ment of Agriculture of the Federated Malay States. and published at Kuala Lumpur. No. 1, by Mr. H. C. Pratt, the Government entomologist, deals with termites found in rubber-plantations; No. 4, by the same author, is devoted to a zygænid moth (Brachartona catoxantha), the larva of which infests cocoanuts; while in No. 5 Mr. W. J. Gallagher discusses the best means of destroying the rats, which do serious damage to rice-fields.

MR. H. M. LEAKE has followed up his first paper on the experimental breeding of Indian cottons by a second, published in the Journal and Proceedings, Asiatic Society of Bengal (vol. v., No. 1). The author's object is to discover characters which behave as units under artificial crossing. In the present paper he records the constancy for Indian cotton plants of the position of the accessory bud on the main stem, i.e. certain plants regularly produce the accessory bud to the right, others to the left, of the main bud, but this character does not follow the Mendelian laws. Similarly, the main stem is always a monopodium, but the subsequent branching may be monopodial or sympodial; these are two distinct types, of which the sympodial is dominant. Further, it was observed that early flowering is a feature of the sympodial type, and herein lies the importance attached to a differentiation of Indian cottons according to their mode of branching.

THE thirty-fourth series of contributions to the flora of Africa, published under the direction of Dr. Engler, occupies the bulk of Engler's Botanische Jahrbücher (vol. xlii., parts i. and ii.). An important revision of African species of the genus Impatiens is supplied by Dr. E. Gilg, and Dr. Engler contributes descriptions of several new species, notably of the genus Mesembrianthemum. The classification of African species of the polymorphic genus Senecio is discussed by Dr. R. Muschler. Five subgenera, comprising about 500 African species, are demarcated. The subgenus Eusenecio is further divided into many sections, of which twenty are added by the author. The sections crassuli and kleinioidei are succulents, similar in this respect to the subgenus Kleinia; the section tuberosi is based on the production of large tubers; a large group is that of climbing plants, scandentes; other sections are the pinifolii, rhizomatosi, and arborei, the latter being represented by Senecio Johnstonii, a tree attaining a height of 45 feet.

A SECOND set of studies of tropical American ferns, by Mr. W. R. Maxon, is published in the Contributions from the United States National Herbarium (vol. xiii., part i.). The first paper deals with ferns collected in Guatemala by Baron von Türckheim, principally in the humid mountainous region of Alta Verapaz. The determinations include several new species, notably an interesting Campyloneuron and an epiphytic Lycopodium, also the species Diplazium ternatum, formerly recorded from Mexico. The author also supplies a revision of the West Indian species of Polystichum, with a key for determination. Diagnostic characters are sought in the presence or absence of a proliferous bud upon the rachis. Where present, it may arise immediately above the uppermost pinna, as in the species heterolepis, or on a whip-like prolongation, as in P. decoratum.

THE Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company, Ltd., has recently issued a new catalogue explanatory of its microtomes and accessory apparatus. The ingenious rocking microtome is, of course, universally known; the present-day instrument shows several improvements on the original pattern, notably in the fitting of the rocking arms. A second type of microtome, also a rocker, cuts flat sections, and is suitable for objects up to a diameter of

30 mm., while a larger microtome has been recently de signed which will take objects up to 40 mm. diameter, and with which hard substances, such as bone or cartilage, can be manipulated.

THE Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for Augus (xx., No. 221) is devoted to tuberculosis. The subjects dealt with are tuberculin treatment of dispensary patients, report of the work of the Phipps Dispensary for Tuberculosis, Marmorek's serum in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, and the kind of employment suited to arrested cases of the disease. In the last it is concluded that farmcolonies are the best possible means for the after-care of consumptives.

