摘要:

IN a recent leading article (NATURE, June 4) attention was directed to a notable achievement in chemical co-operation exemplified by the recent publication of a volume of abstracts covering the whole field of pure and applied chemistry, issued under the direction of the Bureau of Chemical Abstracts. This unifying enterprise is a significant manifestation on the literary side of a wider movement towards the consolidation and standardisation of the chemical profession within the British Empire. Another aspect of chemical co-ordination is revealed by the remarkable growth in membership and in national importance of the Institute of Chemistry, which this year celebrates its jubilee. This record of progress is admirably reviewed in a recent lecture to the Institute by its immediate past president, Mr. A. Chaston Chapman.' In the years immediately preceding the birth of the Institute, there was little or no professional cohesion among those who then practised chemistry either as a whole-time profession or as an addition to such other vocations as medicine, pharmacy, or engineering. In the absence of any code of professional ethics, it was inevitable that marked inequalities should exist in regard to the status and qualifications of chemical practitioners. Even the designation of chemist became misapplied systematically until, as the result of general usage, the term was taken to denote a member of another and better-known profession, that of pharmacy.In 1876 a meeting of prominent chemists resolved " that it is desirable that an organisation of professional chemists be formed," and this resolution furnished the germ from which the Institute of Chemistry developed. The immediate objectives were the protection of qualified chemists from the unfair competition of unqualified men and a raising of the standard of professional ethics. The latter aim has been steadily pursued, and with noteworthy success, for although in 1893 the censors of the Institute reported that practices of an unprofessional character were unduly prevalent, yet in the last few years the censorship has had to deal only with cases of slight misunderstanding, and instances of serious misconduct have happily become exceedingly rare. In 1878 the number of chemists who desired to join the Institute, and whose claims had been approved, was 225, and by 1914 the total membership of fellows and associates was in the neighbourhood of 1400. During the intervening years the Institute had become sufficiently powerful and exclusive to impose examinational tests on applicants for the associateship, even when such candidates possessed high academic distinctions and had gained considerable industrial experience. At first these tests were entirely practical, and the essential qualification of an aspirant for the associateship was proficiency in the laboratory arts. Later, however, written papers in chemistry, and exercises in translation from French and German chemical literature, were set to candidates whose scientific training had not been taken at a recognised college or university. Very occasionally, older chemists of outstanding eminence and experience were admitted to the senior grade of fellow without examination.During the upheaval of the War years, other avenues into the Institute were opened for those who had made good as chemists either in the fighting services or in chemical factories producing munitions of war, and although the expediency of this step was contested at the time, the later history of the Institute has proved the wisdom of a judicious opening of the doors without examination in cases which, after careful scrutiny, had been recommended by a zealous Nominations and Examinations Committee. This provision of alternative methods of qualifying for membership came very opportunely at a time when the sudden realisation by the nation of the fundamental importance of applied chemistry as a key industry led to a rapid growth in the number of chemical practitioners, and to a remarkable development in the schools of chemistry, where many more students than heretofore were entering on courses of higher instruction and research. At present, the total membership of the Institute is approximately 5200, so that after a brief half century of steady growth this professional body may now claim to include a majority of the practising chemists of the British Empire. The progress of the Institute is not, however, to be measured entirely in terms of increased membership, but rather in relation to the greatly enlarged scope of its activities for the nation as well as for the profession. Government departments and other public bodies consult the Institute and accept its help to an extent unknown in the earlier days.Within the profession the Institute has been a rallying-point for chemical altruism. It holds out a helping hand to all chemists whether members of the Institute or not, although obviously the assistance is more effective in the former alternative. Students of chemistry can become registered students of the Institute and are thus eligible to receive its publications and to use the library. They are also invited to its scientific meetings and social gatherings. The appointments register, which gives prompt and ready access to lists of suitable vacancies, has done inestimable service in reducing to small proportions the amount of unemployment. Even in the leanest years of industrial depression the unemployed have been less than four per cent. of the total membership, and in the last resort the benevolent fund of the Institute operates in hard cases of undeserved