Aldebarian and Antarian types to helium stars. This, he states, conforms to the thermal classification which Sir Norman Lockyer deduced from his qualitative study of the stellar spectra.

up

THE WORK OF SIR WILLIAM HUGGINS.-Under this heading, in The Astrophyical Journal for April (vol. xxxvii., No. 3) Prof. G. E. Hale takes the opportunity of again cheering those astronomical observers who possess only a small and limited instrumental equipment, and may conceive the idea that the multiplication of large instruments renders any attempt at research on their part useless. Being the director of an observatory which may be considered the best equipped, contains the largest instruments, and is situated on a nearly ideal mountain site, it may appear that he is only trying to console workers with modest means. But this is not so. Prof. Hale knows the value of both large and small instruments, and there is abundant work for both classes. The reader should look through this article and he will find depicted there the magnificent work of amateurs, in spite of the fact that large instruments were in active employment at the time the work was done. Sir William Huggins he takes as an example of one of "that great English group of amateurs," and he directs attention to the fact that while in 1856 he acquired his first telescope, a 5-in. refractor, in 1858 an 8-in., and in 1870 an 18-in. reflector, such powerful instruments as 15-in. refractors at Pulkowa and Harvard, Lord Rosse's 6-ft. reflector, Lassell's 4-ft. reflector, the Melbourne 4-ft. reflector, &c., did not deter him from securing results of the highest importance.

Prof. Hale concludes in the following terms:"Every investigator may find useful and inspiring suggestions in the life and example of Sir William Huggins. Their surest message and strongest appeal will be to the amateur with limited instrumental means, and to the man, however situated, who would break new ground."

TH

THE SCOTT EXPEDITION TO THE
ANTARCTIC.

HE huge audience which filled the Albert Hall on Wednesday evening, May 21, on the occasion of the Royal Geographical Society's meeting to hear Commander Evans's account of the Scott expedition to the Antarctic, showed no less by its eager plaudits than by its suppression of them at the fitting moments that the public sense of the tragedy of the expedition is not dulled by familiarity. Yet throughout the proceedings there was no false note of sentiment; the president, Lord Curzon, stated, without risk of misunderstanding, that the tribute of the society to the dead had been paid already, and begged any (and there were some) who felt that "this great reception is inconsistent with the feelings of sorrow which affect us all to "abandon such a reflection," for that he was sure that Scott himself would not have had his companions forgo the reward of their labour. And the story of the expedition was told by Commander Evans very simply; he exhibited the sense of loss which all his collaborators share in a few words only, and by implication rather than by direct statement. Finally, the tribute paid by both president and lecturer to the generosity of the public and to the Government for the provisions made for the dependants of those who are lost showed that any criticism which has been directed against the allowances made from the public funds is without official concurrence.

It was satisfactory to learn that the funds subscribed will admit of the proper publication of the scientific results of the expedition. As regards these results,

not a great deal emerged from the lecture which not already realised by those who have taken inter in this aspect of the work accomplished. Nor it to be expected that any detail should be given wit:: the compass of a single lecture, though long; for i was long, and a tribute is due to Commander Eva: who so ably sustained the strain of delivering it, ar: never for a moment allowed the intense interest. the audience to wane. And here a word, though pearhaps scarcely appropriate in this place, may be pr mitted in commendation of the singularly well-cher organ music which was given before the opening the proceedings.

But if it is scarcely possible, after hearing the le ture, to add materially to what is already known as the scientific results of the expedition, it is right the outset to record the full measure in which th value of those results has clearly been enhanced photography. Obviously no photographer to any pedition has laboured with a more thorough sense c his duty, or more successfully, than Mr. Pontin The lecture was delivered with lowered lights and with an accompaniment of lantern slides througho and was followed by a few kinematograph films of extraordinary interest. It is impossible to over-prais the beauty of the photographs, nor is it easy to seles those of chief scientific interest, though an exquis series showing new ice at successive stages of form... tion may be specially mentioned. Of the moving pi tures, those of the killer whales were singularly dear though the motion of creatures of their kind is famliar to many; those which showed seals leaving and entering the water through ice-holes were of ever greater interest and value.

