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exports, consist mainly of fine chemicals, dyes, and pharmaceutical products. In the manufacture of the former a minimum of skilled labour and supervision is required, whilst in the German manufactures the opposite is the case. Mr. Kershaw again emphasises the fact that in Germany the directors and managers of chemical works are men whose business training has been superimposed on that obtained at a university, and who therefore have a thorough knowledge of the scientific side of the business, and realise the necessity for calling into their councils the best scientific and engineering knowledge available. One of the most important results of this is that they are not impatient of the time taken or success achieved by research work, and their knowledge of chemistry renders them less liable than inexperienced men to

worthy and various. The Mount Wilson Observatory shows photographs of vortex rings in water and in air, and compares them with hydrogen flocculi about sun-spots, and spectra of spots showing the displacement, and the tripling and quadrupling of lines due to the magnetic field. Photographs of various zodiacal lights, in which the effect of the exceedingly feeble luminosity is greatly increased, are from the University of Arizona. The various methods of discovering double stars employed at the Harvard College Observatory, and summaries of the results, are made interestingly clear by the contributions of Prof. Pickering. Dr. Nutting, of the Kodak Laboratory, sends results of lens testing, in which the figures of a luminous point yielded by lenses at various angles from the axis and different minute distances from the focus are remarkably well defined though magnified expect impossible results. A second factor of import60 diameters. An excellent series of the effects of spark discharges on photographic plates by Dr. Hoffert, results obtained with a "micro-kinetograph" apparatus by Mr. Martin-Duncan, high-power photographs of diatoms by Mr. E. A. Pinchin, and a selection of high-speed photographs by Dr. Abrahams, deserve special notice in the scientific and technical section. The natural history, colour, and other sections show no falling off in interest.

Two waterspouts were seen off Dymchurch in Kent on August 16 shortly after I p.m., and they are described in the Times of August 19 by Rev. Henry Harries. The morning had been fine, and a thunderstorm was in progress at the time. The waterspouts were of the usual kind-a long narrow funnel connected a dark cloud with the surface of the sea, at a point where the surface was violently agitated. In one case, the funnel was seen to be in rapid rotation, while downward and especially upward movements were also discernible. The waterspout at sea and the tornado on land are manifestations of great instability of the atmosphere in a vertical direction, caused either by an abnormally warm surface layer of air or an abnormally cold layer at the cloud level. The former cause is common in summer; the latter occurs both in summer and winter, and is usually associated with a "line-squall" or V-shaped barometric depression. The waterspout shows the track along which surface air passes spirally upwards to restore equilibrium. The commotion of the sea is due to the exceedingly violent character of the phenomenon. The funnel itself is probably composed partly of moisture condensed out of the air by the sudden diminution of pressure which occurs, and partly of sea-water in the form of spray. Sometimes the middle portion of the visible funnel is absent, but there must be in that case a corresponding complete funnel of rotating air from the surface to the cloud.

A USEFUL article on the war and English chemical industry is contributed to the August Fortnightly Review by Mr. John B. C. Kershaw A comparative analysis is given of the British and German exports of manufactured chemicals, showing that whereas the bulk of the British exports consist of heavy chemicals and "crude products," the German exports to this country, which have a value twice that of the British

ance in the success of the Germans in the manufacture of fine chemicals is that resulting from the cleanliness, orderliness, and discipline of the German worker. This is attributed in no small part to the training gained during the period of military service. The article closes with a discussion of the prospects for the industry of fine chemicals and dyes in this country in the future, when the war has ended and the Germans again become active competitors.

THE arboretum at Tortworth Court is well known to be one of the finest in the British Isles. One feature of particular interest lies in the fact that the collection is entirely the work of the present Earl of Ducie, who has been planting assiduously for sixty or more years, and many rare species are here represented by the finest specimens of their kind in the kingdom. As the grounds rest on mountain limestone and Old Red Sandstone a useful choice of sites is afforded, and on the latter rhododendrons and allied plants thrive. An interesting account of the collection is given by Mr. W. J. Bean in Kew Bulletin No. 6, 1915, and particulars of the more notable specimens of oaks, chestnuts, maples, etc., are recorded, the latter being a remarkably fine collection. The golden chestnut, Castanopsis chrysophylla, from California, is one of the most famous trees, and was planted by Lord Ducie sixty years ago. The Antarctic "beech," Nothofagus obliqua, from southern South America, is also forming a handsome tree. The famous Tortworth sweet chestnut, with a trunk about 51 ft. in girth, is still alive, and is the tree under which King John is said to have held council; as early as Stephen's reign Evelyn says it was known as the Great Chestnut of Tortworth.