misfortune. A review of the present position of organised chemists would, however, be incomplete without reference to another professional organisation, the British Association of Chemists, which came into existence in 1917 as the outcome of a feeling among certain of the younger chemists that the Institute, by reason of its charter, was precluded from taking active steps in such matters as trade disputes, individual or dollective bargaining with employers, and in other cases where the material advantage of its members was involved. The prime movers in this development were at first uncertain whether to start the Association as a limited liability company or as a trade union, but ultimately the latter course wasadopted, thus bringing the Association into harmony with the operation of the Whitley Councils as applied to the chemical profession.The Association, which is now a registered trade union although not affiliated with the T.U.C., has a membership of about 1000, of whom about 25 per cent. are also members of the Institute of Chemistry. It is of interest to note that the Association, like the Institute, is representative of all branches of the chemical profession. The Association has its own appointments register and a legal aid department. One of its most beneficent works has been the disbursement of £4000 in unemployment pay during the last two years. This practical demonstration of brotherhood and mutual assistance is one of which all British chemists should be proud, whether they are members of the Association or not. The foregoing brief sketch of the activities of the two professional bodies depicts a widespread movement towards unification in the chemical profession, but the picture would be unfinished and out of true perspective without an outline of another modern tendency which makes for disunion and separatism.When systematic training in chemistry first began in Great Britain, students received a comprehensive training in chemistry and the allied sciences, and at the end of such a training went out with the simple label of chemist. The choice of allied sciences naturally varied from one college to another, but this variation did not alter the main intention of the curricula, which was to produce a well-trained student of chemistry. Such were the courses at the old College of Chemistry and at its successor, the Royal College of Science. In the now defunct Finsbury Technical College, chemical students devoted the major part of their first two years of study to engineering subjects, but they were not on that accountcalled chemical engineers. They were primarily chemists who, on reaching the works, found that their elementary acquaintance with engineering was of real service to them.Nowadays, owing to academic specialisation, students leave university or college under a bewildering array of categories. We now have bio-chemists, chemical engineers, metallurgical chemists, petroleum chemists, pharmaceutical chemists, tinctorial chemists, and many other kinds. It is possible that, in spite of premature specialisation, these graduates may have the essential qualifications of a chemist, but there is also the ever-increasing risk that chemistry may not have entered adequately into the mental makeup of such a student, in which case all his subsidiary studies in other branches of technology will not make him into a chemist, although sometimes they may enable him to acquire a chemist's job. Already this contingency is exercising the minds of many members of the two professional associations, because it is becoming apparent that unless the registration of bona fide chemists is speedily accomplished, chemistry as a clearly defined wholetime profession will cease to count in Great Britain. There are many difficulties in the way, one being the matter of designation already mentioned, and another which arises from the diversity of circumstances in which chemists pursue their avocation. There are academic chemists in universities, colleges, and schools, chemists in the civil service and in the employment of local administrative authorities, chemists engaged either as employers or employees in chemical industry throughout its varied ramifications, and there are private consultants who serve the public directly as analysts, chemical advisers, forensic chemists, and specialists in many other unclassifiable ways. In regard to these numerous categories, chemistry differs essentially from medicine and the law, and resembles more closely engineering, in which profession each addition to the scope of its practitioners is soon followed by the creation of a new institution of engineers.The danger to the chemical profession of a similar fissiparous tendency renders registration the vital problem of the immediate future. The subject is being warmly discussed, and already acute differences of opinion on this burning topic are apparent even within the profession. Those in favour of registration for chemists will, however, derive encouragement and hope from the reflection that a similar battle of the giants was waged fifty years ago between the advocates of a new 'organisation of professional chemists' and the champions of the long-established Chemical Society. Registration will not solve all the troubles of chemists, but it will benefit both them and the community by assisting to maintain to the fullest extent the high professional standard now reached after fifty years of combined effort.. The Growth of the Profession of Chemistry during the Past Halfcentury (1877-1927). By A. Chaston Chapman. (London: Insti ute of Chemistry, 1927.)

