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NA TURE 



[August 5, 1922 



Current Topics and Events. 



Dr. E. T. Whittaker, professor of mathematics in 

 the University of Edinburgh, has been elected a 

 Foreign Member of the Reale Accademia dei Lincei, 

 Rome. 



Sir Charles Parsons, inventor of the Parsons 

 steam turbine, Dr. J. H. Tudsbery, until recently 

 secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and Mr. 

 C. le Maistre, Secretary of the International Electro- 

 Technical Commission in London, have been elected 

 honorary members of the Royal Dutch Institute of 

 Engineers. 



The D. G. Elliot gold medal of the National 

 Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 

 has been awarded to Dr. O. Abel, professor of paleo- 

 biology in the University of Vienna for his work, 

 " Methoden der palaobiologischen Forschung," which 

 forms a part of Abderhalden's " Handbuch der 

 biologischen Arbeitsmethoden." 



The Franklin Gold Medal of the Franklin Institute 

 of Philadelphia was presented on July 26 by Lord 

 Balfour to Sir Joseph J. Thomson, in the presence 

 of a distinguished gathering of men of science from 

 Great Britain, Canada and the United States of 

 America. This medal, which was instituted in 1914 

 by Samuel Insull, is awarded annually " to those 

 workers in physical science or technology, without 

 regard to country, whose efforts . . . have done 

 most to advance a knowledge of physical science or 

 its applications." 



Mr. W. H. Dines, Director of the Aerological 

 Observatory of the Meteorological Office at Benson, 

 has retired after many years' service in connexion 

 with the upper air. The Meteorological Magazine for 

 July, speaking of his retirement, mentions Mr. Dines 

 as a link with the past. After a training in mechanical 

 engineering, and with a Wrangler's degree at Cam- 

 bridge, he was specially qualified to undertake the 

 direction and management of an observatory for 

 the upper air. Much of his earlier work was effected 

 with kites. The upper air work is said by Sir Napier 

 Shaw to have been successful beyond hope and 

 expectation, though both were high, and pre-eminence 

 is claimed for the high-water mark of the investiga- 

 tions in this country. Mr. Dines's services to science 

 and the State have been of the highest order and 

 of very special value during the development of 

 aircraft and engines, and the maximum result has 

 been achieved with the minimum of cost. His 

 payment as Director was a small honorarium and 

 out-of-pocket expenses. 



A loan collection of water-colours of New Zealand, 

 by Mr. C. N. Worsley, is at present being shown in the 

 New Zealand Court of the exhibition galleries of the 

 Imperial Institute. The pictures give an excellent 

 impression of the beauty of the scenery of New Zea- 

 land. Among the new collections recently added to 

 the galleries is a representation of the resources of 

 British North Borneo, which includes an exhibit 

 illustrating the important tobacco industry. 

 NO. 2753, VOL. 1 IO] 



The annual exhibition of the Royal Photographic 

 Society for the present year will be held at 35 Russell 

 Square, W.C.i, from September 18 to October 28, 

 inclusive. The exhibition will comprise the following 

 sections : Pictorial Prints, Pictorial Lantern Slides, 

 Pictorial Colour Transparencies and Prints, Natural 

 History Subjects, Photomicrographs, Radiographs, 

 Astronomical, Aerial, and Spectrum Photographs, 

 Stereoscopic Slides, Scientific Colour Work, and 

 Technical Applications of Photography. 



A conference of representatives of the various 

 branches of the dairy industry in this country, held 

 on July 28 at the Ministry of Agriculture, under the 

 chairmanship of Sir Francis Floud, was addressed by 

 Prof. H. E. Van Norman, president of the World's 

 Dairy Congress which it is proposed to hold in October 

 1923 at Philadelphia. At the conclusion of the 

 meeting, the following" resolution was passed : — 

 " That this meeting, having heard Professor Van 

 Norman's statement of the objects, etc., of the World's 

 Dairy Congress to be held in the United States of 

 America in October 1923, is of opinion that this 

 country should be adequately represented at the 

 Congress, and it requests the Ministry of Agriculture 

 in conjunction with the Ministry of Health to invite 

 the various Associations and bodies interested in the 

 Milk Industry to nominate representatives to serve 

 on a General Committee to organise the representa- 

 tion of the Industry in England and Wales at the 

 Congress." 



Mr. Norman L. Silvester sends us from Pang- 

 bourne, Berks, a specimen of Scabious having a 

 remarkable malformation of the head. Presumably 

 a case of forking of the original bud, one "half" 

 has grown to produce a complete head, the other 

 " half " has remained short and produced a few 

 florets only. 



Mr. K. Norris, Purley, writes to record that an 

 albino crested newt (Molge crestata) was found in a 

 pond at Sanderstead, Surrey, on Friday, June 30. 

 Instead of the usual form, dark grey or blackish 

 brown, with orange underparts blotched with black, 

 the specimen is creamy white with pink eyes. It is 

 at present exhibited at the naturalist's stores of Mr. 

 G. A. Bentall, 392 Strand, W.C.2. 



We recently mentioned (July 8, p. 54) a com- 

 munication by Mr. Hazeldene Warren published in 

 the June issue of Man, on the subject of the Red 

 Crag Flints of Foxhall. In the July issue of Man 

 Mr. J. Reid Moir presents a rejoinder to Mr. Warren's 

 criticisms. We cannot find space for further reference 

 to the discussion, but think it worth while to direct 

 attention to .Air. Moir's reply. 



In an article on radio direction -finding in flying 

 machines in Nature of July 8, p. 59, it was stated 

 that Mr. Gregory Breit worked out mathematically 

 the nature of the field from the two horizontal coils 

 which are used, but no other names are mentioned. 

 Mr. Breit now writes to point out that the work on 