Some wonder has been expressed, with the vast area unexplored in the Antarctic region and the man problems awaiting solution in mind, that Scott electe to follow Shackleton's route, or even (and this cr cism dates from early Arctic days) that he or anyone else should desire to reach the geographical pole a all. Against this there should be recalled the desire once expressed by a high Antarctic authority, that the south pole should be reached as quickly as possible since, until it should be, explorers would not rest content with work in other directions merely. On th count criticism is scarcely to be directed against Scott s expedition, for it included the largest scientific stat ever taken to the Antarctic, and scientific research certainly played no subordinate part in relation to the journey to the pole. We know already of the devotion with which Scott himself and his lost companions carried their geological specimens to the end of thos last dreadful marches. Commander Evans showed how the three weeks during which the ship was held in the pack on the outward voyage were "not wasted," for magnetic observations, soundings, and serial sta temperatures were obtained, while marine biological work of importance was also done. Only the impos sibility of finding a suitable base at Cape Crozier pres vented the expedition from landing there in order that the embryology of the emperor penguins during winter might be studied. Wilson afterwards made his famous winter expedition thither, and one heard hes he recorded the unimaginable temperature of 109° of frost.

Mr. Griffith-Taylor's party, which traversed the Ferrar Glacier, broke new ground, reaching a valley free of snow, containing a fresh-water lake only surface-frozen and full of algæ. Gravels in this lim stone region, rich in garnets, "were washed for gold. but only magnetite was found." Commander Evars also paid tribute to Dr. Simpson's work as physicist and meteorologist, which was carried on after his departure by Mr. Wright, who also "made a special

study of ice structure and glaciation." Lieut. Campbell's party, in spite of extraordinary hardships, which included wintering away from its base, for which it was not prepared, was very successful in meteorological, magnetic, geological, and surveying work, while the penguins were the object of further study. Commander Evans had time to commend the work of Mr. Griffith-Taylor on the coast of Victoria Land (in geology and surveying), as well as that carried out on the ship, not only in the open ocean, but on the lessknown coasts of New Zealand, no more fully than to intimate that each of these departments of the whole great undertaking is worthy of a lecture to itself, which it is to be hoped may be devoted to it.

Finally, reference is due to the results of the determination of the position of the south pole itself, as obtained by Amundsen and by Scott. The latter fixed the exact spot by means of a 4-in. theodolite, "at a point which only differed from Amundsen's reckoning by half a mile," that is to say, "by one scale division on the theodolite, which was graduated to half a minute of arc. Experts in navigation and surveying will always look on this splendidly accurate determination as a fine piece of work, by our own people as well as by the Norwegian explorers."

At the annual meeting of the society on Monday last, in the Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Lady Scott was presented by Earl Curzon with the patron's medal and the special Antarctic medal awarded to her husband in 1904, inclosed in an inscribed silver casket. Mrs. Wilson also received a patron's medal awarded to Dr. E. A. Wilson. To Lieut. Campbell was presented a gold watch as a special award.

THE BRITISH SCIENCE GUILD. THE seventh annual meeting of the British Science Guild was held at the Mansion House on May 21, the Lord Mayor in the chair. In his opening remarks, the Lord Mayor made sympathetic reference to the aims and work of the guild, which, he said, seeks to further the application of scientific methods to all human endeavour and advocates the adoption of measures for the conservation of natural resources; in other words, its desire is to foster national efficiency. The Right Hon. Sir William Mather was elected president of the guild in succession to Lord Haldane, who has been president since its foundation. The new vice-presidents elected were Lord Sydenham, the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of London, the Right Hon. Sir John Brunner, Bart., Sir Patrick Manson, and Sir Philip Watts; and other new members added to the executive committee are Mr. Charles Bathurst, M.P., Mr. R. Kaye Gray, Sir Philip Magnus, M.P., and Mr. Robert Mond.

The annual report, which was adopted at the meeting, surveys the activities of the guild in many directions. Reference is made in it to the new Post Office service for the synchronising of clocks a subject which the guild has done much to promote. Other matters referred to are the final report of the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis, the new horticultural branch of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, the conversion of the Sleeping Sickness Bureau into_the Tropical Diseases Bureau, the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, and the Royal Commissions and Departmental Committees appointed during the year to deal with subjects with which science has some relationship. All these Commissions and Committees have been announced already in NATURE, but the report of the guild brings them together in a convenient form as a record of official action.

