November 25, 1922] 



NA TURE 



7i5 



The International Geological Congress of 1922. 



T^HE publication of the complete " Livret-Gnide 

 •*■ des Excursions en Belgique " and "Resumes 

 des Communications Annoncees " affords us an op- 

 portunity of reviewing the work of the first Inter- 

 national Geological Congress which has met since 

 the war. 



There are few countries that are so eminently 

 adapted for a geological gathering as Belgium. With 

 the exception of strata of pre-Cambrian age, all the 

 formations are adequately represented within an 

 easy railway journey from the capital. The rocks 

 are well exposed on the sides of the deeply-cut river 

 valleys and in the numerous quarries for limestone 

 and sandstone, which are being actively worked for 

 building material and road metal, and valuable 

 information has been afforded by the coal mines and 

 borings for coal. There has accordingly been every 

 facility for the investigation of the geological structure, 

 which is of the greatest interest. The area was 

 subjected to great movements from the south 

 in connexion with both the " Caledonian " and 

 " Hercynian " epochs of disturbance in the earth's 

 crust. The latter, which took place at the close of 

 the Carboniferous Period, resulted not only in numer- 

 ous well-marked folds but in extensive thrusts 

 (charriages) from the south which brought older 

 strata over those of younger age, in the same manner 

 as ancient crystalline rocks were forced over Cambrian 

 strata in the north-west highlands of Scotland during 

 the Caledonian movements. 



The very full and clear development of Devonian 

 and Carboniferous strata and the careful work of the 

 Belgian geologists upon them render a visit to Belgium 

 peculiarly instructive to students of those formations 

 in this country and throughout the world. The 

 succession, too, of the Tertiary rocks of Belgium is 

 also remarkably complete, and many of our British 

 geologists welcomed the opportunity of familiarising 

 themselves with them. 



Nothing could exceed the efficiency with which the 

 congress was organised, and this reflects the greatest 

 credit on M. Armaud Renier, the General Secretary, 

 and his co-workers. 



In one respect the congress presented a remarkable 

 contrast to scientific gatherings in this country. 

 Every member was permitted in all his railway 

 journeys in connexion with the congress to travel at 

 half the usual rates, whereas the members of the 

 British Association know to their cost that since the 

 war the railway companies have refused to abate a 

 penny of their fares to those who take part in the 

 annual meetings. 



Excursions were carried out before, during, and 



after the meeting at Brussels. Those before the 

 congress lasted from six to nine days, and comprised 

 traverses from south to north in the east of Belgium 

 (M. Fourmarier) and in the centre (MM. Kaisin, 

 Mailleux, and Asselbergh), and a special study of the 

 metamorphic regions of Veilsalm and Bastogne (M. 

 Lohest) and also of the Tertiary rocks (M. Leriche). 

 The excursions after the congress included studies of 

 the Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks of the neighbour- 

 hood of Mons (M. Cornet) and of the Carboniferous 

 strata (MM. Lohest, Kaisin, and Renier), while M. 

 Fourmarier devoted a fortnight to a detailed survey 

 of the remarkable tectonics of the Pakeozoic rocks. 

 The " Livret-Guide " to these excursions remains as 

 an invaluable work of reference on the geology of the 

 country. 



The formal opening of the congress took place on 

 August 10 in the presence of His Majesty the Kingof the 

 Belgians, and M. Jean Lebacqz was elected president. 

 Two or three sessions were held simultaneously and 

 numerous important papers were read. Alarge number 

 of these dealt with the character of the Hercynian 

 disturbances in different areas, and they constitute 

 important contributions to the literature of the 

 subject, but much still remains to be done in corre- 

 lating these movements and determining how far 

 they were contemporaneous or successive in adjoining 

 regions. 



A noteworthy feature of the congress was the 

 presence for the first time of representatives from 

 Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. No invita- 

 tion was extended to the Central powers, which were 

 on this occasion unrepresented. A proposal, which 

 originated with MM. De Margerie and Lacroix, to 

 prepare an international geological map of Africa, was 

 welcomed by the representatives of the other powers 

 having interests in that continent, and they agreed 

 to co-operate in the undertaking. 



It was proposed by Sefior Rubio-y-Muiioz, the 

 principal representative of Spain, that the next 

 congress should take place in Madrid, and an attractive 

 programme of excursions was promised. This was 

 unanimously accepted. The question was raised as 

 to whether the congress should continue on the lines 

 which had hitherto been followed or should be trans- 

 formed into an International Union of Geology 

 affiliated to the International Research Council. 

 There was a strong feeling in favour of the former 

 course, and a constitution was adopted which will, it 

 is believed, ensure the preservation of the past tradi- 

 tions of the congress as a great reunion of fellow- 

 workers in geology in which all nations are repre- 

 sented. J. W. E. 



Education, Research, and Invention. 



T T is natural to find that a large portion of the 

 1 presidential address delivered before the In- 

 stitution of Mechanical Engineers by Prof. H. S. 

 Hele-Shaw on October 20 should deal with education, 

 research, and scientific knowledge and invention, in 

 all of which the president himself has played an 

 important part. The Institution has now before it 

 the results of the first year's work in the examinations 

 for national certificates and diplomas. These ex- 

 aminations are conducted by the technical schools, 

 together with assessors appointed by the Institution, 

 who are responsible for considering all papers and 

 for reviewing and supervising all results. All the 

 results are submitted to a joint committee of the 

 council of the Institution and the Board of Educa- 



NO. 2769, VOL. I 10] 



tion, and all border-line cases are specially considered. 

 It is of interest to note that in more than one case 

 the Institution has had to modify the severity of 

 the school, which is far more satisfactory than if 

 technical schools desired to pass their candidates too 

 easily. Of the 1250 candidates drawn from forty- 

 eight technical schools, fifty-one per cent, have been 

 awarded various grades of national certificates and 

 diplomas. The Institution does not appear as yet 

 to be ready to give a decision as to whether these 

 examinations will be accepted in lieu of the Institu- 

 tion's own examinations for associate membership, 

 although the matter appears to be under consideration. 

 It is now nearly fifty years since the Institution 

 appointed its first research committee ; since then 



