554 



NATURE 



[October 27, 19 10 



near the walls could be measured by couples made from 

 10 per cent, alloys of iridium and rhodium with platinum ; 

 the author estimated that the maximum temperature at 

 the place of measurement was between 1850° and 1900° C. 



The business of the day concluded with a discussion on 

 the principles of mechanical flight, opened by Prof. Bryan. 

 As a matter of fact, owing to the line of argument adopted 

 by the opener, there was practically no discussion on 

 principles, but there was a somewhat heated debate as to 

 the respective provinces of the mathematician, the 

 physicist, and the engineer in solving the problems of 

 mechanical flight. If the engineer is to wait until the 

 mathematician has evolved a completely satisfactory 

 theory as to the stability, &c., of aeroplanes, it is quite 

 clear that little further progress will be made. The 

 successful developments of most of the mechanical devices 

 now employed by man have followed lines very different 

 from those which seem good to Prof. Bryan ; and mathe- 

 matical theory has generally followed, and not preceded, 

 the engineer's victory over the forces of nature. 



The proceedings were opened on Tuesday, September 6, 

 by a paper by Prof. Coker on the optical determination of 

 stress. Prof. Coker has been working for some time at 

 this problem, utilising the well-known fact that glass is 

 rendered doubly refractive by stress ; as glass, however, 

 owing to the difficulty of obtaining suitable pieces free 

 from initial strains, has proved unsuitable, the author has 

 fallen back on the use of xylonite, which answers admir- 

 ably. The apparatus necessary included an arc lamp to 

 supply the beam of light, and lenses and prisms. The 

 author showed a number of lantern-slides of the per- 

 manent records he had obtained by making use of Lumi^re 

 colour plates. 



Prof. Dalby then read his paper on the measurement 

 of the air supply to a gas-engine cylinder ; the air on 

 its way to the engine flows through an orifice into a 

 chamber, from which it passes to the suction valve ; the 

 engine is fitted with an apparatus which enables the 

 temperature corresponding to the pressure and volume at 

 an assigned crank angle to be measured, and thus all the 

 data required for calculating the weight of air passing 

 through the orifice per second are accurately known. 



Prof. S. P. Thompson next read a paper on the laws 

 of electromechanics ; the author stated that his object 

 was to put into concrete form the chief laws governing 

 the performance of various electromagnetic mechanisms, 

 and a number of formulae was deduced. 



Mr. F. Bacon then read his paper on heat insulation, in 

 which he described his researches into the heat-insulating 

 efficiency of a number of materials ; the heat which was 

 transmitted was produced electrically, and electrical 

 methods were employed to measure the temperatures. In 

 the discussion it was pointed out that in lagging steam- 

 pipes there was with each material a definite thickness 

 which it was uneconomical to increase, as the increase of 

 external surface increased the radiation at a greater rate 

 than the increased thickness diminished it. 



The last paper of the day was by Prof. E. Wilson and 

 Mr. W. H. Wilson on a new method of producing high- 

 tension electrical discharges. In this method energy is 

 taken from an alternating or continuous current source, 

 and is stored in a magnetic field by inductance ; it is then 

 allowed to surge into a condenser, which together with 

 the inductance forms a low-frequency oscillatory circuit. 

 When the energy has accumulated in the condenser, the 

 condenser is mechanically bridged across the primary 

 winding of an induction coil, with which it forms a high- 

 frequency oscillatory circuit. The energy is then trans- 

 mitted by the secondary winding of the induction coil to 

 the work circuit, and may be either oscillatory or unidirec- 

 tional. The apparatus is suitable for radio-telegraphy or 

 any work employing high-tension electricity. 



The concluding meeting of the section was held on 

 Wednesday, September 7, when the first paper was one 

 by Mr. R. W. Weekes on self-raising rollers for maps 

 and plans, descriptive of an ingenious arrangement for 

 mounting plans, maps, and diagrams. 



The next paper was entitled " Machine for Testing 

 Rubber by Means of its Mechanical Hysteresis," bv Prof. 