The various committees of the guild continue to do

valuable work. The medical and agricultural committees have drawn up a report on the Government's Milk and Dairies Bill. While recognising that the Bill is a very decided advance in the direction of obtaining pure milk, the committees feel that in certain respects stronger and more drastic action should be taken. A note upon the report of the committees appeared in NATURE of May 1 (p. 222).

A report on tide and wave energy, and on the possibility of utilising this form of energy for power purposes, is being drawn up by the committee on the conservation of natural sources of energy; also a report on the utilisation of peat, which occurs in such enormous quantities in some districts in the British Isles and British possessions.

Owing to the declaration of the Government of the intention to bring in a comprehensive scheme to reorganise the educational system of the country, a joint committee of the education committee and the technical education committee, with Sir William Mather as chairman, was appointed to consider the subject. A valuable report has been drafted, which urges that a scientific system of national education demands :—

(1) The duty of local authorities to make such provisions as will promote healthy growth during infancy and throughout school life.

(2) The absolute necessity of manual work and related practical exercises throughout the whole course of school instruction, and also in the training of teachers.

(3) Efficient public elementary schools within the reach of all children, and attendance at school compulsory until the age of fourteen years is reached.

(4) Attendance at continuation schools for at least six hours per week obligatory up to seventeen years of age for all young persons not otherwise receiving suitable education.

(5) Suitable secondary schools available for all who can profit by them and will undertake to complete the full course of instruction.

(6) The institution of school certificates to serve as passports to higher schools or universities, or as testamurs of satisfactory completion of a school

course.

(7) Examinations to occupy a secondary place in comparison with school records for the award of certificates, or to qualify for promotion to higher courses of study.

(8) Coordination of technical institutions and faculties of technology in universities in order to prevent overlapping and render specialised types of technological training available to students who have the capacity to profit by them.

(9) Increased grants to universities and other places of higher education for the purposes of ensuring the reduction of fees for all courses and promoting postgraduate research.

(10) The position and condition of service of teachers of every grade to be greatly improved in order to encourage men and women of the highest aptitude and qualifications to devote their lives to the work of teaching and the advancement of knowledge.

(11) Readjustment of the shares of the cost of education borne by the National Exchequer and by local authorities, so that educational progress may be made primarily a national responsibility.

The synchronisation of clocks committee refers to the Government action in connection with the subject, already mentioned. Since the guild took the matter up the Post Office has always viewed the matter sympathetically, and this new departure will, if it be taken up by those exposing public clocks, be

of the utmost value. It is hoped that the railway companies, at least in the metropolis, will take advantage of this enterprise on the part of the PostmasterGeneral. The borough councils have in the past not been very sympathetic, but perhaps, now that the matter will be arranged for them by the Post Office at such a trifling cost, they will adopt a more progressive attitude.

The explosives committee has considered the question of the available sources of nitrates, and the possibility of obtaining them during war; also the feasibility of manufacturing nitrates on a large commercial scale in this country. The committee considers that it is of the utmost importance that nitrates should be manufactured in Great Britain, even if the manufacture is not profitable; it is, however, of opinion that a commercially successful scheme is possible.

In the report of the Canadian committee reference is made to the conservation of natural resources of Canada. A source of great loss to the country is the prevalence of forest fires, and last year the Government spent the sum of 312,500l. in protection against this source of loss. The protection of native birds is also referred to. Much useful work has recently been done by the Canadian Waterways Commission, and in connection with this Dr. H. T. Barnes, the hon. secretary of the Canadian committee of the guild, has continued his valuable researches on ice formation in the St. Lawrence. Other subjects dealt with are radium standards, university settlement, prevention of tuberculosis, and free ice for the

poor.

