172 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1286 



route indicator devised by Croceo might be 

 mentioned in passing. 



Meteorologists of the Army and of the 

 Weather Bureau organized an Aerologic Serv- 

 ice for the immediate use of the fighting 

 artnies on earth, on sea, and in the air, and 

 specially interesting are the new methods for 

 forecasting developed by Vercelli of the Uni- 

 versity of Turin. 



In the field of marine engineering, especially 

 in light craft for offense and defense, very 

 notable results have been reached — from the 

 engines to the hulls. In radiotelegraphy, 

 naval and physical engineers have invented 

 new instruments for the detection of subma- 

 rines, and have sought to improve those 

 already existing, in complete cooperation with 

 the allies. 



In wireless especially, the institutes of the 

 Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs in Rome 

 and that of the Royal Navy at Livorno have 

 contributed to the study and to the improve- 

 ment of the communication between the differ- 

 ent belligerent units on earth, sea and air, and 

 of transoceanic communication. Yallauri, of 

 the Electrotechnical Institute of the Royal 

 Navy, has published in the Nuovo Cimento a 

 study on the functioning of vacuum tubes with 

 three electrodes called audion, which can be 

 considered as a first attempt at the theory of 

 these tubes, which have many applications to- 

 day in wireless. 



In optics, precision laboratories were estab- 

 lished under the direction of scientific men 

 and the construction of optical instruments 

 for war uses was improved in a notable 

 manner. It may be sufficient to call to mind 

 the work of the Galileo factory at Florence, 

 especially in searchlights, periscopes and sight- 

 ing instruments in general, the Filotecnica of 

 Salmoiraghi in Milan, and the precision lab- 

 oratory for the artillery in Rome. 



For the sound ranging problem — that is, the 

 determination of the position of the enemy 

 artillery by sound — Garbasso, after the be- 

 ginning of the war, founded the phonotele- 

 metric service for use of our artillery, and in 

 it several of our yovmg physicists have found 

 a field for technical and practical work. 



In the field of photography there existed be- 

 fore the war a photographic section of the 

 army, well known, especially for the works of 

 Tardive in telephotography and aerial photo- 

 topography. These immediately found appli- 

 cation in war, and no matter whether from the 

 air or the ground or the sea the photographic 

 explorers, using the good apparatus designed 

 and constructed by the section itself, contri- 

 buted genuinely to knowledge of the enemy 

 positions. Telephotography, especially in the 

 regions of the Alps, was much used, and, when 

 the censorship permitted, the results were in 

 small part published, as for example in the 

 panoramas of the war prepared tmder the 

 direction of the Supreme Command of the 

 Army. 



Corbino and Trabacchi improved the work- 

 ing conditions of X-ray tubes, together with 

 the application of devices for producing cur- 

 rents of high tension and of constant direc- 

 tion especially adapted to control them. 



It was clear that Italian chemistry was 

 ready when called upon. The already exist- 

 ing factories for explosives were enlarged and 

 other large ones established, and our best 

 chemists showed they knew how to push ahead 

 and direct them, introducing new methods 

 and courageously starting new ways of work- 

 ing. The numerous chemists who were 

 selected for these war industries have given 

 excellent account of themselves, as well as 

 those who have been directing other industries 

 also now engaged in war service. 



Through the initiative of Prince Piero 

 Ginori Conti, interesting studies have been 

 made by Nasini and his students of the bora- 

 ciferous " sofiioni " of Larderello and of all 

 the problems concerning boric acid, its by- 

 products and the gaseous emanations of the 

 soffioni already used in various ways. The 

 volcanic energies of our soffioni, tmconquered 

 and yet conquered by the will of man, donate 

 to national industry with generous and sin- 

 gular abundance, boric acid, ammonia, car- 

 bonic acid, radioactive emanations, heat, vapor 

 and pressure. Illuminated minds and gener- 

 ous hearts knew how to transform desolate 

 and frightful regions into busy and prosper- 



