May 1 8, 1905] 



NATURE 



69 



liom the boiler of a portable engine about twenty years 

 old. Microscopic examination showed that the effect of 

 fatigue stresses on the plate had been to form cracks com- 

 mencing as a rule from irregularities on the inner surface, 

 which cracks were due to weakness in the cleavage planes 

 of the crystals from continual slipping, and to a less 

 degree to some loss of adhesion between the crystals. 

 Some of the crystals appeared to have been broken up, and 

 the slag flaws seemed to have a restraining effect on the 

 progress of the cracks. 



Mr. B. H. Thwaite (London) directed attention to 

 accidents due to the asphy.xiation of blast-furnace work- 

 men, and described an apparatus for the rapid detection 

 of the presence of carbon mono.xide in air. 



Prof. F. Wust and Mr. F. Wolff (Aachen) submitted a 

 paper on the behaviour of sulphur in the blast furnace. 

 They showed that, contrary to the generally held opinion, 

 the sulphur in the coke does not reach the level of the 

 tuyeres of the blast furnace without undergoing alteration, 

 but a great portion of it is previously volatilised by the 

 ascending gases. It is then largely absorbed from the 

 gases by the descending charge, and in this condition 

 arrives in front of the tuyeres. Up to 800° the sulphur 

 IS principally absorbed by the o.xides of iron from the 

 sulphur-laden gases, while from 800° upwards the position 

 IS reversed, and the lime becomes the chief absorbent of 

 the sulphur. 



Reports of research work carried out during the past 

 year by Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter (National Physical 

 Laboratory), by Mr. J. C. Gardner (Birmingham), by Mr. 

 F. Rogers (Cambridge), and by Mr. Gunnar Dillner and 

 air. A. F. Enstrom (Stockholm), holders of the Carnegie 

 research scholarships, were submitted. Dr. Carpenter 

 dealt with the types of structure and the critical ranges 

 on heating and cooling high-speed tool steels under vary- 

 ing thermal treatment. 



In the light of the author's experiments the rationale of 

 the advantageous presence of tungsten and molybdenum in 

 high-speed tool steels appears fairly evident. The action 

 of either of these elements consists in hindering, under 

 certain conditions, and in altogether preventing, under 

 suitably chosen conditions, changes in iron carbon alloys 

 which would have for their result the softening of the 

 material and its consequent unfitness for tool steel use. 

 By suitable heat treatment it is possible to arrest the 

 softening process at any desired stage, and thus obtain an 

 alloy of any desired hardness. The metallographical 

 results of the investigation are extremely interesting. 

 They show that in spite of comparatively large percentages 

 —up to 17 per cent, or 18 per cent.— of special elements, 

 iron and carbon still remain as the all-important factors in 

 determining the types of structure of high-speed tool steels. 

 Except that the polyhedral or " austenitic " type of struc- 

 ture has never been obtained alone in a pure carbon steel, 

 the types of the high-speed tool steels might all be obtained 

 from pure iron carbon steels by appropriate thermal treat- 

 ment. The austenitic structure appears to be that of the 

 nose of the tool in actual use. Put briefly, the hardening 

 of rapid tool steels at the present time appears to involve 

 two factors, viz. (i) the widening, splitting, or lowering 

 of the critical ranges by the special alloy element, and 

 (2) the complete, or practically complete, suppression of the 

 widened, split, or lowered range by a mild quenching, e.g. 

 in an air-blast. 



Mr. G. Dillner and Mr. A. F. Enstrom' dealt with the 

 magnetic and electric properties of sheet steel and steel 

 castings. The results obtained have rendered it possible 

 to make some comparisons as to the relative suitability 

 of the different methods for producing a soft steel for 

 electrotechnical purposes (sheet material). It has appeared 

 that Bessemer steel has a lower magnetic quality than 

 open-hearth steel. On comparing basic and acid open- 

 hearth steel, the basic steel has be"en found to be preferable 

 and scarcely inferior to Lancashire iron. The reason why 

 the Bessemer material is inferior in quality to the open- 

 hearth sheets may possibly be that the Bessemer steel has 

 a greater opportunity of dissolving gases when the air is 

 passed through the bath of molten metal. In general, basic 

 steel does not contain such large quantities of silicon and 

 manganese as acid steel, and at the same time it is possible 

 to get a lower percentage of carbon in the first mentioned 

 NO J 855, VOL. 72I 



metal ; these facts may cause the hysteresis loss to be lower 

 in basic than in acid steel. 