Appended to the report are the reports of committees dealing with the Milk and Dairies Bill, the work of the Canadian branch, and on a national system of education. Prof. R. A. Gregory contributes an appendix in which benefactions exceeding 10,000l. for the purposes of science and higher education are recorded, and a comparison is made between the incomes of universities and colleges in the United States and that of State-aided universities in Great Britain. From this article it appears that the total receipts of universities in the United States in the year 1910-11 amounted to nearly nineteen million pounds, and the benefactions to four and a half millions. In the same year, the total receipts of those universities and university colleges in Great Britain which participate in the Treasury grant were little more than 600,000l. The receipts from fees in England amounted to rather less than 32 per cent. of the total income. The amount received from endowment was about 15 per cent.; the receipts from local authorities 15.6 per cent. The total receipts of all kinds from the Exchequer amounted to 28.5 per cent. of the income. As regards numbers of students in universities and technological institutions of university standard, comparison is made with Germany. There are twentyone universities in the German Empire and eleven technical high schools or technical universities having the power to grant degrees. Taking the universities and technical high schools together, the statistics show that in the year 1910-11 they had about 71,000 matriculated students. The total number of full-time day students in the universities and university colleges of England and Wales (including those of Oxford and Cambridge) in 1910-11 was about 17,000, and in Scotland about 7600, in comparison with 55,000 in German universities. In the technical institutions of the United Kingdom, the number of day students in attendance was about 2000, in comparison with 16,000 in the technical high schools of Germany. From other tables given in the article it appears that more than 90 per cent. of the pupils in the

State-aided secondary schools of England and W... are under sixteen years of age, and one-quarter the pupils are under twelve years of age. More tha four-fifths of the pupils have not passed an exam tion of university matriculation standard when leave school. Two per cent. of the pupils proced universities, and 7 per cent. to technical schools are institutions, medical schools, training colleges secondary-school teachers, and like places providir. special training for professions, trades, or commer occupations.

RECENT WORK IN ECONOMIC
ENTOMOLOGY.

VALUABLE memoirs published by the Entonlogical Division of the United States Departmner: of Agriculture are constantly reaching us. Of thes, Bulletin 110, on "The Spring Grain-Aphis, or Green bug," by F. M. Webster and W. J. Phillips, is more than passing interest. The species describedToxoptera graminum, Rondani-has been noticed a, seriously destructive to wheat and other cereals 11. North America-especially in the Middle Western. States during several seasons from 1890. In the eastern hemisphere it has been recorded only from few localities-Italy, Hungary, Belgium, India, Sout and East Africa. The bulletin, extended to 150 pages gives a full account of the insect, its embryology, postnatal development, habits, and natural enemies. interesting bionomical observation is that south of the 35th parallel the species reproduces itself only by successive generations of virgin females, and ever further to the north the sexual generation may b omitted from the life-cycle in mild winters.

A

Another bulletin which contains welcome original contributions to our knowledge of the life-history of Hemiptera is No. 108, on "Leafhoppers affecting Cereals, Grasses, and Forage Crops," by Prof. Herbert Osborn. H. M. Russell's contribution (No. 118) on the bean thrips (Heliothrips fasciatus) is also noteworthy. It is needless to add that these bulletins all deal with practical means for the extermination of control of the pests.

As a contribution to animal parasitology, Bulletin 106,"The Life-history and Bionomics of some North American Ticks," by W. A. Hooker, F. C. Bishopp. and H. P. Wood, is worthy of mention. It forms an excellent introduction to the ticks of pathological im portance, giving diagnostic characters of genera and species, and furnishing in each case details of the early stages in the life-history.

From the Canadian Department of Agriculture we have received Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt's Bulletin, No. 10, on the large larch sawfly (Nematus Erichsenn, This paper gives, in a handy form, particulars of the prevalence of the insect as a larch-destroyer in Europe and North America. British entomologists are familiar with Dr. Hewitt's work in connection with this insect in the Cumbrian lake district. He finds it still more injurious across the Atlantic, where, he believes, it must be regarded as an introduced species Naturally he is endeavouring to acclimatise in Canada the ichneumon-fly (Mesoleius tenthredinis), which re duced so considerably the sawfly population on the shores of Thirlmere.

Dr. Hewitt has found time also to contribute to Parasitology (vol. v., No. 3, 1912), a short account of the larvæ and bionomics of Fannia casi cularis and F. scalaris (better known to most naturalists under the generic name of Homalomyia). These curious spinose maggots have an unpleasant interest as occasional inhabitants of the human intestinal and urinary tracts.

