[ULY 27, 191 1] 



NATURE 



129 



fine to doubtful and stormy "; but 



should we forgive the seismologist whi ists the 



g seismic condition of our town as " calm to 



unstable and collapsing "? Perhaps it may seem to you 



that 1 am wandering beyond the range of practical 



in alluding to this subject; nevertheless, the fear of 

 by premature forecast is one which has 

 in advance, and f am informed 

 thai insurance companies in this country have shown some 

 irritation by the early publication of the indications of a 

 destructive earthquake which has taken place in a distant 

 part of the world. 



man in the street the question whether a thing 

 is large or small is all-important; to the scientific man it 

 at all ; and a great part of our deliberations 

 will deal, not with catastrophes, but with microscopic 

 movements of the soil, movements so small that the vibra- 

 tions due to the traffic in a city compare with it as the 

 waves of the ocean with the ripples on a pool. At the last 

 ting of the general assembly, four years ago, you 

 appointed a committee to investigate these microseisms. I 

 need not remind you that there are two types of short 

 waves which are frequently observed. One of them has 

 independently been traced in different countries, and by 

 ral observers, to the action of the wind, which seems 

 to create waves over an extended land surface just as it 

 does over the ocean. The second type of vibration, which 

 occurs in periods of from five to ten seconds, is more diffi- 

 cult to trace. It has been suggested that the vibrations are 

 due to the impact of waves on the shore against which the 

 wave strikes. For the purpose of testing this hypothesis, 

 an instrument has been set up on the coast of Northumber- 

 land (partly paid for by the funds of this association) 

 which automatically counts the number of waves which in 

 n time strike the shore. The instrument, which was 

 designed by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company, 

 Ltd., will be exhibited at this meeting. It has been set 

 up and looked after with great ability by Mr. Morris Airev, 

 and we are already able to say that it will fulfil its object, 

 though the observations at present are too few to allow us 

 to draw any conclusions. 



While we rightly attach much value to the systematic 

 investigation of minute disturbances, we must not forget 

 to keep in mind the source and origin of all dislocations 

 of the- soil. The recent advances in physical science render 

 it imperative to review our position with regard to this 

 Fundamental question. 



In our youth we were taught that the earth, once a 

 molten and fiery globe, bid gradually cooled down, leaving 

 the inside still hot, but gradually cooling and contracting. 

 This contraction of the nucleus was looked upon as the 

 primary cause of geological dislocations. But how do we 

 In the breaking up of radio-active pro- 

 ve find a source of heat which — if the amount of 

 1 and thorium in the interior of the earth is not 

 dly less than that which is found near the surface — 

 would not only balance the earth's loss of heat by radia- 

 tion, but actually increase its average temperature. 

 iid why the surface layi r 

 earth may be richer in radio-active products than 

 il' 'ire, I think that we are nevertheless driven to the 

 ; "ii tli.ii the earth is now, and has been for a long 

 time, in thermal equilibrium, and that shrinkage bv cool- 

 in- does not account for any of the more recent displace- 

 ments. Why, then, should not the earth long ago have 

 settled for itself all seismic questions, and have come to 

 vest in a comfortable state of equilibrium? After the four 

 or^ five million years which it has had to calm down, we 

 might have expected that everything should be quietly 

 arranged in uniform layers round the centre of the earth 

 Instead of this regular distribution of matter, we have not 

 only mountain chains, but also the depressions and eleva- 

 tions which cause the distribution of land and water over 



the globe. 