THE July number of the Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology consists of a monograph, by Mr. M. E. Haggerty, on imitation in monkeys. To the lay mind there will appear no question as to the power of monkeys to learn by imitation. The experimental evidence, on the other hand, has not always been on the side of popular opinion. It is true that Hobhouse obtained experimental evidence of the imitation of human behaviour by monkeys, and that Kinnaman observed two cases in which one monkey, after watching another monkey that had learnt to get food by manipulating a mechanica! device, itself repeated the performance; but Thorndike was unable to find any such imitation of one monkey by another, and in neither of the two monkeys studied by Watson was there evidence that the watching animal learnt to get its food by seeing how the other animal got it. Mr. Haggerty bases his observations on no fewer than eleven monkeys. Following previous workers, he places the animals" in the presence of simple mechanical devices, the manipulation of which opened doors, disclosed openings, or dropped food into the experiment cage." important feature of his paper consists in the extraordinarily detailed record of the movements of the monkeys while under experimental conditions. The seven mechanical devices with which the monkeys were at various times confronted yielded sixteen cases of successful imitation (three of which were immediate), five cases of practically successful imitation, and five failures. monkeys imitated in every form of test, two failed absolutely, while two succeeded in some tests but failed in others. The statistical results, however, are of less interest than the valuable description of the facts of behaviour, inasmuch as there is doubt as to what shall be allowed to count as imitation. In the present state of the subject it is observation that is needed, and this Mr. Haggerty's paper supplies in abundance.

The

Seven of the

THE June number of Petermann's Mitteilungen contains a short paper on the climate of Siam, by Dr. W. Gerbing, which deals specially with the observations made by Dr. Hosseus during journeys in 1904 and 1905. Little is known of the meteorology of the mountainous regions of the Laos States, where Dr. Hosseus spent most of his time, and the observations are therefore of considerable value. They consist chiefly of seven months' records kept at the mission station at Djeng Mai by Dr. Harris, and temperature observations made en route and during halts in climbing expeditions on the Dai Sutep.

THE Bulletin of the American Geographical Society (vol. xli., No. 8) contains an article on the Stonington Antarctic explorers, by Mr. E. S. Balch. The article is based on letters and papers belonging to Mrs. Richard Fanning Loper, of Stonington, Connecticut, who inherited them from her father, Captain Alexander Smith Palmer. These papers are few in number, as most of the Antarctic

records of the Palmers were destroyed by fire in 1850, but they afford much valuable fresh information about four very fruitful exploring voyages, and throw many new sidelights on the formerly important sealing industry in the South Seas.

THE August and September numbers of the Bollettino of the Italian Geographical Society contain a report on the Messina earthquake of December 28, 1908, by Dr. Mario Baratta. The author gives the results of a full examination of the scene of the earthquake and a comparison of its effects with those of the earthquake of 1783. A number of illustrations and detailed maps accompany the report.

A SUPPOSED ancient canoe was recently discovered, embedded in sand below water (not in peat) near Lochmaben. It is formed of a single oaken trunk, and is about 13 feet long and 2 feet broad, with sides which can hardly have been 1 foot in height. The bottom is flat and smooth. On the inside there are two rows of neatly drilled holes, in which were wooden pegs. These holes are at intervals of 18, 21, 24, and 27 inches, and lie in shallow grooves close to the sides of the canoe. The bow has a distinct resemblance to that of a dug-out canoe, and it is of course possible that this may be an ancient boat with ribs to which rough planks were tied, but the evidence for this theory is hardly convincing. It differs greatly from the dug-out canoes found at Lochrutton and Friarscarse, which were probably used by the dwellers in the crannoges which existed in those lochs. We have to thank Mr. Thomas Henderson, of Lockerbie, for the measurements given above, which would seem to show that the people who made the holes used a foot rule divided into 12 inches. It is very likely, however, that a flat-bottomed boat of this kind might have been used in the loch at almost any period from 1200 A.D. to 1600 A.D.

ACCORDING to the Jewish World, the French expedition has made further notable discoveries at Susa, the Shushan of the Bible, the ancient Elamite capital. In the Acropolis the explorers found, superimposed one above the other, the remains of three cities dating back to B.C. 4000, and beneath these other settlements of the prehistoric period. The most important discoveries were three black stone pillars, on which was inscribed the law code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. The site appears to have been occupied by the Babylonians earlier than B.C. 2800. Subsequently the Elamites regained their independence, and retained possession of the city until B.C. 649, when it was sacked by Assurbanipal, King of Assyria.