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119913a0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

THIS is a most interesting book, and the name of the author, so well known to all students of meteorology, is a sufficient guarantee of its accuracy and pleasant style. The aim of the book is defined by the following quotation from the preface: " The object of the book is to present the study of meteorology, not only as making use of nearly all the sciences and most of the arts, but also as a world study of a special and individual character, going back inevitably to the very dawn of history and beyond that to the mazes of geologic times."Much information is given upon sundry subjects that are not strictly meteorological, but only incidental thereto, as, for example, the Kalendar and the causes of Equation of Time. The early chapters are devoted to the connexion of meteorology with European culture in primitive times. The part of the world best known to the ancients was confined to the shores and islands of the Mediterranean, and data are given concerning the temperature, rainfall, and wind prevailing at the present day at twelve stations in that region. There are also many quotations from the poets and historians of Greece and Palestine. It is pointed out that Egypt, being dependent upon natural irrigation by the waters of the Nile, was in a different position from Greece and Palestine, where the failure of the rains might easily, and indeed often did, produce a famine. The question of the source of the water of the rivers seems to have afforded ground for much conjecture to the Greeks; but apparently it was known to the Jews, if we may judge from a passage in Ecclesiastes: "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again." It is also apparent from the tables relating to the Mediterranean area that the region is a dry one during the summer, many stations having no rain for three or four consecutive months.From the heat of the summer and the copious supply of moisture afforded by the warm water of the sea, one would expect frequent thunderstorms and heavy rain, a climate, in fact, like that of the Doldrums; but, as Sir Napier explains, the latitude is that in which all the great deserts of the world are found, and but for the sea the region itself would also be a desert. The conditions produced by the general circulation of the atmosphere must therefore overpower the local conditions that are favourable to rain. In Chapter vi. the variability of the Mediterranean climate in historical times is considered, and after carefully summing up the evidence, Sir Napier comes to the conclusion that " the seasons are the same and the crops are still mainly the same and require the same cycle of seasons, though the area over which they can be profitably cultivated may have been considerably reduced, and some of the region may have been transformed from habitable land into inhospitable desert."The next chapter is on weather lore, and covers the time from Aristotle to the invention of the barometer. A translation is given of the -wellknown passage from Virgil in the first book of the "Georgics," containing instruction to husbandmen. Chapter viii. contains seventy four brief biographies of pioneers in the science of weather, the list consisting of the names of men who lived between the years 1561 and 1860 and were either meteorologists, designers of meteorological instruments, or makers of discoveries in physical science on which meteorology depends. It begins with Francis Bacon and ends with Angelo Secchi, an Italian astronomer. The chapter includes a copy of Fitzroy's instructions for the use of a barometer to foretell the weather.Chapter ix. is on meteorology as an international science, a subject on which Sir Napier's long service as president of the International Committee especially qualifies him to speak. For the purpose of forecasting weather, telegraphic information from neighbouring countries is required: each country has its own organisation and receives telegrams from a more extensive region than its own country covers. Naturally, therefore, many questions arise involving such matters as the units to be employed, the code to be used, the hours of observation, etc. These questions can only be settled by mutual agreement between the chiefs of the various meteorological services. The details of the different committees are given, and the necessity for further collaboration is emphasised. Observations, though greatly increased by the facilities afforded by radio telegraphy, are only available from well populated districts, and on the sea from the lines of steamer traffic, and Sir Napier advocates the formation and maintenance of stations for purely meteorological purposes wheresoever they may be required. He also advocates an International Weather Office, that should be staffed with the most competent of meteorologists and physicists. The following chapter deals with the surface air, and discusses without detail the instruments, self-recording and otherwise, that are commonly required in the meteorological observatory.We then come to Chapter xi., which deals with the upper air. This chapter contains seventy-five very beautiful illustrations of cloud forms, with some remarks upon the classification of clouds, the measurement of their height and of their motion. The methods of observation of the upper wind by means of pilot balloons are described, so also are the meteorographs used with ballons-sonde8. The chapter ends with two useful tables which give particulars of the type and cost of balloons, meteorographs, and accessories used by the various countries in obtaining a sounding to ten or more kilometres height. The next chapter (xii.) is concerned with the study of the atmosphere, and consists largely of descriptions of instruments for measuring solar and terrestrial radiation and electrical forces. It is good to find the importance of radiation fully recognised in a volume on meteorology; it is undoubtedly one means by which heat flows in a vertical direction from layer to layer of air;yet many writers ignore this, while others seem to ascribe the vertical distribution of temperature to it alone, which seems to the reviewer as far from the truth as is its entire neglect.Radiation and dynamic heating and cooling are the only means that can produce a change of temperature in a mass of air above the level where the condensation of water vapour becomes negligible. The author prefers to measure radiative energy in a dynamical unit and statesthat he finds kilowatts per square dekametre the most convenient. The more usual unit is a gram calorie per square centimetre per minute, but something may be said in favour of gram calories per day, since a gram calorie is more generally understood than a joule and the day is the natural meteorological unit.Chapter xiii., which is on " The Development of Arithmetical and Graphical Manipulation," gives a description of the usual diagrams that one finds in books and papers on meteorology; it also explains and gives formulae for obtaining various quantities, such as the standard deviation, the amplitude and phase angle of the terms in a Fourier's series, the method of searching for periodicities, and other similar quantities. The explanations are very lucid and easy to follow; in fact, the chapter may be taken as a useful text-book onthe commonly used statistical formulae. As an illustration of the use of semilogarithmic squared paper, the author gives a graph of his tephigram, a method which he has suggested for showing the data obtainable from the ballon-sonde. This graph is very useful, and a full explanation of its use is promised for Vol. 3. Limitation of space forbids comment on Chaps. xiv. and xv. They are not wanting in interest, and are on " Air Movement into the General Circulation and the Cyclone " and on " Meteorological Theory in History."The book, with the index, contains 339 pages, including 121 illustrations, numerous bibliographies, and references to original papers. It is excellently printed and will be read with pleasure by all those who are interested in any way in scientific matters. Meteorologists already owe a debt of gratitude to Sir Napier Shaw for his previous books, and their debt is greatly increased by this volume; they will look forward to the publication of the two succeeding parts, one of which is already in the press.