Mr. J. C. Gardner dealt with the effects caused by the 

 reversal of stresses in steel, and Mr. F. Rogers submitted 

 memoirs on troostite and on the heat treatment of steel. 



It was announced that Andrew Carnegie research 

 scholarships for this year, of 50^. each, were awarded to 

 P. Breuil (Paris), Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter (National 

 Physical Laboratory), E. G. L. Roberts and E. .\. Wraight 

 (London), and W. Rosenhain (Birmingham), and that 

 scholarships, each of the value of 100/., were awarded to 

 H. C. Boynton (Cambridge, U.S.A.), L. A. Guillet (Paris) 

 and W. H. Hatfield (Sheffield). 



The council carefully examined the reports of the re- 

 search work carried out by the holders of the Carnegie 

 research scholarships during the past year, and decided 

 that the report prepared by Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter 

 (National Physical Laboratory) was deserving of the gold 

 medal. The council also dec'ded that special silver medals 

 should be awarded for the research carried out conjointlj 

 by Mr. Gunnar Dillner and Mr. A. F. Enstrom (Stock- 

 holm). The researches submitted by Mr. Gardner and 

 Mr. Rogers were highly commended. The medals were 

 presented by Mr. Carnegie at the banquet on May 12 at 

 the Hotel Cecil, when 500 gentlemen were present. ' 



During the meeting it was announced that Mr. Carnegie 

 would give to the institute a further sum of 5000/. to cover 

 the cost of printing the reports submitted by the Carnegie 

 research scholars. 



HIGHER EDUCATION /.V LONDON. 



J'ECENT events inspire hope in the future of higher 

 education in London. The report presented by Sir 

 Arthur Rucker, F.R.S., principal of the University of 

 London, at the celebration of presentation day on May 10, 

 and the speech of Lord Londonderry in proposing '' The 

 Institution of Mining and Metallurgy " at the annual 

 dinner of its members, are both highly encouraging and 

 indicative of the growing importance attached in the 

 metropolis to education of university standing, especially 

 in science and technology. 



Sir .Arthur Rucker, in the course of his report, dealt in 

 detail with the operations of the University of London, 

 and was able to show that some of the preliminary work 

 done since the re-organisation of the university has begun 

 to bear fruit in the academic year now approaching its 

 termination, and that the activity of the university has 

 been extended in several directions. The question of the 

 conditions of entrance to universities has been prominently 

 before the public during the year, and a very important 

 step has been taken by the Universities of Oxford, Cam- 

 bridge, and London, which have agreed upon a scheme 

 for^ the mutual recognition of the certificates given for 

 their respective entrance examinations. .Already twenty- 

 five persons have been matriculated as students of London 

 University under this agreement. Considerable progress 

 has been made, also, with the project for the concentration 

 of the teaching of the preliminary and intermediate studies 

 of medical students in a few centres under the control of 

 the university. Arrangements are in progress under the 

 auspices of the university for establishing centres at Uni- 

 versity and King's Colleges, and Mr. Alfred Beit has 

 given a munificent donation of 25,000/. in aid of the 

 scheme for the establishment of a third centre on the 

 South Kensington site. It is much to be hoped that this 

 generous gift will be supported by other large subscrip- 

 tions. It is a matter of vital interest to the public that 

 the unique opportunities for medical education afforded by 

 the great metropolitan hospitals shall not be wasted, and, 

 if they are to be utilised, it is essential that the whole 

 curriculum of medical education shall be easily accessible 

 to London. It is necessary, continued Sir Arthur Rucker, 

 that medical education shall receive public help similar to 

 that which is ungrudgingly given to engineering. It is 

 not too much to say that medical men do more unpaid 

 work for the public than do the members of any other 

 profession, and that, in return, less help has been given 

 by the public to medical education, in London at all 

 events, than to any other of the principal branches of 

 applied science. Large as the gifts to the university are, 