VALUABLE work is being undertaken in studying the characters of the sugar-canes cultivated at Sabour by Mr. E. J. Woodhouse, economic botanist to the Government of Bihar and Orissa, and Mr. S. K. Basu, assistant professor at the Agricultural College, and their results up to the present are published in Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, vol. vii., No. 2. As in work of a similar character on other plants, the authors find that it is necessary to study varieties which have been derived from a single plant culture. Twenty-one different characters, relating to field appearance, the leaves, and the

the

stripped canes, have been examined, and the results tabulated for a great number of individuals. The chemical characters have also been examined by Mr. C. Somers Taylor, agricultural chemist to Government. It has been found that four definite groups can be obtained from chemical considerations that coincide with four of the groups into which the canes have been classed botanically, so that the botanical and chemical characters appear to be closely allied. Agricultural rather than minute botanical characters have been studied. The records obtained are not only of interest as being the first attempt in India to propagate sugar-cane by the method of pureline cultures, but also because they will prove useful in studying the behaviour of these canes under different conditions of soil and climate, and will provide information in the future on the subject of deterioration.

THE Agaveæ of Guatemala form the subject of a well-illustrated paper by Dr. W. Trelease, the recognised authority on these fibre-producing plants, in the Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences, vol. xxiii., No. 3. Formerly two species of Agave and two Furcræas were ascribed to Guatemala. One of the former, however, Agave sartorii, is Mexican, while Furcraea selloa proves to be a native of Colombia. Dr. Trelease records no fewer than nineteen species of Agave and five of Furcræa from Guatemala, all except the two previously recorded being new, and described and figured for the first time in the paper. A fact of some geographical interest is that the spicate subgenus of Agave, Littæa, does not appear to reach into Central America any more than it does into the West Indies. The species which have been collected mainly by Dr. Trelease are based almost entirely on leaf characters, but these are always found to afford satisfactory distinguishing features in this genus. The habit of the various species and their leaf characters are well shown in the thirty excellent plates.

A USEFUL article on the European pines, their commercial importance and their relationship to British forestry, is published in Kew Bulletin No. 6, 1915. Ten species of Pinus are discussed, P. canariensis being included. P. laricio, P. pinaster, and P. sylvestris are the species of most value for planting in Great Britain. Under the maritime pine (P. pinaster) an account is given from the Consular Report of the remarkable success which has attended the planting of this species in the Landes of southwestern France, and of the value both of the turpentine and the timber.

THE remarkable parasitic genus Phelipea (Orobanchaceae), containing three species all with brilliant scarlet flowers, is described and figured in Kew Bulletin No. 6 by Dr. Stapf. P. foliata, the species figured, flowered at Kew both in 1914 and this year, and formed a striking object with its large flowers springing from among the silvery leaves of its host plant, Centaurea dealbata. The history of the genus Phelipea is somewhat involved, and the synonymy, which is in consequence very complicated, has been satisfactorily elucidated in the present paper. Dr.

Stapf describes a new species, P. boissieri, distinguished especially by its bifid calyx and bearded anthers. The genus is a native of Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and northern Syria.

THE July number of the Scottish Naturalist is entirely devoted to the report, by Miss Evelyn Baxter and Miss Leonora Rintoul, "On Scottish Ornithology in 1914," but the interest of its contents will appeal to a wide circle of readers, and especially those concerned with the problems of migration. During the last few years, Fair Isle, lying midway between the Orkney and Shetland Islands, has become an observation station of the first importance, not only because many additions to the list of our British birds have been made from records obtained from this small area, but also because of the facilities it affords, from its small and isolated area, for the analysis of the components of passing streams of migrants. The most important addition to the Scottish avifauna during 1914 was that of the Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus aquaticus), which was obtained on Fair Isle on October 23rd. In their summary of migratory movements, the authors record immigration of woodcock to Fair Isle" on March 26, followed on March 30 by a further influx. While all will feel grateful to the compilers of this most admirable report, many will regret the assumed necessity for adopting the most up-to-date vagaries in nomenclature, especially such as Coccothraustes COCCOthraustes coccothraustes!

