APRIL 4, I1912| 
NATURE 
LW 
the British Antarctic expedition the thanks of the 
scientific world for the attention being given to 
systematic observations, which are of far greater value 
than the attainment of the south pole. By deciding to 
spend another winter in the Antarctic, Captain Scott 
has given us additional cause to be grateful to him, 
and we may look forward confidently to a harvest of 
results of prime importance when the expedition 
returns to civilisation next year. 
A summary of the weather for the first quarter of 
the present year, as shown by the results for the 
thirteen weeks ended March 30th, issued by the 
Meteorological Office shows that the conditions were 
generally mild and wet over the United Kingdom. 
The mean temperature for the whole period was | 
everywhere above the normal, the greatest excess 
occurring in the eastern and midland districts of 
England. The aggregate rainfall was in excess of 
the average everywhere, except in the north of Scot- 
land, where the deficiency was rather more than 3 in. 
The largest total measurement of rain was 13°56 in. in 
the south-west of England, where the excess on the 
average was 415 in. The next greatest excess was 
3°<4 in. in the Channel Islands, and this was followed 
by 3°28 in. in the midland counties and 305 in. in 
the south-east of England. The largest number of 
rainy days in any district was 72 in the south of 
Ireland and 7o days in the south-west of England. 
The number of rainy days was in excess of the average 
in all districts, except in the north of Ireland. The 
duration of bright sunshine for the period was every- 
where deficient, except in the north of Scotland, where 
there was a slight excess. At Greenwich the mean 
temperature for the three months was 44°, which is 
3°5° in excess of the average, and it was 3°5° higher 
than for the corresponding period in 1911. The mean 
temperature was in excess of the average in each 
month, the excess for the three months being respec- 
tively 1°7°, 37°, and 47°. The aggregate rainfall 
for the three months at Greenwich was 7°18 in., which 
is 2°30 in. more than the average; the excess of rain | 
in the three months was respectively 1’07 in., o'11 in., 
and 112 in. The total duration of sunshine at 
Greenwich was 159h., which is 28h. less than the 
normal, the deficiency in the three months being re- 
spectively 6h., 14h., and 8h. 
TuE crisis through which the country has passed 
during the last few weeks in relation to its fuel 
supply should expressly bring home to us the neces- 
sity for a more general appreciation of what lies | 
ahead, and at no distant future, in the possible ex- 
haustion, or at least very restricted output, of our 
coal measures. Many have directed attention to this 
grave problem, but the public attitude has been one 
of indifference, or, at most, a pious hope that some- 
thing will replace coal. A useful pamphlet on 
“Natural Sources of Energy,” being the report of a 
committee of the British Science Guild, just issued 
by the guild, appears at a particularly opportune 
moment, emphasising as it does the improbability of 
that useful find within the horizon of scientific know- 
ledge and the need of serious efforts to check that 
enormous waste of coal which characterises our pre- 
NO. 2214, VOL. 89] 
sent methods. As Dr. Beilby shows, the saving by 
adoption of scientific methods might amount to 40 
to 60 million tons per annum. How the turbine, 
gas-producer, and gas-engine—especially with utilisa- 
tion of blast-furnace and coke-oven gas, so much of 
which is annually wasted or inefficiently utilised— 
can contribute to this economy is clearly shown. Oil 
engines, especially of the Diesel type, are shown to 
give high efficiency, but the enormous economic ques- 
tion of supply and output are clearly dealt with by 
Sir Boverton Redwood, according to whom the total 
crude oil output used under the best conditions is only 
equal to 15 per cent. of the coal. Other contributors 
to the report are Sir William Ramsay, the Hon. R. J. 
Strutt, Prof. V. B. Lewes, Mr. Dugald Clark, Sir 
Charles Parsons, and Mr. W. F. Reid. 
The photography of colour by purely optical means, 
that is, without the use of pigments, dyes, or coloured 
screens, has been shown to be possible in two or 
three different ways. One of these methods was 
described and demonstrated with remarkable success 
by Messrs. Julius and Ernest Rheinberg at a meeting 
of the Royal Photographic Society held last week. 
These gentlemen have eliminated the practical difficul- 
ties of the process one at a time, and by their patient 
perseverance have produced a camera that con- 
veniently serves for the taking of the photographs, 
for the viewing of them by means of an eyepiece, or 
for the projection of them upon a screen. An image 
of the view or object to be photographed is produced 
| nating with much wider opaque lines. 
upon a ruled plate that has transparent lines alter- 
Behind the 
lined screen is a low-angled compound prism, so 
constructed and adjusted that it disperses the light 
that passes through each transparent line into a 
spectrum, which covers the otherwise blank space that 
corresponds to the adjacent opaque line. The whole 
surface, therefore, instead of being white and black 
is covered with these long, narrow spectra, which are 
narrow enough to be indistinguishable to the unaided 
eye, however the final picture is viewed. These 
spectra serve the same purpose as the three colours 
of an autochrome plate. A second lens focusses the 
image on to the photographic plate, which thus 
becomes a record of the original and all its colours. 
The optical part of the apparatus is so compactly 
arranged that it is all contained in a tube that is 
rather longer than a moderate-sized lens mount. 
| Landscapes from nature, portraits, copies of pictures, 
photographs of jewellery, and of other subjects 
showed that the resulting colours were wonderfully 
true to the originals. 
Mr. C. E. Apams has been appointed Government 
astronomer for the Dominion of New Zealand. 
Pror. E. METcHNIKOFF, assistant director of the 
| Pasteur Institute at Paris, has been elected foreign 
associate of the French Academy of Sciences, in 
succession to Sir Joseph Hooker. 
| Tue Turin Academy of Sciences has awarded the 
Vallauri prize of 8001. for contributions to the pro- 
gress of physics in the period 1907-1910 to Prof. A. 
, Righi and Prof. J. Perrin. 
