Fig. 89 represents a standard resistance for making Clerk cell comparisons by the silver voltameter method. The framework on which the coils are wound consists of a base and top of slate. The pillars are of flint glass tube surrounding brass bolts, and cemented to the latter by raw shellac. Grooves are cut in the glass sleeves to hold the wires well apart. These grooves were cut by means of a file working with kerosene lubrication. A screw stirrer is provided, and the whole apparatus is immersed in kerosene in the glass box of a storage cell. The apparatus is aged to begin with by heating to a temperature a good deal higher than any temperature it is expected to reach in actual work. After this the rigidity of the frame is intended to prevent any further straining of the wire. The apparatus as figured is not intended to be cooled to 0 deg. C, so that it is put in as large a box as possible to gain the advantage of having a large volume of liquid. The top and bottom slates measure seven inches by seven inches, and the distance between them is seven inches. The inner coil is wound on first, and the loop which constitutes the end of the winding is brought up to a suitable position for adjustment. The insulation of the heavy copper connectors is by means of ebonite. Sec. 120. Platinum Iridium. Platinum 90 per cent, iridium 10 per cent. This material was prepared in some quantity at the cost of the French Government, and distributed for test about 1886. Klemencic got some of it as representing Austria, and found it behaved very like the platinum silver alloy just discussed. The temperature coefficient is, however, higher than for platinum silver (0.00126 as against 0.00027). The mechanical properties of the alloy are, however, much better than those of the silver alloy; and in view of the experience with B. A. standards above quoted, it remains an open question whether, on the whole, it would not be the better material for standards, in spite of its higher price. Improvements in absolute measurements of resistance, however, may render primary standards superfluous. Sec. 121. Manganin. Discovered by Weston--at all events as to its application to resistance coils. A glance at the diagram will exhibit its unique properties, on account of which it has been adopted by the Physikalisch Technischen Reichsanstalt for resistance standards. The composition of the alloy is copper 84 per cent, manganese 12 per cent, nickel 4 per cent, and it is described as of a steel-gray colour. Unfortunately it is apt to oxidise in the air, or rather the manganese it contains does so, so that it wants a very perfect protection against the atmosphere.