September 14, 1905 J 



NA TURE 



48 = 



Ben Nevis Obseivatory and the Argentine Republic. 



News has reachrd me here from the ofi'ice of the Scottish 

 National Antarctic Expedition in Edinburgh of the appoint- 

 ment of almost the whole of the Ben Nevis Observatory 

 staff to the Argentine Meteorological Oflice, including the 

 superintendent, Mr. .^ngus Rankin, who has been 

 associated with the observatory for more than twenty years, 

 Mr. Robert Macdougal, for many years assistant, and 

 Mr. Bee. 



It may be remembered that in March, 1903, the Scottish 

 National .Antarctic E.\pedition set up a first-class meteor- 

 ological and magnetical station in the South Orkneys, at 

 Scotia Bay, and that, after the wintering of the ScoMa, 

 I offered to hand over the station, including Oniond House 

 and Copeland Observatory, to the Argentine Government 

 with eighteen months' provisions, as well as to give a passage 

 on board the Scotia to .Argentine men of science if the 

 Republic would undertake to continue the work and relieve 

 the party the following year. This was carried through 

 by the energy of Mr. Walter G. Davis, director of the 

 .Argentine Meteorological Office, and Mr. Robert C. Moss- 

 man, the Scottish expedition's meteorologist, was asked to 

 continue in charge. Now Mr. Mossnian has returned after 

 two years' valuable work in the Antarctic, and the station 

 is being kept up a third year — the first time in the history 

 of Antarctic exploration that scientific observations have 

 been carried on in one place for more than two years. 



But the Republic is not satisfied ; it is to continue the 

 work for still another year, and is even going to increase 

 the number of Antarctic stations. Trained men were re- 

 quired, and since Mr. Mossman's return he has been in 

 communication with Mr. Davis, with the result that these 

 three gentlemen have been appointed to carry on this 

 work, as well as Mr. W. R. Bruce, also of Ben Nevis 

 Observatory, who arrived in Buenos Aires three weeks 

 ago. 



The Argentine Republic must be congratulated on its 

 enlightened perspective ; but surely while doing so wc must 

 hang our heads in shame, for, while our Government has 

 discouraged scientific research, we find this rapidly rising 

 Republic eager to encourage it. 



William S. Bruce. 



Eggishcrn. Switzerland, September 8. 



Properties of Photographic Plates Exposed to Light. 



In May, 1904, I exposed an ordinary sensitised 3 plate 

 (20th Century Rapid) to daylight. It was so placed 

 that the light had to pass through a window before falling 

 upon the plate. The day was cloudy and dull, without 

 sun, and the time of exposure was from two to four p.m. 



In the meantime I placed an unexposed plate in a 

 box, and upon it a steel pair of scissors. Then taking the 

 exposed plate I placed it above the unexposed plate with 

 the scissors in between and in contact with the sensitised 

 sides of both plates. 



After closing the box and wrapping up to exclude light, I 

 put it away for six weeks. 



.At the end of this period I developed (with MQ) the 

 unexposed plate, and found, as I had hoped, a radio- 

 graph of the scissors ; then developing the exposed plate 

 it appeared, if anything, to be less dark than the un- 

 exposed plate, but without any image. 



During 1904 I repeated the experiment several times, 

 varying the time of exposure and letting the light pass 

 through thicker glass, also developing at shorter intervals, 

 the days in every case being cloudy as in the first case. 

 With one slight exception, I failed to obtain any result. 



This year I put down three other pairs under the 

 same conditions as the first experiment of 1904, but, if 

 anything, the day, though cloudy, was much brighter. 

 With these I obtained three good results, one of which I 

 unfortunately spoilt in developing. 



At present I have five or six other pairs which will be 

 ready for development in four or five weeks' time. In 

 these cases the day was bright sunshine, so that perhaps 

 better results may be expected. L. H. Winn. 



Coombo College, Luton Road, Harpenden. 



NO. 1872, VOL. 72] 



CAUSE AND PREVENTION OF DUST FROM 



AUTOMOBILES. 

 A T the present time by far the most serious 

 -'*■ problem which the automobilist has to face is 

 the abatement of the "dust nuisance." A great deal 

 of bad feeling- has arisen against the motorist on 

 account of the dust which he too frequently produces, 

 and there is no doubt that there are very good 

 grounds for the irritation which has arisen, more 

 particularly in agricultural districts. Farming in 

 this country, at the best of times, is not in a pros- 

 perous condition, and a farmer does not view with 

 any kindly eye a further reduction in his produce 

 through the effects of dust. Apart from that, how- 

 ever, dust may cause a great deal of personal dis- 

 comfort to other users of the roads ; but this phase of 

 the question would, perhaps, not require ver}' serious 

 consideration were it not that dust of this nature 

 is apt to carry disease, and to lower the health of 

 the poorer part of our population living along the 

 main thoroughfares. As such matters may lead to 

 serious opposition to automobilism, and possibly to 

 further legal restrictions, all tending to hamper a 

 growing and very important industry in this country, 

 it is becoming imperative to see what can be done 

 to minimise a nuisance of this kind. 



At present there are two distinct methods of 

 tackling the problem. One is to treat the roads, or 

 construct them, in some way so that they no longer 

 give rise to dust. The other is to so alter the con- 

 struction of the car that dust, if it exists, will not 

 be raised to a serious extent. These two methods 

 we will now consider. 



(i) Special Treatment of the Roads. 



Undoubtedly proper treatment of the roads, if some- 

 thing permanent and at the same time not costly 

 could be devised, would be the most effective solution 

 of the problem. If, for example, the surface could 

 remain moist, there would obviously be no dust. But 

 treatment with the ordinary watering-cart is very 

 tr.'insient; moreover, it is destructive, for the water, 

 as a rule, is used in excess. The use of a deliquescent 

 substance, such as calcium chloride, naturally 

 suggests itself. But in order to be effective the solu- 

 tion would have to be above a certain strength, and 

 probably a little wet weather would remove so much 

 of the deliquescent material that re-treatment would 

 be necessary very soon. 



A number of solutions are now on the market for 

 the more or less tetnporary treatment of roads. 

 Perhaps the best known is Westrumite, containing' 

 chiefly petroleum and ammonia, the product being- 

 completely miscible with water. It has been used 

 extensively as a temporary measure. Experiments by 

 the .Scottish Automobile Club show that the effect 

 remains for a considerable time. Three stretches of 

 road, each about half a mile in length, comprising 

 metalling in three different stages of wear, w^ere 

 selected. These were thoroughly cleaned and treated 

 with a 10 per cent, solution of Westrumite. This 

 was repeated after three days, and, as . very heavy 

 rain fell soon after, a solution of the same strength 

 was applied a third time. The result appears to have 

 been very satisfactory. .Absolutely no dust was raised 

 by vehicles of any description passing over the road 

 for a very considerable time after the application, and 

 even after three months the dust was nothing to 

 speak of. On the metalling that had been worn the 

 dust was found to be greater. The permanency of 

 the result probably depends on the amount of trafific, 

 as results elsewhere have not always been so satis- 

 factory. 



Other preparations of a similar character have 



