December 2, 1909] 



A'A TURE 



131 



the present ruins. They lived by a rude kind of 

 farming, growing maize, beans, and melons ; their 

 women had some skill in pottery. They seem to have 

 used their underground Kivas as places where they 

 carried on a constant round of tribal ceremonial. 

 They lived a retired life, and were little influenced by 

 foreign culture. The ruins have now been carefully 

 restored under the supervision of Dr. Fewkes, whose 

 report, fully illustrated, gives an excellent account of 

 a strange forgotten race. 



LOW-TEMPERATUKE RESEARCH AT 

 ROYAL INSTITUTION.' 



THE 



A SUMMARY of the work carried on with the aid 

 •**• of the Hodf^kins Trust is, by the authority of 

 the managers, inorporated in the Proceedings of the 

 Royal Institution every seven years. Like the preced- 

 ing report, which chronicled the solidification ol 

 o.xygen, the liquefaction of fluorine, and the liquefaction 

 and solidification of hydrogen, the essay in which the 

 achievements of the years 1900 to 1907 are described 

 by Prof. Armstrong is again concerned mainly with 

 low-temperature investigations. 



No fewer than thirty-five original publications are 

 referred to, the main feature running through them 

 being the discovery and use of the charcoal vacuum, a 

 practical advance only less important than the intro- 

 duction of vacuum vessels in the manipulation of 

 liquefied gases. At the temperature of liquid air the 

 absorption is from six to thirty-four times as great as 

 at 0°, and depends but little on the pressure, so that 

 very high vacua can be produced. The density of the 

 occluded gas is substantially that of the liquid, o'o6 

 against o'o7 for hydrogen, and o'ly against o'i5 for 

 helium. Owing to their slight absorption by charcoal 

 at — 185°, the presence of hydrogen and neon in air 

 can be detected readily by connecting a vacuum tube 

 with a vessel containing charcoal cooled in liquid air; 

 if the gas be enriched by starting with a larger quan- 

 tity and submitting it twice to condensation bv cold 

 charcoal, the spectrum of helium can also be detected. 



The fact that helium is not condensed bv charcoal 

 at -185° was made use of by Prof. Onnes in the ex- 

 periments which culminated in the liquefaction of 

 helium, the one gas which had resisted all attempts to 

 liquefy it at the commencement of the period under 

 review; only by this means was it possible to maintain 

 the purity of the helium and to ensure that the circula- 

 tion of the gas could be maintained undisturbed by 

 condensation of solid hydrogen and solid air. The 

 indebtedness which he owed to Sir J. Devvar's dis- 

 coveries was fully and generously acknowledged by 

 Prof. Onnes in recording this great achievement. 



ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE ROYAL 

 SOCIETY. 



'TPHE anniversary meeting of the Royal Society was 

 ■*■ held as usual on .St. Andrew's Day, Tuesday, 

 November 30, when the report of the council was 

 presented, and an address was given by the president, 

 Sir .Archibald Geikie, K.C.B. An account of the 

 main subjects that occupied the attention of the 

 council during the past year is given in the report, 

 from which extracts are here subjoined. Other 

 matters mentioned in the report have been referred to 

 already in these columns. 



1 I.ow-Temperature Research at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 

 London, 1900-7. Essay by Prof. H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S. II. The Char- 

 coal Vacuum Septenate. Pp. 63. (Hodgkins Trust, 1909.) 



NO. 2092, VOL. 82] 



Report of the Council. 



Results of the National Antarctic Expedition. 

 The only part of the physical observations of the National 

 .Antarctic Expedition, of which the Royal Society under- 

 took the preparation and publication, that remains to be 

 completed is the second volume on meteorology, which is 

 now in progress. It will consist chiefly of synchronous 

 charts of sea-level pressure, with winds and temperatures, 

 over the greater part of the southern hemisphere. It will 

 thus embody, not only the results of the observations made 

 by the Discovery, but information derived from many other 

 sources. The preparation of these charts is in the hands 

 of the Meteorological Office under Dr. Shaw. It is antici- 

 pated that this laborious task will be completed in time 

 to allow the volume to be published next year. 



Glass-workers' Cataract. 

 The inquiry into the disease known as glass-workers' 

 cataract, instituted at the request of H.M. Government, 

 and referred to in the last report, has been pursued during 

 the year by the committee appointed by the council. The 

 scheme of operations drawn up by the coirimittee includes 

 experimental research in the laboratory, and also investiga- 

 tions at some of the principal glass manufactories, with 

 the view of obtaining data of the processes of glass-manu- 

 facture and of the incidence of the disease among 

 operatives. Some progress has been made in this latter 

 branch of the inquiry, but the work of the committee has 

 been hindered by the refusal of certain glass manufacturers 

 to allow the committee to visit their works. The experi- 

 mental researches in the laboratory are proceeding. 



The National Physical Laboratory. 



The need for increasing accommodation is greatly felt 

 in several departments. This is specially the case in the 

 department of metallurgy, referred to by Lord Rayleigh 

 in his address last year. With regard to this the executive 

 committee of the laboratory report : — 



" Investigations of very real importance have to be 

 declined, because of the need of appliances, and the general 

 scale of the arrangements is much too small. .\ site is 

 available for a new metallurgical laboratory adjoining the 

 chemical laboratory, and it is highly desirable that during 

 the coming year active steps should be taken to secure the 

 necessary funds. The committee commend this need to 

 luetallurgists interested in furthering investigations into the 

 application of science to the practical treatment of metals 

 and to other problems of importance." 



The executive committee have nominated a special com- 

 mittee to raise the necessary funds for extension in this 

 and other directions. 



The most important event of the year, however, has 

 been the work of construction of the national experimental 

 tank, given to the laboratory with great generosity by 

 Mr. A. F. Yarrow; this work is now well advanced. In 

 April last Mr. Yarrow wrote to the secretary of the Insti- 

 tution of Naval .Architects directing attention to the import- 

 ance of such a tank, and offering to present a sum of 

 20,oooi. on the understanding — 



(i) That a tank of the most modern character can be 

 established for a sum not exceeding 20,000/., and that it 

 be established at the National Physical Laboratory. 



(2) That suitable provision be made, both as regards 

 staff and means, for conducting" research work, as well as 

 for experimental investigations of a confidential character 

 which private firms may desire, and for which they would 

 pay suitable fees. 



(3) That a sufficient sum be provided to ensure that 

 the tank be efficiently carried on for a period of not less 

 than ten years. This provision might take the form either 

 of an endowment or of guaranteed subscriptions from ship- 

 builders and ship-owners. 



Mr. Yarrow's letter continues : — " I believe that an 

 adequate provision for maintenance would involve not less 

 than 20oo(. a year ; that is to say, a total guarantee fund 

 of 20,000?. would be required to maintain the efficient 

 working of the tank for the above period." 



In accordance with Mr. Yarrow's suggestions, a com- 

 mittee was formed by the Institution of Naval Architects 

 to study the practicability of the scheme and the raising 