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119915a0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

To students of tropical African development, T this book may be commended as the earnest effort of an acute thinker to set out a problem and provide the answer to it. In his description of present-day conditions in that large group of East African territories, which vary as greatly in the character of their native inhabitants as in that of their geographical features, Major Church has been studiously fair-minded, and his treatment of local personalities and local policies will go far to undo the mischievous effects of the work on Kenya published three years ago by Dr. Norman Leys. Almost every page in the book raises questions of interest or points of controversy, and it is not possible within the limits of a short review to do more than select a few items for comment. In the chapter upon development the author comments severely upon the neglect of water transport. On all the great lakes navigation has been maintained ever since these countries came under European control, but transport services cannot be maintained on a lavish scale without cargo to transport, and the presence of ' fly ' and malaria near the lakes militates against native cultivation in their immediate vicinity where the ground is low-lying and fertile. The congestion on Victoria Nyanza witnessed by the author was a passing phase due to an increase in the Uganda cotton crop, for which the railway was not prepared that season. On the other hand, in considering river transport it should be noted that in Africa, as in India, great rivers like the Zambezi, with their alternating seasons of flood and drought, make it quite impossible to maintain trustworthy transport services by water; while on the Nile in Uganda in seasons of high water the river is dangerous to navigate on account of the floating sudd, and sometimes becomes blocked for months at a time. Only this last season the products of Bunyoro, dependent upon the Nile for outlet, were held up for some months on this account. Thus the present conditions of water transport are the outcome of practical experience; they cannot fairly be attributed to lack of imagination as suggested by the author.In his proposals to introduce the methods adopted by the French in Madagascar to foster the native cattle industry, Major Church has made no allowance for the resistance offered by pastoral tribes, and by the Masai in particular, to what amounts to a revolution in their regard for, and treatment of, their cattle from time immemorial, and yet we have in India an ever-present example of the difficulty of inducing a change in the mental attitude of ancient and backward races towards their cattle. Nor has he given the local governments credit for the efforts which they have been, and still are, making to wean some of the younger men from old tribal customs by teaching them modern methods of animal husbandry. Moreover, he seems to be unaware of the conditions under which the meat industry was established in Madagascar. What would be said by the political opponents of the existing government of Great Britain if they encouraged the local government to grant a monopoly in the trade to one of the international meat trusts, and lent them their support not only in procuring the meat in the colony, but also in its sale in the home country ? The most interesting proposal in the book is the suggestion that the system of government in these territories should be based upon 'community self-government,' each community, white, black, Arab, and Indian, raising its own taxes and disbursing them. Each territory would have its own legislative council, upon which each of the four communities would be represented, and eventually a central government would be set up with an elected house of representatives and a senate. Presumably the principle of community representation would be extended to these bodies also. Too little information is given to show how this ' model constitution' could be made to work in practice, and experienced administrators will probably rub their eyes as they read the all-tooshort paragraph devoted to the subject. But, in fact, it is difficult to take the proposal seriously in view of the author's previous declaration in his chapter on the colour problem that he was " forced to the conclusion that the Whites must accept full responsibility for the government of the peoples of East Africa, and that any attempt to share it with the brown races will be disastrous in its consequences upon black and white races." How can the one statement be reconciled with the other ?A passing reference may be made to Major Church's comparison between the East Africa Committee set up by the late Secretary of State and the Joint East African Board. Whatever the merits of the former, and its personnel was certainly unexceptionable, it had all the defects as well as the merits of a committee of experts appointed by a government to advise it. It would probably prevent some mistakes being made; it would also block progress. The latter body, whatever its demerits may be, has at least the democratic merit of being directly elected by those whom it serves, namely, the whole body of white people actively engaged in agricultural, commercial, and industrial pursuits throughout East Africa from the Zambezi to the Sudan border. It was in existence a year before the East Africa Committee was set up. It has already survived it by nearly three years. However one may sympathise with the author's desire that the Mandates Commission of the League should apply the principle of trusteeship to the whole of tropical Africa, it would be well to bear in mind that the very existence of the League depends upon the goodwill of its members, and that the merest semblance of dictation will shatter its authority and dissolve its membership. It should not be forgotten that a questionnaire issued last year to the members of the League holding mandates was regarded as inquisitorial and excited strong protest from Australia in particular; while throughout the whole of East Africa at the present time there are grave misgivings regarding the disabilities of Tanganyika as a mandated territory. At this juncture any proposal to extend the scope of the mandate system would inevitably lead to a concrete demand to throw off our obligations under the existing mandate. This would certainly not serve the cause of the League of Nations.While one may differ from the views of the author on particular points, one can close the book in whole-hearted agreement with his final conclusion as to the effects of white settlement on the native races. He says: " It is my firm conviction that the natives in East Africa are far better treated than in any other part of Africa-ex-cept, perhaps, in parts of British West Africa-and that within a few years, through their more intimate contact with the white peoples, they will have progressed far more rapidly than the native communities in the West."A few mistakes in the book may be noted. It is a pity that the name of the Kabaka of Uganda, Daudi Chwa, is incorrectly printed at the foot of his photograph facing page 30, as this young man is likely to figure more prominently in East African affairs in the future than he has in the past. On page 48 North-Western Rhodesia should read North-Eastern Rhodesia. The correction is important as the political future of Northern Rhodesia is somewhat uncertain, and a casual reference to this work might confuse the reader. A glance at any map will explain the point. At several points in the book reference is made to a " Chamber of Conventions." There is no such body in East Africa. The context shows that reference is intended to the Convention of Associations, that is, the periodical meeting in convention of the various white associations throughout the country. On page 151 reference is made to Brooke Washington as the author of " Up from Slavery." The writer of that most excellent book was, of course, the late Booker T. Washington.

