7 i8 



NA TURE 



[November 25, 192: 



distinguished candidate is available, for research in 

 rich of chemistry, pure or applied, and no 

 restrictions will be placed upon the manner in which 

 the prize is utilised by the recipient. The donors of 

 the fund, explained Sir George Beilby, hope that the 

 prize will do something to stimulate young research 

 chemists to greater effort, form a not unworthy 

 tribute to the memory of Col. Harrison, and serve to 

 remind the chemists of the future how their science 

 was employed in the cause of right and humanity. 



Sir James Walker, president of the Chemical 

 Society, in a brief speech accepted the fund and 

 trust deeds, and the custody of the permanent 

 memorial. Before unveiling the latter, Earl Crawford 

 referred with sympathetic insight to the work of 

 Col. Harrison during the war, and to the loss 

 suffered by the country in the death of Harrison 

 and the remaining Fellows of the Society whose 



names are inscribed upon the memorial. He ex- 

 pressed the hope and belief that the prize fund would 

 fulfil the desire of the donors to encourage the younger 

 chemists in research, a purpose which Harrison had 

 ever in his thoughts. The unveiling of the memorial 

 was marked by the sounding of the " Last Post " ; 

 after a minute's silence the " Reveille " concluded 

 a simple and dignified ceremony. 



The permanent memorial (Fig. i) is the work of 

 Mr. Ernest Gillick ; it is of singular beauty. The 

 bronze medallion bears an appropriate representation 

 of a trench scene at the moment of a gas alarm. It is 

 set upon marble, the natural colour of which harmonises 

 with the bronze. In the rooms of the Chemical 

 Society the memorial finds a most fitting home, and 

 it is satisfactory to know that, should the Society 

 change its quarters, it will be possible to transfer 

 the memorial to the new rooms. C. R. Y. 



Long Distance Telephony. 



MR. F. GILL, the " European Engineer-hi-Chief " 

 of the Western Electric Co., chose the subject 

 of telephony over long distances, with special reference 

 to the international problems of communication 

 between the various countries of Europe, in his 

 presidential address to the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers delivered on November 2. Incidentally 

 he pointed out that the passive attitude of a Govern- 

 ment, content to satisfy the public demand only, 

 would never lead to an efficient service. The success 

 of the " Bell-owned " companies in the United 

 States is due to an intensive educational campaign 

 coupled with construction well in advance of the 

 demand. In the United States the number of 

 telephone stations has been increased ninefold during 

 the last twenty years, and there is now one 

 telephone station to every 7-7 persons. In Mr. 

 Gill's opinion a Government Department should 

 earn something more than merely sufficient to pay 

 its wav. If t his were done there would be no difficulty 

 in getting the capital necessary to extend the business. 

 With a large staff it is disastrous that the idea should 

 prevail that profit-earning is of no account. 



Mr. Gill stated that the " carrier " system has 

 greatly increased the maximum load possible on 

 given lines. In this system carrier waves of fre- 

 quency between 4000 and 27,000 per second are 

 used, and by means of " wave filters " they can be 

 separated into different circuits without difficulty. 



On the New York-San Francisco line there are four 

 conductors which form simultaneously two physical, 

 one phantom, and four earthed telephone circuits. 

 They also form part of a varying number of telegraph 

 circuits ranging from six to twenty. The introduction 

 of the thermionic repeater in 1914 gave a great 

 impetus to telephonic development. As many as 

 23 of these repeaters have been used in tandem 

 without seriously distorting speech. Mr. Gill gave 

 data to prove that the telephone system of the 

 United States is in advance of European systems. 



In conclusion Mr. Gill discussed the problem of 

 improving the through telephonic system of Europe. 

 In Europe there is no organisation to co-ordinate 

 the forty local systems. If a line were constructed 

 between London and Christiania it would probably 

 traverse six intermediate countries. The direct 

 distance between London and Bagdad is about the 

 same as that between New York and San Francisco, 

 between which daily conversations take place. 

 Under present conditions through telephony in 

 Europe can be of little value. Mr. Gill then sug- 

 gested alternative schemes for international control 

 and urged that every endeavour should be made 

 to secure it. The telephone authorities of Europe 

 should hold a conference to try to find a solution, 

 for to be interested jointly in a flourishing tele- 

 phone undertaking would increase goodwill among 

 nations. 



Low Temperature Carbonisation. 1 



By Prof. John W. Cobb. 



I^HE report of the Fuel Research Board for the 

 years 1920-21 on "Low Temperature Carbonis- 

 ation " has been awaited with interest in many 

 quarters because the subject has been much debated, 

 and it was known that experiments were being 

 carried out by Sir George Beilby and his staff at the 

 Greenwich experimental station. On one hand, the 

 process has been spoken of in terms of unrestricted 

 enthusiasm and optimism as providing a simple 

 and general solution of the smoke problem through the 

 smokeless solid fuel which was to be produced, and as 

 yielding large supplies of liquid fuel for naval and 

 other purposes through its promised high yields of 

 tar. On the other hand, critics of the process have 

 indicated some shortcomings. The gas yield is small, 

 and the process of carbonisation as carried on at 

 higher temperatures in the gasworks is paid for 



1 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Repoi 

 ! .ard for the Years 1920, 1921. Second Section: 1 

 nisation. Pp. iv-f 73+8 plates. (London: H.M. Stationery 

 Office, 1922.) 28. net. 



NO. 2769, VOL. I IO] 



mainly by the large volume) of gas which can carry a 

 much higher price per thermal unit than a solid fuel 

 because each thermal unit is worth so much more in 

 use. Again, one of the principal by-products of 

 carbonisation — ammonia — can be obtained only in 

 comparatively small quantity by low temperature 

 carbonisation, and the tars are much less valuable 

 bv current standards than those produced at higher 

 temperatures because they lack aromatic constituents 

 and are deficient in some other respects. 



Sir George Beilby, who signs this report, has 

 approached the investigation in an entirely sym- 

 pathetic spirit. As a matter of fact, he was busy with 

 the subject before it excited the amount of interest 

 which is now bestowed upon it, and in this report he 

 has detailed not only the results of experiments 

 carried out by the Fuel Research Board, but reviewed 

 the work of other investigators. 



In a preliminary review of the situation. Sir George 

 Beilby points out that broadly speaking this country 