PHYSICAL anthropologists in search of a new test of race to supplement that of the cephalic index, which no longer commands the authority once attributed to it, will welcome the essay, reprinted from the fourth volume of the Philippine Journal of Science, by Mr. R. B. Bean, entitled Filipino Ears, a Classification of Ear Types." The author claims that he established for the first time a seriation of human ears, and that each ear type is associated with a physical variety of man. Most of the Filipino ears, except those of some long-term convicts, agree with the European type, and those varying from this standard are of an older morphological class. The Spanish population of Manila has ears closely agreeing with the European types among the Filipinos. In this, as in other characteristics, Chinese influence is apparent. He concludes that prehistoric Europeans have probably to some extent affected this ear type, and that Chinese ears are longer than those of Europeans, Filipinos, or Indians, because the Chinese population is composed more largely of the long-eared European types (northern, sub-northern, and Cro-Magnon). Ear type he believes to be to some extent independent of

pigmentation, because the same type of ear is found in blonde and brunette Europeans, in dark- and light-skinned Filipinos, in dark-skinned Indians and light-skinned Chinese. It is improbable that his views of the permanence of ear type as a test of race will be accepted without criticism, but, at any rate, this monograph, with its large selection of photographs, raises a new and interesting problem.

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AN interesting article on the climatic features of Wyoming and their relation to dry-farming," by Mr. W. S. Palmer, section director, is published in the U.S. Monthly Weather Review of February last. From systematic data collected during the last seventeen years, it appears that the average annual rainfall of the State is 13.7 inches; in some parts the amounts vary from about 5 inches to 20 inches, and crops are now being successfully produced by the dry-farming method in semi-arid regions where a few years ago it was considered that the precipitation was not sufficient for the purpose. Prof. C. Abbe explains that the expression dry-farming may be considered as an abbreviation of dry-land-farming, and that the method consists in giving up the attempt to raise crops every year, and attempting instead so to conserve and utilise the moisture as to secure a crop every two or three years. Success depends essentially upon the annual quantity rather than upon the seasonal distribution of precipitation and evaporation.

IN the valuable meteorological charts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans issued by the Meteorological Office for October, 1909, it is pointed out that the Southern Ocean has been remarkably free from icebergs and drift-ice throughout the first seven months of this year. Icebergs were frequently passed in 1908, and during the first five months of 1909 some were seen between latitude 52° and 59° S. and longitude 90° and 130° W., the loftiest being 300 feet high; but not a single berg has been sighted in the vicinity of Cape Horn. During the past quarter of a century many icebergs having an altitude of not less than 1000 feet have been met with in the Southern Ocean.. THE use of light filters in spectroscopic work whenever it is necessary to shut out all but a particular portion of the spectrum is so simple an expedient that we venture to direct attention to a list of Wratten light filters which has recently been issued. They consist of thin films of gelatin coloured with organic dyes, and the list gives the spectrum of the light transmitted in each case. One of the most useful for spectroscopic work appears to be the mercury green line filter, which is transparent for the mercury green line, but opaque for all the other mercury lines.

A DETAILED study of the lengths of the waves emitted by many of the ordinary forms of generators of short electric waves has been carried out by Messrs. H. W. Webb and L. E. Woodman at Columbia University, and the results are given in the August number of the Physical Review. The object of the authors was to establish such definite relations between the dimensions and electrical properties of the generators and receivers of the waves as to enable future workers to calculate the wave-length with certainty from the dimensions of the apparatus used. The method employed was Boltzmann's, the beam sent out by the generator being reflected at two mirrors, and the two half-beams brought together to produce interference. Rod, cylinder, Righi, and other generators were tested, and the wave-length measured in each case, a non-selective receiver being used. For apparatus of the same type, but of different size, the wave-length is proportional to the linear dimensions of the apparatus.