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119917a0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

PROPOS of the theme under review, it may A be not without interest to mention at the outset that an eminent botanist, the late Sir Francis Darwin, in the course of his presidential address before the British Association in Dublin, so far back as 1908, formulated the opinion that " it is consistent with the doctrine of continuity that in all living things there is something psychic, and if we accept this point of view we must believe that in plants there exists a faint copy of what we know as consciousness in ourselves." Wherein resided this plant psyche, this faint copy of consciousness ? Diffused throughout the cellular elements as in lowly organisms ? Our views seemed nebulous; and yet why should they remain so ? An oak-tree is as highly developed a representative of the vegetable world as one of the higher vertebrates is of the animal world. It seems in some measure strange that before now some one had not thought of trying to find out if any special system of planttissue had become established which showed definite association with psychic phenomena. We welcome, therefore, an attempt which has been made, through the researches of Sir J. C. Bose, to lift the mist which has so long enshrouded the analogous workings of plant and animal life. In affording evidence that plants possess a 'heart ' and circulatory system, and a ' nervous ' system, Bose's researches bring into closer harmony the main phenomena of life in general. Herein lies the kernel of his theme, the key to the situation; and so our story becomes not only fascinating but also supremely important. The establishment of a closer and at the same time a more rational kinship between plant and animal-a kinship which a priori we might expect to have existed from the beginning-clothes the author's theme with a special charm. His data (made possible largely through experiments which necessitated the use of wonderfully delicate and ingenious instruments) have resulted in such profoundly interesting findings that the expert plant-physiologist feels bound to question the values set upon material, technique, and experiment as a whole. We must look to experts for confirmation. Here is a theory at stake, something offered, too far-reaching in its nature to remain in abeyance. The 'Boseian' doctrine must stand or fall: experts will not allow the verdict to remain an open one. In the meantime, those of us who have not devised instruments delicate enough to measure, in millionths of an inch, the throbbing tissues of the plant; or other instruments which can amplify a movement by millions of times, for the purpose of following minutely the phenomena of plant-growth; or yet again, those of us who have not connected up and put to the test the delicate electric probe in circuit with the galvanometer, for the purpose of determining the localisation of nervous tissue, should hesitate to look altogether askance, on learning that plants have what may be regarded as a nervous system, and a pulsating action like that of a 'heart,' analogous to what are found in animals. The sceptic overmuch may find it profitable to reflect on the fact that it requires an amazing degree of amplification to record the responses of ordinary plants to stimulation. Indeed, in insisting upon strict analogy, it must be borne in mind that vegetable pulsations represent but a very faint copy of what takes place in the blood-vascular system of animals.No doubt some biologists may reject Bose's views on the grounds of their being too extravagant. This is not altogether to be unexpected. Much of what the investigator has given us is so pronouncedly novel that the strongly conservative mind may find it most difficult to see other than phantasy and even wild conjecture! Here, however, it is noteworthy that if the plant be endowed with the power of telling us something about its doings, and if its own signature (a signed autograph, rendered possible through the medium of an exquisitely delicate instrument carrying a fine 'pen') be proved correct, this written evidence will surely militate against hasty and unproven indictments. We all know Mimosa-the sensitive plant-which closes its leaves when they are touched. To most of us little more is known regarding vegetable sensitiveness. Sir J. C. Bose aims at demonstrating the universality of sensitiveness in the vegetable world. His book abounds with highly interesting 'graphs ' representing responses to stimuli from without, mechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical. Again, it should be emphasised that the values attached to these ' autographs ' demand the closest scrutiny of expert plant-physiologists. Meanwhile, it is not a difficult matter, nay, rather a pleasure, to recommend the book warmly and with a considerable degree of confidence. The text is couched in language which every one can follow, and from start to finish arrests attention. Certainly, the ordinary man who reads this book gains a fresh and broader outlook on life. If for a moment we presuppose that the Boseian doctrine failed to convince, and that it even fell back into obscurity, we can still feel a deep sense of gratitude to the author for giving us an opportunity of becoming cognisant with his fundamentally important views. It is pleasant to follow his patient researches, in which his skilfully devised technique (displaying minuti.e in every detail) goes hand in hand with his experiments.From a survey of the illustrations, which greatly enrich the pages of the work, we turn our attention to a perusal of the text. Here, were scientific facts not demonstrable, we would feel at times carried by the narrative almost into fairyland. Parts of the story savour of romance, the sequence of which is maintained in a charming style from chapter to chapter. The dumb plant, in its silent life, can be made to write an account of its own history, revealing its marvellous and varied behaviourism, which, in principle, coincides with that in animals. The plant sleeps and awakens with a rhythmic regularity: consequently it yields distinct variations of sensibility during different periods of the day. The script which the plant can be made to furnish explains clearly, among many other things, the varying effects of wounds upon its tissues, leaving finally as a legacy a faithful autograph of its many and varied forms of deathspasms. Such is a mere passing glance at part of the synopsis of a fascinating story. For the rest, which recounts many other interesting aspects of plantlife, we must refer the reader to the book itself. But, having read the text through, we find that the author's views lead us to accept all the more fully that supremely important doctrine, namely, that life is a unified whole. To quote the author's own words: " The barriers which seem to separate kindred phenomena will be found to have vanished, the plant and the animal appearing as a multiform unity in a single ocean of being." No dictum in philosophy is more acceptable to the thoughtful biologist.

