>20 



NA TURE 



[December 16, 1922 



According to the last monthly circular of the 

 British Cast Iron Research Association, the new 

 director of research, Dr. P. Longmuir, is now formulat- 

 ing a scheme for the active prosecution of research 

 work in several directions. Among the subjects now 

 in hand are : iron suitable for moulds for glass 

 bottles, these moulds being at present largely im- 

 ported from abroad ; and the magnetic properties 

 of cast iron. The high silicon irons now found so 

 useful in chemical industry on account of their high 

 resistance to mineral acids are also to be investigated. 

 Together with the American Testing Society, the 

 question of the standardisation of cast-iron test bars 

 is being examined, and it is hoped that an inter- 

 national specification can be devised. The Associa- 

 tion is strengthening its library and reference facilities, 

 and should appeal to a wider circle of ironfounders 

 than its present rather limited membership, in view 

 of the importance of cast iron to the national in- 

 dustries. 



In the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh (June 1922) the general secretary — the late 

 Dr. C. G. Knott — gives some interesting notes of a 

 correspondence between the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh and the French Academy of Sciences about 

 the priority of the discovery of the pilot cable (cable 

 guide) for guiding ships into harbour in foggy weather. 

 In 192 1 the French Academy awarded a medal and 

 a prize to W. A. Loth for various devices in connexion 

 with navigation, and among these was the cable 

 guide. The principle of this device, the Edinburgh 

 Society states, is essentially that of the pilot cable 

 invented by C. A. Stevenson and described by him 

 in the Journal of the Society in 1893. Mr. Stevenson's 

 invention consists in laying a wire or wires along 

 the bed of the sea or of a river. Intermittent 

 currents are sent along these wires, and suitable 

 devices can be used on board ship to detect their 

 proximity, and thus receive a warning of dangerous 

 coasts, shoals, and so on. Stevenson's patent proves 

 that the rough general principle was known so early 

 as 1891, but this does not detract from the credit 

 due to Loth for perfecting the system. The principle 

 of the method is identical with that used by electricians 

 in London prior to 1890 for locating the position 

 of an underground cable. 



A Chadwick public lecture on " Relative Values in 

 Public Health " was delivered by Sir Arthur News- 

 holme, on December 7. In the course of his lecture, 

 which is one of a course, Sir Arthur Newsholme, after 

 deprecating the undiscriminating call for retrench- 

 ment in public health expenditure, stated that it is 

 necessary to adopt every practicable measure for 

 educating the public, and the first step is to educate 

 people as to the causes of evils. Historically, panic 

 — fear of cholera and " fever " — had facilitated sanita- 

 tion. In Sir Arthur's opinion, the appointment of 

 paid inspectorates, thus introducing a new element 

 into the implements of government, is necessary. 

 Inspection has increased, extending from things and 

 conditions of work and housing of persons, until we 

 have now in view the ideal of hygiene advice and 

 warning available for every member of the com- 

 NO. 27/2, VOL. I io] 



munity. The inspections have educational value even 

 more than in securing reform. Surveys are extended 

 and systematised inspections, and are of value in 

 arousing the community conscience and in securing 

 the driving power needed for reform. 



Sir William H. Bragg, Quain professor of physics 

 in the University of London, has been elected a 

 corresponding member of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences in the section of physics. 



The library of the Chemical Society will be closed 

 for the Christmas Holidays at 1 p.m. on Friday, 

 December 22, and will reopen at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 

 December 28. 



The Indian Botanical Society took over ownership 

 and control of the Journal of Indian Botany in 

 October (1922). Prof. P. F. Fyson, who started 

 the Journal in 1919 as a private enterprise, will 

 continue as editor. 



Prof. H. N. Russell, of Princeton University, 

 was presented with the Draper gold medal of the 

 National Academy of Sciences of the United States 

 of America at a dinner held in connexion with the 

 New York meeting of the academy on November 15. 



At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society 

 on December n, at the iEolian Hall, the French 

 Ambassador, on behalf of the Societe de Geographie 

 of Paris, presented a gold medal to Prof. J. W. 

 Gregory for his geographical work in East Africa. 

 Prof. Gregory afterwards read a paper, the substance 

 of which will be found on p. 826, on the results of 

 his recent journey in the mountains of Chinese Tibet. 



The Swiney lectures on geologv, in connexion 

 with the British Museum (Natural History), are 

 being delivered at 5.30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, 

 and Fridays, at the Royal College of Science, South 

 Kensington, by Prof. T. J. Jehu, who has chosen as 

 his subject " Fossils and what they Teach." Ad- 

 mission to the lectures, twelve in number, is free. 



A statue of Prof. Adolf von Baeyer, presented by 

 the Interessengemeinschaft der Farbenfabriken, was 

 unveiled in the Botanic Garden of the University of 

 Munich on October 20. Prof. Willstatter spoke on 

 behalf of the University, and Dr. Duisberg on behalf 

 of the Interessengemeinschaft, Prof. Seeliger for the 

 Bavarian Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Lepsius for 

 the German Chemical Society. 



A committee " to inquire and to report as to the 

 method of charging for gas on a thermal basis " has 

 been appointed by the Board of Trade. The members 

 of the committee are as follows : Sir Clarendon 

 Golding Hyde (Chairman), Mr. Arthur Balfour, Sir 

 James Martin, Mr. A. A. Pugh, and Mr. W. J. U. 

 Woolcock. Mr. W. H. L. Patterson, of the Board of 

 Trade, will act as secretary to the committee. 



In a communication to the Revue Scientifique of 

 October 28, Profs. Behal, Haller, and Moureu urge 

 the necessity of establishing some kind of protective 

 measure to prevent German chemicals entering 

 France. They point out that such measures have 

 been established in the United States, England, Italy, 

 and Japan, and they believe that prompt action of 



