50 EEPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. — 1915. 



arrival at Fremantle two of the barometers were opened and closed 

 again, and sealed with all the wax which could be found on the 

 ship. The remaining two were similarly treated at Fremantle with 

 paraffin wax purchased at that port. Disappointed at the nugatory 

 results of these experiments, the Secretary, who had previously made 

 arrangements to return via Suez, now decided to abandon that route and 

 to repeat the experiments on the homeward voyage round the Cape of 

 Good Hope on board the Ascanius, as the captain and engineers ex- 

 pressed their wiUingness to assist. Unfortunately these arrangements 

 had also to be abandoned, because, with the arrival at Adelaide, came 

 the news of the outbreak of war, and the ship was eventually 

 requisitioned by the Government It was not possible to obtain 

 permission to return with the troops and to make use of the 

 refrigerator, so it became necessary to find some other means of 

 returning with the apparatus. Up to the time of the British Association 

 meeting in Melbourne the work had been done by Dr. Duffield upon 

 his own responsibility, but, at that meeting, the Committee was formed 

 of which this is the Interim Eeport. The Committee expressed its hope 

 that if possible the experiments should be carried out on the return 

 journey, so after numerous inquiries and interviews with shipping 

 authorities the Secretary was given permission to install his apparatus 

 in the refrigerator of the E.M.S. Morea. The Committee is indebted 

 to the Superintendent of the P. and 0. Company in Sydney for en- 

 couraging this research, and to the purser of the Morea (Mr. Owen 

 Jones), but it was the goodwill and the assistance which the ship's 

 butcher and his mate gave on the voyage which rendered it possible 

 under very adverse conditions to take advantage of the permission which 

 had been given and to make an attempt to carry out this research upon 

 the homeward voyage. 



In the first place it was necessary to construct a laboratory in the 

 depths of the ship's refrigerator (which was approached by three nearly 

 vertical ladders). This was accomplished by the ship's carpenters 

 through the courtesy of the Chief Ofiicer ; the wiring for the electric fan 

 and lights was carried out by the Electrical Engineers of the ship. The 

 next care was the packing up and removal of the apparatus fi-om the 

 refrigerator of the Ascanius and its conveyance to the Morea. The 

 breakables were carried by hand and the heavier parts by carrier. The 

 whole operation lasted one week, and the transference was successfully 

 accomplished. The barometers were unsealed, opened, closed, and re- 

 sealed and heavily coated with wax in Sydney harbour. During the 

 homeward voyage, as during the outward one, observations were made 

 on an average three times a day, and the films were developed on the 

 voyage. Unfortunately, the same facilities for controlling the tem- 

 perature were not available on the Morea, and on some occasions the 

 fluctuations were very remarkable. Another disadvantage, as far as 

 this experiment was concerned, was the vibration, which threw the 

 surface of the mercury into a constant state of agitation and which could 

 not effectively be damped; nevertheless, observations usually of an 

 hour's duration were carried out three times a day during the whole 

 voyage. It was regarded as unfortunate that the experiments could not 



