atus could not be found fine enough. The
lecturer had to discard ordinary jewels for diamonds, such bearings
being only made in Germany. But the outbreak of the war put an end to
this source of supply. He had then to turn to resources available in
India.

ADVANCE OF AGRICULTURE

The invention of method for immediate record of growth and its
variations under various conditions is one of immense practical
importance. Experiments on gigantic scales are in progress all over the
world for this purpose. At Rothamstead, this work has been going on for
more than half a century. The great Department of Agriculture in
Mashington spends millions every year on such experiments, there being a
thousand men employed in research. Recently many experiments have been
undertaken on the effect of electricity on growth. The results obtained
have been mostly contradictory. For real advance in agriculture we must
first discover the laws of growth. Ordinary experiments on growth are of
little value because they take weeks for detecting changes of growth
which might have been brought about by charges in the environment. The
only satisfactory method is to devise an apparatus which would make the
plant itself record the rate of its growth, and the changes induced by
food or treatment in the course of less than a minute, during which
short time it is possible to maintain external conditions constant.

THE MAGNETIC CRESCOGRAPH

All the difficulties connected with the devising of apparatus has been
completely removed by the lecturer's successful invention of his new
magnetic crescograph in which practically unlimited magnification is
obtained without the difficulties arising from the unavoidable friction
of bearings. Magnetic forces are so exactly balanced that a disturbance
in the balance caused by slightest movements such as that of growth is
magnified ten millions of times. The application of this new principle
will be of great importance in various investigations in Physics.

Sir J. C. Bose next demonstrated some marvellous results obtained with
his apparatus. A seedling which on account of the Winter season appeared
stationary jotted down by taps on a moving plate, the rate of its
growth. The application of a chemical instantly arrested this growth,
but an antidote timely applied, not only removed the torpor but
enhanced the growth at an enormous rate. The life of the plant became
pliant at the will of the experimenter, and nothing app