May 13, 1909] 



NA TURE 



313 



SEVENTH INTERN AT JOXAI, CONGRESS OF 

 CHEMISTRY. 



THE arrangements in connection witli the seventh 

 International Congress of Cliemistry, which is 

 to meet in London on May 27, are now practically 

 completed. The series of meetings, which take place 

 ever)- third year, was originally started by a meeting 

 of the Association of Sugar Chemists in Brussels. It 

 was then extended to take in all branches of chem- 

 istry. Successive congresses have been held in Paris, 

 N'ienna, Paris again, Berlin, and Rome. With each 

 successive meeting the popularity of the congress has 

 increased, and it appears that this one will be not 

 a whit behind those which have previously been held. 

 There are seventeen sections and subsections, and a 

 large number of contributions have been promised to 

 each. The largest number of papers so far promised 

 are for section ii., inorganic chemistry, and section x., 

 electrochemical and physical chemistry. The growth 

 of this latter section within the last few congresses 

 is remarkable. 



The amount of work and the number of papers to 

 be got through in many of the sections will entail 

 very careful organisation, and a very strong presi- 

 dential hand to prevent prolixity. In section x. alone 

 there are already about eighty papers promised, and 

 the actual working time is eighteen and a half hours. 



Beside the sectional work, there are to be four 

 general lectures to the whole congress by Sir Boverton 

 Redwood and by Profs. Haller, Paterno, and O. N. 

 Witt. The first act of the congress will be a social 

 one, when the Lord Mayor and Corporation will hold 

 a reception at the Guildhall on Wednesday evening, 

 May 26. On the next morning, at 10 o'clock, the 

 joint organising committee will meet, and at 3 o'clock 

 in the afternoon the inaugural meeting will take place 

 at the Royal Albert Hall, when H.R.H. the Prince of 

 Wales will formally open the congress. In the evening 

 there will be a reception by the Foreign Office. On 

 May 28 the various sections will start work in earnest, 

 when they will be hard at it from 10 to 1.30; and at 

 2.30 Profs. Haller and Paterno will give their general 

 lectures to the whole congress. In the evening there 

 is to be a banquet at the Crystal Palace in the central 

 transept. The Palace was taken because there is no 

 other place in London sufficiently large to dine 2000 

 people, and it is hoped that at least this number will 

 be present. 



On Saturday morning the sections will meet from 

 10 to 2 o'clock, and in the afternoon there is to be 

 a garden party at the Botanic Gardens, given by the 

 ladies' committee. In the evening the hard-worked 

 members of the congress will attend a reception given 

 by the London section of the Society of Chemical In- 

 dustry at the L'niversity of London. Sunday is to be 

 devoted to private hospitality, as also is Monday even- 

 ing. In this matter British hospitality is showing up 

 well, as already the offers of private parties will absorb 

 about 1500 members of the congress. 



On Monday morning. May 31, the sectional meet- 

 ings will take place from 10 to 1.30, and at 2.30 Prof. 

 O. N. Witt wull give a lecture to the whole congress, 

 after which the sections will hold session from four 

 to six. 



The morning of Tuesday, June i, is to be devoted 

 to sectional work, and at 2.30 Sir Boverton Redwood 

 will address the combined sections. Sectional meet- 

 ings will then take place from 4 to 6. In the even- 

 ing there is to be a reception at the Natural History 

 Museum. 



The official closing meeting of the congress is fixed 

 for 10 o'clock on Wednesday, June 2, and in the 

 afternoon the congress will visit Windsor Castle by 

 permission of the King. 



NO. 2063, VOL. 80] 



It should be mentioned that the annual meeting of 

 the Society of Chemical Industry will commence on 

 the morning of May 26 ; the presidential address will 

 be delivered at 10.30, and a reception will be held at 

 4.30, so that those who are members of the Society of 

 Chemical Industry and also of the International Con- 

 gress will have a very severe week of work, both 

 intellectual and social. 



The meetings of the congress will be held in the 

 buildings of the University of London at South Ken- 

 sington, and at the Imperial College of Science and 

 Technologv, where the offices are located. 



THE GOVERNMENT AND AERONAUTICAL 

 RESEARCH. 



IV/IR. ASQLTTH'S announcement that a special 

 •^•-'- Government Department for .Serial Investiga- 

 tion is being formed will be read with the keenest 

 satisfaction by everyone who is interested in scientific 

 research. It is but a short time ago that the Aerial 

 League was founded under the chairmanship of 

 Colonel Massy, mainly with the object of stimulating 

 national interest in the aerial problem. The evidence 

 before us points to the belief that, whatever other 

 causes may have been at work. Colonel Massy 's inove- 

 ment has been to the forefront among them. Of this 

 we have abundant proofs in the fact that about the 

 middle of April proposals of the League were dis- 

 cussed by a committee of the W'ar Office appointed by 

 Mr. Haldane. 



.An important feature of the movement is the ap- 

 pointment of a scientific committee to organise con- 

 tinuous researches, experimental and otherwise, on 

 problems connected with the design and construction 

 of aerial machines. The National Physical Laboratory 

 at Teddington is to be the centre for these researches, 

 and the committee consists of Lord Rayleigh (presi- 

 dent). Dr. Glazebrook (chairman), Major-General Sir 

 Charles Hadden, and Captain R. H. S. Bacon, repre- 

 senting the Army and Navv, Sir A. G. Greenhill and 

 Prof. J. E. Petavel, Dr. W. N. Shaw, and Messrs. 

 Horace Darwin, Mallock, and Lanchester. The Prime 

 Minister has stated that special and adequate funds 

 have been placed at the disposal of the committee, 

 the War Office, and the Admiralty for carrying out 

 the programme. 



Regarding the working of the committee, nothing 

 definite has as yet been announced. It seems, how- 

 ever, understood that in addition to experimental work, 

 one of their functions will be to advise the Admiralty 

 and War Office on inventions which may be submitted 

 to them or on processes which it may be in the in- 

 terests of the country for the Government to acquire 

 instead of allowing them to be divulged. 



It is clear, both from the constitution of the com- 

 mittee and from the accounts given in the Press, 

 that mathematical and physical investigations are to 

 receive a large share of attention, and that the mere 

 building of aeroplaries and experience in manipulating 

 them are not to interfere with the less enticing and 

 no less important work of finding out the fundamental 

 principles underlying their construction. The problem 

 of stability is specially singled out for mention. The 

 mathematics of this problem is pretty complicated, and 

 it is easy to remain for a long time within clear sight 

 of final conclusions when there is still much ground to 

 be covered before reaching them. But, given the 

 necessary methods of calculation, experiments are still 

 required to determine the data involved in obtaining 

 numerical results. A mathematical investigation now 

 in progress tends to show that broad aeroplanes may 

 be less stable than might be inferred from ordinary 