Tin- causes of these inequalities have long interested 

 geologists^ and mathematicians, but the wider discussion of 

 the stability of the whole structure on which we live has 

 only recently come into prominence. Tlv subject is a most 

 difficult and intricate one, and a most important contribu- 

 tion towards its elucidation has apoeared within the last 

 few weeks. In an essav to which the Adams prize of the 

 NO. 2178, VOL. 87] 



Cambridge University has been adjudged, and which, I 

 think, will become a classical guide to all who intend to 



I pursue the subject, Prof. Love has treated the problems of 

 geophysics with masterly ability and lucidity. I wish it 

 had been possible to arrange — perhaps it is still possible — 

 for Prof. Love to give you an account of his investigations, 



J and in his presence it would be impertinent in me to ex- 



j plain, as otherwise I might have been tempted to do, the 

 main conclusions at which he has arrived. I must there- 

 fore content myself with directing attention to the great 

 importance of this work, and alluding to one suggestion 



I contained in it which more particularly touches a subject 

 with which this meeting is concerned. 



The important work of Prof. Hecker, confirmed since by 

 others, has allowed us to trace the tidal deformation of 

 the earth, and has brought to light the curious result that 

 the earth appears to resist a change of shape less in the 



! north and south than in the east and west direction. 



Prof. Love, having failed to account satisfactorily for 

 the effect in other ways, suggests that the want of 

 symmetry in the rigidity is apparent only, and that the 

 observed effects are caused by the attraction of the tide 

 wave in the North Atlantic and its accompanying excess 

 pressure on the sea bottom. In the investigation of the 

 tidal deformation of the earth, our work overlaps that of 

 the International Geodetic Association, and a communica- 

 tion from that body will have to be considered by us. In 

 other directions our work closely touches that of the 

 geologist, and there may be points of contact with other 

 parts of geophysics, such as meteorology and terrestrial 

 magnetism. This interdependence of different branches of 

 science will force us before long to consider our relation- 

 ship to other international associations. 



The extreme specialisation which finds expression in the 

 formation of so many different societies and associations 

 is an evil which may be a temporary necessity, but which 

 we should try to mitigate so far as possible. There ought 

 to be a connecting link which draws us away from the 

 minute elaboration of detail and towards the great 

 problems that ought never to leave the mind of a man of 

 science. But what is this connecting link to be, and what 

 are the bonds which are to unite it to bodies of such varied 

 interests and constitutions? I have formed my own 

 opinion, but I am afraid on this occasion to enter on to 

 ground which may lie controversial. 



In concluding words of introduction, I feel that 



I express your wishes by thanking the Yice-Chancellor, who 

 has found time among his many heavy duties to come here 

 to welcome you. 



THE PROGRESS OF CANCER RESEARCH. 

 THE tenth annual meeting of the Imperial Cancer Re- 

 search Fund was held on July 20 at the Royal 

 College of Surgeons, the Duke of Bedford presiding. The 

 presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and 

 Surgeons, Sir Wm. Church, Sir Douglas Powell, Sir John 

 McFadyean, Sir Henry Morris, Sir John Tweedy, Dr. 

 Sidney Martin, Mrs. Bischoffsheim, and many other sup- 

 porters of the fund were present. Sir Wm. Church, in 

 moving the adoption of the annual report, gave an outline 

 of Dr. Bashford's statement of the progress of knowledge 

 of cancer, from which we give some extracts below. In 

 seconding the resolution, Sir Henry Morris directed atten- 

 tion to the widespread influence exercised by the investiga- 

 tions of the scientific staff. This was evidenced in one 

 way by the number of distinguished voluntary workers 

 attracted to the laboratory from abroad, not only from all 

 European countries, but also from Vmerica, Australia, and 

 Japan, and in another way by the number of learned 

 societies at home and abroad which invited the dirt 

 to address them. Thus Dr. Bashford had visited, among 

 other centres, Berlin, Heidelberg, Toronto, Paris, Buda- 

 pest, Christiania, and Utrecht. Its influence was felt in 

 a third way by the large increase in the number of centres 

 engaged in the investigation of cancer in the laboratory. 

 The other business was purely formal. 



A feature of this year's work is the extension of experi- 

 mental investigation to rabbits, in which animal a 

 carcinoma of the mamma and a sarcoma of the sub- 



