July 20, 191 1] 



NATURE 



95 



planted black powder for sporting purposes. The utility of 

 the new powder for . military purposes was evident to 

 civilians from the beginning, but our military authorities, 

 after testing it, said that it could not be adopted, because 

 the trajectory was so much flatter than any powder then 

 in use, and that the sights of all army rifles would require 

 .alteration. The British rifles being so short-sighted, he had 

 no option but to turn to our neighbours of France. In 

 November, 1SS1, he showed the powder and method of 

 manufacture to the military attache at the French Embassy, 

 but it was some time afterwards before the French produced 

 their powder " B," and this forced the hand of our military 

 authorities at home. To-day, even the sights of our military 

 rifles had been altered ; in fact, he believed there was no 

 part of either rifle or cartridge that had not been altered, 

 and the art of war had been changed throughout the world. 



Fifteen years after the process had been worked out, he 

 learned that a German botanist, Hartig, had made experi- 

 ments in the same direction in 1847. The pamphlet in 

 which he described his experiments w-as extremely scarce. 

 He knew of only one copy of it in Great Britain, and he 

 had been unable to obtain it in Germany, so that his ignor- 

 ance on the subject in 1SS1 might perhaps be excused. 



The president next gave illustrations of the discovery of 

 the me thud of silvering glass, a paper on which was written 

 as long ago as 1S67 by Justus von Liebig ; of the discovery 

 of Portland cement by Aspdin, the Leeds mason ; and how 

 both these discoveries led to important industrial results. 

 He showed how fogged photographic plates led to the dis- 

 covery of the Rontgen rays. Bolsover, in repairing the 

 handle of a knife composed partly of silver and partly of 

 ■copper noticed that these metals adhered to one another 

 when fused. This laid the foundation for Sheffield plate. 

 Dr. John Wright's invention of the use of cyanide of 

 potassium in electro-plating was the outcome of research, 

 and about the same time another inventor was busy on the 

 same subject. One of the brothers Siemens found a method 

 of electro-plating which he considered new, and brought it 

 to England, where he offered it to Elkington. The latter 

 was able to show him an almost identical process already 

 at work. Mr. Reid next referred to the discovery of the 

 vulcanising of india rubber by Hancock, which showed the 

 necessity, not only of patient work, but also of perseverance 

 and careful observation. Hancock had made a number of 

 mixtures of india rubber with various substances, none of 

 which appeared to have any particular advantage. The 

 samples were put on one side for some months, when the 

 whole of them were treated with oil. It was noticed that 

 a portion of one sample was not acted upon by the oil. and 

 on looking up his records of the samples Hancock found 

 that iliis particular one had been heated to about 300 F., 

 and that it contained sulphur.. Incidents of this kind could 

 be multiplied. He hoped he had shown the younger mem- 

 bers of (he society the advantages, first, of original work in 

 connection with their industries: secondly, of careful obser- 

 vation and diligent inquiry into anything that might appear 

 new to them ; and thirdly, of perseverance until they had 

 obtained some definite result. 



TRIALS OF ROAD MATERIALS AND 



CONSTRUCTION. 



""THE use of motor vehicles has so completely altered the 



conditions of the wear and tear of the roads, that it 

 has become necessary to find some new method of main- 

 taining the surface and preventing the nuisance of the dust 

 arising from the wear of the surface by the wheels of the 

 motors. During the last few years various processes have 

 been tried, chiefly directed to finding some more durable 

 means of binding the surface material with which the roads 

 are covered. The most successful so far have been by the 

 use of tar asphalt or oil for binding the broken granite or 

 other road material used for repair. 



The in >.v Road Board, with the view of securing a service 

 test under uniform conditions, has made arrangements with 

 the Kent County Council for carrying out a series of 

 experiments on trial lengths of a main road, to be carried 

 out under the direction of its advisorv engineering com- 

 mittee. The site selected for these exrjerimental trials is 

 on* the main road from London to Folkestone between 

 Eltham and Sidcup. This road is thoroughly representa- 



NO. 2 1 7~, VOL. 87] 



tive of the average condition of heavy road traffic. The 

 average number of vehicles using this road in one day 

 includes 322 motors of all kinds, and 454 horse-drawn 

 vehicles, the traffic density amounting to 500 tons per yard 

 of wadth. 