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119919a0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

THERE are two ways in which an author may arrange the subject matter of a book such as that under notice-biological and chemical. Mr. Finnemore adopts the former method and is thereby committed to a plan which precludes any general discussion of the constitution, reactions, and relationships of the commoner constituents of essential oils, but permits of some account being given of the chemistry of the rarer substances such as diosphenol and ascaridole, each found in only one kind of essential oil. This is not a serious disadvantage, since every chemist probably has on his bookshelves, in these days, at least one textbook giving a good account of terpene chemistry. Mr. Finnemore has, however, not taken full advantage of his own plan. He has arranged his material according to the natural orders of the plants from which essential oils are derived. It would have been easy to introduce each of these natural groups with an account of the kind of constituent found in and possibly peculiar to the oils of the group, but this has only been attempted in one sub-group, the eucalypts, and there probably only because such relationships have been thoroughly worked out for this genus, thanks to the admirable researches initiated and largely carried out by Baker and Smith at the Sydney Technological Museum. Introductory statements of the kind suggested would have directed attention to the need for similar investigations in other plant genera yielding essential oils.There can be no question that these researches have been of great industrial value to Australia, and similar studies elsewhere might do something to bring about that closer association of science and industry which the author thinks is desirable in the interests of the development of this branch of the fine chemical industry within the Empire. Mr. Finnemore is an assiduous collector and a careful and discriminating compiler. It is not an easy task to search the files of agricultural, commercial, technical, and scientific literature for the kind of information required to make a work of this description complete, and the author has clearly spared no pains to ensure this. As a result the book can be cordially recommended not only to the biological and chemical research worker, but also to the manufacturer and user of essential oils, as an authoritative and up-to-date account of this particularly interesting group of natural products.

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119920a0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

SOUTH American peoples have received inadequate attention from ethnologists, and the number of studies of their culture which are of substantial and permanent value is surprisingly small. On this ground alone, Dr. Karsten's book would be welcome as a record of observed fact; but in addition he is an original thinker whose work must receive consideration as a contribution to theory in social anthropology, whatever may be our ultimate judgment as to the validity of his conclusions when given extended application. In a preface contributed by Dr. E. Westermarek, this distinguished authority says: "Dr. Karsten's book is the most important contribution to the study of certain aspects of the South American native civilization which has yet appeared." The weight of this dictum is indeed increased by the fact that for some pages he then goes on to argue against views put forward by Dr. Karsten in criticism of his own conclusions. The material contained in the book is the outcome of studies carried on during a stay in the Argentine and Bolivian Gran Chaco from 1911 until 1913, and among the tribes of eastern Ecuador from 1916 until 1919-five years which were devoted specially to the study of religious beliefs and practices. The starting-point of the investigation-and of the book-was the self-decorative practices of the Indians and their connexion with religious beliefs. By a natural transition the author passes on to the study of the bearing of ritual and beliefs, including ornamental art, spirits, magic, taboo, mana, beliefs relating to birth and conception, and the practice of couvade.

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119921a0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

