September 29, 1910] 



NATURE 



421 



With what thoroughness the more recently established 

 of the provincial universities are performing their new 

 duties is vvell brought out by an examination of their 

 calendars for the session igio-ii, which is now com- 

 mencing. The calendar of the University of Leeds, for 

 instance, runs to some six hundred pages, and gives par- 

 ticulars of courses of work for undergraduates wishing 

 to take degrees in arts, science, technology, and medicine, 

 and for other students desirous of studying for special 

 purposes in the laboratories of the University. In the 

 case of the University of Bristol, in addition to the neces- 

 sary regulations for degrees, diplomas, and certificates, 

 particulars are given of the university work done in 

 associated institutions, of courses to meet particular local 

 needs, and so on. Reference to courses of a special 

 character brings to the mind again the work of the 

 London polytechnics. The prospectus of the Borough 

 Polytechnic Institute for the coming session shows that, 

 in addition to the numerous trade classes held in previous 

 years, special lectures and practice have been arranged 

 in waistcoat-making and trade millinery for women, 

 classes in masonry and lectures on the chemistry and 

 manufacture of food-stulifs, and the analysis of laundry 

 trade materials. Kl the City of London College the needs 

 of commercial men especiallv are provided for, and the 

 new syllabus is very strong in classes intended for young 

 men engaged in offices and warehouses. The prospectus 

 of the Belfast Technical Institute shows that, while 

 specialising to some degree in classes intended to train 

 men employed in textile and engineering industries, the 

 authorities have in no way forgotten the needs of other 

 workers. It would be difficult to find an industry in the 

 city in which any considerable number of men and women 

 are engaged that has not been considered in drawing up 

 the scheme of work of the institute. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Glasgow. 

 Institute of Metals, September 21. — Donald Ewen and 

 Prof. T. Turner : The shrinkage of antimony-lead alloys 

 and of the aluminium-zinc alloys during and after solidifica- 

 tion. From the investigation of the shrinkage of the 

 brasses it has been suggested that, for an alloy of given 

 composition, a direct proportion exists between the amount 

 of expansion on solidification and the distance of the solidus 

 from the liquidus at this composition on the equilibrium 

 diagram. The results of shrinkage tests on two further 

 series of alloys are included in this paper ; they show that 

 the above theory is incapable of general application, and 

 appear to indicate that it obtains only in the case of alloys 

 containing solid solutions. — F. Johnson : The effect of 

 silver, bismuth, and aluminium on the mechanical 

 properties of " tough-pitch " copper containing arsenic. 

 Contrary to the general belief, it was found that 

 bismuth increased the tensile strength, as did silver 

 also. It was found that silver had little effect upon the 

 toughness of the arsenical copper, which, again by virtue 

 of the presence of arsenic, was tougher than electrolytic 

 copper made under similar conditions. The effect of silver 

 on the hot-working properties was found to be negligible 

 up to 03 per cent. ; that of bismuth noticeable above 02, 

 and serious above 005 per cent. ; whilst that of aluminium 

 was ruinous at 03 per cent. In view of the possibility of 

 modern commercial copper containing other impurities 

 which could modify the limiting proportion allowable of the 

 above-mentioned impurities, it is difficult to fix a limit 

 beyond which they should not occur. It may, however, be 

 safely said that silver occurs in such traces that its 

 presence may be ignored. Its influence will be beneficial 

 rather than harmful. Bismuth should, preferably, be 

 entirely absent, and may be expected to cause trouble in 

 any process of mechanical treatment at a red-heat, if 

 present above 001 per cent. As regards the presence of 

 this impurity in the finished material, however, little 

 concern may be felt, as 'the amount which will render 

 arsenical copper unfit for working hot, will have no serious 

 effects on the mechanical properties of the finished material 

 in the cold. — A. D. Ross : Magnetic alloys formed from 

 non-magnetic materials. The paper deals with investiga- 



NO. 2135, VOL. 84] 



tions carried out chiefly oii ternary alloys consisting of 

 copper, manganese, and one of the elements aluminium, 

 tin, bismuth, and antimony. All the groups show fair 

 magnetic quality, but the most interesting are the ternary 

 alloys containing respectively aluminium and tin. Some 

 of the former are, under small magnetising forces, much 

 more magnetic than cobalt, and have little coercive force. 