From the Imperial Indian Government's Agricultural Research Station at Pusa has been issued Bulletin No. 28 on The Cultivation of Lac in the Plains of India," by C. S. Misra, a well-illustrated account of the insect (Tachardia lacca), the trees on which it thrives, their culture, the collection of the product, the manufacture of shellac, and its economic uses. The most dangerous enemies of the lac insect appear to be the predaceous caterpillars of four species of moth.

FORESTS AND CLIMATE.

THE very general belief in the influence of forests upon climate, and especially upon rainfall, is discussed by Prof. R. de Courcy Ward in an interesting article in the April number of The Popular Science Monthly. The subject is very complicated, and the author points out that we must be careful not to put the cart before the horse; in other words, the forests are the result of the rainfall, and not vice versa.

The various questions involved are discussed in detail, the following being among the points dealt with:(1) The historical method; (2) why forests should influence climate; (3) influence upon (a) temperature, (b) humidity and evaporation; (4) the cases frequently cited as showing an influence upon rainfall; (5) recent European studies. Among the authorities quoted, Hellmann has shown that the increase in the rainfall over a forest is accompanied by a lessened fall to leeward simply a slight difference in distribution. Both Voeikof (Russia) and Hann (the leading authority on climate) believe that the vast tropical forests may increase the amount of rainfall. But as regards our own latitudes the author considers that there is at present no conclusive evidence that forests have a significant effect upon the amount of rainfall, as distinguished from the amount of the rainratch in the gauge.

There is comparatively little popular interest in the possible influence of forests upon temperature; the forest is a little cooler than the open in summer, and possibly very slightly warmer in winter. Supan sums up the case as follows:-"No one will care to maintain that the system of isotherms would be radically altered if Europe and Asia were one great forest from ocean to ocean." With regard to moisture, the author thinks that the local supply from forests cannot play any considerable part in the great rain-producing processes.

SYSTEMS OF LONG-DISTANCE WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

THE Advisory Committee appointed by the Postmaster-General to consider and report on the merits of existing systems of long-distance wireless telegraphy has made its report. The Committee heard evidence in private from representatives of the Marconi, the Telefunken, the Poulsen, the Goldschmidt, and the Galetti interests, and of the Admiralty, and the members visited a number of stations.

The report is strictly limited to practical considerations, and deals with matters of engineering rather than of scientific interest. From the point of view of the building of stations for immediate operation in the Imperial wireless chain, the report is overwhelmingly in favour of the Marconi Company, not only on account of its plant, but also on account of its experience; though the Committee points out that it would be possible for the Government to get together a highly trained staff and erect the stations, using any desirable patents under the provisions of section 29 of the Patents and Designs Act, 1907. The Marconi spark plant was tested by the

Committee as to duplex working, and as to automatic transmission at the rate of sixty words per minute, across the Atlantic, a distance of 2300 miles. The Committee found Transatlantic communication practically continuous, though there are periods when the signals become very weak; and there are occasional periods when no signals at all can get through. These weak periods are due to natural causes, and can probably only be overcome by the use of high powers.

The Committee received no evidence supporting the reported transmission from San Francisco to Honolulu (2100 miles) by the Poulsen arc, but witnessed transmission over a relatively short distance at seventy words per minute. The members also saw the Goldschmidt alternator transmit at the rate of sixty words per minute. It is interesting to note that the Marconi Company and the Telefunken Company are both experimenting with generators of continuous waves. The Marconi machine consists essentially of a rapidly rotating contact-maker in a direct-current circuit with special dispositions of other circuits to give continuous oscillations in the antenna. The Telefunken machine is an alternator constructed to give as high a fundamental frequency as may be convenient in the first instance, the frequency being doubled or quadrupled by a polarised transformer method. The Marconi machine was witnessed working across the Atlantic.

SOME FURTHER APPLICATIONS OF THE METHOD OF POSITIVE RAYS.1

THE HE method to which I shall refer this evening is the one I described in a lecture I gave here two years ago. The nature of the method may be understood from the diagram given in Fig. 1. A is a vessel containing the gases at a very low pressure; an electric discharge is sent through these gases, passing from the anode to the kathode C. The positively electrified particles move with great velocity towards the kathode; some of them pass through a small hole in the centre, and emerge on the other side as a fine pencil of positively electrified particles.

