NA TURE 



833 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1922. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The British Scientific Glass Industry . . . S33 

 Our Nearest Living Relatives. By Sir Arthur Keith, 



F.RS. . . . . .' . . . . S34 



A Reflective Observer ....... S36 



Metallography in the Workshop. By H. C. H. C. . S37 



Mosquito Control. By Lt.-Col. H. J. Walton, I. M.S. 838 



Our Bookshelf 839 



Letters to the Editor : — 



A Quantum Theory of Optical Dispersion. — Prof. 



C. G. Darwin, F.RS 841 



Interspecific Sterility. — Prof. J. P. Lotsy . . S43 

 Occult Phenomena and After-images. — Dr. E N. da 



C. Andrade 843 



A Relativity Paradox. j With diagram )— C. C. ; 



Prof. A.S. Eddington, F.R.S. . . .844 



The Track of a Flat Solid falling through Water. 



(Illustrated.)—^. W. Wetherell . . .845 



Water Snails and Liver Flukes.— R. H. Wallace . 845 



The Cause of Anticyclones. — W. H. Dines, F.R.S. 845 



German Book Prices. — Prof. K. C. Browning . 845 

 Medical Education.— Prof. W. J. Dakin; J. S. 



Dunkerly ; J. T. Cunningham .- . . . S45 

 Scientific and Industrial Pioneers. — Eng. - Capt. 



Edgar C. Smith 846 



W. H. Hudson Memorial. — R. B. Cunninghame 



Graham S46 



Human Blood Relationships and Sterility. — 



Christopher Blayre ; The Writer of the Article 846 

 Emission of Cathode and X-rays by Celestial Bodies. 



By Dr. Henri Deslandres 847 



The Desensitising of Silver Bromide-Gelatin Plates. 



By Dr. T. Slater Price .-.-.. S49 



Obituary 850 



Current Topics and Events S52 



Our Astronomical Column 854 



Research Items 855 



Photosynthesis S56 



Progress in Engineering 857 



Radio-Telephony and Broadcasting. By A. P. M. 



Fleming, C.B. E 858 



Excavations at Borg en Nadur, Malta . . . 859 



University and Educational Intelligence . . . 859 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers ..... S61 



Societies and Academies S61 



Official Publications Received S64 



Diary of Societies 864 



Supplement : — 



Pasteur. (Illustrated.)— 'By Stephen Paget . . iii 

 The Influence of Pasteur on the Development of 

 Bacteriology and the Doctrines of Infection and • 



Immunity.— By Prof. William Bulloch, F.R.S. vi 

 Pasteur and Preventive Medicine. — By Prof. J. C- G. 



Ledingham, F.R.S viii 



Pasteur in Crystallography. ( With diagrams. ) — By 



Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, F.R^S viii 



Pasteur's Early Research in Pure Chemistry and 



Fermentation.— By Prof. Arthur Harden, F.R.S. xi 

 Pasteur and the Fermentation Industries. — By Prof. 



A. R. Ling xii 



Centenary Celebrations ...... xiv 



Editorial and Publishing Offices : 



MACMILLAN 6- CO., LTD., 

 ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON. W.C.2. 



NO. 2773, VOL. I IO] 



The British Scientific Glass Industry. 



THE review of the development of the British 

 glass industry, given by Prof. W. E. S. Turner 

 recently in his presidential address to the Society of 

 Glass Technology, throws new light on an industry 

 which some have been inclined to think had to be 

 largely created in this country after the outbreak of 

 war. It appears that, even during the early days of 

 its development in the seventeenth century, the 

 industry made three notable contributions to manu- 

 facturing technique, namely, the use of coal instead 

 of wood as a fuel, the introduction of covered melting- 

 pots, and the preparation of lead crystal glass, which, 

 in the course of time,, ousted the famous Venetian glass 

 from favour. Moreover, right through the nineteenth 

 century, until about 1875, Great Britain held an im- 

 portant place amongst the glass-making countries of 

 Europe, after which date its exports declined, due in 

 a considerable measure to foreign tariff duties. 



Prof. Turner shows something of the great revival of 

 enterprise during the war period and afterwards, and 

 of the extensiveness with which glass manufacturers 

 have been installing new plant and machinery. In 

 these phases of activity, no country in Europe can 

 show a comparable record, and we may be permitted 

 to indulge the hope that a brighter period lies before 

 the industry than it experienced between 1875 and 

 1915. 



In these columns we are interested mainly in the 

 subject of scientific glass, and we have been forced to 

 ask at times if the real position in regard to this branch 

 has been understood or appreciated. Most divergent 

 opinions on the merits of British scientific glass have 

 been expressed. On one hand, very severe criticisms 

 have been made of the quality of British scientific 

 glass. On the other, we may say that we have seen 

 letters, written spontaneously, testifying in glowing 

 terms to its merits as compared with Continental 

 glass ; and inquiries in large laboratories have shown 

 similar divergence of opinion, the balance of evidence 

 being favourable. Possibly, users of scientific glass- 

 ware have grown more critical of late years ; they have 

 been forced to this position partly by the prominence 

 of the subject and partly by the financial stringency 

 existing in scientific institutions. Moreover, the 

 relations between the manufacturers and the dealers in 

 this country appear not to have been of the most 

 cordial character, and this fact cannot be ignored in 

 estimating the chances of British ware in its claim to 

 recognition. 



It is interesting to contrast the beginnings of the 

 chemical and scientific glass industry in the United 

 Kingdom with the early operations at Jena. In our 