 The tin alloys are less permeable, but e.xhibit greater 

 hysteresis. Most of the alloys have their magnetic quality 

 improved if they are annealed for a short time at a 

 moderate temperature, i5o°-200° C. Prolonged annealing 

 has invariably an adverse effect, the hysteresis loss in- 

 creasing rapidly with time. The behaviour of the alloys 

 on cooling to the temperature of liquid air is peculiar and 

 characteristic. For low and moderate fields the process 

 results in general in a decided increase in susceptibility, 

 whereas almost all other magnetic materials are rendered 

 less susceptible. 



September 22. — G. D. Bcng^ough and O. F. Hudson : 

 The heat-treatment of brass : Experiments on 70 : 30 alloy. 

 The authors have studied the general effect of heat- 

 treatment on the mechanical properties of 70 : 30 brass, and 

 have paid special attention to the question of burning. 

 Bars and wires made by different manufacturers were used 

 in order to ascertain to what extent variations in character 

 of the alloy and size of section influenced the results. The 

 mechanical tests of the bars and wires after they had been 

 annealed for half an hour show, in agreement with the 

 results of previous workers, that the best annealing tem- 

 perature is between 600° and 700° C. For this time of 

 annealing a temperature within a few degrees of the 

 melting point does not seriously injure 70 : 30 brass which 

 is free from tin and lead, but, if maintained for a suffi- 

 ciently long time, a temperature nearly 100° C. lower will 

 burn the brass. — Dr. C. H. Desch : Some common 

 defects occurring in alloys. After references to the defec- 

 tive state of our knowledge of the " diseases " of non- 

 ferrous metals and alloys, as compared with that possessed 

 by manufacturers and users of iron and steel, the import- 

 ance of the equilibrium diagram as a guide in undertaking 

 investigations of this kind is emphasised, and some of its 

 limit.ations are mentioned. Some of the principal defects 

 observed in non-ferrous alloys are then briefly reviewed, as 

 a basis for discussion. — H. S. Primrose : Metallography 

 as an aid to the brass founder. The results of a systematic 

 investigation of the gun-metal castings in a large engineer- 

 ing foundry are discussed in the light of microscopical 

 examination, in addition to the ordinary tensile testing. 

 The reason whv metallography is steadily superseding the 

 old methods of judging by fracture is shown by comparison 

 of photomicrographs of the internal structure. The 

 crystalline formation being profoundly influenced by the 

 rate of cooling as well as by the initial casting tempera- 

 ture, the microstructure of test bars, variously cooled and 

 cast at different points, is contrasted to indicate how the 

 best physical tests are got from a perfect interlocking 

 structure. The different causes of blow-holes are de- 

 scribed, and their detection by the microscope discussed 

 with reference to micrographs of the various types. How 

 these defects can be obviated or subsequently eiiminated is 

 illustrated bv examples taken from actual cases. 



P.4RIS. 



Academy of Sciences, September 19.— M. Armand 

 Gautier in the chair. — E. Bertin : The arrest of steam- 

 ships either by reversing the engine or by allowing to slow 

 down by friction of the water. With reciprocating engines 

 reversal causes a rapid slowing down, but with steam 

 turbines the reversing effect is much less. FormulfE are 

 worked out for the reduction in velocity both with and 

 without reversed turbines. — M. Pougfnet : The action of 

 the ultra-violet rays upon plants containing coumarin, and 

 some plants the smell of which is due to the hydrolysis of 

 glucoside?. The ultra-violet rays produce the smell rapidly 

 in coumarin plants, and also in plants the odour of which 

 arises from the products of hydrolysis of a glucoside. The 

 action is caused by the cells being killed by the ultra- 

 violet light. — J. Athanasin : The functional mechanism 

 of striated and non-striated muscular fibres. — J. Deprat 

 and H. Mansuy : General stratigraphical results of the 

 geological expedition to Yun-nan. — Ernest van den 