C

D

FIG. 1.

This pencil is acted on by electric forces when it passes between the plates L and M, which are connected with the terminals of a battery of storage cells, and by a magnetic force when it passes between P and Q, which are the poles of an electromagnet. In the pencil before it passed under the influence of these forces there might be many kinds of atoms or molecules, some heavy, others light, some moving quickly, others comparatively slowly, but these would all be mixed up together. When they are acted on by the electric and magnetic forces, however, they get sorted out, and instead of travelling along the 1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, January 17, by Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., F.R.S.

same path they branch off into different directions. No two particles will travel along the same path unless they have the same mass as well as the same velocity; so that if we know the path of the particle we can determine both its mass and its velocity. In chemical analyses we are concerned more with the mass than with the velocity, and we naturally ask what is the connection between the paths of particles which have the same mass but move with different velocities. The answer is that all such paths lie on the surface of a cone, and that each kind of particle has its own cone; there is one cone for hydrogen, another for oxygen, and so on. Thus one cone is sacred to hydrogen, and if it exists there must be hydrogen in the vessel; so that if we can detect the different cones produced from the original pencil, we know at once the gases that are in the tube. Now, there are several ways of identifying these cones, but I shall only refer to the one I have used in the experiments I wish to bring before you this evening. These moving electrified particles, when they strike against a photographic plate, make an impression on the plate, and a record of the place where they struck

atomic weight occurring in quantities comparable those of xenon or krypton. This result gives :example of the convenience of the method, for single photograph of the positive rays reveals ar glance the gases in the tube. I now turn to photograph of the lighter constituents shown Fig. 3; here we find the lines of helium, of ne (very strong), of argon, and, in addition, there is line corresponding to an atomic weight 22, whi cannot be identified with the line due to any know. gas. I thought at first that this line, since its atom weight is one-half that of CO., must be due to . carbonic acid molecule with a double charge of e tricity, and on some of the plates a faint line at 44 could be detected. On passing the gas slowly throug tubes immersed in liquid air the line at 44 complete.. disappeared, while the brightness of the one at was not affected.

The origin of this line presents many points interest; there are no known gaseous compounds any of the recognised elements which have this molecular weight. Again, if we accept Mendelécf's periodic law, there is no room for a new element

the plate can be obtained. Thus, when a plate is placed in the way of the particles streaming along these cones, the sections of these cones by the plate (parabolas) are recorded on the photograph, hence we can identify these cones by the parabolic curves recorded on the photograph, and these parabolas will tell us what gases are in the vessel.

The first application of the method which I shall bring before you this evening is to detect the rare gases in the atmosphere. Sir James Dewar kindly supplied me with two samples of gases obtained from the residues of liquid air; the samples had been treated so that one might be expected to contain the heavier gases, the other the lighter ones. I will take the heavier gases first. The photograph of these is shown in Fig. 2. When the plate is measured up it shows a faint line corresponding to the atomic weight 128 (xenon), a very strong line corresponding to the atomic weight 82 (krypton), a strong argon line 40 (argon), and the neon line 20. There are no lines unaccounted for, and hence we may conclude that in the atmosphere there are no unknown gases of large

FIG. 3.

with this atomic weight. The fact that this line is bright in the sample when the neon line is extraordinarily bright, and invisible in the other when the neon is comparatively feeble, suggests that it may possibly be a compound of neon and hydrogen, NeH2, though no direct evidence of the combination of these inert gases has hitherto been found. I have two photographs of the discharge through helium in which there is a strong line, 6, which could be explained by the compound HeH,, but, as I have never again been able to get these lines, I do not wish to lay much stress on this point. There is, however, the possibility that we may be interpreting Mendeléef's law too rigidly, and that in the neighbourhood of the atomic weight of neon there may be a group of two or more elements with similar properties, just as in another part of the table we have the group iron, nickel, and cobalt. From the relative intensities of the 22 line and the neon line we may conclude that the quantity of the gas giving the 22 line is only a small fraction of the quantity of neon. Let me direct your attention again to the photo