552 



NA TURE 



[September 26, 1907 



Continental firms, which could not have been said of the 

 previous exhibition. The importance and adaptability of 

 electric driving is well illustrated by the machine-tool 

 section, and individual operation is greatly in evidence. 

 This is especially the case in one exhibit, as the whole 

 of the machines are individually driven, and the absence 

 of complicated belting as compared with neighbouring 

 exhibits adds greatly to the attractiveness of the machines. 

 Modern electric-tool equipment of every description is well 

 represented, and the heavier machines are also provided 

 in most cases with electric motors, such as plate-bending, 

 girder notching, shearing machines, as well as pumps, 

 winches, &c. Motor starters, iron-clad switches, and 

 electric fittings suitable for workshop use are also ex- 

 hibited. The exhibition should do much towards helping 

 the electrical industry in workshop practice. Power is 

 obtained for all the motors driving the various machinery 

 shown from the local borough supply, and no independent 

 steam units are employed, their place being taken by 

 single-phase motor generators supplied direct at 2200 volts, 

 converting to 220 volts continuous current. 



We learn from the .Mlahabad Vioncer Mail of 

 September 6 that the programmes of work of the various 

 scientific departments for the current year, as settled by 

 the Board of Scientific .'\dvice, have been published. The 

 following points are of general interest : — (i) schemes have 

 been completed for the establishment of a central research 

 station and agricultural colleges at Poona, Lyallpur, 

 Cawnpor, Bhagalpur, Coimbatore, Nagpur, and Manda- 

 lay, and a staff of three European specialists has been 

 sanctioned for each ; (2) new agricultural stations are to 

 be started (a) at Aligarh for the improvement of colton, 

 {b) at Partabgarh for the study of rice and sugar-cane, 

 (c) at JuUundur, (d) at Bassein, and (e) at Bhagalpur and 

 Bankipur (Bengal). The special investigations connected 

 with the improvement of Indian cottons and wheats will 

 be continued, but the scheme for the improvement of 

 Indian tobacco will largely remain in abeyance until the 

 appointment of a specialist for this purpose. The study 

 of sugar-cane diseases and of practical measures for the 

 suppression of cotton boll-worm in the Punjab will also 

 be continued. The lead mines of the southern Shan 

 States, the tin deposits in Mergui, Tavoy and Karenni, 

 the oil beds in the Irrawaddy. valley and the Arakan dis- 

 tricts, the volcano of Popa in the Myingyan district, 

 Burma, the copper beds of Singhbhum, and the manganese 

 mines in the Central Provinces, are all to be the subj<?ct 

 of geological investigation. 



Dr. a. Graham Bell has erected on his estate at Benin 

 Breagh, N.S., a tower, 80 feet in height, built of the 

 tetrahedral cells which he invented to secure great strength 

 and lightness in the construction of kites. The engineer 

 was Mr. F. W. Baldwin, of Toronto, who stated at the 

 opening ceremony that the tower weighs less than five 

 tons, and will carry a weight of 50,000 lb. 



From the report for last year we learn that the collec- 

 tions in the Albany Museum, Cape Colony, are making 

 exceptionally rapid progress, the number of specimens re- 

 ceived in the zoological department being in excess of that 

 in any previous year. It is likewise stated that the value 

 of the institution as a means of education is also steadily 

 increasing. 



We have received a copy of a report on trials of the 

 South African locust-fungus in India, by Messrs. E. J. 

 Butler and H. M. Lefroy, issued by the Agricultural Re- 

 search Institute, Pusa (Bulletin No. s of 1897). aid pub- 

 NO. 1978, VOL. 70] 



lished at the Government Press, Calcutta. Unfortunately, 

 little or no success has attended the attempt, the effects 

 of the fungus on several species of locust being nil, while 

 in the case of the migratory locust of the north-west such 

 effects as were produced appear to be of no practical value. 

 As regards the last-mentioned species, the authors observe 

 that " the conditions of nature are much more in favour 

 of the insect, and against the fungus, than those under 

 which the experiments were made, and if we can only 

 anticipate a small percentage of infections the method will 

 certainly fail." 



The trophy shown in the accompanying illustration is 

 offered by the Scientific American for competition for 

 heavier-lhan-air ll\in<* machines. In order thiii *he com- 



petition might be held under the auspices of experts, the 

 trophy has been given under a deed of gift to the .Aero 

 Club of .Xmerica, to be ccmpetcd for annually by both 

 .■Vmerican and foreign inveiitors. The first competition 

 was announced to be held at the Jamestown Exposition on 

 .September 14 for a flight of i kilometre in a straight line, 

 but the result has not yet reached us. The competition is 

 to be progressive in character, that is to say, if the flight 

 of the predetermined distance has been accomplished this 

 year, next year a longer flight will be required. After 

 every competition the name ^f the winner will be in- 

 scribed on the trophy. If it is wou 'h.-je times in diffei?nt 