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IN the Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology for July (vol. ix., No. 3), Messrs. Warrington Yorke and B. Blacklock deal with the bionomics of the tsetse-fly, Glossina palpalis, which conveys human trypanosomiasis and sleeping sickness, and with the reservoir of the human trypanosome, in Sierra Leone, and Dr. Fantham gives an account of a spirilliform micro-organism, Spirochaeta bronchialis, which produces bronchial affections in the Sudan and other parts of the world. It is distinct from the spirochaetes which are of frequent occurrence in the mouth. The articles are illustrated with numerous plates.

WE have received the Review of Applied Entomology, series B, Medical and Veterinary, for July (vol. iii., series B, part 7). It contains a valuable summary of the current literature dealing with the part played by "insects in the propagation of diseases in man and animals, such as plague, malaria, sleeping sickness, and Texas fever.

A SUMMARY of rainfall, mean temperature, and sunshine for the second quarter, April, May, and June, 1915, has been published as an appendix to the Weekly Weather Report by the Meteorological Office. Comparison is made with the thirty years' average, 1881 to 1910, and the values are given for the several lustra during this period as well as for the individual years from 1911. The quarter was dry and sunny, with normal temperature. For the current year the rainfall was 77 per cent. of the average over the eastern districts of the British Isles, the percentage ranging from 59 in the north-east of England to 102 in the south-east of England. Over the western districts,

including Ireland, the rainfall for the quarter was 75 per cent. of the average, the percentage ranging from 69 in the north of Ireland to 88 in South Wales and the south-west of England. The mean temperature was 1° above the average in the south of Ireland, whilst in all other districts the departure from the average, plus or minus, did not amount to 0.5°. The duration of bright sunshine over the eastern districts was 109 per cent. of the average, whilst in the western districts it was 105 per cent. The only districts with a deficiency of sunshine were the south-west of England, the south of Ireland, and the English Channel; in the latter district the duration was only 82 per cent. of the average.

THE rainfall table for July in Symons's Meteorological Magazine shows the month to have been very wet in nearly all parts of the British Isles. The data are only for a few stations in comparison with those which will be given later by the British Rainfall Organisation. At Mickleover Manor in Derbyshire the fall was 250 per cent. of the average, the actuai excess of rain being 3.84 in. At Hull the rain was 240 per cent. of the average, and at Geldeston it was 233 per cent. The only stations in the table with a deficiency are Newcastle, Aberystwyth, and Wick. In the Thames Valley, where the rainfall is graphically shown by the usual monthly map, the measurement exceeded 5 in. over a fairly large area. Over the British Isles the rainfall was 148 per cent. of the average, the fall in the different parts of the kingdom being, England and Wales, 155; Scotland, 125; and Ireland, 158 per cent.

La Nature (July 31) contains a highly interesting article on the manufacture of shells, the various processes being illustrated with excellent diagrams and photographs. The author points out that the war has already radically changed our conceptions on many points; that no longer does success depend so much on the number of combatants as formerly, and that victory is more assured to that adversary which is capable of expending most shells in the least space of time, and it is therefore towards the factories that all considerations converge. Reference is made to the return to the factory of munition workers from the front, there having been a steady exodus in this direction in France since the first months of the war, but necessarily the reorganisation of the factories has had to precede the recall of the workmen. After a lucid description of the various processes through which the shells for the celebrated 75 mm. gun pass, the question of inspection is detailed. Out of every thousand, twenty are examined; if one is defective another twenty are

selected, and if another fails the whole batch is examined one by one. Finally, twelve are taken and tested on the firing ground, being afterwards examined for any deformation they have undergone.

Engineering for August 13 has an article on the Port of London Docks and traffic. Important work is being done for the extension of the Royal Albert Dock southwards. The plans of the new work have been altered. The dry dock is now to be made 750 ft. long, and the main dock is to be increased in depth from 35 to 38 ft. The entrance-lock, 800 ft. long by

100 ft. wide by 45 ft. depth below Trinity high water, is making very good progress; the wall on the north side is completed, and 650 ft. of the south wall is built almost to coping level. The main basin is to have an area of 65 acres, and more than two-thirds of the excavations have been made. The south quay has been practically finished, and 670 ft. of the north quay is nearing completion. The trench excavations for the north wall of the dry dock have been made for a length of 580 ft., and a length of 230 ft. of concrete walling is in progress. The passage connecting the new and the old docks is progressing. The lock-gates, caisson, and bascule and swingbridges are being constructed by Sir William Arrol and Co., Ltd., of Glasgow.