AN interesting paper on sparks as indicators of the different kinds of steel was contributed by Mr. Max Bermann, Budapest, at the meetings of the International Association for Testing Materials, held in Copenhagen early in September. An abstract appears in Engineering for September 17, from which we learn that the author stated that the influence of the emery-wheel on the nature of the sparks was far outweighed by that of the quality of the steel. It seems from the author's experiments that the spark ray gives a precise indication of the quality of the metal, and may be so applied in practice. Pointed branching lines denote carbon steel (Siemens-Martin); leafy ends of the branching lines indicate Siemens-Martin steel containing a high percentage of carbon; spark pictures, with blossom-branch-like appearance, a obtained from ordinary tool steel, and so forth. The author states that the spark test is so sensitive that it gives clear indication of a difference of 0.01 per cent. of carbon, and could be resorted to in the course of the Siemens-Martin process for testing the bath and also for the inspection of the finished material.

are

AMONG other interesting articles in the August number of The Central, the organ of the Old Students' Association of the Central Technical College, City and Guilds, is one on pipes for use underground, by Mr. H. A. Humphrey. In this article the writer emphasises the great value of a proper covering for steel pipes. Thin bituminous coatings, obtained by dipping in hot mixtures, is liable to be destroyed in places by the subsequent handling of the pipe. What is wanted is a coating which has elasticity and offers greater mechanical protection. The South Staffordshire Mond Gas Company followed the recommendation of the author for its mains, extending over an area of 120 square miles, a great portion of which lay in the 'Black Country," thus rendering the mains liable to subsidences and to attacks from sulphur and acid compounds. The steel pipes were coated once with asphaltum, then wrapped round with Hessian or canvas, and afterwards again coated with asphaltum, the result giving a thick, tenacious coating of sufficient elasticity and strength. Five years' experience is now available, and has proved that even under the worst conditions such a coating, when properly applied, is an absolute preservative against

66

corrosion.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. OBSERVATIONS OF MARS.-Further results of his observations of Mars are published by M. Jarry-Desloges in No. 4358 of the Astronomische Nachrichten (p. 224, September 24).

Changes are becoming more numerous, and the canals more visible. The observations made at the Massegros Observatory (Causse de Sauveterre) showed a new canal on Libya, but the Hellespontus was no longer visible. The Indus was seen to be intercepted at the estuary of the Oxus, and Syrtis Major and the Baie du Méridien were intersected. Since September 3, both at the Revard and the Massegros stations, a clear band traversing the Auroræ Sinus was recorded. The Revard plateau observ'ing station is being dismantled before it becomes snow'bound, and the instruments are to be remounted on the plains of the Beauce.

Having occasion to examine some of Prof. Lowell's 1907 photographs of Mars, M. Antoniadi was struck by the absence of the dark band which, according to visual observations, is circumjacent to the polar snows. Whilst recognising the possibility that this may be due to the photographic encroachment of the neighbouring bright area, M. Antoniadi does not think that this is the probable explanation; he would rather believe that in the visual

observations the phenomenon is a subjective one, the appearance of a dark band being produced by contrast with the bright cap.

Some interesting letters, describing the observed phenomena, and drawings, communicated by MM. JarryDesloges and Antoniadi to Signor Schiaparelli, are published by the latter in No. 9, vol. iii., of the Rivista di Astronomia (Turin).

THE RECENT MAGNETIC STORM AND AURORA.-From Mr. Basil T. Rowswell we have received an account of an auroral display observed by him, at St. Martin's, Guernsey, on the night of September 25, the date of the magnetic storm described in NATURE for September 30 (p. 395). On going into the garden at 8 p.m. (G.M.T.) Mr. Rowswell was struck by the appearance of a rosy glow, at an altitude of about 60°, in the E.N.E. sky. This glow brightened and then faded away, or was obscured by misty clouds and, possibly, moonlight, until at 8.10 p.m. no trace of it was to be seen; nor could it be discerned at 9 p.m. when the sky was partially clear. That it was a true auroral display which he observed Mr. Rowswell has no doubt, and he suggests that, had the sky been clear, a good, if brief, display might have been seen at Guernsey.

