NATURE 



565 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Acoustic Research 565 



The Body Temperature of Birds. By Prof. Suther- 

 land Sirmson 566 



Prof. Eddington's Romanes Lecture. By E. 



Cunningham 56S 



The Marketing of Whole Milk 570 



Our Bookshelf 570 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Relativity and Physical Reality— Dr. Alfred A. 



Robb, F.R.S 57 2 



The Miraculous Draught of Fishes — an Explanation. 



—Prof. E. W. Gudger 572 



Arabic Chemistry. — E. J. Holmyard . . . 573 

 On the Occurrence of the Archiannelids, Saccocirrus 

 and Protodrilus, on the South and West Coasts of 

 England.— Dr. J. H. Orton 

 ( Irigin of the Name of the Genus Masaris. — E W 

 Adair; F. A. B. ' ,„_ 



_ , • 574 



American Research on Acoustics. (Illustrated.) By 



Alan E. Munby 



The Galactic System.— II. By Dr. Harlow Shapley 578 

 Current Topics and Events . ... oj 



Our Astronomical Column 584 



Research Items 585 



The Hydrogen Molecule. (Illustrated.) . . .587 



Athletics and Oxygen Supply 5S8 



The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Dutch Zoological 



Society 589 



Processes of Rock-Formation 5S9 



University and Educational Intelligence . . . 590 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers 591 



Societies and Academies 591 



Diary of Societies 592 



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Editorial communications to the Editor. 



Telegraphic Address: PHUS1S. LONDON. 

 Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830. 



Acoustic Research. 



THE work of men of science has laid the 

 foundation for a great many improvements in 

 the technique of building, and this is, perhaps, most 

 directly evident in the domain of physics. The utilisa- 

 tion of energy in the forms of heat and electricity form 

 striking examples, but little has been done in this 

 country in connexion with the control of sound. This 

 is somewhat curious since in the late Lord Rayleigh 

 we possessed one of the greatest exponents of acoustics. 

 With the present-day congestion of our towns, which 

 seems to be an inevitable factor in the progress of 

 civilisation, the reduction of noise becomes of con- 

 stantly increasing importance, and the present financial 

 loss due to this cause must be very great, though 

 probably impossible to estimate. Need also exists 

 for investigation on the most efficient means of pro- 

 pagating sound in order to secure its most effective 

 transmission and reflection. 



i 'The production of an acoustically successful audi- 

 torium is frequently of paramount importance in 

 connexion with architectural design. Many of our 

 public buildings erected by eminent architects show 

 considerable faults in this direction, and as we may 

 assume that these faults are not due to professional 

 apathy, it would seem that the laws regulating the 

 production of a successful building for hearing and 

 speaking have yet to be worked out. 



Unfortunately, the variations in the factors which 

 have to be considered are many, and no two designs 

 are wholly identical. Some opinions on this subject 

 have recently been stated in the public press in con- 

 nexion with the hall of the London County Council 

 building, and the views expressed suggest that men of 

 science are agreed that there is work to be done, and 

 also need for work already done to be reduced to a 

 form capable of absorption by the designer and con- 

 structor. Sir William Pope considers that quite a 

 small expenditure of time and money would suffice to 

 provide knowledge enough to enable an architect to 

 render every hall acoustically perfect, but this view is 

 evidently not shared by Sir Joseph Larmor ; and 

 others will be found who regard the subject as less 

 easy of solution than might appear from the considera- 

 tion of simple cases only. 



Nor is the acoustic efficiency of public halls by any 

 means the conclusion of the whole matter. There are 

 more numerous cases in which the direct absorption 

 of sound is of as great importance as is transmission 

 in auditoria. In the hospital ward, the private sick- 

 room, and in the office, where quiet and ventilation 

 are so often incompatible, the best means of destroying 

 unwanted sounds calls for scientific investigation. 



NO. 2765, VOL. IIO] 



