386 
life should be interrupted during its earlier years, 
there is an urgent demand on the part of students 
for greater facilities of migration. In this brief 
article we can but give examples of the kind of sub- 
jects put down for discussion, but those to which we 
have referred will suffice to illustrate the thought 
which has guided the committee in their selection. 
All the items on the agenda paper are such as will 
lead to decisions which may issue in practical results. 
A congress of this magnitude could not be 
organised without long and laborious preparation. 
Two years have elapsed since the Colonies were first 
consulted. Preliminary conferences were held in 
Canada and in Australia last summer, and in Delhi 
just before the Durbar. The subjects proposed for 
discussion by the several universities of the United 
Kingdom and of the Empire overseas were con- 
sidered by the committee early in the autumn. The 
paper of agenda was drawn up in November. All 
the universities have sent in returns of information 
regarding their regulations aud customs so far as 
these are relevant to the subjects to be discussed. 
aeeskers will be in no uncertainty as to matters of 
act. 
The importance attached to the congress is indi- 
cated by the names of those who have promised to 
take part in it. There are absolutely no gaps in the 
list. All the Chancellors and Lord Rectors of the 
home universities are members of the general 
London committee. The executive committee con- 
sists of the Vice-Chancellors. The chairmen of its 
several sessions will be: Lord Rosebery, Chancellor 
of London and Glasgow; Lord Curzon, Chancellor 
of Oxford; Lord Rayleigh, Chancellor of Cambridge; 
Lord Strathcona, Chancellor of McGill and Aberdeen ; 
Mr. Arthur Balfour, Chancellor of Edinburgh; Lord 
Haldane, Chancellor of Bristol. We shall take the 
opportunity of giving the names of invited speakers 
and readers of papers at a later date. Delegates 
will be received in the Marble Hall of the University 
of London by H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught, 
president of the general London committee, on 
Tuesday, July 2. 
In addition to the delegates and representative 
members nominated by the various universities, 
associate members, whose names are approved by the 
committee, will be admitted on payment of a fee of 
tos. 6d. They will receive the report, and will be 
invited to certain entertainments offered to the 
members of the congress, but will not be entitled to 
take part in its discussions. Further information 
can be obtained from the secretary, Dr. Alex Hill, 
at the Congress Office, University of London. 
THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL 
LABORATORY.1 
OL. VIII. of the Collected Researches of the 
National Physical Laboratory maintains the high 
standard we have learnt to expect in the publications 
issuing from our national scientific consultants. It is 
almost impossible to omit mentioning any one of the 
thirteen memoirs which the volume contains without 
feeling that an iniustice has been done to a research 
of great interést. 
In the standards department Dr. Kaye has con- 
structed a standard meter of silica which by its low 
coefficient of expansion seems specially adapted for 
such a purpose. Advantage has been taken of the 
setting up of the Blythswood dividing engine in the 
laboratory to secure photographs of the various parts, 
and these add materially to the interest of the 
1 “Collected Researches of the National Physical Laboratory.’ Vol. viii. 
Pp. iv-+251. (s912.) 
NO. 2224, VOL. 89] 
NATURE 
[JUNE 13, 1912 
description of the instrument contributed by Mr. 
Scoble. Every spectroscopist will join with Dr. Glaze- 
brook in the hope that at no very distant date Lord 
Blythswood’s engine will be turning out diffraction 
gratings free from periodic error. 
The research on the alloys of aluminium and zinc 
carried out by Dr. Rosenhain and Mr. Archbutt under 
the auspices of the Alloys Committee of the Institu- 
tion of Mechanical Engineers proves that these alloys 
are much more complex than has been previously 
supposed. Mr. Batson’s work on the mechanical 
properties of hard-drawn copper and bronze wires for 
the Engineering Standards Committee shows that the 
uniformity obtained in modern manufacture is such 
that tests on specimens a few inches long agree with 
those on lengths of 50 ft. 
Dr. Stanton breaks new ground in his measure- 
ments of the shearing stress in the flow of air through 
pipes with speeds which render the motion turbulent 
or eddying, and the frictional resistance at the surface 
proportional to the square of the velocity. 
At the request of the Wiring Rules Committee of 
the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Messrs. 
Melsom and Booth have investigated the rise in 
temperature of electric cables of different sizes and 
types when transmitting current. They find that the 
currents allowed by the 1907 wiring rules of the 
institution give rises of temperature of much less than 
20° F. for cables under 0-05 square in. in section and 
more than 30° F. for 1 square in. cables. According 
to the tests made by Messrs. Paterson and Kinnes on 
instruments sent on long railway and road journeys, 
watt hour meters of the induction type can be relied 
on to remain constant to within 0-5 per cent. The 
report by Messrs. Campbell, Booth and Dye on the 
results of tests of five samples of magnetic sheet iron 
and steel made in the first place at the laboratory, 
then at the Reichsanstalt at Charlottenburg and at 
the Bureau of Standards at Washington, and then 
again at the laboratory, shows that the methods now 
in use at the various laboratories give results which 
are in close agreement. 
The methods and apparatus used in testing the 
flash points of petroleums have received a thorough 
investigation at the hands of Dr. Harker and Mr. 
Higgins, who conclude that the temperature which 
determines the flash is not that of the bulk of the 
oil as indicated by the thermometer, but that of the 
oil and vapour interface which is not measured. It 
is hoped that the further work on the subject in 
contemplation will lead to a marked increase in the 
value of flash-point determinations. The report on 
the equipment of the Froude national tank by the 
superintendent, Mr. Baker, shows that it is now in 
order, and that preliminary runs have been made. 
One cannot close the volume without realising 
how important the work carried out at the laboratory 
must be for the future of many of our industries. It 
seems now almost incredible that those industries 
were without such a national institution until the 
beginning of the present century. C. H. Lees: 
THE ETIOLOGY OF KALA-AZAR. 
N March 27 of this year Captain W. S. Patton, 
I.M.S., gave a university lecture at the Senate 
House, Madras, on his investigations into the 
etiology of kala-azar. His Excellency Lord Car- 
michael, Chancellor of the University, presided, and 
there was a large audience of fellows and graduates. 
Captain Patton first directed attention to the deadly 
nature of kala-azar, and pointed out’ that little at 
present was known regarding the extent of the 
disease either in Madras or in the Presidency. He 