ELEMENTS AND EPHEMERIS FOR HALLEY'S COMET (1909). -A set of elements, computed by the Russian Astronomical Society, for Halley's comet is published in No. 4358 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. The pertur bations for the period November 15.9, 1835, to December 13, 1909, were computed by the method of mechanical quadratures, and the time of perihelion passage is given as 1910 April 23. An ephemeris which accompanies the elements gives positions for every tenth day from September 4 to December 23, and agrees fairly well with the position determined, for September 11, from Prof. Wolf's photograph.

DOUBLE-STAR OBSERVATIONS.—In No. 4350 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Prof. Doberck compares the observations of a number of double stars, made by various observers, with the data deduced from the published orbits. For twenty-three objects he gives the places where the orbits were published, the years in which observations were made, and the differences, for each observer, in angle and distance. The names of the observers are given in abbreviated form in accordance with a comprehensive list published by Prof. Doberck in No. 4346 of the same journal.

A NEWLY DISCOVERED NEBULA CLUSTER IN CETUS.-In

No. 4352 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Prof. Wolf announces the discovery of a small cluster of nebulæ in the constellation Cetus. The position of the cluster is a=2h. 50m., 8+5·4° (1855.0), in a region which is generally very barren in these objects. The new object is very faint, with a central condensation, and has a filamentous appearance.

OBSERVATIONS OF VARIABLE STARS.-No. 4352 of the Astronomische Nachrichten is devoted to the discussion of The observations were made, photometrically, at Potsdam, twenty stars of which the variability is doubtful or small. by Herr W. Münch, during the period September, 1908, to March, 1909, and are discussed at some length.

TERRESTRIAL REFRACTION IN EGYPT.-No. 33, vol. iii., of the Cairo Scientific Journal contains an interesting discussion of some observations of vertical refraction made by Mr. Xydis at Alexandria. The observer found a wellmarked diurnal variation which, in November, 1908, gave for k, the coefficient of refraction, values ranging from 0.0497 (at 9h.) to 0.1186 (at 17h.); frequently the value, which is usually positive, was found to be negative. The observations are also discussed by Messrs. Craig and Keeling, the latter pointing out the difficulties inherent to observations of vertical refraction, especially when settings are made on a sea horizon. Observations made at Helwan Observatory in November, 1908, showed the refraction to vary between 0.781 and 0.101, and, when compared with others made in June, showed that k is much smaller in summer than in winter, the values ranging, in June, from 0.368 to 0.076. It also appears that the refraction in Egypt varies much more than in European countries.

THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. THE autumn session of the Iron and Steel Institute commenced on Tuesday, September 28. Meetings for the reading and discussion of papers were held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the Institution of Civil Engineers, and were attended by a large number of members. In the absence of the president, the chair was taken by Lord Airedale, supported by the Duke of Devonshire, who presented the Carnegie gold medal to M. A. Portevin, in recognition of his researches on steel alloys. A short paper on the production of iron and steel by the electric smelting process, by E. J. Ljungberg, gives information regarding some experiments made in Sweden at the works at Domnarfvet. The latest form of furnace employed resembles a common blast-furnace having three carbon electrodes fed by three-phase alternating current at about 40 volts, 60 cycles, and 9500 amperes. These electrodes take the place of tuyeres. The furnace has been running for 1903 hours, and has produced 280 tons of iron containing from 0.95 per cent. to 3.09 per cent. of carbon. In producing this quantity there was used 442 tons of ore, 24 tons of lime, 41 tons of coke, 58 tons of charcoal, 6.5 tons of electrodes, and 891,623 kilowatt-hours of current. No air whatever is used in the process. The manufacture of iron and steel direct from ore by electrical means is of importance in a country like Sweden, possessing practically no coal mines, but having numerous waterfalls available for the generation of electricity. A commercial start has been made by the installation of three large furnaces in Canada at Sault Ste. Marie.