ALTHOUGH amongst the ordinary chemical elements potassium and rubidium are the only ones which have shown a measurable amount of radio-activity, it has not yet been proved conclusively that the small amount of B-radiation observed in the case of these substances has not been due to radio-active impurities. The most satisfactory proof of the radic activity of these elements would be to trace their radio-active products. According to the laws that expulsion of an a-particle decreases the atomic weight by 2, and removes the product two places to the left in the periodic table of elements, while expulsion of a ẞ-particle, while producing no appreciable change in the atomic weight, moves the product one place to the right, potassium should produce an element with the chemical properties of calcium, but with atomic weight 39.15, and rubidium an element like strontium, but with atomic weight 85-45. An investigation directed towards the detection of these new elements has been proceeding for some time at the radiological laboratory of the Scientific Society of Warsaw under Dr. H. Lachs, and a preliminary communication on the subject was made to the society at the meeting on March 4, but no definite conclusion had at that date been reached.

AN interesting new method of standardising normal and decinormal solutions of acid used in volumetric Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry analysis is described by Mr. Francis D. Dodge in the (vol. vii., No. 1). The article is reprinted in the Chemical News (August 6). Use is made of pared in a pure state by dissolving phthalic anhydride potassium hydrogen phthalate, which is easily preproduct. The salt, when dried at 110°, is anhydrous, in aqueous potassium hydroxide and recrystallising the CHO,.HK, and behaves like a monobasic acid, the

end-point in the titration being remarkably sharp.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. THE AUGUST PERSEIDS.-One result of the recent observations of this shower will be the determination of a large number of real paths of meteors not belonging to the Perseid swarm. The minor radiants visible between August 10-20 were very numerous and interesting. In several cases, however, the meteors doubly observed do not work out very well, and these await further investigation. Some of the other observers have not yet sent in their results.

A splendid meteor was seen over the southern region of Scotland on August 13 at 9h. 16m. It was fortunately recorded by Mr. A. King from near Edinburgh, and Mrs. F. Wilson saw the object near the N. by W. horizon, though her station at Harrow-on-the-Hill was distant about 370 miles from the place of the meteor.

The following are the particulars of fifteen nonPerseids seen during this year's display and computed by Mr. Denning :

Night

Aug. 10

Aug, 12

Aug. 13

Aug. 14

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Height

at first

Height

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Path
length
Velocity

per sec.

m.

m. m.

m.

Radiant Meteor's

point

40+29 290 +11

280-13

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68

52 154 38

24-2

84

52

20

3-2

81 55

63

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2-2

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56 300+20

10 401

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II 11

10 14 10 25

10 364

10 40

923

36 332+10

28 343+14 25 194+64

name

Muscid
e Sagittid
B Perseid
a Lyrid

a Perseid
a Cetid

Delphinid

& Antinoid Sagittid

e Pegasid
a Pegasid
e Ursid
μ Ursid

a Aquilid
η Aurigid
v Ursid

153+41 61 7 11 302 +13 Aug. 18 58 72+41 Aug. 19 79 57 65 44 135+59 THE TUBE ARC SPECTRUM OF IRON.-The installation of a 100-kw. transformer in the Pasadena laboratory has enabled Dr. Arthur S. King to extend his investigation of the spectrum peculiarities of the tube arc, and he has now carried out a comparison of typical iron lines in tube-arc and spark spectra. In these later experiments, according to a paper in the Astrophysical Journal for June, the best results are stated to have been obtained when energy was being supplied at the rate of 40 kw. at the moment of rupture of tube (i.e. formation of tube arc), the exposure being made whilst the current fell from 1000 to about 600 amps.; the second order of a 4-inch plane grating was used in the vertical telescope with an objective of 30 ft. f.1., the dispersion being 0-9 A. per mm.

The tube arc is found to resemble the disruptive spark in imparting unsymmetrical structure to many of the stronger lines, the magnitude of the effect being closely related to their furnace and pressure classification. The least affected lines are the flame lines. In the spark, very curiously, the enhanced lines remain symmetrical. The conclusion is reached that strong electrical excitation, together with high vapour density, produce displacements resembling the effect of pressure, and the suggestion is advanced that the density of high-speed electrons is the operative common factor.

A brief account of the same investigation forms No. 9 in the series of Communications from the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory to the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) Proceedings, vol. i., p. 371, June, 1915.

CONTROL OF AUSTRALIAN OBSERVATORIES.-From an

Australian daily contemporary we learn that the Public Service Commissioner has recommended the transference of the Victoria Observatory to the Federal Government on the grounds that it is a national, and not a State, institution. It is added that there is a consensus of opinion among the astronomers of the various States that it would be well to hand observatories over to Federal control.

