June 28, 1906J 



NA TURE 



205 



SATIONAL PHYSICAL LABOKATOKY. 

 OiicNiNG OF New Buildings for Electroteciinics 



AND PllOTOMETKV. 



^plIK new buildings of tlic National Physical Labor- 

 A atory for electroteciinics and i)liotometry were 

 opened on Monday, June 25, by Mr. Haldane, Secre- 

 tary of State for War. A larfje company assembled 

 at "the invitation of Lord Raylei^h and the general 

 board, and among those on the platform were Lord 

 Rosse, Lord Kelvin, Sir John Wolfe Barry, Sir J. 

 Lawrence, M.P., Sir John Brunner, ^i.P., Sir 

 William White, Mr. Gavey, ^L Hospitaller, Herr W. 

 Mill Siemens, Prof. Semen/a, M. Gerard, Sir Thos. 

 Writ;htson, and Sir Chas. Tujiper. 



.\niong the audience, numbering nearly six hundred, 

 were representatives to the International Electrical 

 Coiigrpss, now being held in London, from the 

 .\mcrican, German, French, Swiss, Italian, and other 

 electrotechnical societies. 



Lord Rayleigh presided, and in opening the, pro- 

 ceedings said that the gathering marked another 

 stage in the evolution of the institution, and they all 

 hoped the new buildings would play a considerable 

 part in the science of electroteciinics in this country. 



The director, Dr. Glazebrook, then made a state- 

 ment concerning the new extensions, and detailed the 

 gifts which had been made towards equipment by 

 numerous firms and individuals. The Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer had asked Parliament for a grant of 

 5000^ last session for new 

 buildings, and this year's 

 grant towards the cost of the 

 further e.xtensions in the 

 engineering, chemical, and 

 metrological departments was 

 10,000/. The building in 

 which they were assembled 

 had cost only about 7000/.. 

 largely owing to the liberal 

 treatment accorded to the 

 laboratory by the contractors, 

 Messrs. Movvlem, and bv 

 Messrs. Mott and Hay, who 

 gave their services as archi- 

 tects. The director expressed 

 his indebtedness to the 

 members of the staff, who had 



helped in designing and fitting ^"'- '-^ 



up the building, especially to 



^Ir. Paterson, Mr. Rayner, and Mr. Melsom, who had 

 all given much time and careful thought to the plans. 



Mr. Haldane then addressed the meeting and 

 declared the laboratory open. The meeting terminated 

 with votes of thanks to Mr. Haldane, proposed by 

 .Sir John Wolfe Barry and seconded by Sir John 

 Brunner, M.P., and to the chairman, proposed by 

 Mr. Gavey. 



The objects of the new building are the provision of 

 suitable accommodation for the rapidly extending work 

 of the laboratory in electrotechnics and photometry. In 

 thn old building will remain all the fundamental-standard 

 \\'ork relating to measurements of current, electromotive 

 force, resistance, capacity, and inductance. The main 

 portion of the new extension consists of a top-lighted shed, 

 120 feet by 50 feet, divided into two bays, each 25 feet wide. 

 The southern bay is divided transversely, forming two 

 rooms, each 60 feet by 25 feet. The inner of these has a 

 glass ceiling, and the lights above are glazed with double 

 glass, and face north. The space between the ceiling and 

 the roof can be heated, and by means of a large fan 

 artificial ventilation is provided. It is hoped by this means 

 to maintain the temperature fairly uniform. This internal 

 room is intended for resistance measurements. The other 

 half of the same bay is designed for heavy-test work. Two 



bed-plates are provided for machine testing, and arrange- 

 ments have also been made for addition of a travelling 

 crane. 



rhe large bay to the north side, in which the ceremony 

 was held, is for general electrotechnical testing. At the 

 west end of this is the main switchboard, receiving power 

 from the dynamo room, and also from the mains of the 

 supplv company, and distributing it to the machines in the 

 building and to the batteries. 



Near by is provided space for the special electrotechnical 

 machine equipment. This includes a 5 kilo-watt motor- 

 generator set for single or three-phase current, the fre- 

 quency of which can be widely varied, another motor- 

 generator of specially high efficiency for life-tests on lamps, 

 and a third for transformer and high-tension experiments. 

 The rest of the bay is assigned to experimental work, the 

 western portion being reserved for alternating-current ex- 

 periments, and the eastern portion for direct-current. The 

 batteries are on the top floor of an annexe to ihe east of 

 the main block, above the rooms reserved for photomoiry ; 

 thus the direct-current work requiring heavy currents will 

 go on in the extreme eastern portion of fhc main bay. 



Four new accumulator batteries are provided, and to 

 charge these and furnish the additional power necessary 

 for general work a 50 kilo-watt motor-generator has been 

 provided in the power-house, driven from the supply mains 

 of the local company. For amnn-ter-testing. currents up 

 to 6000 amperes for an hour can be obtained by paralleling 

 of one of these batteries, and 10,000 amperes for short 

 periods. A special 300-volt battery is reserved for photo- 

 metric experiments. 



The remainder of the new building is intended for 

 photometry. On the ground floor is a large room for life- 



tests of electric and gas lamps, and, above, a room for 

 standard photometry and a specially arranged gallery for 

 arc-lamp testing. A length of 90 feet is available for photo- 

 metry of specially high candle-powers, and in the arc- 

 lamp room a height of nearly 35 feet. 



No money has been spent on unnecessary adornment of 

 the buildings, marble and granite being conspicuous by 

 their absence, but already the grounds have been planted 

 with flowers and creepers, and the exterior, though plain, 

 is bv no means iin eyesore. 



After the opening ceremony the visitors proceeded to the 

 old buildings and the garden, and inspected the various 

 laboratories, where the assistants in charge explained the 

 w^ork of their own departments. The objects which ap- 

 peared to attract most attention were the new ampere 

 balance in the main electrical room, the various electric 

 furnaces, the radiation pyrometers in the thermometric 

 department, and the new measuring machines in the depart- 

 ment of weights and measures. 



A summar\- of the Times report of Mr. Haldane's 

 address is subjoined. 



The Government is keenly interested in the development 

 of science, and a donation by the Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer on a scale of double what was anticipated 

 last year is an earnest of what it means. A contrast 



NO. 1913, VOL. 74] 



