402 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1348 



of Mining Engineers, stressed the limitations 

 of individual initiative and development, and 

 the crying need for definite, comprehensive 

 programs for the solution of our great engi- 

 neering problems. These things have in- 

 fluenced the A. S. M. E. to take the step of 

 organizing this section with the hope that, 

 tlirough cooperation with all the agencies 

 interested in and working in this field, general 

 good will be brought to the whole industry. 



COMMITTEE ON PROBLEMS OF ELECTRICAL 

 INSULATION 



The IsTational Eesearch Council has planned 

 an investigation of the principles of insula- 

 tion, a matter which is of vital importance to 

 the electrical trade and to its consumers. A 

 meeting of the council's insulation committee 

 was held recently at the laboratories of the 

 "Western Electric Company at 463 West 

 Street, ISTew York City. It was attended by 

 a number of engineers and physicists, the 

 chief engineer of the Western Electric Com- 

 pany, Dr. E. B. Jewett, who is chairman of 

 the committee, presiding. 



A preliminary meeting of the committee 

 was held a year ago, but at that time no 

 definite plans were fonnulated. At this meet- 

 ing it was decided that the first step is the 

 gathering together of all the published and 

 known scientific material relating to insula- 

 tion. This is a large undertaking and the 

 committee decided that a permanent salaried 

 secretary should be engaged to carry on the 

 compilation of the material which has already 

 been published and to maintain continuity in 

 the records and activities of the committee. 

 The committee also decided that it would at- 

 tack the technical problems by providing some 

 research men in the universities with funds 

 and materials supplied by the industries under 

 the guidance of the National Eesearch Coun- 

 cil. The scarcity of skilled and trained re- 

 search men, who are capable of attacking 

 insulation problems is a matter of much con- 

 cern to the insulation committee. An effort 

 will be made to discover among the post- 

 gTaduate students and the faculties of the 



universities men who are able to do this work. 



The committee consists of thirty-seven rep- 

 resentatives from the electrical industries, the 

 national engineering societies, the national 

 scientific societies, the national manufactur- 

 ing organizations and the imiversities and 

 colleges of the country. Among those who at- 

 tended the meeting were: Mr. C. E. Skinner, 

 Westing-house Electric & Manufacturing Co., 

 Dr. Irving Langmuir, General Electric Co., 

 Mr. Percy H. Thomas, Consulting Electrical 

 Engineer, New York, Mr. William A. Del 

 Mar, ISTew York, D. W. Roper, Commonwealth 

 Edison Co., Chicago, HI., Dr. Clayton H. 

 Sharp, Electrical Testing Laboratories, New 

 York, Professor John Johnston, Yale Uni- 

 versity, Professor Frederick Bedell, Cornell 

 University, Professor A. E. Kennelly, Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology, Professor 

 K. T. Compton, Princeton University, Ed- 

 ward D. Adams, Engineering Foundation, 

 New York, Dr. Carl Hering, consulting engi- 

 neer, Philadelphia, Pa., John M. Weiss, The 

 Barrett Company, New York, Dr. Eichard C. 

 Tolman, Chemical Division, National Eesearch 

 Council, Washington, D. C, and Dr. F. B. 

 Silsbee, Bureau of Standards, Washington, 

 D. C. 



THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVER- 

 SITY OF CHICAGO 



Director James Henry Breasted, of the 

 Oriental Institute of the University of Chi- 

 cago, who recently returned from an archeolog- 

 ical survey of the Near East, reports that the 

 remarkable collections which the expedition 

 was able to purchase have arrived at the Has- 

 kell Oriental Museum and are now unpacked 

 preparatory to their public exhibition. 



Among these is a complete group of twenty- 

 five painted limestone mortuary statuettes from 

 EgjTpt, representing the deceased and the mem- 

 bers of his family engaged in all sorts of 

 household activities. They date from the Old 

 Kingdom (3,000 to 2,500 B.C.) and form the 

 most extensive group of such figures ever dis- 

 covered in one tomb. In addition to a group 

 of royal seal cylinders and a group of some 