PROPER MOTIONS OF THE STARS BY STEREOSCOPE.M. J. Comas Solà (Comptes rendus, vol. clxi., p. 121, August 9, 1915) describes an interesting attempt to employ the stereoscope in the study of stellar motions. By means of a camera, aperture 160 mm., f.l. 800 mm., mounted on a 6-in. equatorial as finder, photographs of the globular cluster M. II (Aquila et

Antinous) were taken on July 12, 1912, and again on July 20, 1915. The negatives were then viewed in an ordinary stereoscope with striking results. On a surface 20 degrees square, no fewer than 200 stars exhibited sensible proper motion, and it proved specially easy to pick out groups of stars having common or related proper motions. It is suggested that it should not be difficult to obtain quantitative results in employing a stereocomparator or stereometer. The preliminary qualitative survey indicates that the greater part of the stellar trajectories in the region studied make a large angle with the mean line of the Milky Way.

SOLAR VORTICES. Having established beyond doubt the existence of the Zeeman effect due to the magnetic field in sun-spots, Prof. George E. Hale has now been able to trace the law of rotation in spot vortices by some highly significant observations communicated to the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. (Proc., vol. i., p. 382). The typical sunspot group consists of two spots of opposite magnetic polarity, and thus rotating oppositely, lying almost parallel to the solar equator. The preceding spot is usually the dominant member, whilst the following spot may consist of small spots or be represented merely by flocculi, the characteristic feature of the group being the presence of magnetic fields of opposite polarity in the regions of its eastern and western extremities. Briefly, the present results indicate that the direction of rotation depends on the phase of the spot cycle, thus in low latitudes (end of cycle) the rotation in the spot vortex (preceding spot) is the same as in a terrestrial tornado, i.e. anti-clockwise in the N. hemisphere, but in high latitudes (beginning of cycle) the direction of rotation is the reverse; each spot belt is thus divided into two zones of approximate mean latitudes of 9° and 23° respectively.

In collaboration with Mr. George P. Luckey, Prof. Hale has been conducting some novel laboratory experiments (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i., p. 385) in vortex motion; means have been successfully devised for reproducing the characteristic features, not only of spot vortices, but also to some extent the movements in flocculi.

LIFE-HABITS OF THE OKAPI.

DR. CUTHBERT CHRISTY, known to a good many people by his medical research work and botanical collecting in West and in Central Africa, recently spent several years in the service of the Belgian Congo, and was directed, amongst other things, to give careful study to the okapi in the forests of north-east Congoland. The result is that we have for the first time an accurate and detailed description of the life habits of the okapi. Dr. Christy has also, I believe, been the first to bring to Europe the "soft parts "of this Giraffid. A few years ago this was what many zoologists were longing for; the soft parts (intestines, genital organs, etc.) of the okapi were needed to supplement the study of its skeleton and enable us to fix with precision its position in the giraffe family, and perhaps the basal relations of that group with other Pecora.

Unfortunately, Dr. Christy arrived home (after running many war risks on the way) with his valuable cargo of specimens at a time when we were so completely engrossed by the war that little interest was aroused, and little attention was given to his remarkable researches. The comparative anatomists who might have examined his material are apparently absent from their usual seats of learning engaged in war business. I understand that Dr. Christy has placed the soft parts of his specimens in the British Museum (Natural History), and we may hope perhaps

that they will there receive examination at competent hands.

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Dr. Christy adds his testimony to that of his predecessors in the same quest as to the "invisibility of the okapi, whose markings and coloration-pace Colonel Theodore Roosevelt-so break up the surface of its large body and long legs as to cause it to fuse with the dark-brown, russet, white and yellow-white of the twigs and stems and leaf-stalks amongst which it moves. He also points out that the hoofs of the okapi are so closely pressed together that the footprint is almost like that of the single-toed donkey. On the other hand, he does not believe that the okapi feeds on the big leaves of the Sarophrynium (an amarantaceous plant), it merely resorts for concealment to these 6-ft. high thickets. Nor does it necessarily feed at night only, but rather in the early morning and late afternoon. It feeds chiefly on the small leaves and twigs of trees, which it "hooks down with its long, mobile tongue.' It does not eat grass, but does browse on the coarse herbage on the outskirts of the forest. These notes are extracted from an extremely interesting article in the Field of July 10, which contributes likewise a good deal to our knowledge of the Bambute pigmies, almost the only foes the okapi has.