The difficulties encountered in tests for determining the economy of steam engines used in driving reversing rollingmill engines are explained in a paper by Mr. C. A. Ablett. Such tests are usually carried out by indicating the engine, and so estimating the steam consumption per indicated horse-power, or by measuring the feed water or coal consumption in cases where the boilers supplying the engine can be isolated. In the latter case the result can be expressed in pounds of steam or coal per ton rolled, provided a record is kept of the total weight of steel passed through the mill during the test. The author also describes how the power consumed in electrically driven mills may be obtained by means of an ordinary integrating wattmeter. The results of such tests are expressed easily in kilowatthours per ton. Five steelworks have decided to adopt electrical driving since the last autumn session of the institute, making more than twenty firms in all which have come to this decision. The author gives some results of electrically driven rolling mills, from which we quote the highest and the lowest. In rolling flange rails, 100 lb. per yard, from 2-ton ingots, output 30 tons per hour, 48.0 kilowatt-hours per ton were required. In producing 32-inch by 9-inch slabs from 6-ton ingots measuring 36 inches by 19 inches, output 40 tons per hour, 4.3 kilowatt-hours were required.

An interesting paper on the growth of cast irons after repeated heatings was contributed by Profs. H. F. Rugan, of Louisiana, and H. C. H. Carpenter, of Victoria University, Manchester. The fact that certain types of cast iron grow after repeated heatings has long been familiar to engineers. Cast iron annealing ovens 8 feet in length, 3 feet in diameter, and 1 inches in thickness, kept red hot for prolonged periods, sometimes grow to 9 feet in length in the course of use. The conditions under which the maximum growth occurs were first investigated, and, as a result, a period of four hours at 900° C. was chosen for the experiments. For growth to take place, repeated heating and cooling are required. In the tests, three commercial cast irons were examined, the test bars being heated in a cast-iron muffle protected by another muffle of fire-clay. The bars grew at different rates and to different extents, constant volume being reached after ninety-four heats. The growth in volume varied from 35-21 per cent. to 37.50 per cent. An increase in weight of from 7.82 per cent. to 8.60 per cent. was observed. The connection of growth and chemical composition was investigated on a series of iron-carbon alloys containing no graphite. An alloy was found the volume of which remains constant even after repeated heatings at about 900° C. This alloy is a white cast iron having about

3 per cent. of carbon and only small quantities of other constituents, of which silicon is the most important, and this should not exceed 0-2 per cent. to 0.3 per cent. The influence of silicon was examined in a series of ironcarbon-silicon alloys. The growth was found to be roughly proportional to the silicon present. In grey irons there are alloys the growth of which in air on heating is due entirely to oxidising gases penetrating their interior; in others, originally dissolved gases contribute to some extent to the growth.

Some experiments carried out at the Clarence Ironworks, Middlesbrough, are described in a paper by Mr. Greville Jones. These experiments had for their object the determination of whether the principal saving in fuel in blastfurnaces using dry air blast was due to the uniformity of the blast or to its dryness. Two furnaces were used, both of the same size and carrying the same load. For comparison, one of these was run with dry blast, and the other was supplied with blast in which the moisture was gradually increased up to 4 grains per cubic foot during the first of the four weeks over which the experiments extended. No appreciable difference was found in the working of the two furnaces.

Mr. R. S. Moore dealt with the fuel economy of dry blast in a subsequent paper. The author was associated with Mr. Jones in the tests at the Clarence Ironworks, and believes that the results of these tests point strongly to the fact that the great heat saving of the Gayley dry blast must be due to its dryness.

