expert 

 authority in Australia, that the aniline dyes of Germany had 

 given to a certain class of German-made goods a decided 

 superiority over those of British manufacture. In Germany and 

 America much valuable work has been carried out by the State. 

 In this country the Government have provided these buildings 

 and found machinery for the supply of light, heat and power. 

 They are at present not inclined to spend more money upon 

 equipping the laboratories. It is therefore to the liberality 

 of the public that we must look, not only for money, but for 

 presents in machinery and necessary appliances. Already the 

 institution has benefited in the latter respect by gifts from Sir 

 Andrew Noble, the Drapers' Company, Messrs. Willans and 

 Robinson, Lady Gallon, and others. The old-established Kew 

 Observatory now forms part of the laboratory. Important and 

 growing work is carried out in the testing of telescopes, 

 binoculars, sextants and, more particularly, telescopic sights 

 for the Navy. Most of the scientific outfit supplied for the 

 Antarctic expedition was tested at Kew. The laboratory will 

 also supply a want which is much felt for standardising and 

 testing the many other forms of apparatus in daily use, while 

 investigations will be carried out on points of importance to the 

 manufacturer or the merchant from the solution of which 

 valuable results may be expected to accrue. I am particularly 

 pleased to know that it is possible that within the precincts of 

 this laboratory there will be established a work of the utmost 

 importance — namely, a tank after the design of the late Mr. 

 Froude, in which the performance of a ship can be predicted 

 from experiments on a model. At present there is such a tank 

 at Haslar, which is fully occupied in Government work. The 

 Institution of Naval Architects, impressed with the demand for 

 this work, have proposed to raise the sum required to erect 

 the tank and for the necessary appliances. But the funds at 

 present at the disposal of the laboratory will require to be con- 

 siderably supplemented if they are to undertake this much- 

 needed work. No doubt the working expenses of the tank will 

 ultimately be met by fees. But a difficulty may arise in tiding 

 over the interval which must elapse before such fees are avail- 

 able. I am confident that, through the generosity of the public, 

 the necessary means will be forthcoming to meet these difficul- 

 ties and to secure that which is almost an essential to the ship- 

 building industry of a country possessing the largest mercantile 

 marine in the world. Before such an audience I have not pre- 

 sumed to speak of the value to science of this institution. 

 Though the Navy has given many notable names to scientific 

 theory, it is the practical results which naturally appeal more 

 to the mind of the sailor, and I am sure you will accept this as 

 my excuse for having ventured to make my few remarks upon the 

 future of this institution from merely a utilitarian point of view. 



At the close of the ceremony, in responding to the vote 

 of thanks, the Prince of Wales announced that Sir 

 William Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. had promised 

 to subscribe 1000/. towards the funds of the laboratory; 

 and he expressed the hope, which all of us share, that 

 this excellent example will be promptly followed by other 

 manufacturing firms. We give below some particulars 

 of the work already instituted at the laboratory. 



The opening ceremony took place in the engineering 

 laboratory, in which about goo guests were accom- 

 modated. This had been cleared for the occasion, and the 

 only machines left in position were a shaping machine by 

 Baker and Co., of Halifax, and a ten-ton testing machine. 

 The latter is one of Messrs. Buckton's vertical machines. 

 The stress is applied direct by means of a hydraulic 

 ram worked off the main, in which there is about 100 

 feet of water pressure, so that no intensifier is necessary ; 

 the supply from a small cistern fixed to the wall is 

 sufficient to bring the ram back when the pressure is 

 relieved. The machine is intended primarily for experi- 

 mental work in connection with the alloys research ; for 

 this it has conveniences which a more powerful instrument 