The experiments are to be carried out under the direction 

 and superintendence of Mr. Maybury, the county surveyor 

 of Kent, who has paid special attention to this subject, 

 and has so far succeeded in maintaining the surface of the 

 main roads in Kent in excellent order. The special subjects 

 to be taken into consideration are : — The first cost of the 

 coating, and the future cost of maintenance and efficiency. 

 Twenty-three different processes are to be given a trial, 

 each extending over a length of a hundred yards. They 

 include ordinary water-laid and rolled macadam ; the same 

 with a tared surface ; tar macadam ; and several patent 

 processes. 



Arrangements have been made for an inspection of the 

 work while it is going on by those interested, and a 

 pamphlet has been issued by the Road Board, giving full 

 particulars and copies of trie conditions and specifications 

 !'iH»r which the trials are to be carried out. This 

 oamphlet is to be obtained at Messrs. Waterlow and Sons, 

 :.ondon Wall, E.C. ; price eighteenpence. 



METEOROLOGICAL REPORTS. 

 pHILIPPIXE WEATHER BUREAU (1908).— The part 

 of the annual report now received includes (1) the 

 administrative report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 

 1908, and (2) hourly meteorological observations made at 

 the Manila Central Observatory during the calendar year 

 1908. The activity and popularity of the department deal- 

 ing with storm warnings may be gauged from the fact that 

 during a typhoon 160 telephonic inquiries were received 

 in a single day. Telegraphic observations were received 

 twice daily from twenty-nine foreign stations, and include 

 reports from Japan, China coast, Formosa, and Indo-China. 

 Special attention is directed to the " immense service " to 

 shipping and other interests which the Eastern Extension 

 and Great Northern Telegraph Companies have for years 

 rendered in allowing free transmission of meteorological 

 messages. The mean temperature of the year 1908 was 

 79-2° (rather below the normal) ; the maximum, 97-2°, 

 occurred in May, and the minimum, 61-7°, in February. 

 The rainfall was 977 inches (about 21A inches above the 

 normal) ; none fell in April (the average being 1-2 inches). 

 Among the large number of seismic disturbances reported 

 from different localities in the fiscal year only one violent 

 shock occurred, viz. on November 24, 1907, in south-east 

 Luzon. 



Davos Meteorological Station (1910). — The annual 

 summary, printed as a supplement to the monthly weather 

 charts published by the Curverein, gives the mean maxi- 

 mum temperature in January and July, respectively, as 

 29-7° and 59-5° F. ; mean minimum, 12-9° and 39-6°; 

 absolute maximum, 77-5°, in July ; minimum, —9-6°, in 

 February. Rain (and melted snow) amounted to 45-6 

 inches ('9-3 inches above the normal). Snow fell in every 

 month except June and August. Sunshine was recorded 

 during 1605-6 hours, which was much below the average 

 (1790-7 hours for 1885—1905). 



Bombay and Alibag Observatories (inioi. — The mean 

 temperature of the year was 79-1°, being 0-3° below the 

 normal ; the maximum hourly temperature was 92.7°, in 

 June, and the minimum 61.3°, in January. The rainfall 

 was 67-86 inches, being 7-3 inches below the normal 

 [873-96); June received a fall of 2302 inches, being 

 3I 'inches above the average. Milne's seismograph 

 :-. '1 fifty-seven earthquakes; those of November 9 

 and December 13 and 16 were great disturbances. The 

 mean magnetic declination was 0° sr 43" -E. ; inclination, 

 2.1° 35-7': horizontal fore, 0-86845 C.G.S. units. During 

 the year there were 102 calm days, 236 days of small. 25 

 days of moderate, and 2 days of great disturbance. Part 

 of'the observatory is still infested by white ants, although 

 the floor has been cemented; it is now proposed to use 

 Minton tiles. 



Falmouth Observatory (iqio). — The report of this 

 important station, maintained by the Royal Cornwall Poly- 

 technic Societv, and one of the normal meteorological 



