November 25, 1922] 



NA TURE 



709 



Current Topics 



The presence of the Prince of Wales at the dinner 

 arranged by 'the Institution of Mining Engineers and 

 the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy at the 

 Guildhall, London, on November 16, gave Royal 

 distinction to a memorable occasion in the history of 

 applied science in this country. The Prince himself, 

 in his tribute to the mining engineer, referred with 

 particular approval to the amalgamation of the two 

 institutions and remarked: " I cannot help feeling that 

 there are in this country many institutions, scientific 

 and otherwise, which might do well to follow your 

 example, and, as you have done, group themselves 

 round a joint secretariat and library, housed in a 

 single building." The combined membership of the 

 two institutions is more than 6300, and the two 

 councils have decided to invite the sister-institutions 

 in the British Isles and the Dominions to co-operate 

 with them as equal partners in the constitution of an 

 Empire Council of Mining and Metallurgical Engineer- 

 ing Institutions. Sir John Cadman, president of the 

 Institution of Mining Engineers, who presided at the 

 dinner and was associated with Mr. S. J. Speak, pre- 

 sident of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, in 

 referring to this new body linking up members of the 

 mining profession throughout the British Empire in 

 a concerted effort of practical achievement, expressed 

 to the American Ambassador, who was present, the 

 hope that such a scheme would find favour in the 

 United States and ultimately embrace all English- 

 speaking mining and metallurgical engineers. The 

 importance which the Institution of Mining and 

 Metallurgy attaches to technological education was 

 shown by the presentation of the gold medal of the 

 institution to Sir Alfred Keogh, who has just retired 

 from the Rectorship of the Imperial College of Science 

 and Technology. Sir George Beilby was similarly 

 presented with the medal of the Institution of Mining 

 Engineers in recognition of his contributions to science, 

 with particular reference to his researches on fuel ; 

 both recipients had the honour of receiving the medals 

 from the hands of the Prince of Wales. The speeches 

 at the dinner were of a remarkably high order, and we 

 offer our congratulations to all who were concerned 

 in making arrangements for an event which not only 

 maintained the dignity of applied science but also 

 will contribute in no small measure to its continued 

 development. 



The latest reports add little to our knowledge of 

 the Chilian earthquake except to increase the esti- 

 mates of the loss of life and of the destruction of 

 property. The total number of deaths is for the 

 present officially put at 1800, and that of the injured 

 at more than two thousand. The town which seems 

 to have suffered most is Vallenar, half-way between 

 Coquimbo and Copiapo and about forty miles from 

 the coast, where one out of every eight inhabitants 

 was killed. Much of the damage, especially from 

 Coquimbo to Chanaral (240 miles north of Coquimbo) 

 was caused by the sea-waves. The early and clearly 

 erroneous report that the depth of the sea near 

 Copiapo had decreased from 2800 to 86 fathoms is 



NO. 2769, VOL. I IO] 



and Events. 



now contradicted. The greatest known uplift is less 

 than 48 feet, in Alaska during the earthquakes of 

 1899. M. dc Montessus de Ballore, who has studied 

 the distribution of the Chilian earthquakes, defines, 

 several regions along the coast. The region of 

 Atacama, Copiapo, and Coquimbo, to which the 

 recent earthquake belongs, is one in which earth- 

 quakes are relatively frequent, though it is less often 

 visited by destructive shocks than the regions of 

 Arica and Iquique, and of Valparaiso, Santiago, and 

 Concepcion. All three regions are situated in a dis- 

 trict of unusually steep surface-gradient. Off Arica 

 lies the Bartholomew deep (3500 fathoms), off Copiapo 

 the Richards deep (4100 fathoms), and off Valparaiso 

 the Haeckel deep (3000 fathoms). The origin of the 

 recent earthquake may have been near the southern 

 end of the Richards deep. 



The Electrical Review is to be congratulated on the 

 issue of its jubilee number. It may well be proud 

 of its record during the last fifty years. It has taken 

 a broad view of its technical functions and has pub- 

 lished many important papers in pure and applied 

 science. This jubilee number is a particularly in- 

 teresting one, as the articles are written more with an 

 eye to the future than the past. Electricians regard 

 a cheap unit of electricity as the most essential raw 

 material for the country. There are endless dutirs 

 which electric power can perform, not only in our 

 homes and factories but on our railways and in mines. 

 It is possible that the advent of the thermionic valve 

 may lead to the scrapping of the telephone system 

 of the country. Major Purves, the Engineer-in-Chief 

 of the Post Office, looks forward to the possibility of 

 an entire change in our methods of telegraphy. 

 Telegrams can be despatched by the photographic 

 means already shown to be feasible for the trans- 

 mission of drawings and photographs. These mes- 

 sages would be charged by the area of the paper 

 occupied by the telegram and not by the number of 

 words. The received telegram would be a facsimile 

 of the original and neither counting of words nor 

 corrections would be required. Sending telegrams 

 would be almost as simple as sending letters, and 

 would be much quicker and less costly than at 

 present. The advantages of electric heating are also' 

 emphasised. When this system is adopted chimneys 

 in buildings can be dispensed with, fireplace furnish- 

 ings will be unnecessary, and the inlet and outlet 

 ventilators on the floor and ceiling of the room will 

 give the occupant a better control over the air supply. 



The words " Leaf Pictures " recall the ingenious 

 arrangements of pressed seaweeds, shells, and the like 

 still to be found adorning the walls of modest dwell- 

 ings in the country. The work exhibited by Mr. 

 W. J. King at 118 New Bond Street is of a very 

 different order, and challenges the attention alike of 

 the man of science and the lover of art. As the 

 botanist turns from the plant materials employed to 

 the finished product, he cannot but marvel at the 

 delicacy of perception required in the selection of the 



