{8: 



NATURE 



[June 12, 1913 



stellar motions, the title of this contribution being "A 

 Preliminary Discussion of the Galactic Motions of 

 the Bright Stars of Type I., with Some Additional 

 Material." Mr. C. V. L. Charlier, in the Medde- 

 landen fran Lunds Astronomiska Observatorium, 

 series ii.. No. q, publishes the second of his studies 

 in stellar statistics, entitled "The Motion of the 

 Stars," giving an account of an extensive - research 

 into the proper motions of Boss's catalogue based on 

 correlation methods. 



Recent Observations of Novje. — The results of 

 a valuable piece of work are recorded by Prof. E. E. 

 Barnard in Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4655. 

 They relate to the present appearance of many of the 

 novae which have been discovered from time to time. 

 The following is a very brief digest of some of the 

 notes he gives, but reference should be made to the 

 original paper for further details of each star : — 



No 



Discovered recorded 



T Corona: ... 1S66 . 



Cygni 1876 , 



Andromedre ... 1885 



Aurigre 1891 



Sagittarii ... 1898 



Persei 1901 



Geminorum (1) 1903 



Aquila? 1905 



Lacertse 1910 



Geminorum (2) 1912 ... 4 



Present Remarks 



mag. 



2 ... 9 ... Colourless 



]-4 ... I5'0 ... Hazy 

 6 ...Invisible... 



4'5 ... 14 ... Ill-defined 



47 ... 15 ... Hazyand ill-defined 



ro ... 1 2 T>5 ... Colourless 



816... 16-3 ... 



5 ... <I7 ■•• — 



5'o ... I2'5 ... Nebulabliiish-white 



(fluctuating) 



With regard to the last nova, Prof. Barnard writes : 

 " On February 8, 1913, with good seeing and at the 

 proper focus the Ha image of Nova Geminorum 

 No. 2 was clearly seen. It was small and sharp and 

 intensely crimson, and was surrounded by a greenish- 

 blue halo some 3 "-4" in diameter. The normal focus, 

 however, was not different from that of an ordinary 

 star." 



THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY 

 DURING 1912. 



THE annual report of the National Physical 

 Laboratory, Teddington, was presented to the 

 meeting of the general board on April 25, and marks 

 another milestone of steady progress. The birth of 

 the laboratory but some ten years ago is fresh in 

 the minds of most of us, but many may not realise 

 the extent of its development ; few institutions can 

 indeed parallel it in rapidity of growth. 



As a nation we were late in starting a national labo- 

 ratory, but we have been unusually quick in making 

 use of the facilities and advantages which it affords. 

 To it from all parts of the Empire come requests 

 for advice and assistance — requests increasingly exact- 

 ing and ever-widening in scope ; the National Physical 

 Laboratory is fast taking its place as the Imperial 

 laboratory. Its staff, formerly fewer than half a dozen, 

 now numbers 150 of all grades ; its history recounts 

 an uninterrupted succession of new buildings. Pro- 

 gress such as this bears witness to the labour and 

 devotion which the director, Dr. Glazebrook, has 

 showered on the laboratory, to the loyal cooperation 

 of his staff, and to the wise administration of the 

 Roval Society. 



The National Physical Laboratory is steadily gain- 

 ing in the nation's appreciation ; in common fairness 

 the nation should put itself in the position of being 

 able to say that it has provided for the laboratory 

 in such fashion that financial cares need not distract 

 its administrators from their proper sphere. The 



NO. 2276, VOL. 91] 



laboratory should be able to attract and keep on its 

 staff brilliant young men who are keen to work at 

 research for the profit of the nation and the advance- 

 ment of learning. The men are not wanting ; it is for 

 the country to see that their remuneration is commen- 

 surate, and that they are adequately housed and 

 equipped for their work. 



The laboratory is being increasingly consulted by 

 the different Government Departments. During the 

 year various matters have been carried out for the 

 Admiralty, the War Office, the Foreign Office, the 

 Home Office, the Board of Trade, the Local Govern- 

 ment Board, the India Office, &c. Last year the ex- 

 penditure amounted to more than 32,000/. ; the 

 Treasury grant was only 7000/. The remaining 

 25,000/. had to be raised by payments for work done 

 and by donations. 



A new building designed to accommodate the 'ad- 

 ministration offices and the optics division is approach- 

 ing completion ; this will satisfy a most imperative 

 need. Generous donors have supplemented the special 

 Treasury grant of 15,000/. for the purpose ; these in- 

 clude the 185 1 Commissioners (5000/.) and a number 

 of the City Companies. But further funds for equip- 

 ping these and other departments are urgently needed. 

 The new buildings are to be opened by the Right Hon. 

 A. J. Balfour on the day of the annual visitation, 

 Thursday, June 26. 



Turning now to the work of the year, its compre- 

 hensive nature is at once evident. The National 

 Physical Laboratory is a physical laboratory in the 

 widest sense, and accordingly we find in its yearly 

 record papers on almost every branch of physics and 

 technology. Some forty original communications 

 were published during the year; it is possible now to 

 touch on only a few of these. 



Taking first the work on the fundamental electric 

 units, the Lorenz apparatus for the determination of 

 the ohm in absolute measure was completed during 

 the earlv part of the year, and a large number of 

 experiments have already been carried out by Mr. 

 F. E. Smith. Some idea of the precision attained 

 may be gathered from the fact that the estimated 

 probable error of any single measurement is of the 

 order of two parts in 100,000. The final result of the 

 measurements is not yet available, but it may perhaps 

 be said that the value will probably be somewhat less 

 than has been generally supposed. Comparisons with 

 the resistance-standards of the Bureau of Standards, 

 the Reichsansalt, and the Laboratoire Central d'Elec- 

 tricite have been made during the year, with the 

 result that the English and German values were 

 found to agree within one part in a million ; the 

 Ann ric an value was ten parts in a million greater. 



Mr. Campbell has evaluated the ohm in absolute 

 units by two alternating-current methods, remarkable 

 for their ingenuity. The testing of wavemeters is 

 becoming an important feature of the work in the 

 electrical department. 



The British Radium Standard, consisting of 21 milli- 

 grammes of extremely pure radium-chloride, is now 

 deposited at the laboratory. Dr. G. T. Beilby pro- 

 vided the funds for the purchase of the standard, 

 which has been compared with the international 

 standard at Sevres, and will shortlv be available for 

 standardising radium preparations. 



An important paper dealing with the discharge of 

 electricity from carbon at high temperatures was pre- 

 sented to the Royal Society by Dr. Harker and Dr. 

 Kaye. By reason of the conditions and magnitude 

 of the experiments, ionisation currents amounting to 

 several amperes were obtained. 



The thermometry division is investigating the ther- 

 mal conductivities of the various heat insulators used 