In connection with this subject might I again put forward the suggestion that the very puzzling remains of so-called "antelopes" recently found, not only in southern California, but actually in Maryland (eastern North America), may be the bones and teeth of primitive Giraffids and not of "elands or Tragelaphs, as surmised by American zoologists. The nearest relation of the isolated giraffe group at the present day would seem to be the pronghorn of western North America. It is quite conceivable that the Giraffids may have arisen from the indeterminate Antilocaprid group (intermediate between the Deer and the Bovids) in North America, and thence have spread to north-eastern Asia and eventually to India, Persia, Africa, and southern Europe. There are giraffine remains found fossil in China, and north-west India would seem to have been the area of greatest variation and specialisation.

H. H. JOHNSTON.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.1 PRETORIA MEETING.

EX

XCLUDING the purely formal meeting of 1905, in which year we joined forces with the visiting British Association for the Advancement of Science, this is the second session of the association to meet in the Transvaal and the first to meet in Pretoria. Our association was started in 1903 at Capetown, and in 1904 the meeting was held in Johannesburg, but on that occasion one day was spent in Pretoria. This year we hold our meeting in what is now the administrative capital of the Union, but we are invited to spend one day in Johannesburg, visiting the Crown Mines, when visitors will have a favourable opportunity of seeing the conditions under which our staple industry is conducted, especially with regard to modern views on hygiene and the preservation of life.

The calm atmosphere of our association is especially suitable for discussions upon the broad principles underlying polity. In the present times these principles are being profoundly modified; old standards of government seem to be weakening day by day, and our association affords a common ground where tendencies can be examined for what they are worth, instead of through the distorting lenses of party passion.

1 Abridged from the address of the president, Robert Thorburn Ayton Innes.

War and Science.

We meet this year under extraordinary circum stances, during a period of war unequalled in the hitory of mankind in its extent and intensity. A superficial view would be that our association has nothing to do with wars at any time, and should ignore the present war. This view would be entirely wrong. The war touches humanity at every point, in every interest. I am therefore going to deal with it, but in such a way that no one could say to which side my sympathies lean. I have, like everyone else, very decided views upon the rights and wrongs of the war, but these concern one of the aspects with which we as a scientific body have nothing to do.

A certain school of thought-not particular to any one nation has praised the value of war as a dis cipline, and even as a moral force. Another school looks upon war as a curse for which no defence is possible. Science is impersonal, and looks merely to facts. Yet science cannot but feel degraded when it finds so great a part of its recent advances applied so freely and almost solely as aids to the destruction of human life. The pre-eminent inventions of our present generation-wireless telegraphy, the airship, the flying machine, the submarine, thermite, and other allied heat producers-seem to have found their culmination in use in war. How different is this from the ideal of the man of science-the most altruistic possible -the lightening of the burdens of humanity by the mastery of natural forces-the transformation of inanimate power to relieve mankind from arduous workthe conquest of pain and disease-the improvement of agriculture and, by no means least, the enlargement of the human mind. Greek culture-that extraordinary efflorescence of a limited community of small cities, which we prize so highly to-day, and whose lesson seems to be valid for all time-we are told was only possible because the Greek civilisation was built upon slavery; the helot was the pivot on which it turned. The man of science looks forward to a period of leisure and culture equally founded upon a slavery, but not upon the unwilling slavery either of man or beast, but upon the willing slavery of machinery and of the powers of nature harnessed for

use.

An increasing and unfaltering search for truth, with a belief in the betterment of humanity through knowledge, is the ethical basis of science, and none other. If science could only serve material ends-the increase of money-profit, or serve to rivet the domination of one State over another-then it would be worthless; nay, it would be unclean.

We perceive to-day that when any one nation deliberately uses the resources of science as an aid to war, a burden of terrible import is thrown upon other nations. And herein is another apparent great evil of science, because its advance makes war both more terrible and more destructive. I say an apparent evil, because if it is not controlled it will lead to exhaustion, and so limitation will have to come by necessity. I believe that in earlier ages the individual, or at least the family, the patriarchal group, was to a great extent, like a nation is now, each a law unto itself, and it was only as weapons got more expensive and deadly that the small group was willing to abandon the right of private revenge or redress. In vet later ages the baron in his great castle could defy the king, but the invention of the cannon and the control of the manufacture of gunpowder by the king made even the most powerful barons willing to accept the king's peace. To-day we would not tolerate any man or group of men turning their buildings into fortresses; to-morrow, I hope, I believe, that nations, or a federation of nations, will likewise refuse to allow any other

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