NA TURE 



469 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Broadcasting' in Great Britain ..... 469 



The Problem of Solution 470 



The New Way of Thinking Physical Reality. By 



Prof. H. Wildon Carr 471 



Ceremonial Exchange. By Dr. A. C. Haddon, 



F.R.S 472 



Pure and Applied Electricity ... 474 



The Petroleum Industry. By H. B. Milner 474 



Our Bookshelf . . 476 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Dampier's " Discourse of the Winds'' and the Distri- 

 bution of Wind on the Earth's Surface. (Illustrated. ) 



—A. Mallock, F.R.S 47S 



The Conditions of Sex-change in the Oyster (Oslrea 



edutis).—R. Sparck 480 



Rise in Temperature of Living Plant Tissue when 

 infected by Parasitic Fungus. — Dr. I. B. Pole 



Evans and Mary Pole Evans .... 480 

 Coral in Medicine. — Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell . .481 



Biography of Sir Norman Lockyer. — Lady Lockyer 4S1 

 Harpoons under Peat at Holderness, Yorks. — O. G. 



S. Crawford .481 



A Curious Luminous Phenomenon. — S. R. . . 4S1 

 A Fifty-foot Interferometer Telescope. {Illustrated.) 



By Dr. George E. Hale, For. Mem. R.S. . . 4S2 



Motorless or Wind Flight. By Dr. S. Brodetsky . 483 

 The Influence of the late W. H. R. Rivers on the 

 Development of Psychology in Great Britain. By 

 Charles S. Myers, C.B.E., M.A., M.D , Sc.D., 



F.R.S 4S5 



Obituary : — 



Prof. F. D. Brown 490 



Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S. By E. N. daC. A. 490 



Current Topics and Events 491 



Our Astronomical Column 493 



Research Items 494 



A Florentine School of Physics and Optics. (Illus- 

 trated.) By Dr. L. C. Martin 49° 



Fruit-Growing and Research . 497 



Volcanic Activity in Nigeria . . 497 



The Royal Photographic Society's Exhibition. By 



C. J 498 



University and Educational Intelligence . 498 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers 499 



Societies and Academies .... . 499 



Official Publications Received 500 



Diary of Societies 500 



Editorial and Publishing Offices : 



MACMILLAN &- CO., LTD.. 



ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters should be 



addressed to the Publishers. 



Editorial communications to the Editor. 



Telegraphic Address: PHUSIS. LONDON. 

 Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830. 



Broadcasting in Great Britain. 



THE Postmaster-General has, it is announced, 

 decided temporarily to suspend the issue of 

 licences for the reception of wireless telegraphy and 

 telephony, except to those engaged upon experimental 

 work. In an official statement sent out by the Post 

 Office in relation to the broadcasting situation, it is 

 explained that the Postmaster-General has been 

 prompted to adopt the course he has taken in con- 

 nexion with the issue of licences for reception purposes 

 owing to the fact that there has been a divergence 

 of views concerning the details with regard to the 

 constitution of the company which it is proposed to 

 form for the purpose of providing the broadcasting 

 services. Not only have the proposed articles of 

 association of the proposed broadcasting company 

 proved unacceptable, as a whole, to the Postmaster- 

 General and his advisers, but also, it would appear, 

 that differences on essential points have also been 

 manifest between the members of the committee 

 dealing with the Postmaster-General in this matter. 

 Considerable progress has, it is stated, now been made 

 towards the solution of the differences between the 

 members of the committee in question, and, at a 

 conference held at the Post Office on September 12, 

 an agreement was reached as to the conditions under 

 which the Postmaster-General will issue the necessary 

 licences for the erection of the broadcasting stations ; 

 it therefore now only remains for the Post Office 

 officials and the committee representing the proposed 

 company to settle certain details. 



In the official statement in question it is announced 

 that the Postmaster-General and the committee both 

 desire it to be known that membership of the proposed 

 broadcasting company will not, of itself, entitle a 

 member to use the patents of other members in the 

 manufacture of receiving apparatus. The manner in 

 which the broadcasting situation is being handled by 

 the Post Office has, in some quarters, caused consider- 

 able disquietude ; the policy which is being pursued 

 1>\ the Postmaster-General, whereby an attempt is to 

 be made to control the broadcasting situation by and 

 through the means of the proposed articles of associa- 

 tion of the company which it is proposed to license 

 to provide the broadcasting services, certainly seems 

 to be one of doubtful wisdom. As the provisions to 

 be included in the proposed articles of association at 

 the instance or with the approval of the Postmaster- 

 General have not yet been made public, it would be 

 premature further to discuss the matter at the 

 moment. 



A point of considerable importance, which requires 



NO. 2762, VOL. I io] 



