438 



NA TUKE 



[October 7, 1909 



when heated in pure steam at temperatures ranging from 

 350° C. upwards. The author concludes that the action 

 of steam on iron takes place in two stages, first, the dis- 

 sociation of the steam, second, the combination of the 

 dissociated oxygen with the iron and the consequent libera- 

 tion of free h3-drogen gas. If this conclusion is correct, 

 the dissociation pressure of the oxide of iron produced at 

 350° C. is of the order of 102x10-'" atmospheres. 



A paper on tests of cast iron was read by Mr. E. 

 Adamson. The general results were as follows. The best 

 tensile and transverse tests are obtained from bars which 

 have been machined. Transverse test bars cast on edge 

 and tested with the " fin " in compression give the best 

 results in testing. The transverse test is not so trust- 

 worthy or helpful as that of the moment of resistance. 

 The use of high-grade ferro-silicon in the foundry is of no 

 commercial value. Cast iron gives the best results when 

 poured as hot as possible. 



Mr. T. Swinden contributed a paper on the constitu- 

 tion of carbon-tungsten steels. Tliis paper is a continua- 

 tion of the author's earlier researches on the same subject. 

 His hardness tests and exhaustive microscopic examina- 

 tion support in every respect the conclusions previously 

 recorded upon the cooling-curve work, namely, that the 

 " lowering temperature " marks a definite reaction in 

 which the tungsten is involved, and that the rate of cool- 

 ing from above the lowering temperature is without in- 

 fluence on the low point. It is suggested that the hypo- 

 thesis of Edwards, that the lowering of the point is due 

 to the formation of a carbide tungsten, is untenable. The 

 theory of a double carbide formation is difficult to account 

 for with the cooling curve and microscopic facts observed. 

 A tentative hypothesis is given, wherein the lowering of 

 the recalescence point is attributed to the solution of a 

 tungsten compound, probably FejW, at the lowering 

 temperature. The tungsten is re-precipitated at the low 

 point, and the Fe^C immediately separates also. 



THE OPENING OF THE LONDON MEDICAL 

 SESSION. 



A LTHOUGH under the present five-years' curriculum 

 "^^ of medical study it is perhaps preferable for the 

 student to commence his studies in the summer session, 

 by a time-honoured ordinance the medical year in London 

 always dates from October i or thereabouts, and is in 

 many of the schools made the occasion for the distribu- 

 tion of prizes and the delivery of addresses of welcome 

 and advice. , 



At University College Hospital .Sir John Tweedy opened 

 the session, and in his address dealt particularly with the 

 importance of the experimental method in medicine. He 

 pointed out that failure to appreciate the difference between 

 the dissemination of knowledge and the advance of know- 

 ledge had given rise to much confusion of thought and not 

 a little waste of endeavour. Perhaps the crudest mani- 

 festation of this confusion was the belief, real or feigned, 

 by some persons that inquisitorial experiments are per- 

 formed in hospitals on men, or on animals, or both. Less 

 crude — nay, even creditable in a sense — was the notion 

 that by establishing sanatoria or endowing special hospitals 

 for the treatment of particular classes' of general diseases 

 it was possible to solve the problem of the nature and 

 origin of these diseases and to hasten the discovery of the 

 means of prevention and cure. He proceeded to give 

 examples of the value of research in combating disease, 

 instancing the discoveries relating to malaria, Malta and 

 yellow fevers, and the arrest of ha;morrhage by the ligature 

 of arteries, the last-named being the outcome of experi- 

 ments on horses performed by Dr. J. F. D. Jones at the 

 beginning of the last century. 



At .St. Mary's Hospital, "the principal of the University 

 of London, Dr. Miers, gave an address to the students 

 on the importance of " theories." Dr. Miers said that 

 for all people there was a certain period of life when they 

 were ready and anxious to invent and to produce some- 

 thing original. It was in the period including' the close 

 of school life and the beginning of university life, or 

 whatever came after scliool, that most people had been 

 guilty of attempts to write .poetry, or had endeavoured to 



NO. 2084, VOL. 81] 



construct a tale, or had believed themselves to be on the 

 brink of a discovery or invention, or had taken up some 

 new idea or theory of life which was for them, at least, a 

 new thing of their own making and a piece of their own 

 philosophy. It had been too much the fashion to decry 

 youthful efforts, and to endeavour to persuade ourselves 

 that knowledge and experience were required before any- 

 thing good came out of a man unless he were a heaven- 

 born genius. 



After referring to the instances of Pasteur, Darwin, and 

 other great workers in research, the lecturer went on to 

 draw a distinction between the pleasure of inerely acquiring 

 knowledge or making observations, and that more intel- 

 lectual pleasure of scientific discovery. He contended that 

 after school days were over all the preparatory and educa- 

 tional work that they had to do should be taught and 

 learnt in a new spirit, no longer as an exercise or a pre- 

 paration, but as real active living research guided by the 

 light of theory and inspired with the hope of discovery. 

 He counselled medical students in all their work to adopt 

 a theory and stick to it so long as they were able, and 

 then, if necessary, to invent a new one, to work in the ' 

 spirit of investigation in the light of their theories, and" 

 to regard all their work as belonging to medical science 

 and illustrating the general principles of that science. 



At the Middlesex "Hospital, after Dr. Goodall, the sub- 

 dean, had addressed the students on " walking the 

 hospitals," in which he emphasised the importance of the 

 ground-work of chemistry, biology, anatomy, and physio- 

 logy for the intelligent study of clinical medicine, Lieut. 

 Shaclcleton distributed the prizes and gave a sketch of 

 some of his experiences in the Antarctic. The temperature 

 of the explorers on the plateau went down to 94° F. or 

 93° F. — four or five degrees below normal — without ill 

 effect. The members of the expedition did not suffer from 

 colds, though on one occasion when a bale of clothing 

 packed in England was opened they caught cold, but it 

 disappeared when they went out, wdiile those who re- 

 mained in the hut still suffered. 



" St. George's and the Progress of Physic " was the 

 title of Dr. Rolleston's opening .address at St. George's 

 Hospital. The lecturer detailed many interesting facts in 

 the lives of Maltliew Baillie (physician to the hospital, 

 17S7-1800). who did much for the study of anatomy; 

 Thomas Young (physician, 181 1-29), best known as the 

 discoverer of the undulatory theory of light ; John Hunter, 

 the great anatomist and physiologist ; Sir Benjamin Brodie, 

 the well-known surgeon ; and Edward Jenner, the dis- 

 coverer of vaccination. 



At the London School of Medicine for Women, Mrs. 

 Garrett Anderson, ALD., in opening the proceedings, re- 

 ferred to the admission of Miss Woodward to the member- 

 ship of the Royal College of Physicians. 



Mrs. Henrv Fawcett, LL.D., gave an address on 

 "pioneering," in which she pointed out the courage and 

 self-sacrifice displayed by the pioneer in every branch of 

 human endeavour. The pioneers cleared away difficulties, 

 made the road for those who followed safe and easy. If 

 they really wished to recognise with gratitude the work 

 which had been done for them by the great pioneers, she 

 would wish nothing better for them than that they might 

 be able to claim, even though they might not receive, the 

 gratitude of those who followed after them in the noble 

 profession to which they were devoting their lives. 



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