August 26, 1922] 



NA TURE 



279 



first three members appear in the second order 

 spectrum, a comparison with the hydrogen line 

 1215-68 and with the three following lines of the 

 same series is therefore possible, with the result that 

 the wave-lengths are probably correct to one or two 

 tenths of a unit. 



The spacing of these four helium lines on the 

 frequency scale is of great interest and importance, 

 for it is found to be identical with the spacing of the 

 first four lines in the singlet principal series. It 

 may be stated, therefore, with considerable certainty 

 that the line 584 forms the first member of a principal 

 series, which, according to the notation of Prof. 

 Fowler, is to be represented by 0S-111P. 



Besides this series there is a single line at 600-5 + 0-3 

 of a feeble and diffuse character ; its origin is not 

 entirely above suspicion. In the extreme ultra- 

 violet the arc spectrum of helium appears to contain 

 no lines in addition to those just mentioned. 



The relation between the accepted values of the 

 resonance and ionisation potentials in helium and 

 the wave-lengths of these new lines is rather puzzling. 

 The ionisation potential should certainly correspond 

 to the limit of the oS-mP series ; now this limit can 

 be accurately calculated, it corresponds to 24-5 volts, 

 but the experimental value is 25-3 volts. This is the 

 chief difficulty, but it is not the only one, for the 

 agreement between the wave-lengths of the individual 

 spectrum lines and the values of the resonance 

 potentials as determined by Franck and Knipping is 

 not satisfactory. A correction of about — o-8 volt, 

 if applied to all the potential measurements, will 

 bring the two sets of data into fair agreement, but at 

 the expense of the first resonance potential which is 

 left without any corresponding line in the spectrum. 



The matter should be of some interest to those who 

 are struggling with the model of the helium atom. 

 Theodore Lyman. 



Jefferson Laboratory, Harvard University, 

 August 3. 



Transcription of Russian Names. 



With regard to the recent correspondence in Nature 

 on the transcription of Russian names, may I direct 

 attention to the fact that the Russian Academy of 

 Sciences adopted a system of transliteration many 

 years ago, and a note by Prof. J. W. Gregory giving 

 the new rules appeared in Nature on May 14, 1908, 

 p. 42. In all the publications of the Academy the 

 Latin transcription of Russian names is given in 

 accordance with this system. 



Since, in the event of Russia adopting the Latin 

 alphabet, the Academy of Sciences, as the highest 

 authority of the country, will be called upon to for- 

 mulate the rules, I think it would be advisable for 

 all countries to conform to the rules already set forth 

 by this Institution. 



It is needless to say that at present Russian trans- 

 cription is in a very confused state, the name of the 

 same author being frequently given in different ways 

 (e.g. Cholodkovsky = Kholodkovsky ; Ivanov =Iwa- 

 now =Iwanofi). Cecil A. Hoare. 



Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research, N.W.i, 

 July 25. 



Sense of Smell in Birds. 



The observations with regard to the olfactory sense 

 of vultures recounted by Mr. C. B. Williams (Nature, 

 July 29, p. 149) are at variance with those of hunters 

 and field naturalists and the experiments of Audubon, 

 Bachman, and Darwin (see Darwin's " Journal of 

 Researches, Voyage of H. M.S. Beagle "). From a priori 



NO. 2756, VOL. 1 IO] 



reasons it could be argued that birds as a whole 

 depend mainly on sight, and no one would be inclined 

 to deny an obvious fact when it is emphasised by 

 morphological modification. Ducks and geese and 

 other birds which feed for long periods on land and 

 marsh certainly have good powers of smell, but in 

 the majority the sense is feebly or not at all exercised. 

 The conclusions of Mr. Abel Chapman, given on pages 

 241 and 423 of his " Savage Sudan " (1921), that 

 with few exceptions birds and certainly that eagles 

 and vultures possess no sense of smell, deserve at- 

 tention, for he is a wildfowler with a long experience. 

 He has told me, among many interesting observations 

 which prove the fact, that in the Sudan, when it is 

 necessary to preserve meat from a carcase for mess 

 purposes, all that is necessary is to remove it a short 

 distance and cover it with branches. The vultures 

 discover without delay the carcase and pick it clean, 

 but fail to find the rich supply of meat so near them. 

 The fact appears, therefore, to be that vultures use 

 their telescopic eyes not merely to watch what is 

 taking place over a wide range below them, but to 

 note what their neighbours are doing. If one dis- 

 appears, the rest in turn fly to the region to find out 

 the cause. Alexander Meek. 



Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, August 3. 



A Coincidence in Values. 



It is to be noted that if the simple multiple " seven " 

 of the atomic heat (6-4) be taken a magnitude is 

 obtained double that of the gram-molecular volume 

 for the ideal gas (22-412 litres). On such a basis of 

 reckoning the " ideal atomic heat " would be ex- 

 pressed by deduction from the ideal gas as 6-403. 



Dulong and Petit's law would thus be stated : 

 " The product of the atomic weight and the specific 

 heat of an element in the solid state is constant, and 

 for the ideal solid is exactly fths of the gram-mole- 

 cular volume for the ideal gas." 



A linkage exists between the liquid and gaseous 

 states through the gas constants. Although the solid 

 state has not in any great measure adapted itself to 

 what Van't Hoff termed mechanical concepts, we can 

 foresee the existence of a simple connecting link 

 between all the three states of matter. The cynic, 

 of course, will observe that much virtue doth abide 

 in the magic number seven ! L. M. Stewart. 



The University, Birmingham. 



The Evolution of Consciousness. 



Your reviewer, in a kindly notice of my book in 

 Nature of July 29, p. 147, sums up its general 

 attitude in these words : ' ' All that is, Mr. Tilby 

 tells us, has emerged in a definite historical sequence, 

 and we have merely to accept the fact and not ask 

 why." May I point out that I did not say this, and 

 I do not think it ? Indeed, it conflicts rather glar- 

 ingly with the thought I tried to express. 



Certainly we have to accept the facts of the universe 

 in their historical sequence ; but we have to do 

 something more than accept them — we have first 

 to discover them before we can accept them. And 

 of the major portion of those facts we are still un- 

 aware, as the fundamental contradictions of con- 

 temporary philosophers abundantly testify. 



But to suggest that we are " not to ask win- " is 

 to commit treason against the intelligence. That 

 lazy heresy was once popular in the circles of pious 

 orthodoxy, and it has occasionally infected the more 

 epicurean or more pessimistic type of agnostic. But 

 this merely negative attitude will never satisfv. It 

 is very largely because man has asked why that he 