ON behalf of my colleagues and myself, I desire to submit the following observations upon the letter from Dr. Payman and Prof. Wheeler on p. 779 of NATURE of May 28 about our recent experimental examination (Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 114, pp. 404·449) of their supposed ‘law of flame-speeds.’It is true that in a paper entitled " The Interpretation of the Law of Speeds " (Trans. Chem. Soc., i23, pp. 412-420; 1923) Dr. Payman had explained that " the fact that the rate of reaction must also depend on the concentrations of the reacting gases results in small divergences from the law when the oxygen is in deficit," and that " the correction necessary to allow for this cannot be correctly estimated, but the general effect of this factor is to make the speeds of the uniform movement of flame in complex mixtures rather slower than the speeds calculated from the law of speeds." Such qualification-which was fully quoted and set forth in our Royal Society paper (loc. cit. p. 421)-implied only small divergences from the 'law,' that is, rather slower flame speeds than it would predict; but by no stretch of language can it be held to cover deviations of such magnitude as were discovered during the flame-speed tests described in our recent papers. The statement that the principal hydrocarbon mixtures chosen for our blending tests were of acetylene or ethylene with oxygen, and that the choice was made because such mixtures are 'so sensitive' is incorrect, as will be seen from the following catalogue of the different pairs of primary mixtures (A and B) actually used in our blending tests: A (1) 64 4 C2H2/35 4 02 and (2) 12 35 C2H4/87.5 02 and (3) 49.9 C2H4/49.9 02 and (4) 55-45 C2H4/44-35 02 and (5) 53 2 CH4/46.5 02 and (6) 11.05CCH4/88 95Airand (7) 11-5 CH4/88-5 Air and B Flame speeds, cm. per sec. 83 1 H2/15 4 02 1400 38.7 Ha/61.2 02 2190 92-5 Ha/7.4 02 180 93.45 Ha/6.45 02 75 92 9 Ha/7-0 02 115 71 9 Ha/2851 Air 64 72-6 H2/27.4 Air 51 Of these seven pairs of primary mixtures, only (1) and (2) can be regarded as in any way 'sensitive'; the remaining five (which, be it noted, showed the greatest deviations from the 'law') were certainly not so, as their quite moderate flame speeds indicate. Also, in the last three series of blending tests the hydrocarbon used was neither acetylene nor ethylene but methane; and in the last two the supporter of combustion was not oxygen but air. Indeed, the last three series of blending tests were made because Payman and Wheeler had declared that such complex methane-hydrogen-oxygen (or -air) mixtures obey the 'law.'Readers of NATURE who may be specially interested in the subject will doubtless study for themselves the evidence contained in our paper, and we will leave them to form their own conclusions upon it. For those who have not time to do so, we need only say that, although the test applied to the 'law' in our experiments was the one prescribed by its authors, in not a single instance was the 'law' obeyed. Indeed, in all but one case (and that with the rather ' sensitive' acetylene-hydrogen-oxygen blendings), it broke down utterly. Our conclusion against the general validity of the 'law' was chiefly based upon the following facts, which are in direct contradiction to it, namely:(1) That when an acetylene-hydrogen-oxygen mixture of the composition C2H2 + 2H2 + 02 is exploded, neither carbon is deposited nor any appreciable steam formed, all the hydrocarbon being burnt to carbonic oxide and hydrogen, leaving the original hydrogen intact. (2) That in all the complex ethylene-hydrogenoxygen or methane-hydrogen-oxygen (or -air) mixtures examined by us, which were formed by blefding a hydrocarbon-oxygen (or -air) mixture (A) with a hydrogen-oxygen (or -air) mixture (B), both having the same flame speed and both containing oxygen in defect (i.e. the respective pairs of primary mixtures numbered 3 to 7 inclusive in the foregoing list) the effect of progressively increasing the proportion of (B) in the various blendings in each given series of tests was to lower the observed flame speed progressively until a point was reached when the resulting complex mixture no longer propagated flame at all.The fact that the flame speeds for (CH4 + H2)-air mixtures exhibit only small deviations from the supposed 'law' is scarcely relevant to the discussion because of the comparatively small proportion of a hydrogen-air mixture which has to be blended with a methane-air mixture of the same type and speed to produce a (CH4 + H2)-air mixture containing oxygen in defect, the only condition that really matters. Thus, for example, in the case examined by us, only 13 35 volumes of a 71-9 H2/28-1 air mixture (flame speed =64 1) would have had to be blended with 86 65 volumes of an 11 05 CH4/88-95air mixture (flame speed = 64 5 cm. per sec.) to produce a (CH4 + H2)-air mixture with a flame speed of 58 cm. per sec., that is, with a deviation of only 10 per cent. from that required by the 'law' (see Table V. on p. 439 of our paper). When, however, oxygen was substituted for air as the supporter of combustion, a much greater deviation was observed; for, as will be seen from Table IV., p. 437 of our paper, if a 53 2 CR4/46-5 02 mixture were to be blended with a 92 9 H2/7-0 02 mixture so as to form a (CH4 + H2)-oxygen mixture, the speed of the two primary mixtures (each 114 cm. per sec.) would be lowered in the process to about 88 cm. pet sec., or by about 23 per cent. Our experiments also indicated that a series of (CH4 + 2H2)-oxygen (or -air) mixtures (oxygen being in defect) would show even more considerable deviations from the 'law.' In conclusion, I would add that our experimental examination of the supposed 'law' was undertaken from a sense of duty, and that, having satisfied ourselves that it does not apply to gaseous explosions generally, it has no further interest for us. So, with more important matters to investigate, we do not propose continuing its discussion any fur