 Schwartz. The author had designed a machine in which 

 a specimen of rubber of standard dimensions was loaded 

 at a given rate to a given percenlage of the maximum 

 NO. 2130, VOL. 84] 



load. The load was then gradually removed, and a com- 

 plete stress-strain diagram automatically taken ; as rubber 

 possesses very considerable mechanical hysteresis, the 

 stress diagram was of a loop form ; from this the chief 

 physical characteristics of the sample could be readily 

 deduced. 



Prof. Fessenden then gave his paper on the utilisation 

 of solar radiation, wind power, and other intermittent 

 natural sources of energy. The author estimated that the 

 total first cost of the solar plant per horse-power would 

 be about 20/., and the annual charge about 30s. per 

 horse-power ; he stated that a plant of 3000* horse-power 

 was at present in course of erection. In the discussion 

 .Sir William White expressed the view that in all these 

 schemes for the working of intermittent sources of energy 

 the cost of works of construction generally proved 

 prohibitive. 



The last paper was by Mr. Cook on an experimental 

 investigation of the strength of thick cylinders. The 

 author described his investigations into the strength of 

 cast-iron and mild steel thick cylinders when subjected to 

 gradually increasing internal pressure up to the bursting 

 point. Mr. Cook had found in the case of the mild steel 

 cylinder that the tensile stress at the yield point, as calcu- 

 lated by Lamp's equation, agreed closely with the value 

 of the tensile stress at the yield point in an ordinary 

 tension test of the steel. 



The proceedings closed with votes of thanks to the 

 president and secretaries of the section. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Bristol. — The first congregation for the presentation of 

 degrees in the University of Bristol was held on October 20 

 before a crowded assembly. Owing to failing health, the 

 Chancellor, Mr. H. O. Wills, was not present, and his 

 place was filled by the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Isambard 

 Owen. The degree list was a long one, as besides the 

 ordinary graduating students there were fifty-two old 

 students of University College and the Merchant Venturers' 

 Technical College, who, having taken degrees in other 

 universities, were admitted to ad eundeni degrees in the 

 University. In a few special cases, also, degrees of 

 Bachelor were awarded to associates of these institutions. 

 Only one honorary degree was conferred, and that, the 

 Doctorate of Science, on Prof. Conwy Lloyd Morgan, 

 F.R.S., lately Vice-Chancellor of the University and 

 sometime principal of University College, Bristol. He 

 was introduced by Prof. F. R. Barrell, dean of the science 

 faculty, who in the course of his address said : — " Expert 

 in knowledge of the fossil past, expert in knowledge of the 

 living present, he stands renowned in varied fields of 

 thought ; keenly has he observed, acutely has he analysed 

 the workings of the mind in man and bird and beast ; at 

 his behest the artless infant and the unfeathered chick 

 alike disclose the secrets of their nascent reason ; psycho- 

 logy, zoology, geology, all acknowledge in him a master. 

 A teacher of teachers, he has o'erstepped the boundaries 

 of this isle ; in southern Africa he has dwelt and taught ; 

 not once or twice alone has he been called across .Atlantic 

 seas to inform the wisdom of the West. With fertile pen 

 and with lucid speech he has made clear the subtle mazes 

 of philosophy; his written word is read where'er the 

 English language penetrates, and done into the German 

 tongue it guides the Teuton in the study of nature." 



Cambridge. — Mr. A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., fellow and 

 tutor of Christ's College, has been elected master of the 

 college in succession to the late Dr. John Peile. 



Dr. Tempest .^nderson will deliver a lecture in the 

 Sedgwick Museum on " Matavanu, a New Volcano in 

 Savaii, German Samoa," illustrated with lantern photo- 

 graphs, on .Saturday, November 5, at 5 p.m. 



The Henrv Sidgwick memorial lecture, to be given by 

 Sir George "Darwin, K.C.B., F.R.S., on " William and 

 Caroline Herschel," will take place in the hall of Newn- 

 ham College at 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 3, instead 

 of November 12, as previously announced. 



It is stated in Science that the Tuskegee Institute will 

 receive about 80,000!. from the estate of Mrs. Dotger, and 