In another paper Mr. F. J. R. Carulla considers the development of the process of manufacturing artificial magnetic oxide of iron. Dr. William Gregory, of Edinburgh, first observed that when a solution of protosulphate of iron is divided into two equal parts, one of which is peroxidised, then mixed with the other, and precipitated by ammonia at a boiling heat, a black oxide is obtaineď which does not attract oxygen in drying, and is highly magnetic. Its composition must be 2FeO + Fe,O,, as the two solutions contain equal quantities of iron, and Gregory suggests that it may occur native as a variety of magnetic iron ore. Dr. Wülffing first worked out its industrial manufacture from waste liquors. Notwithstanding difficulties, the product is difficult to spoil in the making, and the great protective value of the Gregory-Wülffing magnetic oxide of iron paint is acknowledged by all who have had any experience of it.

The serviceable life and cost of renewals of permanent way of British railways were dealt with in a paper by Mr. R. Price-Williams. The total annual cost of the maintenance and renewal of the permanent way and works now amounts to 15 per cent. of the entire working expenses, which for some years past have reached the high figure of 63 per cent. of the entire railway gross receipts. The wear and tear of permanent way during the last ten years amounts to 5039 miles of railway, which have become worn out and have been replaced in most, if not all, cases with stronger and better materials.

Dr. J. Newton Friend, in a paper on the corrosion of iron, points out that the ionisation of water, which forms the base of the electrolytic theory of corrosion, is purely an assumption of which we have no definite proof. Kohlrausch showed that water offers the greater resistance to the passage of an electric current the more carefully it is purified. Not a few chemists maintain that if absolutely pure water could be obtained it would be found to be incapable of conducting an electric current-in other words, that it would not be capable of ionisation. Leduc has directed attention to the extreme difficulty of removing every trace of dissolved gases from water by boiling. The author points out that the results obtained by Kohlrausch and Heydweiller may be simply a measure of the extent to which the dissolved gases remain in solution under the special conditions of the experiments. If such is really the case, the electrolytic theory of corrosion becomes a myth, whereas the acid theory is unaffected by it.

Dr. Friend read another paper on the action of air and steam on pure iron. His experiments show that pure iron combines with ordinary air and with air dried over phosphorus pentoxide with increasing readiness as the temperature rises. Below 150° C. the oxidation proceeds too slowly to be readily detected. Pure iron becomes tarnished

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 dissociation of the steam, second, the combination of the dissociated oxygen with the iron and the consequent liberation of free hydrogen gas. If this conclusion is correct, the dissociation pressure of the oxide of iron produced at 350° C. is of the order of 1.02 X 10-12 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 trustworthy 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 constitution of carbon-tungsten steels. This paper is a continuation of the author's earlier researches on the same subject. His hardness tests and exhaustive microscopic examination 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 cooling from above the lowering temperature is without influence on the low point. It is suggested that the hypothesis 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 Fe,W, 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.

ALTHOUGH 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 1 or thereabouts, and is in many of the schools made the occasion for the distribution 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 knowledge had given rise to much confusion of thought and not a little waste of endeavour. Perhaps the crudest manifestation of this confusion was the belief, real or feigned, by some persons that inquisitorial experiments are performed 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 hæmorrhage by the ligature of arteries, the last-named being the outcome of experiments 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 something original. It was in the period including the close of school life and the beginning of university life, or whatever came after school, that most people had been guilty of attempts to write poetry, or had endeavoured to

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 anything good came out of a man unless he were a heavenborn 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 merely acquiring knowledge or making observations, and that more intellectual pleasure of scientific discovery. He contended that after school days were over all the preparatory and educational work that they had to do should be taught and learnt in a new spirit, no longer as an exercise or a preparation, 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 subdean, had addressed the students on "walking the hospitals," in which he emphasised the importance of the ground-work of chemistry, biology, anatomy, and physiology for the intelligent study of clinical medicine, Lieut. Shackleton 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, while those who remained in the hut still suffered.

66

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 Matthew Baillie (physician to the hospital. 1787-1800), who did much for the study of anatomy; Thomas Young (physician, 1811-29), 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 discoverer of vaccination.

At the London School of Medicine for Women, Mrs. Garrett Anderson, M.D., in opening the proceedings, referred to the admission of Miss Woodward to the membership of the Royal College of Physicians.

Mrs. Henry 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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