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119922b0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

IN NATURE of May 7, p. 673, I have read with a good deal of interest an account of some experiments made on aluminium foil which had been treated by the Bengough anodic process. In some experiments made on ordinary aluminium foil in connexion with a research on the determination of oxide in aluminium, details of which work was published in theJour. Soc. Chem. Ind., vol. 45, p. 170, the writer, in collaboration with Miss H. E. Millar, had previously made the same observations as Messrs. Sutton and Willstrop. In our experiments, and employing the same method, it was even possible to notice the film on such thin foil as 0.00075 in. in thickness, and moreover we were able to identify surface markings on the layer which were originally present on the original metal. Messrs. Sutton and Willstrop are probably unaware that we had previously made this observation, and therefore the correctness of our conclusions becomes the more certain.

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119923b0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

IT is well known that when an etching solution is applied to a metallic crystal, the action takes place so as to leave the surface ‘stepped’ in such a way that optical reflection takes place from planes in the crystal which are definitely related to the crystallographic axes. We have investigated this relationship with single crystals of iron, nickel, and aluminium.The iron crystals were etched with a 10 per cent. solution of nitric acid in alcohol, and the nickel ones with concentrated ferric chloride solution. We have obtained very good etch patterns on aluminium by treating first in caustic soda and then with ferric chloride solution. This process appeared to give a better contrast etch than the ordinary treatment with caustic soda alone. The apparatus for locating the etch planes by means of the optical reflections consisted simply of a crystal goniometer mounted in place of the prism table on an autocollimating spectrometer. The planes from which reflection takes place can be identified by measuring the angles between different reflecting facets. By setting the crystal so that a zone axis is parallel to one of the goniometer axes, the angle between two reflecting planes can be measured by a single movement of the goniometer.In the case of iron, which is a body-centred cube, the problem appears quite simple, the etch reflections being mutually perpendicular, indicating that the planes are {100}. (See also McKeehan, NATURE, May 14, p. 705.) The case of aluminium (facecentred cube) is similar, except that in a few cases reflections were obtainable from {110} planes. These reflections, however, were always very faint compared with those from {100} planes. Although the structures of aluminium and nickel are similar, they etch in different ways. Davisson and Germer (NATURE, April 16, p. 558) state that nickel crystals etched by vaporisation develop {111} facets. Using the etch method described above, we have found that {111} and {100} facets are formed, as is shown by the fact that strong reflections were obtained in directions inclined to one another at 90°, 70', 550, or the supplements of these angles. A considerable number of crystals were examined by the optical method and the measured angles were generally within 10 of the calculated values. X-ray examination by Muller's method (Proc. Roy. Soc., 105, p. 500) of a number of nickel crystals gave results in agreement with the optical data. The development of two etch planes does not in any way invalidate the use of etch reflections for the determination of crystal planes, but a more thorough examination of the crystal becomes necessary to avoid ambig

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119924b0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature

摘要:

IN NATURE (May 14, p. 707) Dr. E. A. Baker discusses the calibration curves of photographic plates. The curves he gives certainly show a good agreement in sensitivity between the different batches of plates used under his conditions of standardisation. Concerning the reference to Harvard results (Harvard Circular 302), it may be of interest to note several points not fully discussed in the original paper on spectrophotometric method.The curves to which Dr. Baker refers are the density curves of ten of the photographic plates analysed in our regular photometric programme, and are representative of the general results obtained. Intercomparison of the curves allows us to examine the effects of emulsion and developer. Curves for plates taken from the same box show no closer agreement among themselves than do those for different boxes of plates coated with the same emulsion. Even plates with two different emulsions show no greater differences from one another than do plates with the same emulsion. A similar result is obtained with regard to developer. Plates developed with different batches of one developer agree as well as do those from a single batch of developer, while plates developed with one of the two kinds of developer used at Harvard show an agreement among themselves that is little, if any, closer than the agreement for plates developed with the two different kinds of developer.The idea of the Harvard individual plate calibration curves, however, was not specifically the elimination of differences in emulsion or developer, though this will of course follow. It was to set up a density curve for the plate used, for the conditions under which it was exposed, rather than to ensure the constant sensitivity of different plates under carefully standardised conditions. The calibration curves, as described in Harvard Circular 301, will allow for any possible changes in sensitivity due to the temperature and humidity during exposure in the telescope, to the ageing of the plates, or to delayed development, as well as for any loss of transparency of the background and exposed portions of the plate due to sky fog. Exact agreement between various reduction curves is not to be expected, nor would it have any significance for the spectrophotometric results. Individual plate calibration is at least a safe procedure until such time as a greater knowledge of, and dependence on, the actions of photographic plates under various conditions is obtainable.

ISSN:0028-0836    

DOI:10.1038/119925b0

出版商:Nature Publishing Group    

年代:1927

数据来源: Nature